Mary Mother of GOD 
Et álibi aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum, atque sanctárum Vírginum.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
Пресвятая Богородице спаси нас!  (Santíssima Mãe de Deus, salva-nos!)
RDeo grátias. R.  Thanks be to God.
August is the month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary;
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CAUSES OF SAINTS
Transfiguration_Afterfeast.jpg
August 8 - Our Lady of Laeken (Belgium, 8th C.)
 - Saint Dominic (d. 1221), founder of the Dominican Order

Well then, would you teach me how to pray? (2)  
"Well then, my Mother, would you teach me how to pray?" asked the venerable Father Cestac) to Our Lady after she showed him in a vision the vast desolation caused by the devil throughout the world.
The Blessed Virgin communicated the following prayer:
August Queen of Heaven,
"Sovereign Queen of Angels, you who at the beginning received from God the power and the mission to crush the head of Satan, we beseech you humbly, send your holy legions so that, on your orders and by your power, they will track down demons, fight them everywhere, curb their audacity and plunge them into the abyss.
"Who can be compared to God? Oh good and tender Mother, you will always be our love and our hope.
"Oh divine Mother, send the Holy Angels and Archangels to defend us and to keep the cruel enemy far from us. Holy Angels and Archangels defend us, protect us. Amen.
"

Pope Saint Pius X granted an indulgence for this prayer on July 8, 1908.
  
Our Bartholomew Family Prayer List
Joyful Mystery on Monday Saturday   Glorius Mystery on Sunday Wednesday
  
Sorrowful Mystery on Friday Tuesday   Luminous Mystery on Thursday Veterens of War

Acts of the Apostles

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

A Mother for All (III)

Now, they can call on her more often, said God.

They all have a Mother in Heaven who follows them with her eyes, with her eyes of flesh.
In Heaven they have a Mother who loves them with all her heart, with her heart of flesh.
And this Mother is Mine,  she looks like Me,  she has My eyes,  she has the same heart.
If people were a little cleverer, they would take more profit from her, they would realize I can refuse her nothing.
 
What do you expect, she is my Mother.

  Michel Quoist  Excerpt from the French children’s magazine "Patapon" 

15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary
Preach from My Psalter August 8 - Our Lady of Kuehn (Belgium) - Saint Dominic
According to the account of the Blessed Alain de la Roche, the Holy Mother of God appeared to Saint Dominic in 1214 after he had spent three days and nights in continual prayer and penance in a forest near Toulouse.
The Virgin said to him:
"Do you know which weapon the Holy Trinity has used to reform the world?"
"O my Lady," answered Saint Dominic, "you know it far better than I do, because next to your Son Jesus Christ you have always been the chief instrument of our salvation."
Then our Lady replied,
"I want you to know that the principal weapon has always been the Angelic Psalter, which is the foundation-stone of the New Testament.

Therefore, if you want to win these hardened hearts for the Lord, preach from my Psalter."
This way the most Holy Rosary of Mary came into being, which Saint Dominic used against Albigensian heresy.
Queen Blanche of Castile immediately adopted this new form of devotion, to which she attributed the birth of her son Saint Louis King of France.
Taken from Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort's The Wonderful Secret of the Most Holy Rosary

             Afterfeast of the Transfiguration of our Lord
 304 St Emygdius (Emidius) , Martyr beheaded together with 3 companions, SS. Eupolus, Germanus and Valentinus.
 305 St. Cyriacus erlitt vermutlich das Martyrium um 305 unter Diokletian.
 308  SS Cyriacus, deacon, Largus, Smaragdus, translated with 20 others by Pope St. Marcellus The holy martyrs suffered on March 16; buried on the Salarian Way by the priest John translated to estate of Lucina, on the Ostian Way; then brought to the city and placed in the church of St. Mary in Via Lata.
 350 St. Myron Martyred priest at Cyzicus on the Sea of Marmora, Turkey. He was slain trying to protect his church from a pagan mob
        St. Eleutherius & Leonides Two martyrs burned to death in Constantinople
Ten Egyptian Ascetics  this day we also commemorate, who died at sea, and 2 Martyrs of Tyre, were dragged over the ground

        St. Marinus elderly martyr Martyr at Anazarbus, in Cilicia. He is reported as having been quite elderly.
        St. Severus, priest and confessor
  420 St. Hormisdas, a martyr under King Sapor in Persia.        In Pérside sancti Hormísdæ Mártyris, sub Sápore Rege.
  650 St. Leobald Benedictine abbot also called Leotlebod abbot of Fleury Abbey, now called Saint- Benoit- sur-Loire,
678 St. Mummolus abbot Benedictine abbot of Fleury, also called Mommulus. He brought relics of Sts. Benedict and Scholastica from Monte Cassino to France, thus starting the name given to Fleury, Saint ­Benait-sur-Loire
 
680 St. Ternatius Bishop of Besançon, France; supported monasticism sponsored charitable projects; revered holiness
  7th v. St. Ellidius Patron saint of Himant, Powys, Wales, and of a church in the Scilly Isles of England. Also called Illog
  796 St. Gedeon bishop The thirteenth bishop of Besanç
on, France for six years
815 St. Emilian opposition Iconoclasts Bishop of Cyzicus, an island in the sea of Marmara, Turkey. died in exile because of opposition to the Iconoclasts
1091 St. Altman of Passau; Bishop apostolic delegate; studied in Paris, ordained, became the ranking priest at the Paderborn Cathedral School; went to Aachen royal chaplain of Emperor Henry II; 1064 pilgrimage to Jerusalem, captured by Muslim Saracens in Palestine; released journeyed home 1065; became involved in Pope Gregory VII's efforts to halt simony and clergy marriages; driven out of his diocese because of this controversy; founded Augustinian abbey at Gottweig, Austria; reformed religious institutions of the region;
12th v. St Gregory, Iconographer of the Kiev Caves among the number of iconographers who had come from Constantinople to Kiev to embellish the Great Church of the monastery, dedicated in honor of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos.
1190 Bd Joan of Aza, Matron praise is due in her own right; to beauty of soul she added beauty of body, and both were handed on to the greatest of her sons
1221 St. Dominic de Guzman, Astronomers Patron: studied at the Univ. at Palencia; ordained, appointed canon at Osma in 1199 became prior superior of the chapter, which was noted for its strict adherence to the rule of St. Benedict; founded an order devoted to the conversion of the Albigensians; the order was canonically approved by the bishop of Toulouse the following year. He failed to gain approval for his order of preachers at the fourth General Council of the Lateran in 1215 but received Pope Honorius III's approval in the following year, and the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) was founded; Dominic's concept of harmonizing the intellectual life with popular need
1314 Tolga Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos appeared August 8, to Rostov hierarch Prochorus (Tryphon in schema); the fiery column, he beheld the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, suspended in the air; they cleared the forest at that place, and put down the foundations of a church - Entrance into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos
1310-(1346) Saint Gregory of Sinai; tonsured monk on Cyprus; fulfilled his obediences of cook and baker, then copyist, surpassing all in reading and knowledge of Scriptural and patristic books; strict life fasting, vigil, psalmody, standing at prayer; lived on Crete, afterwards visited Mt. Athos with its monasteries and ascetics acquiring experience of centuries of monastic life from the ancient monasteries; after this settle himself in a solitary place for "hesychia" [stillness doing the Jesus Prayer], a cell for silence and unhindered pursuit of mental prayer, combined with hard work
1566 Sts Zosimas and Sabbatius of Solovki  The Transfer of the Relics of took place on August 8
1570 Bl. John Felton  Martyr of England promoted the papacy in London. Born in Bermondsey, London, to a Norfolk line, John nailed a copy of the Bull of Pope St. Pius V excommunicating Queen Elizabeth I to the doors of the bishop of London’s residence.
1804 Saint Euthymius was abbot of the Monastery of St. John the Baptist in the Davit-Gareji Wilderness. In the chronicles of the monastery he is commemorated as a “man of many labors.”; philosopher theologian outstanding preacher; dedicated to improving the monastery, rebuilt nearby village of Khashmi (razed by Dagestani thieves); In Khashmi constructed a mill and planted a vineyard with a rare variety of grapes; adorned the monastery expanded the estate surrounding; a great number of theological works were translated, and many rare books were recopied.
1869 St. John Vianney Patron of priests ordained 1815 incorupt AUGUST 04
1909 Bl. Mary MacKillop  first native Australian to be beatified; Born in Melbourne of Scottish ancestry; Concerned with the poor and suffering founded the Sisters of St. Joseph and of the Sacred Heart; sisters were dedicated to educating children; became Mary of the Cross 1873, two years later elected mother general of her congregation; After many difficulties, Mother MacKillop received papal approval of her work in 1888 from Pope Leo XIII. When she died on August 8, 1909, in Sydney, there were one thousand women in her congregation. Pope John Paul II beatified her on January 19, 1995.
       St. Pa'esa (Athanasia) Departure of  {Coptic}
       The Fourteen Holy Helpers

Afterfeast of the Transfiguration of our Lord
The Church's hymns today invite us to "ascend the holy mountain" and "with the eyes of faith," to "behold the radiant Transfiguration of the Lord." Christ has transformed our fallen human nature and restored its original beauty "by the burning radiance of His divinity."

350 St. Myron Martyred priest at Cyzicus on the Sea of Marmora, in modern Turkey. He was slain trying to protect his church from a pagan mob.

In Creta sancti Myrónis Epíscopi, miráculis clari     In Crete, St. Myron, bishop renowned for miracles

 Saint Myron, Bishop of Crete, a wonderworker, in his youth was a family man, and worked as a farmer. He was known for his goodness, and he assisted everyone who turned to him for help. Once, thieves burst in upon his threshing floor, and St Myron himself helped them lift a sack of grain upon their shoulders. By his generosity the saint so shamed the thieves, that in future they began to lead honorable lives.
Out of profound respect for the saint, the Cretan people urged him to accept ordination to the priesthood in his native city of Raucia, and afterwards they chose him Bishop of Crete.
Wisely ruling his flock, St Myron received from the Lord the gift of wonderworking. At the time of a flood on the River Triton, the saint stopped its flow and went upon it as upon dry land, and then he sent a man back to the river with his staff to command the river to resume its course. St Myron fell asleep in the Lord at the age of 100, around the year 350
.
St. Eleutherius & Leonides Two martyrs burned to death in Constantinople.
Item sanctórum Mártyrum Eleuthérii et Leónidæ, qui per ignem martyrium consummárunt.
 Also, the holy martyrs Eleutherius and Leonides, who underwent martyrdom by fire.
The Martyrs Eleutherius and Leonides were cast into a fire at a youthful age during one of the persecutions against Christians.
Ten Egyptian Ascetics On this day we also commemorate, who died at sea, and Two Martyrs of Tyre, who were dragged over the ground.
Transfiguration The hymns at Vespers today speak of the sun appearing dim compared to the divine light.  In His compassion for humanity, Christ took on mortal flesh, yet Peter, James and John saw the radiance of His glory.  The incarnate Lord "made Adam's darkened image to shine again" when He appeared on earth arrayed in the original beauty of the Image" (Genesis 1:26).
305  Cyriacus erlitt vermutlich das Martyrium um 305 unter Diokletian.
Sanctórum Mártyrum Cyríaci Diáconi, Largi et Smarágdi, qui, cum áliis vigínti Sóciis, passi sunt décimo séptimo Kaléndas Aprilis.  Eórum córpora, via Salária a Joánne Presbytero sepúlta, sanctus Marcéllus Papa in prædium Lucínæ, via Ostiénsi, hoc die tránstulit; quæ póstea, in Urbem deláta, in Diaconía sanctæ Maríæ in via Lata fuérunt recóndita.
 The holy martyrs Cyriacus, deacon, Largus, and Smaragdus, with twenty others who suffered on the 16th of March, during the persecution of Diocletian and Maximian.  Their bodies were buried on the Salarian Way by the priest John, but were on this day translated by Pope St. Marcellus to the estate of Lucina, on the Ostian Way.  Afterwards they were brought to the city and placed in the church of St. Mary in Via Lata.

Orthodoxe Kirche: 7. Juli Katholische Kirche: 8. August
Cyriakus erlitt vermutlich das Martyrium um 305 unter Diokletian. In einer alten Märtyrerliste werden fünf Gefährten genannt, ab dem 13. Jahrhundert werden Largus und Smaragdus angegeben. Cyriacus gehört zu den 14 Nothelfern.

Ss. Cyriacus, Largus And Smaragdus, Martyrs
The legend of St Cyriacus and his companions is a romance devoid of historical value. It relates that Cyriacus was a deacon who, with Sissinius, Largus and Smaragdus, succoured the Christians who were being forced to work on the construction of the baths of Diocletian. Having been arrested, Cyriacus cured the emperor's daughter, Artemia, of demoniac possession, and was rewarded with the present of a house  herein he established a place of worship, the titulus Cyriaci.   He was then sent to Persia at the request of its king, whose daughter suffered in the same way as Artemia, and her also he cured. After his return to Rome he was apprehended by order of Maximian, together with Largus and Smaragdus, and on March ib, in company with a score of others, he Was tortured and beheaded at a spot on the Salarian Way.   On August 8 Pope St Marcellus I translated the bodies to a burial-place, which received the name of Cyriacus, on the road to Ostia.
  That Cyriacus was an authentic martyr, honoured on this day in Rome from an early date, is proved from the Depositic Martyrum of 354.   Therein he is said to rest close beside the seventh milestone on the road to Ostia in company with Largus,    Jxmaracdus", and three others, who are named. Delehaye shows that this Cyriacus has been confused with another Cyriacus, the founder of the titulus Cyriaci, and that a fictitious story was later evolved which is best known to us as an episode in the spurious Acts of Pope St Marcellus.
See on the whole question Delehaye in CMH, p. 425 (with which cf. ibidem pp. 190 and 431-433); and Duchesne in Mélanges d'archéologie a d'histoire, vol. xxxvi, pp. 49-56 .
St. Marinus elderly martyr Martyr at Anazarbus, in Cilicia. He is reported as having been quite elderly.
Anazárbi, in Cilícia, sancti Maríni senis, qui, sub Diocletiáno Imperatóre et Lysia Præside, cæsus flagris, in ligno suspénsus ac laniátus, feris tandem objéctus intériit.
 At Anzarba in Cilicia, St. Marinus, an old man who was scourged, racked, and lacerated, and who died by being exposed to wild beasts, in the time of Emperor Diocletian and the governor Lysias
.
St. Severus, priest and confessor At Vienne in France, who undertook a painful journey from India in order to preach the Gospel in that city, and converted a great number of pagans to the faith of Christ by his works and miracles.
Viénnæ, in Gállia, sancti Sevéri, Presbyteri et Confessóris; qui ex India, Evangélii prædicándi causa, laboriósam peregrinatiónem suscépit, et, cum ad præfátam urbem devenísset, ingéntem Paganórum multitúdinem verbo et miráculis ad Christi fidem convértit.
420 St. Hormisdas, a martyr under King Sapor in Persia.
        In Pérside sancti Hormísdæ Mártyris, sub Sápore Rege.

St Hormisdas, Martyr
THE shocking persecution of Christians carried on by Sapor II, King of Persia, was renewed by Yazdagird I, the occasion being the burning down of a Mazdaean temple by a priest. This unhappy man, who brought so much distress on the faithful, was constrained to admit that persuasion and not violence is the only Christian method, but this did not mollify the anger of the king. It is not easy, says Theodoret, to describe or express the cruelties which were then invented against the disciples of Christ.  On the death of Yazdagird the persecution was carried on by his son Bahram; and Hormisdas (Hormizd) was one of the chief victims. He was of the nobility among the Persians, son to the governor of a province. Bahrarn sent for him, and commanded him to renounce Jesus Christ. Hormisdas answered him, "Nay! This would offend God, and be against charity and justice; whoever dares to violate the supreme law of the sovereign Lord of all would easily betray his king, who is only a mortal man. If that be a crime deserving death, what must it he to renounce the God and ruler of the universe?" The king at this answer caused him to be deprived of his rank, honours and goods, and even stripped of clothes to his loin-cloth, and ordered him to look after the camels of the army. Some time after Bahram saw Hormisdas all sunburnt and covered with dust, and calling to mind his former position and the high office of his father, he was filled with pity; so he sent for him, ordered a gown to he given him, and said, "Now lay aside your obstinacy, and renounce the carpenter's Son". The saint pulled off the gown and threw it away, saying, "Why should you have thought that I should so easily be tempted to abandon the law of God? Take back your present." The king, incensed at his boldness, sent him back to his camels. It is not known when and how St Hormisdas suffered martyrdom.
See the Acta Sanctorum, August, vol. ii, where the passage of Theodoret, bk v, ch. 39, is quoted at length. See also Assemani, Bibliotheca orientalis, vol. iii, pt 2, p. 384. There seems to be a reference to this St Hormisdas in the Martyrology of Rabban Sliba on September 1 for which cf. the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxvii (1908), p. 193 .
650 St. Leobald Benedictine abbot Benedictine abbot also called Leotlebod. He was abbot of Fleury Abbey, now called Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire, France.
678 St. Mummolus abbot Benedictine abbot of Fleury, also called Mommulus. He brought some relics of Sts. Benedict and Scholastica from Monte Cassino to France, thus starting the name given to Fleury, Saint­Benait-sur-Loire
680 St. Ternatius Bishop of Besancon, France He actively supported the monastic movement and sponsored charitable projects. Ternatius was revered for his holiness.
7th v. St. Ellidius Patron saint of Himant, Powys, Wales, and a church in Scilly Isles of England. Also called Illog.
796 St. Gedeon bishop The thirteenth bishop of Besancon, France. He served six years.
815 St. Emilian opposition Iconoclasts Bishop of Cyzicus, an island in the sea of Marmara, Turkey. He died in exile because of his opposition to the Iconoclasts.
Cyzici, in Hellespónto, sancti Æmiliáni Epíscopi, qui, pro sacrárum Imáginum cultu a Leóne Imperatóre multa passus, demum in exsílio vitam finívit.
   At Cyzicum, on the Hellespont, St. Aemilian, bishop, who ended his life in exile after having suffered much from Emperor Leo for the veneration of holy images.
Saint Emilian, Bishop of Cyzikus, lived during the reign of the Iconoclast emperor Leo the Armenian (813-820). He was summoned together with other bishops to the court of the emperor, who insistently urged the bishops to refrain from the veneration of holy icons. St Emilian was the first to tell the emperor firmly that the question of the veneration of holy icons ought to be discussed and decided only within the Church by its spiritual leaders, and not at the imperial court. In the year 815 he was sent to prison for the Orthodox Faith, where he died as a confessor.

Aemilianos von Kyzikos Orthodoxe Kirche: 8. August
Aemilianos war im 9. Jahrhundert Bischof von Kyzikos. Als Kaiser Leo V. der Armenier (813-820) 815 den Bildersturm (= Ikonoklaste von 730 bis 842) erneuerte (wohl um Frieden mit den muslimischen Nachbarreichen zu halten, in denen Gottesbilder strikt verboten waren) und die Bischöfe seines Reiches aufforderte, die Ikonen zu vernichten, wurde er von mehreren Bischöfen aufgesucht, die ihn aber nicht umstimmen konnten. Aemilianos gab Leo zu bedenken, dass die Frage der Ikonenverehrung nur innerhalb der Kirche diskutiert und nicht von einem weltlichen Gericht entschieden werden könne. Aemilianos wurde deshalb 815 gefangengesetzt. Er starb im Gefängnis.
Mit Aemilianos standen vor dem Kaiser der Bischof von Nikomedien, Theophylaktus, der Bischof von Synada, Michael, der Bischof von Sardes, Euthymios sowie die Bischöfe Joseph von Thessaloniki und Eudoxios von Amorion
.
1091 St. Altman Bishop of Passau; apostolic delegate; studied in Paris, ordained, became the ranking priest at the Paderborn Cathedral School; went to Aachen royal chaplain of Emperor Henry II; 1064 pilgrimage to Jerusalem, captured by Muslim Saracens in Palestine; released journeyed home 1065; became involved in Pope Gregory VII's efforts to halt simony and clergy marriages; driven out of his diocese because of this controversy;  founded the Augustinian abbey at Gottweig, Austria; reformed the religious institutions of the region;
St. Altman Bishop and apostolic delegate, born in Westphalia, Germany about 1020. He studied in Paris, was ordained, and then became the ranking priest at the Paderborn Cathedral School. From there he went to Aachen and became the royal chaplain of Emperor Henry II. In 1064, Altman went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and was captured by the Muslim Saracens in Palestine. He was released and journeyed home in 1065 facing renewed dangers; became involved in Pope Gregory VII's efforts to halt simony and clergy marriages.
Upon his arrival home, Altman was named the bishop of Passati because of the patronage of Empress Agnes. Altman founded the Augustinian abbey at Gottweig, Austria, and generally reformed the religious institutions of the region. He then became involved in Pope Gregory VII's efforts to halt simony and clergy marriages.
Altman was driven out of his diocese because of this controversy. He went to Rome and was appointed apostolic delegate to Germany. In 1081, he returned to Passau but was driven out again. Altman spent the remaining years of his life in the abbey at Gottweig, Austria.

St  Altman, Bishop of Passau
St Altman was born at Paderborn during the first quarter of the eleventh century, and studied at Paris. After being ordained he was appointed Canon and master of the Cathedral-school at Paderborn, then provost of the chapter of Aachen and chaplain to the Emperor Henry III, and confessor and counsellor of the Dowager Empress Agnes.  In 1064 he took part in a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, which numbered seven thousand persons (according to a monk who was there) and was led by several archbishops and bishops, and the adventure was a most unhappy one. Having safely traversed Europe and Asia Minor with no more than the misfortunes inevitable to so long a journey on horseback, they were attacked by Saracens in Palestine and sustained a siege in an abandoned village; lack of food forced them to surrender, and they might all have been massacred but for the intervention of a friendly emir. Though they eventually reached Jerusalem they were not able to visit many of the other holy places because of the enmity of the Saracens, and by the time the pilgrimage reached home again it had lost nearly half of its members, dead from hardship, sickness and murder. It was happenings of this sort which contributed, thirty years later, to the institution of the crusades.
    Immediately on his return Altman was nominated to the see of Passau, and he set himself energetically to govern a large and deteriorated diocese. For the increase of learning, the care of the poor, and proper carrying out of divine worship he looked particularly to regular clergy; at Göttweig he founded an abbey of Augustinian canons, put the same at Sankt Pölten in the place of secular canons, and introduced the Cluniac reform at Kremsmunster. In these works he had the help of the Empresses Agnes and Bertha, and the Emperor Henry IV was a benefactor of the see; but St Altman soon found himself in conflict with that monarch.  When in 1074 Pope St Gregory VII renewed the pontifical decrees against simony and married clergy, Altman read out the letter in his cathedral. It was very ill received, he had to escape from the ensuing uproar, and found himself opposed in the matter of celibacy by a strong party led by his own provost. The bishop's chief supporters were the Augustinian canons, but the rebels invoked the help of the emperor; Altman did his best to enforce the decree, excommunicated the provost, and, when in the following year the pope forbade lay investiture, definitely ranged himself against Henry. He was driven from his see, and went to Rome. He had some scruples as to whether he held his own see simoniacally, as he had received it by favour of the Empress Agnes; but St Gregory VII confirmed him in it and appointed him delegate apostolic for Germany.
    St Altman returned to his see in 1081, but was turned out again almost at once he spent the remaining years of his life in exile but maintained a footing in the eastern part of his diocese, from whence he exercised a great influence.  He had lost all his revenues and was in great poverty, but for all that his charity to the poor did not abate, and in a time of famine he sold his furniture to relieve the suffering.  Nor did the disturbance of his rule and his long banishment entirely spoil his work; a Canon of Göttweig who wrote an account of him not long after his death says that when he was appointed bishop many of his churches were of wood, and so were his priests; he had stone churches built and, though it was more difficult to reform the clergy than their buildings, he had inspired many priests with an enthusiasm for Celibacy and a contempt for riches. St Altman was an important figure in the early history of canons regular in addition to the foundations mentioned above he instituted them at Sankt Florian, at St Nicholas's in his cathedral city, and other places. He died in 1091, and his cultus was approved by Pope Leo XIII.
There are two lives printed in the Acta Sanctorum. The older of these (re-edited in MGH., Scriptores, vol. xii, pp. 226-243) was written some fifty years after Altman's death by a canon of Gottweig. The second for the greater part adds no new facts, but fills some lacunae in the narrative towards the end. An excellent German translation of the earlier document, with abundant notes, has been published by A. Fuchs, Des heilige Altmann (1929). See also Hans Hirsch "Die Vita Altmanni" in Jahrbuch für Landeskunde von Nieder-österreich, vols. xv and xvi, pp. 348-366; and A. Stonner, Heilige des deutschen Frühzeit, vol. ii (1935).
12th v. St Gregory, Iconographer of the Caves among the number of iconographers who had come from Constantinople to Kiev to embellish the Great Church of the monastery, dedicated in honor of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos.
A colleague of St Alypius of the Caves (August 17). In the "Accounts of the holy Iconographers" it says that he painted (wrote) many wonderworking icons throughout the Russian Land.

In the Ninth Ode of the Canon of the Service of the Synaxis of the Kiev Caves Monastics, Venerated in the Near Caves (September 28), St Gregory is called a "Byzantine." This probably means that he was among the number of iconographers who had come from Constantinople to Kiev to embellish the Great Church of the monastery, dedicated in honor of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos
.
1190 Bd Joan of Aza, Matron praise is due in her own right; to beauty of soul she added beauty of body, and both were handed on to the greatest of her sons
   The mother of St Dominic is said to have been born in the castle of Aza, near Aranda in Old Castile;  nothing is known of her childhood, but doubtless her marriage took place when she was very young, according to the custom of the time and country. Her husband was Felix, perhaps de Guzman, who was warden of the small town of Calaruega in the province of Burgos, of which Dante writes in speaking of St Dominic: "Happy Calaroga I there where the gentle breeze whispers and wanders among the young flowers that bloom over the garden of Europe, near that shore where the waves break and behind which the great sun sinks at evening."
    Here they lived and here were born to them four children, Antony, who became a canon of St James and sold all that he had that he might serve the poor and sick in a hospital; Bd Mannes, who followed his younger brother, Dominic; and an unknown daughter, whose two sons became preaching friars.
  The greatest of these children was a child of promise, for when Antony and Mannes were already grown up and clerics, Joan wished for another son and prayed to that end in the abbey-church of Silos; and a vision of St Dominic of Silos is said to have appeared to her in sleep, telling her that a son would be born to her and that he would be a shining light to the Church: and she in thankfulness determined that he should be baptized Dominic.
   While the child was yet unborn Bd Joan dreamed "that she bore a dog in her womb and that it broke away from her with a burning torch in its mouth wherewith it set the world aflame"; this dog became a symbol of the Dominican Order and in later ages gave rise to the pun Domini canes, "the watch-dogs of the Lord".
   His godmother at his baptism (or, as some say, Bd Joan again) likewise had a dream in which the babe appeared with a shining star upon his forehead, enlightening the world: wherefore is a star often shown upon images of the saint. Dominic remained under the care of his mother till he was seven years old, and then was sent to school with his uncle, the parish priest of Gumiel d'Izan.  Other stories are told, but by later writers, about the saint's infancy.
   It has not been given to many mothers of saints to be themselves beatified, and Joan achieved this distinction by her own virtues and not by those of her children: it is not unusual for hagiographers to praise the parents of their heroes, but the mother of St Dominic such praise is due in her own right; to beauty of soul she added beauty of body, and both were handed on to the greatest of her sons.
   Her cultus dates from the moment of her death; a hermiitage at Uclés, where she would go to visit the commandery of the Knights of St James, was called after her, and likewise a chapel in the cemetery at Calaruega.  At the request of King Ferdinand VII this cultus was confirmed in 1828.
It is to be feared that the little we are told concerning Bd Joan does not rest upon a very sound basis of evidence. See, however, Ganay, Les Bienheureuses Dominicaines, pp. 13 seq. R. Castano, Monografia de Santa Joanna (1900); Procter, Dominican Saints, pp. 215-219 and the standard lives of St Dominic .
1221 St. Dominic Astronomers Patron studied at the Univ. at Palencia; ordained, appointed canon at Osma in 1199 became prior superior of the chapter, which was noted for its strict adherence to the rule of St. Benedict; founded an order devoted to the conversion of the Albigensians; the order was canonically approved by the bishop of Toulouse the following year. He failed to gain approval for his order of preachers at the fourth General Council of the Lateran in 1215 but received Pope Honorius III's approval in the following year, and the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans) was founded; Dominic's concept of harmonizing the intellectual life with popular need

16th century portrait by Giovanni Bellini.
  
August 8, 2008 St. Dominic (1170-1221) 
If he hadn’t taken a trip with his bishop, Dominic would probably have remained within the structure of contemplative life; after the trip, he spent the rest of his life being a contemplative in active apostolic work.

St Dominic & the Rosary
by Robert Feeney

Dominic Guzman was born in 1170 in Calaroga, Castile (Spain) in an age of change. The sons of Mohammed had swept across the Mediterranean, turning Christian temples into Moorish mosques, leaving many regions of Spain under the Moorish yoke. At the age of 14, Dominic went to the University of Palencia and graduated with a degree in liberal arts and sacred sciences. He was known for his devotion to study and reverence for learning. He was generous, compassionate, gentle, and strong. At the age of 24, he was ordained a priest by the bishop of Osma, Spain.

At the age 33, Dominic exercised his priestly ministry in the southern region of France called Languedoc. It was in this region that St. Dominic came in contact with the Albigensian heresy. This heresy was an offshoot of Manicheanism. Manes was a preacher who lived in the plains between the Tigris and Euphrates during the third century. Manes taught that all matter is evil and that man is a combination of two opposing principles; a spiritual being created by God, thrust into a material body created by an evil being. The Albigensians believed that adultery, fornication, and suicide were praiseworthy; there is no heaven, no hell, no moral code. St. Dominic traveled from village to village teaching the truths of the Faith. The Albigensians jeered, insulted, and pelted him with stones as he traveled along their roads. He prayed to God in churches at night and hardly ever slept. His contemporaries described him as a "strong athlete," capable of great physical endurance. He was always good to talk to when you were in trouble, always affectionate, and quickly made you feel at home.

It was during this time that the tradition of the Rosary comes to us. The form in which it has come down to us will best be stated in the words of P. Corneluis de Snecka, a disciple of the French Dominican Alan de la Roche:

We read that at the time when he was preaching to the Albigenses, St. Dominic at first obtained but scanty success: and that one day, complaining of this in pious prayer to our Blessed Lady, she deigned to reply to him, saying:'Wonder not that you have obtained so little fruit by your labors, you have spent them on barren soil, not yet watered with the dew of Divine grace. When God willed to renew the face of the earth, He began by sending down on it the fertilizing rain of the Angelic Salutation. Therefore preach my Psalter composed of 150 Angelic Salutations and 15 Our Fathers, and you will obtain an abundant harvest.'

The place of the revelation was the church of Prouille and the time was 1208. The claim of place and time are most strongly supported by the tradition of the Dominican Order. Pope Leo XIII affirmed over and over the Dominican origin of the Rosary and in a letter to the Bishop of Carcassone (1889), he accepts the tradition of Prouille as the place where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St. Dominic, revealing this devotion. The tradition that Mary first revealed the Rosary devotion to St. Dominic is supported by 13 popes.

St. Dominic went into the villages of the heretics, gathered the people, and preached to them the mysteries of salvation - the Incarnation, the Redemption, Eternal Life. As the Holy Virgin had taught him to do, he distinguished the different kinds of mysteries and after each short instruction he had ten Hail Marys recited. St. Dominic found great success in this new devotion, bringing about the conversion of the Albigensians. The late Dominican Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, who was a teacher of Pope John Paul II when he was a student at the Angelicum in Rome, stated: "Our Blessed Lady made known to St. Dominic a kind of preaching till then unknown; which she said would be one of the most powerful weapons against future errors and in future difficulties."

The battle of Muret was fought in 1213 between the Catholic forces, led by Simon de Montfort and the Albigenses forces, led by Raymond of Toulouse. The Catholic forces were in the habit of praying the Rosary, at the suggestion of St. Dominic. The Catholic force won the battle of Muret, looked upon the victory as miraculous, and counted it as the fruit of prayer. The English Dominican historian, Nicholas Trivet wrote, "St. Dominic warred by prayer, De Montfort by arms. The first chapel in honor of the Rosary was built, out of gratitude, by Simon de Montfort in the town of Muret."

The Confraternity of the Rosary was first started by St. Dominic in Palencia in 1218. It's members pray the 15 decades of the Rosary during the coarse of each week. Mary has confirmed the value of the Confraternity in her well-known Rosary promises: "I have obtained from my Son that all the members of the Confraternity have in life and in death all the Blessed as their associates." Pope Clement VIII declared that St. Dominic established the Confraternity of the Rosary in the Church of St. Sixtus in Rome. Pope Alexander VI in 1495, addressed St. Dominic as "the renowned preacher long ago of the Confraternity of the Rosary, and through his merits, the whole world was preserved from universal ruin." The Confraternity retained its first fervor for 100 years after it was instituted by St. Dominic. After this, it was forgotten. Divine Providence assigned the restoration of it to the eminent French Dominican theologian and preacher, Alan de la Roche. During the 15th century, this son of St. Dominic restored the Rosary to its former vitality.

On October 7, 1571, members of the Confraternity of the Rosary in Rome, processed praying the Rosary for a blessing on the Christian fleet fighting the Turks at Lepanto. Pope St. Pius V, a Dominican, joined them, and God revealed to him that Mary had at that hour obtained a glorious victory for the Christian fleet. This great victory saved Europe from the Mohammedan peril.

Pope Pius XI stated that the Rosary of Mary is, as it were, the principle and foundation on which the very Order of St. Dominic rests for making perfect the life of its members and obtaining the salvation of others. The Catholic Church looks to the Dominicans as official promoters of both the Rosary and the Rosary Confraternity. If you would like to enroll in the Confraternity of the Rosary, send your full name and address to:
   Rosary Center-Dominican Fathers   P0 Box 3617   Portland OR 97208 or visit: The Rosary Center Online
Robert Feeney, a lay Dominican, is author of "The Rosary: The Little Summa."


ST. DOMINIC, A TRUE PREACHER OF THE GOSPEL
VATICAN CITY, 3 FEB 2010 VIS
In today's general audience, held in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall, the Pope spoke about the life and work of St. Dominic de Guzman, founder of the Order of Preachers, or Dominican Order.
  St. Dominic was born in Caleruega, near the Spanish city of Burgos, in the year 1170. While still a student he "distinguished himself for his interest in the study of Sacred Scriptures and his love for the poor". Having been ordained a priest he was elected as canon of the cathedral of Osma, however "he did not consider this as a personal privilege, nor as the first step in a brilliant ecclesiastical career; rather, as a service to be rendered with dedication and humility. Do not career and power represent a temptation to which even those who have roles of leadership and government in the Church are not immune?" the Pope asked.
  He then explained how the bishop of Osma "soon noted Dominic's spiritual qualities and sought his collaboration. Together they travelled to northern Europe on diplomatic missions...On his journeys Dominic became aware of...the existence of peoples still un-evangelised,...and of the religious divides that weakened Christian life in the south of France, where the activity of certain heretical groups created disturbance and distanced people from the truth of the faith".

  Pope Honorius III asked Dominic "to dedicate himself to preaching to the Albigensians" and he "enthusiastically accepted this mission, which he undertook through the example of his own life of poverty and austerity, through preaching the Gospel and through public discussions".
"Christ", the Pope went on, "is the most precious treasure that men and women of all times and places have the right to know and love! It is consoling to see how also in today's Church there are many people (pastors and lay faithful, members of ancient religious orders and of new ecclesial movements) who joyfully give their lives for the supreme ideal of announcing and bearing witness to the Gospel".
  As more and more companions joined him, Dominic established his first house in the French city of Toulouse, from which the Order of Preachers came into being. "He adopted the ancient Rule of St. Augustine, adapting it to the requirements of an itinerant apostolic life in which he and his confreres would move from one place to another preaching, but always returning to their convents, places of study, prayer and community life".
St. Dominic, the Holy Father continued, "was keen that his followers should have a solid theological formation, and did not hesitate to send them to the universities of the time". There they dedicated themselves to the study of theology, "founded on Holy Scripture but respectful of the questions raised by reason".
  The Pope encouraged everyone, "pastors and lay people, to cultivate this 'cultural dimension' of the faith, that the beauty of Christian truth may be better understood and the faith truly nourished, strengthened and defended. In this Year for Priests, I invite seminarians and priests to respect the spiritual value of study. The quality of priestly ministry also depends on the generosity with which we apply ourselves to studying revealed truths".
Dominic died in Bologna in 1221 and was canonised in 1234. "With his sanctity, he shows us two indispensable means for making apostolic activity more incisive", the Pope concluded; "firstly, Marian devotion", especially the praying of the Rosary "which his spiritual children had the great merit of popularising", and secondly, "the value of prayers of intercession for the success of apostolic work".  AG/ST. DOMINIC/...  VIS 100203 (610)

Born in old Castile, Spain, he was trained for the priesthood by a priest-uncle, studied the arts and theology, and became a canon of the cathedral at Osma, where there was an attempt to revive the apostolic common life of the Acts of the Apostles.

On a journey through France with his bishop, he came face to face with the then virulent Albigensian heresy at Languedoc. The Albigensians (Cathari, “the pure”) held to two principles—one good, one evil—in the world. All matter is evil—hence they denied the Incarnation and sacraments. On the same principle they abstained from procreation and took a minimum of food and drink. The inner circle led what must he called a heroic life of purity and asceticism not shared by ordinary followers.

Dominic sensed the need for the Church to combat this heresy, and was commissioned to be part of the preaching crusade against it. He saw immediately why the preaching was not succeeding: the ordinary people admired and followed the ascetical heroes of the Albigenses. Understandably, they were not impressed by the Catholic preachers who traveled with horse and retinues, stayed at the best inns and had servants. Dominic therefore, with three Cistercians, began itinerant preaching according to the gospel ideal. He continued this work for 10 years, being successful with the ordinary people but not with the leaders.

His fellow preachers gradually became a community, and in 1215 he founded a religious house at Toulouse, the beginning of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans).

His ideal, and that of his Order, was to link organically a life with God, study and prayer in all forms, with a ministry of salvation to people by the word of God. His ideal: contemplata tradere: “to pass on the fruits of contemplation” or “to speak only of God or with God. “
Comment: The Dominican ideal, like that of all religious communities, is for the imitation, not merely the admiration, of the rest of the Church. The effective combining of contemplation and activity is the vocation of truck driver Smith as well as theologian Aquinas. Acquired contemplation is the tranquil abiding in the presence of God, and is an integral part of any full human life. It must be the wellspring of all Christian activity.

Born 1170 Son of Felix Guzman and Bl. Joan of Aza, he was born at Calaruega, Spain, studied at the Univ. at Palencia, was probably ordained there while pursuing his studies and was appointed canon at Osma in 1199. There he became prior superior of the chapter, which was noted for its strict adherence to the rule of St. Benedict.
   In 1203 he accompanied Bishop Diego de Avezedo of Osma to Languedoc where Dominic preached against the Albigensians (heresy) and helped reform the Cistercians. Dominic founded an institute for women at Prouille in Albigensian territory in 1206 and attached several preaching friars to it. When papal legate Peter of Castelnan was murdered by the Albigensians in 1208, Pope Innocent III launched a crusade against them headed by Count Simon IV of Montfort which was to continue for the next seven years. Dominic followed the army and preached to the heretics but with no great success. In 1214 Simon gave him a castle at Casseneuil and Dominic with six followers founded an order devoted to the conversion of the Albigensians; the order was canonically approved by the bishop of Toulouse the following year. He failed to gain approval for his order of preachers at the fourth General Council of the Lateran in 1215 but received Pope Honorius III's approval in the following year, and the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans) was founded.
Dominic spent the last years of this life organizing the order, traveling all over Italy, Spain and France preaching and attracting new members and establishing new houses. The new order was phenomenally successful in conversion work as it applied Dominic's concept of harmonizing the intellectual life with popular needs. He convoked the first general council of the order at Bologna in 1220 and died there the following year on August 6, after being forced by illness to return from a preaching tour in Hungary. He was canonized in 1234 and is the patron saint of astronomers.

St. Dominic
Founder of the Order of Preachers, commonly known as the Dominican Order; born at Calaroga, in Old Castile, c. 1170; died 6 August, 1221. His parents, Felix Guzman and Joanna of Aza, undoubtedly belonged to the nobility of Spain, though probably neither was connected with the reigning house of Castile, as some of the saint's biographers assert. Of Felix Guzman, personally, little is known, except that he was in every sense the worthy head of a family of saints. To nobility of blood Joanna of Aza added a nobility of soul which so enshrined her in the popular veneration that in 1828 she was solemnly beatified by Leo XII. The example of such parents was not without its effect upon their children. Not only Saint Dominic but also his brothers, Antonio and Manes, were distinguished for their extraordinary sanctity. Antonio, the eldest, became a secular priest and, having distributed his patrimony to the poor, entered a hospital where he spent his life ministering to the sick. Manes, following in the footsteps of Dominic, became a Friar Preacher, and was beatified by Gregory XVI.

The birth and infancy of the saint were attended by many marvels forecasting his heroic sanctity and great achievements in the cause of religion. From his seventh to his fourteenth year he pursued his elementary studies tinder the tutelage of his maternal uncle, the archpriest of Gumiel d'lzan, not far distant from Calaroga. In 1184 Saint Dominic entered the University of Palencia. Here he remained for ten years prosecuting his studies with such ardour and success that throughout the ephemeral existence of that institution he was held up to the admiration of its scholars as all that a student should be. Amid the frivolities and dissipations of a university city, the life of the future saint was characterized by seriousness of purpose and an austerity of manner which singled him out as one from whom great things might be expected in the future. But more than once he proved that under this austere exterior he carried a heart as tender as a woman's. On one occasion he sold his books, annotated with his own hand, to relieve the starving poor of Palencia. His biographer and contemporary, Bartholomew of Trent, states that twice he tried to sell himself into slavery to obtain money for the liberation of those who were held in captivity by the Moors. These facts are worthy of mention in view of the cynical and saturnine character which some non-Catholic writers have endeavoured to foist upon one of the most charitable of men. Concerning the date of his ordination his biographers are silent; nor is there anything from which that date can be inferred with any degree of certainty. According to the deposition of Brother Stephen, Prior Provincial of Lombardy, given in the process of canonization, Dominic was still a student at Palencia when Don Martin de Bazan, the Bishop of Osma, called him to membership in the cathedral chapter for the purpose of assisting in its reform. The bishop realized the importance to his plan of reform of having constantly before his canons the example of one of Dominic's eminent holiness. Nor was he disappointed in the result. In recognition of the part he had taken in converting its members into canons regular, Dominic was appointed sub-prior of the reformed chapter. On the accession of Don Diego d'Azevedo to the Bishopric of Osma in 1201, Dominic became superior of the chapter with the title of prior. As a canon of Osma, he spent nine years of his life hidden in God and rapt in contemplation, scarcely passing beyond the confines of the chapter house.

In 1203 Alfonso IX, King of Castile, deputed the Bishop of Osma to demand from the Lord of the Marches, presumably a Danish prince, the hand of his daughter on behalf of the king's son, Prince Ferdinand. For his companion on this embassy Don Diego chose Saint Dominic. Passing through Toulouse in the pursuit of their mission, they beheld with amazement and sorrow the work of spiritual ruin wrought by the Albigensian heresy. It was in the contemplation of this scene that Dominic first conceived the idea of founding an order for the purpose of combating heresy and spreading the light of the Gospel by preaching to the ends of the then known world. Their mission having ended successfully, Diego and Dominic were dispatched on a second embassy, accompanied by a splendid retinue, to escort the betrothed princess to Castile. This mission, however, was brought to a sudden close by the death of the young woman in question. The two ecclesiastics were now free to go where they would, and they set out for Rome, arriving there towards the end of 1204. The purpose of this was to enable Diego to resign his bishopric that he might devote himself to the conversion of unbelievers in distant lands. Innocent III, however, refused to approve this project, and instead sent the bishop and his companion to Languedoc to join forces with the Cistercians, to whom he had entrusted the crusade against the Albigenses. The scene that confronted them on their arrival in Languedoc was by no means an encouraging one. The Cistercians, on account of their worldly manner of living, had made little or no headway against the Albigenses. They had entered upon their work with considerable pomp, attended by a brilliant retinue, and well provided with the comforts of life. To this display of worldliness the leaders of the heretics opposed a rigid asceticism which commanded the respect and admiration of their followers. Diego and Dominic quickly saw that the failure of the Cistercian apostolate was due to the monks' indulgent habits, and finally prevailed upon them to adopt a more austere manner of life. The result was at once apparent in a greatly increased number of converts. Theological disputations played a prominent part in the propaganda of the heretics. Dominic and his companion, therefore, lost no time in engaging their opponents in this kind of theological exposition. Whenever the opportunity offered, they accepted the gage of battle. The thorough training that the saint had received at Palencia now proved of inestimable value to him in his encounters with the heretics. Unable to refute his arguments or counteract the influence of his preaching, they visited their hatred upon him by means of repeated insults and threats of physical violence. With Prouille for his head-quarters, he laboured by turns in Fanjeaux, Montpellier, Servian, Béziers, and Carcassonne. Early in his apostolate around Prouille the saint realized the necessity of an institution that would protect the women of that country from the influence of the heretics. Many of them had already embraced Albigensianism and were its most active propagandists. These women erected convents, to which the children of the Catholic nobility were often sent-for want of something better-to receive an education, and, in effect, if not on purpose, to be tainted with the spirit of heresy. It was needful, too, that women converted from heresy should be safeguarded against the evil influence of their own homes. To supply these deficiencies, Saint Dominic, with the permission of Foulques, Bishop of Toulouse, established a convent at Prouille in 1206. To this community, and afterwards to that of Saint Sixtus, at Rome, he gave the rule and constitutions which have ever since guided the nuns of the Second Order of Saint Dominic.

The year 1208 opens a new epoch in the eventful life of the founder. On 15 January of that year Pierre de Castelnau, one of the Cistercian legates, was assassinated. This abominable crime precipitated the crusade under Simon de Montfort, which led to the temporary subjugation of the heretics. Saint Dominic participated in the stirring scenes that followed, but always on the side of mercy, wielding the arms of the spirit while others wrought death and desolation with the sword. Some historians assert that during the sack of Béziers, Dominic appeared in the streets of that city, cross in hand, interceding for the lives of the women and children, the aged and the infirm. This testimony, however, is based upon documents which Touron regards as certainly apocryphal. The testimony of the most reliable historians tends to prove that the saint was neither in the city nor in its vicinity when Béziers was sacked by the crusaders. We find him generally during this period following the Catholic army, reviving religion and reconciling heretics in the cities that had capitulated to, or had been taken by, the victorious de Montfort. It was probably 1 September, 1209, that Saint Dominic first came in contact with Simon de Montfort and formed with him that intimate friendship which was to last till the death of the brave crusader under the walls of Toulouse (25 June, 1218). We find him by the side of de Montfort at the siege of Lavaur in 1211, and again in 1212, at the capture of La Penne d'Ajen. In the latter part of 1212 he was at Pamiers labouring, at the invitation of de Montfort, for the restoration of religion and morality. Lastly, just before the battle of Muret, 12 September, 1213, the saint is again found in the council that preceded the battle. During the progress of the conflict, he knelt before the altar in the church of Saint-Jacques, praying for the triumph of the Catholic arms. So remarkable was the victory of the crusaders at Muret that Simon de Montfort regarded it as altogether miraculous, and piously attributed it to the prayers of Saint Dominic. In gratitude to God for this decisive victory, the crusader erected a chapel in the church of Saint-Jacques, which he dedicated, it is said, to Our Lady of the Rosary. It would appear, therefore, that the devotion of the Rosary, which tradition says was revealed to Saint Dominic, had come into general use about this time. To this period, too, has been ascribed the foundation of the Inquisition by Saint Dominic, and his appointment as the first Inquisitor. As both these much controverted questions will receive special treatment elsewhere in this work, it will suffice for our present purpose to note that the Inquisition was in operation in 1198, or seven years before the saint took part in the apostolate in Languedoc, and while he was still an obscure canon regular at Osma. If he was for a certain time identified with the operations of the Inquisition, it was only in the capacity of a theologian passing upon the orthodoxy of the accused. Whatever influence he may have had with the judges of that much maligned institution was always employed on the side of mercy and forbearance, as witness the classic case of Ponce Roger.

In the meantime, the saint's increasing reputation for heroic sanctity, apostolic zeal, and profound learning caused him to be much sought after as a candidate for various bishoprics. Three distinct efforts were made to raise him to the episcopate. In July, 1212, the chapter of Béziers chose him for their bishop. Again, the canons of Saint-Lizier wished him to succeed Garcias de l'Orte as Bishop of Comminges. Lastly, in 1215 an effort was made by Garcias de l'Orte himself, who had been transferred from Comminges to Auch, to make him Bishop of Navarre. But Saint Dominic absolutely refused all episcopal honours, saying that he would rather take flight in the night, with nothing but his staff, than accept the episcopate. From Muret Dominic returned to Carcassonne, where he resumed his preaching with unqualified success. It was not until 1214 that he returned to Toulouse. In the meantime the influence of his preaching and the eminent holiness of his life had drawn around him a little band of devoted disciples eager to follow wherever he might lead. Saint Dominic had never for a moment forgotten his purpose, formed eleven years before, of founding a religious order to combat heresy and propagate religious truth. The time now seemed opportune for the realization of his plan. With the approval of Bishop Foulques of Toulouse, he began the organization of his little band of followers. That Dominic and his companions might possess a fixed source of revenue Foulques made him chaplain of Fanjeaux and in July, 1215, canonically established the community as a religious congregation of his diocese, whose mission was the propagation of true doctrine and good morals, and the extirpation of heresy. During this same year Pierre Seilan, a wealthy citizen of Toulouse, who had placed himself under the direction of Saint Dominic, put at their disposal his own commodious dwelling. In this way the first convent of the Order of Preachers was founded on 25 April, 1215. But they dwelt here only a year when Foulques established them in the church of Saints Romanus. Though the little community had proved amply the need of its mission and the efficiency of its service to the Church, it was far from satisfying the full purpose of its founder. It was at best but a diocesan congregation, and Saint Dominic had dreamed of a world-order that would carry its apostolate to the ends of the earth. But, unknown to the saint, events were shaping themselves for the realization of his hopes. In November, 1215, an ecumenical council was to meet at Rome "to deliberate on the improvement of morals, the extinction of heresy, and the strengthening of the faith". This was identically the mission Saint Dominic had determined on for his order. With the Bishop of Toulouse, he was present at the deliberations of this council. From the very first session it seemed that events conspired to bring his plans to a successful issue. The council bitterly arraigned the bishops for their neglect of preaching. In canon X they were directed to delegate capable men to preach the word of God to the people. Under these circumstances, it would reasonably appear that Dominic's request for confirmation of an order designed to carry out the mandates of the council would be joyfully granted. But while the council was anxious that these reforms should be put into effect as speedily as possible, it was at the same time opposed to the institution of any new religious orders, and had legislated to that effect in no uncertain terms. Moreover, preaching had always been looked upon as primarily a function of the episcopate. To bestow this office on an unknown and untried body of simple priests seemed too original and too bold in its conception to appeal to the conservative prelates who influenced the deliberations of the council. When, therefore, his petition for the approbation of his infant institute was refused, it could not have been wholly unexpected by Saint Dominic.

Returning to Languedoc at the close of the council in December, 1215, the founder gathered about him his little band of followers and informed them of the wish of the council that there should be no new rules for religious orders. Thereupon they adopted the ancient rule of Saint Augustine, which, on account of its generality, would easily lend itself to any form they might wish to give it. This done, Saint Dominic again appeared before the pope in the month of August, 1216, and again solicited the confirmation of his order. This time he was received more favourably, and on 22 December, 1216, the Bull of confirmation was issued.

Saint Dominic spent the following Lent preaching in various churches in Rome, and before the pope and the papal court. It was at this time that he received the office and title of Master of the Sacred Palace, or Pope's Theologian, as it is more commonly called. This office has been held uninterruptedly by members of the order from the founder's time to the present day. On 15 August, 1217, he gathered the brethren about him at Prouille to deliberate on the affairs of the order. He had determined upon the heroic plan of dispersing his little band of seventeen unformed followers over all Europe. The result proved the wisdom of an act which, to the eye of human prudence at least, seemed little short of suicidal. To facilitate the spread of the order, Honorius III, on 11 Feb., 1218, addressed a Bull to all archbishops, bishops, abbots, and priors, requesting their favour on behalf of the Order of Preachers. By another Bull, dated 3 Dec., 1218, Honorius III bestowed upon the order the church of Saint Sixtus in Rome. Here, amid the tombs of the Appian Way, was founded the first monastery of the order in Rome. Shortly after taking possession of Saint Sixtus, at the invitation of Honorius, Saint Dominic began the somewhat difficult task of restoring the pristine observance of religious discipline among the various Roman communities of women. In a comparatively short time the work was accomplished, to the great satisfaction of the pope. His own career at the University of Palencia, and the practical use to which he had put it in his encounters with the Albigenses, as well as his keen appreciation of the needs of the time, convinced the saint that to ensure the highest efficiency of the work of the apostolate, his followers should be afforded the best educational advantages obtainable. It was for this reason that on the dispersal of the brethren at Prouille he dispatched Matthew of France and two companions to Paris. A foundation was made in the vicinity of the university, and the friars took possession in October, 1217. Matthew of France was appointed superior, and Michael de Fabra was placed in charge of the studies with the title of Lecturer. On 6 August of the following year, Jean de Barastre, dean of Saint-Quentin and professor of theology, bestowed on the community the hospice of Saint-Jaques, which he had built for his own use. Having effected a foundation at the University of Paris, Saint Dominic next determined upon a settlement at the University of Bologna. Bertrand of Garrigua, who had been summoned from Paris, and John of Navarre, set out from Rome, with letters from Pope Honorius, to make the desired foundation. On their arrival at Bologna, the church of Santa Maria della Mascarella was placed at their disposal. So rapidly did the Roman community of Saint Sixtus grow that the need of more commodious quarters soon became urgent. Honorius, who seemed to delight in supplying every need of the order and furthering its interests to the utmost of his power, met the emergency by bestowing on Saint Dominic the basilica of Santa Sabina.

Towards the end of 1218, having appointed Reginald of Orléans his vicar in Italy, the saint, accompanied by several of his brethren, set out for Spain. Bologna, Prouille, Toulouse, and Fanjeaux were visited on the way. From Prouille two of the brethren were sent to establish a convent at Lyons. Segovia was reached just before Christmas. In February of the following year he founded the first monastery of the order in Spain. Turning southward, he established a convent for women at Madrid, similar to the one at Prouille. It is quite probable that on this journey he personally presided over the erection of a convent in connexion with his alma mater, the University of Palencia. At the invitation of the Bishop of Barcelona, a house of the order was established in that city. Again bending his steps towards Rome he recrossed the Pyrenees and visited the foundations at Toulouse and Paris. During his stay in the latter place he caused houses to be erected at Limoges, Metz, Reims, Poitiers, and Orléans, which in a short time became centres of Dominican activity. From Paris he directed his course towards Italy, arriving in Bologna in July, 1219. Here he devoted several months to the religious formation of the brethren he found awaiting him, and then, as at Prouille, dispersed them over Italy. Among the foundations made at this time were those at Bergamo, Asti, Verona, Florence, Brescia, and Faenza. From Bologna he went to Viterbo. His arrival at the papal court was the signal for the showering of new favours on the order. Notable among these marks of esteem were many complimentary letters addressed by Honorius to all those who had assisted the Fathers in their vinous foundations. In March of this same year Honorius, through his representatives, bestowed upon the order the church of San Eustorgio in Milan. At the same time a foundation at Viterbo was authorized. On his return to Rome, towards the end of 1219, Dominic sent out letters to all the convents announcing the first general chapter of the order, to be held at Bologna on the feast of the following Pentecost. Shortly before, Honorius III, by a special Brief, had conferred upon the founder the title of Master General, which till then he had held only by tacit consent. At the very first session of the chapter in the following spring the saint startled his brethren by offering his resignation as master general. It is needless to say the resignation was not accepted and the founder remained at the head of the institute till the end of his life.

Soon after the close of the chapter of Bologna, Honorius III addressed letters to the abbeys and priories of San Vittorio, Sillia, Mansu, Floria, Vallombrosa, and Aquila, ordering that several of their religious be deputed to begin, under the leadership of Saint Dominic, a preaching crusade in Lombardy, where heresy had developed alarming proportions. For some reason or other the plans of the pope were never realized. The promised support failing, Dominic, with a little band of his own brethren, threw himself into the field, and, as the event proved, spent himself in an effort to bring back the heretics to their allegiance to the Church. It is said that 100,000 unbelievers were converted by the preaching and the miracles of the saint. According to Lacordaire and others, it was during his preaching in Lombardy that the saint instituted the Militia of Jesus Christ, or the third order, as it is commonly called, consisting of men and women living in the world, to protect the rights and property of the Church. Towards the end of 1221 Saint Dominic returned to Rome for the sixth and last time. Here he received many new and valuable concessions for the order. In January, February, and March of 1221 three consecutive Bulls were issued commending the order to all the prelates of the Church. The thirtieth of May, 1221, found him again at Bologna presiding over the second general chapter of the order. At the close of the chapter he set out for Venice to visit Cardinal Ugolino, to whom he was especially indebted for many substantial acts of kindness. He had scarcely returned to Bologna when a fatal illness attacked him. He died after three weeks of sickness, the many trials of which he bore with heroic patience. In a Bull dated at Spoleto, 13 July, 1234, Gregory IX made his cult obligatory throughout the Church.

The life of St. Dominic was one of tireless effort in the, service of god. While he journeyed from place to place he prayed and preached almost uninterruptedly. His penances were of such a nature as to cause the brethren, who accidentally discovered them, to fear the effect upon his life. While his charity was boundless he never permitted it to interfere with the stern sense of duty that guided every action of his life. If he abominated heresy and laboured untiringly for its extirpation it was because he loved truth and loved the souls of those among whom he laboured. He never failed to distinguish between sin and the sinner. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, if this athlete of Christ, who had conquered himself before attempting the reformation of others, was more than once chosen to show forth the power of God. The failure of the fire at Fanjeaux to consume the dissertation he had employed against the heretics, and which was thrice thrown into the flames; the raising to life of Napoleone Orsini; the appearance of the annals in the refectory of Saint Sixtus in response to his prayers, are but a few of the supernatural happenings by which God was pleased to attest the eminent holiness of His servant. We are not surprised, therefore, that, after signing the Bull of canonization on 13 July, 1234, Gregory IX declared that he no more doubted the saintliness of Saint Dominic than he did that of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.
1314 Tolga Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos appeared on August 8, to the Rostov hierarch Prochorus (Tryphon in schema); the fiery column, he beheld on it the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, suspended in the air; they cleared the forest at that place, and put down the foundations of a church - Entrance into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos
Going about his diocese, the saint visited the environs of White Lake and from there traveled along the banks of the Rivers Sheksna and Volga, to Yaroslavl. Having stopped with the approach of night 7 versts distant from Yaroslavl, at the right bank of the Volga River there flows opposite into it the River Tolga.

At midnight, when everyone was asleep, the saint awoke and saw a bright light illuminating the area. The light proceeded from a fiery column on the other bank of the river, to which there stretched a bridge. Taking up his staff, the saint went across to the other bank, and having approached the fiery column, he beheld on it the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, suspended in the air. Astonished at the miracle, the saint prayed for a long time, and when he went back, he forgot to take his staff.

The next day, after serving Matins, when St Prochorus was preparing to continue his journey by boat, they began to search for his staff, but they were not able to find it anywhere. The saint then remembered that he had forgotten his staff on the other side of the river, where he had gone across on the miraculous bridge. He then revealed what had occurred, and sent servants across on a boat to the other shore. They came back and reported that in the forest they had seen an icon of the Mother of God suspended in the branches of a tree, next to his bishop's staff.

The saint quickly crossed over with all his retinue to the opposite shore, and he recognized the icon that had appeared to him. Then after fervent prayer before the icon, they cleared the forest at that place, and put down the foundations of a church. When the people of Yaroslavl learned of this, they came out to the indicated spot. By midday the church was already built, and in the evening the saint consecrated it in honor of the Entrance into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos, and having installed the icon there he established a Feast on the day of its appearance. St Prochorus later built the Tolga monastery near this church. St Prochorus died on September 7, 1328.
The Tolga Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos is also commemorated on July 18.
1310 -1346? Saint Gregory of Sinai; tonsured a monk on the island of Cyprus; fulfilled his obediences of cook and baker, then as copyist, surpassing all in reading and knowledge of Scriptural and patristic books; strictness of his life fasting, vigil, psalmody, standing at prayer; lived on Crete, afterwards visited Mt. Athos with its monasteries and ascetics acquiring experience of centuries of monastic life from the ancient monasteries; after this settle himself in a solitary place for "hesychia" [stillness doing the Jesus Prayer], a cell for silence and the unhindered pursuit of mental prayer, combined with hard work
Born around the year 1268 in the seacoast village of Clazomenia near the city of Smyrna (Asia Minor), of rich parents. In about the year 1290, he was taken into captivity by the Hagarenes and sent off to Laodicea.After gaining his freedom, the saint arrived on the island of Cyprus, where he was tonsured a monk. He set off afterwards to Mount Sinai and there assumed the great schema. Having fulfilled his obediences of cook and baker, and then as copyist, surpassing all in reading and knowledge of Scriptural and patristic books.
The strictness of his life (fasting, vigil, psalmody, standing at prayer) brought some to astonishment and others to envy. Departing the monastery, the monk visited Jerusalem. For some time he lived on the island of Crete, and afterwards he visited Mt. Athos with its monasteries and ascetics. In this way, he acquired the experience of many centuries of the monastic life from the ancient monasteries. Only after this did St Gregory the Sinaite settle himself in a solitary place for "hesychia" [stillness doing the Jesus Prayer], a cell for silence and the unhindered pursuit of mental prayer, combined with hard work.
The precious legacy of St Gregory is in his teaching about the inner life, 15 texts "On Stillness," and 137 texts "On Commandments and Doctrines," where he says that "trying to comprehend the commandments through study and reading without fulfilling them, is like mistaking a shadow of something for its reality" ("On Commandments and Doctrines," section 22).
He is renowned also as a remarkable hymnographer ("It is Truly Meet" is ascribed to him), and a canon to the Most Holy Trinity read at Sunday Vigil, and a canon to the Holy Cross. In a book of canons (from the year 1407) of St Cyril of White Lake (June 9) is found the "Canon of Supplication to the Lord Jesus Christ, the work of Gregory the Sinaite."
Because of his concern for the spreading of monasticism, the saint founded several cells on Athos, and also four monasteries in Thrace. St Gregory the Sinaite died in the year 1310 (some historians suggest the year 1346) at his so-called "Concealed" ("Parariseia") monastery, founded on Mt. Paroria on the west coast of the Black Sea for the strict followers of his life.
St Gregory is also commemorated on November 27 (his repose), February 11, and April 6.

Gregor vom Sinai  Orthodoxe Kirche: 6. April und 8. August
Gregor wurde 1268 in der Nähe von Smyrna (Türkei) geboren. Er war zunächst Mönch in Zypern und pilgerte dann zum Sinai, wo er in das Kloster eintrat. Er führte eine streng asketische Lebensweise und erwarb großes Wissen in der Bibel und den Kirchenvätern. Gregor pilgerte dann über Jerusalem zum Athos, um die Lebensweisen der Klöster kennenzulernen. Auf dem Athos ließ er sich dann als Hesychast (Einsiedler, der das immerwährende Gebet betet) nieder. Gregor schrieb zahlreiche Hymnen und ein Buch über das hesychastische Leben. Er gründete auf dem Athos und in Thrakien mehrere Klöster. Gregor starb (am 27.11.) 1310 (oder 1346) in seinem Kloster Paroria (das verborgene Kloster) in Mazedonien.
1566 Sts Zosimas and Sabbatius of Solovki  The Transfer of the Relics of took place on August 8
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On the third day of the altar-feast of the Solovki monastery of the Transfiguration of the Lord.

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The relics of the saints were transferred into a chapel of the Transfiguration cathedral, built in their honor.

Beekeepers pray to these saints for an increase of bees.

The Life of St Zosimas is found under April 17; the Life of St Sabbatius on September 27
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1570 Bl. John Felton  promoted Pope; Martyr of England who promoted the papacy in London. Born in Bermondsey, London, to a Norfolk line, John nailed a copy of the Bull of Pope St. Pius V excommunicating Queen Elizabeth I to the doors of the bishop of London’s residence.
Arrested and imprisoned, he was racked three times before being martyred in St. Paul’s churchyard. Pope Leo XIII beatified him in 1886.

Bd  John Felton, Martyr
On February 25, 1569-70, Pope St Pius V published a bull, "Regnans in excelis ", directed against Queen Elizabeth, who was at the time ostensibly a Catholic.  By it she was declared excommunicate, deprived of the kingdom which she ruled and all her subjects discharged from their allegiance, because she claimed headship of the Church in England, sheltered heretics, oppressed Catholics, and coerced her subjects into heresy and repudiation of the Holy See, contrary to her coronation oath. On the following May 25 citizens of London woke up to find a copy of this bull of excommunication of their sovereign fastened to the door of the bishop of London's house, adjoining St Paul's cathedral; it had been put there late on the previous night by Mr John Felton, a gentleman of a Norfolk family who lived in Southwark.
    It was not long before it was discovered who had done the deed. Searchers in the chambers of a well-known Catholic lawyer in Lincoln's Inn found a copy of the bull, arrested the lawyer, and racked him, whereupon he confessed that he had it from Felton.  He was at once seized at Bermondsey, but, although he at once admitted what he had done, he was not brought to trial for three months; he was kept in prison, Newgate and the Tower, and three times racked, in the hope that he would confess to some political intrigue with the Spaniards. But there had been none on his part: he published the bull as a legitimate pontifical censure for the queen's religious offences.
When brought to trial at the Guildhall on August 4 he pleaded guilty and openly declared the supremacy of the Holy See. Four days later he was dragged to St Paul's churchyard; the scaffold was set up opposite the door on which the bull had been posted, and at the sight of the barbarous paraphernalia of execution the martyr was seized with a violent spasm of fear. By an effort of will more violent he overcame it: he pointed at the bishop's door, saying, "the supreme pontiff's letters against the pretended queen were by me exhibited there.  Now I am ready to die for the Catholic faith"; to that queen, as a token of good-will, he sent a valuable ring off his finger; then he knelt and said the Miserere, commended his soul to God, and was cast off. The executioner would in pity have let him hang, but the sheriff ordered that he be cut down alive, and as his heart was torn out, Mrs Salisbury, his daughter, heard him utter the name of Jesus twice.

The wife of Bd John Felton had been a personal friend of the queen, who after her husband's death licensed her to have a priest as chaplain in her house: there are few enough acts of this sort to Elizabeth's credit to make this one worth recording, and the circumstance doubtless had its effect in determining the career of the son, Bd Thomas Felton, then a babe of two, who eighteen years later followed his father to martyrdom.

John was equivalently beatified in the decree of 1886.  There is no need here to discuss the question of the bull "Regnans in excelsis"; Bd John suffered for publishing a canonical act of the Holy See against a supporter of heresy and a persecutor, who proceeded against him for supporting papal ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Whether that act was opportune or justifiable under the circumstances is beside the point.  Popes, even when they are saints, as Pius V was, are not immune from errors of judgement, and it is now the general opinion of Catholics that "Regnans in excelsis" was a belated attempt to exercise a deposing power already in fact a dead letter. For the rest, we have the words of another Pope Pius, to the Academy of the Catholic Religion in 1871 "Though certain popes have sometimes exercised this deposing power in extreme cases, they did so in accordance with the public law of the time and by the agreement of Christian nations, whose reverence for the pope as the supreme judge for Christ extended to his passing even civil judgement on princes and nations. But the present state of affairs is entirely different...No one now thinks any more of the right of deposing princes which the Holy See formerly exercised; and the Supreme Pontiff even less than anyone?"
A full account is given in B. Camm, LEM., vol. ii (1905), pp.1-13 cf. also the introduction, pp. xviii-xx; and see further J. H. Pollen in The Month, February 1902.
1638 St. Agathangelo Noury Arabic scholar Martyr and reformer, a Franciscan missionary, also called Agathangelus;  sent to Aleppo, Syria, where he became known as an Arabic scholar, publishing Catholic works in Arabic; sent to Cairo -- worked to bring the Coptic Christians into communion with Rome
He was born Francis at Vendome, France, and entered the Capuchin monastery in Le Mans. He was ordained a priest in 1625. Agathangelo was sent to Aleppo, Syria, where he became known as an Arabic scholar, publishing Catholic works in Arabic.
In 1633 he was sent to Cairo and was joined there by Father Cassian LopezNeto. Together they worked to bring the Coptic Christians into communion with Rome. Their efforts, including a Coptic Synod, went unrewarded because the Catholics of Cairo were known for their dissolute life styles. Agathangelo attempted to excommunicate the more notorious of these Europeans who held the Church up to ridicule. He and Father Cassian then went to Ethiopia to establish a mission there. In 1638, both were arrested in Dibarua, near Suakim, victims of a campaign launched by a Lutheran physician with connections to the Ethiopian court. King Gondar tried them and found them guilty of interfering with Ethiopian religious matters. The two were hanged by the cords of their Franciscan habits. They were beatified in 1905.

BB. Agathangelo and Cassian, Martyrs
The foundation and first direction of the Capuchin missions in the Levant in the seventeenth century was the work of Father Joseph of Paris (Joseph Leclerc du Tremblay), known on account of his influence with Richelieu and Louis XIII as  the Grey Cardinal ".    Early in 1629 five Capuchins landed at Alexandretta, among them Father Agathangelo of Vendome.
He had been born in that town in 1598, and at the age of twenty-one entered the Capuchin friary of Le Mans. He was ordained priest in 1625 and was a preacher in his own country until he was asked to go to Syria.  At Aleppo he ministered to the French and Italian traders and others while he was learning Arabic, and soon mastered that language sufficiently well to talk and preach;  he cultivated the society of Moslems and dissident Christians, winning the goodwill of such notables as the immam of the principal mosque and the superior of the Dervishes, and even explained Christianity to the Turks, in spite of the forbiddance by the Congregation de Propaganda Fide of any public preaching among Mohammedans. Fruit of this work was to induce an atmosphere of tolerance and interest:  Father Agathangelo was too good a missionary to look for any more tangible results before due time.
In 1630 a Capuchin mission was established at Cairo which did not prosper, and at the end of 1633 Father Agathangelo was sent there to take charge. He was joined by three new missionaries from Marseilles, one of them being Father Cassian of Nantes, a Frenchman by birth but Portuguese by parentage. He soon became the right-hand man of Father Agathangelo and entered whole-heartedly into his efforts to bring about a reunion with the Holy See of the Coptic or native Egyptian church. Agathangelo got into personal touch with the Coptic bishops; and their patriarch, Matthew, opened all the dissident churches to him; using powers granted by Rome, he celebrated Mass, preached, and catechized therein and reconciled a number of individual Copts. The friars determined to try and gain the influence of the monks also, from among whom the Coptic bishops were chosen, and in 1636 Father Agathangelo took with him Father Benedict of Dijon and made the long journey to the monastery of flair Antonios in the Lower Thebaid.
  They were well received by the monks and made a stay of four months, Father Agathangelo conducting doctrinal discussions and giving spiritual conferences; of the two books which he used for the last purpose one was the treatise On the Holy Will of God, written by the English Father Benedict of Canfield (William Fitch), the first Capuchin missionary in England in penal times. Two of the community were reconciled to the Church, and Father Agathangelo left them at the monastery in the hope that they would draw their brethren after them. This was his deliberate policy in Egypt, especially as there were no Catholic churches of the Coptic rite for reconciled dissidents to attend: priests were allowed to celebrate the Liturgy in, and lay-people to frequent, the dissident churches whose schism they had repudiated; thus they were not left without ministration and they might in time leaven the whole. Then Propaganda declared the practice illicit. Father Agathangelo asked opinion of father custodian of the Holy Land. "I think", replied the Recollect, that if those eminent prelates had known the conditions in this country they would never have come to such a decision; and that is the opinion of all my friars as well."  
   All the missionaries of Palestine and Egypt agreed, and Father Agathangelo wrote a long letter to the cardinal prefect giving theological, canonical and practical reasons for a withdrawal of the decree.  The matter was referred to the Holy Office; there is no record of its reply, but it was probably favourable, for the successors of Father Agathangelo at Cairo followed his policy without hindrance.
  Unhappily, and not for the only time in history, the great obstacle to Coptic reunion in a body was the Latin Catholics themselves. Some years before encouraging negotiations had taken place between the Coptic patriarch and the consuls of France and Venice, and the French friars did not hesitate to make the renown and power of his Most Christian Majesty a point d'appui of their undertaking: Or rather, they wished to. But the parties to the previous conversations were all dead, and the then consul of France was a man of such shocking life that his house deserved the name given to it by Father Agathangelo, a synagogue of Satan. Moreover, the general life of Europeans in Cairo was such that he had to write to his superiors that, "the public scandals made the Church so great an object of abomination among the Copts, Greeks and other Christians that it will be very difficult to overcome their aversion for the Latins". Even the appointment of a new and better consul in 1637 did not mend matters. When the synod of the Coptic patriarch met in the same year to discuss the possibility of reunion, one of his councillors denounced the proposal because of the scandalous lives of Catholics in Cairo. "The Roman Church is in this country a brothel", he exclaimed.   Father Agathangelo was present, but could not deny the truth of what was said; after gently urging that the sins of individuals, however terrible, could not alter the fact of the truth and holiness of the Church, he left the assembly and wrote a letter to the cardinal prefect of Propaganda. After pointing out that for three years he had asked in vain for authority publicly to excommunicate the worst offenders, he said he had done his best and could do no more: "I have appealed, I have reproved, I have threatened...Now my enthusiasm, whether reasonable or indiscreet, can no longer tolerate that those who have authority should not use it. They are dumb dogs, who are afraid to bite. Your Eminence will do whatever your good zeal for God's glory may suggest to you...For the love of our crucified Lord and His holy Mother may your Lordships find a cure for these enormous scandals.  As for myself, I shall not be held responsible for them before the judgement-seat of Christ who will judge us all.."  A few days later he left Egypt for Abyssinia with Father Cassian.
   A Capuchin mission for Abyssinia-or Ethiopia, as it is better called-had been planned in 1637, and Agathangelo and Cassian had been awaiting orders to go and establish it.  For some years Father Cassian had been destined for Ethiopia, and with this in view had set himself while in Cairo to learn Amharic, the principal language in use in that country he therefore now took the leading place, as Father Agathangelo knew little of the language. They were, of course, fully informed about the dangerous state for Catholics in Ethiopia brought about by recent political and ecclesiastical events there, and they had made certain provisions in view of it.  What they did not know was that a certain German Lutheran physician, Peter Heyling, notorious for his hostility to Catholics, had been at work to upset their plans. Accordingly, when they got to Dibarua, an unidentified place beyond Suakim, in early summer of 1638, they were arrested and taken, manacled and on foot, to Goadar.
The day after their arrival they were brought, chained and in muddy and torn Franciscan habits, before King Basilides and his court.  In reply to his questions Bd Cassian replied, "We are Catholics and religious, natives of France. We have come to invite you to reunion with the Roman Church. We are well known to Abuna Mark, who has had a letter from the Patriarch of Alexandria, and we should like to speak with him." Mark was the newly elected primate of the dissident Church of Ethiopia, who had been friendly with Father Agathangelo in Cairo. But Heyling had been talking to him, and Mark now refused to see the friars, saying, I indeed knew this Agathangelo in Egypt and he is an evil and dangerous man. He tried to draw the people there to his religion, and has come to do the same here. I do not wish to see him. I recommend you to hang them both." A Mohammedan remonstrated with the archbishop, but he repeated his words, with abuse. Basilides was inclined to banish the friars, but Peter Heyling with Mark and the king's mother worked on the mob to demand their death, and so they were sentenced after they had been given the opportunity to save themselves by abjuring the Catholic faith in favour of that of the monophysites.
When the two martyrs were brought beneath the trees from which they were to be hanged there was some delay. "Why are you so slow?  What are we waiting for?" asked Bd Cassian. "We have had to send for ropes", answered the executioner. "But have we not ropes round our clothes?" And so they were hanged with the cords of their Franciscan habits. But before they were dead the traitor Mark appeared before the crowd, crying out, "Stone these enemies of the faith of Alexandria, or I will excommunicate you!" Volleys of stones were immediately flung at the swinging bodies, and thus Bd Agathangelo and Bd Cassian died, the one being forty years old, the other thirty. For four nights miraculous light was reported to be seen above the bodies, and Basilides in terror ordered them to be buried; but some Catholics took them away by stealth and their resting-place is to this day unknown. In 1905, Agathangelo of Vendome, one of the most remarkable missionaries of the seventeenth century, and his faithful companion, Cassian of Nantes, were declared blessed by Pope Pius X.
A sufficient account of these martyrs is provided in Ladislas de Vannes, Deux martyrs capucins (1905); and Antonio da Pontedera, Vita e martirio dei BB. Agatangelo e Cassiano (1904).
1680 Triandaphyllus The New Martyr , a native of Zagora, Magnesia (in Thessaly), was beheaded by the Turks at Constantinople for his refusal to reject Christ and accept Islam. He was only fifteen years old when he received the crown of victory from Christ.
1804 Saint Euthymius was abbot of the Monastery of St. John the Baptist in the Davit-Gareji Wilderness. In the chronicles of the monastery he is commemorated as a “man of many labors.”; philosopher theologian outstanding preacher; dedicated to improving the monastery, rebuilt nearby village of Khashmi (razed by Dagestani thieves); In Khashmi constructed a mill and planted a vineyard with a rare variety of grapes; adorned the monastery expanded the estate surrounding; a great number of theological works were translated, and many rare books were recopied.
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According to the 19th-century historian Prince John Bagrationi, Euthymius was a philosopher and theologian and an outstanding preacher. He dedicated his life to improving the monastery and rebuilt the nearby village of Khashmi, which had been utterly razed by Dagestani thieves. In Khashmi he constructed a mill and planted a vineyard with a rare variety of grapes. He adorned the monastery and expanded the estate surrounding the complex. At his instruction, a great number of theological works were translated, and many rare books were recopied. St. Euthymius instructed several of his pupils in philosophy and theology as well.

After receiving a commission from Bishop Saba of Ninotsminda, St. Euthymius composed an Akathist hymn to St. Nino the Equal to-the-Apostles and Enlightener of Georgia.

In 1797 the black plague broke out in Tbilisi and residents fled from the city. Like true guardian angels, monastics and hermits abandoned their isolated cells and arrived to minister to the sick and the suffering. As he had in so many other worthy endeavors, St. Euthymius served as the leader and inspiration behind these works of mercy.
The pious Euthymius reposed peacefully in the year 1804.
1909 Bl. Mary MacKillop  first native Australian to be beatified. Born Mary Helen MacKillop in Melbourne, she was of Scottish ancestry. Concerned with the poor and suffering, Mary founded the Sisters of St. Joseph and of the Sacred Heart. These sisters were dedicated to educating children. In 1873, she became Mary of the Cross, and two years later was elected mother general of her congregation. After many difficulties, Mother MacKillop received papal approval of her work in 1888 from Pope Leo XIII. When she died on August 8, 1909, in Sydney, there were one thousand women in her congregation. Pope John Paul II beatified her on January 19, 1995.
St. Pa'esa (Athanasia) Departure of  {Coptic}
On this day, St. Pa'esa, departed. She was born in Menouf, to pious and rich parents. When her parents died, she turned her house into a shelter for the poor and the sojourner. She accepted everyone that came to her fulfilling their every need until she ran out of money. Evil people gathered around her, and turned her mind to the ungodly way. She turned her home into a house of prostitution. When this news reached the elders of Shiheet, they sorrowed for her with great sorrow. The elders called upon St. John, the Short, and asked him to go to her, as an act of mercy, and to aid her in saving her soul, in turn for the good that she had done for them.

The saint obeyed the elders and asked them to support him with their prayers. When St. John came to where she lived, he asked her maid to announce his presence. When the maid informed her, Pa'esa adorned herself, and called him in. As he was walking, he was saying, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil. For thou art with me." (Ps. 23:4) When he sat down, he looked to her and said, "Why did you belittle the Lord Christ, and do this evil deed?" She trembled, and her heart was melting from the words of the Saint who bent his head and started weeping. She asked him, "Why do you weep?" He answered, "Because I see the devils playing on your face, and therefore I weep for you." She asked him, "Is there any repentance for me?" He replied, "Yes, but not in this place." She said to him, "Take me wherever you wish."

Then he took her to one of the convents close by the wilderness of Shiheet. On their way it became dark. St. John told her to sleep in one place, while he slept far away from her. When he stood up to pray the midnight prayer, he saw a pillar of light coming down from heaven to earth, and the angels of God were carrying the Soul of Pa'esa. When he approached her, he found that she had departed. Then he knelt down and prayed fervently, with tears, asking God to reveal to him concerning her fate. He heard a voice saying, "Her repentance was accepted in the moment that she repented." After the saint had buried her, he returned to the Elders and told them what had happened. They all glorified the Lord who accepts the repentants and forgive their sins.
May her prayers be with us and Glory be to God forever. Amen.
The Fourteen Holy Helpers
This name represents a group of saints, devotion to whom as a body was German in origin and largely German in diffusion.  The idea behind the devotion is sufficiently indicated by its name, and the theoretical qualification for inclusion in the group was a real or alleged divine promise to the saint during life that he or she would have particular intercessory power to help men in need. The usual fourteen names: ACHATIUS (June 22); BARBARA (December 4; invoked against lightning, fire, explosion, sudden and unprepared death); BLAISE (February 3 invoked against throat troubles); CATHERINE (November 25 invoked by philosophers, students, wheelers and others); CHRISTOPHER (July 25; invoked by travellers in difficulties); CYRIACUS (August 8); DENIS (October 9; invoked against headache and rabies); ERASMUS (June 2; against colic, cramp, etc.); EUSTACE (September 20; invoked by hunters); GEORGE (April 23 protector of soldiers); GILES (September 1; invoked against epilepsy, insanity and sterility); MARGARET (July 20; invoked against possession and by pregnant women); PANTALEON (July 27; invoked against phthisis); and VITUS (June 15 invoked against epilepsy and his dance").
   It will be noticed that all these saints except one (Giles) were martyrs.  Among the other saints included in the group locally were Dorothy (February 6), Leonard of Noblac (November 6), Magnus of Fussen and Magnus of Altino (October 6), Oswald (August 5), and Nicholas of Myra ("Santa Klaus"; December 6). All the above will be found referred to herein under their dates.  In France the Helpers are fifteen, the extra one being our Lady.
   This devotion is an example of the medieval popular tendency to honour the saints more for what they would do for their devotees than for what they had been in their earthly lives.  The cultus became widely diffused during the fifteenth century; it spread from the Germanies to Bohemia, Moravia, Hungary, Italy and France; it does not seem to have reached England Churches, hospitals and shrines were named after the Holy Helpers, and their feast was permitted in various places, on August 8 and other dates.  It is still observed at a few places in Germany, and there is a church under their invocation at Baltimore in Maryland.
The book of H. Weber, Die Verehrung der hl. vierzehn Northhelfer (1886), supplies abundant information. The Bollandists touch upon the subject in dealing with St George, Acta Sanctorum, April, vol. iii, pp. 149-150. See also A. Franz, Die Messe im deutschen Mittelalter, and Zöckler in the Realencyklopädie für protestantische Theologie, vol. xiv, pp. 217-218 .


THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 29

Thy mercies, O Lady, I will sing forever.

With the ointment of thy tender mercy heal the broken in heart: and with the oil of thy mercy console our griefs.

May thy gracious countenance appear to me in my end: may the beauty of thy face rejoice my spirit in its going forth.

Stir up my spirit to love thy goodness: excite my mind to extol thy nobility and worth.

Deliver me from evil and tribulation: and from all sin keep thou my soul.


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

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

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

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

Widowed Saints  html
Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Of_The_Apostles  Roman Catholic Popes  Purgatory  UniateChalcedon

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

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

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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 Nizamuddin Aulia Sufi Saint Hazrath Khwaja Syed Mohammed Badshah Quadri Chisty Yamani Quadeer (RA)
1236-1325 welcomed people of all faiths & all walks of life.
801 Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya Sufi One of the most famous Islamic mystics
(b. 717). This 8th century saint was an early Sufi who had a profound influence on later Sufis, who in turn deeply influenced the European mystical love and troubadour traditions.  Rabi'a was a woman of Basra, a seaport in southern Iraq.  She was born around 717 and died in 801 (185-186).  Her biographer, the great medieval poet Attar, tells us that she was "on fire with love and longing" and that men accepted her "as a second spotless Mary" (186).  She was, he continues, “an unquestioned authority to her contemporaries" (218).
Rabi'a began her ascetic life in a small desert cell near Basra, where she lost herself in prayer and went straight to God for teaching.  As far as is known, she never studied under any master or spiritual director.  She was one of the first of the Sufis to teach that Love alone was the guide on the mystic path (222).  A later Sufi taught that there were two classes of "true believers": one class sought a master as an intermediary between them and God -- unless they could see the footsteps of the Prophet on the path before them, they would not accept the path as valid.  The second class “...did not look before them for the footprint of any of God's creatures, for they had removed all thought of what He had created from their hearts, and concerned themselves solely with God. (218)
Rabi'a was of this second kind.  She felt no reverence even for the House of God in Mecca:  "It is the Lord of the house Whom I need; what have I to do with the house?" (219) One lovely spring morning a friend asked her to come outside to see the works of God.  She replied, "Come you inside that you may behold their Maker.  Contemplation of the Maker has turned me aside from what He has made" (219).  During an illness, a friend asked this woman if she desired anything.
"...[H]ow can you ask me such a question as 'What do I desire?'  I swear by the glory of God that for twelve years I have desired fresh dates, and you know that in Basra dates are plentiful, and I have not yet tasted them.  I am a servant (of God), and what has a servant to do with desire?" (162)
When a male friend once suggested she should pray for relief from a debilitating illness, she said,
"O Sufyan, do you not know Who it is that wills this suffering for me?  Is it not God Who wills it?  When you know this, why do you bid me ask for what is contrary to His will?  It is not  well to oppose one's Beloved." (221)
She was an ascetic.  It was her custom to pray all night, sleep briefly just before dawn, and then rise again just as dawn "tinged the sky with gold" (187).  She lived in celibacy and poverty, having renounced the world.  A friend visited her in old age and found that all she owned were a reed mat, screen, a pottery jug, and a bed of felt which doubled as her prayer-rug (186), for where she prayed all night, she also slept briefly in the pre-dawn chill.  Once her friends offered to get her a servant; she replied,
"I should be ashamed to ask for the things of this world from Him to Whom the world belongs, and how should I ask for them from those to whom it does not belong?"  (186-7)
A wealthy merchant once wanted to give her a purse of gold.  She refused it, saying that God, who sustains even those who dishonor Him, would surely sustain her, "whose soul is overflowing with love" for Him.  And she added an ethical concern as well:
"...How should I take the wealth of someone of whom I do not know whether he acquired it lawfully or not?" (187)
She taught that repentance was a gift from God because no one could repent unless God had already accepted him and given him this gift of repentance.  She taught that sinners must fear the punishment they deserved for their sins, but she also offered such sinners far more hope of Paradise than most other ascetics did.  For herself, she held to a higher ideal, worshipping God neither from fear of Hell nor from hope of Paradise, for she saw such self-interest as unworthy of God's servants; emotions like fear and hope were like veils -- i.e., hindrances to the vision of God Himself.  The story is told that once a number of Sufis saw her hurrying on her way with water in one hand and a burning torch in the other.  When they asked her to explain, she said:
"I am going to light a fire in Paradise and to pour water on to Hell, so that both veils may vanish altogether from before the pilgrims and their purpose may be sure..." (187-188)
She was once asked where she came from.  "From that other world," she said.  "And where are you going?" she was asked.  "To that other world," she replied (219).  She taught that the spirit originated with God in "that other world" and had to return to Him in the end.  Yet if the soul were sufficiently purified, even on earth, it could look upon God unveiled in all His glory and unite with him in love.  In this quest, logic and reason were powerless.  Instead, she speaks of the "eye" of her heart which alone could apprehend Him and His mysteries (220).
Above all, she was a lover, a bhakti, like one of Krishna’s Goptis in the Hindu tradition.  Her hours of prayer were not so much devoted to intercession as to communion with her Beloved.  Through this communion, she could discover His will for her.  Many of her prayers have come down to us:
       "I have made Thee the Companion of my heart,
        But my body is available for those who seek its company,
        And my body is friendly towards its guests,
        But the Beloved of my heart is the Guest of my soul."  [224]

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

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

The Church of Saint Mary of Saint Paul 1875-1922;
  (1932)
The Vikings in the American Heartland;
The Catholic Total Abstinence Society in Minnesota;
James Michael Reardon Born in Nova Scotia, 1872;  Priest, ordained by Bishop Ireland;
Member -- St. Paul Seminary faculty.
Affiliations and Indulgence Litany of Loretto in Stained glass windows here.  Nave Sacristy and Residence Here
Sanctuary
spaces between them filled with grilles of hand-forged wrought iron the
life of our Blessed Lady After the crucifixon
Apostle statues Replicas of those in St John Lateran--Christendom's earliest Basilica.
Ordered by Rome's first Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great, Popes' cathedral and official residence first millennium of Christian history.

The only replicas ever made:  in order from west to east {1932}.
Every Christian must be a living book wherein one can read the teaching of the gospel
 
It Makes No Sense
Not To Believe In GOD
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi
  June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
By Father John Corapi
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi
  June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
By Father John Corapi
Among the most important titles we have in the Catholic Church for the Blessed Virgin Mary are Our Lady of Victory and Our Lady of the Rosary. These titles can be traced back to one of the most decisive times in the history of the world and Christendom. The Battle of Lepanto took place on October 7 (date of feast of Our Lady of Rosary), 1571. This proved to be the most crucial battle for the Christian forces against the radical Muslim navy of Turkey. Pope Pius V led a procession around St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City praying the Rosary. He showed true pastoral leadership in recognizing the danger posed to Christendom by the radical Muslim forces, and in using the means necessary to defeat it. Spiritual battles require spiritual weapons, and this more than anything was a battle that had its origins in the spiritual order—a true battle between good and evil.

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

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

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

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

Father Corapi's Biography

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

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

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

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


God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi


Records on life of Father Flanagan, founder of Boys Town, presented at Vatican
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Fr. Augustus Tolton, former African American slave, advances toward sainthood
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Seven 20th-century Romanian bishops declared martyrs
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Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women
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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’
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Records on life of Father Flanagan, founder of Boys Town, presented at Vatican
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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
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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
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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
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Algerian martyrs to be beatified in December
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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.
 
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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.
 
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Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward
Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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