1st v. TORQUATUS AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS
THE first Christian missionaries to attempt the evangelization of Spain are said to have been seven holy men who had been specially commissioned by St Peter and St Paul, and sent forth for that purpose. According to the legend the party kept together until they reached Guadix in Granada, where they encamped in a field whilst their servants went into the town to buy food. The inhabitants, however, came out to attack them, and followed them to the river. A miraculously erected stone bridge enabled the Christians to escape, but it collapsed when their pursuers attempted to cross it. Afterwards the missionaries separated, each one selecting a different district in which he laboured and was made bishop. Torquatus chose Guadix as the field of his labours, and is honoured on this day in association with his companions, all six of whom, however, have also special feasts of their own.

St Torquatus and the other bishops appear to have suffered martyrdom.

Saints Herodion (Rodion), Agabus, Asyncritus, Rufus, Phlegon and Hermes are among the Seventy Apostles, chosen by Christ and sent out

by Him to preach
All these disciples for their intrepid service to Christ underwent fierce sufferings and were found worthy of a martyr's crown. (Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles: January 4).
Commemorátio sanctórum Herodiónis, Asyncriti et Phlegóntis, de quibus scribit beátus Paulus Apóstolus in Epístola ad Romános.
The commemoration of Saints Herodian, Asyncritus, and Phlegon who are mentioned by blessed Paul the Apostle in his Letter to the Romans.
The holy Apostle Herodion was a relative of St Paul, and his companion on many journeys. When Christianity had spread to the Balkan Peninsula, the Apostles Peter and Paul established St Herodion as Bishop of Patara. St Herodion zealously preached the Word of God and converted many of the Greek pagans and Jews to Christianity.
Enraged by the preaching of the disciple, the idol-worshippers and Jews with one accord fell upon St Herodion, and they began to beat him with sticks and pelt him with stones.
One of the mob struck him with a knife, and the saint fell down. But when the murderers were gone, the Lord restored him to health unharmed.

After this, St Herodion continued to accompany the Apostle Paul for years afterward.
When the holy Apostle Peter was crucified (+ c. 67),
St Herodion and St Olympos were beheaded by the sword at the same time.

The holy Apostle Agabus was endowed with the gift of prophecy. He predicted (Acts 11:27-28) the famine during the reign of the emperor Claudius (41-52), and foretold the suffering of the Apostle Paul at Jerusalem (Acts 21:11).

St Agabus preached in many lands, and converted many pagans to Christ.

St Rufus, whom the holy Apostle Paul mentions in the Epistle to the Romans (Rom. 16:11-15), was bishop of the Greek city of Thebes.

St Asyncritus (Rom. 16:14) was bishop in Hyrcania (Asia Minor).

St Phlegon was bishop in the city of Marathon (Thrace).

St Hermes was bishop in Dalmatia (there is another Apostle of the Seventy by the name of Hermas, who was bishop in the Thracian city of Philippopolis).

All these disciples for their intrepid service to Christ underwent fierce sufferings and were found worthy of a martyr's crown.

Saints Herodion (Rodion), Agabus (Ahab), Asinkritos, Rufus, Phlegontos and Hermas are among the Seventy Disciples, chosen by Christ and sent by Him to preach (Sobor-Assemblage of Seventy Disciples -- Comm. 4 January).
The Disciple Rufus (Ruphus), to whom the holy Apostle Paul gives greeting in the Epistle to the Romans (Rom. 16: 11-15), was bishop of the Greek city of Thebes. The Disciple Asincritos (Rom. 16: 14) -- was bishop in Hyrcania (Asia Minor). The Disciple Phlegontos -- bishop in the city of Marathon (Thrace).
The Disciple Hermas -- bishop in Dalmatia (there is yet another Disciple from the Seventy by the name of Hermas, who occupied a cathedra-seat in the Thracian city of Philippopolis).

All these disciples for their intrepid service to Christ underwent fierce sufferings and were found worthy of a martyr's crown.

Herodion, Agabus, Asynkritos, Hermas, Phlegontos und Rufus Orthodoxe Kirche: 8. April Orthodoxe Kirche: Herodion - 28. März
Agabus (auch Ahab) wird in Apg. 11,28 und 21,10 als Prophet aus Judäa beschrieben, der (Apg. 21, 11) die Verhaftung des Paulus prophezeit. Agabus wirkte nach der Überlieferung in vielen Ländern.
Asynkritos wird in Röm 16, 14 genannt. Er war Bischof in Hyrcania (Kleinasien)
Hermas (auch Hermias) wird ebenfalls in Röm 16, 14 genannt. Er war Bischof von Dalmatien.
Herodion (auch Rodion) war ein Verwandter des Apostels Paulus (genannt in Röm. 16, 11) und begleitete diesen und Petrus auf mehreren Reisen. Er wurde von ihnen zum Bischof von Patara ernannt. Hier wurde er von Heiden und Juden gesteinigt und mit einem Messerstich tödlich verletzt; seine Wunden heilten aber und er konnte weiter wirken. Als Petrus gekreuzigt wurde, wurde Herodion zusammen mit Olympos geköpft.
Phlegontos wird in Röm 16, 14 genannt. Er war Bischof von Marathon (Thrakien).
Rufus (auch Ruphus) wird in Röm. 16, 13 von Paulus genannt. Nach Mark. 15, 21 war er ein Sohn des Simon von Cyrene.. Er war Bischof von Theben.
Diese Apostel haben nach der Überlieferung alle - zu verschiedenen Zeiten - den Märtyrertod erlitten.

Herodion, Asyncritus & Phlegon MM (RM) 1st century. Bishop Herodion of Patras, a kinsman of Saint Paul (Romans 16:11), was martyred with Bishop Asyncritus of Marathon and Bishop Phlegon of Hyrcania, both mentioned by the Apostle, at the instigation of the Jews (Benedictines).

117-138 The Holy Martyr Pausilippus martyred for the faith prayed fervently that the Lord grant him a quick death Lord granted it

Suffered under the emperor Hadrian (117-138). Denunced by the pagans, he was brought to trial before the emperor and staunchly declared himself a Christian. They beat him with iron rods and handed over to the governor named Precius, who for a long time attempted to make the martyr offer sacrifice to idols. The martyr remained steadfast, and finally the governor gave orders to fetter him and execute him.
Along the way, St Pausilippus prayed fervently that the Lord would spare him from the hand of the executioner and grant him a quick death. The Lord heard him.
The martyr, beaten up and weak, was suddenly filled with such strength that he shattered the iron fetters [These were thrown behind him} and freed himself.
Tossing them aside, St Pausilippus thought to escape, but he died as he fled.

Christians buried the body of the martyr with reverence.

170 St. Dionysius of Corinth Bishop of Corinth, Greece, famed for his letters commemorated the martyrdom of Sts. Peter and Paul.

From the Saintes by Alban Butler
Bishop of Corinth, Greece, famed for his letters. He is described in Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History. One of Dionysius’ letters commemorated the martyrdom of Sts. Peter and Paul.

St. Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, flourished under the emperor Marcus Aurelius, and was one of the most holy and eloquent pastors of the church in the second age. Not content assiduously to instruct his own flock with the word of life, he comforted and exhorted others at a distance. Eusebius mentions several of his instructive letters to other churches, and one of thanks to the Church of Rome, under the pontificate of St. Soter, for the alms received from them according to custom. "From the beginning," says he, "it is your custom to bestow your alms in all places, and to furnish subsistence to many churches. You send relief to the needy, especially to those who work in the mines in which you follow the example of your fathers, Your blessed bishop Soter is so far from degenerating from your ancestors in that respect, that he goes beyond them; not to mention the comfort and advice he, with the bowels of a tender father towards his children, affords all that come to him, On this day we celebrated together the Lord's day, and read your letter, as we do that which was heretofore written us by Clement."   He means that they read these letters of instruction in the church after the reading of the Holy Scriptures, and the celebration of the divine mysteries.
This primitive father says that SS. Peter and Paul, after planting the faith at Corinth, went both into Italy, and there sealed their testimony with their blood.   He in another place complains that the ministers of the devil, that is, the heretics, had adulterated his works, and corrupted them by their poison. The monstrous heresies of the first three centuries sprang mostly not from any perverse interpretation of the scriptures, but from erroneous principles of the heathenish schools of philosophy; whence it happened that those heresies generally bordered on some superstitious notions of idolatry.   St. Dionysus’s, to point out the source of the heretical errors, showed from what sect of philosophers each heresy took its rise. The Greeks honor St. Dionysius as a martyr on the 29th of November, because he suffered much for the faith, though he seems to have died in peace: the Latin’s kept his festival on this day, and style him only Confessor. Pope Innocent III sent to the abbey of St. Denys, near Paris, the body of a saint of that name brought from Greece. The monks, who were persuaded that they were before possessed of the body of the Areopagite, take this second to be the body of St. Dionysius of Corinth, whose festival they also celebrate.
    We adore the inscrutable judgments of God, and praise the excess of his mercy in calling us to his holy faith, when we see many to whom it was announced with mill the reasonable proofs of conviction, reject its bright light, and resist the voice of heaven: also others who had so far despised all worldly considerations as to have embraced this divine religion, afterwards fall from this grace, and become the authors or abettors of monstrous heresies, by which they drew upon themselves the most dreadful curses.
The source of their errors was originally in the disorder of their hearts by which their understanding was misled. All those who have made shipwreck of their faith, fell because they wanted true simplicity of heart. This virtue has no affinity with worldly simplicity, which is a vice and defect, implying a want of prudence and understanding. But Christian simplicity is true wisdom and a most sublime virtue, it is a singleness of heart, by which a person both in his intention and all his desires and affections has no other object hut the pure holy will of God.   This is grounded in self-knowledge, and in sincere humility and ardent charity.    The three main enemies which destroy it, are, an attachment to creatures without, us, an inordinate love of ourselves, and dissimulation or double-dealing. This last, though most infamous and base, is a much more common vice than is generally imagined, for there are very few who are thoroughly sincere in their whole conduct towards God, their neighbor, and themselves. Perfect sincerity and an invariable uprightness is an essential part, yet only one ingredient of Christian simplicity. Nor is it enough to be also disengaged from all inordinate attachments to exterior objects: many who are free from the hurry and disturbance of things without them, nevertheless are strangers to simplicity and purity of heart, being full of themselves, and referring their thoughts and actions to themselves, taking an inordinate complacency in what concerns them, and full of anxieties and fear about what befalls, or may befall them.    Simplicity of the heart, on the contrary, settles the soul in perfect interior peace: as a child is secure in the mother's arms, so is such a soul at rest in the bosom of her God, resigned to his will, and desiring only to accomplish it in all things. The inexpressible happiness and advantages of this simplicity can only be discovered by experience. This virtue disposes the heart to embrace the divine revelation when duly manifested, and removes those clouds which the passions raise, and which so darken the understanding, that it is not able to discern the light of faith

161-192 Apud Corínthum beáti Dionysii Epíscopi, qui eruditióne et grátia, quam hábuit in verbo Dei, non solum suæ civitátis et provínciæ pópulos, sed et aliárum provinciárum et úrbium Epíscopos epístolis erudívit; Romanósque Pontífices ádeo cóluit, ut eórum epístolas públice légere in Ecclésia diébus Domínicis consuéverit. Cláruit autem tempóribus Marci Antoníni Veri et Lúcii Aurélii Cómmodi.
    At Corinth, Bishop St. Denis, who instructed not only the people of his own city and province by the learning and charm with which he preached the word of God, but also the bishops of other cities and provinces by the letters he wrote to them. His devotion to the Roman Pontiffs was such that he was accustomed to read their letters publicly in the church on Sundays.

He lived in the time of Marcus Antoninus Verus{161-166} [161-180--Marcus Aurelius] and Lucius Aurelius Commodus{180-192}.

180 ST DIONYSIUS, BISHOP OF CORINTH
ST DIONYSIUS, bishop of Corinth, flourished in the reign of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, and was one of the foremost leaders of the Church in the second century. Besides instructing and guiding his own flock he wrote letters to the churches of Athens, Lacedaemon, Nicomedia, Knossus and Rome, as well as to the Christians of Gortyna and Amastris and to a lady called Chrysophora.

It is in the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius that are contained the few extracts from the writings of St Dionysius which have come down to us. In a letter thanking the church of Rome, then under the pontificate of St Soter, for continuing to send alms as it had done in the past, the bishop of Corinth writes “ From the earliest times you have made it your practice to bestow alms everywhere and to provide for the necessities of many churches. Following the example set by your fathers you send relief to the needy, especially to those who labour in the mines. Your blessed Bishop Soter is so far from lagging behind his predecessors in this respect that he actually outstrips them—to say nothing of the consolation and advice which, with fatherly affection, he tenders to all who come to him. On this morning we celebrated together the Lord’s Day and read your letter, even as we read the one formerly written to us by Clement.”

In other words, they read aloud these letters of instruction in church after the lessons from the Holy Scriptures and the celebration of the Divine Mysteries. The heresies of the first three centuries arose mainly from the erroneous principles of pagan philosophy, and St Dionysius was at pains to point out the source of these errors, showing from what particular school of philosophy each heresy took its rise. “ It is not surprising that the text of Holy Scripture should have been corrupted by forgers”, he says, alluding to the Marcionites, “when they have not spared the works of a far less exalted authority.”
         Although Dionysius appears to have died in peace, the Greeks venerate him as a martyr because he suffered much for the faith.
           See the Acta Sanctorum, April, vol. i, where the text of Eusebius is quoted; Bardenhewer,
         Geschicte der altkirchen Literatur, vol. i, pp. 235 and 785; DCB, vol i, pp. 849-850
         DAC, VOL. viii. cc. 2745—2747.

Dionysius of Corinth B (RM); feast day in the Greek Church is November 20 or 29.
Bishop Dionysius of Corinth was an outstanding leader of the Church in the second century, as well as an eloquent preacher. He is now best remembered as an ecclesiastical writer with which he attempted to instruct, exhort, and comfort those at a distance. Several of his letters to various churches are still extant. Especially noteworthy is that in which he records the martyrdom of SS. Peter and Paul in Rome. He says that after initiating the faith at Corinth, the Apostles both went to Italy, and there sealed their testimony with their blood.

The Church historian Eusebius mentions several of his instructive letters to other churches. One extends thanks to the church of Rome, under the pontificate of Saint Soter, for the traditional alms received from them. He writes: "From the beginning, it is your custom to bestow your alms in all places, and to furnish subsistence to many churches. You send relief to the needy, especially to those who work in the mines; in which you follow the example of your fathers. Your blessed bishop Soter is so far from degenerating from your ancestors in that respect, that he goes beyond them; not to mention the comfort and advice he, with the bowels of a tender father towards his children, affords all that come to him. On this day we celebrated together the Lord's day, and read your letter, as we do that which was heretofore written to us by Clement." He means that they read these letters of instruction in the church after the reading of the holy Scriptures, and the celebration of the divine mysteries.

In another place Dionysius complains about the rampant heresies that sprang from the adoption of pagan philosophical principles, rather than from any perverse interpretation of the scriptures. Dionysius point out the source of the heretical errors and the philosophical sect from which each heresy arose.

The Greeks honor Saint Dionysius as a martyr because he suffered much for the faith, though he seems to have died in peace; while the Latin Church styles him a confessor. Pope Innocent III translated his relics to Saint Denys Abbey near Paris, where the monks believed him to be Dionysius the Areopagite (Benedictines, Husenbeth).

306 St. Aedesius Martyred brother of St. Apphian publicly rebuked Roman officials placing Christian virgins in brothels
Alexandríæ sancti Ædésii Mártyris, qui, sub Maximiáno Galério Imperatóre, cum esset beáti Apphiáni frater, et ímpium Júdicem, quod Deo dicátas Vírgines lenónibus tráderet, palam argúeret, idcírco, a milítibus tentus sævissimísque afféctus supplíciis, in mare demérsus est pro Christo Dómino.

from Lives of Saintes by Alban Butler
ST. AEDESIUS, M.
He was brother to St. Apian, who received his crown at Caesarea, on the 2d of April, and a native of Lycia, had been a professed philosopher, and continued to wear the cloak after his conversion to the faith. He was long a scholar of St. Pamphilius at Caesarea. In the persecution of Galerius Maxiininus he often confessed his faith before magistrates, had sanctified several dungeons, and been condemned to the mines in Palestine. Being released from thence, he went into Egypt, but there found the persecution more violent than in Palestine itself; under Hierocles, the most barbarous prefect of Egypt, for Maximious Daia, Caesar. This governor had also employed his pen against the faith, presuming to put the sorceries of Apollonius of Tyana upon a level with the miracles of Christ, whom Eusebius confuted by a book entitled, Against Hierocles. Aedesius being at Alexandria, and observing how outrageously the judge proceeded against the Christians, by tormenting grave men, and delivering women of singular piety, and even virgins, to the infamous purchasers of slaves, he boldly presented himself before this savage monster, rather than a man, and reproached him with his crying inhumanity, especially in exposing holy virgins to lewdness. He endured courageously the scourge, and the greatest torments which the rage of such a tyrant was capable of inventing, and was at length cast into the sea, in 306, after the same manner as his brother, who obtained his crown a little while before, as the Chaldaic acts expressly inform us, though Henschenius is of the contrary opinion. See Eusebius on the martyrs of Palestine, Ch. 5, and the martyr's Chaldaic acts in Assemani, t. 2, p. 195

At Alexandria, in the time of Emperor Maximian Galerius, the martyr St. Aedesius, brother of the blessed Apphian. Because he publicly reproved the wicked judge who delivered to corruptors virgins consecrated to God, he was arrested by the soldiers, exposed to the most severe torments, and thrown into the sea for the sake of Christ our Lord.
Martyr and brother of St. Apphian. Aedesius, a Christian of some note in Caesarea, now part of modern Israel, witnessed the persecution of Christians, the result of Emperor Diocletian's policies. He publicly rebuked the local Roman officials who were placing Christian virgins in brothels as part of the persecutions. Arrested, Aedesius was tortured and then drowned.

Aedesius of Alexandria M (RM) (also known as Edese, Edesius) Born in Lycia; died at Alexandria, Egypt, on April 8, c. 306. Aedesius's laus in the Roman Martyrology states: "At Alexandria, the memory of Saint Aedesius, martyr, a brother of Blessed Apphian, who, under Maximian Galerius the emperor, openly withstood an impious judge because he handed over to pimps virgins consecrated to God." The Church historian Eusebius (De Martyr. Pales., ch. 5) and Aedesius's Chaldaic acta give us further details. According to these, he was a philosopher, who continued to wear the cloak after his conversion to Christianity. Perhaps because of his standing among the educated, he seems to have had no qualms about professing his faith before magistrates. Apparently, he was imprisoned several times and had been condemned to work in the mines of Palestine. Upon his release, he sought refuge in Egypt, but found the persecution was more virulent there under the Prefect Hierocles. Aedesius, particularly offended by the enslavement and prostitution of consecrated virgins, boldly presented himself before the governor. He was seized by the soldiery, afflicted with most cruel punishments, and drowned in the sea for the Lord Christ (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).

This is obviously a very confused story; Roeder has entries under both Aedesius and Edese, which appear to be the same. In art, Saint Aedesius is shown shipwrecked with his brother Saint Frumentius [sic]. Saint Edese has his legs wrapped in oiled linen before he is burned to death (Roeder). The first appears to be more in line with the story recorded in the Roman Martyrology.

St. Concessa A martyr venerated in Carthage.
Carthágine sanctæ Concéssæ Mártyris. At Carthage, the martyr St. Concessa.

St. Januarius, Maxima, and Macaria 3 African martyrs who were executed in an uncertian year during the Roman persecutions.
In Africa sanctórum Mártyrum Januárii, Máximæ et Macáriæ.
In Africa, the holy martyrs Januarius, Maxima, and Macaria.

422 Kallistus I. Er verwaltete die Begräbnisstätten an der Via Appa, die heute Kalixtus-Katakomben heißen
Katholische Kirche: 14. Oktober Kallistus (Calixtus) wurde um 180 geboren und um 200 Sklave eines Christen. Er stammte vielleicht aus dem Trastevere in Rom. Über seine Herkunft ist nichts weiter bekannt. Er gelangte dann nach Rom und wurde hier Diakon des Papstes Zephyrinus. Er verwaltete die Begräbnisstätten an der Via Appa, die heute Kalixtus-Katakomben heißen. Als Zephyrinus 217 starb, wurde Kallistus zu seinem Nachfolger gewählt. Die Wahl eines ehemaligen Sklaven stieß aber auf den Widerstand konservativer Kreise, die Hippolyt zum Papst wählten. Damit kam es 217 zum ersten Schisma in der Papstgeschichte. Hippolyt bekämpfte Kallistus mit allen Mitteln, selbst Verleumdungen und Hetzkampagnen. Kallistus ließ sich aber in seinem Kurs nicht beirren, er war einer der aktivsten Päpste in der frühen Christenheit. So erlaubte er Eheschließungen hochgestellter Römerinnen mit Sklaven, führte die Kirchenmalerei und Fastentage ein.

Kallistus starb 422 und wurde am 14.10. beigesetzt. Spätere Berichte über sein Martyrium sind legendarisch.

432 Saint Celestine, Pope of Rome (422-432) zealous champion of Orthodoxy virtuous life authority as a theologian denounced the Nestorian heresy
He lived during the reign of the holy Emperor Theodosius the Younger (408-450). He received an excellent education, and he knew philosophy well, but most of all he studied the Holy Scripture and pondered over theological questions.
The virtuous life of the saint and his authority as a theologian won him the general esteem and love of the clergy and people.
After the death of St Boniface (418-422), St Celestine was chosen to be the Bishop of Rome.
During this time, the heresy of Nestorius emerged. At a local Council in Rome in 430, St Celestine denounced this heresy and condemned Nestorius as a heretic. After the Council, St Celestine wrote a letter to St Cyril, Archbishop of Alexandria (January 18), stating that if Nestorius did not renounce his false teachings after ten days, then he should be deposed and excommunicated.
St Celestine also sent a series of letters to other churches, Constantinople and Antioch, in which he unmasked and denounced the Nestorian heresy.
For two years after the Council, St Celestine proclaimed the true teaching about Christ the God-Man, and he died in peace on April 6, 432.

Coelestin I. Orthodoxe und Katholische Kirche: 8. April
Coelestin war zunächst Diakon in Rom und wurde 422 zum Bischof von Rom gewählt. Er kämpfte mit Cyrill von Alexandria gegen die Nestorianer und exkommunizierte Nestorius nach dem Konzil von Ephesus (431). Coelestin legte die Lehre von Maria der Gottgebärerin (Theotokos) für die westliche Kirche fest. Coelestin starb 433. Sein Festtag wurde auch am 4. und 6. April begangen.

440 St. Amantius Bishop of Como, Italy. Amantius succeeded St. Provinus and was much revered.
Apud Comum sancti Amántii, Epíscopi et Confessóris.
At Como, St. Amantius, bishop and confessor.

Amantius of Como B (RM). Bishop Amantius succeeded Saint Provinus in the see of Como, Italy, where he is still highly (Benedictines).

494 St. Perpetuus Bishop of Tours enforced clerical discipline and regulated feast days rebuilt the basilica of St. Martin
Turónis, in Gállia, sancti Perpétui Epíscopi, admirándæ sanctitátis viri.

From the Lives of Saintes by Alban Butler
ST. PERPETUUS, B. C.
He was the eighth bishop of Tours from St. Gatian, and governed that see above thirty years, from 461 to 491, when he deceased on the 8th of April. During all which time he labored by zealous sermons, many synods, and wholesome regulations, to lead souls to virtue. St. Gregory of Tours mentions his prudent ordinances, prescribing the manner of celebrating vigils before great festivals in the different churches in the city. All Fridays and Wednesdays he commanded to be observed fasts of precept, except during Easter time, from Christmas to St. Hillary’s day, that is, the 14th day of January, and from St. John Baptist's day to the end of August. He added a third fast day every week, probably Monday, from St. Martin's to Christmas, which proves the antiquity of Advent. These regulations were all religiously observed one hundred arid twenty years after, when St. Gregory of Tours wrote his history.   St. Perpetuus had a great veneration for the saints, and respect for their relics; adorned their shrines, and enriched their churches. As there was a continual succession of miracles at the tomb of St. Martin Perpetuus finding the church built by St. Bricius too small for the concourse of people that resorted thither, directed its enlargement, causing it to be built one hundred and fifty-five feet in length, sixty broad, and forty five in height.   When the building was finished, the good bishop solemnized the dedication of this new church, and performed the translation of the body of St. Martin, on the 4th of July, in 473. Our saint was of a senatorian family, and possessed very large estates in several provinces; but consecrated the revenues to the service of the church, and the relief of the necessitous.   He made and signed his last will, which is still extant, on the 1st of March, 475 fifteen years before his death.   By it he remits all debts that were owing to him; and having bequeathed to his church his library and several farms, and settled a fund for the maintenance of lamps, and the purchase of sacred vessels, as occasion might require, he declares the poor his heirs. It begins thus: "In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. I, Perpetuus, a sinner, priest of the church of Tours, would not depart without a last will and testament, lest the poor should be neglected. . . .You, my bowels, my most beloved brethren, my crown, my joy, my lords, my children, 0 poor of Christ, needy, beggars, sick, widows, orphans; you I declare, name, and make my heirs. Excepting what is above disposed of whatever I am possessed of in goods, in fields, in pasturage, in meadows, in groves, in vineyards, in dwellings, in gardens, in waters, in mills, or in gold, silver, and garments, and other things, 1 appoint you my heirs. It is my will that as soon as possible, after my departure, they be sold, and the money divided into three parts ; of which two shall be distributed among poor men, at the discretion of the priest Agrarius and count Agilo : and the third among widows and poor women, at the discretion of the virgin Dadolena," &c. He adds most pathetic exhortations to concord and piety; and bequeaths to his sister, Fidia Julia Perpetuua, a little gold cross, with relics he leaves legacies to several other friends and priests, to one a silver case of relics of saints, to others gold or silver crosses or chalices, begging of each a remembrance of him in their prayers. His ancient epitaph equals him to the great St. Martin: St. Apollinaris Sidonius calls him the true copy of the virtues of that wonderful saint. St. Perpetuus died either on the 30th of December, in 490, or on the 8th of April, 491. In the martyrologies of Florus, and some others, his festival is placed on the first of these days: but in that of Usuard, and in the Roman, on the second. See his testament published by D'Achery, Spicileg. t. 5, p.105; also St. Gregory of Tours, Hist. b. 10, Ch. 31, and De Mirac. S. Martini, b. 1, c. 6; Tillemont, 16, p. 393; Dom Rivet. t. 2, p. 619.

    At Tours in France, the holy bishop Perpetuus, a man of great sanctity.
Bishop of Rours from about 464. He enforced clerical discipline and regulated feast days. Perpetuus also rebuilt the basilica of St. Martin. A will attributed to him is known now by scholars to have been a forgery composed in the seventeenth century.
           • ST PERPETUUS, BISHOP OF Tours (c. A.D. 494)
ST PERPETIJUS succeeded Eustochius in the bishopric of Tours. During the thirty years or more that he ruled over the diocese he worked hard to spread the Catholic faith, to enforce discipline, and to regulate the fasts and festivals to be observed in his see. Among other provisions, a third fast day—probably Monday—was to he observed weekly from the feast of St Vlartin until Christmas day. This is interesting as showing the antiquity of the observance of Advent. St Gregory of Tours, writing a hundred and twenty years later, says that thesc regulations were still kept in his time. St Perpetuus had a great veneration for St Martin of Tours, in whose honour he enlarged or rebuilt the basilica which bore his name. As the church which St Britius had erected over St Martin’s tomb was too small to accommodate the throngs of pilgrims, the bishop caused his relics to he translated with great solemnity to the new building at its consecration about the year 491 it had taken nearly twenty-two years to build.

The saint’s death is said to have been hastened by grief at the invasions of the Goths and the spread of Arianism. Some fourteen or fifteen years earlier he is said to have made a will, still extant, which, if genuine, would be of considerable

interest. In it he professes to remit all debts owing to him and liberates his serfs then, having bequeathed to his church his library besides several farms, and established a trust for the maintenance of lamps and the purchase of sacred vessels, he declares the poor his heirs. It begins “In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. I, Perpetuus, a sinner, priest of the church of Tours, would not depart without a last will and testament lest the poor should be defrauded..." Towards the end he apostrophizes them “You, my most beloved brethren, my crown, my joy, Christ’s poor, ye needy, beggars, sick, widows and orphans You do I name and make my heirs. Of all I possess except the things especially allocated above, of my fields, pastures, groves, vineyards, houses, gardens, waters, mills, of my gold, silver and garments I constitute you my heirs. To his sister Fidia Julia Perpetua he leaves a little gold cross with relics, and to a church a silver dove for containing the Blessed Sacrament—a gift suggesting the prevalence at that date and in that diocese of the practice of reserving the Blessed Sacrament in a vessel shaped like a dove and hanging over the altar.

It is distressing to have to add that this document, accepted as genuine by d’Achéry, by Hensehenius in the Acta Sanctorum, by Alban Butler, and even by the Dictionary of Christian Biography in 1887, is a shameless fabrication perpetrated by Jerome Vignier in the seventeenth century. It can only serve to illustrate the need of a rigidly critical examination of our hagiographical sources at all periods of history.

           For the life of Perpetuus see the Acta Sanctorum, April, vol. i ; and cf. the Analecta
         Bollandiana, vol. xxxviii (1920), pp. 121—128, with Duchesne, Fastes Episcopaux, vol. ii,
         pp. 300—301. On the supposed will consult Havet, Bliothêque de l’Ecole des Chartes,
         vol. xlvi (1885), pp. 207—224. The epitaph, which has also received unmerited recognition,
         is equally a forgery.

Perpetuus of Tours B (RM) Died December 30, 490, or April 8, 491. Perpetuus, born of a senatorial family, became bishop of Tours c. 460. He dedicated the revenues of his estates to the relief of those in need. The poor, it is recorded, were his heirs (though apparently this will was a 17th century forgery): he left them pastures, groves, vineyards, houses, gardens, water-mills, gold, silver, and his clothing.

He also venerated his great predecessor Saint Martin, the soldier who had sliced his cloak in two and given half to a beggar. Martin was buried in a basilica in Tours and Perpetuus rebuilt and enlarged this fine building to house the countless pilgrims who flocked to his tomb.

One hundred twenty years later, Saint Gregory of Tours mentions that Perpetuus decreed that all the people in his diocese should fast on Wednesdays and Fridays, save at a few church festivals. He also declared several Mondays in the Christian year as fasts, particularly in the time that became Advent. So great was Perptuus's influence that these fasts were still being observed in the diocese of Tours over a century after his death. And so powerful was his memory that, 13 centuries after his death, some unknown forgers drew up a fake will for the saint, declaring: "You, my dearly beloved brothers, my crown, my joy, that is to say, Christ's poor, needy, beggars, sick, widows, and orphans, you I hereby name and decree to be my heirs." Though the will was a fake, the true spirit of Saint Perpetuus shines through it (Benedictines, Bentley, Husenbeth).

In art, Saint Perpetuus is a bishop directing the building of a church. Sometimes the sick may be shown being healed at his tomb or as his relics are carried in procession (Roeder).

586 St. Redemptus Bishop of Ferentini, near Rome, Italy. He is known mainly because of his friend Pope St. Gregory I the Great who wrote of his holiness.
Ferentíni, in Hérnicis, sancti Redémpti Epíscopi, cujus méminit beátus Gregórius Papa.
At Ferentino in Campania, Bishop St. Redemptus, who was mentioned by Pope St. Gregory.
Redemptus of Ferentino B (RM). Bishop Redemptus of Ferentino (Hernicis), a town south of Rome, was a friend of Saint Gregory the Great, who bears witness to his sanctity (Benedictines).

690 Julian von Toledo Erzbischof In seiner Amtszeit leitete er 4 nationale Synoden förderte den mozarabischen Ritus und verfaßte mehrere theologische Werke
Orthodoxe und Katholische Kirche: 8. März
Julian wurde um 652 geboren. Er war Mönch unter Eugenius von Toledo (Gedenktag 13.11.) und wurde sein Nachfolger als Abt im Kloster und 680 als Erzbischof von Toledo. In seiner Amtszeit leitete er 4 nationale Synoden. Das Erzbistum Toledo wurde 681 den anderen spanischen Bistümern und 683 den südgallischen Bistümern übergeordnet. Julian förderte den mozarabischen Ritus und verfaßte mehrere theologische Werke, darunter die erste systematische Abhandlung über die Eschatologie (die Lehre von den letzten Dingen). Julian starb am 8.3.690.

1095 St. Walter of Pontoise continued to live a life of mortification, spending entire nights in prayer establishing the foundation of a convent in honor of Mary at Bertaucourt

From thee lives of Saintes by Alban Butler

ST. WALTER, ABBOT OF ST. MARTIN'S, NEAR PONTOISE.
He was a native of Picardy, and took the habit of St. Bennet at Rebais in the diocese of Meaux. The counts of Amiens and Pontoise having lately founded the rich abbey of St. German, now called St. Martin's, adjoining to the walls of Pontoise, King Philip I., after a diligent search for a person equal to so important a charge, obliged Walter to take upon him the government of that house, and he was appointed the first abbot in 1060.   He was always highly honored by the king, and by other great personages but this was what his humility could not hear.   To escape from the dangers of vainglory, he often fled secretly from his monastery, but was always found and brought back again, and, to prevent his escaping, the pope sent him a strict order not to leave his abbey. There he lived in a retired small cell in great austerity, and in ass1uous prayer and contemplation, never stirring out but to duties of charity or regularity, or to perform, some of the meanest offices of the house. His zeal, in opposing the practice of simony, drew on him grievous persecutions: all which he bore not only with patience but even with joy. His death happened on the 8th of April, in 1099. The bishops of Rouen, Paris, and Senlis, after a diligent scrutiny, declared several miracles wrought at his tomb authentic; and performed the translation of his relics on the 4th of May. The abbot Walter Montague made a second translation in 1655, and richly decorated his chapel. St. Walter, from the first day of his conversion to his death, made it a rule every day to add some new practice of penance to his former austerities thus to remind himself of the obligation of continually advancing in spirit towards God.   lbs life, written by a disciple, may be read in the Bollandists, with the remarks of Henschenius, t. 1, Apr. 753

         ST WALTER OF PONTOISE, ABBOT (AD. 1095)
         IN studying the lives of the saints, we not infrequently meet with men and women whose lifelong aspiration it is to serve God in solitude, but who are recalled again and again by the voice of an authority which they dare not gainsay, and are forced to shoulder responsibilities from which they shrink, in a world from which they fain would flee. Such a saint was Walter (Gautier) of Pontoise. A Picard by birth, he received a liberal education at various centres of learning and became a popular professor of philosophy and rhetoric. Then he entered the abbey of Rebais-en-Brie, and was afterwards compelled by King Philip I to become the first abbot of a new monastery near Pontoise. Although, in accordance with the custom of the
time, he received his investiture from the sovereign, the new abbot placed his hand not under but over that of the king, and said “it is from God, not from your Majesty, that I accept the charge of this church” .

His courageous words, far from offending Philip, won his approval; but the very honour in which he was held by persons in high office was a source of anxiety to Walter, and some time later he fled secretly from Pontoise and took refuge at Cluny, then under the rule of St Hugh, hoping there to lead a hidden life. His refuge was, however, discovered by his monks, who fetched him back to Pontoise. From the cares of office he would retire occasionally to a grotto in the abbey grounds, hoping for a little solitude; but his visitors followed him there, and he took to flight once more. This time he buried himself in a hermitage on an island in the Loire, but again he was forced to return.
           Some time later, St Walter went to Rome, where he requested St Gregory VII to relieve him of his burden. Instead of doing so, the pope told him to use the talents God had bestowed upon him, and bade him resume his charge. From that time Walter resigned himself to his fate. The mortifications he would have wished to practise in solitude were more than compensated for by the persecutions he had to undergo in consequence of his fearless opposition to simony and to evil-living
among the secular clergy ; there was even one occasion when he was mobbed, beaten and thrown into prison, but his friends procured his release. In spite of advancing age he never relaxed but rather increased the austerity of his habits ; he rarely sat down in church, but when his aged limbs would no longer support him, he leant upon his pastoral staff. After the other monks had retired at the close of the night offices, he would remain behind, lost in contemplation, until he sank to the ground, where in the morning he would sometimes be found lying helpless.
         His last public effort was to found, in honour of our Lady, a convent for women at Bertaucourt. He succeeded in building a church with a small house, but the community was not actually established there until after his death, which occurred on Good Friday 1095.
           Two lives which seem to be of contemporary authorship have been printed by the
         Bollandists (in the Acta Sanctorum, April, vol. i) and by Mabillon. A more correct text
         of the first and older of these biographies has been edited by I. Hess, in the Studien und
         Mittheilungen aus den, Benedictiner und dem Cistercienser Orden, vol. XX (1899), pp. 297—
         406.

Walter Gautier was born in Picardy, France, in the eleventh century. A well-educated individual, he became a professor of philosophy and rhetoric. Later, he entered the Benedictine abbey of Rebais-en-Brie. When King Philip I appointed Walter as the first abbot of a new monastery at Pontoise, Walter reminded Philip that God was the one who conferred such honors, not the king. Seeking solitude, he fled Pontoise on two occasions, but both times he was forced to return. Walter then went to Rome to ask Pope Gregory VII for release from his position so that he could follow a life of solitude. However, the Pope told Walter to use the talents God had given him, and thus Walter resigned himself to staying at Pontoise.
When he spoke out against simony and the evil lives of the secular clergy, this caused great outrage, and on one occasion he was beaten and thrown into prison. After his release, Walter continued to live a life of mortification, spending entire nights in prayer. After establishing the foundation of a convent in honor of Mary at Bertaucourt, Walter died on Good Friday in the year 1095.

Walter of Pontoise, OSB Abbot (AC) Born in Andainville, Picardy, France, c. 1030; died 1099.
The Bible says that the road to holiness is narrow but it doesn't tell you that the road is straight or clear. Sometimes we need to find our way to God as though following a path through a forest. Sometimes the sun pokes through but often we walk in darkness, not quite knowing whether the destination is near or far. We grope. We trip over debris from dead trees or overgrown vines. We must continue to trust that God is leading us to Himself.
Saint Walter followed a meandering path. He enjoyed his studies and became a professor of rhetoric and philosophy, for which he won success, honor, and praise. But he wasn't happy because he wasn't sure that he was on the right road to God. So, he entered the Benedictine monastery of Rebais-en-Brie (diocese of Meaux) with enthusiasm, where he practiced the most severe austerities in the hopes of escaping worldly applause. Each day until his death, Walter added some new practice of penance to his former austerities to remind himself of the obligation of continually advancing in spirit towards God.
At Rebais he found a peasant rotting in the abbey prison. Walter found it inconceivable that one could be kept in a monastery by bonds other than those of love. One night he gave the peasant the key to his fields. In the morning Walter faced the abbot's wrath, an inquisition, confession, and punishment.
After several years in Rebais (1060), Walter was made abbot of a new monastery near Pointoise, which is now called Saint Martin's. King Philip I personally made the investiture, handing him the Cross. The king considered it a bond to him, but Walter coldly placed his hand not under but over the hand of the king, saying: "It is not from you, but from God that I accept the governance of this abbey." Shock and surprise were the rather normal result, how could a man give God precedence over that of an earthly potentate?
Once again Walter enjoyed success, honors, and praise. In order to escape from the accolades, he left his cloister and walked to Cluny, where there were hundreds of monks among whom he could be anonymous. Or, at least, that's what he believed. Unfortunately, he was quickly recognized and compelled to return to Pointoise.
Once again he questioned whether he was on the road to God or the road to perdition. What if God wanted him elsewhere? He tested himself to see if his new vocation was that of a hermit and determined that it was.

One night, Walter, who had gotten into the habit of making escapes, climbed over the abbey wall. He took the road to Touraine to cover his tracks from those who were bound to seek him. In his hermitage, Walter thought he had found heaven on earth. Of course, terrestrial paradises never last for long. Soon the monks of Pointoise found him on an island in the Loire, and led him back to the abbey.
Walter must have been a very lovable character if, each time he disappeared, his monks would seek him out until they discovered him. They must have thought he had a very odd way of practicing stability, but they would not have changed their wandering abbot because he left them only in order to search for God.

The saintly abbot still wanted to flee the admiration of his fellows, but he knew that his monks would eventually catch up with him wherever he roamed. Then he had a brilliant idea: He would make his journey ad limina. He would return his cross to the holy father and at long last he would be free to seek God in his own way. He left for Rome, planning never to return to Pointoise.

God had different plans for Walter. In Rome, he explained his situation to Pope Gregory VII but the saintly pope refused Walter's plea.

"Turn back, Father Abbot. From now on you must walk along the roads of the cloister and not along the grand highways of the world."

Was Walter disappointed? He was radiant. For the pope had spoken, and the pope was the spokesman for Jesus Christ. Thus, Jesus had shown him the way. And because, ever since his novitiate, he had searched for God with all his soul and all his heart and even with all his legs, he was given to understand that the image of our life that God fashions is infinitely preferable to the image that we fashion for ourselves.
When we understand that--and when that knowledge sinks from our head into our heart--then there's nothing else to do save go to heaven. Which Walter did on Good Friday in 1099. After diligent scrutiny the bishops of Rouen, Paris, and Senlis declared several miracles wrought at his tomb authentic and translated his relics on May 4. Abbot Walter Montague moved them again in 1655, and richly decorated his chapel. His life was written by a disciple (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).

1156 Saint Niphon peacemaker reminded Russian bishops tradition of the Russian Church had received the Orthodox Faith from Constantinople however, in 1448, the Russian Church began primates without confirmation from Constantinople he uprooted the passions through fasting, vigil, and prayer, and adorned himself with every virtue
A monk of the Kiev Caves Monastry, where he struggled in asceticism.

In imitation of the Holy Fathers, he uprooted the passions through fasting, vigil, and prayer, and adorned himself with every virtue. He was chosen as Bishop of Novgorod when Bishop John retired to a monastery after twenty-five years of episcopal service. St Niphon was consecrated bishop in Kiev by Metropolitan Michael and other hierarchs.

St Niphon embraced his archpastoral duties with great zeal, strengthening his flock in the Orthodox Faith, and striving to prevent them from becoming separated from the Church, which is the same as being separated from Christ Himself. The saint was also zealous in building and repairing churches. He built a new stone church in the center of Novgorod, dedicating it to the Most Holy Theotokos. He repaired the roof of the church of Holy Wisdom (Christ, the Wisdom of God), and adorned the interior with icons.

When war broke out between Novgorod and Kiev, St Niphon showed himself to be a peacemaker. Meeting with the leaders of both sides, he was able to pacify them and avert the war. In the same way, he always tried to settle arguments and to reconcile those who were at enmity.
He instructed his flock in the law of God, preaching to them, reproving, rebuking, and exhorting them patiently and with sound doctrine (2 Timothy 4:2) so that they might obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory (2 Timothy 2:10).

When the people of Novgorod drove away their prince, Vsevolod, they invited Prince Svyatslav to govern them. The new prince wanted to enter into a marriage which was against the Church canons. Not only did St Niphon refuse to perform the ceremony, he also told his clergy to regard this betrothal as unlawful. Prince Svyatoslav brought priests in from elsewhere to perform the wedding, and the holy hierarch was not afraid to denounce his behavior. After the death of Metropolitan Michael of Kiev, the Great Prince Isaiaslav wished to have the schemamonk Clement succeed him. However, he wanted to have Clement consecrated without the blessing of the Patriarch of Constantinople.
At a council of bishops, St Niphon declared that he would not approve the consecration without the permission of the Patriarch of Constantinople.

He reminded the other bishops that this was contrary to the tradition of the Russian Church, for Russia had received the Orthodox Faith from Constantinople.
Starting in 1448, however, the Russian Church began to elect its own primate without seeking confirmation from Constantinople.

The uncanonical consecration took place despite the objections of St Niphon. Metropolitan Clement tried to force the saint to serve the Divine Liturgy with him, but he refused. He called Clement a wolf rather than a shepherd, for he had unjustly assumed an office which he did not deserve. St Niphon refused to serve with Clement, or to commemorate him during the services.
In his fury, Clement would not permit St Niphon to return to Novgorod. Instead, he had the saint held under house arrest at the Kiev Caves Monastery. When Isaiaslav was defeated by Prince George, St Niphon returned to Novgorod, where the people welcomed him with great joy.

The Patriarch of Constantinople sent a letter praising St Niphon for his steadfast defense of church teachings.
He also sent Metropolitan Constantine to Rus in order to depose Metropolitan Clement, and to assume the see of Kiev himself. St Niphon prepared to journey to Kiev to meet Metropolitan Clement.

St Niphon again took up residence in the Kiev Caves Monastery, where he became ill. Thirteen days before his death, he revealed to the brethren that he had had a wondrous dream. St Theodosius (May 3) appeared to him and announced his imminet departure from this world.

St Niphon reposed in peace on April 8, 1156. Now he stands before the throne of God, interceding for us before the All-Holy Trinity, to Whom be all glory, honor, and worship forever.

B. ALBERT, PATRIARCH OF JERUSALEM, COMPILER OF THE RULE OF THE CARMELITES
From Lives of Saintes by Alban Butler

He was born at Castro di Gualtieri, in the diocese of Patina, and of a noble Italian family. After having laid a solid foundation of learning and piety and acquired a great reputation by his skill in the canon and civil laws, he put on the habit of a Canon regular in the monastery of Mortura in the Milanese, and, though very young, was in a short time after his profession chosen prior, and, three years after, bishop of Bobio. While his humility found excuses to decline this dignity, the church of Vercelli falling also vacant, that city had the happiness to carry him off; and see him by compulsion placed in its episcopal chair. For twenty years he never ceased to procure the advantage of the flock committed to his charge, and by humility and sanctity raised to the highest degree the splendor of the see which he adorned. He was chosen by pope Clement III, and the emperor Frederick I., surnamed Barbarossa, umpire of their differences. Henry VI., successor to Frederick, created him prince of the empire, and granted many favors to his church. He was employed by the pope in several commissions of the highest importance. In 1204 died Monachus, the eleventh Latin patriarch of Jerusalem: and the Christians in Palestine, who in their desolate condition stood extremely in need of a person whose consummate prudence, patience, and zeal, might be to them both a comfort and a support, moved by the great reputation of Albert, earnestly besought him to fill the vacant chair. Pope Innocent III expressed great joy it their choice, being full of compassion for their situation and dangers and called Albert to Rome, that he might receive the confirmation of his election, and the pall. The holy martyr obeyed the more readily, because this dignity at that time exposed him only to persecutions and afflictions, not without a prospect of martyrdom. He embarked in a Genoese vessel in 1206 and landed at Acon, in which city he resided, Jerusalem itself being in the hands of the Saracens. To his labors and persecutions he added the practice of assiduous mortification, and made prayer the chief employment of all his retired hours. His sanctity procured him the respect and veneration of the infidels themselves. Besides many other pious establishments and holy works of which he was the author, he became the legislator of the Carmelites, or White Friars. On Mount Carmel lived certain anchorets, who regarded the prophet Elias as their founder and model, because he made that mountain the place of his retreat, as did also Eliseus. 2 One Bertheld formed these anchorets into a community and Brocard, superior of these hermits in 1205, or rather, as Papebroke proves, in 1209, addressed himself to the patriarch Albert, beseeching him to prescribe them a rule.* The holy man drew up a constitution of this order, in which the friars are enjoined to abide in their cells day and night in assiduous prayer as it becomes hermits, unless they are otherwise lawfully occupied: to fast from the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross till Easter, except on Sundays: perpetual abstinence from flesh: to employ themselves in manual labor: keep silence from Vespers till Tierce the next day, &c.- But several additions were made to this rule, and mitigations introduced by commissioners appointed by Innocent IV, in 1246. The White Friars did not wear a scapular before St. Simon Stock, in 1285, and began to use a mantle and hood in 1288. This order being in its origin eremitical, hence among the barefooted Carmelites every province has a desert or solitude, usually for three or four hermits, who lead there very austere lives, but after one year return again to their convent, or go to some other desert, with the leave of superiors.
Albert was called into the West by pope Innocent III that he might be present at the general council of Lateran which met in 1215: but before he left Palestine, he was assassinated while he assisted at a procession of the holy cross, on the feast of its Exaltation, September 14th, 1211, at Acon, by an impious wretch whom he had reproved and threatened for his crimes. He is honored among the saints by his order on this 8th day of April. See the memoirs collected by Papebroke, t. 1, p. 769. Also Exhibitio Errorum
quos Dan. Papebrochius suis in notis ad Acta Sanctorum commisit, per Sebast. a S. Paulo. Coloniae Agrippinm, 1693, 4to. Item, Examen Juridico Theologicum Praembul. Sebastiani a S. Paulo ad Exhibitionem Errorurn Dan. Papebrochio ab illo Imputatorum, Auctore Nic. Rayaeo, cum Responsionibus Dan. Papebrochii, Antwerpae, 1698, four vols. in 4to. Helyot, Hist, des Ordres Relig. t. 1, and Stevens, Monast. Anglic. t. 1, p. 156.

1291 Blessed Clement of Saint Elpidio considered the second founder of the Augustinians OSA (AC)
Born in Osimo; cultus approved in 1572. Clement, the hermit friar of Saint Augustine, was chosen general of the order in 1270. In that position, he drew up its constitutions, where were approved in 1287.

For this reason he is considered the second founder of the Augustinians (Benedictines).

14th v. Saint Rufus the Obedient, Hermit of the Caves
Lived at the Kiev Caves monastery during the fourteenth century.
He was distinguished for his obedience and glorified as a lover of labor and fasting.
He was buried in the Far Caves. He is celebrated a second time
on August 28, the Synaxis { amidst the Sobor-Assemblage of the Monks } of the Fathers of the Far Caves.

1606 Blessed Julian of Saint Augustine Dominican Order as a lay-brother at Santorcaz, OFM (AC)
Born at Medinaceli (diocese of Segovia), Castile, Spain; beatified in 1825. Julian was rejected twice before finally gaining admittance to the Dominican Order as a lay-brother at Santorcaz. He accompanied the Franciscan preachers on their missions. It was his custom to ring the bell through the streets to summon people to the sermon (Benedictines).

            BD JULIAN OF ST AUGUSTINE 1606

         Bd JULIAN MARTINET, who was descended from a long line of French knights, was born in the Castilian town of Medinaceli, where his family were living in such reduced circumstances that they were glad to apprentice him in his boyhood to a tailor. However, at an early age he sought admittance into the Franciscan convent of his native town and was permitted to try his vocation. The extraordinary devotional exercises and strange austerities to which he was addicted were looked at askance by his superiors who, judging him to be mentally unbalanced, dismissed him as unsuitable.
From Medinaceli he went to Santorcaz, where he plied his trade until he made the acquaintance of Father Francis de Torrez, a Franciscan who was conducting a mission in the district. The friar recognized the young tailors capacities and invited his assistance. During the rest of the mission Julian went up and down the streets, ringing a bell and inviting thc inhabitants to come and listen to the preacher. Through the influence of Father de Torrez, the young man was received into another Franciscan house, the convent of our Lady of Salceda.
         Here history repeated itself: Julian’s practices gave rise to the notion that he was crazy, and he was accordingly sent away. Disappointed but undaunted, he built himself a hermitage and lived his austere life in solitude, occasionally emerging to
go with other beggars to the convent to ask for a little food.
           Eventually the sanctity and growing reputation of the hermit induced the Franciscan superiors to welcome him back into the house. After a year’s noviciate he was professed, as Brother Julian-of-St-Augustine, but he never sought the priesthood. He was left free to give himself up to his self-chosen mortifications, and laceroted his body with every instrument of torture he could devise; he took his few hours of rest either in the open air or else leaning against a wall or in one of the confessionals in the church. From time to time Father Torrez would enlist his help on his missionary tours, and the lay- brother was found to be possessed of an eloquence which went straight to the hearts and consciences of his audience.
         His fame spread rapidly, and Queen Margaret, the mother of Philip IV, expressed a desire to see him. Very unwillingly diu Julian go to court at the command of his superiors, but when he found himself there he was too much embarrassed to utter a word. in 1606 he was taken very ill on the road two leagues from Alcala de Henares. Refusing all offers of transport he managed to drag himself as far as the friary of St Didacus, and there he died. At once he was honoured as a saint, but
the process of his beatification was not formally concluded until 1825.

           The documents printed in the process of beatification form the most reliable source of
         information, and from these Father Joseph Vidal in 1825 compiled a popular life of Bd
         Julian in Italian. See also Fr Léon, Auréole Séraphique (Eng. trans.), vol. ii, pp. 47—59 and
         Mazzara, Leggendario Francescano, vol. i (1676), pp. 518—520.

1669 The Holy Martyr John the Shipmaster (Naukleros) suffered a psychological sickness martyr in the city of Koe.
One time, when he was found in an unconscious state, the Turks made over him the rite of conversion to their religion. Coming to his senses, the saint angrily threw from his head the symbol of Islam -- the turban. He bitterly bewailed the indignity that had occurred and continued to live as a Christian. The Turks then threw the martyr into prison. Neither lecturings, nor beatings, nor threats could bend the will of the saint, and he repeatedly replied: "I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and I refuse your faith". After many torments they burnt the martyr in the city of Koe on 8 April 1669. © 2001 by translator Fr. S. Janos

1816 St. Julie Billiart vision of crucified Lord with group wearing habits of Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur which she founded great love for Jesus in the Eucharist carried on this mission of teaching throughout her life although occasionally paralyzed and sick most of the time.

SD JULIA BILLIART, VIRGIN, Co.FOUNDRESS OF THE INSTITUTE OF NOTRE DAME OF NAMUR
   THE origin of the Institute of Notre Dame was once described by Cardinal Sterckx as “a breath of the apostolic spirit upon the heart of a woman who knew how to believe and how to love”. That woman was Bd Mary Rose Julia Billiart. She came of a family of fairly well-to-do peasant farmers, who also owned a little shop at Cuvilly in Picardy, where she was born in 1751. Reading and writing she learnt from her uncle, the village schoolmaster, but her special delight was in religious instruction and the things of God. By the time she was seven, she was in the habit of explaining the catechism to other children less intelligent than herself. The parish priest encouraged these good instincts, and allowed her to make her first communion at the age of nine-—a rare privilege in those days. He also permitted her to take a vow of chastity when shc was fourteen. Although Julia had to work very hard, especially after heavy losses had impoverished her family, yet she always found time to visit the sick, to teach the ignorant and to pray. Indeed, she had already begun to earn the title by which she was afterwards known, “The Saint of Cuvilly”.
      Suddenly a complete change came over her hitherto active existence. As the result of shock caused by the firing of a gun through a window at her father, beside whom she was sitting, there came upon her a mysterious illness, attended with great pain, which gradually deprived her of the use of her limbs. Thus reduced to the condition of an invalid, she lived a life of even closer union with God, continuing on her sick-bed to catechize the children, to give wonderfully wise spiritual advice to visitors, and to urge all to practise frequent communion. “ Qu’il est bon le hon Dieu !” was a saying of hers long remembered and often quoted. In 1790, when the curé of Cuvilly was superseded by a so-called constitutional priest who had taken the oath prescribed by the revolutionary authorities, it was mainly Julia’s influence which induced the people to boycott the schismatic intruder. For that reason and because she was known to have helped to find hiding-places for fugitive priests, she became specially obnoxious to the Jacobins, who went so far as to threaten to burn her alive. She was with difficulty smuggled out of the house, hidden in a haycart, and taken to Compiègne, where she was hunted from one lodging to another until at last one day they heard her exclaim, “Dear Lord, will you not find me a corner in Paradise, since there is no room for me on earth?”
         The hardships she had to undergo so aggravated her malady that for several months she almost completely lost her power of speech.
           She was, however, to enjoy a short period of peace. In the first lull which followed the end of the Reign of Terror, an old friend rescued Julia and brought her to Amiens to the house of Viscount Blin de Bourdon. In that hospitable home the invalid recovered her speech, and there she met a sensitive and highly-educated woman, Frances Blin de Bourdon, Viscountess de Gézaincourt, who was henceforth to he her close friend and her associate in all her work. In the sick-room, where the Holy Sacrifice was daily offered, gathered a little party of women who were inspired by the invalid and spent their time and money in good works but a recrudescence of persecution scattered them, and forced Julia and her new friend to retire to a house belonging to the Doria family at Bettencourt. There the catechism classes were resumed and practically all the villagers were brought back to their religious duties through the efforts of these two devoted girls.
During their stay at Bettencourt, they were several times visited by Father Joseph Varin, who was immensely struck by the personality and capabilities of Julia. He was convinced that God intended her to do great things. Under his direction, as soon as they could return to Amiens, were laid the foundations of the Institute of Notre Dame which was to devote itself primarily to the spiritual care of poor children, but also to the Christian education of girls of all classes and to the training of religious teachers. The rules were in some respects a great departure from those of existing orders, notably in the abolition of the distinction between choir and lay sisters. Soon several postulants joined them, an orphanage was opened, and evening catechism-classes started. “My daughters,” exclaimed Mother Julia, “ think how few priests there are now, and how many poor children are sunk in the grossest ignorance. We must make it our task to strive to win them !”

In 1804, when the Fathers of the Faith held a great mission in Amiens, they entrusted the teaching of the women to the Sisters of Notre Dame.

The close of that mission was followed by an event that made a great sensation. Father Enfantin asked Bd Julia to join him in a novena for an unknown intention.
On the fifth day—the feast of the Sacred Heart—he approached the invalid of twenty-two years’ standing and said to her, “Mother, if you have any faith, take one step in honour of the Sacred Heart of Jesus”. She at once got up, and realized that she was completely cured.
           Her former activity now fully restored, Mother Julia was able not only to consolidate and extend the new institute, but also to give her personal assistance to the missions which were conducted by the Fathers of the Faith in other towns, until their activities in that direction were checked by the action of the government.
         The educational work of the sisters continued to increase rapidly; convents were opened by them at Namur, Ghent and Tournai, and everything seemed to augur well for their future when a disastrous set-back was experienced which threatened
the very existence of the new community. Father Varin had been obliged to leave Amiens, and the post of confessor to the Sisters of Notre Dame fell to a capable but most injudicious, self-opinionated young priest, who tried to upset the rules of the congregation ; when gently remonstrated with, he turned against the foundress.
         He even managed for a time to estrange from her many who had been her warm friends. Among these was the Bishop of Amiens, who now virtually demanded her withdrawal from his diocese. Accompanied by nearly all the sisters she accordingly retired to the branch house at Namur, where the bishop of that city received her warmly. Before long Bd Julia was fully vindicated and she was invited to return to Amiens ; but it was found impracticable to restart the work there, so Namur became permanently the mother-house. The remaining seven years of the holy wontan’s life were spent in training her daughters and in founding new convents, fifteen of which were established during her lifetime. “ Mother Julia is one of those souls who can do more for God’s Church in a few years than others can do in a century”, said the Bishop of Namur, who knew her worth. It is recorded that in the interest of her institute she made no less than one hundred and twenty journeys.
           In 1816 it became evident to herself and to her community that she was failing fast. Mother Blin de Bourdon was also ill at the time, but whereas Bd Julia’s earthly course had run, her faithful friend was to be restored to health to carry on the great work. On April 8, while she was gently repeating the Magnificat, the foundress of the Institute of Notre Dame of Namur passed to her reward. She was beatified in 1906.

           Lives of Bd Julia Billiart are numerous in French, English and German. That by
         Fr Charles Clair, s.j., La bse Mère Julie Billiart (1906) must not be confused with another
         written in English by a member of the order and edited by Fr James Clare, s.j. (1909). The
         French biography by Fr C. Clair was supplemented and re-edited by Fr Griselle (1907).
         In German the best life is that by B. Arens (1908). More recent accounts are by T. Réjalot
         (1922), Sr F. de Chantal (Julie Billiart and Her Institute, 1939), and M. G. Carroll, The
         Charred Wood (1951).
St. Julie (Julia) Billiart was born in 1751 and died in 1816. As a child, playing "school" was Julie's favorite game. When she was sixteen, to help support her family, she began to teach "for real". She sat on a haystack during the noon recess and told the biblical parables to the workers. Julie carried on this mission of teaching throughout her life, and the Congregation she founded continues her work.

Julie was the fifth of seven children. She attended a little one room school in Cuvilly. She enjoyed all of her studies, but she was particularly attracted to the religion lessons taught by the parish priest. Recognizing something "special" in Julie, the priest secretly allowed her to make her First Communion at the age of nine, when the normal age at that time, was thirteen. She learned to make short mental prayers and to develop a great love for Jesus in the Eucharist.

A murder attempt on her father shocked her nervous system badly. A period of extremely poor heath for Julie began, and was to last for thirty years. For twenty-two of these years she was completely paralyzed. All of her sufferings and pain she offered up to God.
When the French Revolution broke out, Julie offered her home as a hiding place for loyal priests. Because of this, Julie became a hunted prey. Five times in three years she was forced to flee in secret to avoid compromising her friends who were hiding her.
At this time she was privileged to receive a vision. She saw her crucified Lord surrounded by a large group of religious women dressed in a habit she had never seen before. An inner voice told her that these would be her daughters and that she would begin an institute for the Christian education of young girls. She and a rich young woman founded the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. At Amiens, the two women and a few companions began living a religious life in 1803. In 1804, Julie was miraculously cured of her illness and walked for the first time in twenty-two years. In 1805, Julie and three companions made their profession and took their final vows. She was elected as Mother General of the young Congregation.

In 1815, Mother taxed her ever poor health by nursing the wounded and feeding the starving left from the battle of Waterloo. For the last three months of her life, she again suffered much. She died peacefully on April 8, 1816 at 64 years of age. Julie was beatified on May 13, 1906, and was canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1969.

Julia (Julie) Billiart V (RM) Born in Cuvilly (near Beauvais), Picardy, France, on July 12, 1751; died on April 8, 1816; beatified in 1906; canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1969.
Julia, baptized Marie Rose Julia Billiart, was born to prosperous peasant farmers who also owned a small shop in Cuvilly. Early in life she evinced an interest in religion and helping the sick and the poor. At 14, she took a vow of chastity and dedicated herself to the service and instruction of the poor.
She was paralyzed by shock when someone shot a gun at her father, while she was sitting next to him. Thereafter, she was an invalid for 22 years. Although she was in pain, this malady gave her the luxury of spending more time in prayer.

In 1790, the curé of Cuvilly was replaced by a priest who had taken the oath prescribed by the revolutionary authorities, and Julia rallied the people to boycott him. She also helped find safe houses for fugitive priests, and for this reason was taken to Compiegne, where she had to change addresses often for her safety.
A friend brought her to Amiens to the house of Viscount Blin de Bourdon after the Reign of Terror. There she met Frances Blin de Bourdon, Viscountess de Gézaincourt, who became her friend and worked with her. Daily the viscountess and a small group of pious women gathered in Julia's sickroom for the sacrifice of the Mass. Throughout the French Revolution (1794-1804), Julia encourage the group in their works of charity. Heightened persecution forced Julia and Frances to move to a house belonging to the Doria family at Bettencourt, where, with a group of women, they conducted catechetical classes for the villages.
At Bettencourt Julia met Father Joseph Varin, who was convinced that the saint was meant to achieve great works. When Frances and Julia returned to Amiens, they laid the foundations of the Institute of Notre Dame, whose objects were to see to the religious instruction of poor children, the Christian education of girls of all classes, and the training of religious teachers. They also opened an orphanage.
The rules of the institute were somewhat innovative, requiring the abolition of the distinction between choir and lay sisters. At a mission held by the Fathers of the Faith of Amiens in 1804, the teaching of women was given to the Sisters of Notre Dame. At the end of the mission, Father Enfantin asked Julia to join him in a novena without telling her why, and on the fifth day, the feast of the Sacred Heart, he ordered her to walk. After 22 years as an invalid, at the age of 44, she got up and realized that she was cured.

Now fully functional, she worked to extend the new foundation and to assist at missions conducted by the Fathers of the Faith in other towns. She did this until the work was halted by the government. The educational work continued, however, and convents were opened at Namur, Ghent, and Tournai.
Unfortunately, Father Varin's post of confessor to the sisters was filled by a young priest who estranged Julia from the bishop of Amiens, and the bishop pressed for her withdrawal from his diocese in 1809. She moved the mother house to Namur, joined by nearly all the sisters, where she was well received by the bishop.

Soon she was vindicated and invited to return to Amiens, but since it was too difficult to restore the foundation there, Namur became the motherhouse. As of 1816, it was clear that Julia's health was failing rapidly. While repeating the Magnificat, she died. By the time of her death 15 convents had been established (Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Gill, Walsh, White).

The Spanish Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, which is one of the Panachranta type, depicts the Mother of God seated upon a throne.

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

THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 328

Blessed are the undefiled in the way: who imitate the Mother of God.

Blessed are the imitators of her humility: blessed are the sharers in her charity.

Blessed are the searchers into her virtues: blessed are they who are conformed to her image.

Blessed are they who venerate her conception and her birth: blessed are they who devoutly serve her.

Blessed are they who have hope and confidence in her: blessed are they who receive through her eternal happiness.

Let every spirit praise Our Lady

PSALM 78

O Lady, the heathen have come into the inheritance of God: which thou hast established in Christ by thy merits.

Let thy speech be sweet before Him: and unite me to Him who hath redeemed me.

Stretch forth thine arm against the cruel enemy: and unfold to me his craft.

Thy voice is sweet above every melody: the angelic harmony cannot be compared with it.

Drop down on me the sweetness of thy graces: and the fragrance of thy heavenly gifts.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Saint Frances Xavier Seelos Practical Guide to Holiness

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Meeting of the Saints walis (saints of Allah)

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

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

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

To Save A Life is Earthly; Saving A Soul is Eternal Donation by mail, please send check or money order to:

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Mother Angelica saving souls is this beautiful womans journey

Shrine_of_The_Most_Blessed_Sacrament

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

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

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

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

America's First Basilica Largest Nave in the World

August 7, 1907-ground broke for the foundation

by Archbishop Ireland-laying cornerstone May 31, 1908

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

Index to Part I and Part II 1932

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

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

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

Member -- St. Paul Seminary faculty.

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

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

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

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

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

THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi.

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

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

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

By Father John Corapi

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

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

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

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

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

Father Corapi's Biography

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

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

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

About Father John Corapi.

Father Corapi is a Catholic priest .

The pillars of father's preaching are basically:

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

God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MIRACLES
– Blessed Alfonso Maria Fusco, diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist (1839-1910);
– Venerable Servant of God John Sullivan, professed priest of the Society of Jesus (1861-1933);
MARTYRDOM
– Servants of God Nikolle Vinçenc Prennushi, O.F.M., archbishop of Durres, Albania, and 37 companions killed between 1945 and 1974;
– Servants of God José Antón Gómez and three companions of the Benedictines of Madrid, Spain, killed 1936;
HEROIC VIRTUES
– Servant of God Thomas Choe Yang-Eop, diocesan priest (1821-1861);
– Servant of God Sosio Del Prete (né Vincenzo), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Congregation of the Little Servants of Christ the King (1885-1952);
– Servant of God Wenanty Katarzyniec (né Jósef), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1889-1921);
– Servant of God Maria Consiglia of the Holy Spirity (née Emilia Pasqualina 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, PSALTER BLESSED VIRGIN MARY 78 328 2023