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!) R.
Deo
grátias. R.
Thanks be to God.
2023February is dedicated to the Holy Family since the 17th century and by Copts from early times. 22,600 lives saved since 2007 For the Son of man ... will repay every man for what he has done. The saints are a “cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us that a life of Christian perfection is not impossible. Our Bartholomew Family Prayer List Joyful Mystery on Monday Saturday Glorius Mystery on Sunday Wednesday Sorrowful Mystery on Friday Tuesday Luminous Mystery on Thursday Veterens of War Acts of the Apostles Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart From the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque How do I start the Five First Saturdays? Mary Mother of GOD 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary .
Mary Mother of GOD 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary The two Popes who glorified Bl. Dominic Lentini, Pius XI for his Heroic Virtues (27/1/35) and John Paul for his Beatification (12/10/97), will exalt the greatness of his Priesthood: Sacerdote sine adiunctis! (a Priest without equal) Rich only in his Priesthood! Marian Apparitions of the Past (I) February 25 - Our Lady of Great Power (Canada, 1673) - 9th apparition in Lourdes Marian apparitions cover three prominent phases of Church History: the Patristic age, Middle Ages, the Renaissance. The time periods denote not the occurrences of apparitions, but dates recorded by historians and Church officials. The Patristic Age: There is no recorded literature about apparitions for the early centuries of the Church. The first attestations of Marian apparitions are from the fourth century. For example, Gregory of Nyssa, who lived in the fourth century, recorded that Gregory the Wonder worker (213-270 A.D.) was the first beneficiary of a Marian apparition. The Middle Ages: Fr. Laurentin notes that "we do not know much" about cases of Marian apparitions recorded from the Middle Ages. The two most interesting cases from the Middle Ages are the seers at the Cistercian Monastery of Helfta (13th century) and the visions of St Bridget of Sweden (d. 1373). The Renaissance: During the sixteenth century, a new kind of apparitions began. These apparitions had a public character and Fr. Laurentin notes that these were intended to "renew the faith and to surmount the world's crises." The most significant case is Guadalupe (1531) which gave birth to a New Church in the Americas. Adapted from Father René Laurentin, Marian Spirituality In the Mystical Tradition, International Marian Research Institute, Dayton: Marian Library, July 21-24, 1997. Called in the Gospel "the Mother of Jesus," Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the Mother of my Lord" (Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.). In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos). Catechism of the Catholic Church 495, quoting the Council of Ephesus (431): DS 251. |
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Commemorate the "Triumph of Orthodoxy," restoration
of the holy icons Triumph_of_Orthodoxy
1st v. St. Ananias
II Missionary martyr patron of St. Paul249 St. Donatus Martyr with Herena, Justus, and 50 companions in Africa 284 St. Victorinus Martyr with companions at Diospolis 298 St. Ananias III converted a man named Peter 7 guards all martyred 369 St. Caesarius of Nazianzus Brother of St. Gregory Nazianzus son of St. Gregory the Elder 616 Ethelbert of Kent, King Not since conversions of Constantine and Clovis had Christendom known an event so momentous 696 Aldetrudis of Maubeuge abbess very holy family OSB Abbess (AC) 779 St. Walburga Abbess of the double monastery at Heidenheim 806 St. Tarasius saintly Bishop charity to poor no indigent person overlooked 995 Blessed Victor of Saint Gall recluse in the Vosges OSB (AC) 1104 Gerland of Girgenti continually saddened by the sight of the world 1131 Blessed Adelelmus of Engelberg monk OSB Abbess (PC) 1380 St. Aventanus Carmelite mystic lay brother gift of ecstasies, miracles visions 1481 Bl. Constantius a boy of extraordinary goodness gift of prophecy or second sight miracles 1600 Blessed Sebastian Aparicio Franciscan lay brother at Puebla de los Angeles 26 years OFM (AC) 1624 Bl. Didacus Carvalho martyr of Japan 1828 Bl. Dominic Lentini called the Son and Servant of the Cross |
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Quote: Pope Paul VI’s 1969 Instruction
on the Contemplative Life includes this passage:
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Commemorate the "Triumph
of Orthodoxy," restoration of the holy icons
Originally, the Prophets Moses, Aaron, and Samuel were commemorated on this Sunday. The Alleluia verses appointed for today's Liturgy reflect this older usage. Today we commemorate the "Triumph of Orthodoxy," the restoration of the holy icons in the reign of the holy Empress Theodora (February 11). |
1st
v St. Ananias II Missionary martyr patron of St. Paul A Christian in the city of Damascus, Ananias was commanded by Christ in a vision to seek out Saul, the future Paul, who had staggered his way into the city following his dramatic encounter with the Lord on the road to Damascus. Finding Saul blind, Ananias cured him and baptized him. After seeing Paul start his missionary work, Ananias went to Eleutheropolis, where he was martyred for the faith. 1st v St. Ananias II the birthday of Jan 25th; Missionary; martyr Feb 25 feast day; patron of St. Paul; Apud Damáscum natális sancti Ananíæ, qui fuit discípulus Dómini, et eúndem Paulum Apóstolum baptizávit. Ipse autem, cum Damásci, et Eleutherópoli, alibíque Evangélium prædicásset, tandem, sub Licínio Júdice, nervis cæsus et laniátus, ac lapídibus oppréssus, martyrium consummávit. At Damascus, the birthday of St. Ananias, who was a disciple of our Lord, and baptized the apostle Paul. After he had preached the Gospel at Damascus, Eleutheropolis, and elsewhere, he was scourged under the judge Licinius, had his flesh torn, and lastly being overwhelmed with stones, ended his martyrdom. |
249
St. Donatus Martyr with Herena, Justus, and 50 companions who suffered in Africa In Africa sanctórum Mártyrum Donáti, Justi, Herénæ et Sociórum. In Africa, the holy martyrs Donatus, Justus, Herenas, and their companions. They were martyred in Africa under Emperor Decius {249}. Donatus, Justus, Herena & Comp. MM (RM) 3rd century. A band of 50 martyrs who suffered in Africa under Decius (Benedictines). |
284
St. Victorinus Martyr with companions at Diospolis In Ægypto natális sanctórum Mártyrum Victoríni, Victóris, Nicéphori, Claudiáni, Dióscori, Serapiónis et Pápiæ, sub Numeriáno Imperatóre. Horum duo primi, pro confessióne fídei, exquisíta suppliciórum génera constánter passi, cápite plectúntur; Nicéphorus, post cratículas candéntes ignésque superátos, minutátim concísus est; Claudiánus et Dióscorus flammis incénsi; Serápion vero et Pápias gládio cæsi sunt. In Egypt, under Emperor Numerian, the birthday of the holy martyrs Victorinus, Victor, Nicephorus, Claudian, Dioscorus, Serapion, and Papias. After patiently enduring extreme tortures, the first two were beheaded for the confession of the faith, Nicephorus was laid on a heated gridiron, placed over the fire, then thoroughly hacked with a knife; Claudian and Dioscorus were burned at the stake; Serapion and Papias were slain with the sword. A citizen of Corinth, Greece, he was exiled with a group of fellow Christians to Egypt during the persecutions under Emperor Numerian. Victor and the others had been exiled in 249 and lived in Egypt. Under Governor Sabinus they were arrested again, brutally tortured, and finally executed at Diospolis. 284 SS. VICTORINUS AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS VICTORINUS, Victor, Nicephorus, Claudian, Dioscorus, Serapion and Papias were citizens of Corinth who had made a good confession of their faith in their own country before Tertius the proconsul in 249, at the beginning of the reign of Decius. After being tortured, they passed into Egypt, but whether they were banished thither or went into voluntary banishment is not stated. They completed their martyrdom at Diospolis, the capital of the Thebaid, under the governor Sabinus in the reign of Numerian. After the governor had tried the constancy of the martyrs with the rack and scourge, he caused Victorinus to be thrown into a great marble mortar. The executioners began by pounding his feet and legs, saying to him at every stroke, “Save thyself Thou canst escape this death by renouncing thy new god.” But as he continued constant, the governor became impatient and ordered that his head should be battered to pieces. When Victor was threatened with the same death, his only wish was that his execution should be hastened, and pointing to the mortar he said, “Salvation and happiness await me there!” He was immediately cast into it and pounded to death. Nicephorus, the third martyr, leaped of his own accord into this engine of destruction. The judge, angry at his boldness, commanded several executioners to beat him at the same time. Sabinus caused Claudian, the fourth martyr, to be hacked to pieces. He expired after his feet,
hands, arms, legs and thighs had been cut off. The governor, pointing
to his mangled limbs and scattered bones, said to the other three, “It
rests with you to avoid this punishment: I do not compel you to suffer.”
They answered with one voice, “We would rather ask thee to inflict on
us any still more excruciating torment that thou canst devise. We will
never violate the fidelity we owe to God or deny Jesus Christ our Saviour,
for He is our God from whom we have our being and to whom alone we aspire.”
The tyrant then commanded that Dioscorus should be burnt alive and
Serapion hung up by the heels and then beheaded. Papias was cast into the
sea with a stone attached to his neck and drowned. This happened on February
25, the day allotted to these saints in the Western martyrologies, but the
Greeks honour them on January 21, said to be the date of their confession
at Corinth.
The Syriac
text of the acts of these martyrs was published for the first time
by Stephen E. Assemani in the eighteenth century with a Latin translation.
In modern times the Syriac has been re-edited from fresh manuscript
sources by Paul Bedjan. A French translation of the same acts,
by F. Lagrange, was printed in 1852. The substance of the account is
probably reliable, though we may suspect a certain amount of embroidery
in the details.
Victorinus and Companions MM (RM) Victorinus, Victor,
Nicephorus, Claudian, Dioscorus, Serapion and Papias were Corinthian
who were exiled to Egypt after confessing their faith before the Proconsul
Tertius. They were martyred at Diospolis in the Thebaid during the reign
of Decius (Numerian?), under the governor Sabinus, for their Christian
faith.After various tortures, Victorinus was thrown into a great mortar (according to the Greeks, of marble.) Then the executioners began by pounding his feet and legs, saying to him at every stroke: "Spare yourself, wretch. It depends upon you to escape this death, if you will only renounce your new God." The prefect grew furious at his constancy, and at length commanded his head to be beat to pieces. The sight of the atrocities committed against Victorinus heightened the fervor of his fellows, rather than tempering it as the governor had intended. When the tyrant threatened Victor with the same death as Victorinus, he only desired him to hasten the execution; and, pointing to the mortar, said: "In that is salvation and true felicity prepared for me!" He was immediately cast into it and beaten to death. Nicephorus, the third martyr, was impatient of delay, and leaped of his own accord into the bloody mortar. The judge, enraged at his boldness, commanded not one, but many executioners at once to pound him in the same manner. He caused Claudian, the fourth, to be chopped in pieces, and his bleeding joints to be thrown at the feet of those that were yet living. He expired after his feet, hands, arms, legs, and thighs were cut off. At one point in the proceedings, after Victorinus, Victor, Nicephorus, and Claudian had already been executed, the governor tried to reason with the remaining prisoners to abjure their faith. "We would rather ask you to inflict on us any still more excruciating torment than you can devise," they replied in unison. "We will never violate the fidelity we owe our God or deny Jesus Christ our Savior, for He is our God from whom we have our being and to whom alone we aspire." The enraged tyrant commanded Diodorus to be burned alive, Serapion to be beheaded, and Papias to be drowned. These martyrs are named in the Roman and other western martyrologies on February 25; however, the Greek Menaea, and the Menology of the emperor Basil Porphyrogenitus honor them on January 21, the day of their confession at Corinth (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth). |
298 St. Ananias III converted
a man named Peter 7 guards all martyred Martyr priest of Phoenicia, modern Lebanon. In prison, Ananias converted a man named Peter and seven guards. They shared his martyrdom. Ananias and Companions MM (AC) Saint Ananias was a priest of Phoenicia who was martyred under Diocletian. He was thrown into prison, converted his jailer (Peter) and seven other soldiers of the guard. All were put to death together (Benedictines). |
369 St. Caesarius
of Nazianzus Brother of St. Gregory Nazianzus son of St. Gregory the
Elder Naziánzi, in Cappadócia, sancti Cæsárii, qui beátæ Nonnæ fílius ac beatórum Gregórii Theólogi et Gorgóniæ fuit frater, et quem idem Gregórius inter ágmina beatórum se vidísse testátur. At Nazianzus, St. Caesarius, who was the son of blessed Nonna, and whom his brother, blessed Gregory the Theologian, says he saw among the hosts of the blessed. Caesarius studied medicine and philosophy at Alexandria, Egypt, and in Constantinople. Famous as a physician, Caesarius was appointed to the court of Emperor Julian the Apostate, who tried repeatedly to get him to renounce the Christian faith. Caesarius was only a catechumen, a Christian in training, but he resigned from the court rather than deny Christ. He served Emperor Jovian as physician and was the treasurer for Emperor Valens. In 468, after a harrowing experience during an earthquake at Nicaca, in Bithynia, Caesarius was baptized. His brother gave the details of Caesarius' life while conducting his funeral. 369 ST CAESARIUS OF NAZIANZUS CAESARIUS was the brother of St Gregory Nazianzen, and his father was bishop of that city. Both boys received an excellent education, but whilst Gregory went to study at Caesarea in Palestine, Caesarius repaired to Alexandria, where he distinguished himself in every branch of knowledge, specializing in oratory, philosophy and more particularly in medicine. He perfected his medical studies in Constantinople and became the foremost physician of his age, but he refused to settle there, although the city and the Emperor Constantius begged him to do so. He was afterwards recalled there and greatly honoured by Julian the Apostate, who nominated him his first physician and excepted him from several edicts which he published against the Christians. It is from
St Gregory’s panegyric that most of our information is
derived. In virtue of this sermon Caesarius has been honoured as a saint
and is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology. Nevertheless it seems certain
that it was only after the earthquake at Nicea and consequently only a
few months before his death that Caesarius received baptism. For the best
part of the forty years he lived on earth he by his own choice was no more
than a catechumen, and was consequently debarred from participating in
the sacred mysteries.
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616
Ethelbert of Kent, King Not since conversions of Constantine and Clovis
had Christendom known an event so thrillingly momentous.
(RM) (also known as Ædilberct, Æthelberht, Aibert, Edilbertus) Born c. 560; died at Canterbury on February 24, feast day formerly February 24. In the days of the Saxons, Ethelbert, great-grandson of Hengist, the first Saxon conqueror of Britain, reigned for 36 years over Kent beginning about 560, the oldest of the kingdoms. Although he had been defeated by Ceawlin of Wessex at the battle of Wimbledon in 568, Ethelbert became the third bretwalda of England, exercising supremacy over all other Saxon kings and princes south of the Humber. Under his rule Kent was the most cultured of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms; it was closely associated with the Frankish Rhineland. 616 ST ETHELBERT OF KENT ETHELBERT, King of Kent, married a Christian princess, Bertha, only child of Charibert, King of Paris. She had full liberty to practise her religion, and she brought with her a French prelate, Bishop Liudhard, who officiated in an ancient church, which he dedicated to God in honour of St Martin, at Canterbury. Tradition speaks of the
piety and amiable qualities of Queen Bertha, and these no doubt made
a great impression on her husband, but his conversion did not take place
until the coming of St Augustine and his companions. These missionaries,
sent by St Gregory the Great, first landed in Thanet, from whence
they sent a message to the king announcing their arrival and explaining
the reason of their coming. Ethelbert bade them remain in the island,
and after some days he himself came to Thanet to hear what they had to
say. His first conference with them took place in the open air, as he was
afraid they might use spells or some form of magic, which were held to be
powerless out of doors. Ethelbert, sitting under an oak, received them well
and, after listening to them, told them that they might freely preach to
the people and convert whom they could. As for himself, he could not immediately
abandon all that he had held sacred, but he would undertake that the missionaries
should be well treated and should have the means to live. Bede tells
us that he gave them the church of St Martin in which
“to sing psalms, to pray, to offer Mass, to preach and to
baptize”. Conversions took place, and it was not long before Ethelbert
and many of his nobles were convinced. They received baptism on Whitsunday,
597; and the king’s conversion was followed by that of thousands of his
subjects. He told Augustine and his
followers that they might rebuild the ancient British churches and build
others but, eager as he was for the spread of God’s kingdom, he would constrain
no man to change his religion, for, as Bede informs us, he had learnt from
his teachers that the service of Christ must be voluntary and not compulsory.
He treated all alike, although he felt a special affection for those who
had become Christian. In the government of his kingdom his thoughts were
set on increasing the welfare of his people, for whom he enacted laws which
were held in high esteem in England in succeeding ages. Buildings and land
at Canterbury he gave up for the use of the archbishop, who founded in the
city the cathedral called Christ Church and built, outside the walls, the
abbey and church of St Peter and St Paul (afterwards called St Augustine’s).
In his own dominions Ethelbert established a second bishopric, that of Rochester,
where he founded the church of St Andrew; whilst in London, in the territory
of the king of the East Saxons, he built the first cathedral of St Paul.
He was the means of winning over to Christianity Sabert, King of the
East Saxons, and Redwald, King of the East Angles, although the latter subsequently
relapsed into semi-idolatry. Ethelbert reigned fifty-six years, dying in
616, and was buried in the church of St Peter and St Paul where the bodies
of Queen Bertha and of St Liudhard already rested. Up to the days of Henry
VIII, a light was always kept lighted before his tomb. His feast is now kept
in the dioceses of Westminster, Southwark and Northampton, with a commemoration
in Nottingham, and he is named in the Roman Martyrology. We see in King Ethelbert a
very noble type of convert. His reception of the missionaries and his
willingness to give them a fair hearing must strike all those who read
his history. After his conversion, whilst he was eager to win others,
he would constrain no one, and thus aided instead of hindering the labours
of the missionaries. The use of force has always been a real enemy to
the progress of the faith—even when it appears for the moment to be successful—for
it is opposed to the spirit of our Lord and to the essence of Christianity.
The evangelization of the world will be brought about by prayer, by teaching
and by example, but never by force of arms, by persecution or by compulsion
of any kind. Bede’s Ecclesiastical History is, practically speaking, our sole authority
for the life of Ethelbert (he spells the name Aedilberct). Gregory
of Tours twice over alludes to the marriage of Bertha to a prince
of Kent, but does not name him. The “Dooms” of Ethelbert should be consulted
in the text of Liebermann, Gesetze der Angelsachsen, with
its ample notes and glossary. Among general works, see F. M. Stenton’s
Anglo-Saxon England (1943). According to Dom S. Brechter’s
views, Ethelbert was not baptized till 601.
He married a Christian princess, Bertha, granddaughter
of King Clovis of the Franks and sister of Chilperic's brother Charibert,
king of Paris. Bertha brought with her to England her own chaplain,
Bishop Saint Liudhard of Senlis, and in a church built in Roman times
in Canterbury that was dedicated to Saint Martin, he preached the Gospel
in a heathen land.Bertha herself was lovable and gentle, and though we know little of her life, her memory remains as a bright light shining in the darkness of those ancient days. Bertha was a zealous and pious Christian princess, who by the articles of her marriage had free liberty to exercise her religion. To Ethelbert and his people she brought the pattern and example of a Christian life and prepared the way for the coming of Augustine (Austin). Although in one place Saint Gregory the Great compares her piety and zeal to that of Saint Helen, as late as 601, he reproached her for not having converted her husband. Although Ethelbert was a very courteous man, he was himself not yet a Christian. When Augustine and his missionaries, sent from Rome by Gregory the Great, landed on the isle of Thanet and requested Ethelbert's permission to preach, he ordered them to remain where they were and arranged for them to be well tended until he had reached a decision. Ethelbert feared that the missionaries might be magicians, so he would not receive them indoors, in case he needed to retreat quickly from their sorcery. In that time they believed at that time, an evil spell would be ineffective outdoors. So the king arranged to meet them in the open air on Thanet Island under a great oak. They came in the bright morning light, the emissaries of Rome, bearing before them a great silver cross and a picture of our Lord painted on a large wooden panel, and chanting Gregorian strains. At their head marched Augustine, whose tall figure and patrician features were the center of attention. it was a moving sight, and who could have foretold all that the day held in store for England! As the paraded forwarded they prayed for their salvation and that of the English. The king, surrounded by a great
company of courtiers, invited the visitors to be seated, and after
listening carefully to what Augustine had to say, gave a generous answer:
"You make fair speeches and promises, but all this is to me new and
uncertain. I cannot all at once put faith in what you tell me, and abandon
all that I, with my whole nation, have for so long a time held sacred.
But since you have come from so far away to impart to us what you yourselves,
by what I see, believe to be the truth and the supreme good, we shall do
you no hurt, but, on the contrary, shall show you all hospitality, and shall
take care to furnish you with the means of living. We shall not hinder you
from preaching your religion, and you may convert whom you can."
He accommodated them in the royal city of Canterbury and before the year was over there were 10,000 converts according to a letter from Saint Gregory to Patriarch Eulogius of Alexandria. On Whit Sunday 597 (traditionally, though it is more likely to have occurred in 601), King Ethelbert himself was baptized by Saint Augustine. In 601, Gregory wrote an encouraging letter to Ethelbert, congratulating him on becoming a Christian. Not since the conversions of Constantine and Clovis had Christendom known an event so thrillingly momentous. From that time, Ethelbert was changed into another man. His only ambition during the last 20 years of his life was to establish the perfect reign of Christ in his own soul and in the hearts of his subjects. His ardor in penitential exercises and devotion never abated. It must have been difficult to master his will in the while wielding temporal power and wealth, but Ethelbert continuously advanced in the path of perfection. In the government of his kingdom, his thoughts were completely turned upon the best means of promoting the welfare of his people. He enacted wholesome laws, abolished the worship of idols, and turned pagan temples into churches. While he granted religious freedom to his subjects, believing conversion by conviction was the only true conversion, thousands of them also became Christians. His code of laws for Kent is the earliest known legal document written in a Germanic language. The first law decreed that any person who stole from the church or clergy must make immediate reparation. Ethelbert gave his royal palace of Canterbury to Saint Augustine for his use, founded a cathedral there, and built the abbey of Saints Peter and Paul (later called Saint Austin's) just outside the city walls. He also laid the foundations for Saint Andrew's in Rochester and many other churches. King Ethelbert was instrumental in bringing King Sebert (Sabert) of the East Saxons and King Redwald of the East Angles to faith in Christ. He built the cathedral of Saint Paul's in London in the territory of King Sebert. Saint Gregory the Great, delighted with the progress made in the English mission field, sent a number of presents to King Ethelbert. The pope wrote that "by means of the good gifts that God has granted to you, I know He blesses your people as well." He urged King Ethelbert to destroy the shrines of idols and to raise the moral standards of his subjects by his own good example. Upon his death, Ethelbert was
buried beside his first wife Bertha in the porticus (side-chapel) of
St. Martin in the Abbey Church of SS. Peter and Paul. Later his relics
were deposited under the high altar of that same church, then called
Saint Austin's. Polydore Virgil reports that a vigil light was kept before
the tomb of Saint Ethelbert, and was sometimes an instrument of miracles
even in the days of King Henry VIII. There seems to have been an unofficial
cultus at Canterbury from early times, but his feast is found in calendars
only from the 13th century, and generally on February 25 or 26, because
Saint Matthias occupied February 24. He is commemorated in both the Roman
and British Martyrologies (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Farmer,
Gill, Husenbeth).
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696 Aldetrudis of
Maubeuge abbess very holy family OSB Abbess (AC) (also known as Adeltrudis) Born into another very holy family, Saint Aldetrudis was the grand-daughter of Saints Walbert and Bertilia, daughter of Saints Vincent Madelgarus and Waldetrudis (Waudru), niece of Saint Aldegund of Maubeuge, and sister of Saints Landric, Dentelin, and Madelberte. She had no choice but to be a saint. Having been confided to the care of her Aunt Aldegund at Maubeuge, she eventually succeeded her as its second abbess (Benedictines). |
779
St. Walburga Abbess of the double monastery at Heidenheim
In monastério Heidenhémii, diœcésis Eistetténsis, in Germánia, sanctæ Walbúrgæ Vírginis, quæ fuit fília sancti Richárdi, Anglórum Regis, et soror sancti Willebáldi, Eistetténsis Epíscopi. In the monastery of Heidenheim, in the Eichstadt diocese in Germany, St. Walburga, virgin. She was the daughter of St. Richard, king of England, and sister of St. Willebald, bishop of Eichstadt. St. Walburga, Virgin invoked against coughs, dog bite (rabies), plague, and for good harvests 779 ST WALBURGA, VIRGIN ST WALBURGA (Waldburg) is honoured in various parts of France under the names of Vaubourg, Gauburge and Falbourg, and in Germany and the Netherlands as Wilburga, Warpurg and Walpurgis. She was in fact an Englishwoman, the sister of St Willibald and St Winebald, and was educated at the monastery of Wimborne in Dorset, where she afterwards took the veil. When St Boniface set
out on his great mission to preach Christianity to the German people,
he was joined by St Walburga’s brothers, and when St Tatta was asked
by Boniface to send some nuns to found a convent in the newly evangelized
districts, St Walburga was one of the religious who crossed to the continent
under the care of St Lioba. For two years she lived at Bischofsheim,
but as soon as her brother Winebald founded the double monastery of Heidenheim
she was called upon to rule over the nunnery whilst he directed the monks.
At his death she was appointed abbess of both houses by her other brother,
Willibald, then bishop of Eichstätt, and she retained this office
of superior over men and women until her death. She is said to have
studied and practised medicine. The three
or four medieval Latin lives are all of relatively late date, and no great
trust can be placed in the details they record. But the “Hodoeporicon” of
her brother St Willibald, compiled by a nun in St Walburga’s OWO Convent
of Heidenheim, is a reliable document, and the Life of St Willibald, incorrectly
ascribed to Bishop Reginold of Eichstätt, is also of some value. A rather
uncritical narrative (Life of St Walburge), derived from
these materials, was written by Fr T. Meyrick. A translation of the “Hodoeporicon”
has been published by C. H. Talbot, Anglo-Saxon Missionaries
in Germany (1954). The best edition of the Latin texts is that
edited by Holder-Egger in MGH., Scriptores, vol. xv, Pt
I, pp. 86—106. Fuller materials are printed in the Acta Sanctorum,
February, vol. iii. See also Analecta Bollandiana,
vol. xlix (1931), Pp. 353 seq.
Walburga was born in Devonshire England, around 710.
She was the daughter of a West Saxon chieftain and the sister of St. Willibald and Winebald. Walburga was
educated at Wimborne Monastery in Dorset, where she became a nun. In
748, she was sent with St. Lioba
to Germany to help St. Boniface
in his missionary work. She spent two years at Bishofsheim, after which
she became Abbess of the double monastery at Heidenheim founded by her
brother Winebald. At the death of Winebald, St. Walburga was appointed
Abbess of both monasteries by her brother Willibald, who was then Bishop
of Eichstadt. She remained superior of both men and women until her death
in 779. She was buried first at Heidenheim, but later her body was interred
next to that of her brother, St. Winebald, at Eichstadt. Walburga, OSB Abbess (RM) (also known as Bugga, Gaudurge, Vaubourg, Walpurga, Walpurgis) Born in Devonshire, Wessex, England; died at Heidenheim, Swabia, Germany, February 25, 779; feasts of her translation are celebrated May 1, October 12 (to Eichstätt), and September 24 (to Zutphen). When Saint Boniface evangelized the Germans, he took with him as fellow apostles his two nephews, Willibald and Winebald, who were the sons of Saint Richard, king of the West Saxons. So successful was their enterprise that fresh reinforcements of missionaries were requested and the monasteries of England were stirred by the news of their progress. Indeed, it was hardly possible to restrain the ardent faith and enthusiasm of those who wanted to join them, and there sailed boat after boat of eager volunteers. Nor in that stirring hour were the womenfolk unmoved in their wish to follow, and Boniface asked for a colony of nuns to be sent out. Among them was his own niece, Walburga, a nun of Wimborne under Saint Tatta and sister of Willibald and Winebald, for she, too, had heard the call and had immediately followed Saint Lioba to Germany. Walburga had been educated at the double monastery of Wimbourne in Dorset and decided there to consecrate her life to God by becoming a nun. When she answered the call to Germany, she spent two years evangelizing in Bischofsheim, impressing the pagans with her medical skills. Winebald founded a double monastery at Heidenheim, where she was appointed abbess and Winebald ruled the men. She must have been a remarkable woman, for so great was her influence that on his death the bishop of Eichstätt appointed Walburga in his place and gave her charge over both the men's and women's congregations. Walburga died as abbess of Heidenheim, whence her relics were translated to Eichstätt. This English woman had the curious destiny of attaining a place in German folklore. The night of May 1 (the date of the transfer of her relics to Eichstätt in 870) became known as Walpurgisnacht. May 1 had been a pagan festival marking the beginning of summer and the revels of witches, hence the traditions of Walpurgisnacht, which have no intrinsic connection with the saint. Nevertheless, her name became associated with witchcraft and other superstitions (cf. Goethe's Faust, pt. i, Walpurgis night in the Hartz mountains). It is possible, however, that the protection of crops ascribed to her, represented by the three ears of corn in her icons, may have been transferred to her from Mother Earth (Walborg). Her shrine was an important
pilgrimage site because of the 'miraculous oil' that exudes from the rock
on which her shrine is placed. A fine collection of 16th- to 20th-century
phials for its distribution is kept at Eichstätt. In 893, Walburga's
relics were inspected and diffused, some to the Rhineland, others to Flanders
and France, which spread her cultus to other countries. One important center
was Attigny, where Charles the Simple established a shrine in his palace
chapel and named her patron of his kingdom. Today she lies peacefully in
the vault of the 17th- century Baroque church bearing her name--a symbol
not of witchcraft, but of Christian healing and mission (Attwater, Benedictines,
Bentley, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Gill).
A modern abbess of Eichstätt was sufficiently
important to be selected to negotiate the surrender of the town to
the Americans at the end of the Second World War.In art, Saint Walburga is generally portrayed as a royal abbess with a small flask of oil on a book. At times (1) she may have three ears of corn in her hand; (2) angels hold a crown over her; (3) she is shown in a family tree of the Kings of England; (4) she is shown together with her saintly brothers; or (5) miracles are taking place because of the oil extruding from her tomb (Roeder). She is venerated at Eichstätt (Roeder). Walburga has been portrayed by artists from the 11th until the 19th centuries. Especially noteworthy is a 15th-century tapestry cycle of her life. Saint Walburga is invoked against
coughs, dog bite (rabies), plague, and for good harvests (Roeder).
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806
St. Tarasius saintly Bishop charity to poor no indigent person overlooked 1st secretary to Emperor Constantine
Constantinópoli sancti Tharásii Epíscopi, eruditióne et pietáte insígnis; ad quem exstat Hadriáni Papæ Primi epístola pro defensióne sanctárum Imáginum. At Constantinople, St. Tharasius, bishop, a man of great learning and piety. There exists a letter defending sacred images, written to him by Pope Hadrian I. 806 ST TARASIUS, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE ST TARASIUS, although a layman and chief secretary to the young Emperor Constantine VI and his mother Irene, was chosen patriarch of Constantinople by the court, clergy and people after having been nominated by his predecessor Paul IV, who had retired into a monastery. Tarasius came of a patrician family, had had a good upbringing, and in the midst of the court, though surrounded by all that could flatter pride or gratify the senses, he had led a life of almost monastic severity. He was most loath to accept the dignity which had been conferred upon him, partly because he felt that a priest should have been chosen, but also on account of the position created by the succession of emperors, beginning with Leo III in 726, whose policy it was for various reasons to abolish the veneration of sacred images and banish eikons from the churches.* [* The use of sacred images had become general throughout the Church and had been encouraged by the authorities when, all danger of idolatry being over, it became necessary to impress on men’s minds that God had actually become man and had been born of a human mother. For this purpose, and as a means of reviving the memory of the saints and of lifting up the soul to God, pictures and other images were introduced into the churches.] Tarasius was called to be
patriarch at a time when the Empress Irene had the imperial power in her
hands as regent for her son, Constantine VI, then only ten years old. She
was an ambitious, artful and heartlessly cruel woman, but she was opposed
to Iconoclasm. When therefore Tarasius had been consecrated on Christmas
day 784, on the understanding that a council should be held to restore the
unity of the churches disrupted by the campaign against images, the way
was clear for such a gathering. This, the seventh oecumenical council, eventually
assembled at Nicaea in 787, under the presidency of the legates of Pope
Adrian I. After due discussion it was declared to be the sense of the
Church to allow to holy pictures and other images a relative honour, but
not of course that worship which is due to God alone. He who reveres the
image, it was emphasized, reveres the person it represents. Tarasius, in obedience to
the decision of the synod, restored holy images throughout his patriarchate.
He also laboured zealously to abolish simony, and his life was a model of
disinterestedness to his clergy and people. At his table and in his residence
he allowed himself nothing of the magnificence of some of his predecessors.
Intent on serving others, he would scarcely allow his servants to do anything
for him. He permitted himself but little sleep, and all his leisure was devoted
to prayer and reading. He banished the use of fine clothes from amongst his
clergy, and was particularly severe against theatrical entertainments. He
often took dishes from his table to distribute with his own hands to the
poor, and that none might be over looked, he visited all the charitable institutions
and hospitals in Constantinople. Some years later the emperor
became enamoured of Theodota, a maid of honour to his wife, the Empress
Mary, whom he had been forced to marry by his mother and whom he now
resolved to divorce. To further his purpose he tried to gain over the
patriarch, and sent an officer to inform him that the empress was plotting
to poison him. Tarasius answered the messenger sternly, “Tell him I will
suffer death rather than consent to his design”. The emperor, hoping to
win him by flattery, sent for the patriarch and said to him, “I can conceal
nothing from you whom I regard as my father. No one can deny that I may
divorce one who has attempted my life. The Empress Mary deserves death
or perpetual penance.” He then produced a vessel full of poison which
he pretended she had prepared for him. The patriarch, perceiving this to
be an attempt to hoodwink him, replied that he was only too sure that
Constantine’s passion for Theodota was at the bottom of all his complaints
against the empress; he also warned him that even if she were really guilty
of the crime, a second marriage during her lifetime would be adulterous.
The monk John who was present also spoke so resolutely to the emperor that
in his fury he drove them both from his presence. Then he turned Mary out
of the palace and forced her to take the veil. As Tarasius persisted in
his refusal to marry him to Theodota, it was done by Abbot Joseph, an official
of the church of Constantinople. Tarasius had to face the resentment of
Constantine, who persecuted him during the remainder of his reign.* [*
On the other hand, there were those who judged that Tarasius had been
too complaisant about the imperial divorce. They were led by the abbot
St Plato (April 4) and by St Theodore, afterwards the Studite (November
11), who were imprisoned by Constantine.] We are told that spies were
set to watch the patriarch’s comings and goings, that none was suffered
to associate with him without leave, and many of his relations and servants
were banished. In the meantime, however, the Dowager Empress Irene,
dissatisfied at being no longer at the head of the government, gained
over the principal officers of the court and army, and having made her
son prisoner caused his eyes to be put out. Irene reigned for five years,
but was deposed by Nicephorus, who usurped the empire and banished her
to the isle of Lesbos. Under the reign of Nicephorus,
Tarasius persevered peaceably in the functions of his pastoral office.
In his last sickness, as long as he was able to move, he continued to
offer the Holy Sacrifice. Shortly before his death he fell into a trance,
as his biographer, who was present, relates, and he seemed to be disputing
with a number of accusers who were busily scrutinizing all the actions
of his life and making accusations. He appeared to be in great agitation
as he defended himself against their charges. This filled all present
with fear—knowing how worthy his life had been. But a wonderful serenity
succeeded, and the holy man gave up his soul to God in great peace after
he had ruled his patriarchal see for twenty-one years.
For the ascetical
side of St Tarasius’s activities our chief authority is the biography
by Ignatius the deacon. The Greek text has been edited by A. Heikel
in the Proceedings of the Helsingfors Academy. The Acta Sanctorum,
February, vol. iii, only supplies a Latin translation. An excellent account
of the Iconoclast controversy is provided in Hefele-Leclercq, Histoire
des Conciles, vol. iii, Pt 2 (1910), pp. 741 seq.; and there is a summary
in N. H. Baynes and H. L. B. Moss, Byzantium (1948), pp. 15-17, 105-108.
See also Krumbacher, Geschichte der Byzantinischen Literatur, 2nd ed.,
p. 73; Hergenröther, Photius, vol. i, pp. 264-361; and Byzantinische
Zeitschrift, 1909, pp. 57 seq.
St. Tarasius was subject of the Byzantine Empire. He was raised to the highest honors in the Empire as Consul, and later became first secretary to the Emperor Constantine and his mother, Irene. When being elected Patriarch of Constantinople, he consented to accept the dignity offered to him only on condition that a General Council should be summoned to resolve the disputes concerning the veneration of sacred images, for Constantinople had been separated from the Holy See on account of the war between the Emperors. The Council was held in the Church of the Holy Apostles at Constantinople in 786; it met again the following year at Nice and its decrees were approved by the Pope. The holy Patriarch incurred the enmity of the Emperor by his persistent refusal to sanction his divorce from his lawful wife. He witnessed the death of Constantine, which was occasioned by his own mother; he beheld the reign and the downfall of Irene and usurpation of Nicephorus. St. Tarasius' whole life in the Episcopacy was one of penance and prayer, and of hard labor to reform his clergy and people. He occupied the See of Constantinople twenty-one years and two months. His charity toward the poor was one of the characteristic virtues of his life. He visited in person, all the houses and hospitals in Constantinople, so that no indigent person might be overlooked in the distribution of alms. This saintly Bishop was called
to his eternal reward in the year 806.
Tarasius of Constantinople B (RM) (also known as
Tharasius) Tarasius's father, George, was a judge held in high
esteem for his even-handed justice, and his mother, Eucratia, no less
celebrated for her piety. (He was the uncle or great-uncle of Saint Photius.) He was raised in the
practice of virtue and taught to choose his friends wisely.As a layman, he was secretary of state to the ten-year-old Constantine VI. In the midst of the court and all its honors, surrounded by all that could flatter pride or gratify sensuality, Tarasius led a life like that of a professed religious. Empress Irene, regent for her son, privately a Catholic during her husband's lifetime, schemed to gain power over the whole government to end the persecution of the Catholics by the Iconoclasts. She was an ambitious, artful, and heartlessly cruel women, but she was opposed to Iconoclasm. At the same time, Paul VI, patriarch of Constantinople, resigned his see in repentance for conforming to the heresy of the deceased Emperor Leo. As soon as Irene learned that he had taken the religious habit of Florus Monastery, she visited him and tried to dissuade him. Paul's resolution was unalterable for he wished to repair the scandal he had given. He suggested Tarasius as a worthy replacement. And so Irene named the layman Tarasius, patriarch of Constantinople. There was unanimous consent by the court, clergy, and people. Tarasius objected, in part because he felt a priest should be chosen, but primarily because he could not in conscience accept the government of a see that had been cut off from Catholic communion. Finally, he accepted the position upon condition that a general council should be called to settle the dispute over the use of images. He was consecrated on Christmas Day, 784. Soon after his consecration
he wrote letters to Pope Adrian I (as did Irene) and the patriarchs of Alexandria,
Antioch, and Jerusalem requesting their attendance or that of their
legates at the seventh ecumenical council. The Holy Father sent legates
with letters to the emperor, empress, and patriarch that, in the presence
of his legates, the false council of the Iconoclasts should first be
condemned and efforts made to re-establish holy images throughout the
empire. (His legates, who assumed the presidency of the council, were
Peter, archpriest of the Roman church, and Peter, priest and abbot of
Saint Sabas in Rome.)
The Eastern patriarchs, being under the yoke of the Islamics, could not come for fear of offending their overlords, but they sent their deputies. The council opened at Constantinople August 1, 786, but was disturbed by the violence of Iconoclasts; therefore, the empress dispersed the council until the following year. The Second Council of Nicaea at the Church of Hagia Sophia was attended by the pope's legates, Tarasius, John (priest and monk representing the patriarchs of Antioch and Jerusalem), Thomas (for the patriarch of Alexandria), and 350 bishops, plus many abbots and other holy priests and confessors. The assembled agreed that it was the sense of the Church to allow holy pictures and other images a relative honor, but not, of course, that worship that is due to God alone. He who revers the image, it was emphasized, reveres the person it represents. Once the council was ended, synodal letters were sent to all churches and, in particular, to the pope for his approval of the council, which was forthcoming. In keeping with the resolutions of the General Council of Nicaea in 787, Tarasius restored statues and images to the churches and worked to eliminate simony. He also forbade the use of gold and scarlet among his clergy. The life of Tarasius was a model of perfection to his clergy and people. He lived austerely, slept little, and became known for his acts of charity. He would take the meat from his table to distribute among the poor with his own hands and assigned them a large, fixed revenue. To ensure hat no one would be overlooked, he visited all the houses and hospitals in Constantinople. Reading and prayer filled all his leisure hours. It was his pleasure, in imitation of our Lord, to serve others rather than being served by them. He powerfully exhorted universal mortification of the senses, and was particularly severe against all theatrical entertainments. Constantine turned against him in 795 when Tarasius refused to sanction his divorce from Empress Mary, whom his mother had pressured him to marry. Constantine even tried to coerce his support by deceit saying that Mary had plotted to poison the bishop. Tarasius remained firm, replying, "Tell him I will suffer death rather than consent to his design." Next Constantine
tried flattery. He said: "I can conceal nothing from you whom I regard
as my father. No one can deny that I may divorce one who has attempted
to take my life. The Empress Mary deserves death or perpetual penance."
He produced a vial of poison that he pretended she had prepared for him.
The patriarch, convinced that Constantine was trying to hoodwink him,
responded that although Mary's crime was horrid, his second marriage
during her lifetime would still be contrary to the law of God.
While being persecuted for his orthodoxy by the emperor,
Saint Theodore and his monks of Studium accused Tarasius of being too
lenient. Some days you just can't win!Constantine wished to marry Theodota, one of Mary's maids, and forced his wife into a convent. But Tarasius still refused to perform the marriage ceremony. This scandalous example led to several governors and other powerful men divorcing their wives or entering bigamous relationships, and gave encouragement to public lewdness. Saints Plato and Theodorus separated themselves from the emperor's communion to show their abhorrence of his crime. Tarasius did not think it was prudent to excommunicate the emperor who might restore iconoclasm in a resultant rage. Tarasius was persecuted by Constantine thereafter. No one could speak to the patriarch without the permission of the emperor. Spies watched his every move. Tarasius's servants and relatives were banished. This semi-confinement gave Tarasius more free time for contemplation. Irene won over the elite, seized
power and had Constantine imprisoned and blinded (such gentle folks,
eh?) with so much violence that he died in 797.
But a wonderful serenity succeeded, and the holy
man gave up his soul to God in peace.During her five-year reign, she recalled all those who had been banished. After Nicephorus seized the throne in 802, Irene was exiled to Lesbos. Tarasius completed his 21-year reign under Nicephorus tending to his flock and saying Mass daily. Shortly before his death, Tarasius fell into a trance, as his biographer, who was present, relates, and he seemed to be disputing with a number of accusers who were busily scrutinizing all the actions of his life and making accusations. The saint appeared to be in great agitation as he defended himself against their charges. God honored the memory of Tarasius
with miracles, some of which are related by the author of his vita.
His feast was first celebrated by his successor. Fourteen years after
Tarasius's death, the iconoclast emperor Leo the Armenian dreamed just
before his own death that he saw Saint Tarasius highly incensed against
him, and heard him command one named Michael to stab him. Leo, thinking
this Michael to be a monk in the saint's monastery, ordered him to be
brought before him and even tortured some of the religious to hand him
over, but there was no Michael among them.
Leo was killed six days later by Michael Balbus (Benedictines,
Husenbeth, Walsh, White)Saint Tarasius, Patriarch of
Constantinople was of illustrious lineage. He was born and raised in
Constantinople, where he received a fine education. He was rapidly promoted
at the court of the emperor Constantine VI Porphyrogenitos (780-797) and
Constantine's mother, the holy Empress Irene (August 7), and the saint
attained the rank of senator.
During these times the Church
was agitated by the turmoil of the Iconoclast disturbances. The holy
Patriarch Paul (August 30) although he had formerly supported Iconoclasm,
later repented and resigned his office. He withdrew to a monastery, where
he took the schema. When the holy Empress Irene and her son the emperor
came to him, St Paul told them that the most worthy successor to him would
be St Tarasius (who at this time was still a layman). Tarasius refused
for a long time, not considering himself worthy of such high office,
but he then gave in to the common accord on the condition, that an Ecumenical
Council be convened to address the Iconoclast heresy.
Mourned by the Church, the saint was buried in a
monastery he built on the Bosphorus. Many miracles took place at his
tomb.Proceeding through all the clerical ranks in a short while, St Tarasius was elevated to the patriarchal throne in the year 784. In the year 787 the Seventh Ecumenical Council was convened in the city of Nicea, with Patriarch Tarasius presiding, and 367 bishops attending. The veneration of holy icons was confirmed at the council. Those bishops who repented of their iconoclasm, were again received by the Church. St Tarasius wisely governed the Church for twenty-two years. He led a strict ascetic life. He spent all his money on God-pleasing ends, feeding and giving comfort to the aged, to the impoverished, to widows and orphans, and on Holy Pascha he set out a meal for them, and he served them himself. The holy Patriarch fearlessly denounced the emperor Constantine Porphyrigenitos when he slandered his spouse, the empress Maria, the granddaughter of St Philaretos the Merciful (December 1), so that he could send Maria to a monastery, thus freeing him to marry his own kinswoman. St Tarasius resolutely refused to dissolve the marriage of the emperor, for which the saint fell into disgrace. Soon, however, Constantine was deposed by his own mother, the Empress Irene. St Tarasius died in the year 806. Before his death, devils examined his life from the time of his youth, and they tried to get the saint to admit to sins that he had not committed. "I am innocent of that of which you accuse me," replied the saint, "and you falsely slander me. You have no power over me at all." |
995 Blessed Victor
of Saint Gall recluse in the Vosges OSB (AC) Victor was a Benedictine monk of Saint Gall in Switzerland who became a recluse in the Vosges, where he died (Benedictines). |
1104 Gerland of Girgenti
continually saddened by the sight of the world B
(AC) Born in Besançon, France. Saint Gerland is said to have been related to the Norman conqueror of Sicily, Robert Guiscard. He was consecrated bishop of Girgenti by Urban II, and labored for the restoration of Christianity in Sicily after the expulsion of the Saracens. It is said that Gerland was continually saddened by the sight of the world (Benedictines, Encyclopedia). 1100 ST GERLAND, BISHOP OF GIRGENTI GERLAND was bishop of Girgenti in Sicily, the cathedral of which city was placed under his patronage, but beyond this fact nothing definite can be stated about him except that he was born at Besançon. From various sources and traditions his life has been reconstructed conjecturally. It is supposed that he was closely related to the two Norman counts, Robert Guiscard and Roger, who in the eleventh century set out to conquer Sicily from the Arabs; they succeeded in their efforts, and their kinsman Gerland was entrusted with various ecclesiastical offices. He was, however, so scandalized at the dissolute conduct of those with whom he was brought in contact that he returned to his native Burgundy with the intention of leading a solitary life. Count Roger recalled him to Sicily to appoint him bishop of Girgenti, and he was consecrated by Bd Urban II. He found much to do in a land where the Moslems had ruled for so long. He re-established the cathedral, which had been reduced to ruins, built an episcopal residence, and obtained a charter of his jurisdiction. He sought out Jews and Saracens, had private interviews with them besides public conferences, and converted many, baptizing them himself. His success has been described as marvellous. Gerland died soon after returning from a visit to Rome, having apparently foreseen his approaching end.
See the Acta Sanctorum, February, vol. iii ; Lauricella, S. Gerlando . . . di Girgenti (1893) and
Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lvii (1939), pp. 105—108.
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1131 Blessed Adelelmus
of Engelberg monk OSB Abbess (PC) (also known as Adelhelm) Saint Adelelmus, a monk of Saint Blasien in the Black Forest of Germany, was sent to found the Engelberg Monastery in Switzerland, of which he became prior and subsequently abbot (Benedictines). 1117 BD ROBERT OF ARBRISSEL, ABBOT ROBERT OF ARBRISSEL is commonly called Blessed, but the title is a courtesy one attempts to bring about his beatification in the seventeenth century and again in the nineteenth came to nothing. He was a doctor of the University of Paris, and as vicar of the bishop of Rennes the vigour of his reforming zeal was ill-received, and in 1093 he had to leave his native Brittany. After a short association with St Bernard of Tiron, Bd Vitalis of Savigny and other ascetics, he in 1099 made a monastic settlement on the borders of Poitou and Anjou that developed into the famous congregation of Fontevrault. The most valuable
study of Robert of Arbrissel is that of J. von Walter, Die
ersten Wanderprediger Frankreichs (1903), vol. i. The principal
sources are printed in Acta Sanctorum, February,
vol. iii, but it can no longer be maintained that the letters of Bishop
Marbod of Rennes and Abbot Geoffrey of Verdun, which severely criticize
Robert, are not authentic: it is very probable that Geoffrey was misled
by vague popular rumour. See also Poncelet in Analecta Bollandiana,
vol. xxiii (1904), PP. 375—377, and G. Niderst, Robert
d’Arbrissel et les origines de . . . Fontevrault (1952).
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1380 St. Aventanus
Carmelite mystic lay brother gift of ecstasies, miracles, and visions A native of Limoges, France, he joined the Carmelites as a lay brother. With another Carmelite, Romaeus, Aventanus started on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Crossing the Alps they encountered many difficulties, including an outbreak of plague. Aventanus, who had a gift of ecstasies, miracles, and visions, succumbed to the plague near Lucca, Italy. His cult was approved by Pope Gregory XVI. 1380 BB. AVERTANUS AND ROMAEUS LIMOGES was the birthplace of Avertanus, a holy lay-brother of the Carmelite Order. As soon as he could speak he would prattle about God and talk to Him. He was never naughty, nor did he want to play like other children, but he would pray and often appeared rapt in contemplation. Very early he began to long to join a religious order, and one night he had a vision of an angel, who enjoined him to enter the Carmelite Order. Overjoyed, he laid the matter before his parents. Although they were pious people, they were greatly distressed at the idea of losing the hope and prop of their old age; but Avertanus persuaded them that it was the will of God and that in his cell he would not be so far away, so that in the end they yielded and dismissed him with their blessing. The prior of the Carmelite monastery of Limoges admitted him, and the brethren seem soon to have realized that the newcomer was a youth of singular holiness. They recorded that, when he received the habit, angelic voices mingled with their own chants and that the Blessed Virgin herself was seen with her hand extended in blessing above the head of the humble lay-brother. When not at prayer, it was his delight to perform the most menial tasks in the convent; he was often found in his cell entirely rapt in ecstasy, and it was with the greatest difficulty that he could be recalled to ordinary life. At night he was wont to get up from his bed and creep on hands and knees to the top of one of the rocky hills near the monastery, where with his arms outstretched, he would pray till daybreak. He had such a horror of money that he would not touch it or speak of it or even see a coin if he could help it. At length Avertanus was inspired with a great wish to visit the Holy Places and, with the prior’s consent, he started off for Rome with a companion called Romaeus. As his biographer remarks, theirs was not the sort of pilgrimage which combines pleasure and comfort with religion. They made their way painfully over the Alps in winter, and when they reached Italy they found that the plague was raging and that the gates of the cities were closed against all strangers and tramps who might spread the disease. It was in the cities that pilgrims were usually accommodated, but the two men made their way as best they could till they reached, in the suburbs of Lucca, the hospital of St Peter, where they were taken in. The next morning Avertanus attempted to enter the city, but the gatekeepers refused to admit the gaunt and ragged pair. No doubt they were justified, for by the time Avertanus had returned to the hospital he was in a high fever, having apparently contracted the dread disease. He grew rapidly worse and, warned that his last hour was approaching, he uttered three prophecies, viz, that a great schism would be healed through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, that the city of Lucca which had rejected him in life would honour him after his death, and that the hospital of St Peter would pass into the care of the Carmelites. He received the last sacraments and died happily in the midst of a vision of Christ and the angels. Romaeus did not long survive him. Stricken with the complaint and sad at the loss of his friend, he hourly grew weaker until the eighth day, when he passed away to rejoin Avertanus whom his dying eyes had beheld in glory. The cultus of Bd Romaeus was confirmed by Pope Gregory XVI. See Acta Sanctorum, February, vol. iii. The biography given in
Grossi, Viridarium Carmelitanum, from which the above
account is mainly derived, cannot be considered a very reliable source.
Avertanus is called Saint in his order. The very jejune second-nocturn lessons
in the Carmelite Breviary supplement on March 4 are an indication of the
slender information we possess regarding the life of Bd Romaeus.
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1481 Bl. Constantius a boy
of extraordinary goodness gift of prophecy or second sight miracles
1481 BD CONSTANTIUS OF FABRIANO has the gift of prophecy or second sight was also credited with the power of working miracles EARLY in the fifteenth century, there lived at Fabriano a boy of such extraordinary goodness that even his parents would sometimes wonder whether he were not rather an angel than a human child. Once, when his little sister was suffering from a disease which the doctors pronounced incurable, Constantius Bernocchi asked his father and mother to join him in prayer by her bedside that she might recover. They did so, and she was immediately cured. At the age of fifteen he was admitted to the Dominican convent of Santa Lucia and he seems to have received the habit from the hands of Bd Laurence of Ripafratta, at that time prior of this house of strict observance. Constantius was one of those concerned with the reform of San Marco in Florence, and it was whilst he was teaching in that city that it was discovered that he had the gift of prophecy or second sight. Among other examples, the death of St Antoninus was made known to him at the moment that it took place, and this is mentioned by Pope Clement VII in his bull for the canonization of that saint. He was also credited with the power of working miracles, and besides the cares of his office he acted as peacemaker outside the convent and quelled popular tumults. The joyous spirit conspicuous
in many saints of his order was denied him. Constantius was usually
sad, and when some one asked him why he so seldom laughed, he answered,
“Because I do not know if my actions are pleasing to God”. He used to
say the office of the dead every day and often the whole psalter, which
he knew by heart. He urged this devotion on others, and said that when
he desired any favour and recited the psalter for that intention, he never
failed to obtain his petition. With the assistance of the municipal council,
he rebuilt the friary of Ascoli and lived and died there, in spite of
the entreaties of the people of Fabriano that he should spend his last
years amongst them. He was esteemed so holy that it was reckoned a great
favour to speak to him or even to touch his habit. Upon the news of his
decease, the senate and council assembled, “considering his death a public
calamity“, and resolved to defray the cost of a public funeral. The cultus of Bd Constantius was confirmed in 1821. The most reliable
source of information concerning Constantius is Mortier’s Maitres Généraux O.P., in which he lays much
stress upon the holy friar’s theological attainments and the influence
he exercised, after the example of Bd Raymund of Capua, in promoting
the reform of the order. See also Procter, Lives of the Dominican
Saints.
Early in the fifteenth century, there lived at Fabriano
a boy of such extraordinary goodness that even his parents would sometimes
wonder whether he were not rather an angel than a human child. Once,
when his little sister was suffering from a disease which the doctors
pronounced incurable, Constantius Bernocchi asked his father and mother
to join him in prayer by her bedside that she might recover. They did so,
and she was immediately cured. At the age of fifteen he was admitted to
the Dominican convent of Santa Lucia and he seemed to have received the
habit from the hands of Blessed Laurence
of Ripafratta, at that time prior of this house of strict observance.
Constantius was one of those concerned with the reform of San Marco in Florence,
and it was while he was teaching in that city that it was discovered that
he had the gift of prophecy or second sight. Among other examples, the death of St. Antoninus was made known to him at the moment it took place, and this is mentioned by Pope Clement VII in his Bull for the canonization of that saint. He was also credited with the power of working miracles, and besides the care of his office, he acted as peacemaker outside the convent and quelled popular tumults. He was esteemed so holy that it was reckoned a great favor to speak to him or even to touch his habit. Upon the news of his death, the senate and council assembled, "considering his death a public calamity", and resolved to defray the cost of a public funeral. The cultus of Blessed Constantius was confirmed in 1821. Blessed Constantius of Fabriano, OP (AC) Born in Fabriano, Marches of Ancona, Italy, 1410; died at Ascoli, Italy, 1481; equivalently beatified in 1821 (or 1811). Constantius Bernocchi is as close to a 'sad saint' as it's possible for a Dominican to get; he is said to have had the gift of tears. However, that is not his only claim to fame. Constantius had an remarkable childhood, not only for the usual signs of precocious piety, but also for a miracle that he worked when he was a little boy. Constantius had a sister who had been bedridden most of her nine years of life. One day, the little boy brought his parents in to her bedside and made them pray with him. The little girl rose up, cured, and she remained well for a long and happy life. Naturally, the parents were amazed, and they were quite sure it had not been their prayers that effected the cure, but those of their little son. Constantius entered the Dominicans at age 15, and had as his masters Blessed Conradin and Saint Antoninus. He did well in his studies and wrote a commentary on Aristotle. His special forte was Scripture, and he studied it avidly. After his ordination, he was sent to teach in various schools in Italy, arriving eventually at the convent of San Marco in Florence, which had been erected as a house of strict observance. Constantius was eventually appointed prior of this friary that was a leading light in the reform movement. This was a work dear to his heart, and he himself became closely identified with the movement. Several miracles and prophecies
are related about Constantius during his stay in Florence. He one day
told a student not to go swimming, because he would surely drown if
he did. The student, of course, dismissed the warning and drowned. One
day, Constantius came upon a man lying in the middle of the road. The
man had been thrown by his horse and was badly injured; he had a broken
leg and a broken arm. All he asked was to be taken to some place where
care could be given him, but Constantius did better than that--he cured
the man and left him, healed and astonished.
Constantius was made prior of Perugia, where he lived a strictly penitential life. Perhaps the things that he saw in visions were responsible for his perpetual sadness, for he foresaw many of the terrible things that would befall Italy in the next few years. He predicted the sack of Fabriano, which occurred in 1517. At the death of Saint Antoninus, he saw the saint going up to heaven, a vision which was recounted in the canonization process. Blessed Constantius is said to have recited the Office of the Dead every day, and often the whole 150 Psalms, which he knew by heart, and used for examples on every occasion. He also said that he had never been refused any favor for which he had recited the whole psalter. He wrote a number of books; these, for the most part, were sermon material, and some were the lives of the blesseds of the order. On the day of Constantius's death, little children of the town ran through the streets crying out, "The holy prior is dead! The holy prior is dead!" On hearing of his death, the city council met and stated that it was a public calamity. The relics of Blessed Constantius have suffered from war and invasion. After the Dominicans were driven from the convent where he was buried, his tomb was all but forgotten for a long time. Then one of the fathers put the relics in the keeping of Camaldolese monks in a nearby monastery, where they still remain (Benedictines, Dorcy, Encyclopedia). |
1600
Blessed Sebastian Aparicio Franciscan lay brother at Puebla de los Angeles
26 years OFM (AC) Born in Galicia, Spain; beatified in 1787. Sebestian was a farm laborer and then valet to a gentleman of Salamanca. He emigrated to Mexico, where he was engaged by the government in building roads and in conducting the postal service between Mexico and Zacateca. After the death of his second wife, he became a Franciscan lay brother at Puebla de los Angeles. He lived there for another 26 years begging alms for the community (Benedictines). 1600 BD SEBASTIAN APARICIO THE son of poor parents, Sebastian Aparicio was sent out into the fields as a child to mind the sheep. At the age of fifteen, he went as servant to a widow at Salamanca, but as he found he was exposed to temptation he left her suddenly and became valet to a wealthy man. After a year he returned to more congenial work as servant to two farmers at San Lucar. He could combine his work in the fields with prayer and contemplation, and he remained there for eight years, during which period he earned enough to give marriage portions to his sisters. At the close of that time, being once more assailed by temptation, he saved himself by running away, and was moved to cut himself off completely from his native land and to go to America. He settled in Mexico at Puebla
de Los Angeles, and began by doing agricultural work. Soon he found
a better opening and started a carrying business—conveying merchandise
from Zacatecas to Mexico City and running a sort of post. He then undertook
the construction of roads, and through his enterprise and industry became
a rich man. The money he made he gave away freely in charity, providing
dowries, feeding the poor, and lending to farmers without asking for repayment.
Sebastian’s authority and prestige amongst Spaniards and Indians became
immense: his judgement was accepted in
the settlement of any dispute. In the midst of his wealth, he practised
great austerity, sleeping only on a mat and eating the poorest food. In
1552 he retired from his
business and bought a property near Mexico City, where he could live
a quieter life, and for twenty years he developed the soil and bred cattle.
He was often urged to marry, and, at the age of sixty, he married a poor
girl at the entreaty of her relations. Upon her death he married again,
but in both cases the marriage, by mutual consent, was never consummated.
After the death of his second wife, when he was seventy years of age, he
contracted so dangerous an illness that his life was despaired of.
However, he recovered, and regarding it as a warning and call from Heaven,
he made over everything he possessed to the Poor Clares and received the
habit of the third order of St Francis. At first he gave his services
to the Poor Clares, but he soon felt drawn to the monastic life and
entered the convent of the Friars Minor of the Observance in Mexico
City. Old as he was, Sebastian was full of fervour and proved an exemplary
novice, deeply humble and perfectly obedient. He was transferred first
to Tecali and then to Puebla to join a community of over a hundred friars,
where he spent the last twenty-six years of his life in the wearisome
and humble role of begging brother. It was said that angels were seen
to accompany the aged man on his long and arduous journeys and to guide
him when he did not know the way. He had a wonderful power over beasts,
and could instantly tame mules and even wild animals. To obtain food for
the large community he used to have to take carts, drawn by oxen, across
great tracts of country to carry the corn and other food given by charitable
people, but he never had the least trouble with the animals, which obeyed
the slightest movement of his lips. Bd Sebastian lived to the great age
of ninety-eight, and his one sorrow at the last was that, because he was
not able to retain what he swallowed, he could not receive the Blessed Sacrament.
But it was carried into his cell that he might adore it, and he was so
overcome with joy that he caused himself to be placed on the bare ground
and poured out his soul in an ecstasy of thanksgiving to God. He was beatified
in 1787. See M. Cuevas, Historia de la Iglesia en Mexico, vol. i; Leon, L’Auréole Séraphique (Eng. trans.), vol. i, pp. 313—319 February 25, 2010 Blessed Sebastian of Aparicio (1502-1600)Sebastian’s roads and bridges connected many distant places. His final bridge-building was to help men and women recognize their God-given dignity and destiny. Sebastian’s parents were Spanish peasants. At the age of 31 he sailed to Mexico, where he began working in the fields. Eventually he built roads to facilitate agricultural trading and other commerce. His 466-mile road from Mexico City to Zacatecas took 10 years to build and required careful negotiations with the indigenous peoples along the way. In time Sebastian was a wealthy farmer and rancher. At the age of 60 he entered a virginal marriage. His wife’s motivation may have been a large inheritance; his was to provide a respectable life for a girl without even a modest marriage dowry. When his first wife died, he entered another virginal marriage for the same reason; his second wife also died young. At the age of 72 Sebastian distributed his goods among the poor and entered the Franciscans as a brother. Assigned to the large (100-member) friary at Puebla de los Angeles south of Mexico City, Sebastian went out collecting alms for the friars for the next 25 years. His charity to all earned him the nickname "Angel of Mexico." Sebastian was beatified in 1787 and is known as a patron of travelers. Comment: According to the Rule
of St. Francis, the friars were to work for their daily bread. Sometimes,
however, their work would not provide for their needs; for example,
working with people suffering from leprosy brought little or no pay.
In cases such as these, the friars were allowed to beg, always keeping
in mind the admonition of Francis to let their good example commend them
to the people. The life of the prayerful Sebastian, still hard at work
in his 90's, certainly drew many closer to God.
Quote: St. Francis once told his followers: "There is a contract between the world and the friars. The friars must give the world a good example; the world must provide for their needs. When they break faith and withdraw their good example, the world will withdraw its hand in a just censure" (2 Celano, #70). |
1624 Bl. Didacus Carvalho
martyr of Japan A native of Coimbra, Portugal, he became a Jesuit in 1594 and was ordained in India in 1600. In 1609, he was sent to Japan. There he worked until 1623, when he was arrested and taken to Sendai, where he and other Japanese Christians were executed. He was beatified in 1867. 1624 Blessed James Carvalho and Companions, SJ M (AC) beatified in 1867. James was a Portuguese Jesuit who labored as a missionary in the Far East. Together with 60 other Christians he was slowly martyred by exposure to cold at Sendai in Japan (Benedictines). |
1828 Bl. Dominic Lentini
called the Son and Servant of the Cross
Blessed Dominic Lentini was born in Lauria and always lived there. Life for him stopped there. This already says a great deal: people can and ought to become saints in their own space of life and work. He moved from Lauria on account of his studies to the Seminary of Policastro and also as a Priest on account of his preaching in the surrounding towns. The towns he preached in were within the confines of the Noce Valley, the Gulf of Policastro and of Mercure. (N.B. These territories are all situated further south than Naples). These were not great historical centers, but rather they had luminous traces of Faith and of Saints such as St.Telesphorus of Thurio, St.Nilo of Rossano, St.Francis of Paola. They are places of Ikons, Santuaries, Degrees and Grottos, where myriads of hermits, like St.Saba, have lived and taught about the search for God. To these lands of faith, there comes from Paris the earthquake or the Revolution of the Luminaries. We shall see these in details in the section: His times. Chosen on account of the Man of Paris. God permits us to be laymen even against his Laws because he has respect for the liberty given to men. But the Paris of the Luminaries goes further: even beyond the prodigal son, who, in his mistakes, knows that he has a Father who loves him, weeps and waits for him. Whereas at Paris there is born what the Gospel calls the son of perdition. Before God he is lost whoever is without God. This man, without God and without a Father, is born at Paris. And he is solemnly born on the day of Pentecost on the 8th of June 1794, when Robespierre elevated on the square the statue to the Godess Reason as the only symbol and cult of modern man. On that same day - faraway from Lauria, because the diocese of Policastro was then without a Bishop - the Deacon don Dominic Lentini goes through the Sirino mountains to town of Marsico Nuovo to receive his Priestly Ordination from Mons. Bernardo Maria Latorre. Someone will say: these are casual dates. Whoever does not believe can say so. But in God everything is computerised in his Great Book. Time is his and his means to confound the Great are little and poor ones. Well then, the little Fr Dominic from Lauria was chosen by God as a voice that cries out and expiates for this son of Perdition who from Paris, with his false laymanship and rationalism, has entered - and continues even more so today - into every corner and sector of the world and of the Church itself. Nowadays there is not a window which has not the flag of No to God , of a total atheism, be it scientific or practical. In the section He still speaks,
Lentini is called the Son and Servant of the Cross to indicate that
God has chosen him for this design of His - of love and forgiveness -
also this our history of children of perdition. Lentini was the Son of
the Cross in his humble earthly life and he was so with a priestly sanctity
which will be told about in the section Solely Spiritual: solely life
of the Spirit. As the Saint and Servant of the Cross, he knew how to
be Servant of the Cross among his people, among the young with the Spirit
Congregations, in his preaching, and with his little ones: This was a
sort of Sodality of 30 persons who throughout the whole month took turns
to console his dear and weeping Mother of Sorrows.
Brief tracts of his life A saint in a simple but holy family At the shoulders of the Armo mountain, on the righthand bank of the Cafaro river the Lentini married couple lived: Macario Lentini and Rosaly Vitarella (= his mother's maiden name). The Lentini clan were originally of Silician origin. They appear in the documents of notaries around 1500. At the time of our future Blessed they were, moreover well-off and others less so. Macario, the shoe-maker, was among the latter and with five children: Dominique, Rose, Nicholas, Antoinette and Dominic, who was the last to be born on 20 November in 1770. His first two sisters married early on. Antoinette remains close to the future Priest Don Dominic (as his housekeeper) and follows him to heaven on 28.8.1830. Nicholas, was called Samson, and he too marries and moves to the town of Fardella, but while he was in Lauria he was the samson of the Lentini house and of the neighbouring district. The Cafaro zone (where the Lentinis lived) is the true historical center of the Upper Quarter of Lauria and it is full of tiny churches: St. Vincent Ferrer, St. Veneranda, St. Lucy with St. Paschal and higher up the Sanctuary of the Assumption: which is the most evocative and frequented. It was here that his saintly mother consecrates him to the Heavenly Mother and asking Her: I want My Dominic to be holy and old. Such was the religious spirit that Rosaly had learned in her family that her own brother was a Priest: Don Dominic Vitarella. Poor Rosaly nevertheless would soon leave little Dominic as an orphan. Towards the Priesthood Little Dominic, though not being like his brother Nicholas, was also vivacious and raids the trees in search of birds. For such a childish prank he later wants to make reparation as an adult. The turning-point comes when he starts to go to cathechism in the church of St. Nicholas. His fellow students were Nicholas Giordano, the surgeon (see: the section on Sacrifices) and Joseph Ielpo, with whom he decided to enter the Seminary. Joseph turns out to be the preferred confessor of Don Dominic quotes Pisani, his biographer: and the joy of administering Extreme Unction to Lentini on 22.2.1828, falls to him. Joseph was the first to go to the Seminary of Policastro. Dominic followed him, at 14 years of age, the following year. He remained there only for two years because at the request of the Noblemen of Lauria and in consideration for the economic difficulties of his father Macario, don Dominic continues his studies at Lauria in the Parish and he opens a school in his house for the youth. His father's joy When his father Macario knew about his son's desire to enter the seminary, he not only did not oppose it, but like St. Joseph of Nazareth, he put himself at the disposition of his son's future mission. There was not the money to allow him to study. There was, nonetheless, his modest house and he pawned it to allow his son to enter the Seminary. What an example of self-sacrifice! Later on it falls to don Dominic to redeem it from its debts. His father Macario's joy was great when his son Dominic was ordained Priest on 8 June 1794 at Marsico by Mons. La Torre. Like old Simeon, he too could
recite his nunc dimittis of joy and thanksgiving to the Lord
and about two years later he rejoins his dear Rosaly in heaven leaving
his chosen son Dominic to travel the holy and mysterious roads of his Priesthood
on his own. Rich only in his Priesthood Fr Dominic, full of joy for having
attained his goal, does not ask for - nor want anything else: he will
be only, always and in everything a Priest!
A Priest to praise the Most High. A Priest to make Jesus known and loved. A Priest to celebrate worthily the Living Mystery of the Cross. A Priest to make reparation and to sacrifice himself for sinners. A Priest to console the Mother of Sorrows. A Priest to cry out like Elijah against those times of spreading perdition for the faith and on account of the customs coming from the luminaries: the strong spirits, as he calls them. A Priest for men, for the peace of the region and in families. A Priest for youth. A Priest for the sick. A Priest for the poor. A Priest who makes of his poor house the bread house for whoever knocks there. A house, which is its littleness, becomes even a college for anyone faraway, who wants to frequent his school. Of the Martyrs it is said: Praedicavi martirem, praedicavi satis! (I have preached martyrdom, I have preached enough!) Such being the case it will be beautiful for the Church, when it will be able to be said of the Priest of Christ: I have spoken about a Priest of Christ, I have said everything! This utopia for the Church, Lentini has realized and ratified with a martyr's death on the evening of 24 February 1828 at about 20.30. The two Popes who glorified Bl. Dominic Lentini, Pius XI for his Heroic Virtues (27/1/35) and John Paul for his Beatification (12/10/97), will exalt the greatness of his Priesthood: Sacerdote sine adiunctis! (a Priest without equal) Rich only in his Priesthood! |
THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 275 In Judea God is known: in Israel the honor of His Mother. Sweet is the memory of her above honey and the honeycomb: and her love is above all aromatic perfumes. Health and life are in her house: and in her dwelling are peace and eternal glory. Honor her, ye heavens and earth: because the supreme artificer has wonderfully honored her. Give to her praise, all ye creatures: and joyfully celebrate her astonishing mercy. 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 heaven: only 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 html Indulgences 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 2000) Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798 Links to Related MarianWebsites Angels and Archangels Saints Visions of Heaven and Hell Widowed Saints html Doctors_of_the_Church Acts_Of_The_Apostles Roman Catholic Popes Purgatory Uniates Chalcedon |
|
Mary the
Mother
of
Jesus
Miracles_BC Lay Saints
Miraculous_Icons
Miraculous_Medal_Novena
Patron
Saints
Miracles by Century 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 Miracles 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 Lay Saints |
|
The
great
psalm
of
the
Passion,
Chapter
22,
whose
first
verse
“My
God,
my God,
why
hast
thou
forsaken
me?”
Jesus pronounced on the cross, ended with the vision: “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him” For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations. All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage. And I will live for the LORD; my descendants will serve you. The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought. |
|
Pope
Benedict
XVI
to The
Catholic
Church
In
China
{whole
article
here}
2000 years of the Catholic Church
in China The saints “a cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible. Join us on CatholicVote.org. Be part of a new
movement
committed
to using
powerful
media
projects
to create
a Culture
of
Life.
We can
help
shape
the
movement
and
have a voice
in
its future.
Check
it out
at www.CatholicVote.org
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.
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|
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] |
|
To Save
A Life is Earthly; Saving A Soul is Eternal Donation
by mail, please send check or money order to:
Catholic Television Network Supported entirely by donations from viewers help spread the Eternal Word, online Here
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
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;
Affiliations
and Indulgences
Litany of Loretto in Stained glass
windows
here.
Nave
Sacristy
and
Residence
Here
Member -- St. Paul Seminary
faculty.
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}.
Saints Simon (saw),
Bartholomew
(knife),
James
the
Lesser
(book),
John
(eagle),
Andrew
(transverse
cross),
Peter
keys),
Paul
(sword), James
the Greater (staff), Thomas (carpenter's
square),
Philip
(serpent),
Matthew
(book),
and Jude
sword
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;
By Father
John Corapithen 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so. THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi.
June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under
Pope John
Paul
II;
By Father
John Corapithen 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
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.
|
|
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. |
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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 |
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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 |
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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) |
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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). |
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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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LINKS: Marian Apparitions (over 2000) India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East Lourdes Feb 11- July 16, Loreto, Italy 1858 China Marian shrines May 23, 1995 Zarvintisya Ukraine Lourdes Kenya national Marian shrine Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798 Links to Related Marian Websites Angels and Archangels Doctors_of_the_Church Acts_Apostles Roman Catholic Popes Purgatory Uniates, 275 2023 |