On Death and Life
"Man Needs Eternity -- and Every Other Hope, for Him, Is All Too Brief"

Saints of this Day September 11 Tértio Idus Septémbris

The saints “a cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.

BENEDICT XVI'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR September 2012

General Intention: That politicians may always act with honesty, integrity, and love for the truth.
Missionary Intention: Help for the Poorest Churches. That Christian communities may have a growing willingness to send missionaries, priests, and lay people, along with concrete resources, to the poorest Churches.

The Rosary html Mary Mother of GOD -- Her Rosary Here
Mary Mother of GOD 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary

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

Mary's Divine Motherhood
Pope Benedict XVI Catholic Church In China {article here}
1648 to1930 St. Augustine Zhao Rong and 120 Companions Christianity arrived in China by way of Syria -- 600s.
Depending on China's relations with outside world,
Christianity for centuries was free to grow or forced to operate secretly.

Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart From the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

How do I start the Five First Saturdays?

Called in the Gospel “the Mother of Jesus,” Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as “the Mother of my Lord” (Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.). In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly “Mother of God” (Theotokos).

Catechism of the Catholic Church 495, quoting the Council of Ephesus (431): DS 251.

“The Blessed Virgin was eternally predestined, in conjunction with the incarnation of the divine Word, to be the Mother of God. By decree of divine Providence, she served on earth as the loving mother of the divine Redeemer, an associate of unique nobility, and the Lord's humble handmaid. She conceived, brought forth, and nourished Christ.”

(Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 61).
Mary Mother of GOD Mary's Divine Motherhood: FEASTS OF OUR LADY
of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary

Saints of this Day September 11 Tértio Idus Septémbris

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.

breviary.net/martyrology/mart09 11 stlukeorthodox.com/html/saints/ usccb.org ewtn.com St Patricks 0911
domcentral.org/life/martyr Mar syriac oca.org glaubenszeugen.de/tage/kai/11 Serbian http://www.copticchurch.net Melkite
Monthly Saints with pics here http://www.stfrancisenid.com/memorials.htm antiochian.org/AW-WomenSaints--wonderful icons
Lutheran Saints One Saint per day stthomasirondequoit.com/SaintsAlive/index.htm stjohndc.org God's Humourous Saints

Join Mary of Nazareth Project help us build the International Marian Center of Nazareth.

http://www.worldpriest.com/

THE EUCHARIST, A MYSTERY TO BE BELIEVED POST-SYNODAL APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS OF THE HOLY FATHER BENEDICT XVI
Miracles by Century 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 Miracles_BC Lay Saints

Morning Prayer and Hymn Meditation of the Day Prayer for Priests Our Bartholomew Family Prayer List Here
How to Stay Out of PURGATORY -- How to Get others Out POPES html Parents of Saints html
The_Litany_of_the_Blessed_Virgin.html Patron_Saints.html Angels and Archangels html
Marian Apparitions. html Doctors_of_the_Church

We are called upon with the whole Church militant on earth to join in praising and thanking God for the grace and glory he has bestowed on his saints. At the same time we earnestly implore Him to exert His almighty power and mercy in raising us from our miseries and sins, healing the disorders of our souls and leading us by the path of repentance to the company of His saints, to which He has called us.
They were once what we are now, travellers on earth they had the same weaknesses, which we have. We have difficulties to encounter so had the saints, and many of them far greater than we can meet with; obstacles from kings and whole nations, sometimes from the prisons, racks and swords of persecutors. Yet they surmounted these difficulties, which they made the very means of their virtue and victories. It was by the strength they received from above, not by their own, that they triumphed. But the blood of Christ was shed for us as it was for them and the grace of our Redeemer is not wanting to us; if we fail, the failure is in ourselves.

THE saints and just, from the beginning of time and throughout the world, who have been made perfect, everlasting monuments of God’s infinite power and clemency, praise His goodness without ceasing; casting their crowns before His throne they give to Him all the glory of their triumphs: “His gifts alone in us He crowns.”

“The saints must be honored as friends of Christ and children and heirs of God, as John the theologian and evangelist says: ‘But as many as received him, he gave them the power to be made the sons of God....’ Let us carefully observe the manner of life of all the apostles, martyrs, ascetics and just men who announced the coming of the Lord. And let us emulate their faith, charity, hope, zeal, life, patience under suffering, and perseverance unto death, so that we may also share their crowns of glory” Exposition of the Orthodox Faith

Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly “Mother of God” (Theotokos).
Catechism of the Catholic Church 495, quoting the Council of Ephesus (431): DS 251.

Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart ... From the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
On Friday during Holy Communion, He said these words to me, His unworthy slave, if I mistake not:

“I promise you in the excessive mercy of my Heart that its all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on nine first Fridays of consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they will not die under my displeasure or without receiving their sacraments, my divine Heart making itself their assured refuge at the last moment.”

Margaret Mary was inspired by Christ to establish the Holy Hour and to pray lying prostrate with her face to the ground from eleven till midnight on the eve of the first Friday of each month, to share in the mortal sadness.
He endured when abandoned by His Apostles in His Agony, and to receive holy Communion on the first Friday of every month. In the first great revelation, He made known to her His ardent desire to be loved by men and His design of manifesting His Heart with all Its treasures of love and mercy, of sanctification and salvation.
He appointed the Friday after the octave of the feast of Corpus Christi as the feast of the Sacred Heart; He called her “the Beloved Disciple of the Sacred Heart”, and the heiress of all Its treasures. The love of the Sacred Heart was the fire which consumed her, and devotion to the Sacred Heart is the refrain of all her writings. In her last illness she refused all alleviation, repeating frequently: “What have I in heaven and what do I desire on earth, but Thee alone, O my God”, and died pronouncing the Holy Name of Jesus.
With regard to this promise it may be remarked: (1) that our Lord required Communion to be received on a particular day chosen by Him; (2) that the nine Fridays must be consecutive; (3) that they must be made in honor of His Sacred Heart, which means that those who make the nine Fridays must practice the devotion and must have a great love for our Lord; (4) that our Lord does not say that those who make the nine Fridays will be dispensed from any of their obligations or from exercising the vigilance necessary to lead a good life and overcome temptation; rather He implicitly promises abundant graces to those who make the nine Fridays to help them to carry out these obligations and persevere to the end; (5) that perseverance in receiving Holy Communion for nine consecutive First Firdays helps the faithful to acquire the habit of frequent Communion, which our Lord eagerly desires; and (6) that the practice of the nine Fridays is very pleasing to our Lord He promises such great reward, and all Catholics should endeavor to make nine Fridays.

How do I start the Five First Saturdays? by Fr. Tom O'Mahony

On July 13,1917, Our Lady appeared for the third time to the three children of Fatima an showed them the vision of hell and made the now - famous thirteen prophecies. In this vision Our Lady said that 'GOD WISHES TO ESTABLISH IN THE WORLD DEVOTION to Her Immaculate Heart and that She would come TO ASK FOR THE COMMUNION OF REPARATION ON THE FIRST SATURDAYS...' Eight years later, on December 10, 1925, Our Lady did indeed come back. She appeared (with the Child Jesus) to Lucia in the convent of the Dorothean Sisters in Pontevedra.
The Child Jesus spoke first:
'HAVE COMPASSION ON THE HEART OF YOUR MOST HOLY MOTHER WHICH IS COVERED WITH THORNS WITH WHICH UNGRATEFUL MEN PIERCE IT AT EVERY MOMENT, WHILE THERE IS NO ONE TO REMOVE THEM WITH AN ACT OF REPARATION.'

THE GREAT PROMISE
Our Lady then said: 'MY DAUGHTER LOOK AT MY HEART SURROUNDED WITH THORNS WITH WHICH UNGRATEFUL MEN PIERCE IT AT EVERY MOMENT BY THEIR BLASPHEMIES AND INGRATITUDE. YOU, AT LEAST, TRY TO CONSOLE ME, AND SAY THAT I PROMISE TO ASSIST AT THE HOUR OF DEATH WITH ALL THE GRACES NECESSARY FOR SALVATION, ALL THOSE WHO, ON THE FIRST SATURDAY OF FIVE CONSECUTIVE MONTHS GO TO CONFESSION AND RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION, RECITE FIVE DECADES OF THE ROSARY AND KEEP ME COMPANY FOR A QUARTER OF AN HOUR WHILE MEDITATING ON MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY, WITH THE INTENTION OF MAKING REPARATION TO ME.'

The Five Reasons

Lucia once asked this question of Our Lord and received as an answer: 'MY DAUGHTER, THE MOTIVE IS SIMPLE, THERE ARE FIVE KINDS OF OFFENCES AND BLASPHEMIES UTTERED AGAINST THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY: (1) BLASPHEMIES AGAINST THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION: (2) BLASPHEMIES AGAINST HER VIRGINITY: (3) BLASPHEMIES AGAINST HER DIVINE MATERNITY: (4) BLASPHEMIES OF THOSE WHO OPENLY SEEK TO FOSTER IN THE HEARTS OF CHILDREN INDIFFERENCE OR EVEN HATRED FOR THIS IMMACULATE MOTHER: (5) THE OFFENCES OF THOSE WHO DIRECTLY OUTRAGE HER IN HOLY IMAGES.'
From the above, it is easy to see that each of the Five Saturdays can correspond to a specific offence. By offering the graces received during each First Saturday as reparation for the offence being prayed for, the participant can hope to help remove the thorns from Our Lady's Heart.
What Do I Have To Do?
The devotion of First Saturdays, as requested by Our Lady of Fatima, carries with it the assurance of salvation. However, to derive profit from such a great promise of Our Lady, the devotion must be properly understood and duly performed.
The requirements as stipulated by Our Lady are as follows:
(1) CONFESSION, (2) COMMUNION, (3) FIVE DECADES OF THE ROSARY, (4) MEDITATION ON ONE OR MORE OF THE ROSARY MYSTERIES FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES, (5) TO DO ALL THESE THINGS IN THE SPIRIT OF REPARATION TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY, and (6) TO OBSERVE ALL THESE PRACTICES ON THE FIRST SATURDAY OF FIVE CONSECUTIVE MONTHS.

(1) CONFESSION: A reparative confession means that the confession should not only be good (valid and licit), but also be offered in the spirit of reparation, in this case, to Mary's Immaculate Heart. This confession may be made on the First Saturday itself or some days before or after the First Saturday within the preceding octave would suffice.
(2) COMMUNION: The communion of reparation must be sacramental duly received with the intention of making reparation. This offering, like the confession, is an interior act and so no external action to express the intention is needed.

(3) THE ROSARY: The Rosary mentioned here was indicated by the Portuguese word 'terco' which is commonly employed to denote a Rosary of five decades, since it forms a fourth of the full Rosary of 20 decades. This too must recited in a spirit of reparation.
(4) MEDITATION FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES: Here the meditation on one mystery or more is to be made without simultaneous recitation of the Rosary decade. As indicated, the meditation may be either on one mystery alone for 15 minutes, or on all 20 mysteries, spending about one minute on each mystery, or again, on two or more mysteries during the period. This can also be made before each decade spending three minutes or more in considering the mystery of the particular decade. This meditation has likewise to be made in the spirit of reparation to the Immaculate Heart.
(5) THE SPIRIT OF REPARATION: All these acts, as said above, have to be done with the intention of offering reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the offences committed against Her. Everyone who offends Her commits, so to speak, a two-fold offence, for these sins also offend her Divine Son, Christ, and so endanger our salvation. They give bad example to others and weaken the strength of society to withstand immoral onslaughts. Such devotions therefore make us consider not only the enormity of the offence against God, but also the effect of sins on human society as well as the need for undoing these social effects even when the offender repents and is converted. Further, this reparation emphasises our responsibility towards sinners who, themselves, will not pray and make reparation for their sins.

(6) FIVE CONSECUTIVE FIRST SATURDAYS: The idea of the Five First Saturdays is obviously to make us persevere in the devotional acts for these Saturdays and overcome initial difficulties. Once this is done, Our Lady knows that the person would become devoted to Her immaculate Heart and persist in practising such devotion on all First Saturdays, working thereby for personal self-reform and for the salvation of others.

Unless Russia is converted, the movement against God and for sin will continue to spread, promoting wars and persecutions, and making the attainment for peace and justice impossible for this world. One means of obtaining Russia's conversion is to practise the Fatima Message. The stakes are so great that to encourage Catholics to practise the devotion of the First Saturdays, Our Lady has assured us that She will obtain salvation for all those who observe the first Saturdays for five consecutive months in accordance with Her conditions.
At the supreme moment the departing person will be either in the state of grace or not. In either case Our Lady will be by his side. If in the state of grace, She will console and help him to resist whatever temptations the devil might put before him in his last attempt to take the person with him to hell. If not in the state of grace, Our Lady will help the person to repent in a manner agreeable to God and so benefit by the fruits of redemption and be saved.

Miracles 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 Lay Saints

The POPES HTML
Pius IX 1846--1878 • Leo XIII 1878-1903 • Pius X 1903-1914• Benedict XV 1914-1922 • Pius XI 1922-1939 • Pius XII 1939-1958 • John XXIII 1958-1963 • Paul VI 1963 to 1978 • John Paul • John Paul II 10/16/1975-4/2/2005 Benedict XVI

"The answers to many of life's questions can be found by reading the Lives of the Saints. They teach us how to overcome obstacles and difficulties, how to stand firm in our faith, and how to struggle against evil and emerge victorious." 1913 Saint Barsanuphius of Optina

The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR benefit of others.
Non est inventus similis illis

God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heaven.

Popes mentioned in articles of Saints

Quote: Pope Paul VI’s 1969 Instruction on the Contemplative Life includes this passage:

"To withdraw into the desert is for Christians tantamount to associating themselves more intimately with Christ’s passion, and it enables them, in a very special way, to share in the paschal mystery and in the passage of Our Lord from this world to the heavenly homeland" (#1).

Cross Not Optional, Says Benedict XVI

Reflects on Peter's "Immature" Faith CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, AUG. 31, 2008 (Zenit.org).-
Taking up one's cross isn't an option, it's a mission all Christians are called to, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope said this today before reciting the midday Angelus with several thousand people gathered in the courtyard of the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome.

Referring to the Gospel reading for today's Mass, the Holy Father reflected on the faith of Peter, which is shown to be "still immature and too much influenced by the 'mentality of this world.'” He explained that when Christ spoke openly about how he was to "suffer much, be killed and rise again, Peter protests, saying: 'God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.'"
"It is evident that the Master and the disciple follow two opposed ways of thinking," continued the Pontiff. "Peter, according to a human logic, is convinced that God would never allow his Son to end his mission dying on the cross. "Jesus, on the contrary, knows that the Father, in his great love for men, sent him to give his life for them, and if this means the passion and the cross, it is right that such should happen."

Christ also knew that "the resurrection would be the last word," Benedict XVI added.

Serious illness
The Pope continued, "If to save us the Son of God had to suffer and die crucified, it certainly was not because of a cruel design of the heavenly Father. "The cause of it is the gravity of the sickness of which he must cure us: an evil so serious and deadly that it will require all of his blood.

"In fact, it is with his death and resurrection that Jesus defeated sin and death, reestablishing the lordship of God."

Quote: Pope Paul VI’s 1969 Instruction on the Contemplative Life includes this passage:

"The answers to many of life's questions can be found by reading the Lives of the Saints. They teach us how to overcome obstacles and difficulties, how to stand firm in our faith, and how to struggle against evil and emerge victorious." 1913 Saint Barsanuphius of Optina

The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR benefit of others.
Non est inventus similis illis

Quote: Pope Paul VI’s 1969 Instruction on the Contemplative Life includes this passage:

"Christianity is not a moral code or a philosophy, but an encounter with a person" -- Benedict XVI

Quote: Pope Paul VI’s 1969 Instruction on the Contemplative Life includes this passage:

Christianity is not a moral code or a philosophy, but an encounter with a person”
-- Benedict XVI

Benedict_XVI_Patriarch_Bartholomew

Benedict XVI_Archbishop_Hilarion

Benedict XVI receives Orthodox Archbishop Hilarion n September 18th, Pope Benedict XVI; Archbishop Hilarion, president of the Department for External Church Affairs of the Patriarchate of Moscow.
The Orthodox Archbishop is currently visiting the Vatican at the invitation of Cardinal Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
This Pontifical Council underlined that the visit will confirm the ties of friendship between the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church, with a view to closer collaboration and to favor the presence of the Church in the lives of the peoples of Europe and the world.
In addition, a further step in ecumenical relations is scheduled for the month of October in Cyprus: the meeting of the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, which will address the theme of Petrine Primacy.

Benedict XVI met with Aram I Catholicos of Cilicia, the highest authority of the Orthodox Church. The Pope remembered the martyrs of the Armenian Church and the Armenian genocide, without explicitly mentioning it, and denounced the persecution of Christians in modern times. Benedict XVI
That testimony culminated in the twentieth century, which proved a time of Unspeakable suffering for your people. Most recently we have all been saddened by the escalation of persecution and violence against Christians in parts of the Middle East and elsewhere.
The Catholicos is based in Lebanon. That is why, the Pope said, he prays every day for peace in this country and throughout the Middle East. Benedict XVI said there will only be peace in the region when each country is free to decide its own destiny and when every ethnic and religious group accepts and respects the others. Aram I emphasized that the churches must be means for peace and to achieve that they must recognize “all” genocides, even the Armenian.. The Catholicos recalled his meeting with John Paul II, adding that this visit represents a new step for ecumenical dialogue.

Aram I Catholicos
Our meeting is an opportunity to pray and reflect together, and to renew our commitment and efforts for Christian unity.
Armenian church members from all over the world join with Catholicos in making pilgrimages to Rome.

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.

THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 19

Thou shalt hear us, O Lady, in the day of tribulation: and by our prayers turn to us thy merciful countenance.
Cast us not off in the time of our death: but help the soul, when it shall have left the body.
Send an angel to meet it: by whom it may be defended from the enemy.
Show unto it the most serene Judge of ages: who for thy grace will bestow pardon.
Let it feel thy refreshment in its torments: and grant to it a place among the elect of God.

Glory be to the Father who created Heaven and earth; His only Son who lived and died for all of us;
and the Holy Spirit the Lord giver of life, Who proceeds from the Father and Son, with the Father and Son He is Worshiped and Glorified, and He has spoken through the prophets: Amen.

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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.

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 (2008) 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. Eccl., V,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. Site http://www.fathercorapi

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, SOLT

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. Although it is supposed to be a religion of peace, Islam has been hijacked by Satan and now operates in the dark space of international terrorism. 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

Site http://www.fathercorapi

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.

Since his ordination to the priesthood in 1991 Fr. Corapi has traveled over 2,000,000 miles preaching the Gospel. He has preached in 49 of the 50 states, all of the Canadian provinces except NewFoundland, and several other foreign countries. He is currently engaged in preaching and teaching the Catholic faith by way of the means of social communication: television, radio, the internet, and various other multi-media formats.

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

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_Of_The_Apostles Roman Catholic Popes Purgatory Uniates

DECREES OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE CAUSES OF SAINTS VATICAN CITY, 19 DEC 2011 (VIS)
The Holy Father today received in audience Cardinal Angelo Amato S.D.B., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and authorised the promulgation of decrees concerning the following causes:

MIRACLES
- Blessed Giovanni Battista Piamarta, Italian priest and founder of the Congregation of the Holy Family of Nazareth and of the Congregation of the Humble Sister Servants of the Lord (1841-1913).
- Blessed Jacques Berthieu, French martyr and priest of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) (1838-1896).
- Blessed Maria del Carmen (born Maria Salles y Barangueras), Spanish foundress of the Conceptionist Missionary Sisters of Teaching (1848-1911).
- Blessed Maria Anna Cope, nee Barbara, German religious of the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis in Syracuse U.S.A. (1838-1918).
- Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, American laywoman (1656-1680).
- Blessed Pedro Calungsod, Filipino lay catechist and martyr (1654-1672).
- Blessed Anna Schaffer, German laywoman (1882-1925).
- Servant of God Louis Brisson, French priest and founder of the Oblates of St. Francis of Sales (1817-1908).
- Servant of God Luigi Novarese, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the Silent Workers of the Cross (1914-1984).
- Servant of God Maria Luisa (nee Gertrude Prosperi), Italian abbess of the convent of the Order of St. Benedict of Trevi (1799-1847).
- Servant of God Mother St. Louis (nee Maria Luisa Elisabeth de Lamoignon, widow of Mole de Champlatreux), French foundress of the Sisters of St. Louis (1763-1825).
- Servant of God Maria Crescencia (nee Maria Angelica Perez), Argentinean professed religious of the Congregation of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Orchard (1897-1932).

MARTYRDOM
- Servant of God Nicola Rusca, Swiss diocesan priest, killed in hatred of the faith (1563-1618).
- Servants of God Luis Orencio (ne Antonio Sola Garriga) and eighteen companions of the Institute of Brothers of Christian Schools; Antonio Mateo Salamero, diocesan priest, and Jose Gorostazu Labayen, layman, all killed in hatred of the faith in Spain in 1936.
- Servants of God Alberto Maria Marco y Aleman and eight companions of the Order of Carmelites of the Ancient Observance, and Agustin Maria Garcia Tribaldos and fifteen companions of the Institute of Brothers of Christian Schools; all killed in hatred of the faith in Spain between 1936 and 1937.
- Servants of God Mariano Alcala Perez and eighteen companions of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy, killed in hatred of the faith in Spain between 1936 and 1937.

HEROIC VIRTUES
- Servant of God Donato Giannotti, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of Sisters Handmaidens of the Immaculate Conception (1828-1914).
- Servant of God Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus (ne Henri Grialou), French professed priest of the Order of Discalced Carmelites and founder of the Institute of Notre-Dame de Vie (1894-1967).
- Servant of God Alphonse-Marie (nee Elisabeth Eppinger), French foundress of the Congregation of Sisters of the Blessed Saviour (1814-1867).
- Servant of God Marguerite Lucia Szewczyk, Polish foundress of the Congregation of the Daughters of the Sorrowful Mother of God - Seraphic Sisters (1828-1905).
- Servant of God Assunta Marchetti, Italian co-foundress of the Missionary Sisters of St. Charles (1871-1948).
- Servant of God Maria Julitta (nee Teresa Eleonora Ritz), German professed sister of the Congregation of Sisters of the Redeemer (1882-1966).
- Servant of God Maria Anna Amico Roxas, Italian laywoman and foundress of the Society of St. Ursula (1883-1947). VIS 20111219 (580)

4th v. St. Diodorus Martyr with Diomedes & Didymus They were executed in Laodicia, in Syria
Laodicéæ, in Syria, pássio sanctórum Diodóri, Diomédis et Dídymi.
At Laodicea in Syria, the martyrdom of Saints Diodorus, Diomedes, and Didymus.
Saint Diodorus was born in Laodicea in the fourth century, and suffered martyrdom in that city. He and his companions Didymus and Diomedes were flogged to death.

The Holy Martyrs Demetrius, his wife Euanthea, and their son Demetrian. St Demetrius was a prince and prefect of the city of Skepsis in the Hellespont. St Cornelius the Centurion (September 13), the first Gentile converted to Christ by the Apostle Paul, came into his city preaching the Gospel.

St Cornelius sowed the seeds of Christianity among many of the inhabitants of Skepsis, and so the pagans arrested him and brought him to trial before the prefect Demetrius. In vain he demanded that the saint renounce Christ, and finally handed him over for torture.

St Cornelius bravely endured the torture, while in turn urging the prefect to forsake his pagan errors and turn to the true faith in Christ. Led into a temple of idols, St Cornelius destroyed the pagan temple and the idols standing in it by his prayer.

Persuaded of the truth of Christianity by the saint's preaching and by his miracles, the prefect Demetrius himself came to believe in Christ and was baptized with all his family. Because the saints now believed in Christ, the pagans threw the newly-converted family into prison where they were starved to death.

258 St. Cyprian; development of Christian thought and practice northern Africa
Cyprian is important in the development of Christian thought and practice in the third century, especially in northern Africa.
Highly educated, a famous orator, he was converted to Christianity as an adult. He distributed his goods to the poor, and amazed his fellow citizens by making a vow of chastity before his Baptism. Within two years he had been ordained a priest and was chosen, against his will, as Bishop of Carthage (near modern Tunis).
   Cyprian complained that the peace the Church had enjoyed had weakened the spirit of many Christians and had opened the door to converts who did not have the true spirit of faith. When the Decian persecution began, many Christians easily abandoned the Church. It was their reinstatement that caused the great controversies of the third century, and helped the Church progress in its understanding of the Sacrament of Penance. Novatus, a priest who had opposed Cyprian's election, set himself up in Cyprian's absence (he had fled to a hiding place from which to direct the Church—bringing criticism on himself) and received back all apostates without imposing any canonical penance. Ultimately he was condemned. Cyprian held a middle course, holding that those who had actually sacrificed to idols could receive Communion only at death, whereas those who had only bought certificates saying they had sacrificed could be admitted after a more or less lengthy period of penance. Even this was relaxed during a new persecution.
   During a plague in Carthage, he urged Christians to help everyone, including their enemies and persecutors.
   A friend of Pope Cornelius, Cyprian opposed the following pope, Stephen. He and the other African bishops would not recognize the validity of Baptism conferred by heretics and schismatics. This was not the universal view of the Church, but Cyprian was not intimidated even by Stephen's threat of excommunication. He was exiled by the emperor and then recalled for trial. He refused to leave the city, insisting that his people should have the witness of his martyrdom.
    Cyprian was a mixture of kindness and courage, vigor and steadiness. He was cheerful and serious, so that people did not know whether to love or respect him more. He waxed warm during the baptismal controversy; his feelings must have concerned him, for it was at this time that he wrote his treatise on patience. St. Augustine remarks that Cyprian atoned for his anger by his glorious martyrdom.

Comment: The controversies about Baptism and Penance in the third century remind us that the early Church had no ready-made solutions from the Holy Spirit. The leaders and members of the Church of that day had to move painfully through the best series of judgments they could make in an attempt to follow the entire teaching of Christ and not be diverted by exaggerations to right or left.

Quote: “You cannot have God for your Father if you do not have the Church for your mother.... God is one and Christ is one, and his Church is one; one is the faith, and one is the people cemented together by harmony into the strong unity of a body.... If we are the heirs of Christ, let us abide in the peace of Christ; if we are the sons of God, let us be lovers of peace” (St. Cyprian, The Unity of the Catholic Church).

4th v. St. Paphnutius the Great bishop Nicaea; under Constantine the Great, he courageously strove for the Catholic faith against the Arians
In Ægypto sancti Paphnútii Epíscopi, qui unus fuit ex iis Confessóribus, qui, sub Galério Maximiáno Imperatóre, dextro óculo effósso et sinístro póplite excíso, ad metálla damnáti fuérunt; deínde, sub Constantíno Magno, advérsus Ariános, pro fide cathólica, strénue decertávit; et demum, multis corónis auctus, in pace quiévit.
In Egypt, the holy bishop Paphnutius, one of those confessors who, under Emperor Galerius Maximinus, having the right eye plucked out and the joint of the left knee cut, were condemned to work in the metal mines. Afterwards, under Constantine the Great, he courageously strove for the Catholic faith against the Arians, and at length, adorned with many crowns, rested in peace.

350? ST PAPHNUTIUS, Bishop
THE holy confessor Paphnutius was an Egyptian who, after having spent several years in the desert under the direction of the great St Antony, was made bishop in the Upper Thebaid. He was one of those confessors who under the Emperor Maximinus lost the right eye, were hamstrung in one leg, and were afterwards sent to work in the mines. Peace being restored to the Church, Paphnutius returned to his flock, bearing all the rest of his life the glorious marks of his sufferings for the name of his crucified Master. He was one of the most zealous in defending the Catholic faith against the Arian heresy and for his holiness, and as one who had confessed the faith before persecutors and under torments, was an outstanding figure of the first general council of the Church, held at Nicaea in the year 325.

Paphnutius, a man who had observed the strictest continence all his life, is said to have distinguished himself at the council by his opposition to clerical celibacy.

Many of the bishops were for making a general law forbidding all bishops, priests, deacons and subdeacons to live with wives whom they had married before their ordination. Whereupon Paphnutius rose up in the assembly and opposed the motion, saying that it was enough to conform to the ancient tradition of the Church, which forbade the clergy marrying after their ordination. For the married the use of wedlock is chastity, he reminded the fathers, and implored them not to lay the yoke of separation on clerics and their wives. St Paphnutius carried the council with him, and to this day it is the law of the Eastern churches, whether Catholic or dissident, that married men may receive all holy orders below the episcopate, and continue to live freely with their wives.

St Paphnutius remained always in a close union with St Athanasius and the other orthodox prelates. He and other Egyptian bishops accompanied their holy patriarch to the Council of Tyre in 335, where they found the greater part of the members who composed that assembly to be professed Arians. Paphnutius, seeing Maximus, Bishop of Jerusalem, among them and full of concern to find a prelate who had suffered in the late persecution in such bad company, took him by the hand, led him out, and told him that he could not bear that anyone who bore the same marks as himself in defence of the faith should be led away and imposed upon by persons who were resolved to condemn the most strenuous asserter of its fundamental article. Maximus was overcome by the saint’s appeal and let himself be led to a seat among the supporters of St Athanasius, whom he never afterwards deserted.

St Paphnutius is sometimes called “the Great” to distinguish him from other saints of the same name; the year of his death is not known.

There is no early life of St Paphnutius, but in the Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. iii, a number of passages, notably from the historians Socrates and Theodoret, have been brought together. See also DCB., vol. iv, p. 185. The authenticity of the pronouncement attributed to Paphnutius on the celibacy question has been often discussed. Consult on this DTC., vol. ii, c. 2078.

The holy confessor Paphnutius was an Egyptian who, after having spent several years in the desert under the direction of the great St. Antony, was made bishop in the Upper Thebaid. He was one of those confessors who under the Emperor Maximinus 305-313 lost the right eye, were hamstrung in one leg, and were afterwards sent to work in the mines.
Peace being restored to the Church, Paphnutius returned to his flock, bearing all the rest of his life the glorious marks of his sufferings for the name of his Crucified Master. He was one of the most zealous in defending the Catholic faith against the Arian heresy and for his holiness. As one who had confessed the Faith before persecutors and under torments, he was an outstanding figure of the first General Council of the Church, held at Nicaea in the year 325.
Paphnutius, a man who had observed the strictest continence all his life, is said to have distinguished himself at the Council by his opposition to clerical celibacy. Paphnutius said that it was enough to conform to the ancient tradition of the Church, which forbade the clergy marrying after their ordination. To this day it is the law of the Eastern Churches, whether Catholic or dissident, that married men may receive all Holy Orders below the episcopate, and continue to live freely with their wives. St. Paphnutius is sometimes called "the Great" to distinguish him from other saints of the same name; the year of his death is not known.
   The most celebrated personage of this name was bishop of a city in the Upper Thebaid in the early fourth century, and one of the most interesting members of the Council of Nicæa (325). He suffered mutilation of the left knee and the loss of his right eye for the Faith under the Emperor Maximinus (308-13), and was subsequently condemned to the mines. At Nicæa he was greatly honoured by Constantine the Great, who, according to Socrates (H. E., I, 11), used often to send for the good old confessor and kiss the place whence the eye had been torn out.
   He took a prominent, perhaps a decisive, part in the debate at the First Œcumenical Council on the subject of the celibacy of the clergy. It seems that most of the bishops present were disposed to follow the precedent of the Council of Elvira (can. xxxiii) prohibiting conjugal relations to those bishops, priests, deacons, and, according to Sozomen, sub-deacons, who were married before ordination. Paphnutius earnestly entreated his fellow-bishops not to impose this obligation on the orders of the clergy concerned. He proposed, in accordance "with the ancient tradition of the Church", that only those who were celibates at the time of ordination should continue to observe continence, but, on the other hand, that "none should be separated from her, to whom, while yet unordained, he had been united".
   The great veneration in which he was held, and the well known fact that he had himself observed the strictest chastity all his life, gave weight to his proposal, which was unanimously adopted. The council left it to the discretion of the married clergy to continue or discontinue their marital relations. Paphnutius was present at the Synod of Tyre (335).

3rd v. St. Felix & Regula Martyred brother &sister who fled to Switzerland during the persecution conducted by co-Emperor Maximian. They were captured and martyred near Zurich.

253-269 SS. PROTUS AND HYACINTH, MARTYRS
Romæ, via Salária véteri, in cœmetério Basíllæ, natális sanctórum Mártyrum Proti et Hyacínthi fratrum, eunuchórum beátæ Eugéniæ. Hi, sub Galliéno Imperatóre, deprehénsi quod essent Christiáni, sacrificáre cogúntur; sed non consentiéntes, primo duríssime verberáti sunt, ac tandem páriter decolláti.
At Rome, on the old Salarian Way in the cemetery of Basilla, the birthday of the holy martyrs Protus and Hyacinth, brothers, and eunuchs in the service of blessed Eugenia. They were arrested in the time of Emperor Gallienus on the charge of being Christians, and urged to offer sacrifice to the gods. Because they refused, they were most severely scourged and finally beheaded.

THESE martyrs are mentioned in the Depositio martyrum of the middle of the fourth century. They were buried in the cemetery of Basilla or St Hermes on the Old Salarian Way, and here in the year 1845 Father Joseph archi, s.j., found the burial-place of St Hyacinth undisturbed. It was a niche closed with a slab bearing the inscription DP III Idus SEPTEBR/YACINTHUS/MARTYR:

Hyacinth the Martyr, buried September 11. Within it were the remains of the martyr, charred bones and traces of costly material. He had evidently met his death by fire. These precious relics were translated to the church of the Urban College in 1849. Near by was found part of a later inscription, bearing the words SEPULCRUM PR0TI M: The tomb of Protus, M[artyr], but no other trace of him. The relics of St Protus are supposed to have been removed into the city by Pope St Leo IV in the middle of the ninth century, and parts thereof have been translated several times since. In an epitaph by Pope St Damasus, these martyrs are referred to as brothers.

The simple certitude of the passion, burial and finding of St Hyacinth is in marked contrast with the “acts”, which are contained in those of St Eugenia and are entirely fictitious. The story is that Eugenia, the Christian daughter of the prefect of Egypt, fled from her father’s house with Protus and Hyacinth, her two slaves. Eugenia after various adventures converts her family and many others. Among them, the Roman lady Basilla is brought to the faith by the efforts of Protus and Hyacinth, and she, Protus and Hyacinth are all beheaded together.

See Delehaye’s CMH., pp. 501—502, where there is a succinct but complete statement of the facts, with references his Origines du culte des martyrs (1933), pp. 72, 272; and his Étude sur 1e légendier romain (1936), pp. 574—175, 183—184. See also J. Marchi, Monumenti primitivi, vol. i, pp. 238 seq. and 264 seq.; and cf. bibliography of St Eugenia on December 25. On the parish of “St Pratt” (Blisland In Cornwall), see Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lxix (1951), p. 443.

491 St. Theodora Egyptian penitent maiden of Alexandria; miracles
Alexandríæ sanctæ Theodóræ, quæ, cum incáute deliquísset, inde, facti pænitens, mirábili abstinéntia et patiéntia in hábitu sancto perseverávit incógnita usque ad mortem.
At Alexandria, St. Theodora, who having committed a fault through imprudence and repenting of it, remained unknown in a religious habit, and persevered until her death in practices of extraordinary abstinence and patience.

ST THEODORA OF ALEXANDRIA
The Roman Martyrology speaks today of the death at Alexandria of St Theodora, “who, having transgressed through carelessness, was repentant therefor and persevered in the religious habit, unknown and with marvellous abstinence and patience, until her death”.

These restrained words are very different in tone from the legends of St Theodora. They relate that she was the wife of Gregory, prefect of Egypt, and that, having fallen into grave sin, she fled away from her home to expiate it in a monastery of the Thebaid. Disguised as a man she lived for many years among the monks a life of extraordinary austerity. Once when she went into Alexandria in charge of some camels she was recognized by her husband, but she insisted on returning to the desert, where she lived for the rest of her life.

There was a St Theodora who was known to the fathers of the desert, whose wise sayings they repeated, but the above story, decked out with other fictitious particulars, is nothing but a romance, belonging to that class which Father Delehaye traces to the tale of St Pelagia of Antioch (October 8). For example, like St Reparata, St Marina, and others who lived as men among monks, St Theodora was accused of being guilty of seduction and was vindicated only after her death.

On September 17 the Roman Martyrology makes mention of another ST THEODORA, a matron of Rome who zealously ministered to the holy martyrs during the persecution under Diocletian.

The Greek text of the fictitious story of Theodora has been printed by K. Wessely at Vienna, Die Vita S. Theodorae (1889). See also the Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. iii and Delehaye, Les légendes hagiographiques (1927), p. 189 and passim.

Who fell into a life of sin, repented, and spent her remaining days in virtual anonymity as a hermit in the Thebaid, in the southern region of Egypt, atoning through abstinence and mortifications. The fact that she was a woman was not discovered until she died.

Saint Theodora of Alexandria and her husband lived in Alexandria. Love and harmony ruled in their family, and this was hateful to the Enemy of salvation. Goaded on by the devil, a certain rich man was captivated by the youthful beauty of Theodora and began with all his abilities to lead her into adultery, but for a long time he was unsuccessful. Then he bribed a woman of loose morals, who led the unassuming Theodora astray by saying that a secret sin, which the sun does not see, is also unknown to God.
Theodora betrayed her husband, but soon came to her senses and realizing the seriousness of her fall, she became furious with herself, slapping herself on the face and tearing at her hair. Her conscience gave her no peace, and Theodora went to a renowned abbess and told her about her transgression. The abbess, seeing the repentance of the young woman, spoke to her of God's forgiveness and reminded her of the the sinful woman in the Gospel, who washed the feet of Christ with her tears and received from Him forgiveness of her sins. In hope of the mercy of God, Theodora said: "I believe my God, and from now on, I shall not commit such a sin, and I will strive to atone for my deed." At that moment St Theodora resolved to go off to a monastery to purify herself by labor and by prayer. She left her home secretly, and dressing herself in men's clothes, she went to a men's monastery, since she feared that her husband would find her in a women's monastery.

The igumen of the monastery, in order to test the resolve of the newcomer, would not even bless her to enter the courtyard. St Theodora spent the night at the gates. In the morning, she fell down at the knees of the igumen, and said her name was Theodore from Alexandria, and entreated him to let her remain at the monastery for repentance and monastic labors. Seeing the sincere intent of the newcomer, the igumen consented.

Even the experienced monks were amazed at Theodora's all-night prayers on bended knee, her humility, endurance and self-denial. The saint labored at the monastery for eight years. Her body, once defiled by adultery, now became a vessel of the grace of God and a receptacle of the Holy Spirit.
Once, the saint was sent to Alexandria to buy provisions. After blessing her for the journey, the igumen indicated that in case of a delay, she should stay over at the Enata monastery, which was on the way. Also staying at the guest house of the Enata monastery was the daughter of its igumen. She had come to visit with her father. Attracted by the comeliness of the young monk, she tried to seduce the monk Theodore into the sin of fornication, not knowing that it was a woman standing before her. Meeting with refusal, she committed sin with another guest and became pregnant.

Meanwhile, the saint bought the food and returned to her own monastery.

After a certain while the father of the shameless girl, realizing that a transgression had occurred, began to question his daughter about the father of the child. The girl indicated that it was the monk Theodore. The father at once reported it to the Superior of the monastery where St Theodora labored in asceticism. The igumen summoned the saint and repeated the accusation. The saint firmly replied: "As God is my witness, I did not do this."

The igumen, knowing of Theodore's purity and holiness of life, did not believe the accusation.

When the girl gave birth, the Enata monks brought the infant to the monastery where the ascetic lived, and began to reproach its monks for an unchaste life. But this time even the igumen believed the slanderous accusation and became angry at the innocent Theodore.
They entrusted the infant into the care of the saint and threw her out of the monastery in disgrace. The saint humbly submitted to this new trial, seeing in it the expiation of her former sin. She settled with the child not far from the monastery in a hut. Shepherds, out of pity, gave her milk for the infant, and the saint herself ate only wild vegetables. Bearing her misfortune, the holy ascetic spent seven years in banishment. Finally, at the request of the monks, the igumen allowed her to return to the monastery with the child, and in seclusion she spent two years instructing the child.

The igumen of the monastery received a revelation from God that the sin of the monk Theodore was forgiven. The grace of God dwelt upon the monk Theodore, and soon all the monks began to witness to the signs worked through the prayers of the saint.

Once, during a drought, all the wells dried up. The igumen said to the brethren that only Theodore would be able to reverse the misfortune. Having summoned the saint, the igumen bade her to bring forth water, and the water in the well did not dry up afterwards. The humble Theodore said that the miracle was worked through the prayer and faith of the igumen.

Before her death, St Theodora shut herself in her cell with the child and instructed him to love God above all things. She told him to obey the igumen and the brethren, to preserve tranquility, to be meek and without malice, to avoid obscenity and silliness, to love non-covetousness, and not to neglect their communal prayer. After this, she prayed and, for the last time, she asked the Lord to forgive her sins. The child also prayed together with her. Soon the words of prayer faded from the lips of the ascetic, and she peacefully departed to a better world.

The Lord revealed to the igumen the spiritual accomplishments of the saint, and also her secret. The igumen, in order to remove any dishonor from the deceased, in the presence of the igumen and brethren of the Enata monastery, told of his vision and uncovered the bosom of the saint as proof.

The Enata igumen and brethren shrank back in terror at their great transgression. Falling down before the body of the saint, with tears they asked forgiveness of St Theodora. News of St Theodora reached her former husband. He received monastic tonsure at this same monastery where his wife had been. And the child, raised by the nun, also followed in the footsteps of his foster-mother. Afterwards, he became igumen of this very monastery.

491 St. Patiens Archbishop of Lyons, Gaul best known for his immense efforts at charitable work. He constantly gave aid and comfort to the poor, devoting the resources of the diocese to feed those left starving by the Gothic and Germanic invasions and to rebuilding and repairing burned and looted churches

Lugdúni, in Gállia, deposítio sancti Patiéntis Epíscopi. At Lyons in France, the death of St. Patiens, bishop.

Little is known about his early life, but he received appointment in 450 to the see of Lyons. His period as archbishop is best known for his immense efforts at charitable work. He constantly gave aid and comfort to the poor, devoting the resources of the diocese to feed those left starving by the Gothic and Germanic invasions and to rebuilding and repairing burned and looted churches. Patiens was also a dedicated enemy of Arianism. He also ordered Constantius, a priest of the diocese, to write a life of St. Germanus of Auxerre which subsequently became immensely popular.

480 ST PATIENS, BISHOP OF LYONS
God was pleased to raise up this holy prelate for the comfort and support of his servants in Gaul under the calamities with which that country was afflicted during a great part of the fifth century. He was about the year 450 promoted to the see of Lyons. An incursion of the Goths into Burgundy brought on a serious famine, during which St Patiens fed thousands at his own expense; Providence wonderfully multiplied his revenues to furnish him with abundant supplies to build churches, to repair old ones, and to feed the poor wherever they might be in Gaul, as St Sidonius Apollinaris assures us. That illustrious prelate and friend of St Patiens calls him a “holy, active, ascetic and merciful man”, and declares that he knew not which to admire more in him, his zeal for God or his charity for the poor. By his pastoral solicitude and sermons many heretics were converted; a great field was open to St Patiens for the exercise of his zeal in this respect, for the Burgundians, who were at that time masters of Lyons, were infected with the heresy of the Arians, and some of his fellow bishops were not free from it. When the diocese of Chalon-sur-Saone was thrown into confusion and disagreement by the death of its bishop, St. Patiens was invited by St Euphronius of Autun to help him in its pacification and the removal of the scandal. At the order of St Patiens, Constantius, a priest among his clergy, wrote the Life of St Germanus of Auxerre, which he dedicated to his bishop. He seems to have died about the year 480.

There is no ancient life of St Patiens of Lyons, but the Bollandists have collected from Sidonius Apollinaris, Gregory of Tours and others, a sufficient account of his activities. See also S. L. Tatu, St Patient, évêque de Lyon (1878), and Duchesne, Fastes Épiscopaux, vol. ii, p. 163.

520 St. Emilian Bishop of Vercelli, in Piedmont Italy He was a ermit for forty years before becoming bishop

Vercéllis sancti Æmiliáni Epíscopi. At Vercelli, St. Aemilian, bishop.

560 St. Almirus Hermit companion of Sts. Avitus & Carifelus
He was born in Auvergne, France and educated at Menat. With Sts. Avitus and Carifelus, Almirus went to Maine in France. He then became a hermit and remained so until his death at Greez-sur Roc.

554 St. Vincent of Leon Spanish abbot and martyr
Legióne, in Hispánia, sancti Vincéntii, Abbátis et Mártyris. At Leon in Spain, St. Vincent, abbot and martyr.
The abbot of St. Claudius monastery in Leon, Spain, he was martyred by Arian Visigoths. There is some confusion as to the date of his death. Some lists state that he died about 630.

584 St. Daniel Welsh bishop founder companion -Sts. Dygrig &David
Daniel belonged to the Strathclyde family of Wales. He founded a monastery at Bangor Fawr, Caernarvonshire, in 514 . He also became the first bishop of that see. Daniel went to St. David to persuade him to attend the Synod of Brefi. In Wales he is sometimes called Desiniol.

584 ST DEINIOL, Bishop
THIS famous bishop, “Daniel of the Bangors”, came of a Strathclyde family. He went into Arfon and established the monastery of Bangor Fawr on the Menai Straits, which became the nucleus of the medieval diocese of Bangor. Deiniol was also the founder of the monastery of Bangor Iscoed on the Dee, and is alleged to have been consecrated bishop by St Dyfrig or St Teilo or St David himself, who is said to have sent Deiniol into Gaul to fetch a bishop to help combat a recrudescence of Pelagianism. The same crisis is put forward to account for a synod at Llanddewi Frefi about the year 545: Rhygyfarch in his vita of St David says that David refused to attend this assembly, whereupon Deiniol and Dyfrig were sent to fetch him and succeeded in persuading him to come; and David’s eloquence swept all before him.

A number of miracles are related of St Deiniol, not always free from that element of haughty pride and revenge which is a characteristic of so many Celtic hagiological stories. When he died he was buried at Ynys Ynlli, now commonly called Bardsey. St Deiniol is named on various dates, September 11 being the day on which his feast is now kept in the diocese of Menevia.

Very little can be stated with any certainty about this saint, but Baring-Gould and Fisher, LBS., vol. ii, profess to give an account of him; and something may be gleaned from A. W. Wade-Evans, Life of St David (1923) and Welsh Christian Origins (1934). His name is familiar to generations of grateful students from St Deiniol’s Library at Hawarden in Flintshire, founded by W. E. Gladstone in 1896.

584 St. Deiniol Bishop of Bangor, Wales
He is also called Daniel. The cathedral and other regional parishes bear his name.

670 St. Adelphus Benedictine abbot; grandson of St. Romaricus; served as his successor as abbot of Remiremont Adelphus died at Luxeuil, France.

670 St. Bodo Bishop, founder brother -St. Salaberga
He was born in Toul, France, where he married. His wife became a nun with Salaberga, and he entered the Benedictines at Laon. He became the bishop of Toul, and founded abbeys at Etival, Bon-Moutier, and Affonville.

1003-1080 St. Peter of Chavanon Augustinian reformer, founder
Born at Langeac, in Haute Loire, France, he received ordination and served for a time as a priest in his native region.
Later, he founded a monastery for Augustinian canons at Pebrac, Auvergne, using land which had been given to him.
On the basis of the success of the house, he was asked to reform a number of cathedral chapters.

1080 ST PETER OF CHAVANON
THE Canons Regular of the Lateran today keep the memory of this saint, who adorned their order in the eleventh century. He was born in the year 1003 at Langeac in Haute-Loire, and was given a good education in the course of which he discovered his vocation to the priesthood. After his ordination he was appointed priest of his birthplace, where he faithfully fulfilled his duties and secretly led a very austere life. He for long desired to leave pastoral work and submit himself to a rule in community, and eventually found an occasion to do so when he was persecuted by the attentions of a woman who was attracted towards him.

He was given some land at Pébrac in Auvergne. Here St Peter founded and built a monastery for canons regular under the Rule of St Augustine, and himself governed it as the first provost. The success of his undertaking caused several bishops to call him in to help them to bring rule and order into the collegiate chapters of their cathedrals. St Peter of Chavanon died on September 9, 1080, and was buried at Pébrac, of which house the holy M. Olier was made abbot in commendam at the age of eighteen, in 1626.

There is a life by Stephen, a canon of Pébrac, who was almost a contemporary. It is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. iii, with an ample commentary.

1227 BD LOUIS OF THURINGIA

IF we were bound to take all the writings of hagiographers at the foot of the letter we should he faced with the conclusion that most women saints who were married were hindered (or helped) on the path of sanctity by the ill-will or general shortcomings of their husbands; the unworthy husband of the holy wife is almost common form, and as such it is to be distrusted. No one has tried to find such unhappy tension between Elizabeth of Hungary and Louis (Ludwig) of Thuringia, for the good reason that it so obviously did not exist (though even here there is a book by a well-known clerical writer in which the author has been betrayed by careless adhesion to common form into applying it to these two); veneration for Louis was as spontaneous among his people as it was for his wife it is true that the cultus has not been officially confirmed (it has not been put forward), but it is nevertheless worthy of respect.

Louis was the eldest son of the Landgrave Herman I and was born in 1200. When he was eleven years old a betrothal was arranged for him with Elizabeth, daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary, who was then four. Later the child was taken to the Thuringian court, the two grew up together, and in 1221, when Louis succeeded his father, the marriage was ratified. In its origin this alliance was purely one of political expedience, but it proved to be none the worse for that; they had a son and two daughters, of whom the younger is known as Bd Gertrude of Altenberg.

Louis in every way encouraged the charity and devotion of his wife. Once he found a leper, who had come to the castle for relief, laid in their bed; for a moment he was tempted to anger but then he saw, as it were, not the leper hut the crucified Son of God lying there, and he made no complaint but instead paid for the building of a lazar-house on the slope of the Wartburg. St Elizabeth told him they could serve God better if instead of a castle and a county they had land enough for one plough and a couple of hundred sheep. Her husband laughed. “We should hardly be poor”, he said, “with so much land and so many sheep. And there would be plenty of folk to say we were far too well off.”

The landgrave was a good ruler as well as a good man. In 1225 some Thuringian merchants were robbed and beaten over the Polish border. Louis demanded reparation; none was forthcoming. So he rode into Poland and by force extorted satisfaction from the citizens of Lubitz. The same thing happened at Würzburg; he marched into the prince-bishopric to recover the stock of which a trader had been robbed.

In 1226 the Emperor Frederick II sent for the military help of Louis, and he assisted with his counsel at the diet of Cremona. He was away for a winter, a hard winter, and a spring; when he returned, Elizabeth “a thousand times and more”, says Berthold, “kissed him with her heart and with her mouth”, and when he inquired how his people had fared in the terrible frost, “I gave to God what was His, and God has kept for us what was ours”, she replied. “Let her do good and give to God whatever she will, so long as she leaves me Wartburg and Neuenburg”, was Louis’s answer to a complaining treasurer.

In the following year he volunteered to follow the emperor on the crusade (the story of Elizabeth finding the cross in his purse is well known); to rouse men’s hearts he had a passion-play presented in the streets of Eisenach, and visited the monasteries of his dominion, asking for prayers. The Central-German forces concentrated at Schmalkalden, and Louis was in command; here on the birthday of St John he parted from Elizabeth, and set out towards the Holy Sepulchre. In August he met the emperor at Troja, and in September the army embarked ; three days later the fleet put into Otranto, and Louis took to his bed. He had a malarial fever and was dying; he received the last sacraments, and it seemed to him that the cabin wherein he lay was full of doves. “I must fly away with these white doves”, he said, and died. When the news was brought to his wife, “The world is dead to me”, she cried, “and all that was pleasant in it”. The young landgrave was buried in the Benedictine abbey of Reinhardsbrunn, and there he is popularly called “St Ludwig” to this day.

There is a German fourteenth-century translation of a still earlier Latin life of the Landgrave Louis IV. This Latin biography, written by Bertoldus, who was Louis’s chaplain and a monk of Reinhardsbrunn, seems not to have been separately preserved to us, though some contend that it is practically incorporated in the Annales Reinhardsbrunnenses which were edited by Wegele in 1854. There is an excellent article on Louis by C. Wenck in the Allgemeine deutsche Biographie, vol. xix, pp. 589—597, and a biography in German by G. Simon (1854). See also Michael, Geschicte des deutschen Volkes seit dem 13 Jahrh., vol. i, p. 22,, and ii, pp. 207 seq. Further, the many lives of St Elizabeth of Hungary all contain some notice of her husband.

1353 Saints Sergius and Herman settled on the island of Valaam in 1329. The brethren gathered by them spread the light of Orthodoxy in this frontier land. The Karelian people began to regard Christianity with renewed suspicion, with its authority in the fourteenth century being undermined by the Swedes, who sought to spread Catholicism by means of the sword.

Sts Sergius and Herman died about the year 1353.
They are also commemorated on June 28 (Their holy repose).

Sergius_Valaam_relics_translation.jpg

1622 Bl. Peter Ikiemon 7 yr old Japanese martyr
Peter was when, with his father, Blessed Bartholomew, he was beheaded at Nagasaki. His feast day comes one day after two other young martyrs of Japan, Peter Nangashi and Peter Sanga.

1622 Bl. Francis Takea A twelve-year-old martyr of Japan
the son of Blessed Thomas Takea and a companion of Blessed Caspar Contenda. Francis was beheaded at Nagasaki, Japan. He was beatified in 1867.

1622 Bl. Caspar Kotenda Japanese martyr member of a Japanese noble house
He was a member of a Japanese noble house who converted to the faith. He was arrested and martyred at Nagasaki.

1641 St. Ambrose Edward Barlow Martyr one of Forty Martyrs -England &Wales
A convert, Ambrose studied for the priesthood at Douai, France, and Valladolid, Spain. In 1615 he was a professed Benedictine, affiliated by request to the Spanish Abbey of Celanova. For twenty-four years, Ambrose worked in Lancashire, England, despite the dangers. He was arrested four times but was released. On his fifth arrest, he was executed at Lancaster.

1684 BD BONAVENTURE OF BARCELONA

IN his youth this beatus was a shepherd near Barcelona. He was married when he was seventeen, but within two years his wife was dead and he became a Franciscan lay-brother. He was a man of the deepest spirituality, and his religious ecstasies became so well known that his superiors sent him far off, to Rome, where he became door-keeper at the friary of St Isidore. But neither could his light be hidden there; and it was thanks to the interest taken in him by two cardinals that he was able to establish at Ponticelli the first of several houses of retreat, hermitages, for members of his order, although his superiors were not too favourable to the enterprise. The best-known of these establishments was at Rome itself, on the Palatine. Bd Bonaventure died in 1684, and he was beatified in 1906.

See the Acta Ord. Fratrum Minorum, vol. xxix (5950); and Fr Leonard da Popi, II b. Bonaventura . . . (1906; Eng. trans., 1920).

1840 Bl. John-Gabriel Perboyre Martyr of China Vincentian from Puech; Pope Leo XIII beatified him in 1889, making him the first martyr in China to be so honored. Pope John Paul II canonized him in 1996
France, who was ordained in 1826. In 1835 he volunteered for the missions of China and went to Honan, where he rescued abandoned children. When the persecution started, John was arrested and tortured for a year. On September 11, he was strangled to death. Pope Leo XIII beatified him in 1889, making him the first martyr in China to be so honored. Pope John Paul II canonized him in 1996.

1840 BD JOHN GABRIEL PERBOYRE, MARTYR
THOUGH John Gabriel Perboyre was the first Christian in China to be beatified (in 1889) he was very far from being the first martyr in that country. After the re-establishment of the missions there in the beginning of the seventeenth century there were only relatively short periods during which Christians were free from danger. At the end of the eighteenth century fierce persecution was carried on, and was continued sporadically till after the death of Father Perboyre in 1840, thousands of Christians gladly giving up their lives. Perboyre was born in 1802, and when he was fifteen he was fired by a sermon with the ambition to be a missionary to the heathen; he joined the Congregation of the Mission (Lazarists, Vincentians), and was ordained in 1826. At first his desire to carry the gospel to foreign parts had to give way before the requirements of religious obedience.

His theological course had been a brilliant one, and so after his ordination he was appointed professor in the seminary of Saint-Flour, and two years later rector of the petit séminaire in the same place. His own personal goodness was very apparent in these employments, and in 1832 he was sent to Paris to be assistant-director of the general novitiate of his congregation. At intervals since the taking of his vows twelve years before he had asked to be sent to China, from whence reports of the sufferings and heroic deaths of the local Christians continued to come in, but it was not till 1835 that the permission was given.

In that year he arrived at Macao, and at once was set to learn Chinese, for which he showed such aptitude that at the end of four months he was appointed to the mission of Honan. On the eve of setting out he wrote to his brethren in Paris:

“If you could see me now in my Chinese ‘get-up’ you would see a very curious sight: my head shaved, a long pig-tail and moustaches, stammering my new language, eating with chop-sticks. They tell me that I don’t make a bad Chinaman. That is the only way to begin making oneself all things to all men: may we be able thus to win all to Jesus Christ”.

The Lazarists had elaborated a system of rescuing abandoned children, who are so numerous in China, and bringing them up in the faith. In this work Father Perboyre was especially active, and he devoted much of his time to instructing these children, illustrating his lessons by apt stories to which his very colloquial Chinese gave an added flavour. After two years at Honan he was moved to Hupeh, and here in September 1839 there was a sudden and unexplained renewal of persecution.

The missionaries went into hiding, but a neophyte betrayed Father Perboyre (with a horrid fitness, for thirty taels—about £9) and he was dragged in chains from functionary to functionary, each of whom questioned him and sent him on to someone else. Finally he came into the hands of the governor and mandarins of Wuchangfu. These required him to betray the hiding-places of his confreres and to trample on the cross. The sufferings endured by Father Perboyre were incredible, in the literal sense of the word. Twenty times he was dragged before his judges to be bullied into compliance, and more than twenty times he was tortured because he refused. The ingenuity of the Chinese in inflicting physical pain is notorious, and Father Perboyre underwent torments beside which those invented by hagiographers for some of the martyrs of the Ten Persecutions are crude and clumsy. He was branded on the face with four characters, which stood for “teacher of a false religion”, and a Chinese priest who bribed his way into his prison described him as a mass of open wounds, his very bones in places exposed. On September 11, 1840, almost a year after his capture, Bd John Gabriel, with bare feet and only a pair of drawers under the red robe of the condemned, was strangled with five common criminals. He was buried beside another Lazarist martyr, Francis Regis Clet, who was also to be beatified. In China the feast of Bd John Gabriel is kept on November 7, the nearest convenient date to that of his beatification in 1889.

The murder of John Gabriel Perboyre was the occasion of the British government insisting on a clause in the Treaty of Nanking in 1842 which provided that any foreign missionary who was arrested should not be dealt with by the Chinese authorities but handed over to the nearest consul of his nation.

See the anonymous volume which appeared in 1853 under the title of Le disciple de Jesus; also the biography by Father Huonder, Der selige Yohann Gabriel Perboyre; L. Castagnola, Missionario martire (1940); and A. Chatelet, J. G. Perboyre, martyr (1943). Accounts will also be found in Leclercq, Les Martyrs, vol. x, and in the various works of A. Launay dealing with the Chinese missions. For other martyrs in China see under February 17 and references there.