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

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.
December is the month of the Immaculate Conception.
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Mary Mother of GOD 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary




Lauréti, in Picéno, Translátio sacræ Domus Genitrícis Dei Maríæ, qua in domo Verbum caro factum est.  Ipsam vero beatíssimam Vírginem, Lauretánæ título nuncupátam, Benedíctus Papa Décimus quintus ómnibus aereonáutis præcípuam apud Deum Patrónam attríbuit.

At Loreto in Piceno, the Translation of the Holy House of Mary the Mother of God,
wherein the Word was made flesh. 
Pope Benedict XV declared the same Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of Loreto,
to be the chief Patroness before God of all airmen.

December 10
No my dear children, we need never fear that the Mass hinders us in the fulfillment of our temporal affairs; it is altogether the other way around. We may be sure that all will go better and that even our business will succeed better than if we have the misfortune not to assist at Mass. -- St. John Vianney

  741 Pope Saint Gregory III ( 731-741) protected images of Jesus Mary & the saints
1169 The Novgorod Icon of the Mother of God
1591 THE LONDON MARTYRS OF 1591
December 10 - Transfer of the Holy House of Loreto (1294)
  Mary is our best protection against the culture of death

In Mary, God put a radical stop to this monstrosity of a person separated from God—decapitated, disoriented, without a future.  In Mary, God shows us what we will become in the end if we are open to accepting his own life.
Yes, God is Life; God is the creator of human life. He does not despise it—far from it! In Mary, through the Holy Spirit, he becomes the procreator of Christ's humanity. (…) As the Mother of the author of Life, fulfilled by God's life, Mary is our best protection against the onslaught of the forces of death and destruction. She is also our best protection against the culture of death that afflicts our society and mainstream culture.

Msgr Centène, Bishop of Vannes, France
Homily given on December 7, 2012, for the anticipated Mass of the Immaculate Conception


Mary is Everyone’s Consoler
At the foot of Jesus' cross stood Mary his mother. She was a beautiful image of fidelity
and comfort for the One who was dying, seemingly abandoned by God and men.
By entrusting the disciple whom he loved to her, Jesus was at the same time entrusting to her
the nascent Church and, through her, the whole human race.
As she offered herself to console her Son, Mary was given to all people as their consoler.
In celebrating her as consoler of the afflicted today, we receive her from Jesus’ lips as the mother of all believers and mother of all humanity. With faith and trust, we turn to her and pray to her for all people.
André Cardinal Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris
Homily for the Pontifical Mass to solemnly reelect Our Lady Consoler of the Afflicted
as Patroness of Luxembourg, May 5, 2013

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

No my dear children, we need never fear that the Mass hinders us in the fulfillment of our temporal affairs; it is altogether the other way around.
We may be sure that all will go better and that even our business will succeed better
than if we have the misfortune not to assist at Mass. -- St. John Vianney


At Loretto in Piceno, the Translation of the Holy House of Mary the Mother of God, wherein the Word was made flesh.  Pope Benedict XV declared the same Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of Loretto, to be the chief Patroness before God of all airmen.
Lauréti, in Picéno, Translátio sacræ Domus Genitrícis Dei Maríæ, qua in domo Verbum caro factum est.  Ipsam vero beatíssimam Vírginem, Lauretánæ título nuncupátam, Benedíctus Papa Décimus quintus ómnibus aereonáutis præcípuam apud Deum Patrónam attríbuit.
December 10 - Transition of the Holy House of Loreto (Italy, 1291)
               
Mary in the Midst of Israel's Waiting (I) "She will crush your head and you will strike her heel" (Gen 3:15)
The Virgin Mary certainly understood, better than any other, the promises of God to his people, because she was capable within herself of deeply penetrating God's mystery.

She was first and foremost attentive and fully turned to God, following the First Commandment: "Listen Israel, the Lord our God is One" (Deut 6:4). She sought the Lord by praying the psalms: "I thirst for God, the living God" (Ps 42:2). She was also humble, as "God opposes the proud but He lends his favor to the humble" (Jas 4:6). And He especially revealed himself to the Blessed Virgin because her heart was totally free and immaculate, making heaven even more transparent: "Blessed are the pure in heart: they shall see God" (Mt 5:8).

She then waited, seeking with love and praying in silence or reading the word of God and "pondering in her heart" (Lk 2:19) all of God's promises to his people, beginning with the first announcement of salvation, in Genesis, shortly after the fall, when God told the serpent,
"I shall put enmity between you and the woman; she will crush your head and you will strike her heel" (Gen 3:15).

Romæ, via Ostiénsi, Dedicátio Basílicæ sancti Pauli Apóstoli; quæ, simul cum Dedicatióne Basílicæ sancti Petri, Apostolórum Príncipis, ánnua celebritáte recólitur quartodécimo Kaléndas Decémbris.
At Rome, on the Ostian Way, the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Paul the Apostle.  The yearly commemoration of this Dedication, together with St. Peter, prince of the apostles, is observed on 18th of November.
 I am the Mother of Ipalnemohuani (II) December 10 - Transition of the Holy House of Loreto (Italy, 1294)
Juan Diego went immediately on his way to put the Blessed Virgin's errand into action: he went straight to the bishop's palace, but the bishop didn't believe his take. So he returned to the top of the little hill where the Queen of Heaven was waiting for him, and begged her to find someone else to carry her message, "someone nobler, someone who is held in esteem, respected and honored, one whom the bishop will believe."
But she answered him, "Listen, my most humble son, understand and know for certain in your heart that I do not lack servants or messengers to whom I can offer the responsibility of delivering my thoughts and words in order to achieve my will. But it is truly necessary that you, personally, go and plead, and that thanks to you my wishes be carried out by your intercession. Also I beg you, my humblest and dearest son, and I insist that you go tomorrow to see the bishop once again. In my name, make him hear and understand my will and desire, so that my House of God may be built. Tell him again very carefully how I, personally, the ever-virgin Saint Mary, Mother of God, am sending you."
Excerpt and adapted from La Dame du Ciel (The Lady from Heaven),
by Jean-Pierre Rousselle and Jean Mathiot, Editions Téqui 2004
Romæ, via Ostiénsi, Dedicátio Basílicæ sancti Pauli Apóstoli; quæ, simul cum Dedicatióne Basílicæ sancti Petri, Apostolórum Príncipis, ánnua celebritáte recólitur quartodécimo Kaléndas Decémbris.
At Rome, on the Ostian Way, the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Paul the Apostle.  The yearly commemoration of this Dedication, together with that of St. Peter, prince of the apostles, is observed on the 18th of November.


December 10 – Transfer of the Holy House of Loreto (1294) 
In a forest, there appeared a strange looking house 
 The Holy House of Loreto is the house where, according to Christian tradition, Jesus Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary and where Saint Joseph worked with the Divine Child Jesus. Sometimes called the Shrine of the Holy House of Nazareth, it is revered in the city of Loreto, in the Italian province of Ancona.

When the terrible news of the loss of the Holy Land to non-Christians spread abroad, a deep sadness captured all minds and hearts. At the same time, better news came that uplifted Christian spirits: On May 10, 1291, the Holy House of Nazareth, where the Word made flesh was conceived, was transported by angels to Dalmatia
(the coastal region of Croatia and Montenegro).

But after three years and seven months, in 1294, the Holy House rose again in the air and left the region, leaving a big void in the hearts of the local population. The next day, on December 10th, the residents of Recanati, Italy, saw a strange looking house that was set down in a forest owned by a certain lady of Loreto. They soon discovered that it was the same Holy House of Nazareth that the population of Dalmatia had seen suddenly disappear around the same time.  notredamedesneiges.over-blog.com

 300 St. Carpophorus priest & Abundius deacon Martyrs
 300 St. Mercurius Martyred soldiers /companions slain at Lentini Sicily
 304 St. Eulalia of Merida Virgin Martyr;
Also, in the same city, St. Julia, virgin and martyr, the companion of the
            blessed Eulalia, who would not be separated from her when the latter went to suffer.

 312 St. Mennas Martyr /Eugraphus /Hermogenes beheaded Alexandria
 314 Miltiades or Melchiades, pope and martyr
 362 St. Gemellus Martyr Ancyra Turkey priest baptized him and when emerged from water his wounds were all healed
6th v. Viénnæ, in Gállia, sancti Sindúlphi, Epíscopi et Confessóris.
    At Vienne in France, St. Sindulph, bishop and confessor.
 700 St. Deusdedit Bishop of Brescia
 720 St. Thomas of Farfa Benedictine abbot native of Savoy
 739 St. Lucerius Benedictine abbot successor of St. Thomas of Maurienne
 741 Pope Saint Gregory III
( 731-741) protected images of Jesus Mary & the saints
 765 St. Guitmarus 4th Benedictine abbot of Saint Riquier Abbey France
 844 St. Hildemar Benedictine bishop Beauvais
 900 Saint Thomas Dephourkinos The Lord glorified him with the gift of healing and prophecy;
Emperor Leo the Wise (886-911) came to the monastery to St Thomas for advice. Not finding the monk at the monastery, the emperor sent his messenger with a letter for him. And just as the messenger arrived at the the Elder's hut, the saint carried out to him a sealed answer, resolving the emperor's question.
1156 St. Florentius of Carracedo Benedictine abbot Cistercian rule
1169 The Novgorod Icon of the Mother of God
1287 Bl. Peter Tecelano Franciscan mystic miracles at his tomb
1591 THE LONDON MARTYRS OF 1591
1591 St. Polydore Plasden 1/40 Martyrs of England
1591 Bl. John Mason  England Martyr layman arrested for harboring St. Edmund Gennings priest
1591 St. Edmund Genings 1/40 Martyrs of England /Wales
1610 Bls. Thomas Somers
And John Roberts English martyrs
1616 Bl. Sebastian Montanol Spanish Dominican missionary possible martyr
1754 Saint Joasaph Archimandrite several times Athanasius appeared to Igumen Joasaph sign of patronal protection
1838 St. Peter Duong  Vietnamese martyr native
1865 Blessed Father Adolph Kolping - Kolping Society, emphasizes the sanctification of family life and dignity of labor

<741 Pope Saint Gregory III (
731-741) protected images of Jesus Mary & the saints
310 314 Miltiades or Melchiades, pope and martyr>
Sancti Melchíadis, Papæ et Mártyris, cujus dies natális recensétur tértio Idus Januárii.
    St. Melchiades, pope and martyr, whose birthday  mentioned on 11 January.

During
Gregory's reign, toleration was granted to Christians by Constantine; labelled a martyr due to his sufferings during the persecution of Maximian.

Pope Miltiades, or Melchiades, decreed absolutely forbiding Christians to fast on Sundays or Thursdays, "because these days were observed by the heathen as a holy fast". This reason is remarkable; it comes most likely from the author of the "Liber Pontificalis" who with this alleged decree traces back a Roman custom of his own time to an ordinance of Miltiades. The "Liber Pontificalis" is probably no less arbitrary in crediting this pope with a decree to the effect that the Oblation consecrated at the Solemn Mass of the pope (by which is meant the Eucharistic Bread) should be taken to different churches in Rome. Such a custom actually existed in Rome.

Pope Clement VIII 1592-1605
Pope Pius XI on December 15, 1929 one hundred and thirty-six martyrs declared blessed by.








Saint Joasaph_of_belgorod 1754
  Saint Eugraphos
God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints.
Every saint is unique, for each is the result of a new idea.

As the liturgy says:
Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike.

It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints.
Dear Lord, grant us a spirit that is not bound by our own ideas and preferences.
Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves.
O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory.



Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.
Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.
God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heaven:  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.
300 St. Carpophorus priest & Abundius deacon Martyrs.
Eódem die sanctórum Mártyrum Carpóphori Presbyteri, et Abúndii Diáconi; qui, in Diocletiáni persecutióne, primo fústibus crudelíssime cæsi, deínde in cárcerem, negátio cibo et potu, retrúsi, et rursum in equúleo torti, et post hæc diu in cárcere maceráti, novíssime gládio percússi sunt.
    Also, the holy martyrs Carpophorus, a priest, and Abundius, a deacon, in the persecution of Diocletian.  They were first cruelly beaten with rods, then imprisoned and denied food and drink; being placed on the rack a second time and again thrown into prison, they were finally beheaded.
They are listed as dying in Spoleto, Italy, or in Seville, Spain under Diocletian
300 St. Mercurius Martyred soldiers /companions slain at Lentini Sicily
Apud Leontínos, in Sicília, sanctórum Mártyrum Mercúrii et Sociórum mílitum; qui, sub Tertyllo Præside, témpore Licínii Imperatóris, gládio cæsi sunt.
    At Lentini in Sicily, the holy martyrs Mercurius and his soldier companions, who were slain by the sword under the governor Tertyllus, in the reign of Emperor Licinius.
Mercurius and the others were soldiers assigned to escort Christians to their deaths during the persecutions launched by Emperor Diocletian.
Converted to Christianity by the heroic example of their prisoners, Mercurius and his troops surrendered themselves up to suffer the same beheading inflicted upon their newfound Christian friends

304 St. Eulalia of Merida; Virgin Martyr; Also, in the same city, St. Julia, virgin and martyr, the companion of the blessed Eulalia, who would not be separated from her when the latter went to suffer.
Eméritæ, in Hispánia, pássio sanctæ Euláliæ Vírginis, quæ, sub Maximiáno Imperatóre, cum esset annórum duódecim, ibi, jussu Daciáni Præsidis, pro confessióne Christi, plúrima torménta est perpéssa; novíssime, in equúleo suspénsa et exunguláta, fáculis ardéntibus ex utróque látere appósitis, hausto igne, spíritum réddidit.
    At Merida in Spain, in the time of Maximian, the martyrdom of the holy virgin Eulalia, who at twelve years of age suffered many torments for the confession of Christ by order of the governor Dacian.  She was stretched on the rack, torn with iron claws, had her sides burned with flaming torches, and swallowing the fire she expired.
   Item ibídem sanctæ Júliæ, Vírginis et Mártyris; quæ beátæ Euláliæ sócia fuit, et illi ad passiónem properánti indivídua comes adhæsit.
   Eulalia of Merida was born in
Spain in the last decade of the third century. It is almost universally accepted that she suffered martyrdom for the Faith. What little else is known of her to date is based mostly on legend. It is believed that Eulalia, as a twelve year old girl, tried to remonstrate with Judge Dacian of Merida for forcing Christians to worship false gods in accord with the edict of Diocletian. Even though Dacian was at first amused and tried to flatter her, Eulalia would not deny Christ. Finally, Dacian ordered that her body be torn by iron hooks. Fire was applied to her wounds to increase her sufferings, and in the process her hair caught fire. She was asphyxiated by the smoke and flames, gaining the crown of martyrdom around the year 304.
304? St Eulalia of Mérida, Virgin and Martyr   
For particulars of the passion of St Eulalia, the most celebrated virgin martyr of Spain, we have a hymn written in her honour by Prudentius at the end of the fourth century and her passio of a much later date. *{* Alban Butler accords two and a half pages of text to St Eulalia and four and a half pages of small-print footnote (including a paragraph on Sedulius) to Prudentius, “the glory of the ancient Christian poets”.}
She was only twelve when edicts of Diocletian were issued by which it was ordered all should offer sacrifice to the gods of the empire. Eulalia’s mother, observing her ardour for martyrdom, took her into the country. But she found means to make her escape by night, and arrived at Mérida before daybreak. As soon as the court sat the same morning she presented herself before the judge, Dacian, and reproached him with attempting to destroy souls by compelling them to renounce the only true God. Dacian at first tried to flatter and bribe her into withdrawing her words and observing the edicts. Then he threatened and showed the instruments of torture, saying, “These you shall escape if you will but touch a little salt and incense with the tip of your finger”. But she trampled on the cake that was laid for the sacrifice, and spat at the judge. Thereupon two executioners began to tear her body with iron hooks, and lighted torches were applied to the wounds. The fire then caught her hair, and Eulalia was stifled by the smoke and flame. Prudentius tells us that a white dove seemed to come out of her mouth and fly away upward, at which the executioners were so terrified that they fled.

Snow fell and covered the body and the whole forum where it lay, till her relics were entombed by the Christians near the place of her martyrdom. A church was built on the spot and the altar raised over them before Prudentius wrote his hymn; he says that “pilgrims come to venerate her bones, and she, near the throne of God, beholds them and protects those that sing hymns to her”.
The veneration of St Eulalia spread to Africa, and there is a homily of St Augustine for her feast day; the oldest existing French poem, the “Cantilène de Sainte Eulalie”, of the later ninth century, relates her story; and she is among the martyrs mentioned by Bede in his hymn in honour of St Etheldreda and by St Aldhelm.
  St Eulalia of Barcelona, named separately in the Roman Martyrology on February 12, is greatly venerated throughout Catalonia, under the names Aulaire, Aulazie, Olalla and other forms; but she is now generally recognized as a double of St Eulalia of Mérida. The fact that Prudentius and Venantius pay tribute to the heroism of one Spanish martyr named Eulalia, making especial mention of Mérida, seems to constitute proof of the genuineness of the cult in
her case, but it constantly happens that fictitious stories are afterwards written which cause a duplication of the subject so honoured.

The passio printed by Florez (España Sagrada, vol. xiii, pp. 392-398) must be as old as the sixth century because it was known to St Gregory of Tours, but no dependence can be placed upon the story it contains. Even the few details provided in the poem of Prudentius are probably not much more reliable, but he mentions Mérida as also does Fortunatus, though St Augustine in his sermon says nothing more than that she suffered in Spain. Competent opinion is now definitely satisfied that there was only one St Eulalia, the martyr of Mends. The Barcelona story is a much later development, incorporating many features of the earlier legend. See on this the convincing essay of H. Moretus in the Revue des questions historiques, vol. lxxxix (1911), pp. 85-119; which investigation is endorsed by Poncelet, Delehaye (CMH., p. 642), and Leclercq, in DAC., vol. v, cc. 705—732. In this last article the greater part of Moretus’ essay is reprinted. The attempt of Z. Garcia Villada (Historia ecclesiastica de España, vol. i, 1929, pp. 283—300) to vindicate the independent existence of the Barcelona martyr is too plainly biased by patriotic conservatism. The question of the notices of Eulalia in the early martyrologies has been very fully dealt with by Dom Quentin in his Les martyrologes historiques, pp. 75, 162—164, etc. See also the Acta Sanctorum, February, vol. ii, and BHL., nn. 2693—2698. There was a Eulalia abbess of Shaftesbury c. 1074.
312 St. Mennas Martyr /Eugraphus /Hermogenes beheaded Alexandria most probably hagiographical fiction
Egypt
Alexandríæ sanctórum Mártyrum Mennæ, Hermógenis et Eugraphi; qui sub Galério Maximiáno passi sunt.
    At Alexandria, the holy martyrs Mennas, Hermogenes, and Eugraphus, who suffered under Galerius Maximian.

Mennas was an Athenian from Greece, sent to Alexandria on an imperial commission by Emperor Galerius. Working successfully, he announced that he and his assistant, Eugraphus, were Christians. They were taken before Hermogenes, a judge, where Mennas sang a four-hour musical defense of Christianity. His eyes were gouged out and his tongue cut off when he ended his defense. According to a highly doubtful legend, Mennas’ eyes and tongue were miraculously restored, an event that brought about the conversion of Hermogenes.


The Holy Martyrs Menas, Hermogenes, and Eugraphus suffered for their faith in Christ under the emperor Maximian (305-313).

St Menas was sent by the emperor from Athens to Alexandria to suppress the riots that had arisen between the Christians and the pagans. Distinguished for his gift of eloquence, Menas instead openly began to preach the Christian Faith and he converted many pagans to Christ. Learning of this, Maximian sent Hermogenes to Alexandria to place the saints on trial. Moreover, he gave orders to purge the city of Christians.
Hermogenes, although he was a pagan, was distinguished by his reverent bearing. Struck by the endurance of St Menas under torture and by his miraculous healing after the cruel torments, he also came to believe in Christ. Maximian himself then arrived in Alexandria. Neither the astonishing stoic endurance of Sts Menas and Hermogenes under torture, nor even the miracles manifested by God in this city, mollified the emperor. Instead, they vexed him all the more. The emperor personally stabbed St Eugraphus, the secretary of St Menas, and then gave orders to behead the holy Martyrs Menas and Hermogenes.

The relics of the holy martyrs, cast into the sea in an iron chest, were afterwards found (see February 17) and transferred to Constantinople in the ninth century. The emperor Justinian built a church in the name of the holy Martyr Menas of Alexandria. St Joseph the Hymnographer (April 4) composed a Canon in honor of these holy martyrs.

SS. MENNAS, HERMOGENES, AND EUGRAPHUS, MARTYRS
MENNAS (Menas), an Athenian, called “of the beautiful voice
, was sent by the Emperor Galerius to Alexandria to use his learning and eloquence for the pacification of troubles among the citizens. Having carried out his commission he publicly declared himself a Christian, and together with his subordinate, Eugraphus, began to make many converts. The judge, Hermogenes, who on his way to Alexandria had been assured in a vision that the voyage would turn out for his own benefit, summoned the offenders before his tribunal; whereupon, as the worthless passio of these martyrs, falsely ascribed to St Athanasius, informs us, Mennas used his beautiful voice to make an address to the court which lasted for four hours. Although this oration made a great impression, it was ordered that his eyes and tongue should be plucked out and his feet flayed. But the next day he was found fully recovered from these outrages, at which miracle Hermogenes himself and many others were converted. Galerius ordered that further tortures should be inflicted on them, from all of which they immediately recovered, and all three were eventually beheaded.

This hagiographical fiction is printed in Migne, PG., vol. cxv, pp. 368—416, and there is at least one other redaction of the same story still unpublished. Delehaye inclines to the belief that the whole is a pure invention founded on the popularity of the authentic St Mennas (November 11). The names of the two companions, Hermogenes and Eugraphus, oddly enough, recur at Salona in Dalmatia, a place that was especially connected with the veneration of the Egyptian St Mennas. See the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xviii (1899), pp. 406—407; vol. xxiii (1904), pp. 14—15; vol. xxix (1950), pp. 144—145. There is a summary of the same legend in the Constantinople Synaxary, December 10, CC. 293—294. 
310 314 Miltiades or Melchiades, pope and martyr
Sancti Melchíadis, Papæ et Mártyris, cujus dies natális recensétur tértio Idus Januárii.
    St. Melchiades, pope and martyr, whose birthday is mentioned on the 11th of January.
During his reign, toleration was granted to Christians by Constantine; labelled a martyr due to his sufferings during the persecution of Maximian.

314 St Miltiades, Pope And Martyr
So little is known about St Miltiades (sometimes written Meichiades) that he is now chiefly remembered on account of its having been during his pontificate that the era of the general persecutions came to an end and the Emperor Constantine gave peace to the Church. He was said native of Africa and elected to the papacy on July 2, probably in 312. After the battle at the Milvian Bridge, where Constantine defeated Maxentius on October 28, 312, the victorious emperor marched into Rome, and early in 313 toleration was granted to Christians (and other religions) throughout the empire; this was followed by the bestowal of privileges on the Church and the removal of legal disabilities.*{*There has been no little debate among the learned about the circumstances of this victory and what followed it.}
 Christian captives were released from the prisons and mines, and all celebrated the victory of Christ with hymns of praise, honouring God day and night with prayer that the peace, which had been granted after ten years of violent persecution, might not be taken away.
But amidst these rejoicings the Church was disturbed by the beginnings of the Donatist schism in Africa. It arose out of the appointment of Caecilian as bishop of Carthage, whom the party of Donatus alleged to be invalidly consecrated because (as was said) he had delivered up the sacred books under persecution.*{*The Donatists held the erroneous doctrines that sacraments given by an unworthy minister are invalid and that sinners cannot be members of the Church.}
 At the request of Constantine the pope called a synod of Italian and Gaulish bishops at Rome, which decided that Caecilian’s election and consecration were good and valid. St Augustine, speaking of the moderation, which the pope used in this connection, calls Miltiades an excellent man, a true son of peace and father of Christians. A commemoration is made of him in the liturgy of December 10 as a martyr, because, says the Roman Martyrology, he suffered many things during the persecution of Maximian (before he was bishop of Rome).
   This holy pope saw a door opened by the peace of the Church to the conversion of many, and rejoiced at the triumph of the cross of Christ. But with worldly prosperity a worldly spirit too often broke into the sanctuary itself; insomuch that there was sometimes reason to complain with Isaias, “Thou hast multiplied the nation, and hast not increased the joy”.
   Under the pressure of persecution the true spirit of religion was maintained in many during the first ages; yet, amidst the most holy examples and under the influence of strong motives and helps, sin corrupted the hearts of some, who by abuse of grace became abandoned to wickedness. With temporal honours and security love of the world gained the hearts of many more, and they were by ignorance persuaded that they could serve both God and mammon.
Though material goods and prosperity are a blessing, they are also a danger.
There is a short account of Pope Miltiades in the Liber Pontificalis, but it tells us little that is trustworthy. A letter of the Emperor Constantine to the pope as well as two other letters connected with the trouble of Bishop Caecilian are preserved by Eusebius, Eccles. Hist. bk x, ch. 5. But the beginnings of the Donatist schism belong rather to general church history. It may suffice here to recommend the treatment of the subject by J. R. Palanque in vol. iii of the Histoire de l’Eglise, ed. Fliche et Martin. St Miltiades’ true date is January 10: cf. CMH., pp. 34 and 428. On the pope’s alleged burial place in the cemetery of Callistus, see Leclercq in DAC., vol. xi, cc. 1199—1203; and on the Roman synod, E. Caspar in the Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte, vol. xlvi (1927), pp. 333—346. For the Constantinian problems see N. H. Baynes, Constantine the Great and the Christian Church (1929).  
362 St. Gemellus Martyr Ancyra Turkey; priest baptized him and when emerged from water his wounds were all healed
Ancyræ, in Galátia, sancti Gemélli Mártyris, qui, post dira torménta, sub Juliáno Apóstata, crucis supplício martyrium consummávit.
    At Ancyra in Galatia, St. Gemellus, martyr, who, after severe torments, fulfilled his martyrdom by being crucified in the time of Julian the Apostate.
Gemellus was crucified in the reign of Emperor Julian the Apostate.
The Holy Martyr Gemellus of Paphlagonia was subjected to cruel tortures for his staunch denunciation of the emperor Juilan the Apostate (361-363) in the city of Ancyra (Galatia). A red-hot iron belt was placed around his waist. Then he was ordered to accompany the impious Julian on his journey. When they reached Edessa in Mesopotamia, he was stretched out on the ground and his limbs were pierced with wooden stakes. Then he was hung on a post and mutilated.

Enduring the tortures, the saint continued to revile the emperor. After being subjected to even more horrible torments, they let him go. He was still able to walk and speak, so he went on his way until he met a priest. He entreated the priest to baptize him, and when he emerged from the water, his wounds were all healed.

Hearing of this miracle, Julian ordered that St Gemellus be crucified. The victorious athlete of Christ gave up his soul to God, and his body was secretly taken down and buried by Christians.

700 St. Deusdedit Bishop of Brescia.  
Bríxiæ sancti Deúsdedit Epíscopi.    At Brescia, St. Deusdedit, bishop.
Italy; an avid foe of the Monothelite heresy, popular in some areas at that time.
720 St. Thomas of Farfa Benedictine abbot native of Savoy.
France, he entered the Benedictines and embarked upon a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Upon his return, he embraced the life of a hermit, living near Farfa, Italy. Thomas is also credited with restoring Farfa Abbey.
741 Pope Saint Gregory III ( 731-741) protected images of Jesus Mary & the saints
Romæ beáti Gregórii Papæ Tértii, qui sanctitáte meritísque præclárus migrávit in cælum.
    At Rome, Pope St. Gregory III, who departed for heaven renowned for his sanctity and good works.
Gregory_III
He was just standing there, not doing anything special. As a Syrian priest he must have felt a little out of place among the Roman people mourning that day for the dead Pope. As a good preacher, he must have wanted to speak to the funeral procession about Christ's promise of resurrection. As a learned man, he must have wondered who would follow the holy Saint Gregory II as Pope and where he would take the Church. As a holy man, he must have been praying for Gregory II and for all the people around him to find their place after death in God's arms. But he was just one of the crowd.
Not to God. And not to the people who recognized the well-known holy man in their midst. Right in the middle of the funeral procession they singled him out. They swept him away and clamored for him to be named the next bishop of Rome. Then suddenly, unexpectedly, without his even lifting a finger, his whole life changed and he could no longer just stand there and do nothing.

After he was proclaimed Pope Gregory III, Emperor Leo II attacked the veneration of holy images.
   Because Leo II thought the honor paid to Jesus, Mary, and the saints by keeping statues and icons was idolatry, he condemned them and wanted them destroyed. Gregory III didn't just stand there but immediately sent a letter to Leo II. He couldn't get the letter through because the priest-messenger was afraid to deliver it. So instead, Gregory called a synod that approved strong measures against anyone who would try to destroy images of Jesus, Mary, or the saints.

Gregory took his stand and Leo II apparently thought the only way to move him was through physical force. So Leo sent ships to kidnap Gregory and bring him to Constantinople. Many people in Rome must have tried to get Gregory to move -- but he just stood there.  Once again God intervened. A storm destroyed Leo's ships. The only thing Leo could do was capture some of the papal lands.  So Leo got a few acres of land and we kept our wonderful reminders of the love of God, the protection of Jesus, the prayers of Mary, and the examples of the saints. All because Gregory knew when to take a stand -- and when to stand there and let God work.  Gregory III was Pope from 731-741.
In His Footsteps: Where in your life do you need to take a stand? Take a stand: The next time you here someone say something that indicates religious, racial, gender, or any other kind of prejudice, take a stand and make it clear that such prejudice is not tolerated by God or God's people.
Prayer: Saint Gregory III, it's hard to stand still and wait for God to do his work. Sometimes I doubt God's providence. I'm afraid that God's plan won't work out unless I push it along. Help me, when I'm confused, to stop, pray, and wait for God. Amen

741 ST GREGORY III, POPE
AMONG the clergy at the funeral of Pope St Gregory II, in the year 731, there was a priest of Syrian nationality who was so well known for his holiness, learning and ability that the people spontaneously carried him off from the procession and elected him by acclamation to the vacant see; he accordingly became pope as Gregory III.
   He inherited from his predecessor the problem of dealing with the Emperor Leo III the Isaurian, who had begun a campaign against veneration of holy images. One of Gregory’s first acts was to send a letter of protest. But the bearer, George, a priest, got frightened and returned to Rome without delivering it, to the indignation of the pope, who threatened to degrade him. So George set out again, but was seized by the imperial officers in Sicily and banished. Thereupon Gregory summoned a synod at Rome, wherein bishops, lower clergy and lay-people approved the excommunication of any who should condemn the veneration of images or destroy them.

   Leo retorted as some of his predecessors had done in similar circumstances: he sent ships to bring Gregory to Constantinople; but they were lost in a storm, so the emperor contented himself with seizing the papal estates in Calabria and Sicily and recognizing the jurisdiction of the patriarch of Constantinople over eastern Illyricum.
   After this inauspicious beginning of his pontificate there was a period of peace, during which St Gregory rebuilt and decorated a number of churches; in particular he set up a row of pillars before the confessio of St Peter, with images of our Lord and the saints thereon and lamps burning around them, a mute but solid protest against Iconoclasm.
 He sent the pallium to St Boniface in Germany, and when the English missionary made his third visit to Rome, in 738, Gregory wrote an appeal to the “Old Saxons”: the letter consisted chiefly of quotations from the Bible, which perhaps were not very meaningful to its heathen recipients.

   It was pope Gregory III who sent the English monk St Willibald to help Boniface.
Towards the end of St Gregory’s life Lombards again threatened Rome. The pope sent a famous appeal for help to Charles Martel and the Franks of the West, rather than to the emperor in the East, but it was long before they could be induced to act. To the bishops of Tuscany Gregory wrote urging them to work for the recovery of four cities captured by the Lombards: if they did not, “I myself, ill as I am, will make the journey, and save you from the responsibility of being unfaithful to your duty”. Then, on October 22, 741, Charles Martel died, and a few weeks later, on December 10, St Gregory III followed him to the grave. “He was”, says the Liber Pontificalis, “a man of deep humility and true wisdom. He had a good knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures and their meaning, and knew the psalms by heart. He was a polished and successful preacher, skilled in both Latin and Greek, and a stout upholder of the Catholic faith; a lover of poverty and the poor, a protector of the widowed and the orphaned, a friend to monks and nuns.”

There is nothing that can be called an early biography of St Gregory III; the account in the Liber Pontificalis is meagre. What we know of him is gathered from the chroniclers and from the remnants of his correspondence. See Mann, History of the Popes, vol. i, Pt 2, pp. 204—224, and Hartmann, Geschichte Italiens im Mittelalter, vol. ii Pt 2, pp. 169 seq.  
Pope Gregory III (RM)The son of a Syrian named John, he became a priest in Rome, and his reputation for learning and holiness was so great that he was acclaimed pope on February 11, 731, while accompanying the funeral cortege of his predecessor, Saint Gregory II.
He continued Gregory II's opposition to iconoclasm and convoked two synods in Rome in 731, which condemned the heresy. In response, Emperor Leo the Iconoclast seized papal patrimonies in Calabria and Sicily and transferred ecclesiastical jurisdiction of those two provinces and Illyrium to the patriarch of Constantinople.
   Gregory supported the missionary activities of Saint Boniface in Germany and sent Saint Willibald to assist him. Gregory completed rebuilding the walls around Rome begun by Gregory II and sought the assistance of Charles Martel against the attacks of Liutprand and his Lombards on the exarchate of Ravenna, the dukes of Spoleto and Benevento, and the duchy of Rome rather than from the Eastern Emperor, an appeal that was to have far-reaching historical implications for the meddling of the state in Church affairs, and by establishing a connection with the Franks. In the midst of this turmoil, Gregory died (Benedictines, Delaney).
739 St. Lucerius Benedictine abbot successor of St. Thomas of Maurienne.
France. He was young when he joined the Benedictines at Farfa, Italy.

765 St. Guitmarus 4th Benedictine abbot of Saint Riquier Abbey France.
844 St. Hildemar Benedictine bishop Beauvais.
France, consecrated in 821. He had served as a monk at Corbie.

900 Saint Thomas Dephourkinos The Lord glorified him with the gift of healing and prophecy.
Born in Bithynia. From his youth he was fond of monastic life and entered one of the area monasteries. Later in life, when the Byzantine official Galoliktos had founded a monastery at the River Sagarisa, St Thomas was already an experienced monk, and the brethren chose him as head of the new monastery.

From there St Thomas withdrew into the wilderness, where for a long time he labored in solitude. The monk overcame many snares of the devil in the wilderness. The Lord glorified him with the gift of healing and prophecy.

Once, the emperor Leo the Wise (886-911) came to the monastery to St Thomas for advice. Not finding the monk at the monastery, the emperor sent his messenger with a letter for him. And just as the messenger arrived at the the Elder's hut, the saint carried out to him a sealed answer, resolving the emperor's question. It is not known when St Thomas reposed.

1156 St. Florentius of Carracedo Benedictine abbot Cistercian rule.
esteemed by King Aiphonsus VII of Leon and Castile, Spain.  The abbey adopted the Cistercian rule after Florentius’ death.

1169 The Novgorod Icon of the Mother of God.
Written by St Peter, Metropolitan of Moscow (December 21), during his stay as igumen of a monastery on the River Rata at the boundary of the Malyi Dvorets. During a time of persecution, the Uniates plundered the Novgorod monastery, and the icon was transferred by the hieromonk James to the Eletsk Chernigov monastery.
Bishop Anthony (Stakovsky) of Chernigov later blessed Simeon, the organizer of the Surozh monastery (Chernigov diocese) with this icon. On August 14, 1677, during a church procession from the old church to a new one, the icon manifested miraculous signs.
This is one of the oldest miracle-working icons in Russia. The Novgorod version of the icon became famous in 1169 when Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky of Suzdal sent a joint army of warriors from various lands, headed by his son Mstislav on a campaign against Novgorod. The city was surrounded in February. On the fourth day of the siege a bloody battle began. The Novgorodians, not relying on their own resources, appealed to God and the Most Holy Virgin Mary for Their protection. Archbishop Ilia, who was praying to God in the cathedral church, suddenly heard a voice which demanded thai an icon of the Most Holy Mother of God should be taken from the Church of the Savior in Ilyin Streel and mounted on the city wall. The men sent for the icon, however, could not move it even a little. It was only after divine service was conducted by the Archbishop himself that they could take the icon and put it on the wall of the city. During the siege an arrow hit the icon and tears began to flow from the eyes of the Most Holy Theotokos. This was interpreted as a sign that the Mother of God tearfully requested the Savior to deliver the city from the enemy. At that very instant the enemy warriors were struck with blindness. Full of terror, they began to slay one another and soon afterwards they were defeated by the Novgorodians. The marginal scenes on this copy depict the battle of the Novgorodians against the warriors of Suzdal. The feast day in honor of this icon was instituted by Archbishop Ilia two days after the defeat of the Suzdal warriors, on November 27/December 10.
1287 Bl. Peter Tecelano Franciscan mystic miracles at his tomb
A native of Campi, Tuscany, Italy, he was trained as a comb maker at Siena. After the death of his wife he entered the Franciscans as a tertiary and served as nurse to the sick in a Franciscan hospital. He also toiled making combs. In his lifetime, he was reputed to be a deeply mystical and holy individual and was credited with miracles. He was beatified in 1802, in part because of miracles reported as occurring at his tomb.

Saint_Angelina wife of John
15th v. Saint John of Serbia incorrupt relics his parents Saint Stephen glorified by many miracles & St Angelina
The life of the Serbian ruler Stephen Brankovich and his family was filled with instability and misfortune.
 After Serbia was seized in 1457 by the Turks, the then Serbian ruler's middle son, Stephen (October 9), distinguished by a meek disposition and fine knowledge of Holy Scripture, went to the capital of Turkey after his sister had been given to Sultan Murat in marriage. Learning that the Turks had burned the Mileshevsk monastery with fanatic cruelty, St Stephen rose up to defend Serbia from oppression.

When he married Angelina (July 30), the daughter of the Prince of Albania, the Turks threatened St Stephen and his family with punishment. With his wife and three children he was forced to hide first in Albania, and then in Italy, where he died.

St Angelina transferred the incorrupt relics of her spouse to Kupinovo. At the end of the fifteenth century a son of the Righteous Stephen and Angelina, St John, became ruler of Serbia. The incorrupt relics of St John and his parents were afterwards glorified by many miracles.
1591 St. Polydore Plasden 1/40 Martyrs of England  b. 1563
A native of London, he studied for the priesthood at Reims and Rome and was ordained in 1586. Sent to England soon after, he worked for the reconversion of the island until his arrest by English authorities. He was taken prisoner with St. Edmund Genings. Polydore was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tybum. Beatified in 1929, canonized in 1970 by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs.

1591 Bl. John Mason  England Martyr layman arrested for harboring St. Edmund Gennings priest
He was martyred at Tyburn by being hanged, drawn, and quartered with Sts. Edmund Gennings and palydore plasden. and With Blessed Sidney Hodgson. pope Pius Xl beatified him in 1929.

1591 St. Edmund Genings 1/40 Martyrs of England /Wales
1591 THE LONDON MARTYRS OF 1591
ON October 18, 1591, a royal proclamation led to the stricter enforcement of the laws against Catholics in England, the first fruits of which were seven martyrdoms in London on the following December 10. The principal priest concerned was BD EDMUND GENINGS, who had been born at Lichfield in 1567 and brought up a Protestant.
   As a boy he was of a serious turn of mind, much given, as his brother tells us, to stargazing, both literally and figuratively. At the age of sixteen he became page to a Catholic gentleman and was soon reconciled to the Church, whereupon he went to the college at Rheims. It looked as if ill-health would forestall his desires, but he made a marvellous recovery and by dispensation was ordained at the, age of twenty-three. Mr Genings was a confessor of the faith before he ever left France, for on their way to the court, in April 1590, he and his companions were robbed and imprisoned for three days by Huguenots. They made a dangerous landing near Whitby, and Genings made his way home, only to find all his family dead except his brother John, who was in London. He looked for him during a month, and had determined to leave town the following day, when he met him on Ludgate Hill.
   John was not particularly pleased to see Edmund, whom he strongly suspected of being a priest, and warned him that if he were he would bring death upon himself and discredit on his friends. Edmund accordingly decided that it was not opportune then to attempt his brother’s conversion, and departed into the country. *{* John Genings himself confesses that he “rather rejoiced than any way bewailed the untimely and bloody end of his nearest kinsman, hoping thereby to be rid of all persuasions, which he mistrusted he should receive from him touching the Catholic religion”.}
   But ten days after the martyrdom he underwent a sudden and very remarkable change of heart and mind, as results of which he became a Catholic, a friar minor, and the minister of the English Franciscan province. Fr John Genings at Brussels in 1659—25, founded the convent of English tertiary sisters formerly at Taunton.
   He was back in London in the autumn of 1591, and offered Mass at a house in Gray’s Inn Lane, the residence of BD SWITHIN WELLS.
  Mr Wells was the sixth son of Thomas Wells, a gentleman of Brambridge, near Winchester, and until middle age seems to have led a peaceful country life, varied by travelling abroad and periods of service in noble houses. “He was a witty man skilled in divers languages...something given to honest and innocent diversions, yet always devout in prayer...”
    For six years he gave himself “to a more profitable employment of training up young gentlemen in virtue and learning”, in other words, he kept a boys’ school at Monkton Farleigh in Wiltshire, and eventually came with his wife Margaret to live in London in 1585.
   He was in prison on account of his religion at least twice during the next six years, and several times examined. On the morning of November 8, 1591, Mr Genings celebrated Mass in his house with a small congregation, and during the celebration Topcliffe the priest-catcher arrived with his officers. The men kept them at bay by force and cajolery until Mass was finished, and then Bd Edmund was seized, together with BB. POLYDORE PLASDEN, also a priest, JOHN MASON and SIDNEY HODGSON, laymen, Mrs Wells and others. Mr Wells was not present but was arrested shortly after.
At their trial Edmund Genings and Polydore Plasden were found guilty of being priests coming in to the realm, Wells of harbouring them, and Mrs Wells, Mason and Hodgson of relieving them, contrary to 27 Eliz. C. 2, and sentenced to death. *{* Mrs Wells was reprieved and died in prison eleven years later. Her cause is postponed for further evidence.}
 Bd Edmund was hanged, drawn and quartered, and Bd Swithin hanged, in Gray’s Inn Fields, hard by the Wells’s house. On the way thither from Newgate Swithin shouted to someone in the crowd, “Farewell, old friend! Farewell all hawking and hunting and old pastimes—I am now going a better way!”
  Edmund was still fully conscious when the butchery began and cried out in his agony, to whom his companion responded, “Alas, sweet soul! your pain is great, but it is almost past. Pray for me now, good saint, that mine may come.”
   The hangmen and others reported that he invoked St Gregory when his heart and viscera were out of his body. Swithin complained of their keeping him, an old man, standing about in his shirt on a cold day while the noose was arranged, and said to the hangman, “I pray God make of you, a Saul, a Paul”. When Topcliffe said to him, “See what your priests have brought you to, Mr Wells”, he replied, “I am happy and thank God to have been allowed to have so many and such saint-like priests under my roof”.
   The other three, BB. Polydore, John and Sidney, were executed on the same day, December 10, at Tyburn. With them suffered BD EUSTACE WHITE and BD BRIAN LACEY.

Lacey, a Yorkshire gentleman was a cousin and assistant of the Ven. Montford Scott and after torture was condemned to be hanged for aiding and abetting this priest. Bd Brian’s own brother had informed against them. Eustace White came from Louth, and was a priest ordained in Rome. His parents were Protestants and at his conversion his father had deliberately cursed him. He laboured on the mission in the west of England for three years, until a lawyer with whom he had talked too freely of religion betrayed him at Blandford. During his detention in Blandford he made so strong an impression on the local Protestants that it was openly advocated that a petition should be sent to the queen for his release. He was, however, taken to London and treated with extreme barbarity in Bridewell:  left closely chained for over six weeks, insufficiently fed, and tortured by Topcliffe seven times, all in a vain hope of making him divulge the names of those who had helped him or in whose houses he had celebrated Mass. He was condemned for his priesthood, and the brutal details of his martyrdom at Tyburn reproduce those of Bd Edmund Genings elsewhere on the same day, whereas his fellow priest, Bd Polydore Plasden, was allowed to hang till he was dead.
A life of Edmund Genings, alias Ironmonger, was written by his brother John Genings and printed at St Omers in 1614. Further sources throwing light upon all this group of martyrs will be found in the publications of the Catholic Record Society, vol. v (1908); see especially pp. 204 seq., 131 seq. and passim. Consult also the full account in MMP., pp. 169—185; B. Camm, Tyburn and the English Martyrs (1904), pp. 60—72; and J. H. Pollen, Acts of English Martyrs, pp. 98—127.

Born in Lichfield, England, he converted to the faith. He was ordained a priest at Reims, France, in 1590. The following years, after working in England, he was martyred at Gray’s Inn Fields in London.
1610 Bl. Thomas Somers And John Roberts English martyrs
1610 Bb. John Roberts And Thomas Somers, Martyrs
Some miles north by west of the Merionethshire town of Dolgelley, at the top of the valley between the Rhinogs and the Arenigs, lays the village of Trawsfynydd, near which John Roberts was born in 1577.  His family and the exact place of his birth are uncertain, but he seems to have been of ancient stock on both sides, and he is one of the most distinguished figures among the hundred and thirty-six martyrs declared blessed by Pope Pius XI on December 15, 1929.

   He received his early education from an aged priest and, though brought up nominally a Protestant, he was, as he himself said, always a Catholic at heart. When he was nineteen he went to St John’s College at Oxford, where William Laud was still in residence, and Roberts shared the rooms of John Jones, Lianfrynach, afterwards well known as Father Leander-of-St-Martin, O.S.B.

   He did not finish his course at Oxford, but in 1598 entered as student of law at Furnivall’s Inn. He did not stay there long, for early in the same year he went abroad. The only object of his journey was “amusement and recreation”, but in June he was formally reconciled with the Church at Notre-Dame in Paris by Canon Louis Godebert. He at once betook himself to the English College at Valladolid, where he was admitted on October 18 “on account of his burning desire to become a worker in the vineyard of the Lord”.

   In 1599 John Roberts followed the example of Augustine (John) Bradshaw and, in the face of many difficulties caused by the authorities at the college, received the Benedictine habit at the royal monastery of San Benito at Valladolid. His old friend John Jones soon joined him, and they were professed, together with six others from the English College, before the end of the following year at the monastery of St Martin at Compostela, Roberts being known in religion as Brother John of Merioneth (Meirion; de Mervinia).

It seemed at the time that the young Welshmen and Englishmen who took this step endangered their call to be missionaries in their own land, for the Spanish Benedictines were bound by perpetual enclosure. But they were justified in listening first to the call of the traditional cloister by subsequent events.

   On February 27, 1601, Bd Mark Barkworth, who had been the originator and leader of the Benedictine movement among the English students at Valladolid, was martyred at Tyburn. Thereupon petitions were presented to the Holy See that the English monks might be free to go on the mission, and on December 5, 1602, Pope Clement VIII granted this faculty to those of both the Valladolid and Cas­sinese congregations.

   Twenty-one days later, on the feast of St Stephen the First Martyr, Father John Roberts set out accompanied by Father Augustine Bradshaw. “Roberts”, says another Welshman, Lewis Owen, a spy from Father John’s own neighbourhood and his inveterate enemy, “was the first that had his mission from the pope and his own Spanish prelate to go for England, which made him not a little proud that he should be a second Augustine monk, to convert and reconcile his countrymen to the Roman Antichrist.”

   It took the two monks three months to reach London, and although, unlike their predecessors in 1597, they came dis­guised in plumed hats, doublets and swords, they were soon arrested and deported. 

On the testimony of Lewis Owen, Father John did not “neglect his Lord and Master’s business, but bestirred himself night and day in negotiating His affairs”. The history of his apostolate is a record of repeated arrest, imprisonment, release and exile; nevertheless the contemporary Dom Bucelin in his Benedictus Redivivus says that: “Amid all the religious who have worked in that island this man may almost be reckoned the chief, both as regards labour and fruitfulness of preaching.”

   In a few weeks he was back in London, succouring victims of an epidemic so devastating that over 30,000 died during its first and worst year:  all early writers who refer to John Roberts mention his conduct at this time with especial admiration, and he made many converts.

    In spring of 1604 he was arrested at some port in the south when about to embark to attend a general chapter of his congregation, accompanied by four postulants. His captors, however, failed to identify him as a priest, and he was released to continue his labours until, during the round-up of Catholics on the day of Gunpowder Plot, November 5, 1605, he was taken at the house of Mr Knight, a scrivener, in Holborn by Chancery Lane, and was committed to the Gatehouse prison at Westminster, within the precincts of the abbey. Here he was kept for eight months and then, at the intervention of the ambassador of France, released and banished.

   This time Father John remained abroad for over a year, during which time lie took a principal part in the foundation, with Father Augustine Bradshaw, of a monastery for English monks of the Valladolid congregation at Douay; this became the headquarters of the wonderfully preserved English congregation, and is now St Gregory’s Abbey at Downside.

   He returned to England and was arrested for the fourth time at the end of 1607. After an examination at which he refused to take the oath of allegiance in a condensed form (3 Jas. I, cc. 4, 5), Father John escaped from prison, and was at large but in great secrecy till May 1609, when he was first in the Gatehouse, and then Newgate.

   Again the French ambassador came to the rescue and again John was banished. He went to Spain and then to St Gregory’s, Douay, and on a renewed outbreak of plague came back to England for the last time early in 1610. Some Benedictine, perhaps he, was arrested and escaped in July; but on December 2 he was certainly seized for the last time. It was the first Sunday of Advent, and he was just ending Mass, probably in Mrs Scott’s house, when the officers broke in and carried him off, still in his vestments, to Newgate.

Father John Roberts was arraigned, together with Bd Thomas Somers (alias Wilson), a secular priest from Westmorland, before Coke, L.C.J., George Abbot, Bishop of London, and others, charged with their priesthood under 27 Eliz. c. 2. They again refused the oath, and Father John admitted under examination that he was a priest and a monk who had come into the country “to work for the salvation of souls, and would continue to do were I to live longer”. Abbot called him a disturber and seducer of the people, to which Father John replied that if he were so “then were our ancestors deceived by blessed St Augustine, the apostle of the English, who was sent here by the pope of Rome, St Gregory the Great…I am sent here by the same Apostolic See that sent him before me.” When ordered to be silent, he exclaimed, “I must speak, as my mission is from Heaven. St Matthew says in chapter 28: ‘Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.’ Your ministers do not do this, because they do not fulfil in their lives and actions the command of Christ. They do not administer the sacrament of penance or of extreme unction. I do. And withal I teach obedience to princes as a matter of  conscience, against the false doctrine of Luther and his companions. All this I can prove to you.” He rebuked the bishop for sitting with civil judges in the trial of a capital cause, and appealed to the bench to decide the case themselves lest the jury, simple and ignorant men unable to distinguish between a priest as such and a man as a traitor, should incur blood-guiltiness. The appeal was disregarded, the jury found both prisoners guilty, and they were condemned to death.

The next day the Spanish lady Luisa de Carvajal bribed the jailer of Newgate to transfer the two priests from the condemned cell to the company of other Catholic prisoners, and in the evening was enacted a remarkable scene.

   Twenty confessors of the faith sat down together for supper: at the head of the table was Doña Luisa, to her right and left Father Roberts and Mr Somers. Both martyrs were joyous, and the monk had a scruple of conscience. “Do you not think”, he asked his hostess, “that I may be causing disedification by my great glee Had I not better withdraw and give myself to prayer?” “No, certainly not,” she answered. “You cannot be better employed than in letting them all see with what cheerful courage you are about to die for Christ.”

Before the party broke up Doña Luisa washed the feet of the martyrs, an act of homage which greatly angered the king (James I) when it was reported to him. The next morning they were handed over to the sheriff of Middlesex, drawn on hurdles to Tyburn, and there hanged with sixteen common felons. They were allowed to hang till they were dead, owing to the sympathy and threatening attitude of the crowd. Their heads were then displayed on London Bridge and their bodies buried at Tyburn, from whence they were in great part recovered by Bd Maurus Scott and Doña Luisa.

   Some relics of Bd Thomas Somers are now at Downside, but the rest have disappeared in revolutionary upheavals. Bd John Roberts was only thirty-three years old, and “the first who out of a monastery, after the suppression of monas­teries in England, attacked the gate of Hell and provoked the prince of darkness in his usurped kingdom, which he overcame like his great Master, the prince of martyrs, by losing his life in the conflict.”

A full biography of John Roberts was published by Dom Bede Camm in 1897 and this embodies an exhaustive account of the sources. Challoner’s narrative (MMP., pp. 317-323) is naturally less complete. On certain subsidiary questions raised in the life consult The Month, December 1897, pp. 581-600; October 1898, pp. 364—377; October 1899, pp. 233—245; and November, pp. 348—365. See also T. P. Ellis, Catholic Martyrs of Wales (1933), pp. 79—91, and Welsh Benedictines of the Terror (1936), pp. 43—54, 76—104 and passim; and cf. B. Camm, Nine Martyr Monks (1931). For Somers, see MMP., pp. 321—323; and for the relics of both martyrs, B. Camm, Forgotten Shrines (1910), pp. 355—356, 373, 378.

Born in Westmoreland, England, he worked for a time as a schoolmaster. Leaving England, he went to Douai, France, where he studied for the priesthood and received ordination before returning home under the alias of Wison to assist the Catholic cause in London. Arrested for being a priest, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn with Blessed John Roberts.
1616 Bl. Sebastian Montanol Spanish Dominican missionary possible martyr
He was sent to Mexico from Spain and there worked among the Indians in Zacateca until his murder. He was apparently killed by local Indians for castigating some natives for treating the Eucharist with disrespect, although he has never been officially declared a martyr.

1754 Saint Joasaph Archimandrite several times St Athanasius appeared to Igumen Joasaph as a sign of his patronal protection
Born at Proluka, in the former Poltava governance, on September 8, 1705, the Feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos. He was descended from the old and venerable Little Russian (Ukrainian) lineage of the Gorlenkovi. At Baptism he was named Joachim.

In 1712, his father enrolled the seven-year-old Joachim in the Kiev Spiritual Academy. Within the walls of the academy he felt attracted to monastic life. For seven years he studied it further, and finally revealed his intention to his parents.

For a long time his mother and father pleaded with their first-born son not to accept monastic tonsure. But in 1725, unknown to them, he became a "rasophore" ("robe-wearing novice") with the name Hilarion at the Kiev Mezhigorsk monastery, and on 21 November 1727 he was tonsured in the mantya with the name Joasaph at the Kievo-Bratsk monastery. This event co-incided with the completion of his studies at the spiritual academy.

After the death of His Grace Barlaam, the See of Kiev was governed by Archbishop Raphael Zaborovsky. Archbishop Raphael noticed the abilities of the young ascetic and assigned him to greater service to the Church. He was entrusted with the responsibility of the office of examiner of the Kiev archbishopric.

In November 1734, Archbishop Raphael ordained the hierodeacon Joasaph as hieromonk, and he was transferred from the Bratsk monastery school to the Kiev-Sophia archbishop's house. At the same time, he was appointed a member of the Kiev religious consistory.

In fulfilling the office of examiner, he exerted much effort towards the correction of moral deficiencies among the parish clergy. The saint's service in the consistory office enabled him to develop his administrative abilities. During this time, he made a good study of the needs of clergy-servers, noting both the good points and the failings of the diocese. His talent for administration was combined with his great spiritual effort. He quickly ascended the ladder of spiritual perfection, which can be seen in his work, "The Conflict of the Seven Venerable Virtues with the Seven Deadly Sins."

On June 24, 1737 Hieromonk Joasaph was appointed head of the Holy Transfiguration Mgarsk monastery, and elevated to the rank of igumen. Here he worked with all his strength to put the monastery in good order, for it was an old bastion of Orthodoxy in the struggle with the Unia. In this monastery were relics of St Athanasius, Patriarch of Constantinople and Wonderworker of Lubny (May 2). Several times St Athanasius appeared to Igumen Joasaph, as a sign of his patronal protection.

In 1744 Metropolitan Raphael elevated Igumen Joasaph to the dignity of archimandrite. Towards the end of that same year he was called to Moscow and soon, at the direction of the Most Holy Synod, he was appointed vicar of the Holy Trinity Sergiev Lavra monastery. At this monastery of St Sergius he also unstintingly fulfilled obedience to the Church (this year required much exertion for the rebuilding of the monastery after a fire).

On June 2, 1748 at the Peter and Paul cathedral in Peterburg, Archimandrite Joasaph was ordained Bishop of Belgorod. Ascending the archbishop's throne, St Joasaph strictly concerned himself with piety and the condition of the churches, with the proper celebration of divine services, and especially with the moral condition of his flock.

The saint devoted great attention to the education of the clergy, and the correct observance of churchly norms and traditions. Just as before, the saint worked with all his strength in his archpastoral service, without regard for his health.

On the eve of his repose, the saint forbade his cell attendant Stephen to aspire to the priesthood, and he predicted that if he did not obey him, he would meet with an untimely end. To another cell attendant Basil, the saint indicated that he would be a deacon, but would never become a priest. Later, this prediction was fulfilled. St Joasaph died on December 10, 1754, and was glorified on September 4, 1911.
1838 St. Peter Duong  Vietnamese martyr native
Peter served as a catechist and, with Peter Truat, was martyred by anti-Christian forces.
1865 Blessed Father Adolph Kolping the Kolping Society, it emphasizes the sanctification of family life and the dignity of labor
The rise of the factory system in 19th-century Germany brought many single men into cities where they faced new challenges to their faith. Father Adolph Kolping began a ministry to them, hoping that they would not be lost to the Catholic faith as was happening to workers elsewhere in industrialized Europe.

Born
1813 in the village of Kerpen, Adolph became a shoemaker at an early age because of his family’s economic situation. Ordained in 1845, he ministered to young workers in Cologne, establishing a choir, which by 1849 had grown into the Young Workmen’s Society. A branch of this began in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1856. Nine years later there were over 400 Gesellenvereine (workman’s societies) around the world. Today this group has over 400,000 members in 54 countries across the globe.

More commonly called the Kolping Society, it emphasizes the sanctification of family life and the dignity of labor. Father Kolping worked to improve conditions for workers and greatly assisted those in need. He and St. John Bosco in Turin had similar interests in working with young men in big cities. He told his followers, “The needs of the times will teach you what to do.

”Father Kolping once said, “The first thing that a person finds in life and the last to which he holds out his hand, and the most precious that he possess, even if he does not realize it, is family life.”

He and Blessed John Duns Scotus are buried in Cologne’s Minoritenkirche, served by the Conventual Franciscans. The Kolping Society’s international headquarters is at this church.

Kolping members journeyed to Rome from Europe, America, Africa, Asia and Oceania for Father Kolping’s beatification in 1991, the 100th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s revolutionary encyclical Rerum Novarum (On the Social Order). Father Kolping’s personal witness and apostolate helped prepare for that encyclical.


Comment:  Some people thought that Father Kolping was wasting his time and talents on young working men in industrialized cities. In some countries, the Catholic Church was seen by many workers as the ally of owners and the enemy of workers.
Men like Adolph Kolping showed that was not true.


Quote: “Adolph Kolping gathered skilled workers and factory laborers together. Thus he overcame their isolation and defeatism. A faith society gave them the strength to go out into their everyday lives as Christ’s witnesses before God and the world.
To come together, to become strengthened in the assembly, and thus to scatter again is and still remains our duty today.
We are not Christians for ourselves alone, but always for others too” (Pope John Paul II, beatification homily).

Viénnæ, in Gállia, sancti Sindúlphi, Epíscopi et Confessóris.
    At Vienne in France, St. Sindulph, bishop and confessor.



THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 217

Blessed are they whose hearts love thee, O Virgin Mary: their sins will be mercifully washed away by thee.

Holy, chaste, and flowering are thy breasts: which blossomed into the flower of eternal greenness.

The beauty of thy grace will never see corruption: and the grace of thy countenance will never fade.

Blessed art thou, O sublime Rod of Jesse: for thou hast raised thyself unto Him who sits in the highest.

O Virgin Queen, thou thyself art the way by which salvation from on high hath visited us.


For thy spirit is kind: thy grace fills the whole world.

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
Miracles 100   200   300   400   500   600   700    800   900   1000  
 
1100   1200   1300   1400  1500  1600  1700  1800   1900 Lay Saints

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

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

My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee.  I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not
O most Holy trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly.  I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended, and by the infite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  I beg the conversion of poor sinners,  Fatima Prayer, Angel of Peace
The voice of the Father is heard, the Son enters the water, and the Holy Spirit appears in the form of a dove.
THE spirit and example of the world imperceptibly instil the error into the minds of many that there is a kind of middle way of going to Heaven; and so, because the world does not live up to the gospel, they bring the gospel down to the level of the world. It is not by this example that we are to measure the Christian rule, but words and life of Christ. All His followers are commanded to labour to become perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect, and to bear His image in our hearts that we may be His children. We are obliged by the gospel to die to ourselves by fighting self-love in our hearts, by the mastery of our passions, by taking on the spirit of our Lord.
   These are the conditions under which Christ makes His promises and numbers us among His children, as is manifest from His words which the apostles have left us in their inspired writings. Here is no distinction made or foreseen between the apostles or clergy or religious and secular persons. The former, indeed, take upon themselves certain stricter obligations, as a means of accomplishing these ends more perfectly; but the law of holiness and of disengagement of the heart from the world is general and binds all the followers of Christ.
God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique each the result of a new idea.
As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike.
It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints.

Dear Lord, grant us a spirit not bound by our own ideas and preferences.
 
Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves.

O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory.
 
Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.
Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.
The 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary ) Revealed to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan)
1.    Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces. 2.    I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. 3.    The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. 4.    It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things.  Oh, that soul would sanctify them by this means.  5.    The soul that recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish. 6.    Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying themselves to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune.  God will not chastise them in His justice, they shall not perish by an unprovided death; if they be just, they shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life. 7.    Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church. 8.    Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise. 9.    I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. 10.    The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.  11.    You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary. 12.    I shall aid all those who propagate the Holy Rosary in their necessities. 13.    I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death. 14.    All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ. 15.    Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
His Holiness Aram I, current (2013) Catholicos of Cilicia of Armenians, whose See is located in Lebanese town of Antelias. The Catholicosate was founded in Sis, capital of Cilicia, in the year 1441 following the move of the Catholicosate of All Armenians back to its original See of Etchmiadzin in Armenia. The Catholicosate of Cilicia enjoyed local jurisdiction, though spiritually subject to the authority of Etchmiadzin. In 1921 the See was transferred to Aleppo in Syria, and in 1930 to Antelias.
Its jurisdiction currently extends to Syria, Cyprus, Iran and Greece.
Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac
The exact date of the introduction of Christianity into Edessa {Armenian Ourhaï in Arabic Er Roha, commonly Orfa or Urfa, its present name} is not known. It is certain, however, that the Christian community was at first made up from the Jewish population of the city. According to an ancient legend, King Abgar V, Ushana, was converted by Addai, who was one of the seventy-two disciples. In fact, however, the first King of Edessa to embrace the Christian Faith was Abgar IX (c. 206) becoming official kingdom religion.
Christian council held at Edessa early as 197 (Eusebius, Hist. Ecc7V,xxiii).
In 201 the city was devastated by a great flood, and the Christian church was destroyed (“Chronicon Edessenum”, ad. an. 201).
In 232 the relics of the Apostle St. Thomas were brought from India, on which occasion his Syriac Acts were written.

Under Roman domination martyrs suffered at Edessa: Sts. Scharbîl and Barsamya, under Decius; Sts. Gûrja, Schâmôna, Habib, and others under Diocletian.
 
In the meanwhile Christian priests from Edessa evangelized Eastern Mesopotamia and Persia, established the first Churches in the kingdom of the Sassanides.  Atillâtiâ, Bishop of Edessa, assisted at the Council of Nicæa (325). The “Peregrinatio Silviæ” (or Etheriæ) (ed. Gamurrini, Rome, 1887, 62 sqq.) gives an account of the many sanctuaries at Edessa about 388.
Although Hebrew had been the language of the ancient Israelite kingdom, after their return from Exile the Jews turned more and more to Aramaic, using it for parts of the books of Ezra and Daniel in the Bible. By the time of Jesus, Aramaic was the main language of Palestine, and quite a number of texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls are also written in Aramaic.
Aramaic continued to be an important language for Jews, alongside Hebrew, and parts of the Talmud are written in it.
After Arab conquests of the seventh century, Arabic quickly replaced Aramaic as the main language of those who converted to Islam, although in out of the way places, Aramaic continued as a vernacular language of Muslims.
Aramaic, however, enjoyed its greatest success in Christianity. Although the New Testament wins written in Greek, Christianity had come into existence in an Aramaic-speaking milieu, and it was the Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac, that became the literary language of a large number of Christians living in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire and in the Persian Empire, further east. Over the course of the centuries the influence of the Syriac Churches spread eastwards to China (in Xian, in western China, a Chinese-Syriac inscription dated 781 is still to be seen); to southern India where the state of Kerala can boast more Christians of Syriac liturgical tradition than anywhere else in the world.

680 Shiite saint Imam Hussein, grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammad Known as Ashoura and observed by Shiites across the world, the 10th day of the lunar Muslim month of Muharram: the anniversary of the 7th century death in battle of one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints.  Imam Hussein died in the 680 A.D. battle fought on the plains outside Karbala, a city in modern Iraq that's home to the saint's shrine.  The battle over a dispute about the leadership of the Muslim faith following Muhammad's death in 632 A.D. It is the defining event in Islam's split into Sunni and Shiite branches.  The occasion is the source of an enduring moral lesson. "He sacrificed his blood to teach us not to give in to corruption, coercion, or use of force and to seek honor and justice."  According to Shiite beliefs, Hussein and companions were denied water by enemies who controlled the nearby Euphrates.  Streets get partially covered with blood from slaughter of hundreds of cows and sheep. Volunteers cook the meat and feed it to the poor.  Hussein's martyrdom recounted through a rich body of prose, poetry and song remains an inspirational example of sacrifice to many Shiites, 10 percent of the world's estimated 1.3 billion Muslims.
Meeting of the Saints  walis (saints of Allah)
Great men covet to embrace martyrdom for a cause and principle.
So was the case with Hazrat Ali. He could have made a compromise with the evil forces of his time and, as a result, could have led a very comfortable, easy and luxurious life.  But he was not a person who would succumb to such temptations. His upbringing, his education and his training in the lap of the holy Prophet made him refuse such an offer.
Rabia Al-Basri (717–801 C.E.) She was first to set forth the doctrine of mystical love and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets. An elderly Shia pointed out that during his pre-Partition childhood it was quite common to find pictures and portraits of Shia icons in Imambaras across the country.
Shah Abdul Latif: The Exalted Sufi Master born 1690 in a Syed family; died 1754. In ancient times, Sindh housed the exemplary Indus Valley Civilisation with Moenjo Daro as its capital, and now, it is the land of a culture which evolved from the teachings of eminent Sufi saints. Pakistan is home to the mortal remains of many Sufi saints, the exalted among them being Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, a practitioner of the real Islam, philosopher, poet, musicologist and preacher. He presented his teaching through poetry and music - both instruments sublime - and commands a very large following, not only among Muslims but also among Hindus and Christians. Sindh culture: The Shah is synonymous with Sindh. He is the very fountainhead of Sindh's culture. His message remains as fresh as that of any present day poet, and the people of Sindh find solace from his writings. He did indeed think for Sindh. One of his prayers, in exquisite Sindhi, translates thus: “Oh God, may ever You on Sindh bestow abundance rare! Beloved! All the world let share Thy grace, and fruitful be.”
Shia Ali al-Hadi, died 868 and son Hassan al-Askari 874. These saints are the 10th and 11th of Shia's 12 most revered Imams. Baba Farid Sufi 1398 miracle, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki renowned Muslim Sufi saint scholar miracles 569 A.H. [1173 C.E.] hermit gave to poor, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti greatest mystic of his time born 533 Hijri (1138-39 A.D.), Hazrat Ghuas-e Azam, Hazrat Bu Ali Sharif, and Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia Sufi Saint Hazrath Khwaja Syed Mohammed Badshah Quadri Chisty Yamani Quadeer (RA)
1236-1325 welcomed people of all faiths & all walks of life.
801 Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya Sufi One of the most famous Islamic mystics
(b. 717). This 8th century saint was an early Sufi who had a profound influence on later Sufis, who in turn deeply influenced the European mystical love and troubadour traditions.  Rabi'a was a woman of Basra, a seaport in southern Iraq.  She was born around 717 and died in 801 (185-186).  Her biographer, the great medieval poet Attar, tells us that she was "on fire with love and longing" and that men accepted her "as a second spotless Mary" (186).  She was, he continues, “an unquestioned authority to her contemporaries" (218).
Rabi'a began her ascetic life in a small desert cell near Basra, where she lost herself in prayer and went straight to God for teaching.  As far as is known, she never studied under any master or spiritual director.  She was one of the first of the Sufis to teach that Love alone was the guide on the mystic path (222).  A later Sufi taught that there were two classes of "true believers": one class sought a master as an intermediary between them and God -- unless they could see the footsteps of the Prophet on the path before them, they would not accept the path as valid.  The second class “...did not look before them for the footprint of any of God's creatures, for they had removed all thought of what He had created from their hearts, and concerned themselves solely with God. (218)
Rabi'a was of this second kind.  She felt no reverence even for the House of God in Mecca:  "It is the Lord of the house Whom I need; what have I to do with the house?" (219) One lovely spring morning a friend asked her to come outside to see the works of God.  She replied, "Come you inside that you may behold their Maker.  Contemplation of the Maker has turned me aside from what He has made" (219).  During an illness, a friend asked this woman if she desired anything.
"...[H]ow can you ask me such a question as 'What do I desire?'  I swear by the glory of God that for twelve years I have desired fresh dates, and you know that in Basra dates are plentiful, and I have not yet tasted them.  I am a servant (of God), and what has a servant to do with desire?" (162)
When a male friend once suggested she should pray for relief from a debilitating illness, she said,
"O Sufyan, do you not know Who it is that wills this suffering for me?  Is it not God Who wills it?  When you know this, why do you bid me ask for what is contrary to His will?  It is not  well to oppose one's Beloved." (221)
She was an ascetic.  It was her custom to pray all night, sleep briefly just before dawn, and then rise again just as dawn "tinged the sky with gold" (187).  She lived in celibacy and poverty, having renounced the world.  A friend visited her in old age and found that all she owned were a reed mat, screen, a pottery jug, and a bed of felt which doubled as her prayer-rug (186), for where she prayed all night, she also slept briefly in the pre-dawn chill.  Once her friends offered to get her a servant; she replied,
"I should be ashamed to ask for the things of this world from Him to Whom the world belongs, and how should I ask for them from those to whom it does not belong?"  (186-7)
A wealthy merchant once wanted to give her a purse of gold.  She refused it, saying that God, who sustains even those who dishonor Him, would surely sustain her, "whose soul is overflowing with love" for Him.  And she added an ethical concern as well:
"...How should I take the wealth of someone of whom I do not know whether he acquired it lawfully or not?" (187)
She taught that repentance was a gift from God because no one could repent unless God had already accepted him and given him this gift of repentance.  She taught that sinners must fear the punishment they deserved for their sins, but she also offered such sinners far more hope of Paradise than most other ascetics did.  For herself, she held to a higher ideal, worshipping God neither from fear of Hell nor from hope of Paradise, for she saw such self-interest as unworthy of God's servants; emotions like fear and hope were like veils -- i.e., hindrances to the vision of God Himself.  The story is told that once a number of Sufis saw her hurrying on her way with water in one hand and a burning torch in the other.  When they asked her to explain, she said:
"I am going to light a fire in Paradise and to pour water on to Hell, so that both veils may vanish altogether from before the pilgrims and their purpose may be sure..." (187-188)
She was once asked where she came from.  "From that other world," she said.  "And where are you going?" she was asked.  "To that other world," she replied (219).  She taught that the spirit originated with God in "that other world" and had to return to Him in the end.  Yet if the soul were sufficiently purified, even on earth, it could look upon God unveiled in all His glory and unite with him in love.  In this quest, logic and reason were powerless.  Instead, she speaks of the "eye" of her heart which alone could apprehend Him and His mysteries (220).
Above all, she was a lover, a bhakti, like one of Krishna’s Goptis in the Hindu tradition.  Her hours of prayer were not so much devoted to intercession as to communion with her Beloved.  Through this communion, she could discover His will for her.  Many of her prayers have come down to us:
       "I have made Thee the Companion of my heart,
        But my body is available for those who seek its company,
        And my body is friendly towards its guests,
        But the Beloved of my heart is the Guest of my soul."  [224]

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

Thus began a great adventure that would eventually result in the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, a Temple dedicated to the Divine Child Jesus, a place of refuge for all. Use this link to read a remarkable story about
The Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament
Father Reardon, Editor of The Catholic Bulletin for 14 years Lover of the poor; A very Holy Man of God.
Monsignor Reardon Protonotarius Apostolicus
 
Pastor 42 years BASILICA OF SAINT MARY Minneapolis MN
America's First Basilica Largest Nave in the World
August 7, 1907-ground broke for the foundation
by Archbishop Ireland-laying cornerstone May 31, 1908
James M. Reardon Publication History of Basilica of Saint Mary 1600-1932
James M. Reardon Publication  History of the Basilica of Saint Mary 1955 {update}

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Father Corapi's Biography

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

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

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

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


God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi


Records on life of Father Flanagan, founder of Boys Town, presented at Vatican
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).
LINKS:
Marian Apparitions (over 2000)  India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes Feb 11- July 16, Loreto, Italy 1858 
China
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May 23, 1995 Zarvintisya Ukraine Lourdes Kenya national Marian shrine    Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798  
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