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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Our Bartholomew Family Prayer List  Here
Joyful Mystery on Monday Saturday   Glorius Mystery on Sunday Wednesday
  
Sorrowful Mystery on Friday Tuesday   Luminous Mystery on Thursday Veterens of War

Acts of the Apostles

Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart From the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
How do I start the Five First Saturdays?

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

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

December 19
(late 14th - early 11th v
The Silence Of St. Joseph In A World Full Of Noise
 401 Anastasius I, Pope condemnation of Origen Saint Jerome helped him in his own way Saints Augustine and Paulinus of Nola praised his model of sanctity (RM)
 552 Saint Gregory Bishop of Homer (Omirits) possessed gifts healing wonderworking even in youth.
1205 Blessed William of Fenoli Carthusian lay-brother many miracles both during his life and after his death
1839 St. Francis Xavier Mau Martyr of Vietnam
1839 Bl. Francis Man Dominican
1839 St. Thomas De & Companions Vietnamese martyrs
1839 St. Augustine Moi martyr of Vietnam Dominican tertiary

December 19 – Our Lady of Remedies (Portugal)  
 
The Virgin who remedies all evils
 In the sixteenth century, the bishop of Lamego, of Portugal, commissioned from Rome an image of The Virgin who remedies all evils. He placed it in a chapel he had built over an older chapel dedicated to Saint Stephen, which is gone today—in its place is a public park. The devotion to "Our Lady of Remedies" kept growing, and in the 18th century a majestic church was dedicated to her.
Every year, from late August to mid-September, the city of Lamego holds a festival combining the feast of the city with the "Pilgrimage of Portugal" in honor of its patron saint. ... On the days that precede the pilgrimage, there is a show of lights with grand floral parade floats.
The Procession of Triumph is the most symbolic moment of the entire festival. With the Holy See’s special permission, a large float carrying the image of Our Lady of Remedies is transported on a cart pulled by oxen, making Lamego the only place in the Catholic world where an image of the Virgin is conveyed by animals.
The Mary of Nazareth Team 

December 19 - Our Lady of Toledo (Spain, 657)  Mary in the Midst of Israel's Waiting (X)
"After the ordeal he has endured, he will see the light" (Is 53:11)
The mystery of the Messiah who will renew the covenant and bring forgiveness and salvation to Israel and the nations was at the heart of Israel's and the Blessed Virgin's waiting and the time of his arrival was approaching. But how would this new covenant come to be? Whose blood would bring the forgiveness of sins?
    The images of the Paschal Lamb and the scapegoat were present in Mary's mind, like all Jews, but who saw that the words of the prophet Isaiah referred to the figure of the Servant of God? "He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn't open his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is mute, so he didn't open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who among them considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the disobedience of my people to whom the stroke was due? They made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death; although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth" (Is 53:7-12).
     Those who opposed wisdom also mention the death of the Just: "Let us lay traps for the upright man, since he annoys us and opposes our way of life" (...) "He claims to have knowledge of our God and calls himself a child of the Lord" (...) "Let us condemn him to a shameful death" (Wis 2:12-20). The prophet Daniel, likewise, spoke of a Messiah cut off by "the people, of the prince who shall come to destroy the city and the sanctuary" (Dan 9:26).
     But hope remains forever: "Through him the pleasure of the Lord will be done. After the ordeal he has endured, he will see the light and be content" (Is 53.7-12), and the Psalmist always voices his confidence, even beyond death: "You cannot allow your faithful servant to see the abyss" (Ps 16:5-11).

December 19 - Our Lady of Toledo (Spain, 657)
What did the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph do near the manger?
They looked at, contemplated and admired the Christ Child. That is all they did.
They were in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament exposed on the altar of the manger.
They blessed and thanked God who gave us his Son out of His love for us.
Nobody will ever be able to understand or explain what went on inside Mary at that time.
Zephaniah 3:14-17
14 Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!
15 The LORD has taken away the judgments against you, he has cast out your enemies.
The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall fear evil no more.
16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: "Do not fear, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak.
17 The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness,
he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
The Silence Of St. Joseph In A World Full Of Noise
 250 St. Nemesius Martyr of Egypt burned alive in Alexandria  between two criminals
 250 Timothy of Africa burnt alive in Africa under Decius M (RM)

 290 Boniface The Holy Martyr unharmed by boiling tin & tar relics glorified by numerous miracles
       Saint Aglaida (Aglae see Saint Boniface)
       St. Darius Martyr with Zosimus Paul Secundus Nicea
 303 Cyriacus and Companions martyred at Nicomedia MM (RM)
 307 St. Meuris & Thea Martyred virgins from Gaza

 308 Elias, Probus and Ares The Martyrs natives of Egypt heedless of safety cared for Christians locked up in prison
       
3rd v. St. Fausta mother of St. Anastasia - Sirmium Serbia
401 Anastasius I, Pope condemnation of Origen Saint Jerome helped him in his own way Saints Augustine and Paulinus of Nola praised his model of sanctity (RM)
 540 Gregory of Auxerre for 13 years as its 12th bishop B (RM)
 552 Saint Gregory Bishop of Homer (Omirits) possessed gifts healing wonderworking even in youth.
6th c. Samthana of Meath Irish abbess-founder of Cluain- Bronach in Meath V (AC)
       St. Manirus Bishop an apostle to Scotland kindness - goodwill 
6th v.  The Relocation of the Body of St. Severus, Patriarch of Antioch.
 790 St. Ribert Revered abbot of the monastery of Saint Oyend
1122 St. Bernard Valeara patron of Teramo
1153 Blessed Macarius of Würzburg first abbot of Saint James monastery, OSB Abbot (AC)
1188 Saint Elias Muromets of the Caves, nicknamed "Shoemaker" or "Cobbler,"
1205 Blessed William of Fenoli Carthusian lay-brother many miracles both during his life and after his death
1220 St. Adjutus abbot, famous for the spirit of prophecy
1370 Blessed Pope Urban V deeply spiritual Benedictine monk canon lawyer reformer
1511 Blessed Caecilia of Ferrara, OP V (PC)
1839 St. Francis Xavier Mau Martyr of Vietnam
1839 Bl. Francis Man Dominican
1839 St. Thomas De & Companions Vietnamese martyrs
1839 St. Augustine Moi martyr of Vietnam Dominican tertiary
        Avitus (Adjutus) of Micy, Abbot (RM)
 Romæ sanctæ Faustæ, quæ fuit mater sanctæ Anastásiæ, ac nobilitáte et pietáte éxstitit insígnis.
       At Rome, St. Fausta, mother of St. Anastasia, renowned for her noble birth and her holiness.

Arriving in Homer, St Gregory began to set the Church in order, preaching to both pagans and Jews.
After three years Elesbaan returned to Ethiopia, leaving the noble Abramius behind as King of Homer.
 St Gregory crowned and anointed Abramius as king. Soon he issued a decree that all his subjects be baptized.
 Then certain prominent Jews turned to the emperor saying that it was better for people to believe willingly rather than under compulsion. They requested that he should permit a debate on faith to be held between them and the Christians, vowing that if the Christians proved victorious in this debate, the Jews would accept Baptism.

The Jews were given forty days to prepare for the debate, which lasted for several days.
St Gregory refuted all arguments of the head Hebrew elder, Rabbi Ervan, using only texts from the Old Testament.
In a vision Ervan beheld the holy Prophet Moses, who worshipped the Lord Jesus Christ.
The prophet told Ervan that Ervan was in opposition to the truth and would be defeated.
By the grace of God Christian truth prevailed in the debate, but Ervan would not acknowledge his defeat.
He made a last desperate attempt.  He said, "If you want me to believe in your Christ, and to acknowledge that yours is the true God, then show Him to me, bishop!"
The saint replied: "Your request is impertinent. It is not with man that you contend now, but with God.
However, the Lord can do what you have asked in order to convince you."

Everyone waited to see what would happen.
St Gregory, having steadfast faith in God and trusting in Him, began to pray aloud.
He recalled the mystery of the Incarnation of God the Word, the miracles of His earthly life, the Three-day Resurrection and the Ascension into Heaven, and he invoked the power of the Life-Creating Cross.
"Show Thyself to these people, O Lord," he prayed, "and glorify Thy holy Name!"
When he finished the prayer, the earth quaked, and in the east the heavens were opened, and in a radiant cloud of light the Lord Jesus Christ came down on earth, and the Voice of the Lord was heard:
"Through the prayers of Bishop Gregory, He Whom your fathers put to death will heal you."

Like Saul, who was struck blind by the Heavenly light on the road to Damascus, the Jews were struck blind.
Then they believed in Christ and they implored the holy bishop to heal them.
Upon receiving holy Baptism, all of them were healed. Rabbi Ervan received the Christian name Leo (meaning "lion"). 
After this most extraordinary miracle, St Gregory guided the flock of Homer for another thirty years.
He reposed in the year 552 and was buried in a crypt in the cathedral of Afar.

What Did Joseph and Mary Do Near the Manger 
December 19 - Our Lady of Toledo (Spain, 657)

They looked at, contemplated and admired the Christ Child. That is all they did near the manger.
They were deep in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament exposed on the altar of the manger.
They blessed and thanked God who gave us his Son out of his love for us.
Nobody will ever be able to understand or explain what went on inside Mary at that time.

Saint John Marie Baptist Vianney, The Cure of Ars  html here

Advent's Great O Antiphons (III): O radix Jesse
December 19 - OUR LADY OF TOLEDO (Spain, 657)
Here we are now, O Son of Jesse, walking toward the city of your forefathers.
The Ark of the Lord has risen and is advancing, with the Lord in her womb, toward her resting place.

The Angels are escorting you, your faithful Spouse surrounds you with all his tenderness, heaven is delighted to see you, and the earth trembles under the happy weight of its Creator and its august Queen. Walk on, O mother of God and men, almighty Propitiatory (the cover of the Ark) which contains the divine Manna keeping man from dying!
Our hearts are following you, accompanying you, and, like your Royal ancestor, we swear "not to enter our house, lie on our bed, close our eyes, nor rest our head, until we have found in our heart a dwelling for the Lord whom you carry,
a tent for the God of Jacob."


Come then, thus veiled under the most pure flanks of the sacred Ark, O shoot of Jesse, until you leave it to shine before the eyes of the peoples, like a standard of victory. Then the vanquished kings will be silent before you, and the nations will address their good wishes to you. Make haste, O Messiah! Come to defeat all our enemies and deliver us.
Dom Gueranger The Liturgical Year - Advent -December XIX


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
The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for benefit of the recipients so much as FOR the benefit of others.
December 19 - Our Lady of Toledo (Spain, 657)
Mary in the Midst of Israel's Waiting (X)
"After the ordeal he has endured, he will see the light" (Is 53:11)
The mystery of the Messiah who will renew the covenant and bring forgiveness and salvation to Israel and the nations was at the heart of Israel's and the Blessed Virgin's waiting ? and the time of his arrival was approaching. But how would this new covenant come to be? Whose blood would bring the forgiveness of sins?
The images of the Paschal Lamb and the scapegoat were present in Mary's mind, like all Jews, but who saw that the words of the prophet Isaiah referred to the figure of the Servant of God?
"He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn't open his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is mute, so he didn't open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who among them considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the disobedience of my people to whom the stroke was due? They made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death; although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth" (Is 53:7-12).
Those who opposed wisdom also mention the death of the Just: "Let us lay traps for the upright man, since he annoys us and opposes our way of life" (...) "He claims to have knowledge of our God and calls himself a child of the Lord" (...) "Let us condemn him to a shameful death" (Wis 2:12-20). The prophet Daniel, likewise, spoke of a Messiah cut off by "the people, of the prince who shall come to destroy the city and the sanctuary" (Dan 9:26).
But hope remains forever: "Through him the pleasure of the Lord will be done. After the ordeal he has endured, he will see the light and be content" (Is 53.7-12), and the Psalmist always voices his confidence, even beyond death:
"You cannot allow your faithful servant to see the abyss" (Ps 16:5-11).


The Silence Of St. Joseph In A World Full Of Noise
Vatican City, Dec 18, 2005 (VIS)
At midday today, in remarks to the faithful prior to praying the Angelus, Benedict XVI considered the figure of St. Joseph. Addressing thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square, the Pope recalled how the evangelist Matthew presents the saint as the model "of the 'just' man who, in perfect harmony with his wife, welcomes the Son of God-made-man, and watches over His human development." He added: "For this reason, in the days prior to Christmas, it is more important than ever to establish a kind of spiritual dialogue with St. Joseph, because he helps us to experience fully this great mystery of the faith."

John Paul II was greatly devoted to St. Joseph, said the Holy Father, and left us a meditation dedicated to him in the Apostolic Exhortation "Redemptoris Custos" (Guardian of the Redeemer), in which the late Pope "particularly stressed the silence of St. Joseph; a silence permeated by contemplation of the mystery of God, in an attitude of complete openness to the divine will. In other words, St. Joseph's silence was not an expression of interior emptiness, but on the contrary, of the fullness of faith that he carried in his heart, and that guided his every thought and deed.
"A silence through which Joseph, together with Mary, safeguarded the Word of God ... and continually compared it with the events of Jesus' life; a silence interwoven with constant prayer ... and with unreserved trust in Divine providence. It is no exaggeration to say that from His 'father' Joseph, Jesus learnt - at a human level - the vigorous interior life that is a premise of true justice, the 'superior justice' that one day He would teach His disciples."
Benedict XVI concluded: "Let us allow ourselves to be 'infected' by St. Joseph's silence! We need it greatly, in a world that is often too noisy, that does not favor meditation or listening to the voice of God. During this period of preparation for Christmas, let us cultivate interior meditation, in order to welcome and safeguard Jesus in our lives." ANG/ST. JOSEPH/... VIS 051219 (360)
250 St. Nemesius Martyr of Egypt burned alive in Alexandria
 Alexandríæ beáti Nemésii Mártyris, qui, primo per calúmniam quasi latro Júdici delátus, eóque crímine absolútus, mox, in persecutióne Décii, Christiánæ religiónis nómine accusátus, cum latrónibus jussus est incéndi, Salvatóris déferens similitúdinem, qui una cum latrónibus pértulit crucem.
      At Alexandria in Egypt, blessed Nemesius, martyr, who first was denounced before the judge as a robber, and being freed from that charge, soon after, in the persecution of Decius, was accused before the judge Emilian of being a Christian.  He was twice subjected to torture and condemned to be burned alive with robbers, thus bearing a resemblance to our Saviour, who was crucified with thieves.

250 SS. NEMESIUS AND OTHER MARTYRS
DURING the persecution of Decius, Nemesius, an Egyptian, was apprehended at Alexandria upon a charge of theft. He cleared himself of that, but was immediately accused of being a Christian. Thereupon he was sent to the prefect of Egypt and, confessing his faith, he was ordered to be scourged doubly more grievously than the thieves. Afterwards he was condemned to be burnt in company with robbers and other malefactors; whereby, as the Roman Martyrology says, he had the honour and happiness more perfectly to imitate the death of our divine Redeemer.
ARSEN1US, HERON and ISIDORE, with DioscoRus, a youth only fifteen years old, were committed at Alexandria in the same persecution. First of all the judge took the boy in hand and began to cajole him with fair speeches; then he assailed him with various tortures, but Dioscorus could be overcome in neither way. The rest, after enduring like torments, were burnt alive. But the judge discharged Dioscorus, on account of his years, saying he allowed him time to repent; and he departed free, for the consolation of the faithful.
In the Roman Martyrology St Nemesius is commemorated on December 19, the rest of these martyrs on the 14th. On the 8th is mentioned the finding of the relics at Rome of another ST NEMESIUS and other martyrs. They have two other entries in the Martyrology— their martyrdom on August 25 and translation of relics on October 21—though they are known only from the spurious pasdo of Pope St Stephen.
Alban Butler also mentions in this place SS. MENUS and THEA, two women at Gaza in Palestine, who when persecution raged under the successors of Diocletian bore bravely the cruelty of men and malice of the devil, and triumphed over both. Meuris died at the hands of the persecutors; but Thea lived some time after she had passed through dreadful torments, as we learn from the Life of St Porphyrius of Gaza.
Of Nemesius we know nothing but the few sentences which Lusebius (Eccl Hist., bk vi, ch. 41) has extracted from St. Dionysius of Alexandria. Similarly Meuris and Thea are mentioned only in the Life of Porphyrius by Mark the Deacon.
Egypt, during the persecutions under Emperor Trajanus Decius. Nemesius was arrested and scourged and then burned to death. Like Christ, he was executed between two criminals.
Nemesius of Alexandria M (RM) Born in Egypt; died 250. Nemesius was burnt at the stake between two thieves in Alexandria under Decius. In art, he martyrdom is portrayed (Roeder).

250 Timothy of Africa burnt alive in Africa under Decius M (RM).  
In Mauritánia sancti Timóthei Diáconi, qui, ob Christi fidem, post diros cárceres, in ignem conjéctus, martyrium consummávit.       In Morocco, St. Timothy, deacon, who after severe imprisonment for the sake of Christ was cast into the fire and achieved martyrdom.
The deacon Timothy was burnt alive in Africa under Decius (Benedictines).
290 The Holy Martyr Boniface unharmed by boiling in & tar relics glorified by numerous miracles
was the slave of a rich young Roman woman named Aglaida and he dwelt with her in an iniquitous cohabitation. But they both felt the sting of conscience and they wanted somehow to be cleansed of their sin. And the Lord granted them the possibility to wash away their sin with their blood and to finish their life in repentance.

Aglaida learned that whoever keeps relics of the holy martyrs in the home and venerates them receives great help in gaining salvation. Under their influence, sin is diminished and virtue prevails. She arranged for Boniface to go to the East, where there was a fierce persecution against Christians, and she asked him to bring back the relics of some martyr, who would become a guide and protector for them.

As he was leaving, Boniface laughed and asked, "My lady, if I do not find any relics, and if I myself suffer for Christ, will you accept my body with reverence?" Aglaida scolded him, saying that he was setting off on a sacred mission, but he was not taking it seriously. Boniface pondered her words, and during the whole journey he thought that he was unworthy of touching the bodies of the martyrs.

Arriving at Tarsus in Cilicia, Boniface left his companions at the inn and proceeded to the city square, where they were torturing Christians. Struck by the beastly horrible torments, and seeing the faces of the holy martyrs radiant with the grace of the Lord, Boniface marveled at their courage. He embraced them and kissed their feet, asking them to pray that he might be found worthy to suffer with them.

The judge asked Boniface who he was. He replied, "I am a Christian," and then refused to offer sacrifice to idols. They stripped him and hung him upside down, beating him so hard that the flesh fell from his body, exposing the bone. They stuck needles under his nails, and finally they poured molten tin down his throat, but by the power of the Lord he remained unharmed. The people who witnessed this miracle shouted, "Great is the God of the Christians!" Then they began to throw stones at the judge, and then they headed for the pagan temple, in order to cast down the idols.

On the following morning, when things had quieted down somewhat, the judge directed that the holy martyr be thrown into a cauldron of boiling tar, but this also caused the sufferer no harm. An angel come down from Heaven and bedewed him as he stepped into the cauldron. The tar overflowed the cauldron, splattering and burning the torturers themselves. St Boniface was then sentenced to beheading by the sword. Blood and a milky fluid flowed from his wounds. Beholding such a miracle, about 550 men believed in Christ.

St Boniface's companions, waiting for two days at the inn for him in vain, began searching for him, thinking that he had gotten drunk somewhere. At first their search was without success, but finally they came across a man who had been an eyewitness to the martyr's death. The man also led them to the place where the decapitated body lay. St Boniface's companions tearfully begged his forgiveness for their unseemly thoughts about him. After they ransomed the martyr's remains, they brought them back to Rome.
 On the eve of their arrival an angel appeared to Aglaida in her sleep and told her to prepare herself to receive her former slave, now the brother and fellow-servant of the angels. Aglaida summoned the clergy, and she received the holy relics with great reverence. Then she built a church on the site of his grave and dedicated it to the holy martyr. There she enshrined his relics, glorified by numerous miracles. After distributing all her wealth to the poor, she withdrew to a monastery, where she spent fifteen years in repentance, then fell asleep in the Lord. She was buried beside St Boniface. The sins of the one were washed away by his blood, the other was purified by her tears and asceticism. Both were found worthy to appear unsullied before our Lord Jesus Christ, Who desires not the death of a sinner, but that he should turn from his wickedness and live (Ezek. 33:11).We pray to St Boniface for deliverance from drunkenness.
He lived in Rome during the reign of Diocletian. He was slave to Aglais, the daughter of a Senator, and served as steward of her household and her large fortune. He also lived in fornication with her, and was addicted to drink. Despite these sins, he was kind, hospitable to strangers, and generous toward the needy.
In time, Aglais became troubled in her conscience over her way of life, and began to think of the account that she would have to give to God for her sins. Some Christians told her of the holy Martyrs and, moved by their accounts, she ordered Boniface to travel to Tarsus and bring back relics of these holy ones. Boniface, still deaf and blind to the things of God, said jokingly,
"And will you honor me as a Saint if I bring back my own body to you as a relic?"

  Boniface traveled to Tarsus with a large escort, well supplied with gold. He went straightaway to the Amphitheater, where he beheld a number of Martyrs being subjected to awful torments for the pleasure of the crowd, but bearing them all with patience and serenity. At the sight, the dissolute steward was touched by grace and felt his heart melt within him. He ran to the Martyrs, fell at their feet and kissed their chains, and loudly declared that he too was a disciple of Christ. So he too was put in chains, subjected to frightful tortures, and finally beheaded, rejoicing and praising God.
  Boniface's escort, mystified by his long absence, made inquiries and were astonished to discover that their godless and sinful companion had met a Martyr's death the day before. They paid fifty pounds in gold for his body and brought it back to Rome, thus fulfilling Boniface's own unwitting prophecy.
  An angel of the Lord appeared to Aglais and said, "Arise and go to meet him who was once your servant and companion in sin, but has now become our brother. Receive him as your master for, thanks to him, all your sins are to be forgiven." Rejoicing, Aglais received her former lover's holy relics and built a church in his honor, where many miracles were wrought. Aglais gave away her fortune, devoted herself to ascesis and prayer, and was herself granted the grace to work miracles. She reposed in peace thirteen years later, assured that the sins of her past had been effaced through the intercessions of the holy Boniface.
St. Darius Martyr with Zosimus Paul Secundus.
 Nicææ, in Bithynia, sanctórum Mártyrum Daríi, Zósimi, Pauli et Secúndi.
      At Nicaea, the Saints Darius, Zosimus, Paul, and Secundus, martyrs.
They died at Nicaea, Turkey.
6th v.  The Relocation of the Body of St. Severus, Patriarch of Antioch.
On this day, the body of St. Severus, Archbishop of Antioch, was relocated to the Zogag Monastery. This holy man departed in the city of Sakha at the house of a righteous wealthy man called Dorotheus, where he was hiding. Dorotheus sent the body, in a ship, with trustworthy men to the Zogag Monastery, located to the west of the city of Alexandria.
He commanded them not to enter the bay but to use the lake until they came to the shore. When they came to Kartasa, facing north, they sailed towards the west, but they did not find water deep enough to sail their ship and the crew was saddened and worried.
God, the Lover of man, He Who saved the children of Israel from their enemies, and opened up a way for them in the Red Sea and made them pass over, this same God preserved the body of Saint Severus from those who hated him. God made manifest this miracle. He made the ship sail in shallow water for six miles until they arrived to the shore.
From there they took the body of the Saint, carried it to the Zogag Monastery and laid it in the place which Dorotheus had built for it. There was great joy in the city of Alexandria and God worked great signs and wonders through the body of His saint Abba Severus. God honored St. Severus after his death even more than during his life.
His blessings be with us. Amen.
The Departure of St. Severus, Patriarch of Antioch.
On this day of the year 538 A.D., the holy father St. Severus, Patriarch of Antioch, departed. He was from Asia Minor. His grandfather, whose name was also Severus, saw in a vision someone telling him, "The child who is for your son will strengthen Orthodoxy, and his name will be after your name." When his son had this saint, he called him Severus. He was taught the Greek wisdom and church subjects.
Once, the saint was strolling outside the city, a shut-in saint came out of his cave crying, "Welcome to you Severus, teacher of Orthodoxy, and Patriarch of Antioch." Severus marvelled at how he called him by his name, for he did not know him before, and how he foretold what would become of him.
Severus grew in virtue and became a monk in the monastery of St. Romanus. The fame of his righteousness and his ascetic life spread out. When the Patriarch of Antioch departed, the bishops had a consensus to ordain him the Patriarch of the city in the year 512 A.D. The church was illuminated by his teachings which spread to all the universe, and he was one of the fathers who attended the Universal Council at Ephesus.
Shortly after, Emperor Anastasius died and Justinian, who was Chalcedonian in faith, reigned after him. He called upon this holy father and gave him great honors to persuade him to change his stand and to follow the Emperor's belief, but the Saint refused. The Emperor became angry, but the Saint did not fear his anger, and so the Emperor ordered him to be killed. Theodora, the Emperor's wife who was Orthodox in faith, knew about what the Emperor intended to do, so she told the saint to flee from his face.
St. Severus escaped to the land of Egypt and traveled everywhere and visited monasteries disguised as a monk. He strengthened the faith of the believers in the Orthodox doctrine. He dwelt in the city of Sakha in the home of a holy lay leader called Doretheos. God performed through him many miracles. He departed in the city of Sakha, and his body was relocated to the monastery of El-Zugag.
3rd v. St. Fausta mother of St. Anastasia - Sirmium Serbia
 Romæ sanctæ Faustæ, quæ fuit mater sanctæ Anastásiæ, ac nobilitáte et pietáte éxstitit insígnis.
      At Rome, St. Fausta, mother of St. Anastasia, renowned for her noble birth and her holiness.
The mother of St. Anastasia of Sirmium. Serbia, Yugoslavia. Fausta was a model matron of her era, demonstrating true virtue in raising a saint.
Fausta of Sirmium, Widow (RM) 3rd century. The legend of Saint Anastasia of Sirmium says that Fausta was her mother (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).

303 Cyriacus and Companions martyred at Nicomedia MM (RM)
 Nicomedíæ sanctórum Mártyrum Cyríaci, Paulílli, Secúndi, Anastásii, Syndímii et Sociórum.
      At Nicomedia, the holy martyrs Cyriac, Paulillus, Secundus, Anastasius, Sindimius, and their companions.
All that is known of Cyriacus, Paulillus, Secundus, Anastasius, Syndimius and their companions is that they were martyred at Nicomedia under Diocletian (Benedictines).
307 St. Meuris & Thea Martyred virgins from Gaza
 Gazæ, in Palæstína, pássio sanctárum Meuris et Theæ.
       At Gaza in Palestine, the martyrdom of Saints Meuris and Thea.
in Palestine. Meuris died in prison while being tortured. Thea survived the initial tortures but died a short time later. They are believed to be the same as Valentina and Thea. They died in Alexandria, Egypt.
308 The Martyrs Elias, Probus and Ares natives of Egypt heedless of their own safety cared for Christians locked up in prison during the persecution of Maximian (305-313). For this they were arrested, subjected to torture and given over to death (+ 308).
401 Anastasius I, Pope condemnation of Origen Saint Jerome helped him in his own way Saints Augustine and Paulinus of Nola praised his model of sanctity (RM)
 Romæ deposítio sancti Anastásii Papæ Primi, viri ditíssimæ paupertátis et apostólicæ sollicitúdinis, quem (ut ait sanctus Hierónymus) diu Roma habére non méruit, ne orbis caput sub tali Epíscopo truncarétur; nam, haud multo post ejus óbitum, Roma a Gothis capta et dirépta fuit.
      At Rome, the death of Pope St. Anastasius I, a man who was rich in his poverty and filled with apostolic zeal.  St. Jerome says that Rome did not deserve to possess him long, lest the capital of the world should be devastated under so fine a bishop, for shortly after his death Rome was taken and sacked by the Goths.

ST ANASTASIUS I was a Roman and the successor of St Siricius in the year 399 among his friends and admirers were St Jerome, St Augustine and St Paulinus of Nola. The first named wrote of him that he was a distinguished man, of blameless life and apostolic solicitude, whom Rome did not deserve to possess long lest the world’s head be cut off while ruled by such a bishop (referring to the subsequent invasion by Alaric the Goth). St Jerome was as kind in speaking of his friends as he was merciless to his opponents, and Anastasius earned his gratitude by con­demning certain writings of Origen (d. 254), about which Jerome was having a fierce controversy with Rufinus.

Besides the account in the Liber Pontificalis (for which see the text and notes of Duchesne’s edition, vol. i, pp. 218 seq.), we have a few authentic papal letters, as well as references in St Jerome, St Paulinus of Nola, and St Augustine. Consult further E Caspar, Geschichte des Papsttums, vol. i (1930), pp. 280—294, and Hefele-Leclercq, Histoire des Conciles, vol. ii, pp. 126—135.

Born in Rome; died there in 401. Anastasius, the son of Maximus, was elected pope on November 27, 399, and ruled the Church for two years. His pontificate was marked by his condemnation of Origen in order to stop the errors of those who followed and expanded upon Origen's teachings, his urging the African bishops to continue their opposition to Donatism, and his personal holiness and piety.
Saint Jerome helped him in his own way, and Saints Augustine and Paulinus of Nola praised his model of sanctity. It is from Pope Anastasius that priests have the instruction to read the Gospels standing and bowing their heads. The laus in the Roman Martyrology reads: "At Rome, the death of Pope Saint Anastasius I, a man of extreme poverty and apostolic solicitude. Saint Jerome in his writings saith that Rome did not deserve to possess him for long..." (Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia).
540 Gregory of Auxerre Auxerre for 13 years as its 12th bishop B (RM).
 Antisiodóri sancti Gregórii, Epíscopi et Confessóris.       At Auxerre, St. Gregory, bishop and confessor.
Gregory governed the see of Auxerre for 13 years as its 12th bishop. He died at the age of 85 (Benedictines).
552 Saint Gregory, Bishop of Homer (Omirits) possessed gifts of healing and wonderworking even in his youth
 Antisiodóri sancti Gregórii, Epíscopi et Confessóris.       At Auxerre, St. Gregory, bishop and confessor.
Son of Agapius and Theodota, was filled with the grace of God and possessed gifts of healing and wonderworking even in his youth. The Providence of God led him to hierarchical service. While still a deacon at Mediolanum (Milan) he heard the foretelling of his destiny from a hermit, and then he received confirmation of these words from another spirit-bearing Elder who lived an ascetic life in the mountains.

When Gregory went to this holy schemamonk for guidance, a miracle occurred. As he approached the mountain, he saw a fiery column in the air. He soon realized that the fiery column was actually the man of God coming toward him. That night he saw the Elder standing in the air above the ground. The Elder revealed to St Gregory that he must go to Rome to pray in the church of Sts Boniface and Aglaida. Then he would go to Alexandria and to become a bishop. Then he would arrive in the city of Negran in the land of Homer (in southern Arabia) to proclaim the Gospel.

St Gregory felt himself unworthy of this, and wished to remain with the ascetic as his disciple. So that Gregory should have no doubts of the veracity of his words, the Elder revealed that he knew a secret about him. In a vision, Gregory had seen the First-Ranked Apostles Peter and Paul, and they had placed a bishop's omophorion upon him. St Gregory stayed a short time in Carthage (North Africa) serving as a deacon, then arrived in Rome. He went to the church of Sts Boniface and Aglaida, then to the tomb of St Peter. There he was granted a vision of the holy Apostle, who told him to walk the path of virtue and to live according to God's will. That night he saw the Apostle Paul in a dream bringing to him a cup filled with oil, foretelling that he should receive the grace of the priesthood and the episcopacy.

During this time the armies of the Ethiopian emperor Elesbaan (October 24) vanquished the Himyarite king Dunaan, who was of Jewish background. The city of Negran was liberated, and Christianity restored in the land of Homer. But all the clergy had been cruelly exterminated by Dunaan, and therefore Elesbaan sent emissaries to the Patriarch of Alexandria asking him to send a bishop to Negran, and clergy for the churches. While he was praying, the holy Apostle Mark appeared to the patriarch, bidding him to find a deacon named Gregory, who was to be ordained to the priesthood, consecrated as a bishop, and then to be sent to Elesbaan. The patriarch did this.
During the service a miracle took place. St Gregory's face shone with the grace of the Holy Spirit,
and from his vestments came a sweet fragrance like myrrh or incense, filling the whole church with the scent.
Arriving in Homer, St Gregory began to set the Church in order, preaching to both pagans and Jews. After three years Elesbaan returned to Ethiopia, leaving the noble Abramius behind as King of Homer. St Gregory crowned and anointed Abramius as king. Soon he issued a decree that all his subjects be baptized. Then certain prominent Jews turned to the emperor saying that it was better for people to believe willingly rather than under compulsion. They requested that he should permit a debate on faith to be held between them and the Christians, vowing that if the Christians proved victorious in this debate, the Jews would then accept Baptism.
The Jews were given forty days to prepare for the debate, which lasted for several days. St Gregory refuted all the arguments of the head of the Hebrew elder, Rabbi Ervan, using only texts from the Old Testament. In a vision Ervan beheld the holy Prophet Moses, who worshipped the Lord Jesus Christ. The prophet told Ervan that Ervan was in opposition to the truth and would be defeated.
By the grace of God Christian truth prevailed in the debate, but Ervan would not acknowledge his defeat. He made a last desperate attempt. He said, "If you want me to believe in your Christ, and to acknowledge that yours is the true God, then show Him to me, bishop!" The saint replied: "Your request is impertinent. It is not with man that you contend now, but with God. However, the Lord can do what you have asked in order to convince you.
Everyone waited to see what would happen. St Gregory, having steadfast faith in God and trusting in Him, began to pray aloud. He recalled the mystery of the Incarnation of God the Word, the miracles of His earthly life, the Three-day Resurrection and the Ascension into Heaven, and he invoked the power of the Life-Creating Cross. "Show Thyself to these people, O Lord," he prayed, "and glorify Thy holy Name!" When he finished the prayer, the earth quaked, and in the east the heavens were opened, and in a radiant cloud of light the Lord Jesus Christ came down on earth, and the Voice of the Lord was heard: "Through the prayers of Bishop Gregory, He Whom your fathers put to death will heal you." 
Like Saul, who was struck blind by the Heavenly light on the road to Damascus, the Jews were struck blind. Then they believed in Christ and they implored the holy bishop to heal them. Upon receiving holy Baptism, all of them were healed. Rabbi Ervan received the Christian name Leo (meaning "lion").  After this most extraordinary miracle, St Gregory guided the flock of Homer for another thirty years. He reposed in the year 552 and was buried in a crypt in the cathedral of Afar.
6th c. Samthana of Meath Irish abbess-founder of Cluain- Bronach in Meath V (AC).
Samthana is the Irish abbess-founder of Cluain- Bronach in Meath (Benedictines).

790 St. Ribert Revered abbot of the monastery of Saint Oyend.
also called Ribarius. Ribert (Ribarius) of Saint-Oyend, OSB Abbot (AC)  In Franche-Comté, Ribert is much venerated as the 17th abbot of Saint-Oyend (Benedictines).

St. Manirus Bishop an apostle to Scotland kindness - goodwill
He evangelized the Highlanders in the northern regions and was revered for his kindness and goodwill.
Manirus of Scotland B (AC) Date unknown. Manirus is venerated as one of the apostles of northern Scotland. His work seems to have concentrated on encouraging the newly converted Highlanders in their faith (Benedictines).

1122 St. Bernard Valeara patron of Teramo
Italy, Bernard was a Benedictine monk at Monte Cassino, appointed the bishop of Teramo in 1115.
Bernard (Berard) Paleara, OSB B (AC).
Bernard was chosen bishop of Teramo in 1115, after educated Monte Cassino. He is principal patron of Teramo (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).

1153 Blessed Macarius of Würzburg first abbot of Saint James monastery, OSB Abbot (AC)
(also known as Macarius the Scot)  Macarius was either a Scottish or Irish monk who travelled to Würzburg, Germany, which attracted Irish pilgrims from the time of Saint Kilian in the 7th century. Apparently the Irish Abbey at Ratisbon (Regensburg) had requested that Macarius open an Irish abbey in Würzburg. He was elected the first abbot of Saint James monastery, which was founded by Bishop Embricho (1125-1146). Macarius is highly venerated in his adopted town and, in 1818, his relics were enshrined in the Marienkapelle there (Benedictines, Montague).

1188 Saint Elias Muromets of the Caves, nicknamed "Shoemaker" or "Cobbler,"
was from the city of Murom. Popular legend identifies him with the famous warrior hero Elias Muromets, who was the subject of Russian ballads and of Gliere's Symphony No. 3.

St Elias died with the fingers of his right hand formed to make the Sign of the Cross in the position accepted even today in the Orthodox Church: the first three fingers together, and the two outermost fingers folded onto the palm [in contrast to the Sign of the Cross used by the "Old Ritualists"]. During the struggle with the Old Ritualist Schism (seventeenth-nineteenth centuries). This information about the saint served as a powerful proof in favor of the present positioning of the fingers
.
1205 Blessed William of Fenoli Carthusian lay-brother many miracles both during his life and after his death.  
at the charterhouse Casularum in Lombardy  O. Cart. (AC)

1205 BD WILLIAM OF FENOLI many miracles both during his life and after his death
INFORMATION is lacking about this holy Carthusian lay-brother, whose cultus was confirmed by Pope Pius IX in 1860. It is known that he belonged to the charter-house Casularum in Lombardy and as he was in charge of the external business of the monastery his sanctity was a matter of more public knowledge than is usually the case among Carthusian monks. “He was untutored in theology, in philosophy and in worldly knowledge, but in spiritual life and good works he was most learned. His holiness was made known by very many miracles both during his life and after his death.” Accounts of some of the miracles attributed to him have been pre­served. One preposterous marvel is stated to have happened during his lifetime. When returning from his field work leading a mule William was attacked by robbers. Having no weapon to defend himself, he seized the leg of the mule, pulled it out of its socket, and brandishing it against his assailants, put them all to flight. This done he restored the leg to its place and the mule went on uninjured. It seems to be certain that in still existing paintings Bd William is represented with the leg of a mule or donkey in his hand.

An account of this good brother is given both in Le Couteulx, Annales Ordinis Cartusiensis vol. iii, pp. 293—302 and in the Analecta Juris Pontificii, vol. v, 1861, cc. 129-134. In both, the greater part of the space is taken up with attestations of miracles alleged to have been worked at the intercession of Bd William many centuries after his death.

cultus confirmed in 1860. William was a Carthusian lay-brother at the charterhouse Casularum in Lombardy (Benedictines).
1220 St. Adjutus abbot, famous for the spirit of prophecy.
  Aureliánis, in Gállia, sancti Adjúti Abbátis, prophético spíritu illústris.
      At Orleans in France, St. Adjutus, abbot, famous for the spirit of prophecy.

St. Bernard, St. Peter, St. Otto, St. Accursius, and St. Adjutus, who shed their blood for the Catholic Faith in the year 1220,
1370 Blessed Pope Urban V deeply spiritual Benedictine monk canon lawyer reformer
 Avenióne beáti Urbáni Papæ Quinti, qui, Sede Apostólica Romæ restitúta, Græcórum cum Latínis conjunctióne perfécta, infidélibus coércitis, de Ecclésia óptime méritus est.  Ejus cultum pervetústum Pius Nonus, Póntifex Máximus, ratum hábuit et confirmávit.
      At Avignon, blessed Urban V, who deserved well of the Church by restoring the Apostolic See to Rome, by bringing about a reunion of the Latins and the Greeks, and by suppressing heretics.  Pius IX approved and confirmed the veneration which had long been paid to him.

1370 BD URBAN V, POPE
WILLIAM DE GRIMOARD was born at Grisac in Languedoc in 1310, his father being a local nobleman and his mother a sister of St Elzear de Sabran. He was educated in the universities of Montpellier and Toulouse and became a Benedictine after his ordination he returned to his old universities and then went on to Paris and Avignon to study for his doctor’s degree. He taught in those places, and was appointed abbot of St Germain’s at Auxerre in 1352. At this time the popes were residing at Avignon and for the next ten years Abbot William was constantly called on to undertake diplomatic missions for Pope Innocent VI, who in 1361 made him abbot of St Victor’s at Marseilles and sent him to Naples as legate to Queen Joanna. While he was there he heard that Innocent was dead and that he had been elected in his place. He returned at once to Avignon, where he was consecrated and crowned, and took the name of Urban because “all the popes called Urban had been saints”. He was the best of the Avignon popes, though like most of them he was too much of a “nationalist” (as we should say now) to be a really satisfactory pontiff of the Universal Church, and the abuses by which he was surrounded were beyond his strength to eradicate.

The great event of his pontificate was his attempt, abortive though it was, to restore the papacy to Rome. In 1366, ignoring the opposition of the French king and the French cardinals, he informed the emperor of his intention to return to the City, and in April of the following year he set out. At Carneto he was met by a host of envoys, ecclesiastical and lay, by a Roman embassy bearing the keys of Sant’ Angelo, and by Bd John Columbini and his Gesuati waving palms and singing hymns. Four months later he entered Rome in state, the first pope it had seen for over half a century, and when he looked upon the state of the City he wept.

The great churches, even the Lateran, St Peter’s and St Paul’s, were almost in ruins, and he at once set to work to restore them and to make the papal residences habitable. Immediate steps were taken to revive the discipline of the clergy and the fervour of the people, work was soon found for all, and food was distributed freely to the destitute.

In the following year Urban met the Emperor Charles IV, a new alliance was made between the empire and the Church, and Charles entered Rome leading the mule on which the pope rode. Twelve months later the emperor of the East, John V Palaeologus, also came, disclaiming schism and seeking help against the Turks. Urban received him on the steps of St Peter’s, but he could give him no help: it was more than he could do to maintain his own position. He had failed to crush the condottieri, Perugia had revolted, France was at war with England, his French court was restless and discontented, his health was failing: Urban prepared to go back to France. The Romans implored him to stay; Petrarch made himself the mouthpiece of Italy to keep him in Rome, St Bridget of Sweden rode out to Montefiascone on her white mule to warn him that if he left Italy his death would swiftly follow. But it was all to no purpose. In June 1370 he declared to the Romans that he was leaving them for the good of the Church and to help France; on September 5, “sorrowful, suffering and deeply moved”, he embarked at Carneto; and on December 19 he was dead. Petrarch wrote, “Urban would have been reckoned among the most glorious of men if he had caused his dying bed to be laid before the altar of St Peter’s and had there fallen asleep with a good conscience, calling God and the world to witness that if ever the pope had left this spot it was not his fault but that of the originators of so shameful a flight.”
But this one weakness was forgiven him, and a chronicler of Mainz sums up contemporary opinion: “He was a light of the world and a way of truth; a lover of righteousness, flying from wickedness and fearing.”

Urban V was entirely free from the prevailing vices of his age and worked hard for the reform of the clergy, beginning with his own court, where the venality of the officials was notorious.* He maintained many poor students and encouraged learning by his support of universities, e.g. Oxford, and his encouragement of the foundation of new ones, e.g. at Cracow and Vienna. He awarded the custody of the relics of St Thomas Aquinas to the Dominicans of Toulouse, and instructed the university of that city that: “We will and enjoin on you that you follow the teaching of the blessed Thomas as true and Catholic teaching, and promote it to the utmost of your power.” Pilgrims came to Urban’s tomb in the abbey church of St Victor at Marseilles, his canonization was asked for and Pope Gregory XI promised the King of Denmark that it should be undertaken. The times were too troubled; but the cultus continued, and in 1870 it was confirmed by Pope Pius IX, the feast of Bd Urban being added to the calendar of Rome and of several French dioceses.

From the point of view of this pontiff’s personal holiness the most important sources will be found collected in the volume of J. H. Albanes and U. Chevalier, Actes ancient et documents concernant le B. Urbain V (1897). This includes the ancient lives, of which there are several, and the evidence, reports of miracles, etc., presented in view of his canonization as early as 1390. There is besides this a very considerable literature, of which an excellent bibliography is provided in G. Mollat, Las popes d’Avignon (1912), pp. 102-103. See further G. Schmidt in Sdralek’s Kirchengeschichtliche Abhandlungen, vol. iii, pp. 157—173, and E. Hocedez in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxvi (1907), PP. 305—316. There is a life by L. Chaillan (1911) in the series “Les Saints”, but the best account is that of G. Mollat in his work mentioned above.

* Among the cardinals he made was Simon Langham, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was promptly turned out of his see by King Edward III because he had not asked the king’s leave to accept the honour.

In 1362, the man elected pope declined the office. When the cardinals could not find another person among them for that important office, they turned to a relative stranger: the holy person we honor today.
The new Pope Urban V proved a wise choice.
A Benedictine monk and canon lawyer, he was deeply spiritual and brilliant. He lived simply and modestly, which did not always earn him friends among clergymen who had become used to comfort and privilege. Still, he pressed for reform and saw to the restoration of churches and monasteries.
Except for a brief period he spent most of his eight years as pope living away from Rome at Avignon, seat of the papacy from 1309 until shortly after his death.

He came close but was not able to achieve one of his biggest goals—reuniting the Eastern and Western churches.
As pope, Urban continued to follow the Benedictine Rule. Shortly before his death in 1370 he asked to be moved from the papal palace to the nearby home of his brother so he could say goodbye to the ordinary people he had so often helped.

Blessed Urban V OSB, Pope (RM) Born in Grisac, Languedoc, France, 1310; died in Avignon, France, December 19, 1370; cultus confirmed by Pope Pius IX on March 10, 1870.

William (Guillaume) de Grimoard, later Pope Urban V, was born in a chateau and given his name by his godfather Elzear de Sabran. His mother, Amphelise de Montferrand, remarked: "My son, I don't understand you!...But God does."

William had a most distinguished academic career, both studying philosophy, letters and law at Montpellier and Toulouse, and teaching canon law at four universities: Montpellier, Toulouse, Avignon, and Paris. The Benedictines pleased him. He entered the Chirac abbey and followed his vocation, which included ordination as a priest. His serious smile won all hearts; his diplomas opened doors. He was vicar general at Clermont and Uzés. Pope Clement VI appointed him abbot of St. Germain, Auxerre, in 1352, and nine years later Pope Innocent VI appointed him abbot of St. Victor, Marseilles, and legate to Queen Joanna of Naples. He retained such fond memories of St. Victor's that he asked to be buried there.

Popes Clement VI and Innocent VI used his services as a diplomat. The latter sent him all over as papal legate to obtain the submission of the Italian cities and the little republics that had so clamorously broken loose and, in the disorder of temporal authority, more and more contested the authority of the Holy See.

William succeeded, not by the ruses of diplomats or severity, but by negotiations and candor. He had no enemies. On September 28, 1362, he was on a papal mission to Naples when he learned that Innocent VI had died and that he himself had been elected pope, though he was not a cardinal. Together with his new name Urban, he took on his new mission without any pomp for he had a horror of all display. He prayed the way everyone prayed. He ate and died as the common folk.

He immediately began to reform the Church. Because his studies had served him well, he came to the aid of students with all his might, creating thousands of scholarships, reforming or creating new universities. He said, "The first sin of Christians is their ignorance." He restored churches and monasteries that had fallen into disorder. He made peace with Barnabo Visconti in 1364, though he was unsuccessful in his attempts to suppress the marauding condottieri in France and Italy. Through Peter de Lusignan, Urban temporarily occupied Alexandria in 1365, but his crusade against the Turks did not succeed.

For 50 years the papacy had been based at Avignon but in 1366 Urban decided to bring back the papacy to Rome. Unfortunately, the French court and cardinals opposed this move. Once in Rome, he set about restoring the dilapidated city, tightening clerical discipline, and reviving religion. The Emperor Charles IV was won over to a new treaty with the papacy. After Urban crowned Charles' consort German Empress, Charles agreed to respect the rights of the Church in Germany.

Because the split church seemed to him a permanent injury to Jesus Christ, he made advances to the Christians of the East. Even the Greek emperor, John V Palaeologus, was reconciled to Rome, in an attempt to heal the deep rift between the Eastern and Western Church. It is sad that the emperor was unable to win over the hearts of his people to reconcile with Rome.

But many princes remained hostile. Because he knew how to live modestly, Urban demanded the same of his entourage. Because he did not value money, he made no economies and condemned the clergy who made profit and business from their positions. If the goodness of Pope Urban has any defect, it is that he didn't hide it under his hat. He did everything in all innocence. Though he was pope, he remained a monk and continued to follow the Benedictine Rule.

The condottieri, led by Barnabo Visconti, were once again his implacable enemies. The Perugians rose against him. The leaders of France threatened the stability of the Church. Sadly, Urban left Rome on September 5, 1370, and returned to Avignon, despite the prediction of Saint Bridget that he would die an early death if he left Rome. He died less than four months later.

On Tuesday Urban had a premonition that he would not finish his mission and that he was not the man to reconcile the French and the British. He made them remove him from the Papal Palace at Avignon to his brother's house at the foot of the hill. He did not want to die in fine sheets. He had all the door to the street opened, for many of the people whom he used to help wanted to say goodbye to him (Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia).

 Blessed Pope Urban V (1310-1370) 
In 1362, the man elected pope declined the office. When the cardinals could not find another person among them for that important office, they turned to a relative stranger: the holy person we honor today.

The new Pope Urban V proved a wise choice. A Benedictine monk and canon lawyer, he was deeply spiritual and brilliant. He lived simply and modestly, which did not always earn him friends among clergymen who had become used to comfort and privilege. Still, he pressed for reform and saw to the restoration of churches and monasteries. Except for a brief period he spent most of his eight years as pope living away from Rome at Avignon, seat of the papacy from 1309 until shortly after his death.
He came close but was not able to achieve one of his biggest goals—reuniting the Eastern and Western churches.
As pope, Urban continued to follow the Benedictine Rule. Shortly before his death in 1370 he asked to be moved from the papal palace to the nearby home of his brother so he could say goodbye to the ordinary people he had so often helped.  
1511 Blessed Caecilia of Ferrara, OP V (PC).
 Caecilia married a very virtuous husband. By mutual consent they separated to become religious; she entered the Dominican convent at Ferrara (Benedictines)
.
1839 St. Francis Xavier Mau Martyr of Vietnam.
He was a native catechist who was strangled, as were his four companions.

1839 St. Thomas De & Companions Vietnamese martyrs
Thomas was a Vietnamese tailor who entered the Dominicans as a tertiary. Arrested on the charge of giving aid and shelter to foreign missionaries, he was strangled. Four other Catholic Vietnamese died with Thomas. They were canonized in 1988.
Blessed Thomas De and Companions, OP Tert. MM (AC) beatified in 1900. There is little known of the many Vietnamese natives who died during the several persecutions of Christians. During the first 20 years of the 19th century, Christianity made steady progress that was dramatically halted by renewed persecutions under the Annamite king Minh-Mang (1820-41). From 1832 Minh excluded all foreign missionaries and ordered Vietnamese Christians to renounce Christianity by trampling on the crucifix. Meanwhile churches were destroyed and teaching Christianity was forbidden. Some of the victims seem to have been induced by drugs to make temporary retractions; others endured fearsome tortures, including cutting off the limbs, joint by joint.

Thomas De, a Dominican tertiary and a tailor by profession, suffered the fate of many: execution by strangulation for giving shelter to the missionaries. Martyred with him were the Dominican tertiaries and catechists Dominic Uy, a 26-year-old; Francis Xavier Mau; the peasant Stephen Vinh; and one other (Benedictines, Farmer).

1839 Bl. Francis Man Dominican tertiary martyr of Vietnam.
Francis was serving as a catechist when arrested.
He and four companions were strangled. He was beatified in 1900.

1839 St. Augustine Moi martyr of Vietnam Dominican tertiary
Augustine worked as a day laborer. When the persecution of the faith started, he was ordered to trample a crucifix, an act he refused. Augustine's tormentors strangled him for his loyalty to Christ. He was beautified in 1900 and canonized in 1988 by Pope John Paul II.

Avitus (Adjutus) of Micy, Abbot (RM)
This is a confusing entry in the Roman Martyrology. There is another Avitus or Avy, who was also abbot of Micy monastery near Orleans about the same time and whose feast day is June 17. It's impossible to know whether these are or are not two separate individuals. Roeder, in describing the saint of June 17, calls him by all three names. She says that he is portrayed as a bishop using an axe to drive off the devil who is attacking Avitus with a pick-axe (Benedictines, Roeder).



THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 221

I will praise thee, O Lady, with my whole heart: and I will declare among the nations thy praise and glory.

For to thee is due glory, and thanksgiving, and the voice of praise.

May sinners find grace with God by thee, the finder of grace and salvation.

May the humble penitents hope for pardon: heal thou the bruises of their hearts.

In the beauty of peace and wealth rest: thou shalt feed us after the toil of our pilgrimage.

Let every spirit praise Our Lady


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Father Corapi's Biography

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

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

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

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


God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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