Mary Mother of GOD
Et álibi aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum, atque sanctárum Vírginum.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
Пресвятая Богородице спаси нас!  (Santíssima Mãe de Deus, salva-nos!)
RDeo grátias. R.  Thanks be to God.
August is the month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary;
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CAUSES OF SAINTS

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

Acts of the Apostles

Unification of Europe began under the protection of the Mother of God 
August 31 – Orthodox Feast of the Deposition of the Virgin’s belt in Chalkoprateia
The Belt of the Mother of God was transferred to Constantinople during the reign of Justinian (about 530),
and deposited in the church of Chalkoprateia, which was located not far from Saint Sophia.
Three centuries later, in the 9th century, Emperor Charlemagne who was anointed in the Basilica of Aachen, which he wanted to dedicate to the Mother of God, received with great devotion the relic of the Holy Belt of the Virgin that the Empress of Constantinople gave him.
 All his life he wore the image of Mary attached to his neck by a golden chain.
When he grew older, he asked to be buried with a statue of the Virgin on his heart.
After his death, the Council of Mainz instituted the feast of the Assumption for the entire Frankish Empire.
Charlemagne's empire marked end of feudalism and beginning the unification of Europe developed with Christianity,
under protection of the Mother of God.
According to the Synaxarion of Constantinople, confirmed by the Imperial Menology


2nd v. St. Aristides A confessor of the faith and Athenian philosopher The long lost text has been found in Syriac, Armenian, and Greek
Athénis sancti Aristídis, fide et sapiéntia claríssimi, qui Hadriáno Príncipi egrégium de religióne Christiána volúmen óbtulit, nostri dógmatis cóntinens ratiónem; et quod Christus Jesus solus esset Deus, præsénte ipso Imperatóre, luculentíssime perorávit.
    At Athens, St. Aristides, most celebrated for his faith and wisdom, who presented to Emperor Hadrian a treatise on the Christian religion, containing the exposition of our doctrine.  In the presence of the emperor, he also delivered a discourse in which he clearly demonstrated that Jesus Christ is the only God.
He wrote an Apologia for Christianity, presented to Emperor Hadrian in 125. His text was included in a work by Sts. Barlaam and Josaphat.
Aristides the Athenian (RM) Born in Athens; died c. 133. Saint Aristides was a Greek philosopher who addressed an apologia for Christianity to Emperor Hadrian. The long lost text has been found in Syriac, Armenian, and Greek (Benedictines, Encyclopedia)
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August 31, 2014


August 31 – Feast of the Deposition of the Virgin's Belt at Chalcoprateia (Orthodox Church)
 Healed by Mary's Belt
The precious belt or sash of the Mother of God found its way to Zela in Cappadocia, in the 4th century. It was transferred to Constantinople under Justinian (ca. 530) and deposited in the Chalcoprateion Church near Hagia Sophia.
Around 888, during the reign of Emperor Leo VI "the Wise," his wife Empress Zoe was afflicted with an unclean spirit and seriously ill. She was told in a vision that she would be healed if the belt of the Mother of God were placed on her. Immediately, the Emperor asked that the chest where the relic was kept be opened and the seals broken. Incredibly, the belt appeared intact and undamaged by time, looking as if it had been woven just a few days earlier.

They found a document in the chest indicating the exact date at which the belt had been brought to Constantinople, and how the Emperor himself had put it in the chest and sealed it with his own hands. As soon as the Patriarch lay the belt on the Empress' head, she was healed.
Later, the holy relic was given to the Monastery of Vatopedi on Mount Athos (Greece),
where it still is today, emitting a sweet odor and working many miracles.
www.histoire-russie.fr


The Memorare Aug 31 - Our Lady of Founders (Constantinople)
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection,
implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided.
Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me.  Amen.  --- St Bernard of Clairvaux ---

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.

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

      Sts. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus
2nd v. St. Aristides A confessor of the faith and Athenian philosopher The long lost text has been found in Syriac, Armenian, and Greek
 270 St. Theodotus, Rufina, and Ammia Martyrs
       St. Caesidius Martyr with a group of Christians
 358 St Paulinus, Bishop of Trier and an enemy of the Arian heresy at the arianizing synod of Aries in 353 he stood out boldly for the faith of Nicaea opposed papal legates who were prepared to condemn Athanasius
      St. Optatus, bishop and confessor At Auxerre,
 640 Babolenus of Bobbio replaced Rule of Saint Columbanus with Saint Benedict  OSB Abbot (AC)
 651 St. Aidan of Lindisfarne knowledge of the Bible, learning, eloquent preaching, holiness, distaste for pomp, his kindness to the poor, and the miracles attributed to him
1093 St. Amatus Bishop of Nusco
        St. Bonajuncta, confessor, the birthday of In Tuscany, on Mount Senario
1240 St. Raymond Nonnatus
1250 St. Dominic del Val Altar boy-7 martyr
1294 St. Albertinus Benedictine prior general and peacemaker
1420 Bd.  Laurence Neruci And His Companions, Martyrs
1537 Bl. Richard Bere English martyr
1604 Bd Juvenal Ancina, Bishop Of Saluzzo supernatural gifts and the performance of miracles .8/31/09


Syracuse: The Mysterious Language of Her Tears (III) August 31 - OUR LADY OF FOUNDERS (Constantinople)
As early as December 12th, a little more than three months after the event, the Sicilian Episcopate, gathered together around the Cardinal Ruffini, was able to emit a judgment in an official press release.
The cardinal exposed the decision on a radio broadcast message:
"We saw the Madonna shedding tears over a 4-day period, on August 29th, 30th, and 31st, and on September 1st. The statue "cried" so profusely that those tears impregnated many cotton balls, which became the object of scientific appraisal. The bishops of Sicily, after scrupulously examining the many depositions under oath of witnesses above any suspicion and taking act of the positive tests of the diligent chemical analyses to which the inexplicable tears were subjected, emitted with unanimity the judgment that one cannot question the reality of the facts. Consequently, these men expressed the wish that such a merciful demonstration of our Heavenly Mother may cause the entire population to do salutary penance an d to have a stronger devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, by building a Marian shrine without delaying, so as to perpetuate the memory of the wonder."
According to Br. Michael of the Holy Trinity, The Whole Truth on Fatima, 1986
Dr. Ottavio Musumeci, The Madonna Cried in Syracuse, Ed. Salvator, 1956

  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.

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.


2nd v. St. Aristides A confessor of the faith and Athenian philosopher The long lost text has been found in Syriac, Armenian, and Greek
Athénis sancti Aristídis, fide et sapiéntia claríssimi, qui Hadriáno Príncipi egrégium de religióne Christiána volúmen óbtulit, nostri dógmatis cóntinens ratiónem; et quod Christus Jesus solus esset Deus, præsénte ipso Imperatóre, luculentíssime perorávit.
    At Athens, St. Aristides, most celebrated for his faith and wisdom, who presented to Emperor Hadrian a treatise on the Christian religion, containing the exposition of our doctrine.  In the presence of the emperor, he also delivered a discourse in which he clearly demonstrated that Jesus Christ is the only God.
He wrote an Apologia for Christianity, presented to Emperor Hadrian in 125. His text was included in a work by Sts. Barlaam and Josaphat.
Aristides the Athenian (RM) Born in Athens; died c. 133. Saint Aristides was a Greek philosopher who addressed an apologia for Christianity to Emperor Hadrian. The long lost text has been found in Syriac, Armenian, and Greek (Benedictines, Encyclopedia)
.
Sts. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus
The actions of these two influential Jewish leaders give insight into the charismatic power of Jesus and his teachings—and the risks that could be involved in following him.  Joseph was a respected, wealthy civic leader who had become a disciple of Jesus. Following the death of Jesus, Joseph obtained Jesus' body from Pilate, wrapped it in fine linen and buried it. For these reasons Joseph is considered the patron saint of funeral directors and pallbearers. More important is the courage Joseph showed in asking Pilate for Jesus' body. Jesus was a condemned criminal who had been publicly executed.
According to some legends, Joseph was punished and imprisoned for such a bold act.
Nicodemus was a Pharisee and, like Joseph, an important first-century Jew. We know from John's Gospel that Nicodemus went to Jesus at night—secretly—to better understand his teachings about the kingdom. Later, Nicodemus spoke up for Jesus at the time of his arrest and assisted in Jesus' burial. We know little else about Nicodemus.
270 St. Theodotus, Rufina, and Ammia Martyrs
Cæsaréæ, in Cappadócia, sanctórum Theódoti, Rufínæ et Ammiæ; quorum duo primi paréntes fuérunt sancti Mamántis Mártyris, quem Rufína in cárcere péperit, et Ammia educávit.
    At Caesarea in Cappadocia, the Saints Theodotus, Rufina, and Ammia.  The first two were the parents of the martyr St. Mamas, who was born in prison, and whom Ammia brought up.
Supposedly slain in Cappadocia during the reign of Emperor Aurelian (270-275). Known exclusively through the unreliable Acts of St. Mamas, Theodotus and Rufina were reputedly the parents of St. Mamas, and Ammia his foster mother.
3rd v. St. Caesidius Martyr with a group of Christians
on the shore of Lake Fucino, in Italy. Some records state that he was the son of St. Rufinus.
Caesidius and Companions MM (RM)
3rd century. Saint Caesidius, son of a Bishop Saint Rufinus who was martyred, was ordained to the priesthood and martyred with a group of Christians on the shores of Lake Fucino, 60 miles east of Rome (Benedictines)
.
Antisiodóri sancti Optáti, Epíscopi et Confessóris.
   
St. Optatus, bishop and confessor
At Auxerre,
358 St Paulinus, Bishop of Trier and an enemy of the Arian heresy at the arianizing synod of Aries in 353 he stood out boldly for the faith of Nicaea and opposed the papal legates who were prepared to condemn Athanasius

St Paulinus, Bishop Of Trier
This Paulinus, called by St Athanasius "a truly apostolic man ", and referred to by St Jerome as " happy in his sufferings " for the faith, was educated in the cathedral-school of Poitiers and was a disciple of St Maximinus whom he succeeded in the see of Trier. During the exile of St Athanasius at Trier Paulinus had become one of his most fervent supporters, and at the arianizing synod of Aries in 353 he stood out boldly for the faith of Nicaea and opposed the papal legates who were prepared to condemn Athanasius. In the same cause he withstood the intimidation and violence of the Emperor Constantius, and was banished from his see with St Dionysius of Milan, St Eusebius of Vercelli and St Lucifer of Cagliari; he was sent into Phrygia, to places so remote that Christians had hardly been heard of, and died in exile in the year 358 as expressed in the Roman Martyrology," wearied even to denth by the changes and chances of exile far beyond Christian lands, he received from the Lord the crown of a blessed passion, dying at length in Phrygin His body was brought back to Trier by its bishop St Felix in 396 and enshrined in 402 in the church which bore his name, amid the ruins of which his tomb was found in 1738.
  Great interest attaches to St Paulinus from the fact that his skeleton, still wrapped in oriental silk-stuffs with fragments of the wooden coffin in which it had been brought from Phrygia, was in 1883 taken out of the sarcophagus in which it lay and minutely investigated by a committee of archaeologists and other experts.  The scientists pronounced the relics to be unquestionably authentic, and satisfied themselves that the saint had not, as some stories alleged, been decapitated.
See the Acta Sanctorum, August, vol. vi, where a Latin life is printed dating from the ninth or tenth century. For the relics, see Father Schneider in the Jahrbuchern des Vereins für Alterthumsfreunden im Rheinlande, vol. 78 (1884), pp. 167 seq. On the life of Paulinus cf. P. Diel, Der hl. Maximinus und der hl. Paulinus (1875).
Originally from Gascony, he was educated in the cathedral school and became a follower of St. Maximinus whom he accompanied to Trier. He succeeded Maximinus as bishop of Trier in 349. A friend and supporter of St. Athanasius, he first met the saint when the bishop of Alexandria was exiled by the Arians to Trier. Paulinus passionately defended Athanasius at the Synod of Arles in 353. Two years later, because of his unflinching opposition to Arianism, Paulinus himself was exiled by Emperor Constantius II to Phrygia, where he died
640 Babolenus of Bobbio replaced Rule of Saint Columbanus with Saint Benedict  OSB Abbot (AC)
As the fourth abbot of Bobbio in northern Italy, Saint Babolenus replaced the Rule of Saint Columbanus with that of Saint Benedict (Benedictines)
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651 St. Aidan of Lindisfarne  knowledge of the Bible, his learning, his eloquent preaching, his holiness, his distaste for pomp, his kindness to the poor, and the miracles attributed to him
In Anglia sancti Aidáni, Epíscopi Lindisfarnénsis; cujus ánimam, cum sanctus Cuthbértus, cujus memória tertiodécimo Kaléndas Aprilis cólitur, tunc óvium pastor, in cælum ferri vidísset, relíctis ovibus, factus est Mónachus.
     In England, St. Aidan, bishop of Lindisfarne.  When St. Cuthbert, then a shepherd, saw his soul going up to heaven, he left his sheep and became a monk.  Mention is made of St. Cuthbert on the 20th of March.

St Aidan, Bishop of Lindisfarne
When St Oswald had come to the throne of Northumbria in the year 634, and wished to spread the faith among his people, he asked the monks of lona to send him a bishop to preach to his pagan subjects. The first person who came was of a rough, austere temper, and therefore could do little good; being soon forced to return home again, he laid the fault on the rude character and indocile disposition of the English. The monks called a synod to deliberate what was best to be done, and Aidan, who was present, told the missionary, on his blaming the obstinacy of the English, that the fault lay rather in him that he had been too harsh and severe to an ignorant people, who ought first to be fed with the milk of milder doctrine till they should be able to digest more solid food. At this the whole assembly turned their thoughts to the speaker, as one endued with prudence, and he was appointed to the arduous mission.
  Aidan was a native of Ireland, and is said to have been a disciple of St Senan on Scattery Island, but nothing else is known with certainty of his early life, before he became a monk of lona. He was well received by King Oswald, who bestowed on him for his episcopal seat the isle of Lindisfarne.
  Of his humility and piety St Bede gives a glowing account. He obliged all those who travelled with him to use their spare time either in reading the Bible or in learning the psalms by heart, and he did all his missionary journeys on foot. By his actions he showed that he neither sought nor loved the things of this world; the presents which were made him by the king, or by other rich men, he distributed among the poor. He rarely would go to the king's table, and never without taking with him one or two of his clergy, and always afterwards made haste away to get on with his work. Bede mentions his apostolic liberty in reproving the proud and the great, and the love of peace, charity, continence and all other virtues which by his spirit and example he communicated to a rough and barbarous nation. "He was a bishop inspired with a passionate love of goodness, but at the same time a man of remarkable gentleness and moderation zealous in God's cause, though not altogether according to knowledge" (Bede refers to the fact that St Aidan naturally followed the Celtic customs with regard to the date of Easter, etc.). And such a man was wanted for the task in hand, for Penda and Cadwallon had effectually undone much of the work of St Paulinus.

  St Aidan supported his preaching with miracles, three of which Bede relates and, in speaking of the state of the country thirty years later, testifies to the effectiveness of his apostolate 
" Wherever any cleric or monk came, he was received by all with joy as a servant of God; and when one was met travelling, they would run up to him and bow, glad to be signed by his hand or blessed by his prayer. They gave diligent attention to the words of exhortation which they heard, and on Sundays flocked to the churches or monasteries to hear the word of God. If any priest happened to come into a village, the inhabitants gathered together, solicitous to hear from him the words of life, nor did the clergy frequent the villages on any other account but to preach, visit the sick, and take care of souls  and so free were they from avarice that no one would receive lands or possessions for building monasteries unless compelled to by the secular power."
  The centre of St Aidan's activity was the island of Lindisfarne, now generally called Holy Isle, off the coast of Northumberland, between Berwick and Bamburgh.  Here he had his see and established a monastery under the Rule of St Columcille ; it has not improperly been called the English lona, for from it the paganism of Northumbria was gradually dispelled and barbarian customs undermined.  Dom Gougaud quotes Lightfoot's opinion that "it was not Augustine, but Aidan, who was the true apostle of England": of northern England this is true.  After the seventeen years of Aidan's rule there was a succession of sixteen bishops of Lindisfarne, of whom St Cuthbert was the greatest, but by no means the only saint connected with the island.  St Aidan took to this monastery twelve English boys to be brought up there, and he was indefatigable in caring for the welfare of children and of slaves, for the manumission of many of whom he paid from alms bestowed on him. The great king St Oswald assisted his bishop in every possible way, as did St Oswin
We know little of St Aidan except what we learn from the third book of Bede's Ecclesiastical History;  but the notes of C. Plummer are also valuable.  On points connected with archaeology there is much illustrative matter in Sir Henry Howorth's The Golden Days of the early English Church, vol. i.

Aidan of Lindisfarne, born in Ireland, may have studied under St. Senan before becoming a monk at Iona. At the request of King Oswald of Northumbria, Aidan went to Lindisfarne as bishop and was known throughout the kingdom for his knowledge of the Bible, his learning, his eloquent preaching, his holiness, his distaste for pomp, his kindness to the poor, and the miracles attributed to him. He founded a monastery at Lindisfarne that became known as the English Iona and was a center of learning and missionary activity for all of northern England. He died in 651 at the royal castle at Bamburgh. his successor, and when in 651 Oswin was murdered at Gilling, Aidan survived him only eleven days. He died at the royal castle at Bamburgh, which he used as a mission centre, leaning against a wall of the church where a tent had been set up to shelter him.  He was first buried in the cemetery of Lindisfarne, but when the new church of St Peter was built there his body was translated into the sanctuary; no doubt there were further translations when the island was abandoned at the time of the Scandinavian invasions.  St Aidan is named in the Roman Martyrology, and his feast is kept in several English dioceses and in Argyll and the Isles.

Aidan (Aedan) of Lindisfarne B (RM)
Born in Ireland; died 651. Saint Aidan is said to have been a disciple of Saint Senan on Scattery Island, but nothing else is known with certainty of his early life before he became a monk of Iona. He was well received by King Oswald, who had lived in exile among the Irish monks of Iona and had requested monks to evangelize his kingdom. The first missioner, Corman, was unsuccessful because of the roughness of his methods, so Aidan was sent to replace him. Oswald bestowed the isle of Lindisfarne (Holy Island) on Aidan for his episcopal seat and his diocese reached from the Forth to the Humber.
By his actions he showed that he neither sought nor loved the things of this world; the presents which were given to him by the king or other rich men he distributed among the poor. He rarely attended the king at table, and never without taking with him one or two of his clergy, and always afterwards made haste to get away and back to his work.

The center of his activity was Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumberland, between Berwick and Bamburgh. Here established a monastery under the Rule of Saint Columcille; it was not improperly been called the English Iona, for from it the paganism of Northumbria was gradually dispelled and barbarian customs undermined. The community was not allowed to accumulate wealth; surpluses were applied to the needs of the poor and the manumission of slaves.

From Lindisfarne Aidan made journeys on foot throughout the diocese, visiting his flock and establishing missionary centers. Aidan's apostolate was advanced by numerous miracles according to Saint Bede, who wrote his biography. It was also aided by the fact that Aidan preached in Irish and the king provided the translation. Saint Aidan took to this monastery 12 English boys to be raised there, and he was indefatigable in tending to the welfare of children and slaves, for the manumission of many of whom he paid from alms bestowed on him.

The great king Saint Oswald assisted his bishop in every possible way until his death in battle against the pagan King Penda in 642. Oswald's successor, Saint Oswin, also supported Aidan's apostolate and when in 651, Oswin was murdered in Gilling, Aidan survived him only 11 days. He died at the royal castle of Bamburgh, which he used as a missionary center, leaning against a wall of the church where a tent had been erected to shelter him. He was first buried in the cemetery of Lindisfarne, but when the new church of Saint Peter was finished, his body was translated into the sanctuary.

Saint Bede highly praises the Irish Aidan who did so much to bring the Gospel to his Anglo-Saxon brothers. He wrote that Saint Aidan "was a man of remarkable gentleness, goodness, and moderation, zealous for God; but not fully according to knowledge..." By which Bede means that he followed and taught the liturgical and disciplinary customs of the Celtic Christians, which differed from those of Continental Christianity. Montague notes that one effort of Anglo-Saxon education being conducted by Irish monks was that English writing was distinguished by its Irish orthography. Aidan brought to Ireland the Roman custom of Wednesday and Friday fasts (Attwater, Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Montague, Walsh).

In art, Saint Aidan is portrayed as a bishop with the monastery of Lindisfarne in his hand and a stag at his feet (because of the legend that his prayer rendered invisible a deer pursued by hunters). He might also be portrayed (1) holding a light torch; (2) giving a horse to a poor man; (3) calming a storm; or (4) extinguishing a fire by his prayers (Roeder), He is especially venerated at Glastonbury, Lindisfarne, and Whitby (Roeder).
1093 St. Amatus Bishop of Nusco Italy
Apud Nuscum sancti Amáti Epíscopi.    At Nosco, St. Amatus, bishop.
Amatus of Nusco, OSB B (RM)  Born at Nusco, Italy; died 1093 or 1193. There are conflicting clues regarding the date of Saint Amatus's death. It appears certain that he was a priest and a Benedictine monk at Fontigliano or Montevergine, and then bishop of Nusco. He is reputed to have lived to the age of 90 (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
1240 St. Raymond Nonnatus
Sancti Raymúndi Nonnáti, ex Ordine beátæ Maríæ de Mercéde redemptiónis captivórum, Cardinális et Confessóris; cujus dies natális séptimo Kaléndas Septémbris recólitur.
    St. Raymund Nonnatus, cardinal and confessor, of the Order of our Lady of Ransom for the Redemption of Captives.  His birthday is commemorated on the 26th of August.
(In Spanish SAN RAMON).
 St Raymund Nonnatus, Cardinal of The Holy Roman  Church 
The true story of the career of this saint is wrapped in impenetrable mystery for lack of reliable materials, and no confidence Can be put in the accuracy of the details furnished by Alban Butler's account, summarized below.
  St Raymund was brought into the world at Portello in Catalonia in the year 1204, and was called non natus, "not born ", because he was taken out of the body of his mother after her death in labour. When he grew up he got his father's leave to enter the newly founded Mercedarian Order, and was admitted to profession therein at Barcelona by St Peter Nolasco.  So swift was the progress that he made that within two or three years after his profession he was judged qualified to discharge the office of ransomer, in which he succeeded St Peter.  Being sent into Barbary with a considerable sum of money he purchased at Algiers the liberty of a number of slaves. When all other resources were exhausted, he voluntarily gave himself up as a hostage for the ransom of others, whose situation was desperate and whose faith was exposed to imminent danger.  The sacrifice which the saint made of his liberty served only to exasperate the Algerians, who treated him with barbarity till, fearing lest if he died in their hands they would lose the ransom stipulated for the slaves for whom he remained a hostage, the magistrate gave orders that he should be treated with more humanity. He was permitted to go about the streets and he made use of this liberty to comfort and encourage the Christians, and he converted and baptized some Mohammedans.  When the governor heard of this he condemned him to be impaled. However, the persons who were interested in the ransom of the captives prevailed that his life should be spared lest they should be losers; and, by a commutation of his punishment, he was made to run the gauntlet.  This did not daunt his courage.  So long as he saw souls in danger, he thought he had yet done nothing; nor could he let slip any opportunity of ministering to them.
St Raymund had, on one side, no more money to employ in releasing poor captives; on the other, to speak to a Mohammedan upon the subject of religion was by the Islamic law to court death. He could, however, stilt exert his endeavours with hope of some success or of dying a martyr of charity.  He therefore resumed his former method of instructing and exhorting both Christians and infidels. The governor was enraged, and commanded the servant of Christ to be whipped at the corners of all the streets in the city, his lips to be bored with a red-hot iron, and his mouth shut up with a padlock, the key of which he kept himself and only gave to the gaoler when the prisoner was to eat.  In this condition he was kept in a dungeon, where he lay full eight months, till his ransom was brought by some of his order, who were sent with it by Nolasco.  Raymund was unwilling to leave the country of the infidels, where he wanted to remain to assist the slaves; but he acquiesced in obedience, begging God to accept his tears, seeing he was not worthy to shed his blood for the souls of his neighbours.
Upon his return to Spain in 1239 he was nominated cardinal by Pope Gregory IX. But so little was he affected by unlooked-for honour that he neither changed his dress, nor his poor cell in the convent at Barcelona, nor his manner of living. The pope called him to Rome. St Rayrnund obeyed, but could not be persuaded to travel otherwise than as a poor religious. He got no farther than Cardona (Cerdagne), which is only six miles from Barcelona; he was seized with a violent fever and died there, being only about thirty-six years old. He was buried in the chapel of St Nicholas at Portello, and his name was inscribed in the Roman Martyrology in 1657. St Raymund Nonnatus is the patron-saint of midwives, from the circumstances of his birth.

It has already been pointed out on January 28, under St Peter Nolasco, how extremely unreliable are the accounts supplied from Mercedarian sources of the beginnings and early developments of the Order of Our Lady of Ransom. The Bollandists, unable to discover any trustworthy materials for the story of St Raymond Nonnatus, fell back in despair upon the account given by a sixteenth-century writer (Ciacconius) in his series of biographies of the Roman cardinals. This penury of information has lasted to the present day. All that can be said is that in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries a number of books were printed, mostly of small bulk, by Fathers Dathia, Echeverez y Eyto, Juan de Ia Presentacion, P. E. Menendez, F. T. de Miranda, M. Ulate, and others, purporting to recount the life and miracles of St Raymund Nonnatus, that they repeat with slight variations the story told above, adding, however, numberless miracles, and that they were published with all necessary ecclesiastical sanctions. See also Gams, Kirchengesehichte von Spanien, vol. iii, pt 1. Pope Benedict XIV's commission proposed to remove this feast from the general calendar.

Born 1200 or 1204 at Portello in the Diocese of Urgel in Catalonia; died at Cardona, 31 August, 1240. His feast is celebrated on 31 August. He is pictured in the habit of his order surrounded by ransomed slaves, with a padlock on his lips. He was taken from the womb of his mother after her death, hence his name. Of noble but poor family, he showed early traits of piety and great talent. His father ordered him to tend a farm, but later gave him permission to take the habit with the Mercedarians at Barcelona, at the hands of the founder, St. Peter Nolasco. Raymond made such progress in the religious life that he was soon considered worthy to succeed his master in the office of ransomer. He was sent to Algiers and liberated many captives. When money failed he gave himself as a hostage. He was zealous in teaching the Christian religion and made many converts, which embittered the Mohammedan authorities. Raymond was subjected to all kinds of indignities and cruelty, was made to run the gauntlet, and was at last sentenced to impalement. The hope of a greater sum of money as ransom caused the governor to commute the sentence into imprisonment. To prevent him from preaching for Christ, his lips were pierced with a red-hot iron and closed with a padlock. After his arrival in Spain, in 1239, he was made a cardinal by Gregory IX. In the next year he was called to Rome by the pope, but came only as far as Cardona, about six miles from Barcelona, where he died. His body was brought to the chapel of St. Nicholas near his old farm. In 1657 his name was placed in the Roman martyrology by Alexander VII. He is invoked by women in labour and by persons falsely accused. The appendix to the Roman ritual gives a formula for the blessing of water, in his honour, to be used by the sick, and another of candles.
Apud montem Senárium, in Etrúria, natális sancti Bonajúnctæ Confessóris, e septem Fundatóribus Ordinis Servórum beátæ Maríæ Vírginis; qui, de Passióne Domínica ad fratres verba fáciens, in manus Dómini trádidit spíritum.  Ipsíus autem ac Sociórum festum prídie Idus Februárii celebrátur.
   St. Bonajuncta, confessor, the birthday of
In Tuscany, on Mount Senario, one of the seven founders of the Order of Servites of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who gave up his soul into the hands of the Lord while he was preaching to his brethren on the Passion of our Saviour.  his feast is kept with that of his companions on the 12th of February.
1250 St. Dominic del Val Altar boy martyr
reportedly killed by Jews in Aragon, Spain, called San Dominquito, “Little Dominic.” He is listed as a martyr, being only seven when murdered.
1294 St. Albertinus Benedictine prior general and peacemaker
A monk at the Holy Cross Monastery at Fonte Avelana in Italy, Albertinus was elected prior general of the Benedictine Order, circa 1270. At that time, the Benedictines were in the process of merging with the Camaldolese, and Albertinus provided leadership for this sensitive and far-reaching procedure. He also intervened in a dispute between the people of Gubbio, Italy, and their bishop.

Albertinus of Fonteavellana, OSB (AC) Died 1294; cultus confirmed by Pius VI. Saint Albertinus, monk of Santa Croce monastery in Fonteavellena and prior general of a Benedictine congregation that united with the Camaldolese in 1570, made peace between the bishop and people of Gubbio (Benedictines)
.
1420  Bd.  Laurence Nerucci And His Companions, Martyrs
In the year 1415 John Hus, the leader of a "nationalist" but heretical party among the Czechs, was tried, condemned and burnt alive at Constance, and the ensuing repressive measures had the effect of increasing and strengthening his followers.  In 1419 a former canon regular, John of Selau, stirred up the citizens of Prague to clamour for the release of certain imprisoned Hussites; carrying the Blessed Sacrament in procession he led them to make their demand of the magistrates, and when it was refused urged the mob on to break into the municipal hall and murder all whom they found therein, blasphemously and sacrilegiously using the presence of the Blessed Sacrament as an incentive to fury and bloody revenge.  The victims were thrown out of the windows, to be hacked to pieces by the rioters below (the first "defenestration of Prague").
  For the next twelve months there was civil war, with horrible outrages on both sides, and in March 1420 Pope Martin V called on Christendom to undertake a crusade against the Hussites.  He also sent into Bohemia a number of preachers, among them 4 Servite friars, all of Tuscan families, namely, Laurence Nerucci, Augustine Cennini, Bartholomew Donati, and John-Baptist Petrucci.   Shortly after they arrived, the monastery in which they were staying at Prague was attacked and set on fire by Hussites, and these four with sixty other friars were burned to death as they were singing the Te Deum in church.
See Giani in his Annales Ordinis Servorum B.M.V., vol. i, pp. 396-400, where some contemporary documents will be found printed.  There was presumably a decree promulgating the confirmatio cultus alleged to have taken place, but it does not seem to have been published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.
1537 Bl. Richard Bere English martyr
Born at Glastonbury, he studied at Oxford and the Inns of Court before entering the Carthusians in London. When he and his fellow monks voiced their opposition to the planned divorce of King Henry VIII from Catherine of Aragon, they were starved to death in Newgate Prison
.
1604 Bd Juvenal Ancina, Bishop Of Saluzzo supernatural gifts and the performance of miracles
On October 19, 1545, was born at Fossano in Piedmont the first child of Durando Ancina, of a distinguished family of Spain, and his wife Lucy. The boy was baptized John Juvenal, in honour of St Juvenal of Nami, patron of Fossano. He was a pious youth, but at first he had no intention of entering upon other than a secular career; his father proposed that he should be a physician and sent Juvenal at the age of fourteen to begin his studies at the University of Montpellier.
From thence he went to the school of Mondovi in Savoy and, after his father's death, to the University of Padua; he was a brilliant student, and when only about twenty-four took his doctorate both in philosophy and medicine at Turin.  Here he was appointed to the chair of medicine in 1569 and he soon had an extensive private practice, especially among the poor, because he treated them free of charge.

  It was noticed that Juvenal never took part in games or recreations; the only relaxations that he allowed himself were chess and the writing of verse in Latin and Italian. He liked to deal with great affairs of church and state, and publicly declaimed his own ode on death of Pope St Pius V in 1572. He continued to write verses and hymns all through his life, and composed two epigrams on St Thomas More. About this same year he was assisting at a solemn Mass of requiem in a church at Savigliano, when he was suddenly overwhelmed by the tremendous message of the Dies irae he must have heard the hymn often, and as a physician he was very familiar with death, but now he realized as never before that after death comes judgement.

  Hitherto his life had been blameless, but now he saw that this was not enough; God required something more of him, though what it was he did not yet know. He gave himself more than ever to prayer and meditation, trained himself in detachment from temporal things, and accepted the first opportunity that came along to relinquish his post at Turin. This was when Count Frederick Madrucci, ambassador of the duke of Savoy to the Holy See, asked him to become his personal private physician.


Juvenal arrived in Rome in 1575, and took a lodging near the church of Ara Cueli, in a spot which appealed to him because it was, "close to the prisons, the hospital, a multitude of the poor, and the prison for young criminals". 
His official work was not arduous and he set himself to the serious study of theology, having for his master St Robert Bellarmine himself; he became acquainted with Don Caesar Baronius, and by him was introduced to St Philip Neri, and so frequented the most learned and most devout society of Rome. Thus he lived for three years, becoming ever more attracted to the formal religious life, but uncertain what definite step to take.

He received minor orders, attended regularly the exercises at the Oratory, and put himself under the direction of St Philip, on whose advice he accepted a benefice at Cherasco in Piedmont; but almost at once legal proceedings were taken to dispossess him and he relinquished it without contesting the suit. The fact was that he was disturbed in mind by the example of a leading lawyer at Turin, who had become a Carthusian monk at Pavia, and thought he saw in that an indication of what he must do.

 His brother, John Matthew, with whom Juvenal kept up an intimate correspondence from Rome, was of one mind with him, and eventually they together consulted St Philip Neri. He unhesitatingly dissuaded them from the Carthusian life, as being unsuited to their temperament and needs, and recommended to them the newly founded Congregation of the Oratory, over which he himself presided. Juvenal at first dissented, wanting more austerity and solitude, but submitted to his director and on October 1, 1578, was admitted with his brother into the congregation.  Baronius said it
received that day a "second St Basil".
When Bd Juvenal had lived four years at the Oratory he was ordained priest, and in 1578 he was sent to the Oratory at Naples, the first house of his congregation to be founded outside Rome. He was appointed to preach at once. After a few sermons wrote to his brother,
"These Neapolitans require very beautiful things, and they must be substantial as well.  Ordinary things are no use here, where even the cobblers can compose sermons, and make a profession of it. One has to keep one's wits about one."
But Juvenal succeeded in pleasing even the fastidious Neapolitans, and they remembered the nickname that had been given him by some wit in Rome, "the son of thunder"; "By the grace of God the people are satisfied with me", he writes.
One of his most sensational conversions was that of Giovannella Sanchia, a singer who was known in the city as "the Siren" - and not solely on account of her singing. She was so touched by hearing him speak of the beauty of holiness that she made a vow never again to sing any vain, improper or profane song, but only sacred songs.

Bd Juvenal was very fond of music; we are told that "he wished Vespers to be sung with the best music, or if that were not attainable, with Gregorian chant faultlessly executed" - a critical distinction that is not acceptable to everybody. He therefore took a great deal of care with the music at the Naples Oratory, not simply from the point of view of the decencies of Christian worship and the honour due to Almighty God, but also because he had a firm belief in its good effect on the soul; he got hold of all the latest popular airs and wrote devout words to them (whether or not to be sung in the Oratory church does not appear) and published a hymn-book with tunes, called the Temple of Harmony.
One Oratorian, Father Borla, took up his quarters at the Hospital for Incurables, which for long had been grossly neglected. Bd Juvenal supported him and enlisted interest and assistance of the Neapolitan ladies, whom he formed into a confraternity of "Kind Ladies"; to ensure the object for which they were banded together should not be lost sight of, it had its headquarters not at a church but in the hospital itself.
His own material charity was boundless; its most unusual manifestation (but a very useful one) was to have a deposit account with a barber, to whom he sent any poor man whom he saw with unkempt hair or beard. The barber was under orders when he met any such to use his skill on them and "put it down to Father Juvenal".
How much he was respected and loved by the whole city he betrays himself in a letter written to St Philip, when convalescent from a serious illness. He obediently accepted comforts provided for him by his brethren and took reasonable pleasure in them.

About the year 1595, when he had been in Naples nearly ten years, Juvenal was tormented on the one hand by a desire for the cloistered and contemplative life, and on the other by the sight of so much wretchedness and wickedness around him which he could do relatively little to alleviate and reform.

In 1596 Baronius was made a cardinal and the fathers of the Roman Oratory recalled Bd Juvenal from Naples to fill the vacant place in their community. Greatly fearing what responsible dignities might be thrust on him in Rome, he obeyed at once, to the great grief of the Neapolitans; he carried on quietly for a year then suddenly three episcopal sees fell vacant. Bd Juvenal had good reason to think that he would be preferred to one of them; he went out from the Oratory one day and did not return, and after hiding for a time in the city fled from Rome. He spent the next five months wandering from place to place. At San Severino he received an imperative order to come back to Rome, and found when he got there that the danger of his being made bishop was, for the moment, over. During the next four years he worked with great energy on behalf of the Piedmontese, and met and entered into intimate friendship with St Francis de Sales.

   In 1602 the duke of Savoy asked Clement VIII to fill the two vacant sees in his dominions, and the pope personally charged Bd Juvenal to accept the charge of one of them. "It is time to obey and not to fly", said he. On September 1 was consecrated bishop of Saluzzo by Cardinal Borghese. His troubles began at once. When he went to take possession of his see he found that, owing to certain actions of the duke of Savoy, he could do so only either by compromising the rights of the Church or breaking with his prince. So he withdrew to Fossano, wrote a pastoral letter for his diocese, and devoted himself to good works for the benefit of his native town.
Supernatural gifts and the performance of miracles were, not for the first time, freely attributed to him. After four months he was able to take possession of his cathedral, and one of his first acts was to observe the "Forty Hours" therein, for the first time in Piedmont.
 Towards end 1603 Bd Juvenal set out on a visitation of his diocese. Supernatural happenings again attended his progress, especially by way of healing and prophecy. Juvenal had at all times a disconcerting habit of correctly foretelling people's approaching death. Both before and during this visitation he had foretold his own, and he had only been back in Saluzzo a few weeks when his prophecy came true.

There was in the town a certain friar who was carrying on an intrigue with a nun; this came to the ears of Bd Juvenal, who reasoned gently with them both but warned them that if their conduct was continued he would use strong measures to stop it.

 On the feast of St Bernard he went to officiate for and to dine with the Conventual Franciscans, it being the name-day of their church, and the criminal friar took the opportunity to poison the bishop's wine.
Before Vespers he was taken ill; four days later he had to retire to bed; and by the dawn of August 31 Bd Juvenal Ancina was dead.

 "He died", wrote a Carthusian monk, "for virtue, for religion, for Christ, and therefore a martyr's death"; like St John the Baptist, he "received martyrdom as the reward of fearless speech". Marvels attended his lying-in-state and burial. Masses of the Holy Ghost were celebrated rather than requiems, and the cause of his beatification was introduced at Rome in 1624; this received several set-backs and postponements and was not finally achieved till 1869, when the Vatican Council had just assembled.

A full Life of Bd John Juvenal Ancina, with an admirable portrait, was published by Fr Charles Bowden in 1869. The author in his preface refers to the life by F. Bacci (1671) as his principal authority. There are other modern lives, in French, by Ingold (1890), Richard (1891), and Duver (1905). In a review of Fr Duver's book in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxviii (1909), p. 243, it is pointed out that some of the most valuable sources for the history of the beato have never been utilized, notably a memoir written by Fr B. Scaraggi, who had his work revised by G. M. Ancina, a brother of the holy bishop.


THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 52

Blessed is the man who feareth the Lady: and blessed is the heart that loves her.

Happy the man who is never satiated with thy praise: and grows not weary of the narration of thy virtues.

In his heart has arisen the light of God: the Holy Spirit enlightens his understanding.

Bestow, O Lady, thy grace upon thy poor: revive the hungry and the needy.

By thee names shall be in eternal remembrance: our heart shall not fear the evil hearing.

Wash away all our sins: heal all our infirmities.

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


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

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

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

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

Widowed Saints  html
Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Of_The_Apostles  Roman Catholic Popes  Purgatory  UniateChalcedon

Mary the Mother of Jesus Miracles_BLay Saints  Miraculous_IconMiraculous_Medal_Novena Patron Saints
Miracles by Century 100   200   300   400   500   600   700    800   900   1000    1100   1200   1300   1400  1500  1600  1700  1800  1900 2000
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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
Jul 23, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The cause for canonization of Servant of God Edward Flanagan, the priest who founded Nebraska's Boys Town community for orphans and other boys, advanced Monday with the presentation of a summary of records on his life.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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