THE GUARDIAN ANGELS

ANGELS (αγγελς, messenger) are pure spirits, persons but bodiless, created by God with more acute intelligence and greater power than have human beings. Their office is to praise God, to be His messengers and to watch over man. That particular angels are appointed and commanded by God to guard each particular person that is born into the world is the general teaching of theologians, but the belief has not been defined by the Church and so is not of faith.

These guardian angels lead the individual towards Heaven by defending him from evil, helping him in prayer, suggesting virtuous deeds, but acting upon the senses and imagination, not directly on the will, so that our co-operation is required. The psalmist assures us, “He hath given His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways”.
And in another place, “The angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear Him, and shall deliver them”.
The patriarch Jacob prayed his good angel to bless his two grandsons, Ephraim and Manasses, “The angel that delivereth me from all evils, bless these boys”.

Judith said, “His angel hath been my keeper, both going hence, and abiding there, and returning from thence hither”.

Christ deters us from scandalizing any of His little ones, because their angels always behold the face of God, and they will demand punishment of God against any by whose malice those who are their wards suffer harm. So certain and general was the belief of a guardian angel being assigned to every one by God, that when St Peter was miraculously delivered out of prison the disciples could not at first believe it, and said, It is his angel

Dedication of the church of St Michael the Archangel in Via Salaria on September 29, and in the oldest extant Roman sacramentary, called Leonine, the prayers for the feast make indirect reference to them as individual guardians. A votive Mass, Missa ad suffragia angelorum postulanda, has been in use at least from the time of Alcuin—he died in 804—who refers to the subject twice in his letters. Whether the practice of celebrating such a Mass originated in England is not clear, but we find Alcuin’s text in the Leofric Missal of the early tenth century. This votive Mass of the Angels was commonly allotted to the second day of the week (Monday), as for example in the Westminster Missal, written about the year 1375.

In Spain it became customary to honour the Guardian Angels not only of persons, but of cities and provinces. An office of this sort was composed for Valencia in 1411. Outside of Spain, Francis of Estaing, Bishop of Rodez, obtained from Pope Leo X a bull in 1518 which approved a special office for an annual commemoration of the Guardian Angels on March 1. In England also there seems to have been much devotion to them. Herbert Losinga, Bishop of Norwich, who died in 1119, speaks eloquently on the subject; and the well-known invocation beginning Angele Dei qui custos es mei is apparently traceable to the verse-writer Reginald of Canterbury, at about the same period. Pope Paul V authorized a special Mass and Office and at the request of Ferdinand II of Austria granted the feast to the whole empire. Pope Clement X extended it to the Western church at large as of obligation in 1670 and fixed it for the present date, being the first free day after the feast of St Michael.

An excellent article by Fr J. Duhr in the Dictionnaire de spirirualite, vol. (1933), cc. 580—625, treats exhaustively devotion to the Guardian Angels and its history. On the general question of the veneration of angels see also DTC., vol. i, cc. x 1222—1248 and on the liturgical aspect Kellner, Heortology (1908), pp. 328—332. On the representation of angels in antiquity and art consult DAC., vol. i, cc. 2080—2161, and Künstle, Ikonographie, vol. i, pp. 239-264.

October 2, 2011 Feast of the Guardian Angels

Perhaps no aspect of Catholic piety is as comforting to parents as the belief that an angel protects their little ones from dangers real and imagined. Yet guardian angels are not just for children. Their role is to represent individuals before God, to watch over them always, to aid their prayer and to present their souls to God at death.

The concept of an angel assigned to guide and nurture each human being is a development of Catholic doctrine and piety based on Scripture but not directly drawn from it. Jesus' words in Matthew 18:10 best support the belief: "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father."

Devotion to the angels began to develop with the birth of the monastic tradition. St. Benedict gave it impetus and Bernard of Clairvaux, the great 12th-century reformer, was such an eloquent spokesman for the guardian angels that angelic devotion assumed its curre nt form in his day.
A feast in honor of the guardian angels was first observed in the 16th century. In 1615, Pope Paul V added it to the Roman calendar.

Comment: The concept of an unseen companion has given rise to many childish titters about leaving room for an angel in a crowded seat and teacher-induced terrors about the danger of sudden death for a child who fails to honor the angel with prayer. But devotion to the angels is, at base, an expression of faith in God's enduring love and providential care extended to each person day in and day out until life's end.
Quote: "May the angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs come to welcome you and take you to the holy city, the new and eternal Jerusalem." (Rite for Christian Burial)

Guardian Angels

Festum sanctórum Angelórum Custódum. The Feast of the holy Guardian Angels.

What wonderful care God gives each of us! So special does He believe you and I are that He has provided us with our own special messenger, our own guardian angel. God loves each of us personally, and desires for each of us to return to Him. So He's given each of us a “personal spiritual assistant” to help us find the way. Today we celebrate that glorious gift and thank God for our angel. We also thank Pope Clement X for instituting this feast in honor of our personal angels in 1670.

The Baltimore Catechism tells that the good angels help us by praying for us, by acting as messengers from God to us, and by serving as our guardian angels, i.e., those angels charged by God with a special care over human beings. Our guardian angels help us by praying for us, by protecting us from harm, and by inspiring us to do good.

The belief in guardian angels is ancient. In Psalm 91, we sing: “No evil shall befall you, No affliction come near your tent. For God commands the angels to guard you in all your ways. With their hands they shall support you, lest you strike your foot against a stone”. (vv. 11- 12).

There are many Scriptural references to angels. The prophet Isaiah (Is. 6:1-4) had a vision of the heavenly hosts worshipping God and doing His bidding, and in the Book of Revelation (cf. 1:1) it is an angel that brings God's message to the visionary named John. The ancient Jews believed that these angels served both individuals and nations.

Jesus saw no reason to reject this idea. For Him angels were spiritual beings. He said they would support him at His Second Coming (Matt. 25:31; Mark 8:38). Once He took a little child aside and spoke to His followers about becoming like children and caring for them. Jesus said, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father” (Matt. 18:10).

The notion of guardian angels is implicit in our Lord's own teaching. During His earthly life, they minister and serve Him: announcing His birth, succoring Him in the desert, comforting Him in the Garden of Gethsemane, and announcing His Resurrection.

Our salvation doesn't rest on our belief in angels generally, nor our guardian angel specifically. Yet, our guardian angels are tasked with keeping us on the right path and communicating God's love to us. God's incorporeal creatures also help us with their prayers. For this reason we pray in the Confiteor:
I confess to Almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault: in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and what I have failed to do. And I ask Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, all the angels and saints, and you my brothers and sisters to pray for me to the Lord, Our God.

The Holy Scriptures and the Catholic Church tell us that our angels protect and guides us (Ps. 91), guard our lips (Ps. 141) to prevent us from giving offense to God, and intercede for us before God's throne (cf. Tobit 12:12,15; Job 33:23-24; Matt. 18:10). (See also the letters of Blessed Peter Fabre and Saint Aloysius Gonzaga on devotion to the guardian angels of individuals and communities; Saint Basil in Adversus Eunomium, III, 1; The Catechism of the Council of Trent, “First Commandment”; and Saint Ambrose's text in the Roman Breviary for the Feast of the Guardian Angels.)

Saint Frances of Rome saw her guardian angel continually. Your guardian angel is just another of the heavenly company that surrounds you because of God's generous love for you.

There is a Guardian Angels for Life Cohort comprised of angels sent each day
at the prayerful request of their human charges to serve in two basic areas of assigned duty:
(1) to be at the side of the dying during their final day on earth to help strengthen,
encourage, support, enlighten, and protect these souls at their hour of death, and
(2) to be present to every expectant mother and father as well as their unborn child
to offer the same services to parents to avoid the temptation to abort their children.
The prayer:

My dear Guardian Angel, with God's grace and blessings go forth this day to be at the side of all those who will die today, to inspire and encourage each one to accept the graces offered to them for their salvation, and to provide hope, support and protection in their final hours.
Go also to attend every unborn child, it's mother and it's father. Protect these little, innocent, defenseless ones, and inspire in the hearts of their parents loving tenderness and a profound awareness of the sacredness of all life, and most especially, remind them in Whose Image their child is so wondrously made.

Primus, Cyril and Secundarius martyred in Antioch, Syria, in one of the early persecutions MM (RM)

Antiochíæ sanctórum Mártyrum Primi, Cyrílli et Secundárii.
At Antioch, the holy martyrs Primus, Cyril, and Secundarius.

These three were martyred in Antioch, Syria, in one of the early persecutions (Benedictines).

Romæ pássio sancti Modésti Sardi, Levítæ et Mártyris; qui, sub Diocletiáno Imperatóre, equúleo tortus atque igne adústus est. Ipsíus vero corpus, Benevéntum póstea translátum, in Ecclésia suo insigníta nómine collocátum fuit.
At Rome, the martyrdom of St. Modestus, a Sardinian, deacon and martyr, who was racked and burned with fire by Emperor Diocletian. His holy body was afterwards translated to Benevento and buried there in a church named after him.

303 St. Eleutherius soldier in army of coEmperor Diocletian
Nicomedíæ sancti Eleuthérii, mílitis et Mártyris, cum áliis innúmeris; qui, cum Diocletiáni régia incéndio conflagrásset et falso hujus críminis essent accusáti, omnes, jubénte eódem sævíssimo Imperatóre, acervátim necáti sunt. Horum porro álii gládiis obtruncabántur, álii cremabántur ígnibus, álii in mare præcipitabántur; sed inter eos primus Eleuthérius, cum per síngula torménta, diu cruciátus, valídior redderétur, martyrium victóriæ suæ, ígnibus velut aurum examinátus, complévit.
At Nicomedia, St. Eleutherius, soldier and martyr, with innumerable others. They were falsely accused of having set fire to the palace of Diocletian and, by order of this cruel emperor, were barbarously massacred in groups. Some were put to the sword, some consumed by fire, while others were cast into the sea. But the principal one, Eleutherius, after long tortures, being found stronger after each torment, completed his victorious martyrdom by fire, as well-tried gold.

ST ELEUTHERIUS, MARTYR
“WHEN the palace of Diocletian was burnt down at Nicomedia the holy soldier and martyr Eleutherius, with many others, was falsely accused of this crime. All of them were summarily put to death by order of the said cruel emperor. Some were cut down by the sword, others were burned, others thrown into the sea. In turn Eleutherius, the chief among them, whose valour long torture only increased, achieved his victorious martyrdom as gold tried in the fire.”

In these terms the Roman Martyrology refers to this martyr, but nothing certain is known about him except his name and the place of his passion. The important fact is that on October a in the Syriac breviarium of the early fifth century we have the entry at Nicomedia Eleutherius: “From this the notice passed into the Hieronymianum; see CMH., p. 537. The association of the martyr with the incident of the burning of Diocletian’s palace is, as Dom Quentin has shown (Lea Martyrologes historiques, pp. 615—616), simply an invention of the martyrologist Ado.

In Nicomedia. accused of setting fire to the emperor’s palace and was burned to death after being tortured with companions.
Eleutherius and Companions MM (RM)
The Roman Martyrology tells us that St. Eleutherius was a soldier-martyr in Nicomedia under Diocletian. The balance of the entry is very dubious (Benedictines).

304 Cyprian discerned the great power of fervent faith in Christ, and made up for more than thirty

years of service to Satan. Seven days after Baptism he was ordained reader, on the twelfth day, sub-deacon, on the thirtieth, deacon. After a year, he was ordained priest. In a short time St Cyprian was elevated to the rank of bishop.
Hieromartyr, Virgin Martyr Justina and Martyr Theoctistus suffered for Christ at Nicomedia

St Cyprian was a pagan and a native of Antioch. From his early childhood his misguided parents dedicated him to the service of the pagan gods. From age seven until thirty, Cyprian studied at the most outstanding centers of paganism: on Mount Olympus, in the cities of Argos and Tauropolis, in the Egyptian city of Memphis, and at Babylon. Once he attained eminent wisdom in pagan philosophy and the sorcerer's craft, he was consecrated into the pagan priesthood on Mount Olympus. Having discovered great power by summoning unclean spirits, he beheld the Prince of Darkness himself, and spoke with him and received from him a host of demons in attendance.

Justina_of_Nicomedia.jpg

After returning to Antioch, Cyprian was revered by the pagans as a prominent pagan priest, amazing people by his ability to cast spells, to summon pestilence and plagues, and to conjure up the dead. He brought many people to ruin, teaching them to serve demons and how to cast magic spells.

The holy virgin Justina lived in Antioch.
After turning her own father and mother away from pagan error and leading them to the true faith in Christ, she dedicated herself to the Heavenly Bridegroom and spent her time in fasting and prayer. When the youth Aglaides proposed marriage to her, the saint refused, for she wished to remain a virgin. Agalides sought Cyprian's help and asked for a magic spell to charm Justina into marriage. But no matter what Cyprian tried, he could accomplish nothing, since the saint overcame all the wiles of the devil through her prayers and fasting.

Cyrian sent demons to attack the holy virgin, trying to arouse fleshly passions in her, but she dispelled them by the power of the Sign of the Cross and by fervent prayer to the Lord.

Even though one of the demonic princes and Cyprian himself, assumed various guises by the power of sorcery, they were not able to sway St Justina, who was guarded by her firm faith in Christ. All the spells dissipated, and the demons fled at the mere mention of the saint's name.

Cyprian, in a rage, sent down pestilence and plague upon Justina's family and upon all the city, but this was thwarted by her prayer. Cyprian's soul, corrupted by its domination over people and by his incantations, was shown in all the depth of his downfall, and also the abyss of nothingness of the evil that he served.

"If you take fright at even the mere shadow of the Cross and the Name of Christ makes you tremble," said Cyprian to Satan, "then what will you do when Christ Himself stands before you?" The devil then flung himself upon the pagan priest who had begun to repudiate him, and attempted to beat and strangle him.

St Cyrian then first tested for himself the power of the Sign of the Cross and the Name of Christ, guarding himself from the fury of the enemy. Afterwards, with deep repentance he went to the local bishop Anthimus and threw all of his books into the flames. The very next day, he went into the church, and did not want to leave it, though he had not yet been baptized.

By his efforts to follow a righteous manner of life, St Cyprian discerned the great power of fervent faith in Christ, and made up for more than thirty years of service to Satan. Seven days after Baptism he was ordained reader, on the twelfth day, sub-deacon, on the thirtieth, deacon. After a year, he was ordained priest. In a short time St Cyprian was elevated to the rank of bishop.

The Hieromartyr Cyprian converted so many pagans to Christ that in his diocese there was no one left to offer sacrifice to idols, and the pagan temples fell into disuse. St Justina withdrew to a monastery and there was chosen Abbess.

During the persecution against Christians under the emperor Diocletian, Bishop Cyprian and Abbess Justina were arrested and brought to Nicomedia, where after fierce tortures they were beheaded with the sword. St Cyprian, fearful that the holy virgin's courage might falter if she saw him put to death, asked for time to pray. St Justina joyfully inclined her neck and was beheaded first.

The soldier Theoctistus, seeing the guiltless sufferings of St Justina, fell at Cyprian's feet and declared himself a Christian, and was beheaded with them.

585 Leudomer (Lomer) of Chartres B (AC)
Bishop of Chartres, France (Benedictines). He is often listed as a Frenchman, and is sometimes called Lomer. No other details are extant.

676 St. Gerinus Martyred brother of St. Leger
Eódem die sancti Geríni Mártyris, qui frater éxstitit beáti Leodegárii, Augustodunénsis Epíscopi, et, jubénte ipso Ebroíno, lapídibus óbrutus est.
On the same day, St. Gerinus, martyr, brother of blessed Leodegarius, bishop of Autun. He was stoned to death by the same Ebroin.

Brother of Saint Leodegarius (Leogarius). Ebroin, mayor of the palace, martyred the brothers. Gerinus was stoned to death near Arras, France.
Gerinus (Garinus, Guerin, Werinus) of Arras M (RM). Brother of Saint Leodegarius, Gerinus was stoned to death near Arras at the order of Ebroin, mayor of the palace, for reputedly killing King Childeric II (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).

677 St. Leger abbot introduced the Rule of St. Benedict
Leger was raised at the court of King Clotaire II and by his uncle, Bishop Didon of Poitiers. Leger was made archdeacon by Didon, was ordained, and in about 651, became abbot of Maxentius Abbey, where he introduced the Rule of St. Benedict. He served Queen Regent St. Bathildis and helped her govern when Clovis II died in 656, and was named bishop of Autun in 663. He reconciled the differing factions that had torn the See apart, introduced reforms, fortified the town, and was known for his concern for the poor. On the death of Clotaire III, he supported young Childeric II for King against his brother Thierry, who had been backed by Ebroin, mayor of the palace. Ebroin was exiled to Luxeuil and became a bitter enemy of Leger, who became Childeric's adviser. When Leger denounced the marriage of Childeric to his uncle's daughter, he also incurred the enmity of Childeric, and in 675 Leger was arrested at Autun and banished to Luxeuil. When Childeric was murdered in 675, his successor, Theodoric III, restored Leger to his See. Ebroin was also restored as mayor of the palace after he had had the incumbent Leudesius murdered and pursuaded the Duke of Champagne and the bishops of Chalons and Valence to attack Autun.
To save the town, Leger surrendered. Ebroin had him blinded, his lips cut off, and his tongue pulled out. Not satisfied, several years, he convinced the King that Childeric had been murdered by Leger and his brother Gerinus. Gerinus was stoned to death, and Leger was tortured and imprisoned at Fecamp Monastery in Normandy.
After two years Leger was summoned to a court at Marly by Ebroin, deposed, and executed at Sarcing, Artois, protesting his innocence to the end. Though the Roman Martyrology calls him Blessed and a martyr, there is doubt among many scholars that he is entitled to those honors.

678 St. Leodegarius Benedictine bishop martyr humble spirit
In território Atrebaténsi item pássio beáti Leodegárii, Augustodunénsis Epíscopi; quem, váriis injúriis et divérsis supplíciis pro veritáte afflíctum, Ebroínus, Major domus régiæ Theodoríci, intérfici jussit.
In the vicínity of Arras, the martyrdom of blessed Leodegarius, bishop of Autun. After being subjected to various insults and torments for the truth, he was put to death by Ebroin, chief minister of Theodoric.

679 ST LEODEGARIUS, OR LEGER, BISHOP OF AUTUN, MARTYR

ST LEODEGARIUS was born about the year 616. His parents sent him to the court of King Clotaire II, who in turn sent him to Didon, his uncle arid bishop of Poitiers, who appointed a priest to instruct him. Leodegarius made great progress in learning and still more in the science of the saints, and in consideration of his abilities and merit his uncle ordained him deacon when he was only twenty years old, and soon after made him archdeacon. When he had become a priest he was obliged to take upon himself the government of the abbey of Saint-Maxence, which he held six years. Leodegarius was about thirty-five when he became abbot, and his biographer represents him as already a rather awe-inspiring person: “Being not uninformed in civil law he was a severe judge of lay people and, learned in the canons, an excellent teacher of the clergy. Never having been softened by the joys of the flesh, he was strict in his treatment of sinners.” He is said to have introduced the Rule of St Benedict into his monastery, which was in need of his reforming hand.

St Leodegarius was called to court by the queen regent, St Bathildis, and in 663 nominated bishop of Autun. That see had been vacant two years whilst the diocese was torn asunder by factions, of which one leader killed the other and so forfeited his claim to the see. The arrival of Leodegarius quieted the disturbances and reconciled the parties. He took care to relieve the poor, instructed his clergy, frequently preached to his people, adorned churches and fortified the town. In a diocesan synod he enacted many canons for the reformation of manners and regarding the monastic order, He says that if the monks were what they ought to be their prayers would preserve the world from public calamities.

The saint had been bishop ten years when King Clotaire III died in 673. Upon this news he went at once to court, where he successfully supported Childeric against the schemes of the Neustrian mayor of the palace, Ebroin, who was exiled to Luxeuil. King Childeric II governed well so long as he listened to the advice of St Leodegarius, who had so great a share in public affairs in the beginning of this reign that in some writings he is styled mayor of the palace. But, being young and violent, the king at length abandoned himself to his own will and married his uncle’s daughter without dispensation. St Leodegarius admonished him, without effect; and certain nobles took the opportunity to render the saint’s fidelity suspect when, at Easter 675, Childeric was at Autun. Leodegarius was arrested and, barely escaping with his life, banished to Luxeuil, where his opponent Ebroin still was. But Childeric, having caused a nobleman called Bodilo to be publicly scourged, was slain by him, and Theodoric III was put on the throne; St Leodegarius was restored to his see, and received at Autun with honour and rejoicing. Ebroin also left Luxeuil, however, and to deal with Leodegarius, his principal opponent, he sent an army into Burgundy which marched to Autun. St Leodegarius would not fly, but ordered a fast and a procession, in which the relics of the saints were carried round the walls; at every gate the bishop prostrated himself, and besought God that, if He called him to martyrdom, his flock might not suffer. When the enemy came up, the people made a stout defence. But after a few days St Leodegarius said to them, “Fight no longer. It is on my account they are come. Let us send one of our brethren to know what they demand.” Waimer, Duke of Champagne, answered the herald that Leodegarius was to be delivered up to them. Leodegarius went boldly out of the town and offered himself to his enemies, who having seized him, put out his eyes. This he endured without suffering his hands to be tied or emitting the least groan. Waimer carried St Leodegarius to his own house in Champagne, where he returned him the money he had taken from the church of Autun, which St Leodegarius sent back to be distributed among the poor.

Ebroin became absolute master in Neustria and Burgundy. He pretended a desire to revenge the death of King Childeric, and accused St Leodegarius and his brother Gerinus of having concurred in it. Gerinus was stoned to death in his brother’s presence, and is named as a martyr in the Roman Martyrology on this same day. St Leodegarius could not be condemned till he had been deposed in a synod, but he was first treated with the utmost barbarity, his tongue mutilated and his lips cut off; after which he was delivered into the hands of Count Waring, who placed him in the monastery of Fécanip in Normandy, where when his wounds healed he was able to speak, as it was thought, miraculously. When Gerinus was murdered he wrote a letter to his mother Sigradis, who was then a nun at Soissons. In it he congratulates with her upon her happy shelter from the world and comforts her for the death of Gerinus, saying that that ought not to be a grief to them which was an occasion of joy to the angels; he speaks of himself with constancy and courage, and of the forgiveness of enemies with tenderness and charity.

Two years later Ebroin caused St Leodegarius to be brought to Marly, where he had assembled a few bishops that he might be deposed by their sentence. He was pressed to own himself privy to the death of Childeric, but constantly denied it. His accusers tore up his robe as a mark of deposition, and then he was delivered to Chrodobert, count of the palace, to be put to death. Ebroin, fearing lest he should be honoured as a martyr, ordered his body to be concealed in a well. Chrodobert disliked the task of executioner and left it to four servants, who led Leodegarius into a wood, where three of them fell at his feet, begging him to forgive them. He prayed for them and, when he said he was ready, the fourth cut off his head. In spite of Ebroin’s order, the wife of Chrodobert had the body interred in a small oratory at a place called Sarcing in Artois, but three years after it was removed to the monastery of Saint-Maxence at Poitiers. The struggle between St Leodegarius and Ebroin is a famous incident in Merovingian history, and not all the right was on one side; some good men, e.g. St Ouen, were supporters of the notorious Ebroin. It was inevitable in those days that bishops should take an active part in high politics, but, though the Roman Martyrology says St Leodegarius (whom it calls beatus) suffered pro veritate, it is not obvious why he should be venerated as a martyr.

In the Acta Sanctorum (October, vol. i, published in 1765) Father C. de Bye devotes more than a hundred folio pages to the history of this saint. Two early lives are printed which, though they are by no means always in agreement, he believed to be the work of contemporaries. It was reserved for B. Krusch in the Neues Archiv, vol. xvi (1890), pp. 565—596, to explain more or less satisfactorily the problem presented by their textual identity in some passages and their divergences in many others. He holds that neither was of contemporary origin, but that there was a third life of which a considerable portion is preserved in a Paris MS. (Latin 17002), and that this was written some ten years after the death of Leodegarius by a monk of Saint Symphorien who aimed at excusing the conduct of St Leodegarius’s successor in the see. The lives published by the Bollandists were compiled from fifty to seventy years later, with this as a basis, but are still of historical importance. Krusch (in MGH., Scriptores Merov., vol. v, pp. 249—362) has reconstituted the text of what he believes to have been the original life. Let us add that the letter of Leodegarius to his mother Sigradis is unquestionably an authentic document, whereas the will attributed to him is open to grave doubt. See further the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xi (1890), pp. 104—110, and Leclercq in DAC., vol. viii, cc. 2460—2492. Pitra’s Histoire de S. Léger (1890) now out of date, though it called attention to some new texts. Father Camerlinck’s life in the series “Les Saints” (1910), is inclined to panegyric and sometimes uncritical, but he gives an acceptable account of this tragic history. As the calendars show, Leodegarius was honoured in England from quite early times, mostly on October 2, but also on the 3rd.

He was educated at Poitiers, France, and in 653 became abbot of St. Maxentius. When King Clovis II died, Leodegarius assisted the regent, Queen Bathildes, and became bishop of Autun in 659. Erchinoald, the mayor of the royal palace, had Leodegarius imprisoned, blinded, and murdered. Leodegarius is revered in France as St. Leger.

Leodegarius (Leger), OSB BM (RM) Born c. 616; died near Arras in 678. Leodegarius was raised at the court of King Clotaire II and educated by his uncle, Bishop Didon of Poitiers. He was made archdeacon by Didon, was ordained, and about 651-653 became abbot of Maxentius (Maixent) Abbey, where he introduced the Rule of St. Benedict. During this time it appears that Saint Leodegarius acquired a humble spirit and became a true priest.

It is unknown whether Leodegarius was summoned or went to the court of his own accord. Nevertheless, he counselled Queen Saint Bathildis during the minority of her son Clotaire III after the death of her husband, Clovis II, in 656.
Leodegarius was appointed bishop of Autun in 663, though he continued to advise the queen.

Autun was in a state of complete disorder. There had been no bishop for two years and before that there were two claimants for the episcopal throne. One of them had been murdered and the other exiled because of his abuses of power. Leodegarius began by physically restoring the town: its walls and the cathedral.

It is said, "Those who were not led to peace and concord by preaching, were forced there by justice and terror." Although Leodegarius had a reputation as a very strict bishop, he managed to reconcile the factions that had torn apart the see, introduced reforms, imposed the Benedictine Rule in all monasteries, and was known for his concern for the poor.

After Bathildis had retired and on the death of Clotaire III, he supported young Childeric II for king against his brother Thierry, who had been backed by Ebroin, mayor of the palace. Ebroin was exiled to Luxeuil, where he became a tonsured monk and a bitter enemy of Leodegarius, who became Childeric's adviser. Leodegarius's exalted position didn't last for long for he alienated many with his severity. When Leodegarius denounced the marriage of Childeric to his uncle's daughter, he also incurred the enmity of Childeric .

One Easter Childeric refused Leodegarius's invitation to attend the Easter Mass at the cathedral of Saint-Nazaire in Autun. Later Childeric interrupted the Mass. He was drunk and shouted insults, but as he was king, no one said anything. Because no one said anything, the king believed that there was nobody there, and left. But the next day his fury against Leodegarius had not abated. The saint decided to flee, but he was soon caught, returned to court, judged and banished to Luxeuil in 675. There he met and was reconciled to his enemy Ebroin. In Luxeuil they prayed side-by- side and pledged eternal friendship.

When Childeric was murdered in 675, his successor, Theodoric III, restored Leodegarius to his see. Ebroin was also restored as mayor of the palace after he had the incumbent Leudesius murdered and persuaded the duke of Champagne and the bishops of Chalons and Valence to attack Autun. To save the town, Leodegarius surrendered himself.

Ebroin had him blinded, his lips cut off, and his tongue pulled out. Leodegarius accepted his fate. His death did not come at once, and he suffered in silence and prayer. Ebroin sent him to a forest and ordered that the blind man should be left there to die of hunger. But Leodegarius's guard took pity on him and after a few days went to find him. He took him into his home and cared for him.

Not satisfied, several years later, Ebroin convinced the king that Childeric had been murdered by Leodegarius and his brother Saint Gerinus. Gerinus was stoned to death, and Leodegarius was tortured and imprisoned at Fécamp monastery in Normandy, a cripple. A letter written by Leodegarius to his mother about the death of his brother still exists.

Two years later Leodegarius was summoned to a court at Marly by Ebroin. A court of bishops declared him deposed from his see. Finally, his enemies executed him at Sarcing, Artois, protesting his innocence to the end. Though the Roman Martyrology calls him blessed and a martyr, and he is popularly regarded as Saint Leger, there is doubt among many scholars that he is entitled to those honors. It is primarily his political supporters who advanced his veneration. Only God knows if Leodegarius was one of his own (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia).

In art, St. Leodegarius is depicted as his eyes are bored out with a gimlet. His executioner stands behind him with a sword. At times, Leodegarius may be shown enthroned and holding the gimlet or holding a hook with two prongs (Roeder).

His feast is kept in Lucern, Switzerland. Leodegarius is the patron of millers and is invoked against blindness (Roeder).

725 St. Beregisius Confessor of Pepin of Heristal
and founder of the abbey of Saint-Hubert in the Ardennes region of France. There is some doubt as to whether he was a monk, though some sources call him abbot (Benedictines).. Father Beregisus served as confessor to Pepin of Heristal, who helped him to found the monastery of Saint-Hubert in the Ardennes.

8th v. Princes David and Constantine Mkheidze of Argveti faithful Christian martyrs
The 8th century was extremely difficult for the Georgian people. Marwan bin Muhammad (called “the Deaf” by the Georgians and “the Blind” by the Armenians), the Persian ruler and military leader for the Arab caliph, invaded eastern parts of the Byzantine Empire, then Armenia and Georgia.

With fire and the sword he fought his way across Georgia from the east to the city of Tskhumi (now Sokhumi) in the region of Abkhazeti. The princes David and Constantine Mkheidze of Argveti were faithful Christians and skilled military leaders. When they heard about the enemy’s invasion, the brothers prayed to God for protection, assembled their armies, and urged their people to pray fervently for God’s help.

The Persian warriors approached Argveti from Samtskhe and attacked the Georgians on Persati Mountain. The Georgian army won the battle, with David and Constantine leading the resistance against the fearsome conquerors.

But before long the enraged Marwan the Deaf gathered an enormous army and marched toward Argveti to take revenge. This time the enemy routed the Georgian army. Many were killed and those who survived were forced to flee to the forests. The commanders David and Constantine were taken captive.

The Persian soldiers bound David and Constantine and brought them before Marwan the Deaf, who began to mock them. But they reacted with complete composure, saying, “Your laughter and boasting are in vain, since earthly glory is fleeting and soon fades away. It is not your valor that has captured us, but our own sins. For the atonement of these sins have we fallen into the hands of the godless enemy!”

The furious Marwan ordered that the brothers be beaten without mercy, but they steadfastly endured the suffering. Stunned by the brothers’ resolve, Marwan decided to win them over with flattery instead. Promising him great honors and command of the armies, he turned to the older brother, David, saying, “I have heard of your valor, and I advise you to abandon your erroneous faith and submit yourself to the faith of Muhammad!”

St. David crossed himself and answered, “Let not this disgrace come upon us, that we would depart from the light and draw nearer to the darkness!” Then he condemned the error of the Islamic faith: “Muhammad converted you from the worship of fire, but he could not instill in you the knowledge of the True God. Therefore it appears as though you suffered a shipwreck and saved yourselves from the depths of the sea, but drowned in the shallow waters of the coast.”

Enraged at this reply, Marwan turned to the younger brother, Constantine, hoping to win him over to his side. But Constantine was also unbending, and he fearlessly glorified the Most Holy Trinity: “My brother David and I believe and follow the one Faith and one doctrine in which we have been instructed. Our faith is in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and we will die for the sake of the One True God!”

Marwan ordered that the brothers be starved to death. After they had suffered for ten days, Marwan sent sorcerers and charmers to arouse in them a desire to convert to Islam, but their efforts were in vain. Finally the holy brothers David and Constantine were led to the riverbank near the Church of Sts. Cosmas and Damian. There they were brutally beaten and bound. Heavy rocks were hung from their necks, and they were drowned in the river.

That night three beams of light descended from the heavens and lit up the place where the brothers had been drowned. According to God’s holy will, the ropes binding the holy martyrs were loosed, and their bodies floated to the surface. A group of faithful Christians carried them out of the river and buried them on the bank of the Tsqaltsitela River, in a church that Marwan the Deaf had devastated.

The place of their burial remained concealed until the beginning of the 12th century, during the reign of King Bagrat the Great (1072–1117). Then, in fulfillment of King Bagrat’s decree, the Monastery of the Martyrs (Motsameta) was built over that place, and the incorrupt relics of the Great Martyrs are still preserved there.

750 St. Theophilus Monk and martyr Bulgarian exiled by Emperor Leo the Isaurian for his opposition to the iconoclasts
Constantinópoli sancti Theóphili Mónachi, qui pro defensióne sanctárum Imáginum a Leóne Isáurico sævíssime cæsus et in exsílium pulsus, migrávit ad Dóminum.
At Constantinople, St. Theophilus, a monk. He was cruelly scourged by Leo the Isaurian for his defense of holy images, was driven into exile, and there went gloriously to heaven.
Originally from Bulgaria, he joined a monastery in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and was an outspoken opponent of the imperial policies of lconoclasticism. For this he was sent into exile by Emperor Leo III the Isaurian (r. 717-741) and was brutally mistreated.
Theophilus of Bulgaria, OSB (RM) Born in Bulgaria. Theophilus was a Benedictine monk in Asia Minor, who was beaten, imprisoned, and exiled by Emperor Leo the Isaurian for his opposition to the iconoclasts (Benedictines, Encyclopedia) .

760 Abbot Ursicinus II of Chur Reluctant bishop OSB B (AC)
Reluctantly in 754, Abbot Ursicinus of Disentis became bishop of Chur, Switzerland. In 758, he resigned and became a hermit (Benedictines).

936 Blessed Andrew, Fool-for-Christ; With indifference he underwent beatings, hunger and thirst, cold and heat, begging alms and giving them away to the poor. For his great forebearance and humility the saint received from the Lord the gift of prophecy and wisdom, saving many from spiritual perils, and he unmasked the impiety of many.

He was a Slav and lived in the tenth century at Constantinople. From his early years, he loved God's Church and the Holy Scriptures. Once during a dream, the saint beheld a vision of two armies. In the one were men in radiant garb, in the other, black and fiercesome devils. An angel of God, who held wondrous crowns, said to Andrew, that these crowns were not adornments from the earthly world, but rather a celestial treasure, with which the Lord rewards His warriors, victorious over the dark hordes. "Proceed with this good deed," the angel said to Andrew. "Be a fool for My sake and you will receive much in the day of My Kingdom."

The saint perceived that it was the Lord Himself summoning him to this deed. From that time Andrew began to go about the streets in rags, as though his mind had become muddled. For many years the saint endured mockery and insults. With indifference he underwent beatings, hunger and thirst, cold and heat, begging alms and giving them away to the poor. For his great forebearance and humility the saint received from the Lord the gift of prophecy and wisdom, saving many from spiritual perils, and he unmasked the impiety of many.

While praying at the Blachernae church, St Andrew beheld the Most Holy Mother of God, holding her veil over those praying under her Protection (October 1). Blessed Andrew died in the year 936.

1338 Anna of Kashin The Holy Right-believing Princess; withdrew into Tver's Sophia monastery and accepted tonsure with the name Euphrosyne. Later, she transferred to the Kashin Dormition monastery, and became a schemanun with the name Anna; Miracles at St Anna's grave began in 1611

Daughter of the Rostov prince Demetrius Borisovich, in 1294 became the wife of the holy Great Prince Michael Yaroslavich of Tver, who was murdered by the Mongol-Tatars of the Horde in 1318, (November 22). After the death of her husband, Anna withdrew into Tver's Sophia monastery and accepted tonsure with the name Euphrosyne. Later, she transferred to the Kashin Dormition monastery, and became a schemanun with the name Anna. She fell asleep in the Lord on October 2, 1338.

St Anna's sons also imitated their father's steadfast confession of faith in Christ. Demetrius Mikhailovich ("Dread Eyes") was murdered at the Horde on September 15, 1325; and later, Alexander Mikhailovich, Prince of Tver, was murdered together with his son Theodore on October 29, 1339.

Miracles at St Anna's grave began in 1611, during the siege of Kashin by Polish and Lithuanian forces. There was also a great fire in the city which died down without doing much damage. The saint, dressed in the monastic schema, appeared to Gerasimus, a gravely ill warden of the Dormition cathedral. She promised that he would recover, but complained, "People show no respect for my tomb. They ignore it and my memory! Do you not know that I am supplicating the Lord and His Mother to deliver the city from the foe, and that you be spared many hardships and evils?" She ordered him to tell the clergy to look after her tomb, and to light a candle there before the icon of Christ Not-Made-By-Hands.

At the Council of 1649 it was decided to uncover her relics for general veneration and to glorify the holy Princess Anna as a saint. But in 1677 Patriarch Joachim proposed to the Moscow Council that her veneration throughout Russia should be discontinued because of the Old Believers Schism, which made use of the name of St Anna of Kashin for its own purposes. When she was buried her hand had been positioned to make the Sign of the Cross with two fingers, rather than three. However, the memory of St Anna, who had received a crown of glory from Christ, could not be erased by decree. People continued to love and venerate her, and many miracles took place at her tomb.

On June 12, 1909 her second glorification took place, and her universally observed Feast day was established. Her Life describes her as a model of spiritual beauty and chastity, and an example to future generations.

1504 Saint Cassian the Greek of Uglich; led a strict ascetic life; a miraculous vision by night of St Martinian, urging him to take monastic tonsure. After a certain period of time, St Cassian left the monastery going not far from the city of Uglich, near the confluence of the Volga and Uchma Rivers, where he founded a monastery in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God; many miracles of the saint were recorded.

in the world Constantine, was a descendant of the Greek Mangupa princes. He arrived in Moscow as part of the delegation to Great Prince Ivan III, together with the daughter of the Byzantine emperor, Sophia Paleologa.

Having decided to devote his life to the service of God, the saint declined the offer to remain at the court of the Great Prince, and he resettled near Bishop Joasaph of Rostov. When the bishop withdrew to the Therapon monastery for solitude, Constantine followed him, and he led a strict ascetic life.

He accepted monasticism after a miraculous vision by night of St Martinian, urging him to take monastic tonsure. After a certain period of time, St Cassian left the monastery going not far from the city of Uglich, near the confluence of the Volga and Uchma Rivers, where he founded a monastery in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God.

Reports of the monk spread widely, and many people began to come to receive his blessing, to see the wilderness habitation and converse with him. St Cassian accepted everyone with love, guiding them on the way to salvation with quiet words.

The monk died in great old age on October 2, 1504. In the Uglich Chronicles many miracles of the saint were recorded. In particular, the protection of his monastery from Polish soldiers in the years 1609-1611 by his prayers.

The memory of St Cassian of Uglich is celebrated also on May 21, the day he shares with his namesake, the holy Emperor Constantine the Great.

1622 Bl. Louis Shakichi Martyr of Japan layman
who released Blessed Louis Flores from prison. Louis was burned alive in Nagasaki, and his wife and children were beheaded. He was beatified in 1867.

1622 Bl. Lucy Chakichi Martyr of Japan
the wife of Blessed Louis Chakichi. She was beheaded with her sons, Andrew and Francis, at Nagasaki, Japan. She was beatified in 1867.

1622 Bl. Francis Chakichi Four-year-old martyr of Japan
He was beheaded in Nagasaki, Japan, with his mother, Blessed Lucy, and his brother Blessed Andrew. His father, Blessed Louis, was burned at the stake. He was beatified in 1867.

1817 St Theodore, one of Russia's greatest naval heroes of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; frequently gave alms to the poor and needy. He never sought earthly glory or riches, but spent his life in serving God and his neighbor; The unvanquished Admiral was the terror of his country's enemies, and the deliverer of those whom the barbarians had taken captive. He served during the Russo-Turkish War (1787 - 1791), and also fought against the French. Although he fought many naval battles in the Black Sea and in the Mediterranean, he never lost a single one, and he was never wounded.
He was born in 1745.

St Theodore once visited the Greek island of Kerkyra (Corfu), where he venerated the relics of St Spyridon of Tremithus (December 12), and gave support and encouragement to the Orthodox Christians in that place.

Since his naval reforms were unpopular with his superiors, St Theodore was forced to retire in 1807 by Tsar Alexander I. Having neither wife nor children, the admiral settled in the town of Alekseevo near the Sanaxar Monastery, where he regularly attended services on Sundays and Feast Days.

During Great Lent he would stay in the monastery, fasting with the monks and attending the services.

Igumen Nathaniel of Sanaxar regarded St Theodore as "a neighbor and a significant patron" of the monastery. In addition to his generous gifts to the monastery, the admiral frequently gave alms to the poor and needy.

He never sought earthly glory or riches, but spent his life in serving God and his neighbor.

St Theodore died in 1817 at the age of seventy-two. After navigating the sea of life with all its storms and struggles, he entered the calm harbor of eternal rest. He was buried at Sanaxar Monastery beside the church. The monastery was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1991, and St Theodore's grave was found in 1994.
St Theodore was glorified by the Orthodox Church of Russia in 2004, and a reliquary in the shape of a naval vessel was made to enshrine his holy relics.
The holy Admiral Theodore should not be confused with his relative St Theodore (Ushakov) of Sanaxar Monastery (February 19 and April 21), a monastic saint who lived from 1719 to 1791.
St Theodore is honored as a great military leader who defended Russia just as St Alexander Nevsky (November 23) and St Demetrius of the Don (May 19) did before him. One of the Russian Navy's atomic cruisers has been named for him, and a movie has been made about his life and career. The composer Khachaturian has also written a musical piece called "Admiral Ushakov."

To Save A Life is Earthly; To Save A Soul is Eternal

THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 83

Behold how good and how pleasant, O Mary, it is: to love thy name.

Thy name is as oil poured out, and as an aromatic fragrance: to those who love it.

How great is the multitude of thy sweetness, O Lady: which thou hast prepared for those who love and hope in thee.

Be a refuge to the poor in tribulation: because thou art a staff to the poor and wretched.

Let them, I beseech thee, find grace with God: who invoke thy help in their needs.

For thy spirit is kind: thy grace fills the whole world.

Thunder, ye heavens, from above, and give praise to her: glorify her, ye earth, with all the dwellers therein.

Rejoice, ye Heavens, and be glad, O Earth: because Mary will console her servants and will have mercy on her poor.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost as it was in the beginning and will always be.

God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique, for each is the result of a new idea. As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike. It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints. Dear Lord, grant us a spirit that is not bound by our own ideas and preferences. Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves. O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory. Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives. Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts. God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heaven: only saints are allowed into heaven. The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR the benefit of others.

There are over 10,000 named saints beati from history
and Roman Martyology Orthodox sources
Patron_Saints.html Widowed_Saints html Indulgences The Catholic Church in China
LINKS: Marian Shrines India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East Lourdes 1858 China Marian shrines 1995
Kenya national Marian shrine Loreto, Italy Marian Apparitions (over 2000) Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798
Links to Related MarianWebsites Angels and Archangels Saints Visions of Heaven and Hell
Widowed Saints html
Doctors_of_the_Church Acts_Of_The_Apostles Roman Catholic Popes Purgatory Uniates Chalcedon

Mary the Mother of Jesus Miracles_BC Lay Saints Miraculous_Icons Miraculous_Medal_Novena Patron Saints
Miracles by Century 100   200   300   400   500   600   700    800   900   1000    1100   1200   1300   1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000
Miracles 100   200   300   400   500   600   700    800   900   1000
1100   1200   1300   1400 1500 1600 1700 1800   1900 Lay Saints

The great psalm of the Passion, Chapter 22, whose first verse “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Jesus pronounced on the cross, ended with the vision: “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations shall worship before him” For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations. All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage. And I will live for the LORD; my descendants will serve you. The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought.

Pope Benedict XVI to The Catholic Church In China {whole article here} 2000 years of the Catholic Church in China
The saints “a cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.

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Saint Frances Xavier Seelos Practical Guide to Holiness

1. Go to Mass with deepest devotion. 2. Spend a half hour to reflect upon your main failing & make resolutions to avoid it.
3. Do daily spiritual reading for at least 15 minutes, if a half hour is not possible. 4. Say the rosary every day.
5. Also daily, if at all possible, visit the Blessed Sacrament; toward evening, meditate on the Passion of Christ for a half hour, 6. Conclude the day with evening prayer & an examination of conscience over all the faults & sins of the day.
7. Every month make a review of the month in confession.
8. Choose a special patron every month & imitate that patron in some special virtue.
9. Precede every great feast with a novena that is nine days of devotion. 10. Try to begin & end every activity with a Hail Mary

My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee. I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not

O most Holy trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended, and by the infite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. I beg the conversion of poor sinners, Fatima Prayer, Angel of Peace

The voice of the Father is heard, the Son enters the water, and the Holy Spirit appears in the form of a dove.

THE spirit and example of the world imperceptibly instil the error into the minds of many that there is a kind of middle way of going to Heaven; and so, because the world does not live up to the gospel, they bring the gospel down to the level of the world. It is not by this example that we are to measure the Christian rule, but words and life of Christ. All His followers are commanded to labour to become perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect, and to bear His image in our hearts that we may be His children. We are obliged by the gospel to die to ourselves by fighting self-love in our hearts, by the mastery of our passions, by taking on the spirit of our Lord.

These are the conditions under which Christ makes His promises and numbers us among His children, as is manifest from His words which the apostles have left us in their inspired writings. Here is no distinction made or foreseen between the apostles or clergy or religious and secular persons. The former, indeed, take upon themselves certain stricter obligations, as a means of accomplishing these ends more perfectly; but the law of holiness and of disengagement of the heart from the world is general and binds all the followers of Christ.

God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique each the result of a new idea.

As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike.
It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints.
Dear Lord, grant us a spirit not bound by our own ideas and preferences.
Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves.
O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory.
Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.

Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.

The 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary ) Revealed to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan)

1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces. 2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. 3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. 4. It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that soul would sanctify them by this means. 5. The soul that recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish. 6. Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying themselves to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise them in His justice, they shall not perish by an unprovided death; if they be just, they shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life. 7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church. 8. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise. 9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. 10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven. 11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary. 12. I shall aid all those who propagate the Holy Rosary in their necessities. 13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death. 14. All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ. 15. Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

His Holiness Aram I, current (2013) Catholicos of Cilicia of Armenians, whose See is located in Lebanese town of Antelias. The Catholicosate was founded in Sis, capital of Cilicia, in the year 1441 following the move of the Catholicosate of All Armenians back to its original See of Etchmiadzin in Armenia. The Catholicosate of Cilicia enjoyed local jurisdiction, though spiritually subject to the authority of Etchmiadzin. In 1921 the See was transferred to Aleppo in Syria, and in 1930 to Antelias.

Its jurisdiction currently extends to Syria, Cyprus, Iran and Greece.

Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac

The exact date of the introduction of Christianity into Edessa {Armenian Ourhaï in Arabic Er Roha, commonly Orfa or Urfa, its present name} is not known. It is certain, however, that the Christian community was at first made up from the Jewish population of the city. According to an ancient legend, King Abgar V, Ushana, was converted by Addai, who was one of the seventy-two disciples. In fact, however, the first King of Edessa to embrace the Christian Faith was Abgar IX (c. 206) becoming official kingdom religion.

Christian council held at Edessa early as 197 (Eusebius, Hist. Ecc7V,xxiii).

In 201 the city was devastated by a great flood, and the Christian church was destroyed (“Chronicon Edessenum”, ad. an. 201).

In 232 the relics of the Apostle St. Thomas were brought from India, on which occasion his Syriac Acts were written.

Under Roman domination martyrs suffered at Edessa: Sts. Scharbîl and Barsamya, under Decius; Sts. Gûrja, Schâmôna, Habib, and others under Diocletian.

In the meanwhile Christian priests from Edessa evangelized Eastern Mesopotamia and Persia, established the first Churches in the kingdom of the Sassanides. Atillâtiâ, Bishop of Edessa, assisted at the Council of Nicæa (325). The “Peregrinatio Silviæ” (or Etheriæ) (ed. Gamurrini, Rome, 1887, 62 sqq.) gives an account of the many sanctuaries at Edessa about 388.

Although Hebrew had been the language of the ancient Israelite kingdom, after their return from Exile the Jews turned more and more to Aramaic, using it for parts of the books of Ezra and Daniel in the Bible. By the time of Jesus, Aramaic was the main language of Palestine, and quite a number of texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls are also written in Aramaic.

Aramaic continued to be an important language for Jews, alongside Hebrew, and parts of the Talmud are written in it.

After Arab conquests of the seventh century, Arabic quickly replaced Aramaic as the main language of those who converted to Islam, although in out of the way places, Aramaic continued as a vernacular language of Muslims.

Aramaic, however, enjoyed its greatest success in Christianity. Although the New Testament wins written in Greek, Christianity had come into existence in an Aramaic-speaking milieu, and it was the Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac, that became the literary language of a large number of Christians living in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire and in the Persian Empire, further east. Over the course of the centuries the influence of the Syriac Churches spread eastwards to China (in Xian, in western China, a Chinese-Syriac inscription dated 781 is still to be seen); to southern India where the state of Kerala can boast more Christians of Syriac liturgical tradition than anywhere else in the world.

680 Shiite saint Imam Hussein, grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammad Known as Ashoura and observed by Shiites across the world, the 10th day of the lunar Muslim month of Muharram: the anniversary of the 7th century death in battle of one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints. Imam Hussein died in the 680 A.D. battle fought on the plains outside Karbala, a city in modern Iraq that's home to the saint's shrine. The battle over a dispute about the leadership of the Muslim faith following Muhammad's death in 632 A.D. It is the defining event in Islam's split into Sunni and Shiite branches. The occasion is the source of an enduring moral lesson. "He sacrificed his blood to teach us not to give in to corruption, coercion, or use of force and to seek honor and justice." According to Shiite beliefs, Hussein and companions were denied water by enemies who controlled the nearby Euphrates. Streets get partially covered with blood from slaughter of hundreds of cows and sheep. Volunteers cook the meat and feed it to the poor. Hussein's martyrdom recounted through a rich body of prose, poetry and song remains an inspirational example of sacrifice to many Shiites, 10 percent of the world's estimated 1.3 billion Muslims.

Meeting of the Saints walis (saints of Allah)

Great men covet to embrace martyrdom for a cause and principle.

So was the case with Hazrat Ali. He could have made a compromise with the evil forces of his time and, as a result, could have led a very comfortable, easy and luxurious life. But he was not a person who would succumb to such temptations. His upbringing, his education and his training in the lap of the holy Prophet made him refuse such an offer.
Rabia Al-Basri (717–801 C.E.) She was first to set forth the doctrine of mystical love and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets. An elderly Shia pointed out that during his pre-Partition childhood it was quite common to find pictures and portraits of Shia icons in Imambaras across the country.
Shah Abdul Latif: The Exalted Sufi Master born 1690 in a Syed family; died 1754. In ancient times, Sindh housed the exemplary Indus Valley Civilisation with Moenjo Daro as its capital, and now, it is the land of a culture which evolved from the teachings of eminent Sufi saints. Pakistan is home to the mortal remains of many Sufi saints, the exalted among them being Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, a practitioner of the real Islam, philosopher, poet, musicologist and preacher. He presented his teaching through poetry and music - both instruments sublime - and commands a very large following, not only among Muslims but also among Hindus and Christians. Sindh culture: The Shah is synonymous with Sindh. He is the very fountainhead of Sindh's culture. His message remains as fresh as that of any present day poet, and the people of Sindh find solace from his writings. He did indeed think for Sindh. One of his prayers, in exquisite Sindhi, translates thus: “Oh God, may ever You on Sindh bestow abundance rare! Beloved! All the world let share Thy grace, and fruitful be.”
Shia Ali al-Hadi, died 868 and son Hassan al-Askari 874. These saints are the 10th and 11th of Shia's 12 most revered Imams. Baba Farid Sufi 1398 miracle, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki renowned Muslim Sufi saint scholar miracles 569 A.H. [1173 C.E.] hermit gave to poor, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti greatest mystic of his time born 533 Hijri (1138-39 A.D.), Hazrat Ghuas-e Azam, Hazrat Bu Ali Sharif, and Hazrat Nizamuddi n Aulia Sufi Saint Hazrath Khwaja Syed Mohammed Badshah Quadri Chisty Yamani Quadeer (RA) 1236-1325 welcomed people of all faiths & all walks of life.

801 Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya Sufi One of the most famous Islamic mystics
(b. 717). This 8th century saint was an early Sufi who had a profound influence on later Sufis, who in turn deeply influenced the European mystical love and troubadour traditions. Rabi'a was a woman of Basra, a seaport in southern Iraq. She was born around 717 and died in 801 (185-186). Her biographer, the great medieval poet Attar, tells us that she was "on fire with love and longing" and that men accepted her "as a second spotless Mary" (186). She was, he continues, “an unquestioned authority to her contemporaries" (218).
Rabi'a began her ascetic life in a small desert cell near Basra, where she lost herself in prayer and went straight to God for teaching. As far as is known, she never studied under any master or spiritual director. She was one of the first of the Sufis to teach that Love alone was the guide on the mystic path (222). A later Sufi taught that there were two classes of "true believers": one class sought a master as an intermediary between them and God -- unless they could see the footsteps of the Prophet on the path before them, they would not accept the path as valid. The second class “...did not look before them for the footprint of any of God's creatures, for they had removed all thought of what He had created from their hearts, and concerned themselves solely with God. (218)
Rabi'a was of this second kind. She felt no reverence even for the House of God in Mecca: "It is the Lord of the house Whom I need; what have I to do with the house?" (219) One lovely spring morning a friend asked her to come outside to see the works of God. She replied, "Come you inside that you may behold their Maker. Contemplation of the Maker has turned me aside from what He has made" (219). During an illness, a friend asked this woman if she desired anything.
"...[H]ow can you ask me such a question as 'What do I desire?' I swear by the glory of God that for twelve years I have desired fresh dates, and you know that in Basra dates are plentiful, and I have not yet tasted them. I am a servant (of God), and what has a servant to do with desire?" (162)
When a male friend once suggested she should pray for relief from a debilitating illness, she said,
"O Sufyan, do you not know Who it is that wills this suffering for me? Is it not God Who wills it? When you know this, why do you bid me ask for what is contrary to His will? It is not well to oppose one's Beloved." (221)
She was an ascetic. It was her custom to pray all night, sleep briefly just before dawn, and then rise again just as dawn "tinged the sky with gold" (187). She lived in celibacy and poverty, having renounced the world. A friend visited her in old age and found that all she owned were a reed mat, screen, a pottery jug, and a bed of felt which doubled as her prayer-rug (186), for where she prayed all night, she also slept briefly in the pre-dawn chill. Once her friends offered to get her a servant; she replied,
"I should be ashamed to ask for the things of this world from Him to Whom the world belongs, and how should I ask for them from those to whom it does not belong?" (186-7)
A wealthy merchant once wanted to give her a purse of gold. She refused it, saying that God, who sustains even those who dishonor Him, would surely sustain her, "whose soul is overflowing with love" for Him. And she added an ethical concern as well:
"...How should I take the wealth of someone of whom I do not know whether he acquired it lawfully or not?" (187)
She taught that repentance was a gift from God because no one could repent unless God had already accepted him and given him this gift of repentance. She taught that sinners must fear the punishment they deserved for their sins, but she also offered such sinners far more hope of Paradise than most other ascetics did. For herself, she held to a higher ideal, worshipping God neither from fear of Hell nor from hope of Paradise, for she saw such self-interest as unworthy of God's servants; emotions like fear and hope were like veils -- i.e., hindrances to the vision of God Himself. The story is told that once a number of Sufis saw her hurrying on her way with water in one hand and a burning torch in the other. When they asked her to explain, she said:
"I am going to light a fire in Paradise and to pour water on to Hell, so that both veils may vanish altogether from before the pilgrims and their purpose may be sure..." (187-188)
She was once asked where she came from. "From that other world," she said. "And where are you going?" she was asked. "To that other world," she replied (219). She taught that the spirit originated with God in "that other world" and had to return to Him in the end. Yet if the soul were sufficiently purified, even on earth, it could look upon God unveiled in all His glory and unite with him in love. In this quest, logic and reason were powerless. Instead, she speaks of the "eye" of her heart which alone could apprehend Him and His mysteries (220).
Above all, she was a lover, a bhakti, like one of Krishna’s Goptis in the Hindu tradition. Her hours of prayer were not so much devoted to intercession as to communion with her Beloved. Through this communion, she could discover His will for her. Many of her prayers have come down to us:
       "I have made Thee the Companion of my heart,
        But my body is available for those who seek its company,
        And my body is friendly towards its guests,
        But the Beloved of my heart is the Guest of my soul." [224]

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Mother Angelica saving souls is this beautiful womans journey

Shrine_of_The_Most_Blessed_Sacrament

Colombia was among the countries Mother Angelica visited.
In Bogotá, a Salesian priest - Father Juan Pablo Rodriguez - brought Mother and the nuns to the Sanctuary of the Divine Infant Jesus to attend Mass. After Mass, Father Juan Pablo took them into a small Shrine which housed the miraculous statue of the Child Jesus. Mother Angelica stood praying at the side of the statue when suddenly the miraculous image came alive and turned towards her. Then the Child Jesus spoke with the voice of a young boy: “Build Me a Temple and I will help those who help you.”

Thus began a great adventure that would eventually result in the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, a Temple dedicated to the Divine Child Jesus, a place of refuge for all. Use this link to read a remarkable story about The Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament

Father Reardon, Editor of The Catholic Bulletin for 14 years Lover of the poor; “A very Holy Man of God.”

Monsignor Reardon Protonotarius Apostolicus
Pastor 42 years BASILICA OF SAINT MARY Minneapolis MN

America's First Basilica Largest Nave in the World

August 7, 1907-ground broke for the foundation

by Archbishop Ireland-laying cornerstone May 31, 1908

James M. Reardon Publication History of Basilica of Saint Mary 1600-1932

Index to Part I and Part II 1932

James M. Reardon Publication History of the Basilica of Saint Mary 1955 {update}

Brief History of our Beloved Holy Priest Here and his published books of Catholic History in North America
Reardon, J.M. Archbishop Ireland; Prelate, Patriot, Publicist, 1838-1918.
A Memoir (St. Paul; 1919); George Anthony Belcourt Pioneer Catholic Missionary of the Northwest 1803-1874 (1955);
The Catholic Church IN THE DIOCESE OF ST. PAUL from earliest origin to centennial achievement 1362-1950 (1952);
The Church of Saint Mary of Saint Paul 1875-1922; (1932)
The Vikings in the American Heartland;
The Catholic Total Abstinence Society in Minnesota;

James Michael Reardon Born in Nova Scotia, 1872; Priest, ordained by Bishop Ireland;

Member -- St. Paul Seminary faculty.

Affiliations and Indulgences Litany of Loretto in Stained glass windows here. Nave Sacristy and Residence Here
Sanctuary spaces between them filled with grilles of hand-forged wrought iron the life of our Blessed Lady After the crucifixon

Apostle statues Replicas of those in St John Lateran--Christendom's earliest Basilica.
Ordered by Rome's first Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great, Popes' cathedral and official residence first millennium of Christian history.

The only replicas ever made: in order from west to east {1932}.

Saints Simon (saw), Bartholomew (knife), James the Lesser (book), John (eagle), Andrew (transverse cross), Peter keys), Paul (sword), James the Greater (staff), Thomas (carpenter's square), Philip (serpent), Matthew (book), and Jude sword

Every Christian must be a living book wherein one can read the teaching of the gospel
It Makes No Sense Not To Believe In GOD

THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi.

June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.

By Father John Corapi
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi.

June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.

By Father John Corapi

Among the most important titles we have in the Catholic Church for the Blessed Virgin Mary are Our Lady of Victory and Our Lady of the Rosary. These titles can be traced back to one of the most decisive times in the history of the world and Christendom. The Battle of Lepanto took place on October 7 (date of feast of Our Lady of Rosary), 1571. This proved to be the most crucial battle for the Christian forces against the radical Muslim navy of Turkey. Pope Pius V led a procession around St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City praying the Rosary. He showed true pastoral leadership in recognizing the danger posed to Christendom by the radical Muslim forces, and in using the means necessary to defeat it. Spiritual battles require spiritual weapons, and this more than anything was a battle that had its origins in the spiritual order—a true battle between good and evil.

Today we have a similar spiritual battle in progress—a battle between the forces of good and evil, light and darkness, truth and lies, life and death. If we do not soon stop the genocide of abortion in the United States, we shall run the course of all those that prove by their actions that they are enemies of God—total collapse, economic, social, and national. The moral demise of a nation results in the ultimate demise of a nation. God is not a disinterested spectator to the affairs of man. Life begins at conception. This is an unalterable formal teaching of the Catholic Church. If you do not accept this you are a heretic in plain English. A single abortion is homicide. The more than 48,000,000 abortions since Roe v. Wade in the United States constitute genocide by definition. The group singled out for death—unwanted, unborn children.

No other issue, not all other issues taken together, can constitute a proportionate reason for voting for candidates that intend to preserve and defend this holocaust of innocent human life that is abortion.
As we watch the spectacle of the world seeming to self-destruct before our eyes, we can’t help but be saddened and even frightened by so much evil run rampant. Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Somalia, North Korea—It is all a disaster of epic proportions displayed in living color on our television screens. These are not ordinary times and this is not business as usual. We are at a crossroads in human history and the time for Catholics and all Christians to act is now. All evil can ultimately be traced to its origin, which is moral evil. All of the political action, peace talks, international peacekeeping forces, etc. will avail nothing if the underlying sickness is not addressed. This is sin. One person at a time hearts and minds must be moved from evil to good, from lies to truth, from violence to peace.
Islam, an Arabic word that has often been defined as “to make peace,” seems like a living contradiction today. Islam is a religion of peace. As we celebrate the birthday of Our Lady, I am proposing that each one of us pray the Rosary for peace. Prayer is what must precede all other activity if that activity is to have any chance of success. Pray for peace, pray the Rosary every day without fail. There is a great love for Mary among Muslim people. It is not a coincidence that a little village named Fatima is where God chose to have His Mother appear in the twentieth century. Our Lady’s name appears no less than thirty times in the Koran. No other woman’s name is mentioned, not even that of Mohammed’s daughter, Fatima. In the Koran Our Lady is described as “Virgin, ever Virgin.”

Archbishop Fulton Sheen prophetically spoke of the resurgence of Islam in our day. He said it would be through the Blessed Virgin Mary that Islam would be converted. We must pray for this to happen quickly if we are to avert a horrible time of suffering for this poor, sinful world. Turn to our Mother in this time of great peril. Pray the Rosary every day. Then, and only then will there be peace, when the hearts and minds of men are changed from the inside.

Talk is weak. Prayer is strong. Pray! God bless you, Father John Corapi

Father Corapi's Biography

Father John Corapi is what has commonly been called a late vocation. In other words, he came to the priesthood other than a young man. He was 44 years old when he was ordained. From small town boy to the Vietnam era US Army, from successful businessman in Las Vegas and Hollywood to drug addicted and homeless, to religious life and ordination to the priesthood by Pope John Paul II, to a life as a preacher of the Gospel who has reached millions with the simple message that God's Name is Mercy!

Father Corapi's academic credentials are quite extensive. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Pace University in the seventies. Then as an older man returned to the university classrooms in preparation for his life as a priest and preacher. He received all of his academic credentials for the Church with honors: a Masters degree in Sacred Scripture from Holy Apostles Seminary and Bachelor, Licentiate, and Doctorate degrees in dogmatic theology from the University of Navarre in Spain.

Father John Corapi goes to the heart of the contemporary world's many woes and wars, whether the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia, or the Congo, or the natural disasters that seem to be increasing every year, the moral and spiritual war is at the basis of everything. “Our battle is not against human forces,” St. Paul asserts, “but against principalities and powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness...” (Ephesians 6:12).
The “War to end all wars” is the moral and spiritual combat that rages in the hearts and minds of human beings. The outcome of that unseen fight largely determines how the battle in the realm of the seen unfolds. The title talk, “With the Moon Under Her Feet,” is taken from the twelfth chapter of the Book of Revelation, and deals with the current threat to the world from radical Islam, and the Blessed Virgin Mary's role in the ultimate victory that will result in the conversion of Islam. Few Catholics are aware of the connection between Islam, Fatima, and Guadalupe. Presented in Father Corapi's straight-forward style, you will be both inspired and educated by him.

About Father John Corapi.

Father Corapi is a Catholic priest .

The pillars of father's preaching are basically:

Love for and a relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary
Leading a vibrant and loving relationship with Jesus Christ
Great love and reverence for the Most Holy Eucharist from Holy Mass to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
An uncompromising love for and obedience to the Holy Father and the teaching of the Magisterium of the Church

God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi

Records on life of Father Flanagan, founder of Boys Town, presented at Vatican
Jul 23, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The cause for canonization of Servant of God Edward Flanagan, the priest who founded Nebraska's Boys Town community for orphans and other boys, advanced Monday with the presentation of a summary of records on his life.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen to be beatified
Jul 6, 2019 - 04:00 am .- Pope Francis approved the miracle attributed to Archbishop Fulton Sheen Friday, making possible the American television catechist's beatification.

Brooklyn diocese advances sainthood cause of local priest
Jun 25, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The Bishop of Brooklyn accepted last week the findings of a nine-year diocesan investigation into the life of Monsignor Bernard John Quinn, known for fighting bigotry and serving the African American population, as part of his cause for canonization.

Fr. Augustus Tolton, former African American slave, advances toward sainthood
Jun 12, 2019 - 05:03 am .- Fr. Augustus Tolton advanced along the path to sainthood Wednesday, making the runaway slave-turned-priest one step closer to being the first black American saint.

Pope Francis will beatify these martyred Greek-Catholic bishops in Romania
May 30, 2019 - 03:01 pm .- On Sunday in Blaj, Pope Francis will beatify seven Greek-Catholic bishops of Romania who were killed by the communist regime between 1950 and 1970.

Woman who served Brazil’s poorest to be canonized
May 14, 2019 - 06:53 am .- Pope Francis Tuesday gave his approval for eight sainthood causes to proceed, including that of Bl. Dulce Lopes Pontes, a 20th-century religious sister who served Brazil’s poor.

Seven 20th-century Romanian bishops declared martyrs
Mar 19, 2019 - 12:01 pm .- Pope Francis declared Tuesday the martyrdom of seven Greek-Catholic bishops killed by the communist regime in Romania in the mid-20th century.

Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women
Jan 15, 2019 - 11:12 am .- Pope Francis approved Tuesday the next step in the canonization causes of 17 women from four countries, including the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters killed in Spain at the start of the Spanish Civil War.

Nineteen Algerian martyrs beatified
Dec 10, 2018 - 03:08 pm .- Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, were beatified Saturday during a Mass in Oran.

The Algerian martyrs shed their blood for Christ, pope says
Dec 7, 2018 - 10:02 am .- Ahead of the beatification Saturday of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, Pope Francis said martyrs have a special place in the Church.
Algerian martyrs are models for the Church, archbishop says
Nov 16, 2018 - 03:01 am .- Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers has said that Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, are “models for our lives as disciples today and tomorrow.”

Francesco Spinelli to be canonized after healing of a newborn in DR Congo
Oct 9, 2018 - 05:01 pm .- Among those being canonized on Sunday are Fr. Franceso Spinelli, a diocesan priest through whose intercession a newborn was saved from death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Algerian martyrs to be beatified in December
Sep 14, 2018 - 06:01 pm .- The Algerian bishops' conference has announced that the beatification of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in the country between 1994 and 1996, will be held Dec. 8.

Now a cardinal, Giovanni Angelo Becciu heads to congregation for saints' causes
Jun 28, 2018 - 11:41 am .- Newly-minted Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu will resign from his post as substitute of the Secretariat of State tomorrow, in anticipation of his appointment as prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints later this summer.

Pope Francis creates new path to beatification under ‘offering of life’
Jul 11, 2017 - 06:22 am .- On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor.

Twentieth century Polish nurse among causes advancing toward sainthood
Jul 7, 2017 - 06:14 am .- Pope Francis on Friday approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Hanna Chrzanowska, a Polish nurse and nursing instructor who died from cancer in 1973, paving the way for her beatification.

Sainthood causes advance, including layman who resisted fascism
Jun 17, 2017 - 09:22 am .- Pope Francis on Friday recognized the heroic virtue of six persons on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of an Italian man who died from injuries of a beating he received while imprisoned in a concentration camp for resisting fascism.

Solanus Casey, Cardinal Van Thuan among those advanced toward sainthood
May 4, 2017 - 10:47 am .- Pope Francis on Thursday approved decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints advancing the causes for canonization of 12 individuals, including the American-born Capuchin Solanus Casey and the Vietnamese cardinal Francis Xavier Nguen Van Thuan.

Pope clears way for canonization of Fatima visionaries
Mar 23, 2017 - 06:44 am .- On Thursday Pope Francis approved the second and final miracle needed to canonize Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the Fatima Marian apparitions.
Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward
Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life.

Records on life of Father Flanagan, founder of Boys Town, presented at Vatican
Jul 23, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The cause for canonization of Servant of God Edward Flanagan, the priest who founded Nebraska's Boys Town community for orphans and other boys, advanced Monday with the presentation of a summary of records on his life.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen to be beatified
Jul 6, 2019 - 04:00 am .- Pope Francis approved the miracle attributed to Archbishop Fulton Sheen Friday, making possible the American television catechist's beatification.

Brooklyn diocese advances sainthood cause of local priest
Jun 25, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The Bishop of Brooklyn accepted last week the findings of a nine-year diocesan investigation into the life of Monsignor Bernard John Quinn, known for fighting bigotry and serving the African American population, as part of his cause for canonization.

Fr. Augustus Tolton, former African American slave, advances toward sainthood
Jun 12, 2019 - 05:03 am .- Fr. Augustus Tolton advanced along the path to sainthood Wednesday, making the runaway slave-turned-priest one step closer to being the first black American saint.

Pope Francis will beatify these martyred Greek-Catholic bishops in Romania
May 30, 2019 - 03:01 pm .- On Sunday in Blaj, Pope Francis will beatify seven Greek-Catholic bishops of Romania who were killed by the communist regime between 1950 and 1970.

Woman who served Brazil’s poorest to be canonized
May 14, 2019 - 06:53 am .- Pope Francis Tuesday gave his approval for eight sainthood causes to proceed, including that of Bl. Dulce Lopes Pontes, a 20th-century religious sister who served Brazil’s poor.

Seven 20th-century Romanian bishops declared martyrs
Mar 19, 2019 - 12:01 pm .- Pope Francis declared Tuesday the martyrdom of seven Greek-Catholic bishops killed by the communist regime in Romania in the mid-20th century.

Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women
Jan 15, 2019 - 11:12 am .- Pope Francis approved Tuesday the next step in the canonization causes of 17 women from four countries, including the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters killed in Spain at the start of the Spanish Civil War.

Nineteen Algerian martyrs beatified
Dec 10, 2018 - 03:08 pm .- Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, were beatified Saturday during a Mass in Oran.

The Algerian martyrs shed their blood for Christ, pope says
Dec 7, 2018 - 10:02 am .- Ahead of the beatification Saturday of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, Pope Francis said martyrs have a special place in the Church.
Algerian martyrs are models for the Church, archbishop says
Nov 16, 2018 - 03:01 am .- Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers has said that Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, are “models for our lives as disciples today and tomorrow.”

Francesco Spinelli to be canonized after healing of a newborn in DR Congo
Oct 9, 2018 - 05:01 pm .- Among those being canonized on Sunday are Fr. Franceso Spinelli, a diocesan priest through whose intercession a newborn was saved from death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Algerian martyrs to be beatified in December
Sep 14, 2018 - 06:01 pm .- The Algerian bishops' conference has announced that the beatification of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in the country between 1994 and 1996, will be held Dec. 8.

Now a cardinal, Giovanni Angelo Becciu heads to congregation for saints' causes
Jun 28, 2018 - 11:41 am .- Newly-minted Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu will resign from his post as substitute of the Secretariat of State tomorrow, in anticipation of his appointment as prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints later this summer.

Pope Francis creates new path to beatification under ‘offering of life’
Jul 11, 2017 - 06:22 am .- On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor.

Twentieth century Polish nurse among causes advancing toward sainthood
Jul 7, 2017 - 06:14 am .- Pope Francis on Friday approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Hanna Chrzanowska, a Polish nurse and nursing instructor who died from cancer in 1973, paving the way for her beatification.

Sainthood causes advance, including layman who resisted fascism
Jun 17, 2017 - 09:22 am .- Pope Francis on Friday recognized the heroic virtue of six persons on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of an Italian man who died from injuries of a beating he received while imprisoned in a concentration camp for resisting fascism.

Solanus Casey, Cardinal Van Thuan among those advanced toward sainthood
May 4, 2017 - 10:47 am .- Pope Francis on Thursday approved decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints advancing the causes for canonization of 12 individuals, including the American-born Capuchin Solanus Casey and the Vietnamese cardinal Francis Xavier Nguen Van Thuan.

Pope clears way for canonization of Fatima visionaries
Mar 23, 2017 - 06:44 am .- On Thursday Pope Francis approved the second and final miracle needed to canonize Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the Fatima Marian apparitions.
Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward
Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life.

8 Martyrs Move Closer to Sainthood 8 July, 2016
Posted by ZENIT Staff on 8 July, 2016

The angel appears to Saint Monica
This morning, Pope Francis received Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Angelo Amato. During the audience, he authorized the promulgation of decrees concerning the following causes:

***
MIRACLES:
Miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Luis Antonio Rosa Ormières, priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Guardian Angel; born July 4, 1809 and died on Jan. 16, 1890
MARTYRDOM:
Servants of God Antonio Arribas Hortigüela and 6 Companions, Missionaries of the Sacred Heart; killed in hatred of the Faith, Sept. 29, 1936
Servant of God Josef Mayr-Nusser, a layman; killed in hatred of the Faith, Feb. 24, 1945
HEROIC VIRTUE:

Servant of God Alfonse Gallegos of the Order of Augustinian Recollects, Titular Bishop of Sasabe, auxiliary of Sacramento; born Feb. 20, 1931 and died Oct. 6, 1991
Servant of God Rafael Sánchez García, diocesan priest; born June 14, 1911 and died on Aug. 8, 1973
Servant of God Andrés García Acosta, professed layman of the Order of Friars Minor; born Jan. 10, 1800 and died Jan. 14, 1853
Servant of God Joseph Marchetti, professed priest of the Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Charles; born Oct. 3, 1869 and died Dec. 14, 1896
Servant of God Giacomo Viale, professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, pastor of Bordighera; born Feb. 28, 1830 and died April 16, 1912
Servant of God Maria Pia of the Cross (née Maddalena Notari), foundress of the Congregation of Crucified Sisters Adorers of the Eucharist; born Dec. 2, 1847 and died on July 1, 1919

Sunday, November 23 2014 Six to Be Canonized on Feast of Christ the King.

On the List Are Lay Founder of a Hospital and Eastern Catholic Religious
VATICAN CITY, June 12, 2014 (Zenit.org) - Today, the Vatican announced that during the celebration of the feast of Christ the King on Sunday, November 23, an ordinary public consistory will be held for the canonization of the following six blesseds, who include a lay founder of a hospital for the poor, founders of religious orders, and two members of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See:
-Giovanni Antonio Farina (1803-1888), an Italian bishop who founded the Institute of the Sisters Teachers of Saint Dorothy, Daughters of the Sacred Hearts
-Kuriakose Elias Chavara (1805-1871), a Syro-Malabar priest in India who founded the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate
-Ludovico of Casoria (1814-1885), an Italian Franciscan priest who founded the Gray Sisters of St. Elizabeth
-Nicola Saggio (Nicola da Longobardi, 1650-1709), an Italian oblate of the Order of Minims
-Euphrasia Eluvathingal (1877-1952), an Indian Carmelite of the Syro-Malabar Church
-Amato Ronconi (1238-1304), an Italian, Third Order Franciscan who founded a hospital for poor pilgrims

CAUSES OF SAINTS July 2015.
Pope Recognizes Heroic Virtues of Ukrainian Archbishop
Recognition Brings Metropolitan Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky Closer to Beatification
By Junno Arocho Esteves Rome, July 17, 2015 (ZENIT.org)
Pope Francis recognized the heroic virtues of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky. According to a communique released by the Holy See Press Office, the Holy Father met this morning with Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

The Pope also recognized the heroic virtues of several religious/lay men and women from Italy, Spain, France & Mexico.
Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky is considered to be one of the most influential 20th century figures in the history of the Ukrainian Church.
Enthroned as Metropolitan of Lviv in 1901, Archbishop Sheptytsky was arrested shortly after the outbreak of World War I in 1914 by the Russians. After his imprisonment in several prisons in Russia and the Ukraine, the Archbishop was released in 1918.

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic prelate was also an ardent supporter of the Jewish community in Ukraine, going so far as to learn Hebrew to better communicate with them. He also was a vocal protestor against atrocities committed by the Nazis, evidenced in his pastoral letter, "Thou Shalt Not Kill." He was also known to harbor thousands of Jews in his residence and in Greek Catholic monasteries.
Following his death in 1944, his cause for canonization was opened in 1958.
* * *
The Holy Father authorized the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees regarding the heroic virtues of:
- Servant of God Andrey Sheptytsky, O.S.B.M., major archbishop of Leopolis of the Ukrainians, metropolitan of Halyc (1865-1944);
- Servant of God Giuseppe Carraro, Bishop of Verona, Italy (1899-1980);
- Servant of God Agustin Ramirez Barba, Mexican diocesan priest and founder of the Servants of the Lord of Mercy (1881-1967);
- Servant of God Simpliciano della Nativita (ne Aniello Francesco Saverio Maresca), Italian professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Hearts (1827-1898);
- Servant of God Maria del Refugio Aguilar y Torres del Cancino, Mexican founder of the Mercedarian Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (1866-1937);
- Servant of God Marie-Charlotte Dupouy Bordes (Marie-Teresa), French professed religious of the Society of the Religious of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (1873-1953);
- Servant of God Elisa Miceli, Italian founder of the Rural Catechist Sisters of the Sacred Heart (1904-1976);
- Servant of God Isabel Mendez Herrero (Isabel of Mary Immaculate), Spanish professed nun of the Servants of St. Joseph (1924-1953)

October 01, 2015 Vatican City, Pope Authorizes following Decrees
(ZENIT.org) By Staff Reporter
Polish Layperson Recognized as Servant of God
Pope Authorizes Decrees
Pope Francis on Wednesday authorised the Congregation for Saints' Causes to promulgate the following decrees:

MARTYRDOM
- Servant of God Valentin Palencia Marquina, Spanish diocesan priest, killed in hatred of the faith in Suances, Spain in 1937;

HEROIC VIRTUES
- Servant of God Giovanni Folci, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the Opera Divin Prigioniero (1890-1963);
- Servant of God Franciszek Blachnicki, Polish diocesan priest (1921-1987);
- Servant of God Jose Rivera Ramirez, Spanish diocesan priest (1925-1991);
- Servant of God Juan Manuel Martín del Campo, Mexican diocesan priest (1917-1996);
- Servant of God Antonio Filomeno Maria Losito, Italian professed priest of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (1838-1917);
- Servant of God Maria Benedetta Giuseppa Frey (nee Ersilia Penelope), Italian professed nun of the Cistercian Order (1836-1913);
- Servant of God Hanna Chrzanowska, Polish layperson, Oblate of the Ursulines of St. Benedict (1902-1973).

March 06 2016 MIRACLES authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
Pope Francis received in a private audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, during which he authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
MIRACLES

– Blessed Manuel González García, bishop of Palencia, Spain, founder of the Eucharistic Missionaries of Nazareth (1877-1940);
– Blessed Elisabeth of the Trinity (née Elisabeth Catez), French professed religious of the Order of Discalced Carmelites (1880-1906);
– Venerable Servant of God Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus (né Henri Grialou), French professed priest of the Order of Discalced Carmelites, founder of the Secular Institute “Notre-Dame de Vie” (1894-1967);
– Venerable Servant of God María Antonia of St. Joseph (née María Antonio de Paz y Figueroa), Argentine founder of the Beaterio of the Spiritual Exercise of Buenos Aires (1730-1799);
HEROIC VIRTUE

– Servant of God Stefano Ferrando, Italian professed priest of the Salesians, bishop of Shillong, India, founder of the Congregation of Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians (1895-1978);
– Servant of God Enrico Battista Stanislao Verjus, Italian professed priest of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, coadjutor of the apostolic vicariate of New Guinea (1860-1892);
– Servant of God Giovanni Battista Quilici, Italian diocesan priest, founder of the Congregation of the Daughters of the Crucified (1791-1844);
– Servant of God Bernardo Mattio, Italian diocesan priest (1845-1914);
– Servant of God Quirico Pignalberi, Italian professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1891-1982);
– Servant of God Teodora Campostrini, Italian founder of the Minim Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Sorrows (1788-1860);
– Servant of God Bianca Piccolomini Clementini, Italian founder of the Company of St. Angela Merici di Siena (1875-1959);
– Servant of God María Nieves of the Holy Family (née María Nieves Sánchez y Fernández), Spanish professed religious of the Daughters of Mary of the Pious Schools (1900-1978).

April 26 2016 MIRACLES authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
Here is the full list of decrees approved by the Pope:

MIRACLES
– Blessed Alfonso Maria Fusco, diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist (1839-1910);
– Venerable Servant of God John Sullivan, professed priest of the Society of Jesus (1861-1933);
MARTYRDOM
– Servants of God Nikolle Vinçenc Prennushi, O.F.M., archbishop of Durres, Albania, and 37 companions killed between 1945 and 1974;
– Servants of God José Antón Gómez and three companions of the Benedictines of Madrid, Spain, killed 1936;
HEROIC VIRTUES
– Servant of God Thomas Choe Yang-Eop, diocesan priest (1821-1861);
– Servant of God Sosio Del Prete (né Vincenzo), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Congregation of the Little Servants of Christ the King (1885-1952);
– Servant of God Wenanty Katarzyniec (né Jósef), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1889-1921);
– Servant of God Maria Consiglia of the Holy Spirity (née Emilia Paqualina Addatis), founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Addolorata, Servants of Mary (1845-1900);
– Servant of God Maria of the Incarnation (née Caterina Carrasco Tenorio), founder of the Congregation of the Franciscan Tertiary Sisters of the Flock of Mary (1840-1917);
– Servant of God , founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Family of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1851-1923);
– Servant of God Ilia Corsaro, founder of the Congregation of the Little Missionaries of the Eucharist (1897-1977);
– Servant of God Maria Montserrat Grases García, layperson of the Personal Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei (1941-1959).

LINKS:
Marian Apparitions (over 2000) India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes Feb 11- July 16, Loreto, Italy 1858
China Marian shrines May 23, 1995 Zarvintisya Ukraine Lourdes Kenya national Marian shrine    Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798
Links to Related Marian Websites Angels and Archangels
Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Apostles Roman Catholic Popes Purgatory Uniates, 83 2023