Our Lady of Fatima’s vision of hell    Ezekiel, chapter 33
Et álibi aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum, atque sanctárum Vírginum.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
Пресвятая Богородице спаси нас!  (Santíssima Mãe de Deus, salva-nos!)
RDeo grátias. R.  Thanks be to God.
September is the month of Our Lady of Sorrows since 1857
2022
22,013  Lives Saved Since 2007

  Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary Mother of GOD
Maryam or Mary contraction of two Hebrew words,
Mar, great lady, and Yam which means ocean

Virgin_Mary_Diego_Velazquez.jpg

The Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Optional Memorial)
September 12 – The Holy Name of Mary
 

   

                                                                           
       
40 Days for Life  11,000+ saved lives in 2015
We are the defenders of true freedom.
  May our witness unveil the deception of the "pro-choice" slogan.
40 days for Life Campaign saves lives Shawn Carney Campaign Director www.40daysforlife.com
Please help save the unborn they are the future for the world

 Our Bartholomew Family Prayer List
Joyful Mystery on Monday Saturday   Glorius Mystery on Sunday Wednesday
  
Sorrowful Mystery on Friday Tuesday   Luminous Mystery on Thursday Veterens of War

Acts of the Apostles

Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart From the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
How do I start the Five First Saturdays?
Mary Mother of GOD 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary

The name of Mary alone makes all the demons flee = Saint Bernard
Celebrated in Spain since 1513, this feast was extended to the universal church in 1684, to commemorate the victory of Vienna against the Turks.
"Your name, O Mary," Saint Ambrose says, "is a delicious balm that gives off the fragrance of grace!"
Above all, the name of Mary is a name of salvation. Saint Ephrem calls it the "key to heaven.”
And Saint Bernard says that "the name of Mary alone makes all the demons flee."
This is only a weak echo of the apologia of her name made by the saints.
Father L. Jaud, Vie des Saints pour tous les jours de l’année, Tours, Mame, 1950

 O most sweet Jesus, who came into this world to give to all souls the life of your grace, and who, to preserve and increase it in them, willed to be the daily remedy of their weakness and the food for each day, we humbly beseech you, by your heart so burning with love for us, to pour your divine Spirit upon all souls in order that those who have the misfortune to be in the state of mortal sin may, returning to you, find the life of grace that they have lost.

Through this same Holy Spirit, may those who are already living by this divine life devoutly approach your divine table every day when it is possible, so that, receiving each day in Holy Communion the antidote of their daily venial sins and each day sustaining in themselves the life of your grace and thus ever purifying themselves the more, they may finaly come to a happy life with you. Amen.-- Pope St. Pius X


The saints are a “cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.
 
"Christianity is not a moral code or a philosophy,  but an encounter with a person" -- Benedict XVI

Holy Name of Mary: The feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary began in Spain in 1513 and in 1671 was extended to all of Spain and the Kingdom of Naples. In 1683, John Sobieski, king of Poland, brought an army to the outskirts of Vienna to stop the advance of Muslim armies loyal to Mohammed IV in Constantinople.
After Sobieski entrusted himself to the Blessed Virgin Mary, he and his soldiers thoroughly defeated the Muslims.
Pope Innocent XI extended this feast to the entire Church to commemorate victory at the Battle of Vienna in 1683.
At Pavia, St. Juventius, bishop, mentioned on the 8th of February.  The blessed Hermagoras, disciple of the evangelist St. Mark, sent him to that city along with St. Cyrus, who is mentioned on the 9th of December.  They both preached the Gospel of Christ there, and being renowned for great virtues and miracles, enlightened the neighbouring cities by divine works.  They closed their glorious careers in peace, invested with the episcopal office.
 258 St. Curomotus Martyred bishop of Iconium
 300 St. Hieronides Egyptian martyr an elderly deacon
with Leontius, Selesius, Serapion, Straton, and Valerian. They died in Alexandria, Egypt.
 300 St. Autonomous Italian bishop and martyr; a great evangelist in Bithynia in Asia Minor
 362 St. Macedonius Martyr destroying pagan idols during the restoration of paganism under Julian the Apostate
 540 St. Ailbhe travelled to Rome before Patrick's arrival
 551 St. Sacerdos bishop of Lyons; presided over the Council of Orleans in 549 and served as a chief councilor to King Childebert I of Paris.
 640 St. Eanswida Abbess foundress Benedictine convent; daughter of a king of Kent and granddaughter of St. Ethelbert.
1012 St. Guy of Anderlecht pilgrimage on foot to Rome and Jerusalem;
patron of laborers and sacristans, and protector of sheds and stables. He is invoked to calm infantile convulsions
1161 Blessed Miro of Vich; Augustinian canon regular of Saint John de las Abadesas OSA (AC)
1604 Blessed Juvenal Ancina; bishop of Saluzzo;
met Saint Philip Neri and joined his Oratory Cong. Orat. B (AC)
1617 Blessed Mary Victoria Fornari-Strata, Foundress of the Blue Nuns due to the BVM (AC)
1622 Bl. Thomas Zumarraga; Spanish Dominican; martyr of Japan
1622 St. Francis of St. Bonaventure; catechist;
Native-born martyr of Japan
1622 Bl. Mancius of St. Thomas;  native Japanese catechist; Martyr of Japan
1622 St. Peter Paul of St. Claire;  assistant to Blessed Apollinaris Franco and as a catechist; Native Japanese martyr 
Verónæ sancti Silvíni Epíscopi.    At Verona, St. Silvinus, bishop.

Maryam, the Lady of the Oceans September 12 - HOLY NAME OF MARY
From its etymology, the name of Maryam or Mary is the contraction of two Hebrew words, Mar, great lady, and Yam which means ocean. Mary: the lady of the oceans. Mary is thus the lady of the oceans, of the great primitive waters: God, in her, creates anew.
This is why, at the Annunciation, the angel Gabriel greets her by the name of Maryam,
recognizing in her the woman of the new creation over which the Spirit hovers,
in the same way that the Spirit was flying over the waters of the first creation (Gn 2; Lk 1: 26-38).
Antoine Moussali
Judaism, Christianity and Islam: A Comparative Study Editions de Paris 2000

I Am Your Mother, My Little One (I) September 12 - The Holy Name of Mary (Austria, 1683)

On September 12, 1948, around 5 o'clock PM, Teresita Castillo, a novice at the Carmel of Lipa (Philippines), was walking in the garden of her convent. Suddenly she noticed leaves shaking on a bush, and heard a sweet voice say to her: "Don't be afraid my daughter. Kiss the ground. What I am going to tell you, you will have to repeat each day for 15 days. You will come here to visit me. Eat a little grass." On Monday, September 13, 1948, at 5 o'clock PM, Teresita returned to the same spot. She knelt down to recite an Ave Maria and she saw the leaves on the bush shaking.

Suddenly, she saw a "beautiful woman" who was smiling with her hands together in prayer, holding a golden rosary around her right hand. She was wearing a white dress, tightly belted; her bare feet rested on a small cloud 20 inches off the ground. "Be faithful and come back here, whether it's raining or not," Teresita heard her say.
"Who are you, beautiful Lady?" Our Lady answered, "I am your Mother, my little one."


On September 14, 1948, the Virgin awaited her in the same place, with her arms wide open.
"I wish to have this place blessed tomorrow," she said and blessed the nun before she disappeared again.
The next day, around 3:00 PM, the auxiliary bishop of Lipa and the chaplain of the Carmel came to bless the place. Teresita saw the Virgin again with open arms. "Kiss the ground and eat a little grass. Take a piece of paper and a pencil, and write down the following," said the apparition. "My daughters, I ask you to believe in me, and to keep this message a secret for yourselves. Love one another like true sisters. Pay me visits here regularly; keep this place sacred and respected. Pick up the rose petals. I bless you all."


After this apparition, a rain of rose petals fell and was seen by all the people present. Toward the end of the afternoon, the Virgin appeared again: "I want you to put my statue in this garden and tidy up this part of the garden to make it a suitable place of prayer. Tell the other sisters that they must believe my words so as not to lose the grace.
I will always bless the whole community, my daughter."

From the Dictionary of Apparitions By Fr. René Laurentin - Fayard 2006

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.


Holy Name of Mary: The feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary began in Spain in 1513 and in 1671 was extended to all of Spain and the Kingdom of Naples. In 1683, John Sobieski, king of Poland, brought an army to the outskirts of Vienna to stop the advance of Muslim armies loyal to Mohammed IV in Constantinople. After Sobieski entrusted himself to the Blessed Virgin Mary, he and his soldiers thoroughly defeated the Muslims.
Pope Innocent XI extended this feast to the entire Church.
1689 Bl. Innocent XI Benedetto Odescalchi

Festum sanctíssimi Nóminis beátæ Maríæ, quod Innocéntius Undécimus, Póntifex Máximus, ob insígnem victóriam de Turcis, ipsíus Vírginis præsídio, Vindobónæ in Austria reportátam, celebrári jussit.
    The feast of the most holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary, celebrated by order of the Sovereign Pontiff, Innocent XI, on account of the signal victory gained over Turks at Vienna in Austria through her protection.
   
This feast is a counterpart to the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus (January 3); both have the possibility of uniting people easily divided on other matters.
Comment:   Mary always points us to God, reminding us of God's infinite goodness. She helps us to open our hearts to God's ways, wherever those may lead us. Honored under the title “Queen of Peace,” Mary encourages us to cooperate with Jesus in building a peace based on justice, a peace that respects the fundamental human rights (including religious rights) of all peoples.

Quote:   “Lord our God, when your Son was dying on the altar of the cross, he gave us as our mother the one he had chosen to be his own mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary; grant that we who call upon the holy name of Mary, our mother, with confidence in her protection may receive strength and comfort in all our needs” (Marian Sacramentary, Mass for the Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

THE HOLY NAME OF MARY
THE object of this feast is our blessed Lady bearing the name of Mary, and it was instituted that on it the faithful might in a special manner recommend to God, through the intercession of His all-holy Mother, the needs of the Church, and thank Him for His almighty protection and numberless mercies, especially those we receive on account of the graces and mediation of the Blessed Virgin.

The feast was allowed at Cuenca in Spain in 1513 it spread in that country, and in 1683 Pope Innocent XI extended it to the whole Western church, as an act of thanksgiving for the raising of the siege of Vienna and the defeat of the Turks by John Sobieski, King of Poland it was at that time assigned to the Sunday within the octave of our Lady’s birthday, but is now kept on the date of Sobieski’s triumph. Actually this special commemoration is probably somewhat older than 1513, though definite evidence does not seem to be forthcoming. All we can say is that the great devotion to the holy name of Jesus, which we identify in part with the preaching of St Bernardino of Siena, will naturally have prepared the way for a similar commemoration of the holy name of Mary. One curious point with regard to this name which deserves to be noticed is that while in the case of the other Marys who appear in the New Testament we find in the Greek text simply the form Mapia, the best manuscripts almost uniformly spell the name of our Blessed Lady as Mapiáµ. This seems to mark at least a sense of her dignity for her alone the Old Testament form of the name is preferred. There is a similar practice in Ireland, where the form Muire is reserved for our Lady, Maire or Moira being given in baptism.

Our name Mary is derived from Maria and Mariam, later forms of Miryam, which was our, Lady’s name in Hebrew, but the most learned scholars have been unable certainly to decide what was the derivation and meaning of that name. The prevalent view seems to be that it means “wished-for-child”, or, less likely, “rebellion”. It appears certain that the name of Mary has nothing to do with “bitterness”, “the sea” or a “star.” The various stages in the adoption of the feast of the Holy Name of Mary are set out in Holweck, Calendarium liturgicum festorum Del et Dei matris Mariae (1925), p. 317, and cf. Kellner, Heortology, p. 264. Cf. E. C. Withycombe, Oxford Dictionary of Christian Names (and edn.), and Fr E. Vogt in Verbum Domini, 1948. Pope Benedict XIV’s commission recommended the dropping of this feast from the general calendar.
Apud Papíam sancti Juvéntii Epíscopi, de quo ágitur sexto Idus Februárii.  Ipse, a beáto Hermágora, discípulo sancti Marci Evangelístæ, ad eam urbem, una cum sancto Syro, cujus memória recólitur quinto Idus Decémbris, diréctus est; et ambo, prædicántes illic Christi Evangélium et magnis virtútibus ac miráculis coruscántes, étiam vicínas urbes divínis opéribus illustrárunt, sicque in pontificáli honóre, glorióso fine, quievérunt in pace.
    At Pavia, St. Juventius, bishop, mentioned on the 8th of February.  The blessed Hermagoras, disciple of the evangelist St. Mark, sent him to that city along with St. Cyrus, who is mentioned on the 9th of December.  They both preached the Gospel of Christ there, and being renowned for great virtues and miracles, enlightened the neighbouring cities by divine works.  They closed their glorious careers in peace, invested with the episcopal office.

258 St. Curomotus Martyred bishop of Iconium
Icónii, in Lycaónia, sancti Curónoti Epíscopi, qui sub Perénnio Præside, cápite truncátus, martyrii palmam accépit.
    At Iconium in Lycaonia, the holy bishop Curonotus, who received the crown of martyrdom by being beheaded under the governor Perennius.
in Lycaonia, Asia Minor.
Curonotus of Iconium BM (RM) Bishop Curonotus of Iconium (Lycaonia, Asia Minor) was martyred during the reign of Valerian (Benedictines).

300 St. Hieronides Egyptian martyr an elderly deacon with Leontius, Selesius, Serapion, Straton, and Valerian. They died in Alexandria, Egypt.
Alexandríæ natális sanctórum Mártyrum Hierónidis, Leóntii, Serapiónis, Selésii, Valeriáni et Stratónis, qui, sub Maximíno Imperatóre, ob confessiónem nóminis Christi, in mare sunt demérsi.
    At Alexandria, in the time of Emperor Maximinus, the birthday of the holy martyrs Hieronides, Leontius, Serapion, Selesius, Valerian, and Strato, who were drowned in the sea for the confession of the name of Christ.
Hieronides, Leontius, & Companions (RM). Saint Hieronides was a ancient deacon, who was cast into the sea at Alexandria, Egypt, with the brothers Saints Leontius and Serapion and others, including Seleucus (Selesius), Valerian and Straton, during the reign of Diocletian (Benedictines).

300 St. Autonomous Italian bishop and martyr a great evangelist in Bithynia in Asia Minor
In Bithynia sancti Autónomi, Epíscopi et Mártyris; qui ex Itália, Diocletiáni Imperatóris persecutiónem declínans, illuc proféctus, ibi, cum plúrimos convertísset ad fidem, a furéntibus Gentílibus, dum sacra Mystéria perágeret, ad altáre mactátus est, et hóstia Christi efféctus.
    In Bithynia, St. Autonomus, bishop and martyr, who went to that country from Italy to avoid the persecution of Diocletian.  After he had converted many to the faith, he was killed at the altar by the furious heathen while celebrating the sacred mysteries, and thus he became a victim for Christ.
During the persecution instituted by Emperor Diocletian, Autonomous fled to Bithynia to escape the persecution. There, he worked tirelessly until arrested by Roman authorities and murdered for the faith.
Autonomus of Bithynia BM (RM). The Greeks say that Saint Autonomus, an Italian bishop, escaped the fury of Diocletian's persecution by migrating to Bithynia in Asia Minor. There he was a great evangelist and was martyred (Benedictines).

362 St. Macedonius Martyr destroying pagan idols during the restoration of paganism under Julian the Apostate
Meri, in Phrygia, pássio sanctórum Mártyrum Macedónii, Theodúli et Tatiáni, qui, sub Juliáno Apóstata, ab Almáchio Præside, post ália torménta, super crates férreas ignítas pósiti, exsultántes martyrium complevérunt.
    At Merum in Phrygia, the holy martyrs Macedonius, Theodulus, and Tatian, under Julian the Apostate.  After other torments, they joyfully completed their martyrdom by being laid on burning gridirons by order of the governor Almachius.
with Tatian and Theodolus in Phrygia. They were burned to death for destroying pagan idols.
Macedonius, Theodulus and Tatian MM (RM)
This trio was roasted alive on gridirons at Mevos, Phrygia, for having broken into a pagan temple and destroyed idols during the restoration of paganism under Julian the Apostate (Benedictines). In art, these martyrs are illustrated during their martyrdom on a gridiron (Roeder).

540 St. Ailbhe travelled to Rome before Patrick's arrival (Albeus, Ailbe) of Emly B (AC)
5th or 6th century (died 526-540?). Although many are under the mistaken belief that Saint Patrick was the first to bring Christianity to Ireland, Saint Ailbhe was converted by British missionaries. Some legends say that he was baptized by a priest while a boy in northern Ireland; another that he was baptized and raised in a British settlement in Ireland.

526? ST AILBHE, Bishop
A COMMEMORATION of St Ailbhe (Ailbe, Albeus) is made throughout Ireland on this date, and in the diocese of Emly his feast is kept as that of its patron and first bishop, but the recorded life of the saint is a confusion of valueless legends and contradictory traditions. One concerns his birth of a serving-girl by a chieftain, who ordered that the baby should he exposed to perish. A she-wolf found him and suckled him along with her own cubs, till a hunter found the child in the wolf’s lair and took him away. Years later Ailbhe was present at a run, when an aged she-wolf, hard pressed by hounds, ran to him for protection. The bishop recog­nized his foster-mother, gave her sanctuary, and every day thereafter fed her at his own table. When Ailbhe was a boy in the north of Ireland, he was one day considering the wonders of the natural world, and said aloud, “I pray that I may know the Creator of all things, and I will believe in Him who made the heavens and the earth. For I perceive that these things did not come into existence without a maker, and no human work could produce them.” He was overheard by a Christian priest, who thereupon instructed and baptized him. Another account says he was brought up and baptized by a British colony in Ireland. He is supposed to have gone to Rome and to have been consecrated bishop in the city.

Ailbhe preached up and down Ireland, and with such commanding authority did this apostolic man deliver the eternal wisdom to a barbarous people, such was the force with which both by words and example he set forth the divine law, and so evident were the miracles with which he confirmed the truths which he preached, that the sacred doctrine made its way to the hearts of many of his hearers; he not only brought over a multitude to the faith of Christ but infused into many the spirit of perfection, for he had a wonderful art of making men not only Christians but saints.

In his old age it was his desire to retire to Thule, the remotest country toward the northern pole that was known to the ancients (which seems to have been Shetland or Norway), but the king guarded the ports to prevent his flight. Another legend tells us that from this same king, Aengus of Munster, St Ailbhe begged the Isles of Aran for St Enda. Aengus did not know he had such islands in his dominions until they were shown to him in a dream; whereupon he handed them over, and at Killeaney on Inishmore was founded a monastery which was so famous for holiness that the island was called “Aran of the saints”. It does not detract from the sanctity of Killeaney to point out that among Celtic peoples “saint” was often used synonymously with “monk” or “recluse” on Ynys YnIli (Bardsey) were buried 2o,ooo “saints”.

It is often said on the poor authority of Ailbhe’s vita that he preached in Ireland before St Patrick, but he seems certainly to have died in the sixth century the date is variously put at 526, 531 and 541.

The life in the Codex Salmanticensis was edited in that collection by the Bollandists in 1888, cc. 235—260. A somewhat different version has been printed by C. Plummer in his VSH., vol. i, pp. 46—64; and note also what is said in the preface to the same work, pp. xxviii—xxxi. What is of more importance than the extravagant incidents of this mythical life, St Ailbhe is the reputed author of a monastic rule it was edited by J. O’Neill in Ériu, vol. iii (1907) ; and cf. L. Gougaud, Christianity in Celtic Lands (1932).
In either case, he had travelled to Rome before Patrick's arrival-- and some say that he was consecrated bishop there. Upon his return to Ireland, he became the disciple of Patrick and, according to some, was consecrated the first archbishop of Munster by him. Ailbhe fixed his see at Emly (Imlech, County Tipperary, though the cathedral is now at Cashel), which is officially listed by the Vatican as being founded in the 4th century, making it the oldest continuous see in Ireland. So even the testimony that Ailbhe was the first archbishop is unreliable.
He was known as a powerful preacher and a model of sanctity, who won many souls to the faith. Although he lived in the world in order to care for the souls of his flock, he was careful for his own soul, too. He made frequent retreats and engaged in habitual recollection. Saint Ailbhe especially loved to pray in front of the sea. King Aengus of Munster gave him Aran Island (Co. Galway) on which he founded a great monastery and established Saint Enda as abbot. He also drew up a still extant rule for the community.
When in his old age he wanted to resign and retire to the solitude of Thule (Shetland? Iceland? Greenland?) to prepare for death, the king stationed guards at the ports to prevent his flight. Thus, Saint Ailbhe died in the midst of his episcopal labors and is deemed the principal patron of Munster.
There are many legends about Saint Ailbhe: that he baptized Saint David of Wales; that an angel showed him the "place of his resurrection"--Emly; that he was in constant dialogue with the angels. Even his name points to a legend: Ailbhe, said to mean "living rock" in Gaelic, was a foundling left under a rock and suckled by a she-wolf, and thus named by his adoptive family. The story continues that later, while he was hunting with some companions, an aged female wolf ran to him for protection (Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Husenbeth, Montague).
 
551 St. Sacerdos bishop of Lyons; presided over the Council of Orleans in 549 and served as a chief councilor to King Childebert I of Paris
Lugdúni, in Gállia, deposítio sancti Sacerdótis Epíscopi.    At Lyons in France, the death of St. Sacerdos, bishop.
Also known as Sardot and Serdon. He presided over the Council of Orleans in 549 and served as a chief councilor to King Childebert I of Paris. 
640 St. Eanswida Abbess foundress Benedictine convent;  daughter of a king of Kent and the granddaughter of St. Ethelbert.
sometimes called Eanswith. She was the daughter of a king of Kent and the granddaughter of St. Ethelbert.

640 ST EANSWIDA, VIRGIN
ST ETHELBERT, the first Christian king among the English, was succeeded in the kingdom of Kent by his son Edbald, who, though he was at first impious and idolatrous, became afterwards a Christian. His daughter Eanswida added lustre to her birth by the sanctity of her life. She had to oppose her father’s wish that she should marry a pagan prince from Northumbria. “I will marry him”, she said, “when by prayer to his gods he has made this log of wood a foot longer.”

She obtained her father’s consent to found a monastery of nuns upon the sea-coast, hard by Folkestone in Kent. Here she sacrificed herself in penance and prayer, till she was called to rest on the last day of August about the year 640, the date on which she is named in some calendars. Her convent was destroyed by the Danes but was refounded for Benedictine monks in 1095. The sea afterwards swallowed up part of this priory and it was removed into Folkestone, and the saint’s relics were deposited in that church which had been built by her father in honour of St Peter the successor of this church is now known as SS. Mary and Eanswida’s.  September 12 is probably the day of the translation of her relics about the year 1140. Many legends about the miraculous powers of St Eanswida were current in England in the middle ages, some of which are preserved by the chronicler Capgrave.

St Eanswida (or Eanswitha) seems to have been unknown to Bede, but her connexion with Folkestone is alluded to in an Anglo-Saxon document printed by Cockayne (Leechdoms, vol. iii, p. 422). The mention of her name in certain calendars and martyrologies suggests that there was some cultus: see Stanton, Menology, p. 432. The statements made by John of Tynemouth and Capgrave can inspire little confidence.
She refused to marry a pagan Northumbrian prince and founded a convent at Folkestone in Kent, England, about 630. She remained there until her death on August 31. When the convent church that had been destroyed by Danes was restored in 1885, her relics were discovered. In liturgical art Eanswida is depicted as a nun, crowned and holding a church or a fish.
Eanswida of Folkestone, OSB Abbess (AC) (also known as Eanswith(a), Eanswide, Eanswyth)  Died August 31, c. 640; this is probably a memorial of the translation of her relics; feast day at Saint Augustine, Canterbury, and Durham is celebrated on August 31.
From her infancy Saint Eanswida, the daughter of King Eadbald of Kent and granddaughter of King Saint Ethelbert, found delight in prayer. Rejecting the world and its foolish vanities, she refused all offers of marriage, which she felt would interrupt her devotions and contemplation. King Eadbald finally consented to allowing her to found a monastery on the coast near Folkestone, Kent, where she served as its abbess and died at an early age. It seems likely that she was trained in France and that hers was the first convent in England.
The monastery was destroyed by the Danes, but restored by King Athelstan, then refounded in 1095 for the Black Benedictines. Part of it was swallowed up by the sea, and so the community was moved to Folkestone. Her relics were translated to the church built by Eadbald in honor of Saint Peter, but later known as Saints Mary and Eanswida. In 1885, a Saxon coffer was found in the north wall containing the bones of a young woman, which were assumed to be those of Saint Eanswida (Benedictines, Farmer, Husenbeth).
In art, Saint Eanswida is portrayed as a crowned abbess with a book and two fish. She is venerated at Folkestone (Roeder), where her image is incorporated on its seals (Farmer).
 
1012 St. Guy of Anderlecht; pilgrimage on foot to Rome and Jerusalem; patron of laborers and sacristans, and protector of sheds and stables. He is invoked to calm infantile convulsions
Anderláci, prope Bruxéllas, in Brabántia, sancti Guidónis Confessóris.
    At Anderlecht, near Brussels in Belgium, St. Guy, confessor.
Born near Brabant; died at Brussels, Belgium; c. 950-1012; feast day formerly on Sept. 2.

1012 ST GUY OF ANDERLECHT
ALTHOUGH the accounts of this saint derive from late and not very reliable source, and have been touched up and filled out with edifying but very doubtfully authentic miracles, it is clear that he belongs to that category of simple, hidden souls who, whether as wanderers or workmen, are familiar to us from St Alexis and St John Calybites through St Isidore of Madrid and St Walstan of Costessey down to St Benedict Joseph Labre and Matt Talbot in our own time.

St Guy (Guidon), called the Poor Man of Anderlecht, was born in the country near Brussels, of poor parents, but both virtuous and consequently content and happy. They were not able to give their son a school education nor did they let that perturb them, but instead they were diligent in instructing him early in the Christian faith and the practices of our holy religion, often repeating to him the lesson which old Tobias gave his son, “We shall have many good things if we fear God”.

St Augustine says that God ranks among the reprobate, not only those who shall have received their comfort on earth, but also those who shall have grieved to be deprived of it. This was what Guy dreaded. In order to preserve himself from it he never ceased to beg of God the grace to love the state of poverty in which divine providence had placed him, and to bear all its hardships with joy. The charity which Guy had for his neighbour was no less active. He divided his pittance with the poor, and often fed them whilst he fasted himself.

When he grew up St Guy wandered about for a time, until one day he came to the church of our Lady at Laeken, near Brussels, whose priest was struck with the piety and willingness of the man, and retained him in the service of his church as sacristan. Guy accepted the offer with pleasure; and the cleanliness and good order that appeared in everything under his direction struck all that came to that church. But Guy, like other simple folk before and since, was induced by a merchant of Brussels to invest his small savings in a commercial venture, but with the unusual motive of having more at his disposal wherewith to relieve the poor. The merchant offered to put him in a way of thus making more provision for them by admitting him into partnership with himself. It was not easy for him to throw off the importunities of the merchant: the bait was specious and he was taken by it. But the ship carrying their goods was lost in going out of harbour, and Guy, whose place in the church of Laeken had upon his leaving been given to another, was left destitute. He saw his mistake in following his own ideas and in forsaking secure and humble employment to embark, though with a good intention, on the affairs of the world, and he blamed himself for the false step, he had taken.  In reparation for his folly Guy made a pilgrimage on foot first to Rome and then on to Jerusalem, and visited all the most celebrated shrines in that part of the Christian world.

After seven years’ absence he again reached Belgium, where he made his way to Anderlecht, dying from exhaustion and illness brought on by the fatigue of his journeys and other hardships. Shortly after he was received into the hospital of Anderlecht he yielded up his soul to God. He was buried in the cemetery of the canons there who, after miracles had taken place at his grave, translated his body into a shrine. His popular cultus among workers with horses has persisted through the ages.

St Guy, who is known to the Flemings as St Wye, is honoured in a relatively long biography, printed in the Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. iv. A good deal of folklore is associated with his cultus; see E. H. van Heurck, Les Drapelets de pèlerinage en Belgique; F. Mortier in Folklore brabançon, vol. x (1930), pp. 46—55; and J. Lavalleye in Annales de la Soc. d’archéologie de Bruxelles, t. xxxvii (1934), pp. 221—248.
Saint Guy, commonly called The Poor Man of Anderlecht, was the son of poor, but pious, parents who were richly blessed by their faith. They were not able to give their son a formal education, but were diligent in instructing him in the faith. They taught him the counsels of Saint Augustine that Christians should be detached from earthly possessions. Guy prayed throughout his life to be preserved from greed, to love poverty, and to bear all its hardships with joy. This detachment from the need to own, endowed the saint with love for his neighbor; he gladly fed the poor while he himself fasted and divided the little he had among them.
Legend says that when Guy grew to manhood, he was a farm laborer, who prayed as he plowed the fields, sometimes replaced at the plow by his guardian angel. He then wandered for a time until he arrived at the church of Our Lady at Laeken, near Brussels, whose priest was struck with his piety and hired Guy as sacristan. Guy gladly accepted the offer; and the cleanliness and good order that appeared in everything under his direction struck all who entered the church.
Like many other simple folk of every age, Guy was enticed by a merchant of Brussels to invest his small savings in a commercial venture, with the unusual motive of having more at his disposal to relieve the poor and leisure for contemplation. Unfortunately, the ship carrying their goods was lost leaving the harbor, and Guy, who had resigned his position as sacristan and been replaced, was left destitute. He recognized his mistake in following his own ideas and in forsaking secure and humble employment to embark, though with good intention, on the affairs of the world, and he blamed himself for the loss.
In reparation, Guy made a pilgrimage on foot to Rome and Jerusalem, wandering from shrine to shrine for seven years. Finally, he made his way back to Belgium and Anderlecht, where he was received almost immediately into the public hospital of Anderlecht and he died from exhaustion and illness.
His cultus did not arise immediately. In fact, his grave was forgotten until a horse uncovered it. The horse's owner hired two local boys to enclose the site in a high, solid hedge to ensure that others would not unwittingly trample on Guy's grave. The boys ridiculed the benefactor's act of reverence for the dead and were seized by strange stomach aches. Writhing in agony, they died. For some reason, this moved the local people to make pilgrimages to his grave and to build an oratory over it.
In 1076, a church was constructed and Guy's relics translated therein. Guy's sanctity was confirmed almost immediately thereafter by miracles wrought at his intercession. On June 24, 1112, a bishop acknowledged the relics with a grand ceremony and Guy's vita was composed. In 1595, the relics were enshrined in a new reliquary. During the 17th century, they were moved from place to place to escape pillage during wars. It seems that they were captured by the Protestants in the 18th century, although there is a "last acknowledgement of the venerable treasure" that occurred on September 11, 1851.
Over time his cultus increased locally, until now much folklore has accrued around his name and shrine, particularly associated with horses. Cabdrivers of Brabant lead an annual pilgrimage to Anderlecht until the beginning of World War I in 1914. They and their horses headed the procession followed by farmers, grooms, and stable boys leading their animals to be blessed. The description of the village fair that ended the religious procession sounds like fun. There would be various games, music, and feasting, followed by a competition to ride the carthorses bareback. The winner entered the church on bareback to receive a hat made of roses from the parish pastor (Attwater, Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Walsh).

In art, Saint Guy is depicted as a pilgrim with hat, staff, rosary, and ox at his feet. He might also be shown as a peasant or a pilgrim with a book (Roeder). Guy is venerated at Anderlecht, where he is considered the patron of laborers and sacristans, and protector of sheds and stables. He is invoked to calm infantile convulsions (Encyclopedia).
1161 Blessed Miro of Vich Augustinian canon regular of Saint John de las Abadesas OSA (AC)
Miro was an Augustinian canon regular of Saint John de las Abadesas near Vich, Catalonia (Benedictines).

1617 Blessed Mary Victoria Fornari-Strata, Foundress of the Blue Nuns (AC)
Born at Genoa, Italy; died December 15; beatified in 1828. In 1579, at the age of 17, Victoria Fornari of Genoa married Angelo Strata. They lived together happily until Angelo died nine years later. For some time his widow was distraught. She was also deeply anxious about the future of her six children.

1617 Bd Victoria Fornari-Strata, Widow, Foundress of The Blue Nuns Of Genoa
Bd Mary Victoria
was born at Genoa in the year 1562. At the age of seventeen there was some talk of her becoming a nun, but she deferred to the wishes of her father and married Angelo Strata. They lived together very happily for nine years, Angelo joining gladly in his wife’s charitable works, and defending her from the adverse criticism of those who wished to see her take more part in social pleasures.

They had six children, four boys and two girls. When Angelo died in 1587 Victoria was for long inconsolable, both for her own sake and for the sake of the children, whom she felt she was incapable of properly looking after alone. A certain nobleman of the city wanted her to marry him and she thought she perhaps ought to for her children’s sake. But her uncertainty was ended by a happening of which she wrote down an account by the direction of her confessor.

Our Lady appeared in vision and said to her: “My child Victoria, be brave and confident, for it is my wish to take both the mother and the children under my protection; I will care for your household. Live quietly and without worrying. All I ask is that you will trust yourself to me and henceforth devote yourself to the love of God above all things.”

Victoria now saw clearly what she must do and ceased to be disquieted. She made a vow of chastity and lived in retirement, giving her whole time to God, her children and the poor. She allowed no super­fluity or luxury in her home, and set herself a standard of severe mortification:  when, for example, the Church directed a fast she would always observe it on bread and water.

After her children were all provided for, Victoria put before the archbishop of Genoa a project she had formed for a new order of nuns, who were to be devoted in a special way to our Lady. For a time the archbishop withheld his approval, for there was lack of sufficient funds to support such a foundation. But when one of her friends offered to bear the expense of providing a building, the archbishop’s consent also was forthcoming.

In the year 1604 Bd Victoria and ten others were clothed, and professed in the following year. Their object was to honour in their lives and worship our Lady in the mystery of her annunciation and hidden life at Nazareth; each nun added Maria Annunziata to her baptismal name and the rule of enclosure of their convent was particularly strict. By the enthusiasm and zeal of Mother Victoria a second house was founded in 1612, and soon after the order spread to France, but not till an attempt had been made behind the back of the foundress to affiliate the nuns to another order, on the pretence that they were notstrong enough to exist on their own. Mother Victoria learned what was happening and appealed for the help of our Lady, who in a vision assured her of her unfailing assistance, and the danger was overcome. Bd Victoria continued to govern her foundation, encouraging her sisters in their penitential life and setting them an example of complete humility and love, till her death at the age of fifty-five. This took place on December 15, 1617, but today is her feast in the order that she founded. These nuns are distinguished from those of the Annunciation (Annon­ciades) founded by St Joan of Valois by the epithet “Sky-Blue”, with reference to the colour of their mantles.
On the occasion of the beatification of Mary Victoria in 1828, an Italian life was printed with the title Vita della b. Maria Vittoria Fornari-Strata, fondatrice dell’ Ordine della Santissima Annunziata detto “Le Turchine”, in other words, called by Italians “the BlueNuns”. This life is anonymous, but official. See also a French account by Father F. Dumortier, La bse Marie- Victoire Fornari-Strata (1902).
   For their sake she was about to marry again, when she was granted a vision of the Virgin Mary. Victoria later wrote down the Virgin's words to her,
"Be brave and courageous. I shall take both you and your children under my wing.
Live in peace, without anxiety. Trust yourself to my care and above all devote yourself to the love of God."
The vision was more than fulfilled. Although Victoria still lived charitably, giving away most of her wealth, her children never felt any want. In 1604, with money provided by one of her wealthy friends, Victoria and ten other women began the practical work of setting up a religious house. All 11 were professed as nuns the following year. So successful was their venture, that a second house of "Blue Nuns" (as they were called because of the color of their cloaks) was set up in 1612, and soon the order had spread from Italy to France. Victoria remained their superior until her death (Benedictines, Bentley).
1604 Blessed Juvenal Ancina bishop of Saluzzo; met Saint Philip Neri and joined his Oratory Cong. Orat. B (AC)
Born at Fossano, Piedmont, Italy, in 1545; died 1604; beatified in 1869. Juvenal, a professor of medicine at the University of Turin, accompanied the ambassador of Savoy to Rome in 1575 to serve as his private physician. That same year in Rome he met Saint Philip Neri and joined his Oratory. Eventually Juvenal was ordained and sent to Naples to open another oratory there. In 1602, the priest who had become especially known for his work among the poor, was consecrated bishop of Saluzzo. Immediately he began a visitation of his diocese. Upon his return to his cathedral, he was poisoned by a friar whom he had reprimanded for his evil life (Benedictines). 
1622 St. Francis of St. Bonaventure; catechist; Native-born martyr of Japan
He was from Musashi, in Kwanto province, Japan, and a convert, working as a catechist with Blessed Apollinaris Franco. Francis was burned alive at Omura and was beatified in 1867.

1622 Bl. Mancius of St. Thomas;  native Japanese catechist; Martyr of Japan
He was a native Japanese catechist,  who was burned alive at Omura, Japan, with Blessed Thomas Zumarraga and companions.

1622 St. Peter Paul of St. Claire;  assistant to Blessed Apollinaris Franco and as a catechist; Native Japanese martyr
Born in Japan, he worked as an assistant to Blessed Apollinaris Franco and as a catechist prior to his arrest by Japanese authorities. Condemned to death, he was burned alive at Omura. 

1622 Bl. Thomas Zumarraga Spanish Dominican martyr of Japan
Born in Vitoria, Spain, he entered the Dominicans and was dispatched to the missions in Japan. There he worked to advance the Christian cause until his imprisonment at Omura. After three years of confinement, he was burned alive with several companions.
 


THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 63

Thou hast done well with thy servant, O Lady: and because of this the angels rejoice.

Teach me the discipline of thy manners and thy equity: because I have believed in thy words above all others.

It is good for me that with thy burden thou hast humbled me: that I may follow thy conversation.

Those who love thy servants, shall be venerated: but he who shall hate them, will fall in eternity.

Let the drops of thy clemency ever fall upon me from above, and I shall live: for thy holy law is my meditation.


Stand for me in the day of judgment: in His presence take up my cause, and be my advocate.

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


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

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

God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique, for each is the result of a new idea.  As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike. It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints. Dear Lord, grant us a spirit that is not bound by our own ideas and preferences.  Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves.
O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory. Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.  Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.   God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heavenonly saints are allowed into heaven. The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR the benefit of others.
There are over 10,000 named saints beati  from history
 and Roman Martyology Orthodox sources

Patron_Saints.html  Widowed_Saints htmIndulgences The Catholic Church in China
LINKS: Marian Shrines  
India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes 1858  China Marian shrines 1995
Kenya national Marian shrine  Loreto, Italy  Marian Apparitions (over 2000Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798
 
Links to Related MarianWebsites  Angels and Archangels  Saints Visions of Heaven and Hell

Widowed Saints  html
Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Of_The_Apostles  Roman Catholic Popes  Purgatory  UniateChalcedon

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

The great psalm of the Passion, Chapter 22, whose first verse “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Jesus pronounced on the cross, ended with the vision: “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations shall worship before him
For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations. All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage. And I will live for the LORD; my descendants will serve you. The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought.
Pope Benedict XVI to The Catholic Church In China {whole article here} 2000 years of the Catholic Church in China
The saints “a cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.

Join us on CatholicVote.org. Be part of a new movement committed to using powerful media projects to create a Culture of Life. We can help shape the movement and have a voice in its future. Check it out at www.CatholicVote.org

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

My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee.  I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not
O most Holy trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly.  I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended, and by the infite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  I beg the conversion of poor sinners,  Fatima Prayer, Angel of Peace
The voice of the Father is heard, the Son enters the water, and the Holy Spirit appears in the form of a dove.
THE spirit and example of the world imperceptibly instil the error into the minds of many that there is a kind of middle way of going to Heaven; and so, because the world does not live up to the gospel, they bring the gospel down to the level of the world. It is not by this example that we are to measure the Christian rule, but words and life of Christ. All His followers are commanded to labour to become perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect, and to bear His image in our hearts that we may be His children. We are obliged by the gospel to die to ourselves by fighting self-love in our hearts, by the mastery of our passions, by taking on the spirit of our Lord.
   These are the conditions under which Christ makes His promises and numbers us among His children, as is manifest from His words which the apostles have left us in their inspired writings. Here is no distinction made or foreseen between the apostles or clergy or religious and secular persons. The former, indeed, take upon themselves certain stricter obligations, as a means of accomplishing these ends more perfectly; but the law of holiness and of disengagement of the heart from the world is general and binds all the followers of Christ.
God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique each the result of a new idea.
As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike.
It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints.

Dear Lord, grant us a spirit not bound by our own ideas and preferences.
 
Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves.

O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory.
 
Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.
Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.
The 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary ) Revealed to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan)
1.    Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces. 2.    I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. 3.    The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. 4.    It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things.  Oh, that soul would sanctify them by this means.  5.    The soul that recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish. 6.    Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying themselves to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune.  God will not chastise them in His justice, they shall not perish by an unprovided death; if they be just, they shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life. 7.    Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church. 8.    Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise. 9.    I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. 10.    The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.  11.    You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary. 12.    I shall aid all those who propagate the Holy Rosary in their necessities. 13.    I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death. 14.    All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ. 15.    Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
His Holiness Aram I, current (2013) Catholicos of Cilicia of Armenians, whose See is located in Lebanese town of Antelias. The Catholicosate was founded in Sis, capital of Cilicia, in the year 1441 following the move of the Catholicosate of All Armenians back to its original See of Etchmiadzin in Armenia. The Catholicosate of Cilicia enjoyed local jurisdiction, though spiritually subject to the authority of Etchmiadzin. In 1921 the See was transferred to Aleppo in Syria, and in 1930 to Antelias.
Its jurisdiction currently extends to Syria, Cyprus, Iran and Greece.
Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac
The exact date of the introduction of Christianity into Edessa {Armenian Ourhaï in Arabic Er Roha, commonly Orfa or Urfa, its present name} is not known. It is certain, however, that the Christian community was at first made up from the Jewish population of the city. According to an ancient legend, King Abgar V, Ushana, was converted by Addai, who was one of the seventy-two disciples. In fact, however, the first King of Edessa to embrace the Christian Faith was Abgar IX (c. 206) becoming official kingdom religion.
Christian council held at Edessa early as 197 (Eusebius, Hist. Ecc7V,xxiii).
In 201 the city was devastated by a great flood, and the Christian church was destroyed (“Chronicon Edessenum”, ad. an. 201).
In 232 the relics of the Apostle St. Thomas were brought from India, on which occasion his Syriac Acts were written.

Under Roman domination martyrs suffered at Edessa: Sts. Scharbîl and Barsamya, under Decius; Sts. Gûrja, Schâmôna, Habib, and others under Diocletian.
 
In the meanwhile Christian priests from Edessa evangelized Eastern Mesopotamia and Persia, established the first Churches in the kingdom of the Sassanides.  Atillâtiâ, Bishop of Edessa, assisted at the Council of Nicæa (325). The “Peregrinatio Silviæ” (or Etheriæ) (ed. Gamurrini, Rome, 1887, 62 sqq.) gives an account of the many sanctuaries at Edessa about 388.
Although Hebrew had been the language of the ancient Israelite kingdom, after their return from Exile the Jews turned more and more to Aramaic, using it for parts of the books of Ezra and Daniel in the Bible. By the time of Jesus, Aramaic was the main language of Palestine, and quite a number of texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls are also written in Aramaic.
Aramaic continued to be an important language for Jews, alongside Hebrew, and parts of the Talmud are written in it.
After Arab conquests of the seventh century, Arabic quickly replaced Aramaic as the main language of those who converted to Islam, although in out of the way places, Aramaic continued as a vernacular language of Muslims.
Aramaic, however, enjoyed its greatest success in Christianity. Although the New Testament wins written in Greek, Christianity had come into existence in an Aramaic-speaking milieu, and it was the Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac, that became the literary language of a large number of Christians living in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire and in the Persian Empire, further east. Over the course of the centuries the influence of the Syriac Churches spread eastwards to China (in Xian, in western China, a Chinese-Syriac inscription dated 781 is still to be seen); to southern India where the state of Kerala can boast more Christians of Syriac liturgical tradition than anywhere else in the world.

680 Shiite saint Imam Hussein, grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammad Known as Ashoura and observed by Shiites across the world, the 10th day of the lunar Muslim month of Muharram: the anniversary of the 7th century death in battle of one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints.  Imam Hussein died in the 680 A.D. battle fought on the plains outside Karbala, a city in modern Iraq that's home to the saint's shrine.  The battle over a dispute about the leadership of the Muslim faith following Muhammad's death in 632 A.D. It is the defining event in Islam's split into Sunni and Shiite branches.  The occasion is the source of an enduring moral lesson. "He sacrificed his blood to teach us not to give in to corruption, coercion, or use of force and to seek honor and justice."  According to Shiite beliefs, Hussein and companions were denied water by enemies who controlled the nearby Euphrates.  Streets get partially covered with blood from slaughter of hundreds of cows and sheep. Volunteers cook the meat and feed it to the poor.  Hussein's martyrdom recounted through a rich body of prose, poetry and song remains an inspirational example of sacrifice to many Shiites, 10 percent of the world's estimated 1.3 billion Muslims.
Meeting of the Saints  walis (saints of Allah)
Great men covet to embrace martyrdom for a cause and principle.
So was the case with Hazrat Ali. He could have made a compromise with the evil forces of his time and, as a result, could have led a very comfortable, easy and luxurious life.  But he was not a person who would succumb to such temptations. His upbringing, his education and his training in the lap of the holy Prophet made him refuse such an offer.
Rabia Al-Basri (717–801 C.E.) She was first to set forth the doctrine of mystical love and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets. An elderly Shia pointed out that during his pre-Partition childhood it was quite common to find pictures and portraits of Shia icons in Imambaras across the country.
Shah Abdul Latif: The Exalted Sufi Master born 1690 in a Syed family; died 1754. In ancient times, Sindh housed the exemplary Indus Valley Civilisation with Moenjo Daro as its capital, and now, it is the land of a culture which evolved from the teachings of eminent Sufi saints. Pakistan is home to the mortal remains of many Sufi saints, the exalted among them being Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, a practitioner of the real Islam, philosopher, poet, musicologist and preacher. He presented his teaching through poetry and music - both instruments sublime - and commands a very large following, not only among Muslims but also among Hindus and Christians. Sindh culture: The Shah is synonymous with Sindh. He is the very fountainhead of Sindh's culture. His message remains as fresh as that of any present day poet, and the people of Sindh find solace from his writings. He did indeed think for Sindh. One of his prayers, in exquisite Sindhi, translates thus: “Oh God, may ever You on Sindh bestow abundance rare! Beloved! All the world let share Thy grace, and fruitful be.”
Shia Ali al-Hadi, died 868 and son Hassan al-Askari 874. These saints are the 10th and 11th of Shia's 12 most revered Imams. Baba Farid Sufi 1398 miracle, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki renowned Muslim Sufi saint scholar miracles 569 A.H. [1173 C.E.] hermit gave to poor, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti greatest mystic of his time born 533 Hijri (1138-39 A.D.), Hazrat Ghuas-e Azam, Hazrat Bu Ali Sharif, and Hazrat Nizamuddin 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]

To Save A Life is Earthly; Saving A Soul is Eternal Donation by mail, please send check or money order to:
Eternal Word Television Network 5817 Old Leeds Rd. Irondale, AL 35210  USA
  Catholic Television Network  Supported entirely by donations from viewers  help  spread the Eternal Word, online Here
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
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 Indulgence 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}.
Every Christian must be a living book wherein one can read the teaching of the gospel
 
It Makes No Sense
Not To Believe In GOD
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi
  June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
By Father John Corapi
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi
  June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
By Father John Corapi
Among the most important titles we have in the Catholic Church for the Blessed Virgin Mary are Our Lady of Victory and Our Lady of the Rosary. These titles can be traced back to one of the most decisive times in the history of the world and Christendom. The Battle of Lepanto took place on October 7 (date of feast of Our Lady of Rosary), 1571. This proved to be the most crucial battle for the Christian forces against the radical Muslim navy of Turkey. Pope Pius V led a procession around St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City praying the Rosary. He showed true pastoral leadership in recognizing the danger posed to Christendom by the radical Muslim forces, and in using the means necessary to defeat it. Spiritual battles require spiritual weapons, and this more than anything was a battle that had its origins in the spiritual order—a true battle between good and evil.

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

No other issue, not all other issues taken together, can constitute a proportionate reason for voting for candidates that intend to preserve and defend this holocaust of innocent human life that is abortion.

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

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

Father Corapi's Biography

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

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

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

About Father John Corapi.
Father Corapi is a Catholic priest .
The pillars of father's preaching are basically:
Love for and a relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary 
Leading a vibrant and loving relationship with Jesus Christ
Great love and reverence for the Most Holy Eucharist from Holy Mass to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
An uncompromising love for and obedience to the Holy Father and the teaching of the Magisterium of the Church


God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi


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

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

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

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

Pope Francis will beatify these martyred Greek-Catholic bishops in Romania
May 30, 2019 - 03:01 pm .- On Sunday in Blaj, Pope Francis will beatify seven Greek-Catholic bishops of Romania who were killed by the communist regime between 1950 and 1970.
 
Woman who served Brazil’s poorest to be canonized
May 14, 2019 - 06:53 am .- Pope Francis Tuesday gave his approval for eight sainthood causes to proceed, including that of Bl. Dulce Lopes Pontes, a 20th-century religious sister who served Brazil’s poor.

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

Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women
Jan 15, 2019 - 11:12 am .- Pope Francis approved Tuesday the next step in the canonization causes of 17 women from four countries, including the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters killed in Spain at the start of the Spanish Civil War.
 
Nineteen Algerian martyrs beatified
Dec 10, 2018 - 03:08 pm .- Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, were beatified Saturday during a Mass in Oran.

The Algerian martyrs shed their blood for Christ, pope says
Dec 7, 2018 - 10:02 am .- Ahead of the beatification Saturday of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, Pope Francis said martyrs have a special place in the Church.
Algerian martyrs are models for the Church, archbishop says
Nov 16, 2018 - 03:01 am .- Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers has said that Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, are “models for our lives as disciples today and tomorrow.”
 
Francesco Spinelli to be canonized after healing of a newborn in DR Congo
Oct 9, 2018 - 05:01 pm .- Among those being canonized on Sunday are Fr. Franceso Spinelli, a diocesan priest through whose intercession a newborn was saved from death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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

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

Pope Francis creates new path to beatification under ‘offering of life’
Jul 11, 2017 - 06:22 am .- On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor.
 
Twentieth century Polish nurse among causes advancing toward sainthood
Jul 7, 2017 - 06:14 am .- Pope Francis on Friday approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Hanna Chrzanowska, a Polish nurse and nursing instructor who died from cancer in 1973, paving the way for her beatification.
 
Sainthood causes advance, including layman who resisted fascism
Jun 17, 2017 - 09:22 am .- Pope Francis on Friday recognized the heroic virtue of six persons on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of an Italian man who died from injuries of a beating he received while imprisoned in a concentration camp for resisting fascism.
 
Solanus Casey, Cardinal Van Thuan among those advanced toward sainthood
May 4, 2017 - 10:47 am .- Pope Francis on Thursday approved decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints advancing the causes for canonization of 12 individuals, including the American-born Capuchin Solanus Casey and the Vietnamese cardinal Francis Xavier Nguen Van Thuan.
 
Pope clears way for canonization of Fatima visionaries
Mar 23, 2017 - 06:44 am .- On Thursday Pope Francis approved the second and final miracle needed to canonize Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the Fatima Marian apparitions.
Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward
Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life.

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

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

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

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

Pope Francis will beatify these martyred Greek-Catholic bishops in Romania
May 30, 2019 - 03:01 pm .- On Sunday in Blaj, Pope Francis will beatify seven Greek-Catholic bishops of Romania who were killed by the communist regime between 1950 and 1970.
 
Woman who served Brazil’s poorest to be canonized
May 14, 2019 - 06:53 am .- Pope Francis Tuesday gave his approval for eight sainthood causes to proceed, including that of Bl. Dulce Lopes Pontes, a 20th-century religious sister who served Brazil’s poor.

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

Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women
Jan 15, 2019 - 11:12 am .- Pope Francis approved Tuesday the next step in the canonization causes of 17 women from four countries, including the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters killed in Spain at the start of the Spanish Civil War.
 
Nineteen Algerian martyrs beatified
Dec 10, 2018 - 03:08 pm .- Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, were beatified Saturday during a Mass in Oran.

The Algerian martyrs shed their blood for Christ, pope says
Dec 7, 2018 - 10:02 am .- Ahead of the beatification Saturday of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, Pope Francis said martyrs have a special place in the Church.
Algerian martyrs are models for the Church, archbishop says
Nov 16, 2018 - 03:01 am .- Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers has said that Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, are “models for our lives as disciples today and tomorrow.”
 
Francesco Spinelli to be canonized after healing of a newborn in DR Congo
Oct 9, 2018 - 05:01 pm .- Among those being canonized on Sunday are Fr. Franceso Spinelli, a diocesan priest through whose intercession a newborn was saved from death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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

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

Pope Francis creates new path to beatification under ‘offering of life’
Jul 11, 2017 - 06:22 am .- On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor.
 
Twentieth century Polish nurse among causes advancing toward sainthood
Jul 7, 2017 - 06:14 am .- Pope Francis on Friday approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Hanna Chrzanowska, a Polish nurse and nursing instructor who died from cancer in 1973, paving the way for her beatification.
 
Sainthood causes advance, including layman who resisted fascism
Jun 17, 2017 - 09:22 am .- Pope Francis on Friday recognized the heroic virtue of six persons on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of an Italian man who died from injuries of a beating he received while imprisoned in a concentration camp for resisting fascism.
 
Solanus Casey, Cardinal Van Thuan among those advanced toward sainthood
May 4, 2017 - 10:47 am .- Pope Francis on Thursday approved decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints advancing the causes for canonization of 12 individuals, including the American-born Capuchin Solanus Casey and the Vietnamese cardinal Francis Xavier Nguen Van Thuan.
 
Pope clears way for canonization of Fatima visionaries
Mar 23, 2017 - 06:44 am .- On Thursday Pope Francis approved the second and final miracle needed to canonize Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the Fatima Marian apparitions.
Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward
Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life.

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

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

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

Servant of God Alfonse Gallegos of the Order of Augustinian Recollects, Titular Bishop of Sasabe, auxiliary of Sacramento; born Feb. 20, 1931 and died Oct. 6, 1991
Servant of God Rafael Sánchez García, diocesan priest; born June 14, 1911 and died on Aug. 8, 1973
Servant of God Andrés García Acosta, professed layman of the Order of Friars Minor; born Jan. 10, 1800 and died Jan. 14, 1853
Servant of God Joseph Marchetti, professed priest of the Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Charles; born Oct. 3, 1869 and died Dec. 14, 1896
Servant of God Giacomo Viale, professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, pastor of Bordighera; born Feb. 28, 1830 and died April 16, 1912
Servant of God Maria Pia of the Cross (née Maddalena Notari), foundress of the Congregation of Crucified Sisters Adorers of the Eucharist; born Dec. 2, 1847 and died on July 1, 1919
Sunday, November 23 2014 Six to Be Canonized on Feast of Christ the King.

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

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

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

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic prelate was also an ardent supporter of the Jewish community in Ukraine, going so far as to learn Hebrew to better communicate with them. He also was a vocal protestor against atrocities committed by the Nazis, evidenced in his pastoral letter, "Thou Shalt Not Kill." He was also known to harbor thousands of Jews in his residence and in Greek Catholic monasteries.
Following his death in 1944, his cause for canonization was opened in 1958.
* * *
The Holy Father authorized the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees regarding the heroic virtues of:
- Servant of God Andrey Sheptytsky, O.S.B.M., major archbishop of Leopolis of the Ukrainians, metropolitan of Halyc (1865-1944);
- Servant of God Giuseppe Carraro, Bishop of Verona, Italy (1899-1980);
- Servant of God Agustin Ramirez Barba, Mexican diocesan priest and founder of the Servants of the Lord of Mercy (1881-1967);
- Servant of God Simpliciano della Nativita (ne Aniello Francesco Saverio Maresca), Italian professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Hearts (1827-1898);
- Servant of God Maria del Refugio Aguilar y Torres del Cancino, Mexican founder of the Mercedarian Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (1866-1937);
- Servant of God Marie-Charlotte Dupouy Bordes (Marie-Teresa), French professed religious of the Society of the Religious of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (1873-1953);
- Servant of God Elisa Miceli, Italian founder of the Rural Catechist Sisters of the Sacred Heart (1904-1976);
- Servant of God Isabel Mendez Herrero (Isabel of Mary Immaculate), Spanish professed nun of the Servants of St. Joseph (1924-1953)
October 01, 2015 Vatican City, Pope Authorizes following Decrees
(ZENIT.org) By Staff Reporter
Polish Layperson Recognized as Servant of God
Pope Authorizes Decrees
Pope Francis on Wednesday authorised the Congregation for Saints' Causes to promulgate the following decrees:

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

HEROIC VIRTUES
- Servant of God Giovanni Folci, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the Opera Divin Prigioniero (1890-1963);
- Servant of God Franciszek Blachnicki, Polish diocesan priest (1921-1987);
- Servant of God Jose Rivera Ramirez, Spanish diocesan priest (1925-1991);
- Servant of God Juan Manuel Martín del Campo, Mexican diocesan priest (1917-1996);
- Servant of God Antonio Filomeno Maria Losito, Italian professed priest of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (1838-1917);
- Servant of God Maria Benedetta Giuseppa Frey (nee Ersilia Penelope), Italian professed nun of the Cistercian Order (1836-1913);
- Servant of God Hanna Chrzanowska, Polish layperson, Oblate of the Ursulines of St. Benedict (1902-1973).
March 06 2016 MIRACLES authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
Pope Francis received in a private audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, during which he authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
MIRACLES

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

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

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

MIRACLES
– Blessed Alfonso Maria Fusco, diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist (1839-1910);
– Venerable Servant of God John Sullivan, professed priest of the Society of Jesus (1861-1933);
MARTYRDOM
– Servants of God Nikolle Vinçenc Prennushi, O.F.M., archbishop of Durres, Albania, and 37 companions killed between 1945 and 1974;
– Servants of God José Antón Gómez and three companions of the Benedictines of Madrid, Spain, killed 1936;
HEROIC VIRTUES
– Servant of God Thomas Choe Yang-Eop, diocesan priest (1821-1861);
– Servant of God Sosio Del Prete (né Vincenzo), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Congregation of the Little Servants of Christ the King (1885-1952);
– Servant of God Wenanty Katarzyniec (né Jósef), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1889-1921);
– Servant of God Maria Consiglia of the Holy Spirity (née Emilia Paqualina Addatis), founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Addolorata, Servants of Mary (1845-1900);
– Servant of God Maria of the Incarnation (née Caterina Carrasco Tenorio), founder of the Congregation of the Franciscan Tertiary Sisters of the Flock of Mary (1840-1917);
– Servant of God , founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Family of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1851-1923);
– Servant of God Ilia Corsaro, founder of the Congregation of the Little Missionaries of the Eucharist (1897-1977);
– Servant of God Maria Montserrat Grases García, layperson of the Personal Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei (1941-1959).
LINKS:
Marian Apparitions (over 2000)  India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes Feb 11- July 16, Loreto, Italy 1858 
China
Marian shrines
May 23, 1995 Zarvintisya Ukraine Lourdes Kenya national Marian shrine    Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798  
Links to Related
Marian Websites  Angels and Archangels
Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Apostles  Roman Catholic Popes  Purgatory  Uniates, 63 2022