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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22,013  Lives Saved Since 2007

CAUSES OF SAINTS

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

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

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

                                                                           

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

It is a great poverty that a child must die so that you may live as you wish -- Mother Teresa
 Saving babies, healing moms and dads, 'The Gospel of Life'
15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary

Christ the Truth is in Mary's Heart August 28 -
SAINT AUGUSTINE (Bishop and Doctor of the Church)
When the Lord, performing his divine miracles, passed by with crowds in his wake, a woman said: "Happy the womb that bore you." And what did the Lord answer, so people wouldn't be looking for happiness in the flesh? He said: "Yes, happy those who listen to God's word and keep it."
So the Virgin Mary is indeed happy for having listened to and kept God's word. She kept this truth in her heart more fully than she had sheltered his flesh inside her womb.
Christ is Truth. Christ the Truth in Mary's heart, Christ is in the flesh inside Mary's womb.
What is in the heart is more than what is in the womb.
Saint Augustine Sermon 72/A, 7 Bishop and Doctor of the Church (+ 430)
     

Mary's Divine Motherhood
Called in the Gospel "the Mother of Jesus," Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the Mother of my Lord" (Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.). In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos). Catechism of the Catholic Church 495, quoting the Council of Ephesus (431): DS 251.

Aug 28 - Our Lady of Kiev (Russia, 1240)
Mary is Free of Sin
We must not refer to the Blessed Virgin, for Christ's sake, when we are speaking about sins.
We know indeed that an immense grace was granted her to overcome all sin.
For this reason she deserved to conceive and give birth to the One who it is sure had no sin.
Saint Augustine, Doctor of the Church (d. 430) 

August 28 – Our Lady of Tears (Syracuse, Italy, 1953)
 Mary’s tears are true signs
 A bas-relief of painted plaster representing the Virgin Mary and her Immaculate Heart crowned with thorns and inflamed (as in Fatima), was displayed in a humble home, at the head of the bed of the Lannuso spouses. From August 29, 1953, to September 1, 1953, this framed image shed real tears, which were tested in scientific labs.
The Sicilian bishops recognized the supernatural origin of the phenomenon and began building a church.
At its dedication, Saint John Paul II said:
"Mary wept in La Salette, in the second half of the last century... at a time when Christianity in France was facing increasing hostility. She is weeping again here, in Syracuse, at the conclusion of the Second World War.
 We can interpret this in the context of these tragic events—the immense carnage caused by the conflict; the extermination of the sons and daughters of Israel; and threat to Eastern Europe from openly atheistic Communism.

Mary’s tears are true signs—they indicate the presence of the Mother in the Church and in the world. A mother cries when she sees her sons threatened by an evil, whether spiritual or physical."  Mary of Nazareth Team

 
August 29 – End of the public apparitions in Le Laus in 1664, approved in 1665 (Le Laus, France)
 
Refuge for sinners
 
In Le Laus (France), the Virgin appeared for many years (1664-1718) to Benedicta Rencurel, a shepherdess. Le Laus has become a center of reconciliation with God:

"So many people have testified that Le Laus is a refuge for sinners, where God inspires us to make good confessions, lifts the shame of those of us who do not dare to admit ours sins, and—with the help of Benedicta’s advice—opens our consciences, gives us the courage to examine our lives and provides good confessors who send us away full of joy!" (Manuscripts of Le Laus, by Pierre Gaillard).
 
Mary of Nazareth Team

 
721-691 B.C. Righteous Hezekiah the son of impious king Ahaz; The life of Hezekiah described in 4/2 Kings 18-20; He became King of Judah at the age of twenty-five, reigned at Jerusalem 29 years. A zealous worshipper of the True God, Hezekiah reopened the Temple of Solomon (2 Chron. 20:3). At the time of the celebration of the Passover, to which he summoned all the subjects of the kingdom of Israel, Hezekiah gave orders to destroy the idols throughout his kingdom, reminding the people of the punishments which befell their ancestors for forsaking the True God. After this, idolatry ceased not only in the kingdom of Judah, but also in many places in the kingdom of Israel.
Micah, the Prophet Departure On this day; He prophesied about Samaria and Jerusalem during time of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezkiah, kings of Judeah;. about incarnation of the Lord, "For behold, the Lord is coming out of His high place. He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth." (Micah 1:3) His birth in Bethlehem, saying, "But you Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me. The one to be ruler in Israel. Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." (Micah 5:2); the futility of the Jewish temple and going forth of the Law of the Gospel from Zion, saying, " ... For out of Zion the Law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." (Micah 4:2); about the perdition of Ahab, king of Israel. (Micah 5:15,16) When this prophet finished his strife in peace, he departed at a good old age, preceding the Lord Christ by about eight hundred years {Coptic}
Righteous Anna the Prophetess; Righteous Anna led a strict and pious life, "not leaving the Temple, and serving God both day and night in fasting and prayer" (Luke. 2: 37). When Righteous Anna was 84 years old, she saw the Infant Jesus Christ at the Temple of Jerusalem. He was brought to be dedicated to God as a firstborn child according to the Mosaic law.

 120 St. Hermes Martyr with companions in Rome
 283 St. Pelagius A child martyr put to death in Pannonia
 303 St. Fortunatus Martyr with Anthes and Gaius
 304 St. Julian of Auvergne Martyred Roman army officer
        Saints Septiminus, Januarius, and Felix
 340 St. Alexander of Constantinople Bishop apostle against Arianism
340, 577, 784 Ss. Alexander, John III And Paul IV, Patriarchs Of Constantinople
       St. Moses the Ethiopian
 400 Saint Moses Murin and he was black of skin and therefore called "Murin" (meaning "like an Ethiopian") Moses the brigand spent several years leading a sinful life, but through the great mercy of God he repented, left his band of robbers and went to one of the desert monasteries; the band of robbers heard about the repentance of St Moses, then they also gave up their thievery and became fervent monks.  Received from the Lord power over demons.
 430 St. Augustine of Hippo is the patron of brewers; son of St. Monica
 460 St. Vivian Bishop of Saintes  invading Visigoths
 475 Saint Shushanik wife of the Georgian prince Varsken, ruler of Hereti (a province of southeastern Georgia) under Persian control at that time; martyr for her faith
 650 St. Rumwald largely legendary saint
 965 St. Gorman Benedictine bishop of Schleswig
        Synaxis of the Holy Fathers of the Kiev Caves today we honor the whole assembly of these monastic saints who were a light upon the  earth, guiding us on the path of salvation.
1495 Saint Sava of Krypetsk was tonsured at Athos, and from there he came to Pskov. He began to struggle on Mount Snetna at the monastery of Mother of God near Pskov, and then he went to a more remote spot along the River Tolva, at the monastery of St Euphrosyne (May 15). Finally, he withdrew for complete solitude to the Krypetsk wilderness, 15 versts from the Tolva, and he settled alone in a small cave in the impenetrable forest.
THE LONDON MARTYRS OF 1588
1588 Blessed John Roche & Margaret Ward John Roche 1 London martyrs
1588 Bl. William Dean Martyr of England
1588 Bl. William Guntei Martyr of Wales
1588 Bl. Thomas Felton English martyr
1588 Bl. Thomas Holford English martyr
1588 Bl. Hugh More Martyr of England
1588 Bl. Robert Morton English martyr of London
1628 St. Edmund Arrowsmith one of the Forty Martyrs
1651 Saint Job of Pochaev died October 28; his relics were transferred to the church of the Holy Trinity on August 28, 1659; A second uncovering of the relics took place on August 28, 1833
<105-116 Pope St. Alexander I Roman by birth ruled the Church in reign of Trajan (98-117). attributes to him, but scarcely with accuracy, insertion in the canon of the Qui Pridie, or words commemorative of the institution of the Eucharist, such being certainly primitive and original in the Mass. He is also said to have introduced the use of blessing water mixed with salt for the purification of Christian homes from evil influences (constituit aquam sparsionis cum sale benedici in habitaculis hominum). Duchesne (Lib. Pont., I, 127) calls attention to the persistence of this early Roman custom by way of a blessing in the Gelasian Sacramentary that recalls very forcibly the actual Asperges prayer at the beginning of Mass.
John Paul I's Election Remembered
Cardinal Angelo Scola, patriarch of Venice, celebrated a Mass to mark the 30th anniversary of the election of "the smiling Pope," John Paul I.  The celebration took place at the Church of Canale d'Agordo, in the Venuto region of Italy, where Albino Luciani was born in 1912. He was the eldest of four siblings. His biographers say that he was a restless, strong and vivacious child.

Luciani
entered the minor seminary of the town of Feltre, and then went on to the major seminary of Belluno, where he was ordained priest in 1935. He was appointed bishop of Vittorio Veneto in 1958, and was appointed patriarch of Venice in 1969. In 1973 he was elevated to cardinal.
John Paul I was the first Pope to have a composite name, a gesture to honor his two predecessors
-- John XXIII and Paul VI. His papal motto was "humilitas" (humility).
The "smiling Pope" died Sept. 28, 1978, 33 days after his election to the papacy.
Source: Zenit CANALE D'AGORDO, Italy, AUG. 28, 2008 (Zenit.org)


721-691 B.C. Righteous Hezekiah was the son of the impious king Ahaz.
The life of Righteous Hezekiah is described in the Bible (4/2 Kings 18-20);
He became King of Judah at the age of twenty-five, and reigned at Jerusalem for 29 years.
A zealous worshipper of the True God, Hezekiah reopened the Temple of Solomon (2 Chron. 20:3).
 At the time of the celebration of the Passover, to which he summoned all the subjects of the kingdom of Israel, Hezekiah gave orders to destroy the idols throughout his kingdom, reminding the people of the punishments which befell their ancestors for forsaking the True God.
After this, idolatry ceased not only in the kingdom of Judah, but also in many places in the kingdom of Israel.

Therefore, God delivered him from his enemies and fulfilled his petitions.
Thus, in the fourteenth year of the reign of Hezekiah, the Assyrian king Sennacherib son of Salmanassar, having conquered Israel, gathered his forces to make war upon Hezekiah.  The Assyrian king took the fortress of Lachis and sent an army towards Jerusalem, demanding that the Jewish king surrender. Hezekiah turned to God in prayer, and an angel of the Lord struck down 185,000 soldiers in the Assyrian camp. Soon after the withdrawal of Sennacherib, Hezekiah fell ill.

The Prophet Isaiah came to him through the will of God and told him to set his affairs in order, since he would soon die. But the power of Hezekiah's prayer was so great that God prolonged his life for another fifteen years.
His prayer was fervent when he besought God to help him. But even more ardent was his prayer of thanks. Hezekiah died at age 54 and was buried with great reverence at Jerusalem. memory of Righteous Hezekiah also celebrated Cheesefare Saturday
.
Micah, the Prophet Departure On this day, the great righteous prophet Micah, departed.
He prophesied about Samaria and Jerusalem during the time of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judeah.
He prophesied about the incarnation of the Lord, to Whom is the Glory, saying, "For behold, the Lord is coming out of His high place. He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth." (Micah 1:3) He prophesied about His birth in Bethlehem, saying, "But you Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me. The one to be ruler in Israel. Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." (Micah 5:2) He prophesied about the futility of the Jewish temple and the going forth of the Law of the Gospel from Zion, saying, "... For out of Zion the Law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." (Micah 4:2) He also prophesied about the perdition of Ahab, king of Israel. (Micah 5:15,16) When this prophet finished his strife in peace, he departed at a good old age. He preceded the Lord Christ by about eight hundred years.
Righteous Anna the Prophetess; Righteous Anna led a strict and pious life, "not leaving the Temple, and serving God both day and night in fasting and prayer" (Luke. 2: 37).
When Righteous Anna was 84 years old, she saw the Infant Jesus Christ at the Temple of Jerusalem.
 He was brought to be dedicated to God as a firstborn child according to the Mosaic law.

Anna descended from the tribe of Aser, and was the daughter of Phanuel.
She lived with her husband for seven years until he died.
Righteous Anna also heard the prophetic words of St Simeon the God-Receiver spoken to the Most Holy Theotokos. The Prophetess Anna together with St Simeon glorified God, and told everyone that the Messiah had come into the world (Luke. 2: 38).
120 St. Hermes Martyr with companions in Rome
Romæ item natális sancti Hermétis, viri illústris, qui (ut in Actis beáti Alexándri Papæ légitur), prius carceráli custódiæ mancipátus, deínde, cum áliis plúrimis, gládio cædénte, martyrium complévit, sub Aureliáno Júdice.
    At Rome, the birthday of St. Hermes, an illustrious man, who, as we read in the Acts of blessed Pope Alexander, was first confined in prison, and afterwards fulfilled his martyrdom by the sword, at the time of the judge Aurelian.
Who suffered at the hands of a judge named Aurelian.
They are mentioned in the Acts of Pope St. Alexander I.
Their cult was confined to local calendars in 1969
.
2nd v. ST HERMES, MARTYR
FOR the martyrdom of St Hermes at Rome and for his early cultus there and else­where we have the fullest evidence. He is mentioned in the Depositio martyrum of the year 354, and his name occurs in the “Martyrology of Jerome” and in the itineraries of the pilgrims. But upon the Passion of St Hermes, which forms part of the so-called acta of Pope Alexander I, no reliance can be placed; “it is a romance, whose principal heroes are martyrs known to history, but the plot and the parts therein attributed to the different characters are the invention of the hagiographer” (Delehaye).

St Hermes was buried in the cemetery of Basilla on the Old Salarian Way, where the remains of a large basilica have been found over his tomb; there have also been found fragments of an inscription put up there by Pope St Damasus, containing the martyr’s name. What purported to be the relics of this St Hermes were given by Pope St Leo IV to the Emperor Lothair I in 850, and these eventually came to rest in the church of Renaix in Flanders, where they are still an object of pilgrimage. This led to a certain diffusion of cultus in western Europe. But by what process St Hermes came to be the titular of three churches in Cornwall—Saint Erme, Saint Ervan, Marazion—is not clear.

See Acta Sanctorum, August, vol. vi; CMH., pp. 472—473 ; and DAC., vol. vi, cc. 2303 seq. G. H. Doble in his St Hermes (1935) Cornish Saints series) refers to “an excellent little book” the cult of the saint at Renaix, by Abbe F. d’Hollander (1934).
283 St. Pelagius A child martyr put to death in Pannonia
Constántiæ, in Germánia, sancti Pelágii Mártyris, qui sub Numeriáno Imperatóre et Evilásio Júdice, cápite amputátus, martyrii corónam accépit.
    At Constance, in Germany, St. Pelagius, martyr, who received the crown of martyrdom under Emperor Numerian and the judge Evilasius.
During the persecution of Emperor Numerian Maximian. He is revered as the patron saint of Constance, in Switzerland, owing to the transfer of his relics to that place early in the tenth century.
303 St. Fortunatus Martyr with Anthes and Gaius
Salérni sanctórum Mártyrum Fortunáti, Caji et Anthis; qui, sub Diocletiáno Imperatóre et Leóntio Procónsule, decolláti sunt.
    At Salerno, the holy martyrs Fortunatus, Caius, and Anthes, beheaded under Emperor Diocletian and the proconsul Leontius.
Who suffered near Salerno, Italy, possibly one of the “Three Holy Brothers.” Relics enshrined in Salerno in 940.
304 St. Julian of Auvergne Martyred Roman army officer
Briváte, apud Arvérnos, item pássio sancti Juliáni Mártyris, qui, cum esset beáti Ferreóli Tribúni comes et in hábitu militári occúlte Christo servíret, in persecutióne Diocletiáni, a milítibus tentus est, et, desécto gútture, morte horríbili necátus.
    At Prinde in Auvergne, St. Julian, martyr, during the persecution of Diocletian.  He was the companion of the blessed tribune Ferreol, and under a military garb he secretly served Christ until arrested by the soldiers, and killed in a barbarous manner by having his throat cut.
Also called Julian of Brioude. He was from France and retired to Auvergne when persecution started. Julian surrendered to the authorities and was beheaded at Brioude.

3rd v. ST JULIAN OF BRIOUDE, MARTYR
THIS Julian was one of the most famous martyrs of Gaul; he is sometimes called Julian of Auvergne. His unreliable passio tells us that he was a soldier, who knew how to reconcile the profession of arms with the teaching of the gospel. Crispin, governor of the province of Vienne, having declared himself against the Christians, Julian withdrew to Auvergne; afterwards, learning that he was sought by the persecutors, of his own accord he presented himself before them, saying, “I have been too long in this bad world; I would be with Jesus”. He had scarce uttered these words, when they fell upon him and cut off his head. This is said to have happened near Brioude. Later a church was built at Brioude (near Clermont-­Ferrand) to shelter his relics, and it became a great place of pilgrimage. St Gregory of Tours relates a number of miracles wrought by St Julian’s intercession; he also mentions a church dedicated at Paris under the invocation of the holy martyr:  it is that which is now known as St Julien-le-Pauvre, used by the Catholic Melkites of the city.

Apollinaris Sidonius, Gregory of Tours, and the “Hieronymianum” sufficiently attest the early cultus of this martyr, but Gregory also lets us know that they were at first in doubt on what day he ought to he venerated. See Delehaye, Les Origines du Culte des Martyrs, p. 357. The passio, printed in the Acta Sanctorum, August, vol. vi, and also by E. Munding (1918), is of little value, but E. C. Babut in the Revue d’histoire et de littérature religieuses, vol. V (1914), pp. 96—116, has tried to turn it to historical account.

Venúsiæ, in Apúlia, pássio sanctórum Septimíni, Januárii et Felícis, qui, sanctórum Bonifátii et Theclæ fílii, a Valeriáno Júdice, sub Maximiáno Imperatóre, jussi sunt decollári.  Ipsórum tamen ac reliquórum ex duódecim frátribus festívitas ágitur Kaléndis Septémbris.
     Saints Septiminus, Januarius, and Felix
At Venosa in Apulia, the passion of Saints Septiminus, Januarius, and Felix.  During the reign of Emperor Maximian, the judge Valerian ordered these sons of Saints Boniface and Thecla to be beheaded.  Their feast, however, is observed with that of the other Twelve Holy Brethren on the first of September.
340 St. Alexander of Constantinople Bishop apostle against Arianism
Constantinópoli sancti Alexándri Epíscopi, gloriósi senis; ob cujus oratiónem Arius, divíno judício damnátus, crépuit médius, et effúsa sunt víscera ejus.
    At Constantinople, the holy bishop Alexander, an aged and celebrated man, through whose efficacious prayers Arius, by the judgement of God, burst asunder and his bowels were poured out.
He was elected the bishop of Byzantium in 317, at age seventy-three.
Alexander was well known for his wisdom and holiness. He attended the Council of Nicaea in 325 and joined St. Alexander of Alexandria in condemning Arius and his heretical teachings. In 336, Arius was sponsored by Emperor Constantine the Great to be received into the Church. Alexander, unable to be a party to such a disastrous enterprise, prayed that either he or Arius be removed from the scene.
Arius died the day before Alexander was exonerated in the court of Constantinople.

340, 577, 784 Ss. Alexander, John III And Paul IV, Patriarchs Of Constantinople

Alexander of Byzantium was already seventy-three years old when he was elected to the episcopal throne of Constantinople, and he filled the office for twenty-three years in the troubled days of the heresiarch Anus. Soon after his election the Emperor Constantine ordered a conference between the Christian theologians and a number of pagan philosophers, and the discussion was thrown into confusion by all the philosophers trying to talk at the same time. On St Alexander’s suggestion they then chose the most learned among them to voice their views, and while one of them was speaking Alexander suddenly exclaimed, “In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to be silent!” Whereupon, it is said, the unfortunate man found his tongue was paralysed and his mouth unable to utter a word until Alexander gave him leave, and by this manifestation of divine power the Christian cause made more impression than by the most solid arguments.

In 336 Anus arrived in triumph at Constantinople, with an order from the emperor that St Alexander should receive him into communion. It is said that Alexander shut himself in church and prayed, with St James of Nisibis, that God would remove either himself or Anus. In any case, on the night before the day appointed for his solemn reception, Anus suddenly died. It was natural that many Christians should look on this as a divine inter­vention at the intercession of St Alexander, and this view is expressed by the Roman Martyrology, which refers to him as, “a glorious old man, on account of whose prayers Anus, condemned by the judgement of God, brake in the middle and his bowels poured out”.

The Byzantine Catholics join in one commemoration with St Alexander two other holy archbishops of Constantinople, John III and Paul IV, called “the Young”. John was born near Antioch, and had been a lawyer before he was ordained. He was sent as patriarchal legate from Antioch to Constantinople, where his learning caused him to be known as “the Scholastic”; he had already made a collection of canons of ecclesiastical law, which recommended him to the Em­peror Justinian I, and in the year 565 he was made patriarch of the imperial city. While he held that office he revised and enlarged his collection of canons, which was the first to be made systematically; this work grew eventually into the com­pendium of Eastern church law called the Nomokanon. St. John the Scholastic died in 577.

St Paul the Young was a native of Salamis who became patriarch of Constantinople in 780, during the last months of the Emperor Leo IV. Directly the Empress Irene became regent he advocated the restoration of holy images and their veneration; in 784 he withdrew to the monastery of Florus, avowedly as an act of penance for his compromises and lack of boldness during the iconoclast regime. Until his death shortly afterwards he encouraged the assembling of a council for the condemnation of Iconoclasm; it eventually met in the year 787.

The not entirely concordant stories of St Athanasius and the church historians con­cerning St Alexander will be found sufficiently illustrated in the Acta Sanctorum, August, vol. vi. Cf. also DCB., s. nn.

Item sancti Móysis Æthíopis, qui, ex insígni latróne insígnis Anachoréta, multos latrónes convértit et secum duxit ad monastérium.
    
St. Moses the Ethiopian
Also, who gave up a life of robbery and became a renowned anchoret.  He converted many robbers, and led them to a monastery.
400 Saint Moses Murin and he was black of skin and therefore called "Murin" (meaning "like an Ethiopian") Moses the brigand spent several years leading a sinful life, but through the great mercy of God he repented, left his band of robbers and went to one of the desert monasteries; the band of robbers heard about the repentance of St Moses, then they also gave up their thievery and became fervent monks. Received from the Lord power over demons.

405 ST MOSES THE BLACK
THIS Moses was an Ethiopian and the most picturesque figure among those remark­able men who are known as the Fathers of the Desert. At first he was a servant, or slave, in the house of an Egyptian official; the general immorality of his life, but particularly his continual thefts, caused his dismissal—in those days he was lucky to have got off with his life—and he took to brigandage. He was a man of huge stature, with corresponding strength and ferocity, and he soon gathered a gang about him that was a terror to the district. Once some contemplated villainy was spoiled by the barking of a sheep-dog giving the alarm, and Moses swore to kill the shepherd. To get at him he had to swim across the Nile with his sword in his teeth, but the shepherd had hidden himself by burrowing into the sand; Moses could not find him, so he made up for it by killing four rams, tying them together and towing them back across the river. Then he flayed the rams, cooked and ate the best parts, sold the skins for wine, and walked fifty miles to join his fellows. That was the sort of man Moses was.

Unfortunately the circumstances of his conversion are not known; it is possible that he hid himself among the solitaries to avoid the law and was touched and conquered by their example, for when next heard of he was at the monastery of Petra in the desert of Skete. Here he was attacked in his cell by four robbers. Moses fought and overpowered them, then tied them together, slung them across his back, and went to the church, where he dumped them on the floor, saying to the astonished monks, “I am not allowed to hurt anybody, so what do you want me to do with these?” They are said to have reformed their ways and become monks themselves. But Moses did not become well-behaved in a day and, despairing of overcoming his violent passions, he consulted St Isidore. The abbot took him up to the roof of the house at dawn: “See” he said, “the light only gradually drives away the darkness. So it is with the soul.”

Eventually by hard physical labour, especially in waiting on his brethren, hard physical mortification, and persevering prayer he so conquered himself that Theophilus, Archbishop of Alexandria, heard of his virtues and ordained him priest. Afterwards as he stood in the basilica, anointed and vested in white, the archbishop said, “Now, Father Moses, the black man is made white”. St Moses smiled ruefully. “Only outside God knows that inwardly I am yet dark”, he replied.

When a raid on the monastery by Berbers was threatened, Moses refused to allow his monks to defend themselves but made them run away before it was too late: “All that take the sword shall perish with the sword.” He remained, and seven with him, and all save one were murdered by the infidels. St Moses was then seventy-five years old, and he was buried at the monastery called Dair al­-Baramus, which still exists.

A Greek life, said to have been written by Laurence, a monk in Calabria, is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, August, vol. vi, with a commentary. But St Moses also figures in Palladius’s Historia Lausiaca and in some of the early church historians.
Moses lived during the fourth century in Egypt. He was an Ethiopian, and he was black of skin and therefore called "Murin" (meaning "like an Ethiopian"). In his youth he was the slave of an important man, but after he committed a murder, his master banished him, and he joined a band of robbers.  Because of his bad character and great physical strength they chose him as their leader. Moses and his band of brigands did many evil deeds, both murders and robberies. People were afraid at the mere mention of his name.  Moses the brigand spent several years leading a sinful life, but through the great mercy of God he repented, left his band of robbers and went to one of the desert monasteries. Here he wept for a long time, begging to be admitted as one of the brethren. The monks were not convinced of the sincerity of his repentance, but the former robber would not be driven away nor silenced. He continued to ask that they accept him.  St Moses was completely obedient to the igumen and the brethren, and he poured forth many tears of sorrow for his sinful life. After a certain while St Moses withdrew to a solitary cell, where he spent the time in prayer and the strictest fasting in a very austere lifestyle.
    Once, four of the robbers of his former band descended upon the cell of St Moses. He had lost none of his great physical strength, so he tied them all up. Throwing them over his shoulder, he brought them to the monastery, where he asked the Elders what to do with them. The Elders ordered that they be set free. The robbers, learning that they had chanced upon their former ringleader, and that he had dealt kindly with them, followed his example: they repented and became monks. Later, when the rest of the band of robbers heard about the repentance of St Moses, then they also gave up their thievery and became fervent monks.
St Moses was not quickly freed from the passions. He went often to the igumen, Abba Isidore, seeking advice on how to be delivered from the passions of profligacy. Being experienced in the spiritual struggle, the Elder taught him never to eat too much food, to remain partly hungry while observing the strictest moderation. But the passions did not cease to trouble St Moses in his dreams.  Then Abba Isidore taught him the all-night vigil. The monk stood the whole night at prayer, so he would not fall asleep. From his prolonged struggles St Moses fell into despondency, and when there arose thoughts about leaving his solitary cell, Abba Isidore instead strengthened the resolve of his disciple.
In a vision he showed him many demons in the west, prepared for battle, and in the east a still greater quantity of holy angels, also ready for fighting. Abba Isidore explained to St Moses that the power of the angels would prevail over the power of the demons, and in the long struggle with the passions it was necessary for him to become completely cleansed of his former sins.
St Moses undertook a new effort.
Making the rounds by night of the wilderness cells, he carried water from the well to each brother. He did this especially for the Elders, who lived far from the well and who were not easily able to carry their own water. Once, kneeling over the well, St Moses felt a powerful blow upon his back and he fell down at the well like one dead, laying there in that position until dawn. Thus did the devils take revenge upon the monk for his victory over them. In the morning the brethren carried him to his cell, and he lay there a whole year crippled. Having recovered, the monk with firm resolve confessed to the igumen, that he would continue to live in asceticism. But the Lord Himself put limits to this struggle of many years: Abba Isidore blessed his disciple and said to him that the passions had already gone from him.
The Elder commanded him to receive the Holy Mysteries, and to go to his own cell in peace. From that time, St Moses received from the Lord power over demons.
Accounts about his exploits spread among the monks and even beyond the bounds of the wilderness.
The governor of the land wanted to see the saint. When he heard of this, St Moses decided to hide from any visitors, and he departed his own cell. Along the way he met servants of the governor, who asked him how to get to the cell of the desert-dweller Moses. The monk answered them: "Go no farther to see this false and unworthy monk." The servants returned to the monastery where the governor was waiting, and they told him the words of the Elder they had chanced to meet. The brethren, hearing a description of the Elder's appearance, told them that they had encountered St Moses himself.
After many years of monastic exploits, St Moses was ordained deacon. The bishop clothed him in white vestments and said, "Now Abba Moses is entirely white!" The saint replied, "Only outwardly, for God knows that I am still dark within."
Through humility, the saint believed himself unworthy of the office of deacon. Once, the bishop decided to test him and he bade the clergy to drive him out of the altar, reviling him as an unworthy Ethiopian. In all humility, the monk accepted the abuse. Having put him to the test, the bishop then ordained St Moses to be presbyter. St Moses labored for fifteen years in this rank, and gathered around himself 75 disciples.
When the saint reached age 75, he warned his monks that soon brigands would descend upon the skete and murder all that were there. The saint blessed his monks to leave, in order to avoid violent death. His disciples began to beseech the monk to leave with them, but he replied: "For many years already I have awaited the time when therethe words which my Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, should be fulfilled: "All who take up the sword, shall perish by the sword" (Mt. 26: 52). After this, seven of the brethren remained with the monk, and one of them hid nearby during the attack of the robbers. The robbers killed St Moses and the six monks who remained with him. Their death occurred in about the year 400 .
430 St. Augustine of Hippo is the patron of brewers; son of St. Monica
Hippóne Régio, in Africa, natális sancti Augustíni Epíscopi, Confessóris et Ecclésiæ Doctóris exímii, qui, beáti Ambrósii Epíscopi ópera ad cathólicam fidem convérsus et baptizátus, eam advérsus Manichæos aliósque hæréticos acérrimus propugnátor deféndit, multísque áliis pro Ecclésia Dei perfúnctus labóribus, ad præmia migrávit in cælum.  Ejus relíquiæ, primo de sua civitáte propter bárbaros in Sardíniam advéctæ, et póstea a Rege Longobardórum Luitprándo Papíam translátæ, ibi honorífice cónditæ sunt.
    At Hippo in Africa, the birthday of St. Augustine, bishop and famous doctor of the Church.  Converted and baptized by the blessed bishop Ambrose, he defended the Catholic faith with the greatest zeal against the Manicheans and other heretics, and after having sustained many other labours for the Church of God, he went to his reward in heaven.  His relics, owing to the invasion of barbarians, were first brought from his own city into Sardinia, and afterwards taken by Luitprand, king of the Lombards, to Pavia, where they were deposited with due honours.
Because of his conversion from a former life of loose living, which included parties, entertainment, and worldly ambitions. His complete turnaround and conversion has been an inspiration to many who struggle with a particular vice or habit they long to break.
Augustinus Orthodoxe Kirche: 15. Juni  Katholische, Anglikanische und Evangelische Kirche: 28. August  Weitere Gedenktage:  Gedenktag der Bekehrung: 5. Mai (in Brügge) Überführung der Gebeine nach Pavia: 11. Oktober

ST AUGUSTINE, who used commonly to be called Austin in English, was born on November 13 in the year 354 at Tagaste, a small town of Numidia in north Africa, not far from Hippo, but at some distance from the sea, which he had never seen till he was grown up.  His parents were of good position, but not rich; his father, Patricius, was an idolater, and a violent disposition; but through the example and prudent conduct of St Monica, his wife, he was baptized a little before his death.  She bore him several children; St Augustine speaks of his brother Navigius, who left a family behind him, and of a sister who died a dedicated virgin.
  He was entered in his infancy among the catechumens, baptism itself being deferred, according to a common custom of the time; but in early youth he fell into evil ways and until the age of thirty-two led a life morally defiled by licence and intellectually by Manicheism.  Of this time, up to his conversion and the death of St Monica, Augustine speaks at large in his Confessions, a book written for "a people curious to know the lives of others, but careless to amend their own"; written not indeed to satisfy such curiosity, but to show forth to his fellows the mercy of God.  His ways as exemplified in the life of one sinner, and to endeavour that no one should think of him above that which he confessed himself to be.
  As a child Monica instructed him in the Christian religion and taught him to pray; falling dangerously ill, he desired baptism and his mother got everything ready for it: but he suddenly grew better, and it was put off.  This custom of deferring baptism for fear of sinning under the obligations of that sacrament, St Augustine later very properly condemns; but the want of a sense of its sanctity and the sacrileges of Christians in defiling it, by relapsing into sin, is an abuse which no less calls for our tears.  "And so I was put to school to learn those things in which, poor boy, I knew no profit, and yet if I was negligent in learning I was whipped: for this method was approved by my elders, and many that had trod that life before us had chalked out unto us these wearisome ways..."
   Augustine thanks God that, though the persons who pressed him to learn had no other end in view than, "penurious riches" and "ignominious glory", yet divine Providence made a good use of their error, and forced him to learn for his great profit and manifold advantage. He accuses himself of often studying only by constraint, disobeying his parents and masters, not writing, reading, or minding his lessons so much as was required of him; and this he did, not for want of wit or memory, but out of love of play. But he prayed to God with great earnestness that he might escape punishment at school, for which dread he was laughed at by his masters and parents.
Nevertheless, "we were punished for play by them that were doing no better; but the boys' play of them that are grown up is named business. Who is he that, weighing things well will justify my being beaten when I was a boy for playing at ball, because by that play I was hindered from learning so quickly those arts with which, when grown up, I should play far worse?"  "No one does well what he does against his will", he says, and takes notice that the master who corrected him for a small fault "if overcome in some petty dispute by a fellow teacher, was more envious and angry than the boy ever was when outdone by a playfellow at ball."  He liked Latin, having learned that language from his nurses, and others withwhom he conversed; but not the Latin "which the first masters teach; rather that which is taught by those who are called grammarians". Whilst he was little he hated Greek, and, for want of understanding it sufficiently, Homer was disagreeable to him; but Latin poets became his early delight.
  Augustine went to Carthage towards the end of 370, in the beginning of his seventeenth year.  There he took a foremost place in the school of rhetoric and applied himself to his studies with eagerness and pleasure; but his motives were vanity and ambition, and to them he jointed loose living, though it was acknowledged that he always loved decency and good manners even in his excesses. Soon he entered into relations with a woman, irregular but stable, to whom he remained faithful until he sent her from him at Milan in 385; she bore him a son, Adeodatus, in 372.  His father, Patricius, died in 371 but Augustine still continued at Carthage and, by reading the Hortensius of Cicero, his mind was turned from rhetoric to philosophy; he also read the Christian sacred writings, but he was offended with the simplicity of the style, and could not relish their humility or penetrate their spirit. Then it was that he fell into the error of the Manichees, that infirmity of noble mind troubled by the "problem of evil", which seeks to solve the problem by teaching a metaphysical and religious dualism, according to which there are two eternal first principles, God, the cause of all good, and matter, the cause of all evil.  The darkening of the understanding and clumsiness in the use of the faculties which wait on evil-living helped to betray him into this company, which he kept till his twenty-eighth year; and pride did the rest.
"I sought with pride", he says, "what only humility could make me find. Fool that I was, I left the nest, imaginiag myself able to fly; and I fell to the ground."
   For nine years Augustine had his own schools of rhetoric and grammar at Tagaste and Carthage, while his devoted mother, spurred on by the assurance of a holy bishop that "the son of so many tears could not perish", never ceased by prayer and gentle persuasion to try to bring him to conversion and reform. After meeting the leading Manichean teacher, Faustus, he began to be disillusioned about that sect, and in 383 departed to Rome, secretly, lest his mother should prevent him.  He opened a school of rhetoric there, but finding the scholars were accustomed frequently to change their masters in order to cheat them of their fees he applied for and received a post as master of rhetoric in Milan. Here he was well received and the bishop, St Ambrose, gave him marks of respect.
  Augustine was very desirous of knowing
St Ambrose, not as a teacher of the truth, but as a person of great learning and reputation.  He often went to his sermons, not so much with any expectation of profiting by them as to gratify his curiosity and to enjoy the eloquence but he found the discourses more learned than those of the heretic Faustus, and they began to make impression on his heart and mind; at the same time he read Plato and Plotinus: "Plato gave me knowledge of the true God, Jesus Christ showed me the way." St Monica, having followed him to Milan, wished to see him married, and the mother of Adeodatus returned to Africa, leaving the boy behind but neither marriage nor single continence followed.  And so the struggle, spiritual, moral, intellectual, went on.
   Augustine became convinced of the truth and excellence of that virtue which the divine law prescribes in the Catholic Church, but was haunted with an apprehension of insuperable difficulties in its practice, that kept him from resolutely entering upon it.  And so, by listening to St Ambrose and reading the Bible he was convinced of the truth of Christianity, but there was still wanting the will to accept the grace of God.
  He says of himself:
"I sighed and longed to be delivered but was kept fast bound, not with exterior chains but with my own iron will.  The Enemy held my will, and of it he had made a chain with which be had fettered me fast for from a perverse will was created wicked desire or lust, and the serving this lust produced custom, and custom not resisted produced a kind of necessity, with which, as with links fastened one to another, I was kept close shackled in this cruel slavery. I had no excuse as I pretended formerly when I delayed to serve Thee, because I had not yet certainly discovered thy truth: now I knew it, yet I was still fettered...I had nothing now to reply to thee when thou saidst to me, `Rise, thou that sleepest, and rise up from the dead, and Christ shall enlighten thee`...I had nothing, I say, at all to reply, being now convinced by thy faith, except lazy and drowsy words, `Presently, by and by, let me alone a little while longer'; but this' presently did not presently come; these delays had no bounds, and this `little while` stretched out to a long time."

He had been greatly impressed by hearing the conversion of Roman neo-Platonist professor, Victorinus, related by St Simplician; and soon after Pontitian, an African, came to visit Augustine and his friend Alipius. Finding a book of St Paul's epistles lying on the table, he took occasion to speak of the life of St Antony, and was surprised to find that his name was unknown to them. Pontitian then went on to speak of two men who had been suddenly turned to the service of God by reading a life of St Antony.  His words had a powerful influence on the mind of Augustine, and he saw, as it were in a glass, his own filthiness and deformity. In his former half desires of conversion he had been accustomed to beg of God the grace of continence, but was at the same time in some measure afraid of being heard too soon. 
"In the first dawning of my youth", says he, "I had begged of thee chastity, but by halves, miserable wretch that I am; and I said, `Give me chastity, but not yet awhile'; for I was afraid lest thou shouldst hear me too soon, and heal me of the disease which I rather wished to have satisfied than extinguished." He was ashamed his will had been so weak, and directly Pontitian had gone he turned to Alipius  "What are we doing to let the unlearned seize Heaven by force, whilst we with all our knowledge remain behind, cowardly and heartless, wallowing in our sins?  Because they have outstripped us and gone on before, are we ashamed to follow them?   Is it not more shameful not even to follow them?"
He got up and went into the garden. Alipius, astonished at his manner and emotion, followed, and they sat down as far as they could from the house, Augustine under going a violent inward conflict. He was torn between the voice of the Holy Ghost calling him to chastity and the seductive memory of his former sins, and going alone further into the garden he threw himself on the ground under a tree, crying out,
"How long, 0 Lord?  Wilt thou be angry for ever? Remember not my past iniquities!"  He reproached himself miserably: "How long?  How long? To-morrow, to-morrow?  Why not now? Why does not this hour put an end to my filthiness?"
  As he spoke these things and wept with bitter contrition of heart, on a sudden he heard as it were the voice of a child singing from a neighbouring house, which frequently repeated these words, Tolle lege! Tolle lege! "Take up and read Take up and read!"  And he began to consider whether in any game children were wont to sing any such words; and he could not call to mind that he had ever heard them.
Whereupon he rose up, suppressing his tears, and interpreted the voice to be a divine admonition, remembering that St Antony was converted from the world by hearing a particular passage of the gospel read. He returned to where Alipius was sitting with the book of St Paul's epistles, opened it, and read in silence the words on which he first cast his eyes: "Not in rioting and drunkenness; not in chambering and impurities; not in contention and envy; but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh in its concupiscences."  All the darkness of his former hesitation was gone. He shut the book, and with a serene countenance told Alipius what had passed.  Alipius asked to see the passage he had read, and found the next words to be: "Him that is weak in faith, take unto you"; which he applied to himself, and joined his friend in his resolution.  They immediately went in and told St Monica, who rejoiced and praised God, "who is able to do all things more abundantly than we desire or understand". This was in September 386, and Augustine was thirty-two.
He at once gave up his school and retired to a country house at Cassiciacum, near Milan, which his friend Verecundus lent to him; he was accompanied by his mother Monica, his brother Navigius, his son Adeodatus, St Alipius, and several other friends, and they lived a community life together.  Augustine employed himself in prayer and study, and his study was a kind of prayer by the devotion of his mind therein. Here he sought by austere penance, by the strictest watchfulness over his heart and senses, and by humble prayer, to control his passions, and to prepare himself for the grace of leading a new life in Christ and becoming in Him a new creature.
"Too late", he prayed, "have I loved thee, 0 Beauty so ancient and so new, too late have I loved thee I  Thou wast with me, and I was not with thee. I was abroad, running after those beauties which thou hast made; those things which could have no being but in thee kept me far from thee. Thou hast called, thou hast cried out, and hast pierced my deafness. Thou hast enlightened, thou hast shone forth, and my blindness is dispelled.  I have tasted thee, and am hungry for thee. Thou hast touched me, and I am afire with the desire of thy embraces."
From the conferences and conversations which took place during these seven months St Augustine drew up his three dialogues, Against the Academicians, Of the Happy Life and Of Order,.
St Augustine was baptized by St Ambrose on Easter-eve in 387, together with Alipius and his dearly loved son Adeodatus, who was about fifteen years of age and was to die not long afterwards. In the autumn he resolved to return to Africa. Accordingly he went to Ostia with his mother and several friends, and there St Monica died in November 387. To her life and last days Augustine devotes six moving chapters of his Confessions.  He returned for a short while to Rome, and went on to Africa in September 388, where he hastened with his friends to his house at Tagaste. There he lived almost three years, disengaged from temporal concerns, serving God in fasting, prayer, good works, meditating upon His law and instructing others by his discourses and books. All things were in common and were distributed according to everyone's needs. St Augustine himself reserved nothing which he could call his own. He had no idea of becoming a priest, but in 391 he was ordained as an assistant to Valerius, Bishop of Hippo. So Augustine had to move to that city; and in a house adjoining the church he established a sort of monastery, modelled on his household at Tagaste, living there with St Alipius, St Evodius, St Possidius, and others "according to the rule of the holy Apostles". Valerius, who was a Greek, and had, moreover, an impediment in speaking, appointed him to preach to the people in his own presence, as was customary for bishops to do in the East, but till that time was unusual in the West; more unusual still, he was given permission to preach "on his own"; he from that time never interrupted the course of his sermons till his death.
We have nearly four hundred extant, though many were not written by him but taken down by others as he delivered them. During these early days he vigorously opposed the Manicheans and the beginnings of Donatism, as well as effected such domestic reforms as the abolition of feasting in the chapels of the martyrs and of family fights as a public amusement. St Augustine preached always in Latin, though among the peasants of the country in certain parts of his diocese some understood only the Punic tongue, and these he found it difficult to furnish with priests.

In 395 he was consecrated bishop as coadjutor to Valerius, and succeeded him in the see of Hippo on his death soon after.  Augustine established regular and common life in his episcopal residence, and required all the priests, deacons, and subdeacons that lived with him to renounce property and to follow the rule he established there; nor did he admit any to holy orders who did not bind themselves to a similar manner of life. His biographer, St Possidius, tells us that the clothes and furniture were modest but decent, and not slovenly.  No silver was used in his house, except spoons; dishes were of earthenware or wood. He exercised hospitality, but his table was frugal; nor was wine wanting, but the quantity was regulated, which no guest was ever allowed to exceed.  At meals he preferred reading to secular conversation.  All his clerks who lived with him ate at the same table and were clothed out of the common stock. 
Thus, in the words of Pope Paschal II, "The regular mode of life recognized in the early Church as instituted by the Apostles was earnestly adopted by the blessed Augustine, who provided it with new regulations". 
He also founded a community of religious women to whom, on the death of his sister, the first "abbess", he addressed a letter on the general ascetic principles of the religious life. This letter, together with two sermons on the subject, constitutes the so-called Rule of St Augustine, which is the basis of the constitutions of many canons regular, friars and nuns. St Augustine employed the revenues of his church in relieving the poor, as he had before given his own patrimony, and Possidius says that he sometimes melted down part of the sacred vessels to redeem captives in which he was authorized by the example of St Ambrose.  In several of his letters and sermons mention is made of the custom he had got his flock to establish, of clothing all the poor of each parish once a year, and he was not afraid sometimes to contract considerable debts to help the distressed. Nor did his zeal and charity for the spiritual welfare of others have bounds.
"I do not wish to be saved without you", said he to his people, like another Moses or St Paul.  "What shall I desire? What shall I say?  Why am I a bishop? Why am I in the world?  Only to live in Jesus Christ: but to live in Him with you. This is my passion, my honour, my glory, my joy and my riches."
There were few men endowed by nature with a more affectionate and friendly soul than St Augustine. He conversed freely with infidels, and often invited them to his table; but generally refused to eat with Christians whose conduct was publicly scandalous, and was severe in subjecting them to canonical penance and to the censures of the Church. He never lacked courage to oppose iniquity without respect of persons, though he never forgot charity, meekness and good manners. He complains that some sins were by custom become so common that, though he condemned them, he dare not oppose them too strongly for fear of doing much harm and no good.
He observed the three rules of St Ambrose: never to make matches for any persons, lest they should prove unhappy; never to persuade any to be soldiers; and never to dine out in his own city, lest invitations should become frequent. The letters of great men are generally interesting both for illustrating their history and throwing light on their minds. Those of St Augustine are particularly so.  In his fifty-fourth to Januarius he says that they do well who communicate daily, provided it be done worthily and with the humility of Zaccheus when he received Christ under his roof; but that they are also to be commended who sometimes imitate the humble centurion and set apart Sundays and Saturdays or other days for communicating, in order to do it with greater devotion. 
He explains the duties of a wife towards her husband in his letter to Ecdicia, telling her that she ought not to wear black clothes, seeing this gave him offence, and she might be humble in mind in rich and gay dress if he should insist upon her wearing such.  He tells her she ought, in all things reasonable, to agree with her husband as to the manner of educating their son, and leave to him the chief care of it.  In like manner did he impress upon husbands the respect, tender affection and consideration which they owe to their wives. 
There is a good example of St Augustine's modesty and humility in his discussion with St Jerome over the interpretation of a text of Galatians. Owing to the miscarriage of a letter Jerome, not an easily patient man, deemed himself publicly attacked. Augustine wrote to him, "I entreat you again and again to correct me confidently when you perceive me to stand in need of it; for though the office of a bishop be greater than that of a priest, yet in many things Augustine is inferior to Jerome." He grieved at the violence with which the controversy between St Jerome and Rufinus was carried on. He always feared the deceit of vain-glory in such disputes, in which men love an opinion, as he says, "Not because it is true, but because it is their own, and they dispute, not for the truth, but for the victory".
Throughout his thirty-five years as bishop of Hippo St Augustine had to defend the Catholic faith against one heresy or another.  Serious trouble was given by the Donatists, whose chief errors were that the Catholic Church by holding communion with sinners had ceased to be the Church of Christ, this being confined within the limits of their sect, and that no sacraments can be validly conferred by those that are not in the true Church.
These Donatists were exceedingly numerous in Africa, and they carried their fury to the greatest excesses, murdering Catholics and committing all sorts of violence. By the learning and indefatigable zeal of St Augustine, supported by the sanctity of his life, the Catholics began to gain ground; at which the Donatists were so exasperated that some preached publicly that to kill him would be doing service to their religion, and highly meritorious before God. Augustine was obliged in 405 to invoke the civil power to restrain the Donatists about Hippo from the outrages which they perpetrated, and in the same year the Emperor Honorius published severe laws against them. Augustine at first disapproved such measures, though he afterwards changed his opinion, except that he would not countenance a death-penalty. A great conference between the two parties at Carthage in 411 marked the beginning of the decline of these heretics, but almost at once the Pelagian controversy began.
Pelagius is commonly called a Briton, but as St Jerome refers to him as "big and fat, a fellow bloated with Scots porridge", he has been claimed for Ireland he rejected the doctrine of original sin and taught therefore that baptism was simply a title of admission to Heaven, and that grace is not necessary to salvation. In 411 he left Rome for Africa with his friend Caelestius, and during that year their doctrines were for the first time condemned by a synod at Carthage.  St Augustine was not at this council, but from that time he began to oppose these errors in his sermons and letters.  Before the end of that year he was persuaded by the tribune St Marcellinus to write his first treatises against them. This, however, he did without naming the authors of the heresy, hoping thus more easily to gain them he even praised Pelagius by name.  "As I hear, he is a holy man, well exercised in Christian virtue: a good man, and worthy of praise." But he was fixed in his errors and throughout the series of disputations, condemnations and subterfuges that followed, St Augustine pressed him relentlessly  to him is the Church indebted as the chief instrument of God in overthrowing this heresy.

When Rome was plundered by Alaric the Goth in 410 the pagans renewed their blasphemies against the Christian religion, to which they imputed the calamities of the empire.  To answer their slanders, St Augustine began his great work Of the City of God in 413, though he only finished it in 426, the work of his which is the most widely read after his Confessions; it goes far beyond simply answering the pagans to a development of his philosophy of God-controlled history.

  In the Confessions St. Augustine, with the most sincere humility and contrition, lays open the errors of his conduct; in his seventy-second year he began to do the like for his judgement.  In this work, his Retractations, he reviewed his writings, which were very numerous, and corrected with candour and severity the mistakes he had made, without seeking the least gloss or excuse to extenuate them. To have more leisure to finish this and his other writings, and to provide against a trouble-some election after his death, he proposed to his clergy and people to choose for his coadjutor Heraclius, the youngest among his deacons, and his election was confirmed with acclamation in 426. But in spite of this precaution Augustine's last years were full of turmoil. Count Boniface, who had been the imperial general in Africa, having unjustly incurred the suspicion of the regent Placidia and being in disgrace, incited Genseric, King of the Vandals, to invade the African provinces. Augustine wrote a wonderful letter to Boniface, recalling him to his duty, and the count sought a reconciliation with Placidia, but could not stay the Vandal invasion.
St Possidius, now bishop of Calama, describes the dreadful ravages by which they [
Vandals] scattered horror and desolation as they marched.  He saw the cities in ruin and the houses in the country razed to the ground, the inhabitants either being slain or fled. The praises of God had ceased in the churches, which had in many places been burnt. Mass was offered up in private houses, or not at all, for in many parts there were none left to demand the sacraments, nor was it easy elsewhere to find any to minister to those who required them. The bishops and the rest of the clergy who had escaped were stripped of everything, and reduced to beggary; and of the great number of churches in Africa, there were hardly three remaining (namely, Carthage, Hippo and Cirta) whose cities were yet standing. Count Boniface fled to Hippo, and St Possidius and several neighbouring bishops took refuge in the same place. The Vandals appeared before it about the end of May 430, and the siege continued fourteen months. In the third month St Augustine was seized with a fever, and from the first moment of his illness knew that it was the summons of God to Himself.  Ever since he retired, death had been the chief subject of his meditations and in his last illness he spoke of it with great cheerfulness, saying, "We have a merciful God". He often spoke of the joy of St Ambrose in his last moments, and of the saying of Christ to a certain bishop in a vision mentioned by St Cyprian. "You are afraid to suffer here, and unwilling to go hence what shall I do with you? What love of Christ can that be, to fear lest He, whom you say you love, shall come?  Brethren, are we not ashamed to say we love, when we add that we are afraid lest He come."

In this last illness he asked for the penitential psalms to be written out and hung in tablets upon the wall by his bed and as he there lay he read them with tears. The strength of his body daily and hourly declined, yet his senses and intellectual faculties continued sound to the last, and he calmly resigned his spirit into the hands of God on August 28, 430, after having lived seventy-six years and spent almost forty of them in the labours of the ministry.
 St Possidius adds, "We being present, the Sacrifice was offered to God for his recommendation, and so he was buried", in the same manner as St Augustine says was done for his mother. Whilst the saint lay sick in bed, by the imposition of his hands he restored to health a sick man, and Possidius says, "I know, both when he was priest and when he was bishop, that being asked to pray for certain persons that were possessed, he poured out supplications to our Lord, and the evil spirits departed from them."

It is from St Augustine's own writings, more particularly from his Confessions, his De Civitate Dei, his correspondence, and his sermons, that we obtain the fullest insight into his life and character.  All these are readily accessible both in the original and in translations. The text of the Vienna Corpus scriptorum ecciesiasticorum latinorum is generally reliable so far as it is available, but for the Confessions that of Pierre de Labriolle, published in 1926 with an excellent French translation, may be preferred. The best English translation of this last work, among many, is probably that of Gibb and Montgomery (1927) a more recent one is by F. J. Sheed (1944). A convenient edition of the De Civitate Dei with English notes has been published by Dean Welldon (1924); W. J. Sparrow Simpson has produced a good translation of the Letters (1919), as well as a sympathetic study, St Augustine's Conversion (1920). Of all modern contributions to Augustinian literature the most outstanding is the publication, the merit of which mainly rests with Dom Germain Morin, of a revised and much enlarged collection of the sermons. This forms the first volume of the Miscelianea Agostiniana (1931) brought out to commemorate the fifteenth centenary of the saint's death. The early life of Augustine by his disciple St Possidius has also been re-edited and translated into German by Adolf Harnack (1930).  But the whole literature is too vast for detailed discussion; to quote only the titles of books produced in the past twenty years would fill several pages. It must suffice here to mention A Monument to St Augustine (1930), a volume of essays by English Catholic writers, H. Pope, St Augustine of Hippo (essays 1937),  G. Bardy, S. Augustin, l'homnie et l'oeuvre (1940), E. Gilson, Introduction a l'etude de S. Augustin (1943) and a biography in French by J. D. Burger (1948). For a general account of both life and writings, the article by Fr Portalié in DTC., vol. i, cc. 2208-2472, may be specially recommended as also Bardenhewer's Geschichte der altkirch. Literatur, vol. iv, pp. 435-511. There are lives of a more popular character in English by Bertrand and by Hatzfeld, and Mary Allies brought out or two or three volumes of selections and translations from St Augustine's various works more recently translations have begun to appear in USA., edited by competent scholars. There is a translation of the vita by Possidius in F. R. Hoare, The Western Fathers (1954) and see J. J. O'Meara, The Young Augustine (1954).
This famous son of St. Monica was born in Africa and spent many years of his life in wicked living and in false beliefs. Though he was one of the most intelligent men who ever lived and though he had been brought up a Christian, his sins of impurity and his pride darkened his mind so much, that he could not see or understand the Divine Truth anymore. Through the prayers of his holy mother and the marvelous preaching of St. Ambrose, Augustine finally became convinced that Christianity was the one true religion. Yet he did not become a Christian then, because he thought he could never live a pure life. One day, however, he heard about two men who had suddenly been converted on reading the life of St. Antony, and he felt terrible ashamed of himself. "What are we doing?" he cried to his friend Alipius. "Unlearned people are taking Heaven by force, while we, with all our knowledge, are so cowardly that we keep rolling around in the mud of our sins!"

Full of bitter sorrow, Augustine flung himself out into the garden and cried out to God, "How long more, O Lord? Why does not this hour put an end to my sins?" Just then he heard a child singing, "Take up and read!" Thinking that God intended him to hear those words, he picked up the book of the Letters of St. Paul, and read the first passage his gaze fell on. It was just what Augustine needed, for in it, St. Paul says to put away all impurity and to live in imitation of Jesus. That did it! From then on, Augustine began a new life.

He was baptized, became a priest, a bishop, a famous Catholic writer, Founder of religious priests, and one of the greatest saints that ever lived. He becam e very devout and charitable, too. On the wall of his room he had the following sentence written in large letters: "Here we do not speak evil of anyone." St. Augustine overcame strong heresies, practiced great poverty and supported the poor, preached very often and prayed with great fervor right up until his death. "Too late have I loved You!" he once cried to God, but with his holy life he certainly made up for the sins he committed before his conversion.

St. Augustine (354-430) A Christian at 33, a priest at 36, a bishop at 41: many people are familiar with the biographical sketch of Augustine of Hippo, sinner turned saint. But really to get to know the man is a rewarding experience.  There quickly surfaces the intensity with which he lived his life, whether his path led away from or toward God. The tears of his mother, the instructions of Ambrose and, most of all, God himself speaking to him in the Scriptures redirected Augustine’s love of life to a life of love.

Having been so deeply immersed in creature-pride of life in his early days and having drunk deeply of its bitter dregs, it is not surprising that Augustine should have turned, with a holy fierceness, against the many demon-thrusts rampant in his day. His times were truly decadent—politically, socially, morally. He was both feared and loved, like the Master. The perennial criticism leveled against him: a fundamental rigorism.

In his day, he providentially fulfilled the office of prophet. Like Jeremiah and other greats, he was hard-pressed but could not keep quiet. “I say to myself, I will not mention him,/I will speak in his name no more./But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart,/imprisoned in my bones;/I grow weary holding it in,/I cannot endure it” (Jeremiah 20:9).

Comment:  Augustine is still acclaimed and condemned in our day. He is a prophet for today, trumpeting the need to scrap escapisms and stand face-to-face with personal responsibility and dignity.
Quote:  “Too late have I loved you, O Beauty of ancient days, yet ever new! Too late I loved you! And behold, you were within, and I abroad, and there I searched for you; I was deformed, plunging amid those fair forms, which you had made. You were with me, but I was not with you. Things held me far from you—things which, if they were not in you, were not at all. You called, and shouted, and burst my deafness. You flashed and shone, and scattered my blindness. You breathed odors and I drew in breath—and I pant for you. I tasted, and I hunger and thirst. You touched me, and I burned for your peace” (St. Augustine, Confessions).  
Augustinus Orthodoxe Kirche: 15. Juni  Katholische, Anglikanische und Evangelische Kirche: 28. August  Weitere Gedenktage:
Gedenktag der Bekehrung: 5. Mai (in Brügge) Überführung der Gebeine nach Pavia: 11. Oktober
Augustinus Aurelius wurde am 23. 11 345 in Thagaste (Tunesien) geboren. Er wurde von seiner frommen Mutter Monnica christlich erzogen, liess sich aber nicht taufen sondern führte ein ausschweifendes Leben. Um 384 begann er als Lehrer für Rhetorik in Mailand zu arbeiten. Hier hörte er sich die Predigten des Mailänder Bischofs Ambrosius regelmäßig an, um dessen Rhetorik zu studieren. Er wurde aber auch von dem Inhalt der Botschaft angerührt und bekehrte sich nach langem Glaubenskampf. In der Osternacht 387 wurde er von Ambrosius getauft. Über diese Zeit hat Augustinus in seinen "Bekenntnissen" ausführlich berichtet.
388 kehrte Augustinus nach Tagaste zurück, verkaufte seine Besitzungen und gründete mit Freunden eine Klostergemeinschaft. Bischof Valerius von Hippo ernannte Augustinus, der zunächst widerstrebte, 392 zum Priester und kurze Zeit später zu seinem Stellvertreter. Nach dem Tode Valerius wurde Augustinus 396 Bischof von Hippo Regius (heute Annaba/Algerien). Neben seinen Bekenntnissen und dem "Gottesstaat" schrieb er zahlreiche bedeutende Werke. Es sollen über 1000 Schriften gewesen sein, erhalten sind über 800. Augustinus war auch ein großer Seelsorger und Lehrer. In der Auseinandersetzung mit den geistigen Strömungen seiner Zeit, den Manichäern, Donatisten und Pelagianern entwickelte er seine Theologie, die bis in die Reformationszeit die Lehre beeinflußte. Augustinus schrieb außerdem für ein Frauenkloster in Hippo eine Regel; sie ist die Grundlage für den Augustinerorden, der sich schnell ausbreitete. Augustinus starb am 28.8.430 in Hippo Regius.
460 St. Vivian Bishop of Saintes: invading Visigoths
Apud Sántonas, in Gállia, sancti Viviáni, Epíscopi et Confessóris.  At Saintes, St. Vivian, bishop and confessor.
France; dedicated to relieving suffering of local people caused by invading Visigoths.
475 Saint Shushanik wife of the Georgian prince Varsken, ruler of Hereti (a province of southeastern Georgia) under Persian control at that time; martyr for her faith
Varsken was essentially the viceroy for the Persians. Having been raised in a pious Christian family, she was deeply penetrated with love and the fear of God.

At that time Kartli was under heavy political pressure from Persia, and Prince Varsken visited the Persian king Peroz in hopes of encouraging more friendly relations between the two countries. He willingly denied the true Faith, converted to the worship of fire, and promised the king to convert his wife and children upon his return to Hereti.  Having approached the border of Hereti, Varsken sent messengers to Tsurtavi, the city in which he ruled, to ensure that his subjects met him with due respect. The blessed Shushanik, having learned of her husband’s betrayal, fell to the ground and wept over him with bitter tears. Then she took her four children, deserted the palace, and sought refuge in a nearby church.

That evening Shushanik was visited by her spiritual father, the elder Jacob, who predicted, “Varsken’s cruelty and mercilessness are unmistakable. Know that terrible trials await you. Will you be firm and unbending in your position?”  “I would rather die than unite with him and destroy my soul!” she answered.
Three days later the prince arrived in Tsurtavi. As promised, he tried to persuade his wife to convert, but St. Shushanik firmly answered,
“As you have renounced your Creator, so I am renouncing you. I will no longer take part in your affairs, no matter what suffering I must endure!”

The next time, Varsken sent his younger brother Jojik and Bishop Apots to convince Shushanik to return to the palace. Shushanik refused for some time, but in the end she yielded to their persuasion. She set off for the palace with the Holy Gospel and the Lives of the holy martyrs, and when she arrived she locked herself in a squalid cell. Two days later Varsken returned to the palace and invited Shushanik, his brother Jojik, and his sister-in-law for supper. The queen, however, could not bring herself to share a meal with one who had betrayed Christ: she pushed away the cup that Jojik’s wife had offered her, thus further angering her husband.

The furious Varsken beat his wife mercilessly, fettered her in irons, locked her in prison, and forbade the guards to let anyone in to see her.  St. Shushanik spent six years in captivity. While she was serving her sentence, she helped the poor that came to her. Through her prayers the sick were healed and children were born to the childless. Before her death, Holy Martyr Shushanik blessed those around her and requested that she be buried at the place from which her unbelieving husband had dragged her out of the palace.  This happened in the year 475. The clergy and people alike wept bitterly over Shushanik’s tragic fate. Her holy relics were buried in accordance with her will.

In 578, with the blessing of Catholicos Kirion I, St. Shushanik’s holy relics were translated to Tbilisi, where they remain today, in the Metekhi Church of the Most Holy Theotokos.
650 St. Rumwald largely legendary saint
A prince, the son of King Aldfrith and Queen Cuneburga, in the kingdom of Northumbria, England. He is said to have been only three days old when, upon his Baptism, he declared the profession of faith and then died. While venerated for centuries in parts of England, he is considered to be the subject of highly dubious traditions
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965 St. Gorman Benedictine bishop of Schleswig  
Denmark. He was a missionary in this region
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Synaxis of the Holy Fathers of the Kiev Caves today we honor the whole assembly of these monastic saints who were a light upon the earth, guiding us on the path of salvation.
On this day the Church celebrates whose relics repose in the Far Caves of St Theodosius. They have their own individual days of commemoration
Igumen Theodosius, the Founder (May 3, August 14, September 2) Monk Agathon the Wonderworker (February 20) Archimandrite Acindynus (+1235) Monk Ammon (October 4) Bishop Amphilochius of Vladimir, Volhynia (October 10) Monk Anatolius the Recluse (July 3) Monk Aquila the Deacon (January 4) Monk Arsenius, Lover of Labor (May 8) Monk Athanasius the Recluse (December 2) Monk Benjamin the Recluse (October 13) Monk Cassian the Recluse (February 29, May 8) Elder Daniel (14th Century) Hieromonk Dionysius the Recluse (October 3) Archimandrite Dositheus (+ 1218) Elder Eulogius (14th Century) Hieroschemamonk Euthymius (January 20) Monk Gerontius the Canonarch (April 1) Monk Gregory the Recluse (January 8, August 8) Schemamonk Hilarion (October 21) Monk Hypatius the Healer (March 31) Archimandrite Ignatius (December 20) Monk Isidore the Recluse (12th-13th Centuries) Monk Joseph the Much-Ailing (April 4) Monk Laurence the Recluse (January 20) Monk Leontius the Canonarch (April 1, June 18) Monk Longinus the Gate-Keeper (October 16) Hieromartyr Lucian the Priest (October 15) Monk Macarius the Deacon (January 19) Monk Mardarius the Recluse (December 13) Monk Martyrius the Recluse (October 25) Monk Martyrius the Deacon (October 25) Monk Mercurius the Faster (November 4, 24) Monk Moses the Wonderworker (July 26, 28) Monk Nestor the Unlearned (October 29) Monk Paisius (July 19) Hieromonk Pambo the Recluse (July 18) Hieromonk Pancratius the Recluse (February 9) Monk Paphnutius the Recluse (February 15) Monk Paul the Obedient (September 10) Igumen Pimen the Faster (May 8, August 7) Monk Pior the Recluse (October 4) Monk Rufus the Obedient (April 8) Schemamonk Silvanus (June 10, July 10) Schemamonk Sisoes (July 6) Monk Sophronius the Recluse (March 11, May 11) Monk Theodore the Silent (February 17) Monk Theodosius (Prince Theodore) (August 11) Archbishop Theophilus of Novgorod (October 26) Igumen Timothy (+ 1132) Monk Titus the Soldier (January 27, February 27) Monk Zachariah the Faster (March 24) Monk Zeno the Faster (January 30)
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1495 Saint Sava of Krypetsk was tonsured at Athos, and from there he came to Pskov. He began to struggle on Mount Snetna at the monastery of Mother of God near Pskov, and then he went to a more remote spot along the River Tolva, at the monastery of St Euphrosyne (May 15). Finally, he withdrew for complete solitude to the Krypetsk wilderness, 15 versts from the Tolva, and he settled alone in a small cave in the impenetrable forest.
His food was bread and water, and on Wednesdays and Fridays he ate nothing. Living the life of a hermit he was assailed by unclean spirits, but always he prevailed over them through prayer. After several years in the solitary life, those zealous for wilderness life began to gather around St Sava. They asked him to form a monastery and build a church in honor of the Apostle John the Theologian. The monk refused to be igumen of the monastery and entrusted its guidance to the monk Cassian. Many came out from Pskov to the austere Elder, and he healed and admonished them, but never did he accept gifts from them.

One time the Pskov prince Yaroslav Vasilievich Obolensky, who frequently visited at the monastery, journeyed with his sick wife to see the saint. St Sava sent him a message saying, "The Elder, the sinner Sava, tells you, Prince, not to enter the monastery with the princess. Our rule here states that women are not to enter the monastery. If you transgress this fatherly command, your princess will not receive healing."

The prince asked forgiveness, since it was through ignorance that he was on the point of violating the rule. St Sava came out through the monastery gates with the brethren, and served a Molieben there. The princess was healed. In 1487, through the mediation of the prince, Pskov received a deed to the lands for the monastery.

The monk taught the laity to guard their purity, reminding them of the injunction of the Apostle against the defilers of the body (I Cor. 6:9-10). He told the rich and the judges not to make their living at the expense of the poor and to preserve righteous truth. He frequently reminded everyone to avoid quarrels and enmity, to preserve love and peace and to overlook the faults of others by courtesy, even as they in turn have forgiven us.

At the monastery, a strict cenobitic life had been introduced from the very beginning. Then, when sufficient brethren and means had been gathered, there was nothing in the cell of the monk except for two icons, his monk's garb and the cot upon which he lay down to take his rest.

Through such poverty he taught the brethren. The monk commanded them to work the land with their own hands. He said, "How can we call the ancient ascetics our Fathers, when we do not live their way of life? How can we be counted as their children? They were homeless and poor, they spent their time in caves and in the wilderness, and for the Lord with all their strength they subjected their flesh to the spirit. They knew no respite by day, or by night. We should love the good Lord, children, and show our love for Him not only by words, nor by our manner of attire, but by deeds: by love one for another, by tears, by fasting, by every manner of temperance, just as the ancient Fathers did."

The grateful prince built a bridge to the monastery through the fens and the swamps 1400 sazhen [1 sazhen = 7 feet] in length. After his death (August 28, 1495), St Sava did not forsake the monastery, and many times came to its defense.

Once, robbers approached the monastery at night, and they saw an august Elder who held a staff in his hand and threateningly ordered them to repent. In the morning, they learned that there was no such Elder at the monastery, and they realized that it had been St Sava himself. The leader of the robbers repented before the igumen and remained at the monastery.

St Sava was tall of stature, with a beard grey as snow, roundish and thick and not very long. In this form he appeared to the monk Isaiah in the mid-sixteenth century, and showed him where to find his incorrupt relics. Later, in the year 1555, the Pskov priest Basil compiled the Life of St Sava at the request of the Krypetsk brethren, and his Feastday was established.
THE LONDON MARTYRS OF 1588
WHATEVER the attitude of those on the continent, English Catholics at home did not lag behind in opposition to the Great Armada of Spain or in preparation for defence against it; nationalist patriotism as we know it today was not then matured, but, even though one of Philip’s admitted objects was to re-establish the Church, Catholics no more than anybody else wanted a Spanish invasion of England: the queen persecuted them, but she was still the queen. Nevertheless the defeat of the Armada at the end of July 1588 was followed at once by a more severe perse­cution, of which the first victims suffered in London on August 28 and 30. Six new gallows were set up in various parts of the city, and each of these received its hallowing of innocent blood.
At Mile End Green was hanged BD WILLIAM DEAN, a Yorkshire man born at Linton in Craven. He was a convert minister, who had been ordained at Rheims and already banished once on pain of death if he returned to the country; but come back he did, and was the first victim after the Armada. At the place of execution he began to speak to the people, “but his mouth was stopped by some that were in the cart, in such a violent manner, that they were like to have prevented the hangman of his wages”. With this remarkably grave and learned man died the Ven. Henry Webley, a layman who had befriended him. A short distance away, at Shoreditch, was hanged BD WILLIAM GUNTER, a Welshman from Raglan in Monmouthshire. He also was a priest from Rheims and had been ordained only the previous year. BD ROBERT MORTON and BD HUGH MORE (see September 1) were both hanged in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Mr Morton was born at Bawtry in Yorkshire, educated and ordained at Rheims and Rome, and sent on the mission in 1587. Bd THOMAS HOLFORD (alias Acton and Bude) was the son of a minister of Aston in Cheshire. He became tutor in the household of Sir James Scudamore at Holme Lacy in Herefordshire, where he was converted by Mr Davis, a very zealous priest in those parts, who wrote an account of him. From it we learn that he was ordained at Rheims and ministered in Cheshire and London, having many narrow escapes, till he was seen coming out of the house of Bd Swithin Wells after celebrating Mass there, when the pursuivant “dogged him into his tailor’s house, and there apprehended him”. He was hanged at Clerkenwell.

BD JAMES CLAXTON (or Clarkson) was sent on the mission from Rheims in 1582; he was banished in 1585 but returned, and was hanged at Isleworth, together with BD THOMAS FELTON. Bd Thomas was a Minim friar, the son of Bd John Felton, only twenty years old and not yet a priest, and of him there is an account from the hand of his sister, Mrs Frances Salisbury. She tells us that he came into England to recover his health and was about to return to his monastery when he was arrested and imprisoned for two years. He was twice released and re-arrested, and in Bridewell was confined in the “little ease”, put to labour at the mill, and finally tortured, in order to make him betray the names of priests. When brought up at Newgate after the Armada and asked whether he would have taken the queen’s side or that of the pope and the Spaniards, he replied, “I would have taken part with God and my country”. According to Mrs Salisbury he was condemned for denying the Queen’s ecclesiastical supremacy: “I have read divers chronicles, but never read that God ordained a woman should be supreme head of the Church”; but other accounts say it was for being reconciled, and, as Mrs Salisbury certainly fell away from the faith for a time, her brother may have done so too, in spite of their martyred father.

On August 30 six more martyrs were hanged, all at Tyburn. One only was a priest, BD RICHARD LEIGH (alias Garth), a Londoner, who had made his studies at Rheims and Rome, been sent to England in 1586, banished in the same year, returned almost at once, and was committed for offering to answer questions put to a Catholic gentleman on his examination by the Protestant bishop of London. Mr Leigh and all the priests mentioned above were condemned for their priesthood. BD EDWARD SHELLEY, BD RICHARD MARTIN, and the Ven. Richard Flower (vere Lloyd) all suffered for harbouring or relieving priests. Mr Shelley was a gentleman of Warminghurst in Sussex, son of that Edward Shelley whose name is familiar to men-of-law from “the rule in Shelley’s case”; Mr Martin, born in Shropshire and educated at Broadgates Hall, Oxford, had had the infamy to pay sixpence for a supper for Bd Robert Morton; Flower was from Anglesey. The other two victims at Tyburn on this day were BD MARGARET WARD and BD JOHN ROCHE (alias Neale). Bd Margaret was a gentlewoman, born at Congleton in Cheshire, in the service of another gentlewoman, Mrs Whitall, in London. She had visited in the Bridewell prison Mr Richard Watson, a secular priest; to him she smuggled a rope, but in making use of it to escape Watson had fallen and broken an arm and a leg. He was got away by Margaret's young Irish serving-man, John Roche, who, to assist the priest's escape, changed clothes with him and so was himself arrested. When charged, both Bd Margaret and Bd John refused to disclose Mr Watson's whereabouts; they were offered their liberty if they would ask the queen's pardon and promise to go to church: to which they replied that they had done nothing that could reasonably offend her Majesty, and that it was against their conscience to attend a Protestant church. And so they were condemned. Father Ribadeneira, s.j., wrote that all these martyrs, who suffered with such firm constancy and patience, were forbidden to speak to the people from the scaffold because their persecutors were afraid of the impression they would make; "but the very death of so many saint-like innocent men (whose lives were unimpeachable), and of several young gentlemen, which they endured with so much joy, strongly pleaded for the cause for which they died."

Three more beati achieved their crowns on the following October 5. BD WILLIAM HARTLEY was of yeoman stock, born about 1557 at Wilne, Derbyshire, in the same parish as Bd Edward James. He was educated a Protestant and went up to St John's College, Oxford, where he ultimately became a chaplain. He was ejected by the vice-chancellor in 1579, went to Rheims, was ordained in 1580, and came back to England in the same year. For a time he helped Bd Edmund Campion and Father Persons in their printing and publishing activities, but in eighteen months he was apprehended in the house of the Lady Stonor. For three and a half years he was in prison in London, the last twelve months in irons, having been caught celebrating Mass before other prisoners in his cell. At the beginning of 1585 he was deported, without trial, but he returned secretly to London. In September 1588, Bd William was arrested in Holborn, and a rumour was spread that he had apostatized. This was effectually contradicted by the heroic way in which he met his death, by hanging, "near the Theatre" in Shoreditch, and in the presence of his own mother. "He was a man", says a contemporary, "of the meekest disposition and naturally virtuous, modest, and grave, with a sober and peaceful look."

BD JOHN HEWETT, who was hanged on the same day at Mile End Green for his priesthood, was son of a York draper and had been a student at Caius College, Cambridge. While yet a deacon he was arrested and banished. After ordination to the priesthood at Rheims in 1586, he came back to London and was seized in Grays Inn Lane in the following year. At that time he went under the name of John Weldon (alias Savell) and in that name he was again sent into exile. But he was arrested on a false charge in the Netherlands by the Earl of Leicester, who sent him to London for trial. Here he was tried and sentenced (as John Weldon) for being a seminary priest in England. BD ROBERT SUTTN, a schoolmaster of Paternoster Row, was hanged at Clerkenwell for being reconciled to the Church, he having been brought up a Protestant at his birthplace, Kegwell in Leicestershire. An eye-witness of his martyrdom, William Naylor, wrote: ". . . the sheriff promised to procure his pardon if he would but pronounce absolutely the word all: for he would that he should acknowledge the queen to be supreme head in all causes without any restriction ; but he would acknowledge her to be supreme head in all causes temporal; and for that he would not pronounce the word all without any restriction, he was executed. This I heard and saw."
There may also be mentioned with this group of martyrs BD WILLIAM WAY (alias Flower). Though Challoner calls him a Cornishman he seems to have been born in Exeter, in 1561. He was trained at Rheims, ordained, and sent on the mission at the end of 1586. Six months later he was in jail in London; and on September 23, 1588, he was hanged, drawn and quartered for his priesthood at Kingston-on-Thames.
See MMP., pp. 133-146 and 150-151 ; Burton and Pollen, LEM., vol. i, pp. 351-430 and 508-536 ; and Publications of the Catholic Record Society, vol. v, pp. 150-159 and passim.
1588 Blessed John Roche & Margaret Ward John Roche London martyrs
Blessed Margaret Ward was a gentle woman born at Congleton in Cheshire, in the service of another gentle woman, Whitall, in London. She had visited in the Bridewell prison, Mr. Richard Watson, a secular priest; to him she smuggled a rope, but in making use of it to escape, Watson had fallen and broken an arm and a leg. He was gotten away by Margaret's young Irish serving-man, John Roche, who, to assist the priest's escape, changed clothes with him and so, was himself arrested. When charged, both Blessed Margaret and Blessed John refused to disclose Mr. Watson's whereabouts. They were offered their liberty if they would ask the Queen's pardon and promise to go to church; to which they replied that they had done nothing that could reasonably offend her Majesty, and that it was against their conscience to attend a protestant church. So they were condemned. These martyrs, who suffered with such firm constancy and patience, were forbidden to speak to the people from the scaffold because their persecutors were afraid of the impression they would make; "but the very death of so many saint-like innocent men (whose lives were unimpeachable), and of several young gentlemen, which they endured with so much joy, strongly pleaded for the cause for which they died.
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1588 Bl. William Dean Martyr of England
Born at Linton in Craven, Yorkshire, he was originally a minister who was converted to Catholicism. William left England and received ordination at Reims, France, in 1581. Returning to England, he was arrested and exiled but returned and was arrested again in London. William executed in Nile End Green, London was beatified in 1929
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1588 Bl. William Guntei Martyr of Wales
A native of Raglan, Gwent, Wales, he was a Catholic who received ordination at Reims, France, in 1587. He returned to England to work for the Catholic mission. Captured, hanged at Shoreditch and beatified in 1929
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1588 Bl. Thomas Felton English martyr
The son of Blessed John Felton, he was born at Bermondsey, England, in 1568. Leaving England to study at Reims, France, he entered the Friars Minim and went home to England to recover from an illness. He was arrested and imprisoned for two years. Released, he was again put in prison and hanged at lsleworth, London
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1588 Bl. Thomas Holford English martyr
Also known as Thomas Acton, he was born at Aston, in Cheshire, England. Raised a Protestant, he worked as a schoolmaster in Herefordshire until converting to the Catholic faith. He left England and was ordained at Reims in 1583. Going home, he labored in the areas around Cheshire and London until his arrest. He was hanged at Clerkenwell in London
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1588 Bl. Hugh More Martyr of England
He was a native of Lincolnshire, educated at Oxford. After converting while at Reims, Hugh was martyred at Lincoln’s Inn Fields by hanging. Pope Pius XI beatified him in 1929
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1588 Bl. Robert Morton English martyr of London
Born in Bawtry, Yorkshire, he left England and studied for the priesthood at Reirns and Rome. After ordination in 1587, he returned home immediately and was soon arrested. He was executed at Lincoln's Inn Fields, London. Robert was beatified in 1929 as one of the Martyrs of London of 1588
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1628 St. Edmund Arrowsmith one of the Forty Martyrs
Edmund was the son of Robert Arrowsmith, a farmer, and was born 1585 at Haydock, England. He was baptized Brian, but always used his Confirmation name of Edmund. The family was constantly harrassed for its adherence to Catholicism, and in 1605 Edmund left England and went to Douai to study for the priesthood. He was ordained in 1612 and sent on the English mission the following year. He ministered to the Catholics of Lancashire without incident until about 1622, when he was arrested and questioned by the Protestant bishop of Chester. He was released when King James ordered all arrested priests be freed, joined the Jesuits in 1624, and in 1628 was arrested when betrayed by a young man he had censored for an incestuous marriage. He was convicted of being a Catholic priest, sentenced to death, and hanged, drawn, and quartered at Lancaster on August 28th. He was canonized as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales by Pope Paul VI in 1970.

1628 BD EDMUND ARROWSMITH, MARTYR
HE was born in 1585 at Haydock, near Saint Helens, the son of Robert Arrowsmith, a yeoman farmer, and his wife Margery, a Gerard of Bryn, both of families which had already suffered for the faith. He was baptized Brian, but took the name of Edmund at confirmation and ever after used it. The recusant Arrowsmiths were subjected to a good deal of persecution on one occasion their house was searched for priests at night and the father and mother taken off to Lancaster jail, leaving four small children shivering in their shirts. When the father died, his widow confided young Edmund to the care of an old priest who had him educated. The youth was of an unquestionably religious disposition, and he managed to make his way out of the country to Douay in December 1605. His studies there were interrupted by ill-health, and he was not ordained till 1612, and sent to Lancashire in the following year. For ten years he worked there fruitfully and without mishap, in spite of the fact that his enthusiasm for controversy made him in­different to its dangers. “Though his presence was very mean, yet he was both zealous, witty and fervent, and so forward in disputing with heretics that I often wished him merrily to carry salt in his pocket to season his actions, lest too much zeal without discretion might bring him too soon into danger, con­sidering the vehement and sudden storms of persecution that often assailed us.” “He was a man”, says another contemporary, “of great innocency in his life, of great sincerity in his nature, of great sweetness in his conversation and of great industry in his function. And he was ever of a cheerful countenance— a most probable sign of an upright and unspotted conscience” (Both quoted by Challoner).

About 1622—23 Bd Edmund was taken up and examined before the Protestant bishop of Chester, but King James being at that time interested in a Spanish match for his son, all priests in custody were ordered to be released in order to make a good impression on his Most Catholic Majesty. Dr Bridgeman, the bishop, a kindly old man, was at supper with several ministers when he was brought in, and apologized for eating meat on a Friday because of his age and infirmity. “But who has dispensed these lusty gentlemen?” inquired Bd Edmund. He decided to offer himself to the Jesuits, and after a retreat of several months in Essex in lieu of a novitiate abroad he was admitted to the order. Five years later he was betrayed to a magistrate by a young man whom he had reproved for his irregular life, and at Lancaster assizes in August 1628 he was indicted before Sir Henry Yelverton on charges of being a priest and a Jesuit and of persuading the king’s subjects to join the Church of Rome. The charges, of course, were true, but he was convicted on grossly insufficient evidence and sentenced to death. At the express command of the judge he was heavily manacled and put into a cell so small that he could not lie down; here he was left from two o’clock on Tuesday afternoon till midday on Thursday, apparently without food and with no one allowed to speak to him except a Protestant minister. When he was passing through the courtyard on his way to execution, there was standing at a window Bd John Southworth, who had been (temporarily) reprieved; Bd Edmund lifted up his hands to him as a sign of humble contrition, and Bd John gave him absolution before all the people, who had assembled in great numbers. Up to the last moment before he was thrown off the ladder he was pestered with offers of life and liberty if he would conform, that is, apostatize. “Tempt me no more,” he replied, “I will not do it, in no case, on no condition.” He was allowed to die before the rest of the sentence was carried out; his last audible words were “Bone Iesu!”

A relic of this martyr, known as the Holy Hand, is preserved in the church of St Oswald at Ashton-in-Makerfield and is greatly venerated; it has been and is the occasion of remarkable cures of sickness and disease and of the granting of spiritual requests.

The fullest account of this martyr is probably that preserved in a booklet entitled A Full and Exact Relation of the Death of Two Catholicks who suffered for their Religion at Lancaster in 1628 (1737). It is taken in large part from Henry More, s.j., Historia Provinciae Anglicanae (1630). See also MMP., pp. 362—373 ; Bede Camm, Forgotten Shrines (1910), pp. 183—201 and G. Burns, Gibbets and Gallows (1944).
1651 Saint Job of Pochaev died October 28; his relics were transferred to the church of the Holy Trinity on August 28, 1659; A second uncovering of the relics took place on August 28, 1833
In the year 1902, the Holy Synod decreed that on this day the holy relics of St Job be carried around the Dormition cathedral of the Pochaev Lavra after the Divine Liturgy
.


THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 49

O Lady, despise not my praise: and deign to accept this Psalter dedicated to thee.

Look upon the will of my heart: and make my affection well-pleasing to thee.

Hasten to visit thy servants: under the protection of thy hand may they be preserved unhurt.

May they receive through thee the illumination of the Holy Spirit:
and refreshment against the heat of cupidity.

Heal, O Lady, the contrite of heart: and revive them by the ointment of piety.


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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Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women
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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.

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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
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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
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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:
Marian Apparitions (over 2000)  India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes Feb 11- July 16, Loreto, Italy 1858 
China
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May 23, 1995 Zarvintisya Ukraine Lourdes Kenya national Marian shrine    Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798  
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Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Apostles  Roman Catholic Popes  Purgatory  Uniates, 49 2023