Mary the Mother of Jesus

Mary Mother of GOD 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary

Saints of this Day September  26  Sexto Kaléndas Octóbris

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!)
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
R. 
Thanks be to God.

The saints are a “cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.
The Iveron Icon of the Mother of God (which is preserved on Mt. Athos); the icon was installed on the monastery gates. Therefore this icon came to be called "Portaitissa" or "Gate-Keeper" (October 13). This comes from the Akathist to the Mother of God: "Rejoice, O Blessed Gate-Keeper who opens the gates of Paradise to the righteous."

The Iveron Icon of the Mother of God
was kept in the home of a certain pious widow, who lived near Nicea. During the reign of the emperor Theophilus, the Iconoclasts came to the house of this Christian, and one of the soldiers struck the image of the Mother of God with a spear. Blood flowed from the place where it was struck.

The widow, fearing its destruction, promised the imperial soldiers money and implored them not to touch the icon until morning. When the soldiers departed, the woman and her son (later an Athonite monk), sent the holy icon away upon the sea to preserve it. The icon, standing upright upon the water, floated to Athos.

For several days, the Athonite monks had seen a fiery pillar on the sea rising up to the heavens. They came down to the shore and found the holy image, standing upon the waters. After a Molieben of thanksgiving, a pious monk of the Iveron monastery, St Gabriel (July 12), had a dream in which the Mother of God appeared to him and gave him instructions. So he walked across the water, and taking up the holy icon, he placed it in the church.

On the following day, however, the icon was found not within the church, but on the gates of the monastery. This was repeated several times, until the Most Holy Theotokos revealed to St Gabriel Her will, saying that She did not want the icon to be guarded by the monks, but rather She intended to be their Protectress. After this, the icon was installed on the monastery gates. Therefore this icon came to be called "Portaitissa" or "Gate-Keeper" (October 13). This comes from the Akathist to the Mother of God: "Rejoice, O Blessed Gate-Keeper who opens the gates of Paradise to the righteous."

There is a tradition that the Mother of God promised St Gabriel that the grace and mercy of Her Son toward the monks would continue as long as the Icon remained at the monastery. It is also believed that the disappearance of the Iveron Icon from Mt. Athos would be a sign of the end of the world.

The Iveron Icon is also commemorated on February 12, March 31, October 13 (Its arrival in Moscow in 1648), and Bright Tuesday (Commemorating the appearance of the Icon in a pillar of fire at Mt. Athos and its recovery by St Gabriel).

On September 26, 1989, a copy of this famous icon arrived in Tbilisi, Georgia from the Iveron Monastery on mt. Athos. This copy had been painted by the monks on Mt. Athos as a symbol of love and gratitude to the Georgian people.

September 26 - Our Lady of Victory (Tourney, 1340)

Mrs Adjoubei’s Rosary        Bishop Roncalli, the future Pope John XXIII
As he left Bulgaria in 1934, Bishop Roncalli, the future Pope John XXIII, stated,
"If a Slavic, catholic or not, knocks on my door, it will be opened and he will be greeted like a true friend."
Later, a Slavic arrived one day at the airport of Fiumicino who asked to see Pope John XXIII.
His reply was immediate, "Let him come!" The meeting was set for March 7th.


After the general audience, the Pope called for Mr. Adjoubei and his wife, Rada, a young woman from Khrushchev. He received them in his library and asked them to be seated.
They spoke about many things including the Saints of Russia and the beauty of Orthodox liturgy.

Then John XXIII picked up a string of rosary beads that was laid on his table.
"Madam, this is for you. My entourage taught me that I should give currencies or stamps to a non-Catholic princess; but I still give you a Rosary because priests, in addition to the biblical prayer of the psalms,
also have this popular form of prayer. For me, the Pope, it is like fifteen open windows - fifteen mysteries - through which I contemplate, in the light of the Lord, the events of the world. I say a rosary in the morning, another at the beginning of the afternoon, and another in the evening.
Look, I made a great impression by telling the journalists that in the fifth joyful mystery -
"he listened and questioned them" - I was really praying for... I made an impression on those people when I said that, in the third joyful mystery - the Birth of Jesus - I prayed for all the babies who are born in the past twenty-four hours, because, Catholics or not, they will find the wishes of the Pope upon their entry into life.
When I recite the third mystery, I will also remember your children, Madam."

Mrs Adjoubei, who held the Rosary in her hands, answered,
"Thank you, Holy Father, how grateful I am to you! I will tell my children what you said...

" The Pope looked at her smiling, "I know the name of your sons... the third is called Yan, or John like me...
When you are back home, give him a special hug from me... "  Rosary for the Church, #14 - 1973


John the Theologian The Holy, Glorious All-laudable Apostle and Evangelist, Virgin, and Beloved Friend of Christ
Son of Zebedee and Salome, a daughter of St Joseph the Betrothed. He was called by our Lord Jesus Christ to be one of His Apostles at the same time as his elder brother James. This took place at Lake Gennesareth (i.e. the Sea of Galilee). Leaving behind their father, both brothers followed the Lord.

 287 Sts. Cosmos & Damian skilled in medicine charitous
 300 St. Callistratus African martyr with 49 soldiers
  304 Ss birthday of holy martyrs Cyprian and virgin Justina; black magic and diabolical expertise to win her for himself but was repelled by her faith and the aid of Mary; He then turned to a priest named Eusebius for instruction and was converted to Christianity. He destroyed his magical books, gave his wealth to the poor, was baptized, as was Aglaides.
 400 St. Senator of the Albano catacomb is the largest and the most important of the ones outside Rome
 400 St. Eusebius, bishop and confessor at Bologna,
 506 St. Vigilius Bishop of Brescia, in Lombardy
6th v.  St. Meugant Hermit of Britain
 600 St. Amantius Patron saint of Cittá di Castello
 612 St. Colman of Elo Abbot bishop; author of the Alphabet of Devotion
1000 St. Nilus the Younger Abbot Born in Calabria
1159 St. John of Meda abbot Rule of St. Benedict to Milan
; A secular priest from Como, Italy, John joined the
        Humiliati, a penitential institute of laymen
1492 Saint Ephraim of Perekop, Novgorod; he persuaded his parents, Stephen and Annathem to leave the world and accept monasticism. Later, they also finished their earthly paths living as hermits; received a revelation from the Lord, commanding him to withdraw to a desolate place; St Ephraim was buried at the church of St Nicholas. In 1509, frequent floodings threatened the monastery with ruin, it was transferred to another location at the shore of Lake Ilmen. St Ephraim appeared to the igumen Romanus and pointed to the site of Klinkovo for relocating the monastery.
1649 St. Noel Chabanel Jesuit missionary to Hurons in Canada
1885 St. Theresa Coudere Foundress Our Lady of Retreat  Society of Our lady of the Cenacle

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

  Holy Father's Prayer Intentions For 2009 Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for September 2009
General: That the word of God may be better known, welcomed and lived as the source of freedom and joy.
Mission: That Christians in Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar, who often meet with great difficulties, may not be discourage from announcing the Gospel to their brothers, trusting in the strength of the Holy Spirit.


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

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


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

Pope Benedict XVI to The Catholic Church In China {whole article here }

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

THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARPSALM 106
Give praise to the Lord, for He is good: give praise to His Mother, for her mercy endureth for ever.
Show us, O Lady, the innocence and the way of prudence: and point out the way of understanding to thy servants.
The fear of God enlightens the mind: and thy love rejoices it.
Blessed is the man whose speech is pleasing to thee: his bones shall be fattened with marrow and fatness.
Thy word shall uphold the feeble soul: and thy lips shall refresh the thirsty soul.
Glory be to the Father.
Glory be to the Father who created Heaven and earth; His only Son who lived and died for all of us;
and the Holy Spirit the Lord giver of life, Who proceeds from the Father and Son, with the Father and Son He is Worshiped and Glorified, and He has spoken through the prophets:  Amen

Story of a Shepherdess Who Became Queen (II) September 26 - OUR LADY OF THE WELL (China, 1945)

"Do you wish," said the Sweet Queen, "Do you wish to become Madeleine,
Close to me, on Mount Carmel, And from then on win nothing less than Heaven?" ...
The humble shepherdess happily Responded to that sweet call.
Upheld by Mary, her Mother, She reached the summit of Carmel.
It is you, O Marie-Madeleine! Whom we honor on this great day.
The Shepherdess has become a Queen Close to King Jesus, her love! ...
Saint Therese of Lisieux (d.1897) Written as a song to the tune of "Tombé du nid"

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THE EUCHARIST, A MYSTERY TO BE BELIEVED POST-SYNODAL APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS OF THE HOLY FATHER BENEDICT XVI
Morning Prayer and Hymn   Meditation of the Day  Prayer for Priests
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.

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;
and 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


breviary.net/martyrology/mart09/mart0926 stlukeorthodox.com/html/saints/august/ usccb.org  ewtn.com  Irondequoit .org Saints Alive
domcentral.org/life/martyrSeptember syriac   oca.org  glaubenszeugen.de/tage/September/   Serbian   http://www.copticchurch.net  Melkite
Monthly Saints with pics here http://www.stfrancisenid.com/memorials.htm
 One Saint per day stthomasirondequoit.com/SaintsAlive/index.htm    stjohndc.org  God's Humourous Saints
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.
Mary the Mother of Jesus Miracles_BLay Saints  Miraculous_IconMiraculous_Medal_Novena Patron Saints
100   200   300   400   500   600   700    800   900   1000    1100   1200   1300   1400  1500  1600  1700  1800   1900
The POPES HTML
God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heaven.
Benedict_XVI_Patriarch_Bartholomew
BenedictXVI_Archbishop_Hilarion
Benedict XVI receives Orthodox Archbishop Hilarion n September 18th, Pope Benedict XVI;  Archbishop Hilarion, president of the Department for External Church Affairs of the Patriarchate of Moscow.
The Orthodox Archbishop is currently visiting the Vatican at the invitation of Cardinal Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
This Pontifical Council underlined that the visit will confirm the ties of friendship between the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church, with a view to closer collaboration and to favor the presence of the Church in the lives of the peoples of Europe and the world.
In addition, a further step in ecumenical relations is scheduled for the month of October in Cyprus: the meeting of the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, which will address the theme of Petrine Primacy.

Cross Not Optional, Says Benedict XVI

Reflects on Peter's "Immature" Faith CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, AUG. 31, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Taking up one's cross isn't an option, it's a mission all Christians are called to, says Benedict XVI.
The Pope said this today before reciting the midday Angelus with several thousand people gathered in the courtyard of the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome.
Referring to the Gospel reading for today's Mass, the Holy Father reflected on the faith of Peter, which is shown to be "still immature and too much influenced by the 'mentality of this world.'”  He explained that when Christ spoke openly about how he was to "suffer much, be killed and rise again, Peter protests, saying: 'God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.'"
"It is evident that the Master and the disciple follow two opposed ways of thinking," continued the Pontiff. "Peter, according to a human logic, is convinced that God would never allow his Son to end his mission dying on the cross.  "Jesus, on the contrary, knows that the Father, in his great love for men, sent him to give his life for them, and if this means the passion and the cross, it is right that such should happen."
Christ also knew that "the resurrection would be the last word," Benedict XVI added.
Serious illness
The Pope continued, "If to save us the Son of God had to suffer and die crucified, it certainly was not because of a cruel design of the heavenly Father.  "The cause of it is the gravity of the sickness of which he must cure us: an evil so serious and deadly that it will require all of his blood. 
"In fact, it is with his death and resurrection that Jesus defeated sin and death, reestablishing the lordship of God."
Quote: Pope Paul VI’s 1969 Instruction on the Contemplative Life includes this passage:  
 "To withdraw into the desert is for Christians tantamount to associating themselves more intimately with Christ’s passion, and it enables them, in a very special way, to share in the paschal mystery and in the passage of Our Lord from this world to the heavenly homeland" (#1).
Benedict_XVI_Patriarch_Bartholomew I
"Christianity is not a moral code or a philosophy,
but an encounter with a person" -- Benedict XVI

"Evil, is only eradicated by holiness, not by harshness. And holiness introduces into society a seed that heals and transforms.  It is like the tectonic plates of the earth’s crust: The deepest layers need only shift a few millimeters to shatter the world’s surface. Yet for this spiritual revolution to occur, we must experience radical 'metanoia'--a conversion of attitudes, habits and practices--for ways that we have misused or abused God’s Word, God’s gifts and God’s creation. The challenge before us is the discernment of God’s Word in the face of evil, the transfiguration of every last detail and speck of this world in the light of Resurrection." "The victory is al ready present in the depths of the Church, whenever we experience the grace of reconciliation and communion."
Patriarch_Bartholomew I: SYNOD OF BISHOPS VATICAN CITY, OCT. 17, 2008

"The answers to many of life's questions can be found by reading the Lives of the Saints.
They teach us how to overcome obstacles and difficulties,how to stand firm in our faith,
and how to struggle against evil and emerge victorious." 
1913 Saint Barsanuphius of Optina
God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heaven.
The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR the benefit of others.
Non est inventus similis illis
His Holiness Aram I, current (2008) Catholicos of Cilicia of Armenians, whose See is located in Lebanese town of Antelias.
  The Catholicosate was founded in Sis, capital of Cilicia, in the year 1441 following the move of the Catholicosate of All Armenians back to its original See of Etchmiadzin in Armenia.
The Catholicosate of Cilicia enjoyed local jurisdiction, though spiritually subject to the authority of Etchmiadzin.
In 1921 the See was transferred to Aleppo in Syria, and in 1930 to Antelias.
Its jurisdiction currently extends to Syria, Cyprus, Iran and Greece.
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.
Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac: The exact date of the introduction of Christianity into Edessa {Armenian Ourhaï in Arabic Er Roha, commonly Orfa or Urfa, its present name} is not known. It is certain, however, that the Christian community was at first made up from the Jewish population of the city. According to an ancient legend, King Abgar V, Ushana, was converted by Addai, who was one of the seventy-two disciples. In fact, however, the first King of Edessa to embrace the Christian Faith was Abgar IX (c. 206) becoming official kingdom religion.Christian council held at Edessa early as 197 (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., V,xxiii). In 201 the city was devastated by a great flood, and the Christian church was destroyed ("Chronicon Edessenum", ad. an. 201). In 232 the relics of the Apostle St. Thomas were brought from India, on which occasion his Syriac Acts were written. Under Roman domination martyrs suffered at Edessa: Sts. Scharbîl and Barsamya, under Decius; Sts. Gûrja, Schâmôna, Habib, and others under Diocletian.

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.
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 AzamHazrat Bu Ali Sharif, and Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia 1236-1325 welcomed people of all faiths & all walks of life Sufi Saint Hazrath Khwaja Syed Mohammed Badshah Quadri Chisty Yamani Quadeer (RA)
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Mother Angelica saving souls is this beautiful womans journey
Shrine_of_The_Most_Blessed_Sacrament
Colombia was among the countries Mother Angelica visited.  In Bogotá, a Salesian priest - Father Juan Pablo Rodriguez brought Mother and the nuns to the Sanctuary of the Divine Infant Jesus to attend Mass.  After Mass, Father Juan Pablo took them into a small Shrine which housed the miraculous statue of the Child Jesus. Mother Angelica stood praying at the side of the statue when suddenly the miraculous image came alive and turned towards her.  Then the Child Jesus spoke with the voice of a young boy: 
"Build Me a Temple and I will help those who help you." 
Thus began a great adventure that would eventually result in the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, a Temple dedicated to the Divine Child Jesus, a place of refuge for all. Use this link to read a remarkable story about
Father Reardon, Editor of The Catholic Bulletin for 20 years
Lover of the poor; "A very Holy Man of God"
Monsignor Reardon P.A.  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 5/31/1908
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 B. 1872, Nova Scotia; Priest, ordained by Bishop Ireland; Member  St. Paul Seminary faculty
Litany of Loretto in Stained glass windows Here.  Nave Sacristy and Residence Here
Sanctuary
spaces filled
between with grilles of hand-forged wrought iron  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.  It became the Popes' own cathedral and official residence for the first millennium of Christian history. The only replicas ever made:  in order from west to east {1932}. Saints Simon (saw), Bartholomew (knife), James the Lesser (book), John (eagle),  Andrew (transverse cross), Peter (keys), Paul (sword), James the Greater (staff),
Thomas (carpenter's square), Philip (serpent), Matthew (book), and Jude (sword).
Every Christian must be a living book wherein one can read the teaching of the gospel
 
It Makes No Sense Not To Believe In GOD
The 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.
By Father John Corapi, SOLT
Among the most important titles we have in the Catholic Church for the Blessed Virgin Mary are Our Lady of Victory and Our Lady of the Rosary. These titles can be traced back to one of the most decisive times in the history of the world and Christendom. The Battle of Lepanto took place on October 7 (date of feast of Our Lady of Rosary), 1571. This proved to be the most crucial battle for the Christian forces against the radical Muslim navy of Turkey. Pope Pius V led a procession around St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City praying the Rosary. He showed true pastoral leadership in recognizing the danger posed to Christendom by the radical Muslim forces, and in using the means necessary to defeat it. Spiritual battles require spiritual weapons, and this more than anything was a battle that had its origins in the spiritual order—a true battle between good and evil.

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

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

THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM
As we watch the spectacle of the world seeming to self-destruct before our eyes, we can’t help but be saddened and even frightened by so much evil run rampant. Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Somalia, North Korea—It is all a disaster of epic proportions displayed in living color on our television screens.  These are not ordinary times and this is not business as usual. We are at a crossroads in human history and the time for Catholics and all Christians to act is now. All evil can ultimately be traced to its origin, which is moral evil. All of the political action, peace talks, international peacekeeping forces, etc. will avail nothing if the underlying sickness is not addressed. This is sin. One person at a time hearts and minds must be moved from evil to good, from lies to truth, from violence to peace.

Islam, an Arabic word that has often been defined as “to make peace,” seems like a living contradiction today. Although it is supposed to be a religion of peace, Islam has been hijacked by Satan and now operates in the dark space of international terrorism.  As we celebrate the birthday of Our Lady, I am proposing that each one of us pray the Rosary for peace. Prayer is what must precede all other activity if that activity is to have any chance of success. Pray for peace, pray the Rosary every day without fail.  There is a great love for Mary among Muslim people. It is not a coincidence that a little village named Fatima is where God chose to have His Mother appear in the twentieth century. Our Lady’s name appears no less than thirty times in the Koran. No other woman’s name is mentioned, not even that of Mohammed’s daughter, Fatima.
In the Koran Our Lady is described as “Virgin, ever Virgin.”

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

A New Series by Fr. Corapi! The Moon Under Her Feet CD-Audio Set: $39.00 DVD-Video Set: $45.00  call 1-888-800-7084 or go to Site http://www.fathercorapi.com
In this four part series 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 this four part series on topics more timely than ever.
The four titles are:  1. The Real War We Fight 2. The Battle for Hearts & Minds 3. Leadership: Essential for Victory 4. With the Moon Under Her Feet
DECREES OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE CAUSES OF SAINTS
VATICAN CITY, 17 JAN 2009 (VIS) - Today, during a private audience with Archbishop Angelo Amato S.D.B., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the Pope authorised the congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
All Servants of God
MIRACLES:
- 1909 Ciriaco Maria Sancha y Hervas, Spanish cardinal archbishop of Toledo, founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of
          Charity of Cardinal Sancha (1833-1909).
-
1956 Carlo Gnocchi, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the "Pro Juventute" Foundation (1902-1956).
-
1735 Bernardo Francisco de Hoyos, Spanish professed priest of the Company of Jesus (1711-1735).
-
1919 Raphael Rafiringa (ne Louis), Madagascan professed religious of the Institute of Brothers of Christian Schools
          (1856-1919).
-
1946 Eustachio Kugler, (ne Joseph), German professed religious of the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God (1867-1946).
 
HEROIC VIRTUES
-
1659 Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, Spanish bishop of Osma (1600-1659).
-
1888 Robert Spiske, diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of Sisters of St. Hedwig (1821-1888).
- 1
932 Carolina Beltrami, Italian foundress of the Institute of "Immaculatine" Sisters of Alessandria (1869-1932).
-
1998 Mary of the Immaculate e Conception Salvat y Romerio (nee Maria Isabella), Spanish superior general of the Institute of
          Sisters of the Company of the Cross (1926-1998).
-
1842 Liberata Ferrarons y Vives, Spanish laywoman of the Third Order of Carmelites (1803-1842).
  In the course of a private audience with Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. on 22 December 2008, the Pope authorised the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate a decree regarding the heroic virtues of
1871 Jose Tous y Soler, Servant of God Spanish professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchins and founder of the
        Capuchin sisters of the Mother of the Divine Shepherd (1811-1871).
CSS/DECREES/AMATO VIS 090119 (320)
RITES OF BEATIFICATION APPROVED BY THE HOLY FATHER VATICAN CITY, 8 SEP 2009 (VIS)
The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff today announced that the following rites of beatification,
approved by the Holy Father, will take place over the coming months:
- Servant of God Eustachio Kugler (ne Joseph), German professed religious of the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God: at 2 p.m. on Sunday 4 October in the cathedral of Regensburg, Germany.
- Servant of God Ciriaco Maria Sancha y Hervas, Spanish cardinal and archbishop, founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Cardinal Sancha, at 10 a.m. on Sunday 18 October in the cathedral of Toledo, Spain.
- Servant of God Carlo Gnocchi, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the "Pro Juventute" Foundation: at 10 a.m. on Sunday 25 October in the Piazza del Duomo in Milan, Italy.
- Servant of God Zoltan Lajos Meszlenyi, Hungarian bishop and martyr: at 10.30 a.m. on Saturday 31 October in the cathedral of Esztergom, Hungary.
- Servant of God Maria Alfonsina Danil Ghattas (nee Soultaneh Maria), co-foundress of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary of Jerusalem: at 10.30 a.m. on Sunday 22 November, Solemnity of Christ the King, in the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, Israel.
OCL/BEATIFICATIONS/... VIS 090908 (220)
Holy Land Christians Welcome Beatification Maria Alfonsina Danil Ghattas to Be Named Blessed in Nazareth  JERUSALEM, SEPT. 10, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Holy Land Christians are rejoicing over the forthcoming beatification, the first to take place in their country, of Maria Alfonsina Danil Ghattas, which is planned for Nov. 22 in Nazareth.
 
Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Custos of the Holy Land, affirmed this Wednesday, the day after the Holy See publicized the place and date of the beatification. The Vatican communiqué reported that "Mother Ghattas," born Soultaneh Maria, co- founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary of Jerusalem, will be beatified on the solemnity of Christ the King in the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth. Father Pizzaballa told the Italian agency Sir that this celebration will be "an important event, which will bring the Palestinian Christian community together again after Benedict XVI's visit."  He explained, "This beatification gives local Christians a symbol and spiritual example at a difficult time, in which their number is diminishing, with so many challenges such as secularization, formation and the political problems that continue unresolved."
 
Mother Ghattas' spiritual daughters, the Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary, were very enthusiastic when the news was made public. Sister Ildefonsa, secretary general of the congregation, explained to Sir that not only her congregation but the whole Christian community, especially in Galilee have been preparing for a long time. She stated, "We have sent a letter from the congregation to all the convents spread across the Middle East, so that they will pray and fast faced to the beatification."
 
The beatification "will be, for our Christian communities, an invitation to courage, to stay despite the difficulties," the nun added. "On our part we intend to give them education and instruction." 
Daughter of Palestine 
Ghattas was born on October 4, 1843 in Jerusalem. She entered religious life at age 14, with the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition, taking the name Alfonsina. She had visions of the Virgin Mary, who requested that she found a congregation dedicated to the Holy Rosary. In 1880, together with Father Joseph Tannous, she initiated the new religious community, which soon spread all over the Holy Land. The Custos of the Holy Land stated that Mother Ghattas was "a daughter of Palestine who lived in the Holy Land and who understood the importance of instruction and formation to give Christian witness in this tormented region of the world."
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John the Theologian The Holy, Glorious All-laudable Apostle and Evangelist, Virgin, and Beloved Friend of Christ
Son of Zebedee and Salome, a daughter of St Joseph the Betrothed. He was called by our Lord Jesus Christ to be one of His Apostles at the same time as his elder brother James. This took place at Lake Gennesareth (i.e. the Sea of Galilee). Leaving behind their father, both brothers followed the Lord.

The Apostle John was especially loved by the Savior for his sacrificial love and his virginal purity. After his calling, the Apostle John did not part from the Lord, and he was one of the three apostles who were particularly close to Him. St John the Theologian was present when the Lord restored the daughter of Jairus to life, and he was a witness to the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mount Tabor.

During the Last Supper, he reclined next to the Lord, and laid his head upon His breast. He also asked the name of the Savior's betrayer. The Apostle John followed after the Lord when they led Him bound from the Garden of Gethsemane to the court of the iniquitous High Priests Annas and Caiphas. He was there in the courtyard of the High Priest during the interrogations of his Teacher and he resolutely followed after him on the way to Golgotha, grieving with all his heart.

At the foot of the Cross he stood with the Mother of God and heard the words of the Crucified Lord addressed to Her from the Cross: "Woman, behold Thy son." Then the Lord said to him, "Behold thy Mother" (John 19:26-27). From that moment the Apostle John, like a loving son, concerned himself over the Most Holy Virgin Mary, and he served Her until Her Dormition.

After the Dormition of the Mother of God the Apostle John went to Ephesus and other cities of Asia Minor to preach the Gospel, taking with him his own disciple Prochorus. They boarded a ship, which floundered during a terrible tempest. All the travellers were cast up upon dry ground, and only the Apostle John remained in the depths of the sea. Prochorus wept bitterly, bereft of his spiritual father and guide, and he went on towards Ephesus alone.

On the fourteenth day of his journey he stood at the shore of the sea and saw that the waves had cast a man ashore. Going up to him, he recognized the Apostle John, whom the Lord had preserved alive for fourteen days in the sea. Teacher and disciple went to Ephesus, where the Apostle John preached incessantly to the pagans about Christ. His preaching was accompanied by such numerous and great miracles, that the number of believers increased with each day.

During this time there had begun a persecution of Christians under the emperor Nero (56-68). They took the Apostle John for trial at Rome. St John was sentenced to death for his confession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but the Lord preserved His chosen one. The apostle drank a cup of deadly poison, but he remained alive. Later, he emerged unharmed from a cauldron of boiling oil into which he had been thrown on orders from the torturer.

After this, they sent the Apostle John off to imprisonment to the island of Patmos, where he spent many years. Proceeding along on his way to the place of exile, St John worked many miracles. On the island of Patmos, his preaching and miracles attracted to him all the inhabitants of the island, and he enlightened them with the light of the Gospel. He cast out many devils from the pagan temples, and he healed a great multitude of the sick.

Sorcerers with demonic powers showed great hostility to the preaching of the holy apostle. He especially frightened the chief sorcerer of them all, named Kinops, who boasted that they would destroy the apostle. But the great John, by the grace of God acting through him, destroyed all the demonic artifices to which Kinops resorted, and the haughty sorcerer perished in the depths of the sea.

The Apostle John withdrew with his disciple Prochorus to a desolate height, where he imposed upon himself a three-day fast. As St John prayed the earth quaked and thunder rumbled. Prochorus fell to the ground in fright. The Apostle John lifted him up and told him to write down what he was about to say. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, saith the Lord, Who is and Who was and Who is to come, the Almighty" (Rev 1:8), proclaimed the Spirit of God through the Apostle John. Thus in about the year 67 the Book of Revelation was written, known also as the "Apocalypse," of the holy Apostle John the Theologian. In this Book were predictions of the tribulations of the Church and of the end of the world.

After his prolonged exile, the Apostle John received his freedom and returned to Ephesus, where he continued with his activity, instructing Christians to guard against false teachers and their erroneous teachings. In the year 95, the Apostle John wrote his Gospel at Ephesus. He called for all Christians to love the Lord and one another, and by this to fulfill the commands of Christ. The Church calls St John the "Apostle of Love", since he constantly taught that without love man cannot come near to God.

In his three Epistles, St John speaks of the significance of love for God and for neighbor. Already in his old age, he learned of a youth who had strayed from the true path to follow the leader of a band of robbers, so St John went out into the wilderness to seek him. Seeing the holy Elder, the guilty one tried to hide himself, but the Apostle John ran after him and besought him to stop. He promised to take the sins of the youth upon himself, if only he would repent and not bring ruin upon his soul. Shaken by the intense love of the holy Elder, the youth actually did repent and turn his life around.

St John when he was more than a hundred years old. he far outlived the other eyewitnesses of the Lord, and for a long time he remained the only remaining eyewitness of the earthly life of the Savior.

When it was time for the departure of the Apostle John, he went out beyond the city limits of Ephesus with the families of his disciples. He bade them prepare for him a cross-shaped grave, in which he lay, telling his disciples that they should cover him over with the soil. The disciples tearfully kissed their beloved teacher, but not wanting to be disobedient, they fulfilled his bidding. They covered the face of the saint with a cloth and filled in the grave. Learning of this, other disciples of St John came to the place of his burial. When they opened the grave, they found it empty.

Each year from the grave of the holy Apostle John on May 8 came forth a fine dust, which believers gathered up and were healed of sicknesses by it. Therefore, the Church also celebrates the memory of the holy Apostle John the Theologian on May 8.

The Lord bestowed on His beloved disciple John and John's brother James the name "Sons of Thunder" as an awesome messenger in its cleansing power of the heavenly fire. And precisely by this the Savior pointed out the flaming, fiery, sacrificial character of Christian love, the preacher of which was the Apostle John the Theologian. The eagle, symbol of the lofty heights of his theological thought, is the iconographic symbol of the Evangelist John the Theologian. The appellation "Theologian" is bestown by Holy Church only to St John among the immediate disciples and Apostles of Christ, as being the seer of the mysterious Judgments of God.

287 Sts. Cosmos & Damian skilled in medicine charitous
Ægéæ natális sanctórum Mártyrum Cosmæ et Damiáni fratrum, qui, in persecutióne Diocletiáni, post multa torménta, víncula et cárceres, post mare et ignes, cruces, lapidatiónem et sagíttas divínitus superátas, cápite plectúntur; cum quibus étiam referúntur passi tres eórum fratres germáni, id est Anthimus, Leóntius et Euprépius.
    At Aegea, during the persecution of Diocletian, the birthday of the holy martyrs Cosmas and Damian, brothers.  After miraculously overcoming many torments from bonds, imprisonment, fire, crucifixion, stoning, arrows, and from being cast into the sea, they were beheaded.  With them are said to have suffered three brothers: Anthimus, Leontius, and Euprepius.
Sts. Cosmos and Damian were brothers, born in Arabia, who had become eminent for their skill in the science of medicine. Being Christians, they were filled with the spirit of charity and never took money for their services. At Egaea in Cilicia, where they lived, they enjoyed the highest esteem of the people. When the persecution under Diocletian broke out, their very prominence rendered them marked objects of persecution. Being apprehended by order of Lysias, governor of Cilicia, they underwent various torments about the year 283. Their feast day is September 26th. They are patron saints of pharmacists.  (d. 303?)  
Nothing is known of their lives except that they suffered martyrdom in Syria during the persecution of Diocletian. A church erected on the site of their burial place was enlarged by the emperor Justinian. Devotion to the two saints spread rapidly in both East and West. A famous basilica was erected in their honor in Constantinople. Their names were placed in the canon of the Mass, probably in the sixth century.

Legend says that they were twin brothers born in Arabia, who became skilled doctors. They were among those who are venerated in the East as the "moneyless ones" because they did not charge a fee for their services. It was impossible that such prominent persons would escape unnoticed in time of persecution: They were arrested and beheaded.

Comment:   For a long time, it seems, we have been very conscious of Jesus' miracles as proofs of his divinity. What we sometimes overlook is Jesus' consuming interest in simply healing people's sickness, whatever other meaning his actions had. The power that "went out from him" was indeed a sign that God was definitively breaking into human history in final fulfillment of his promises; but the love of God was also concrete in a very human heart that was concerned about the suffering of his brothers and sisters. It is a reminder to Christians that salvation is for the whole person, the unique body-spirit unity.

Quote:    "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
.
300 St. Callistratus African martyr with 49 soldiers
Romæ sancti Callístrati Mártyris, et aliórum quadragínta novem mílitum; qui mílites, in persecutióne Diocletiáni Imperatóris, cum Callístratus, insútus cúleo et in mare demérsus, divína ope evasísset incólumis, ad Christiánam religiónem convérsi sunt, et cum eo páriter martyrium subiérunt.
    At Rome, in the persecution of Diocletian, the holy martyr Callistratus and forty-nine other soldiers who endured martyrdom together.  The companions of Callistratus were converted to Christ upon seeing him miraculously delivered from drowning in the sea, although he had been sewn up in a bag and thrown in.
They were put to death at Constantinople in the persecution conducted in the reign of Emperor Diocletian.
304 St. Justina of Antioch; birthday of the holy martyrs Cyprian and the virgin Justina; black magic and diabolical expertise to win her for himself but was repelled by her faith and the aid of Mary; He then turned to a priest named Eusebius for instruction and was converted to Christianity. He destroyed his magical books, gave his wealth to the poor, and was baptized, as was Aglaides.
   Justina then gave away her possessions and dedicated herself to God
Nicomedíæ natális sanctórum Mártyrum Cypriáni et Justínæ Vírginis.  Hæc, sub Diocletiáno Imperatóre et Eutólmio Præside, cum multa pro Christo pertulísset, ipsum quoque Cypriánum, qui erat magnus et suis mágicis ártibus eam dementáre conabátur, ad Christiánam fidem convértit; cum quo póstea martyrium sumpsit.  Eórum córpora, feris objécta, rapuérunt noctu quidam nautæ Christiáni, et Romam detulérunt; quæ, póstmodum in Basílicam Constantiniánam transláta, prope Baptistérium cóndita sunt.
    At Nicomedia, the birthday of the holy martyrs Cyprian and the virgin Justina.  Under Emperor Diocletian and the governor Eutholmius, Justina suffered greatly for the faith of Christ, and thus converted Cyprian, who, while a magician, had endeavoured to bring her under the influence of his magical practices.  She afterwards suffered martyrdom with him.  Their bodies were exposed to the beasts, but were taken away in the night by some Christian sailors, and carried to Rome.  They were subsequently taken into the Constantinian basilica, and buried near the baptistry.

   Cyprian was a native of Antioch who became a practitioner of sorcery and black magic. He traveled widely in Greece, Egypt, Macedonia, and the Indies to broaden his knowledge of the black arts.
  When Aglaides, a young pagan, fell in love with beautiful Justina, a Christian of Antioch, he asked Cyprian to help him win her. Cyprian tried all his black magic and diabolical expertise to win her for himself but was repelled by her faith and the aid of Mary. He called on the devil, who assailed Justina with every weapon in his arsenal, to no avail. When Cyprian realized the overwhelming power of the forces arrayed against him and the devil, Cyprian threatened to leave the devil's service; whereupon the devil turned on Cyprian, only to be repulsed by the sign of the cross made by a repentant Cyprian, who realized the sinfulness of his past life.
   He then turned to a priest named Eusebius for instruction and was converted to Christianity. He destroyed his magical books, gave his wealth to the poor, and was baptized, as was Aglaides.
   Justina then gave away her possessions and dedicated herself to God. In time Cyprian was ordained and later was elected bishop of Antioch. He was arrested during Diocletian's persecution of the Christians and tortured at Tyre by the governor of Phoenicia, as was Justina. They were then sent to Diocletian, who had them beheaded at Nicomedia
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400 St. Senator of the Albano catacomb is the largest and the most important of the ones outside Rome
Albáni sancti Senatóris.    At Albano, St. Senator.
A virtually unknown saint said to come from Albanum, a location which could be one of several sites, including Italy and France.
The Albano catacomb is the largest and the most important of the ones outside Rome. In the central crypt there are some well-preserved wall-paintings, including the one representing  St. Senator, after whom the catacomb is named (late 4th  – early 5th cent A.D.
)
Bonóniæ sancti Eusébii, Epíscopi et Confessóris.
    St. Eusebius, bishop and confessor at Bologna,
400 Bishop of Bologna, Italy, from circa 370 and a close friend of St. Ambrose of Milan. An opponent of Arianism, he is credited with the discovery of the relics of Sts. Agricola and Vitalis.
506 St. Vigilius Bishop of Brescia, in Lombardy Italy.
Bríxiæ sancti Vigílii Epíscopi.    At Brescia, St. Vigilius, bishop.
He aided local monasteries and worked to establish a solid foundation for the diocese.
6th v.  St. Meugant Hermit of Britain
Hermit of Britain. Also called Maughan, Mawghan, and Morgan, he was a disciple of St. Illtyd and reportedly died on the island of Bardsey. He is the titular patron of churches in Wales and Cornwall
.
600 St. Amantius Patron saint of Cittá di Castello a priest distinguished for the gift of miracles
Tiférni, in Umbria, sancti Amántii Presbyteri, virtúte miraculórum illústris.
    At Tiferno in Umbria, St. Amantius, a priest distinguished for the gift of miracles
Italy. Amantius was a parish priest in the city, venerated by Pope St. Gregory I the Great because of his sanctity.
612 St. Colman of Elo Abbot bishop;  author of the Alphabet of Devotion
also called Colman Lann Elo. He was born circa 555 at Glenelly, Tyrone, Ireland, the nephew of St. Columba, In 590, he built a monastery at Offaly. He also founded Muckamore Abbey and became bishop of Connor. Colman was the author of the Alphabet of Devotion. He died at Lynally on December 26
.
1000 St. Nilus the Younger Abbot Born in Calabria southern Italy,
In agro Tusculáno beáti Nili Abbátis, qui fundátor monastérii Cryptæ Ferrátæ ac vir magnæ sanctitátis éxstitit.
    In the Tuscan plain, the blessed Abbot Nilus, founder of the monastery of Grottaferrata, a man of eminent sanctity.
  
Born to Greek parents, he spent dissolute youth until deciding to enter the Basilian order after his mistress and their child died when he was about thirty years old. After living as a hermit for a time, he took up residence in several communities and finally was elected abbot over San Demetrio Corone.
   In 981, marauding Saracens threatened southern Italy, and Nilus fled with his monks to Monte Cassino. After spending fifteen years in the monastery of Vallelucio which had been given to the monks for their use, he founded a new community at Serpero. Later he received a grant of land from Count Gregory of Tusculum and so established the community which became the Monastery of Grottaferrata under Nilus’ disciple St Bartholomew. Nilus died at Frascati on December 27
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1159 St. John of Meda abbot Rule of St. Benedict to Milan; A secular priest from Como, Italy, John joined the Humiliati, a penitential institute of laymen
who brought the Rule of St. Benedict to the Humiliati in Milan, Italy. A secular priest from Como, Italy, John joined the Humiliati, a penitential institute of laymen. He introduced the Little Office of Our Lady and the rule of St. Benedict. Pope Alexander III canonized him
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1492 Saint Ephraim of Perekop, Novgorod; he persuaded his parents, Stephen and Annathem to leave the world and accept monasticism. Later, they also finished their earthly paths living as hermits; received a revelation from the Lord, commanding him to withdraw to a desolate place; St Ephraim was buried at the church of St Nicholas. In 1509, frequent floodings threatened the monastery with ruin, it was transferred to another location at the shore of Lake Ilmen. St Ephraim appeared to the igumen Romanus and pointed to the site of Klinkovo for relocating the monastery.

Born on September 20, 1412 in the city of Kashin. In Holy Baptism he was named Eustathius. His parents, Stephen and Anna, lived not far from the Kashin women's monastery named in honor of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos.

Drawn to the solitary life, Eustathius left his parental home while still in his early years and settled in the Kalyazin monastery of the Most Holy Trinity. His parents wanted their son to return home, but he persuaded
his parents, Stephen and Annathem to leave the world and accept monasticism. Later, they also finished their earthly paths living as hermits.

After three years in the monastery, Eustathius, through a miraculous revelation, transferred to the monastery of St Sava of Vishersk (October 1). It was there in 1437 that he accepted tonsure with the name Ephraim. While in the monastery, St Ephraim received a revelation from the Lord, commanding him to withdraw to a desolate place.

Having received the blessing of St Sava, in 1450 he went to Lake Ilmen, at the mouth of the River Verenda, and on the banks of the River Cherna he built a cell. After a certain while the Elder Thomas and two monks came to St Ephraim, and they settled not far from his cell. From that time, other hermits also began to gather to the new monastery. At their request St Ephraim was ordained a priest at Novgorod by St Euthymius (March 11).

Returning from Novgorod, St Ephraim built a church in honor of the Theophany of the Lord on an island, at the mouth of the River Verenda. To secure a ready supply of water for the monastery, the monk dug a canal to Lake Ilmen, from which the monastery received its name "Perekop" (from "perekopat'" meaning "to dig through"). Later on, St Ephraim built a stone church named for St Nicholas the Wonderworker. Unable to find sufficient skilled builders, he sent several monks to Great Prince Basil with a request for sending stone-workers. The construction of the temple was completed in 1466.

St Ephraim reposed on September 26, 1492 and was buried at the church of St Nicholas. In 1509, because of frequent floodings that threatened the monastery with ruin, it was transferred to another location at the shore of Lake Ilmen. St Ephraim appeared to the igumen Romanus and pointed to the site of Klinkovo for relocating the monastery.

Over the saint's tomb a chapel was built, since all the monastery churches were in ruins. On May 16, 1545 the relics of St Ephraim were transferred to the site of the new monastery. On this day there is an annual celebration of St Ephraim of Perekop at the monastery, confirmed after the glorification of the holy ascetic at the Council of 1549. (The Transfer of the Relics of St Ephraim of Perekop is celebrated May 16).

1649 St. Noel Chabanel Jesuit missionary to Hurons in Canada
Noel was born on February 2 near Mende, France. He joined the Jesuits in 1630 and in 1643 was sent as a missionary to the Huron Indians in Canada. He became assistant to Father Charles Garnier at the Indian village of Etarita in 1649 and was murdered on December 8 by an apostate Indian while returning from a visit to neighboring Ste. Marie. He was canonized in 1930 by Pope Pius XI as one of the martyrs of North America.
Born in Southern France, 2 February, 1613

A Jesuit missionary among the Huron Indians
Entered the Jesuit novitiate at Toulouse at the age of seventeen, and was professor of rhetoric in several colleges of the society in the province of Toulouse. He was highly esteemed for virtue and learning.
In 1643, he was sent to Canada and, after studying the Algonquin language for a time, was appointed to the mission of the Hurons, among whom he remained till his death. In these apostolic labours he was the companion of the intrepid missionary, Father Charles Garnier. As he felt a strong repugnance to the life and habits of the Indians, and feared it might result in his own withdrawal from the work, he nobly bound himself by vow never to leave mission, and he kept his vow to the end. Slain by a renegade Huron, 8 December, 1649
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1885 St. Marie Teresa Couderc Foundress Society of Our lady of the Cenacle
Foundress of the Society of Our lady of the Cenacle at La Louvesc, France. She was born on February 1, at Masle, France. Joining Father J. Terme in his parish work in Aps, she founded the Daughters of St. Regis, the original group that became the Society. She served as superior until 1838 and then resumed the role of a simple member of the com­munity until her death on September 26.
Murió el 26 de septiembre de 1885.
By the time of her death, her congregation spread rapidly. Pope Paul VI canonized her in 1970.
1885 St. Theresa Coudere Foundress Our Lady of Retreat
Foundress of the Religious of Our Lady of the Retreat in the Cenacle. She was born in Le Mas. France, in 1805 and entered a community of dedicated women that evolved into the Sisters of St. Regis in 1829. Theresa founded the Cenacle. She resigned as superior in 1838 and spent the rest of her life, except for a brief period, as a simple sister. She died at Fourviere on September 26. She was beatified in 1951 and canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1970
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