Mary Mother of GOD
Et álibi aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum, atque sanctárum Vírginum.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
Пресвятая Богородице спаси нас!  (Santíssima Mãe de Deus, salva-nos!)
R.  Deo grátias. R.  Thanks be to God.
July is the month of the Precious Blood since 1850;
2023
23,000  Lives Saved Since 2007

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

  CAUSES OF SAINTS



Iveron_Icon_of_the_Mother_of_God


 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 .
It Makes No Sense Not To Believe In GOD
Every Christian must be a living book wherein one can read the teaching of the gospel

THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST  
       Sts. Peter and Paul, Martyrdom of the Apostles {coptic}
67 St. Paulinus of Antioch Martyr tradition, bishop of Lucca in Tuscany, Italy, the city’s patron saint
1st v. St. Veronica The woman of Jerusalem wiped face of Christ with a veil on His the way to Calvary
1st v. St. Jason  St. Paul stayed at Salonika (2nd journey) in the house of one, Jason
1st v. Ss. Hermagoras and Fortunatus deacon, Martyrs
98-117 Hilary and Proclus Holy Martyrs natives of Kallippi, fearlessly confessed their faith in Christ
303 Ss. Nabor And Felix, Martyrs St Ambrose praised martyrs multitudes venerate them in Milan
470 St. Paternian Bishop of Bologna, Italy, from circa 450 until his death
524 St. Viventiolus Archbishop of Lyons, friend of St. Avitus they convoked Council of Epaone 517
886 St. Ansbald Abbot Benedictine petitioned Charles the Fat for aid received the necessary patronage
978 983 Theodore son John Constantinople military baptized pagan name Tur (Thor) or Utor ( Ottar),
1073 Saint John Gaulbert, Abbot Order of St. Benedict laid foundation of Vallombrosa founded several monasteries, reformed others eradicated simony no indigent person sent away without alms  dedicated to poverty and humility never a priest, in fact, he declined even to receive minor orders known for his wisdom, miracles, and prophecies
1541 Bl. David Gonson Martyred for his faith English knight of St. John; son of a British vice-admiral
1598 St. John Jones b.1530 1679 St. John Wall  martyred in England (16th and 17th centuries) refusing to deny faith
1626 Bl. Matthias Araki native of Japan, Matthias sheltered priests and was burned alive at Nagasaki.
1780-1842 St. Peter Khanh native Vietnamese Martyr; catechist beheading by Vietnamese authorities.
10th v. Saints John & monk Gabriel settled at a monastery on the Monastery of St. Athanasius the Athonite; built Iveron Monastery of Mt. Athos travel to Greece, on Mt. Olympus:

(The story of the miraculous Iveron Icon of the Theotokos) monk Gabriel stepped out onto the water and, walking upon the waves as upon dry land, approached the icon, the holy image drew nearer to him. Clutching the holy icon to his breast, Gabriel crossed back over the waves and delivered the icon safely to the shore.
1002  St. John the Iberian
Abbot noble of Georgia, sometimes called Iberia, a military leader; with son, St. Euthymius,
        to Mount Olympias in Bithynia; to Mount Athos in Macedonia; founded monastery endured into the 20th v.

Mystery of the Incarnation FIFTEENTH CHANT
July 12 - Our Lady of Lure (Avignon, France, 1110)
The infinite Word dwelt among men but was not removed from those
above, for divine condescension needed no change of place. His
birth was of a Virgin overshadowed by the Spirit of God, who heard these hymns of:  Hail, O sanctuary of God whom no place can bind;
Hail, O gate of the sublime mystery.
Hail, O message hidden from the unfaithful; Hail, O unquestionable pride of those who do believe.
Hail, O sacred chariot of Him who rides upon the Cherubim; Hail, O holy abode of Him who sits upon the Seraphim.
Hail, O you who reconciled things opposed; Hail, O you who united virginity and motherhood.
Hail, O you by whom iniquity was abated; Hail, O you by whom paradise was opened.
Hail, O key of the kingdom of Christ; Hail, O hope of eternal blessedness.
Hail, O Virgin and Bride ever pure. R. Hail, O Virgin and Bride ever pure.
SIXTEENTH CHANT
All the orders of angels were amazed at the great event of your incarnation, for they saw the God beyond all reach, become a man accessible to all, walking among us and listening to us all chanting: Alleluia! R. Alleluia!
The Akathist Hymn in honor of the Mother of God Hymn attributed to St Romanus, the Melodist of Constantinople, and (c. 530)

Let us relieve the poverty of those that beg of us and let us not be over-exact about it.
-- St. John Chrysostom

Mary's Divine Motherhood

July 12 – Approved apparitions of Myriam, the Immaculate Mother of Jesus,
to Sebastian Fausto de Faria in 1968 (Natividade, Brazil) 
 
To the Church of my Son, I address this exhortation
 I am the messenger of faith and love for Christianity traumatized by strife, amid a humanity threatened in its spirituality. To the Church of my Son, as the guardian and first interpreter of his teaching, and of whom I am also the Mother, I address the following exhortation:
Let her not renounce her essence and her core values, but continue with wisdom and prudence adapting her action to the times, in order to better fulfill her sacred spiritual mission, especially to evangelize...
Let the primacy of the worship of God and of my Son be re-established, and let the people call upon those whose saintly life is a permanent source of virtues.
(…) Let the churches and the hierarchy be respected, and the authority of episcopal decisions, especially from the greatest one, Peter, be obeyed. Let everyone beware of the arsonists of the faith and discipline in the very midst of the Church!
Mary, the Immaculate Mother of Jesus
Apparitions to Sebastian Fausto de Faria, in Natividade, Brazil, in 1968
(authorized devotion), Message of July 12, 1968

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.
"This is not a god, but wood. Today it is, and tomorrow it rots.
They do not eat, nor drink nor speak, but are crafted by human hands from wood.
God however is One, and the Greeks serve and worship Him.
He created heaven and earth, the stars and the moon, the sun and man, and foreordained him to live upon the earth.
But these gods, what have they created? They themselves are made. I shall not give my son over to devils."  978/983 Theodore the Varangian
July 12 - Our Lady of Lure (Avignon, France, 1110)   Mary Remembers
What John says in his Gospel about how remembering becomes understanding and the path “into all the truth” (Jn 16:13) comes very close to what Luke recounts about remembering on the part of Jesus’ mother.
In three passages of the infancy narrative Luke depicts this process of “remembering” for us.
The first passage occurs in the account of the Annunciation of Jesus’ conception by the Archangel Gabriel.
There Luke tells us that Mary took fright at the angel’s greeting and entered into an interior “dialogue” about what the greeting might mean. The most important passages figure in the account of the adoration of the shepherds.
The Evangelist comments, “Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Lk 2:19).
At the conclusion of the words of the twelve-year-old Jesus we read once again,
“His mother kept all these things in her heart” (Lk 2:51).
Mary’s memory is first of all a retention of the events in remembrance, but it is more than that: It is an interior conversation with all that has happened. Thanks to this conversation, she penetrates into the interior dimension, she sees the events in their inter-connectedness and she learns to understand them. 
 Excerpt from Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Benedict XVI, Doubleday, 2007, pp 233-234
       Sts. Peter and Paul, Martyrdom of the Apostles {coptic}
67 St. Paulinus of Antioch Martyr According to tradition, the first bishop of Lucca in Tuscany, Italy, and the city’s patron saint
1st v. St. Veronica The woman of Jerusalem wiped the face of Christ with a veil on His the way to Calvary
1st v. St. Jason  St. Paul stayed at Salonika (2nd journey) in the house of one, Jason
1st v. Ss. Hermagoras and Fortunatus deacon, Martyrs
98-117 Hilary and Proclus The Holy Martyrs were natives of the village of Kallippi, near Ancyra; fearlessly confessed their faith in Christ
303 Ss. Nabor And Felix, Martyrs St Ambrose greatly praised these martyrs and multitudes of people flocked to Milan to venerate them
        St. Epiphana At Lentini
  303 Marciana of Toledo her martyrdom is assigned to Toledo, Spain VM (RM)

  542 Proculus served as bishop of Bologna for two years until he was martyred by the Goths (Benedictines) BM (AC)
  591 St. Golinduc The Holy martyr lived in Persia during Chosroes I wife of chief magician Persian empire; In sleep angel showed Golinduc place of torment for sinners and  paradise dwell believers in Christ, the true God; Lord made her invisible to impious preserving her purity; the Lord sheltered her from execution - brought her to Christians living in concealment.
7th v St. Menulphus (Menou) Bishop of Quimper in Brittany, France, originally an Irish pilgrim made a joumey to Rome and died at Bourges on his return to Quimper
886 St. Ansbald Abbot and Benedictine builder petitioned Holy Roman Emperor Charles the Fat for royal aid  received the necessary patronage
962 Saint Michael Maleinos priest hermit, fifty years of ceaseless monastic struggle; demonstrated great humility (related to Byzantine emperor Leo VI the Wise) acquired gift of perspicacity; prayer accomplished many miracles
978 983 Theodore the Varangian and his son John military service at Constantinople-baptized there;. pagan name was Tur (Scandinavian Thor) or Utor (Scandinavian Ottar),
10th v. Saints John & monk Gabriel settled at a monastery on the Monastery of St. Athanasius the Athonite; built Iveron Monastery of Mt. Athos travel to Greece, on Mt. Olympus: (The story of the miraculous Iveron Icon of the Theotokos)  monk Gabriel stepped out onto the water and, walking upon the waves as upon dry land, approached the icon, the holy image drew nearer to him. Clutching the holy icon to his breast, Gabriel crossed back over the waves and delivered the icon safely to the shore.
1002  St. John the Iberian Abbot noble of Georgia, sometimes called Iberia, a military leader; with son, St. Euthymius, to Mount Olympias in Bithynia; to Mount Athos in Macedonia; founded monastery endured into the 20th v.
St. Marciana Martyr of Toledo, Spain. There is a noted similarity to St. Marciana of Mauretania. She is patroness of Tortosa, Spain.
Sts. Nabor and Felix Martyrs put to death at Milan, Italy; relics were enshrined by St. Ambrose of Milan. Since 1969, their cult has been confined to local calendars
         St.  Epiphania A martyr from the Acts of St. Alphius
1073 Saint John Gaulbert, Abbot entered the Order of St. Benedict laid the foundation of the Order of Vallombrosa founded several monasteries, reformed others eradicated simony no indigent person sent away without alms  dedicated to poverty and humility. He never became a priest, in fact, he declined even to receive minor orders known for his wisdom, miracles, and prophecies
1079 St. Leo of Lucca Benedictine abbot and disciple of St. Alferius. He succeeded him at La Cava Abbey
1088 Blessed Benno of Osnabrück educated and professed a Benedictine at Reichenau official architect to Henry III; founded and retired to Iburg Abbey OSB B (AC)
1163 Blessed Lambert of Morimond spent most of his life at Morimond Abbey, where he first entered the Cistercians, he also was abbot of Clairfontaine and Cîteaux OSB Cist. Abbot (AC)
1462 Bl. Andrew Oexner of Riun Martyred at age three, place of death was made into a shrine, and many miracles were reported there
1541 Bl. David Gonson Martyred for his faith English knight of St. John; son of a British vice-admiral
1598 St. John Jones b.1530 1679 St. John Wall  b. 1620 These two friars were martyred in England (16th and 17th centuries) for refusing to deny their faith
1626 Bl. Monica Naisen Martyr of Japan native, arrested for sheltering Blessed John Baptist Zola; beheaded at Nagasaki with husband, Blessed John Naisen; beatified in 1867.
1626 Bl. Louis Naisen Martyr of Japan, only seven, son of Blesseds John and Monica Naisen. He was beheaded at Nagasaki, Japan. Louis was beatified in 1867.
1626 Bl. John Naisen Martyr of Japan wealthy Japanese from Arirna; arrested as a Christian. When his wife was threatened with being put in a brothel. John abjured. but then repented
1626 Bl. John Tanaka Martyr of Japan; layman, sheltered Blessed Balthasar de Torres and was arrested, imprisoned, and then burned alive in Nagasaki. John was beatified in 1867.
1626 Bl. Peter Araki Kobjoje native Japanese martyr at Nagasaki by government officials for the crime of giving shelter to Christians; beatified in 1867
 1626 Bl. Matthias Araki Martyr native of Japan, brother of Blessed Mancius Araki; Matthias sheltered priests and was burned alive at Nagasaki. He was beatified in 1867
1641 Simon of Volomsk Hosiomartyr received monastic tonsure at the Pinegsk Makariev monastery settled in the Volomsk forest, 80 versts to the southwest of Ustiug at the River Kichmenga grace-filled miracles at his relics 
1841 St. Agnes De Vietnamese Christian martyr; born in Baiden and raised in a Christian family; arrested - died in prison at Namdinh  Agnes was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1988.
1780-1842 St. Peter Khanh native Vietnamese Martyr; he served as a catechist until his arrest and beheading by Vietnamese authorities.
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.
Mary the Mother of God


Sts. Peter and Paul, Martyrdom of the Apostles {coptic}
On this day, the two great saints Peter and Paul, were martyred. Peter was from Bethsaida, and he was a fisherman. The Lord chose him on the second day of His baptism after He chose Andrew his brother. He had fervent faith and strong zeal. When the Lord asked His disciples: "Who do men say that I am?" So they answered, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." ... Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Mat. 16:13-20) After he received the grace of the Holy Spirit, he went around in the world preaching of the crucified Christ, and he converted many to the faith. God wrought great and innumerable signs and wonders by his hands. He wrote two catholic Epistles to the believers. When he came to the city of Rome, he found there St. Paul the Apostle. Through their preaching, most of the people of Rome believed, so Nero seized Peter and commanded to crucify him. Peter asked them to crucify him head downwards, and he delivered up his soul into the hand of the Lord.
As of St. Paul the Apostle, he was born in Tarsus two years before the advent of the Savior. He was a Jew, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. He was well learned in the Law of the Torah, and he was jealous for it. He persecuted the Christians.
When they stoned St. Stephen, Paul was guarding the clothes of those who were stoning him. He took from Caiaphas, the high priest, letters to the synagogues of Damascus, to bind the Christians and bring them to Jerusalem. As he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" And the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads." Then He ordered him to go to Ananias in Damascus, who baptized him, and he received his sight at once. He was filled by the grace of the Comforter, and he proclaimed boldly the Faith. He went around in the world preaching of the crucified Christ. He suffered much beatings, imprisonment, and was bound with fetters, some of which are mentioned in the book of the Acts of the Apostles and in his Epistles.
He went to Rome and proclaimed the Faith there and many believed by his hands.
He wrote for them the Epistle to the Romans which was the first of his fourteen Epistles.
Finally, Nero seized him, tortured him severely and ordered his head cut off. While St. Paul was passing along with the executioner, he met a damsel who was a kinswoman of the Emperor Nero, and who had believed through him. She walked along with St. Paul, weeping, to where they carried out the sentence. He comforted her and asked her for her veil. He wrapped his head with the veil, and asked her to return back. The executioner cut off his head and left it wrapped in the veil of the young girl, and that was in the year 67 A.D. The young girl met the executioner on his way back to the Emperor, and asked him about Paul and he replied, "He is lying where I left him and his head is wrapped in your veil." She told him, "You are lying, for he and Peter had just passed by me, they were arrayed in the apparel of kings, and had crowns decorated with jewels on their heads, and they gave me my veil, and here it is." She showed it to the executioner, and to those who were with him. They marvelled, and believed on the Lord Christ.
God wrought by the hands of Peter and Paul many great signs and wonders, that they even carried the sick out into the streets ... that as Peter came by ... his shadow might fall on them ... and they were all healed. (Acts 5:15) The handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from Paul's body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. (Acts 19:12)
May their prayers be with us, and Glory be to God forever. Amen.
67 St. Paulinus of Antioch Martyr According to tradition, the first bishop of Lucca in Tuscany, Italy, and the city’s patron saint
Lucæ, in Túscia, beáti Paulíni, qui, a sancto Petro Apóstolo primus ejúsdem civitátis Epíscopus est ordinátus; et, sub Neróne, ad radíces montis Pisáni, post multos agónes, martyrium suum cum áliis Sóciis consummávit.
    At Lucca in Tuscany, blessed Paulinus, who was consecrated first bishop of that city by St. Peter.  Under Nero he completed his martyrdom along with many others at the foot of Mt. Pisa, but only after many trials.
 He was supposedly sent to Lucca by St. Peter and was martyred about 67. He died with a soldier, a priest, and a deacon.
Veronica_Bernice
1st v. St. Veronica The woman of Jerusalem who wiped the face of Christ with a veil while he was on the way to Calvary
FEW Christian legends are better known and more valued than that of St Veronica, who compassionately wiped the face of Jesus when He fell beneath the load of His cross on the way to Calvary.  Nor is that to be wondered at, for it is a most touching story that appeals at once to the heart of every Christian and, in the version which makes her the wife of a Roman officer, is a moving example of contempt of public opinion and human respect.
     But the legend, though ancient, has only a vague tradition to support it, and the identifications of the woman to whom the name Veronica has been given are several and various.  In its origins the story seems to have been more concerned with the miraculous image of our Lord's face imprinted on the cloth with which it was wiped than with the love and charity that prompted the action.  Thus in a widespread western version Veronica came to Rome and cured the Emperor Tiberius with the precious relic, which at her death she left to Pope St Clement.
  In France, on the other hand, she is called the wife of Zacchaeus (Luke xix 2-10), who when her husband becomes a hermit (under the name of Amadour at Rocamadour), helps to evangelize the south of France.
  Other versions make her the same person as Martha, the sister of Lazarus, the daughter of the woman of Canaan (Matt. xv 22-28), a princess of Edessa, or the wife of an unknown Gallo-Roman officer.  The earliest version of the Veronica story is found in a later Latin addition to the fourth or fifth-century apocryphal work The Acts of Pilate or Gospel of Nicodemus; it is called there Cura Sanitatis Tiberii, and in it Veronica is identified with the woman who had an issue of blood (Matt. ix 20-22), and this identification occurs elsewhere.
  The name Veronica has been the subject of a good deal of speculation.  It has been suggested and widely received that among several alleged authentic likenesses of our Lord (generally "not-made-with-hands") the one on the handkerchief of the kind woman was distinguished as vera icon, the "true image"; this became veronica and was transferred to the woman as a personal name.  Certainly such images were and are called holy veronica, corrupted in Middle English to "vernicle".  But it is significant that in the East the haemorrhoissa was called by the name Berenike (victory-bringer) before ever there was any indication of an association with a miraculous image.  Origen, in the first quarter of the third century, in his polemic Contra Celsum, speaks of the Valentinians regarding the haemorrhoissa as a type of Wisdom under the name of Prounike, whom Celsus had confounded into a Christian virgin.
  St Veronica is not mentioned in any of the earliest historical martyrologies, nor is she named in the Roman Martyrology today, and St Charles Borromeo removed her feast and office from the church of Milan.   A house of Veronica was pointed out at Jerusalem in the early fifteenth century, when the devotion of the stations of the cross was beginning to take its present form; but the Veronica incident, in
common with several others, only gradually became a permanent station in the series.  It was omitted in Vienne so late as 1799.
  That a compassionate woman wiped the face of our suffering Lord may well have happened, and Christians do well to ponder her action and revere her traditional memory.  The existence of a cloth claimed to be the original veil of Veronica in St Peter's at Rome is a greatly venerated witness to the tradition, but from the nature of the case there can be no guarantee of its authenticity.
The Bollandists discuss this legend in two different places, first in February, vol. i, and then again in July, vol. iii, dealing with the supposed identity of Veronica with the woman whom our Lord healed of an issue of blood.  A considerable literature has grown up In connection with the Veronica legend.  After K. Pearson, Die Fronika (1887), we have the excellent investigation of von Dobschutz in his Christurbilder, continued in his article "Das Schweisstuch der Veronica" in Monatschrift f. h. Kunst (1909); and see P. Perdrizet, "De Ia Véronique et de Ste Véronique", in Seminarium Kondahovianum (1932), pp. 1-16. See also H. Leclercq in DAC., vol. vii, CC. 234-225 and 2458-2459.
The suggestion that Veronica = vera icon has sometimes been attributed to Mabillon, but it is found already in the Speculum Ecclesiae of Giraldus Cambrensis: see Thurston, Holy Year of Jubilee (1900), pp. 58, 152-153 and 193-195, where the passage is quoted in full.  In the time of Dante and Petrarch an immense devotion centred in this supposed relic kept in St Peter's; there is some evidence that the cloth, the lineaments depicted upon which are now completely effaced, has been preserved there ever since the time of Pope John VII, A.D. 705-707.  For the sixth station in Jerusalem, see Revue biblique, t. i (1892), pp. 584 seq., and H. Vincent in le Lien, February 1951, pp. 18-26.
According to tradition, the cloth was imprinted with the image of Christ's face."
Unfortunately, there is no historical evidence or scriptural reference to this event, but the legend of Veronica became one of the most popular in Christian lore and the veil one of the beloved relics in the Church.
According to legend, Veronica bore the relic away from the Holy Land, and used it to cure Emperor Tiberius of some illness. The veil was subsequently seen in Rome in the eighth century, and was translated to St. Peter's in 1297 by command of Pope Boniface VIII.
Nothing is known about Veronica, although the apocryphal Acts of Pilate identify her with the woman mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew who suffered from an issue of blood.  Her name is probably derived from Veronica, as was reported by Giraldus Cambrensis. The term was thus a convenient appellation to denote the genuine relic of Veronica's veil and so differentiate from the other similar relics, such as those kept in Milan. The relic is still preserved in St. Peter's, and the memory of Veronica's act of charity is commemorated in the Stations of the Cross.
While she is not included in the Roman Martyrology, she is honored with a feast day.

Her symbol is the veil bearing the face of Christ and the Crown of Thorns.
According to Tradition, Saint Veronica was the woman with the issue of blood, who received healing by touching the hem of Christ's robe (Mt. 9:20).
1st v. St. Jason  St. Paul stayed at Salonika (2nd journey) in the house of one, Jason
In Cypro beáti Jasónis, qui fuit unus ex antíquis Christi discípulis.
    In Cyprus, St. Jason, one of the first disciples of Christ.
WHILE on his second missionary journey St Paul stayed at Salonika, in the house of one Jason.  In consequence of Paul's successful preaching, the Jews, "moved with envy and taking unto them some wicked men of the vulgar sort, and making a tumult, set the city in an uproar; and besetting Jason's house sought to bring them out unto the people.  And not finding them, they drew Jason and certain brethren to the rulers of the city, crying, 'They that set the city in an uproar are come hither also, whom Jason both received.   And these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.'  And they stirred up the people and rulers of the city, hearing these things.  And having taken satisfaction of Jason and of the rest, they let them go." (Acts xvii 5-9).  This is probably the Jason referred to with Lucius and Sosipater as the kinsmen of St Paul in his letter to the Romans (xvi 21), and in the Greek legend he is represented as bishop of Tarsus in Cilicia, going with St Sosipater, bishop of Iconium, to Corfu, evangelizing that island, and dying there.  After preaching successhully for some time the two missionaries were thrown into prison, where they converted seven thieves who afterwards achieved martyrdom (their apocryphal story is mentioned in the Roman Martyrotogy on April 29).
    Syrians, however, venerate Jason as the apostle of the district round Apamea and as a martyr who was thrown to the beasts.
The Roman Martyrology wrongly identifies him with the Mnason of Acts xxi 16, "an old disciple" with whom St Paul was to lodge in Jerusalem, and makes Cyprus the place of his death as well as of his birth.
The confusion of Mnason and Jason seems to have originated in a mention in Ado's martyrology of "Mnaso, antiquus Christi discipulus".  The Bollandists, Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. iii, point out that in one manuscript known to them the name was written Naso.  This might easily have been misread.  Baronius in his notes to the Roman Martyrology conveniently assumes that there were two Jasons, one of whom lived in Thessalonica, the other in Cyprus.
In consequence of Paul's successful preaching, the Jews, "moved with envy and taking unto them some wicked men of the vulgar sort, and making a tumult, set the city in an uproar; and besetting Jason's house, sought to bring them out unto the people. And not finding them, they drew Jason and certain brethren to the rulers of the city, crying, 'They that set the city in an uproar are come hither also, whom Jason hath received. And these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.' And they stirred up the people and the rulers of the city, hearing these things. And having taken satisfaction of Jason and of the rest, they let them go".

This is probably the Jason referred to with Lucius and Sosipater as the kinsmen of St. Paul in his letter to the Romans, and in the Greek legend he is represented as bishop of Tarsus in Silicia, going with St. Sosipater, bishop of Iconium, to Corfu, evangelizing that Island, and dying there.  After preaching successfully for some time, the two missionaries were thrown into prison, where they converted seven thieves who afterward achieved martyrdom.
The Syrians, however, venerate Jason as the apostle of the district round Apanea and as a martyr who was thrown to the beasts.

The Roman Martyrology wrongly identifies him with the Mnason of Acts xxi 16, "an old disciple" with whom St. Paul was to lodge in Jerusalem, and makes Cyprus the place of his death as well as of his birth.
98-117 Hilary and Proclus The Holy Martyrs were natives of the village of Kallippi, near Ancyra; fearlessly confessed their faith in Christ
Eódem die pássio sanctórum Proci et Hilariónis, qui, sub Trajáno Imperatóre et Máximo Præside, per acerbíssima torménta ad palmam martyrii pervenérunt.
    The same day, the Saints Proclus and Hilarion, who won the palm of martyrdom after most bitter torments, in the time of Emperor Trajan and the governor Maximus.
 They suffered during the time of a persecution under the emperor Trajan (98-117). St Proclus was put under arrest first. Brought before the governor Maximus, he fearlessly confessed his faith in Christ. The governor decided to compel the saint to submit himself to the emperor and offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. During his tortures, the martyr predicted to Maximus that soon he himself would be compelled to confess Christ as the true God. They forced the martyr to run after the chariot of the governor, heading towards the village Kallippi. Exhausted, St Proclus prayed that the Lord would halt the chariot. By the power of God the chariot halted, and no force could move it from the spot. The dignitary sitting in it became petrified. The martyr told him that he would remain unmoving until such time as he would sign a document with a confession of Christ. Only after this could the chariot continue on its way with the governor.

The humiliated pagan took fierce revenge on St Proclus. He commanded that Proclus be led out beyond the city, tied to a pillar and shot with arrows. The soldiers, leading St Proclus to execution, told him to give in and save his life, but the saint said that they should follow their orders.
Along the way to the place of execution, they met Hilarion, the nephew of St Proclus, who with tears embraced his uncle and also confessed himself a Christian. The soldiers seized him, and he was thrown into prison. The holy Martyr Proclus prayed for his tormentors and surrendered his soul to God beneath a hail of arrows.

St Hilarion was brought to trial and, with the same courage as St Proclus, confessed himself a Christian. After tortures he was sentenced to death. They tied the martyr's hands and dragged him by his feet through the city, wounded and bloody, and then they beheaded him three days after the death of his uncle, the holy Martyr Proclus. Christians buried them together in a single grave .
1st v. Ss. Hermagoras and Fortunatus deacon, Martyrs
Aquiléjæ natális sancti Hermágoræ, qui éxstitit discípulus beáti Marci Evangelístæ, et primus ejúsdem civitátis Epíscopus.  Hic, inter mirácula sanitátum, et prædicatiónis instántiam, ac populórum conversiónem, plúrima pœnárum génera expértus, tandem, una cum Diácono suo Fortunáto, capitáli supplício perpétuum méruit obtinére triúmphum.
    At Aquileia, the birthday of St. Hermagoras, disciple of the blessed evangelist Mark, and first bishop of that city.  When performing miraculous cures, or while preaching, frequently bringing souls to repentance, he suffered many torments.  Finally by capital punishment her merited an immortal triumph along with his deacon Fortunatus.
 There is an eighth-century tradition that St Mark the Evangelist, before he went to found the church of Alexandria, was sent from Rome by St Peter to be the apostle of Aquileia, where he preached, strengthened his testimony by miracles, and made many converts.  When he left he chose for their pastor an "elegant person" called Hermagoras, who was consecrated bishop by St Peter and is venerated in Istria and the neighbourhood as first bishop of Aquileia.  Together with his deacon, St Fortunatus, he first preached the gosper in Belluno, Como, Ceneda and other places.  The late and quite untrustworthy acts of St Hermagoras narrate that Nero sent his envoy Sebastius to Aquileia to carry out the edicts against Christians, who tortured Hermagoras and threw him into prison.  At midnight his dungeon was illuminated by a celestial light which so impressed the gaoler that he was converted; but the man very imprudently ran about the city, crying out, "Great is the God of Hermagoras!    Behold His wonders!" Many people flocked to the prison, saw the radiance, and were also converted, so that Sebastius sent an executioner who beheaded the bishop and his deacon under cover of darkness.
   Although a St Fortunatus was undoubtedly honoured as a martyr at Aquileia, there seems to be nothing to connect him with any Hermagoras.
See the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. iii; Delehaye's CMH., pp. 371-372 and his Origines de Culte des Martyrs, pp. 331-332.
303 Ss. Nabor And Felix, Martyrs St Ambrose greatly praised these martyrs and multitudes of people flocked to Milan to venerate them
Laudæ, in Insúbria, sanctórum Mártyrum Náboris et Felícis, qui, in persecutióne Maximiáni, post vária torménta, cápitis decollatióne martyrium complevérunt; eorúmque córpora a beáta Savína Mediolánum advécta sunt, ibíque honorífice sepúlta.
    At Milan, the holy martyrs Nabor and Felix, who suffered in the persecution of Maximian.  Their bodies were brought into the city by blessed Savina, and were honourably buried there.
 ST AMBROSE greatly praised these martyrs and multitudes of people flocked to Milan to venerate them. Late legends say that they were Moorish soldiers in the army of Maximian Herculeus, stationed at Milan, and that they were beheaded for their faith at Lodi; but these legends are imitated from those of other soldier martyrs, such as St Victor of Marseilles, and are historically worthless. The names of SS. Nabor and Felix occur in the canon of the Milanese Mass, and their cultus was widespread in northern Italy.
Late legends say that they were Moorish soldiers in the army of Maximian Herculeus, stationed at Milan, and that they were beheaded for their faith at Lodi; but these legends are imitated from those of other soldier martyrs, such as St Victor of Marseilles, and are historically worthless.  The names of SS. Nabor and Felix occur in the canon of the Milanese Mass, and their cultus was widespread in northern Italy.
The short Latin text which professes to preserve the "acts" of SS. Nabor and Felix has been printed in the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. iii.  The martyrs are duly commemorated in the "Hieronymianum", and it is impossible to doubt the antiquity of their cult at Milan.  See Delehaye's Commentary on that martyrology, and his Les Origines du, Culte des Martyrs, pp. 335-337.
St.  Epiphania A martyr from the Acts of St. Alphius.
Apud Leontínos, in Sicília, sanctæ Epíphanæ, quæ sub Diocletiáno Imperatóre et Tertyllo Præside, ubéribus præcísis, réddidit spíritum.
    St. Epiphana At Lentini, who, after her breasts were cut away, died Emperor Diocletian time and governor Tertillus. she is mentioned in apocryphal Acts of Saint Alphius (Benedictines).
303 Marciana of Toledo her martyrdom is assigned to Toledo, Spain VM (RM)
This entry in the Roman Martyrology is almost certainly a duplicate of Saint Marciana of Mauretania, although her martyrdom is assigned to Toledo, Spain (Benedictines).
In art, Saint Marciana is a maiden gored by a bull. There may be a leopard and a bull near her (Roeder). She is invoked to heal wounds (Roeder).
470 St. Paternian Bishop of Bologna, Italy, from circa 450 until his death
Bonóniæ sancti Paterniáni Epíscopi.      At Bologna, St. Paternian, bishop.
524 St. Viventiolus Archbishop of Lyons, France. He was a friend of St. Avitus of Vienne, and they convoked the Council of Epaone in 517 together.
Lugdúni, in Gállia, sancti Viventíoli Epíscopi.    At Lyons in France, St. Viventiolus,bishop.
 542 Proculus served as bishop of Bologna for two years until martyred by the Goths (Benedictines) BM (AC)
591 Golinduc The Holy martyr lived in Persia during the reign of Chosroes I the Elder wife of the chief magician of the Persian empire; In sleep an angel showed Golinduc the place of torment for sinners and  paradise dwell believers in Christ, the true God Lord made her invisible to the impious and preserved her purity the Lord sheltered her from the hand of the executioner and brought her to Christians living in concealment.
In Baptism Mary, lived in Persia during the reign of Chosroes I the Elder. She was the wife of the chief magician of the Persian empire. Endowed with a lucid mind, Golinduc perceived the falseness of the pagan wisdom, and she pondered much about what the true Faith might be. When she learned of Christianity, she very much wanted to know what it taught. Soon through the providence of God, her wish was fulfilled. In sleep an angel showed Golinduc the place of torment for sinners and the paradise in which dwell the believers in Christ, the true God. After this dream she began fervently to pray to the true God, so that He might help her become a Christian. The angel of God directed Golinduc to a Christian priest, from whom she received holy Baptism with the name Mary.

After Baptism she left her magician-husband, and he complained to the emperor Chosroes. The emperor himself, and dignitaries sent by him, and illustrious women all urged Golinduc to return to her husband. For her decisive refusal the emperor sentenced her to be imprisoned for life. In prison St Mary-Golinduc spent 18 years.

During the reign of Chosroes' successor, his son Ormisdas, there arrived in Persia an ambassador of the Byzantine emperor Mauricius, named Aristobulus. Having learned that for many years Mary the Christian was languishing in prison, Aristobulus repeatedly visited her in prison with the permission of the emperor and taught her to sing the Psalms of David. After the departure of Aristobulus, Ormisdas gave orders to present St Mary-Golinduc before him and for a long time he tortured her, subjecting her to all sorts of beatings and torments. But in all the torments through the intercession of God the saint was preserved unharmed. When they gave her over for defilement, the Lord made her invisible to the impious and preserved her purity. Finally the emperor gave orders to cut off the martyr's head, but the Lord sheltered her from the hand of the executioner and brought her to Christians living in concealment.

When the persecution against Christians in Persia ceased during the reign of Chosroes II, who occupied the throne with the help of the Byzantine emperor Mauricius, St Mary-Golinduc began openly to preach the Christian Faith.  At the end of her life St Mary made pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where she prayed at the tomb of the Lord and other holy places.
On the return journey she died (+ 591) in the church of the holy Martyr Sergius at Nisibis.
7th v.  St. Menulphus Bishop of Quimper in Brittany, France, originally an Irish pilgrim. Also called Menou, Menuiphus made a journey to Rome and died at Bourges on his return to Quimper.
St. Marciana Martyr of Toledo, Spain. There is a noted similarity to St. Marciana of Mauretania. She is patroness of Tortosa, Spain
Toléti, in Hispánia, sanctæ Marciánæ, Vírginis et Mártyris; quæ, pro fide Christi, objécta béstiis atque a tauro discérpta, martyrio coronátur.
    At Toledo in Spain, St. Marciana, virgin and martyr.  For the faith of Christ, she was cast to the beasts, torn to pieces by a bull, and was thus crowned with martyrdom.
St. Nabor and Felix Martyrs. Both were put to death at Milan, Italy, and their relics were enshrined by St. Ambrose of Milan. Since 1969, their cult has been confined to local calendars.
886 St. Ansbald Abbot and Benedictine builder petitioned Holy Roman Emperor Charles the Fat for royal aid  received the necessary patronage
Born in Luxembourg of noble blood, Ansbald entered the Benedictine Order. He served as a monk until named the abbot of St. Hubert. In 860, Ansbald became the abbot of Prum, which he rebuilt in 882. The Normans had ravaged the abbey, and Ansbald petitioned Holy Roman Emperor Charles the Fat for royal aid in the endeavor, receiving the necessary patronage.
962 Saint Michael Maleinos priest hermit, fifty years of ceaseless monastic struggle; demonstrated great humility (related to the Byzantine emperor Leo VI the Wise) acquired gift of perspicacity; by ardent prayer accomplished many miracles
Born about the year 894 in the Charsian region (Cappadocia) and at Baptism he received the name Manuel. He was related to the Byzantine emperor Leo VI the Wise (886-911). At age 18 Manuel went off to Bithynia, to the Kyminas monastery under the guidance of the Elder, John Heladites, who tonsured him into monasticism with the name Michael. Fulfilling a very difficult obedience in spite of his illustrious lineage, he demonstrated an example of great humility.

After the passage of a certain time, he was found worthy of the grace of the priesthood. Constantly studying the Holy Scripture, St Michael showed how the priesthood ought to be properly conjoined with monasticism, he attained to a high degree of dispassion and acquired the gift of perspicacity. He was very compassionate and kindly towards people, he could not let remain without help and consolation those who were in need and in sorrow, and by his ardent prayer he accomplished many miracles.
After much monastic effort under the guidance of the Elder John, St Michael asked his blessing to live in a cave as a hermit, Five days of the week he spent at prayerful concentration, and only on Saturday and Sunday did he come to the monastery for participation in the divine services and to partake of the Holy Mysteries.

By his example of sublime spiritual life the holy hermit attracted many seeking salvation. In a desolate place called Dry Lake, the venerable Michael founded a monastery for the brethren gathering around him, and gave it a strict monastic rule. When the monastery was secure, St Michael went to a still more remote place and built there a new monastery. By the efforts of the holy abba, the whole mountain of Kyminas was covered with monastic communities, where constantly prayers were raised up for all the world to the Throne of the Most-High.

About the year 953, the youth Abraham entered the brotherhood, flourishing under the guidance of St Michael, who gave him the name Athanasius. Later, St Athanasius (July 5) founded the renowned Great Lavra, the first cenobitic monastery on Mount Athos. In the building of the Lavra great help was given to St Athanasius by St Michael's nephew, the future Byzantine emperor Nicephoros Phocas (963-969), who met Athanasius while visiting his uncle. After fifty years of ceaseless monastic struggle, St Michael Maleinos went peacefully to the Lord in the year 962 .  
978 983 Theodore the Varangian and his son John military service at Constantinople-baptized there;. pagan name was Tur (Scandinavian Thor) or Utor (Scandinavian Ottar), the lower framework of the wooden house of the holy Varangrian martyrs, burned a thousand years before, has been preserved to our day. It was discovered in the year 1908 during the excavation of the altar of the Desyatin church at Kiev
The Holy Martyrs lived at Kiev in the tenth century, when the Varangians, ancestors of the present day Swedes and Norwegians took an active role in the governance and military life of Rus. Merchants and soldiers, they opened up new trade routes to Byzantium and to the East, they took part in campaigns against Constantinople, and they constituted a significant part of the populace of ancient Kiev and the princely mercenary retinues.
The chief trade route of Rus, from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, was then called "the Way from the Varangians to the Greeks."

The chieftains and organizers of the early Russian realm relied upon their Varangian retinues in their undertakings.
Just like the Slavs, among whom they lived, many of the sea-faring newcomers under the influence of the Byzantine Church accepted holy Baptism.

Kievan Rus stood between the pagan Scandinavians and the Orthodox Byzantines. Therefore, the spiritual life at Kiev was affected by the vivifying influence of the Christian Faith (under St Askold in the years 860-882, under Igor and St Olga in the years 940-950), and then by the destructive whirlwind of paganism, blowing down from the north from the Varangian Sea (under the reign of Oleg, killing Askold in 882; under the revolt of the Drevliani murdering Igor in 945; under Prince Svyatoslav, who refused to accept Baptism despite the insistence of his mother, St Olga).

When Svyatoslav was killed by the Pechenegs in 972 (other sources say in 970), the principality of Kiev was entrusted to his eldest son, Yaropolk. Oleg, the middle son, held the Drevlianian land, while Vladimir, the youngest son, held Novgorod. The reign of Yaropolk (970-978), just like that of his grandmother Olga, again became a time of predominating Christian influence in the spiritual life of Rus. Yaropolk himself, in the opinion of historians, confessed Christianity, although possibly of the Latin rite, and this did not correspond at all to the interests of the Scandinavian mercenary retinue. They were pagans, who were accustomed to consider Kiev a bulwark of their own influence in the Slavic lands. Their leaders strove to create discord between the brothers themselves. They incited a fratricidal war between Yaropolk and Oleg. After this when Oleg was killed, they supported Vladimir in a struggle against Yaropolk.

The future Baptizer of Rus started on his way as a convinced pagan and he relied upon the Varangians, especially those having come to him from over the sea, as his military force. His campaign against Kiev in 978, crowned with complete success, pursued not only military-political aims: it was also a religious campaign of Russo-Varangian paganism against the outgrowth of Kievan Christianity. On June 11, 978 Vladimir "sat on the throne of his father at Kiev," and the hapless Yaropolk, invited by his brother for negotiations, was treacherously murdered when he arrived at the entrance hall by two Varangians who stabbed him with swords.

In order to intimidate the Kievans, among whom were already many Christians both Russian and Varangian, to renew and strengthen with new idols, human sacrifices were made in the pagan sanctuary, a practice unknown to the Dniepr Slavs until then. The chronicles speak of Vladimir setting up idols: "And they brought them sacrifices, acclaiming them gods, and they brought to them their own sons and daughters, and these sacrifices went to the devils... both the Russian land and this hill were defiled with blood".

The martyrdom of Sts Theodore and his son John may have taken place during this first period of the triumph of paganism at Kiev with Vladimir's accession to power.
In that case, the date might be July 12, 978. It is probable, however, that the exploit of the holy martyrs took place in the year 983, when the wave of pagan reaction rolled not only through Rus, but throughout all the Slavic-Germanic world. Almost simultaneously pagans rose up against Christ and the Church in Denmark, Germany, the Baltic Slavic principalities, and everywhere the unrest was accompanied by the destruction of churches, and by the killing of clergy and Christian confessors. This was the year Vladimir went on campaign against the Lithuanian tribe of the Yatvyagi, and gained victory over them. In recognition of this victory the Kievan pagan priests again decided to make a bloody sacrificial offering.

"Among the Kievans," reports St Nestor the Chronicler, "lived a Varangian by the name of Theodore, who was in military service at Constantinople long before this, and was baptized there. His pagan name, preserved in the term "Turov pagan temple," was Tur (Scandinavian Thor) or Utor (Scandinavian Ottar), and this other signature is also found in the old manuscripts. Theodore had a son John, a devout and handsome youth, confessing Christianity like his father."

"And the elders and boyars said: let us cast lots upon the boys and girls. Upon whichever one it falls, that one we shall slaughter in sacrifice to the gods."
The lots thrown by the pagan priests, evidently not by chance, fell upon the Christian John.

When the messengers told Theodore that his son "had been chosen by the gods themselves to be sacrificed to them," the old warrior decisively answered: "This is not a god, but wood. Today it is, and tomorrow it rots. They do not eat, nor drink nor speak, but are crafted by human hands from wood. God however is One, and the Greeks serve and worship Him. He created heaven and earth, the stars and the moon, the sun and man, and foreordained him to live upon the earth. But these gods, what have they created? They themselves are made. I shall not give my son over to devils."

This was a direct challenge by the Christian to the customs and beliefs of the pagans. An enraged crowd of pagans rushed at Theodore, smashed up his courtyard, and surrounded the house. Theodore, in the words of the chronicler, "stood at the entrance way with his son," and with weapon in hand he bravely met the enemy. (The entrance way in old Russian houses as mentioned was set up on posts of a roofed gallery of the second storey, which was reached by a ladder). He calmly gazed upon the demon-possessed pagans and said: "If they are gods, let them send one of the gods to take my son." Seeing that the brave and seasoned warriors Theodore and John could not be beaten in a fair fight, the besiegers knocked down the gallery posts. When they were broken, the crowd rushed upon the confessors and murdered them.
Already during the time of St Nestor, less than a hundred years after the confessor's deed of the Varangians, the Russian Orthodox Church numbered them among the Saints. Theodore and John became the first martyrs for the holy Orthodox Faith in the Russian land. They were called the first "Russian citizens of the heavenly city" by the transcriber of the Kiev Caves Paterikon, the holy Bishop Simon of Suzdal (May 10). The last of the bloody pagan sacrifices at Kiev became the first holy Christian sacrifice with a co-suffering for Christ. The pathway "from the Varangians to the Greeks" became for Rus the pathway from paganism to Orthodoxy, from darkness to light.
On the place of the martyrdom of the Varangians, St Vladimir later built the Desyatin Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, consecrated on May 12, 996. The relics of St Olga were transferred into it in the year 1007.
Wondrous is God in His saints! Time does not spare stones and bronze, but the lower framework of the wooden house of the holy Varangrian martyrs, burned a thousand years before, has been preserved to our day. It was discovered in the year 1908 during the excavation of the altar of the Desyatin church at Kiev.
Sts Theodore and John are invoked by women who have miscarried.
10th v. Saint John settled at a monastery on the Monastery of St. Athanasius the Athonite; built Iveron Monastery of Mt. Athos
Born the son of a nobleman during the reign of King Davit Kuropalates.  For his love of Christ he left his family and the world to be tonsured a monk. After informing the royal court of his decision, St. John received a blessing from his spiritual father to travel to Greece, where he settled at a monastery on Mt. Olympus: (The story of the miraculous Iveron Icon of the Theotokos)  monk Gabriel stepped out onto the water and, walking upon the waves as upon dry land, approached the icon, the holy image drew nearer to him. Clutching the holy icon to his breast, Gabriel crossed back over the waves and delivered the icon safely to the shore.

John_Georgian_of Mt_Athos
Gabriel_Georgian_of_Mt_Athos and Iveron Icon he brought back
At that time, as a “sign of friendship,” the Byzantine emperor returned the Georgian lands he had conquered to King Davit Kuropalates, but as a “sign of dedication,” he demanded that children of the nobility be sent as surety. Among those sent to Byzantium was St. John’s son, Ekvtime. St. John begged the Byzantine emperor to release his son, and when Ekvtime was finally freed, John took him back with him to the Monastery of St. Athanasius the Athonite (the Great Lavra).
At that time the famed Georgian military commander Tornike Eristavi came to visit St. John. Tornike was soon tonsured a monk and given the new name John (the saint is commemorated as John-Tornike), and he settled at the Monastery of St. Athanasius the Athonite as well.
Soon the Georgian faithful began to flock to the Monastery of St. Athanasius, and John withdrew from the monastery to a more secluded place, where he constructed a cell and a church in honor of St. John the Theologian. Two more churches were later built in that same area in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos and St. John the Baptist.
In such a way the celebrated Iveron Monastery of Mt. Athos was established, with St. John as its first abbot.

After the repose of his faithful friend and assistant St. John-Tornike, it became difficult for St. John to continue to labor on the Holy Mountain. He and several of his disciples planned to leave Athos, but in the end they remained at the insistence of the Byzantine emperor.
John soon fell ill with gout and was bedridden for several years. Prior to his death he summoned his son, Ekvtime, confessed to him his sins, and designated him abbot of the Iveron Monastery. He told his son that St. Giorgi (later “the Builder”) should succeed him as abbot, then blessed all the brothers and “fell asleep among the ranks of the righteous in the arms of his son.”
St. Ekvtime robed the holy relics of his fleshly and spiritual father in costly linens and later erected a church in honor of the Archangels over his grave.

St. Gabriel was a monk of the Iveron Monastery on Mt. Athos. In summer he would withdraw to the inaccessible cliffs, and in winter he would return to the monastery and observe a strict rule of silence. Clad in a coarse robe and eating nothing but roots and herbs, St. Gabriel was truly a “heavenly man and an earthly angel.”
Once, at dusk, the monks of the monastery beheld a pillar of light shining forth upon the sea. The vision lasted for several days, and finally monks from every monastery on the Holy Mountain gathered and descended together to the sea.
They beheld an icon of the Mother of God shining brilliantly and floating upright upon the surface of the water. The fathers lowered a boat onto the water, hoping to bring the icon back with them to the shore, but each time their boat approached the icon, it drifted farther out to sea.
Finally the frustrated monks offered prayers and supplications to God in order to discern His will, and the Most Holy Theotokos appeared in a divine revelation and told them that the monk Gabriel alone was worthy to bring the icon bearing her image out from the sea. At the same time, she appeared to the God-fearing Gabriel and told him, “Enter onto the sea and walk out upon the waves with faith, and I will send my love and mercy upon all the monks of this monastery.”
The elders of Mt. Athos located the rocky dwelling of the hermit Gabriel not far from the Iveron Monastery. They brought Gabriel with them and went down to the sea with hymns and censing. Gabriel stepped out onto the water and, walking upon the waves as upon dry land, approached the icon. At the same time, the holy image drew nearer to him. Clutching the holy icon to his breast, Gabriel crossed back over the waves and delivered the icon safely to the shore. (The story of the miraculous Iveron Icon of the Theotokos is recounted in detail in the commemorations for February 12.)
St. Gabriel reposed peacefully on Mt. Athos.
1002  St. John the Iberian Abbot noble of Georgia, sometimes called Iberia, and a military leader; with son, St. Euthymius, to Mount Olympias in Bithynia; to Mount Athos in Macedonia and founded a monastery which endured into the twentieth century
Also called John the Georgian or “the Hagorite.” He was a noble of Georgia, sometimes called Iberia, and a military leader. In his middle age, he left his wife and went with his son, St. Euthymius, to Mount Olympias in Bithynia. They then went to Mount Athos in Macedonia and founded a monastery which endured into the twentieth century. John was revered by Byzantine Emperor Constantine VIII.

THE little-known Church of Georgia (Iberia) was distinguished in its early ages by the vigour of its monastic life, not only in Georgia but also in Syria, Palestine, Sinai, Bithynia, Greece and its islands; and finally, when St Athanasius the Athonite was organizing the religious life on Mount Athos, a foundation was made there.  The beginning of this monastery of Iviron was due to St John the Iberian and his son St Euthymius, and we are fortunate in having an account of them written by a monk, George, who was almost their contemporary there.
  John belonged to a noble Iberian family and was distinguished alike by his personal attraction, military valour, intellectual ability and uprightness of life.  But in early middle-age he parted from his wife and family, gave up his fortune and official post, and retired to a monastery on Mount Olympus in Bithynia.   From here he had to visit the court at Constantinople, for his son Euthymius had been given, with other young Georgian nobles, as hostages to the emperor.
       He was able to retrieve him and take him back to Olympus, whence after a time the attentions of his followers consequent on his growing reputation for sanctity drove them to seek greater seclusion in the laura of St Athanasius on the Holy Mountain of Athos.    Here he was employed for two years as cook, until he was joined by his brother-in-law, John Thornikios, who had given up a brilliant military career to serve God as a monk, when the three compatriots were given permission to build separate cells and a chapel for themselves.
About the year 980 it was decided to establish an independent monastery for Iberians, who were now coming to the mountain in numbers. This was done, much of the expense being met by then-general's share of the booty of his last campaign.  But after his death St John resolved to take flight, with his son and a few specially dear disciples, to Spain; he had never been keen on starting the new monastery, and now his friend was no longer there to share them, the bustle and worry were more than he could bear. They got as far as Abydos, where the prefect learned of their plan, reported it to Constantinople, and John was ordered to go there.
     Come into the presence of the emperors, Basil II and Constantine VIII, they said to him, "Holy father, we have testified to our regard for your goodness by great marks of esteem and affection.  Why then do you run away from us and try to emigrate to a strange land?"
       To whom he replied, "Religious and most mighty emperors, I am a poor layman and I find myself badly off in this world, overcome by all sorts of wickedness.  That is why I wish to go to some far country where I can concern myself with my soul's salvation.  There I can live in poverty and get rid of the crowd of cares and visitors which came to me with the coming of my brother-in-law."
    However, with great trouble he was persuaded to return to Athos and the government of Iviron.   During the last years of his life St John was kept to his bed by gout and general debility; he bore his sufferings with great patience, praising God for sending him so painful an affliction.  When his strength entirely failed, he handed the government of the monastery over to his son, but till the end nothing was done without his authorization.  On his death-bed, c. 1002; he exhorted his brethren: "Let no one distract you from our holy work and from the love of God, that is, from humble obedience and a close unity and harmony of souls; so will you be saved in this mortal life and gain for the future eternal life by the love which our Lord Christ bears towards human kind.  May the kind and all-pitiful God have mercy on you and lead you in the way of His divine teaching and holy will, by the intercession of the all-holy Mother of God and of all the saints.  Amen.  Never fail to receive guests well and share with the poor, according as you are able, those things which God in His goodness has given to you.   Observe the memory of our spiritual father Athanasius every year... Pray for me, my children and brethren, and do not forget me...He asked and received the blessing of his son Euthymius, and peacefully gave his soul to God.
    His biographer says of him:  "Truly our blessed father John was a man dear to God and worthy of all veneration.  Like Abraham he went forth from his own country, to lead a life of exile and poverty.  He gave himself into the hands of the spiritual fathers, and God made him the equal of those whom he took for his pattern."
   And of the monastery which he unwillingly co-operated in founding: "Behold this famous laura, magnificently built and dignified by all kinds of decoration-these blessed men raised it with great labour and endless industry to be a place of refuge for many souls.  They built heavenly churches, which they filled with holy books and venerable images.  They endowed it with lands, with farms, with dependencies and cells, and provided for the most fitting celebration of the sacred rites. From the most pious emperors they obtained for it protection and charters.
   They gathered therein monks of angelic life, who by their translation of the sacred texts become an ornament of our country and the flower of our language."
    It was in this work that St Euthymius particularly distinguished himself, translating over fifty religious werks from Greek into Iberian.  St John extended his benefactions to Leo the Roman, who founded on Mount Athos a monastery of Benedictines, the first and only Latin institution ever established at the headquarters of Byzantine monasticism; this abbey was swept away centuries ago, but St John's own monastery of Iviron still flourishes, though it has been transferred from the Georgians to the Greeks.
The history of St John the Iberian, or "the Hagiorite", was first published in the language of the original by G. M. Sabinin in 1882 at Petersburg, but a more critical text appeared at Tiflis in 1901.   More recently Fr Paul Petters made a copiously annotated Latin translation, printed in vol. xxxvi of the Analecta Bollandiana (1922), pp. 8-68, and a French translation appeared in Irenikon, vol. vi (1929) and vii (1930).  Fr Peeters is of opinion (Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xlix, 1931, p. 284) that St John died at latest in 1002, and that the life above summarized, which also contains an account of John's son and successor, St Euthymius, must have been written by George the Hagiorite about forty years later.  See also Hasluck, Athos and its Monasteries (1924), pp. 162-164; M. Tamarati, L'Eglise Géorgienne (1910), pp. 318-332; and D. Attwater, Book of Eastern Saints (1938), for a popular account of St John and his son.
1073 Saint John Gaulbert, Abbot entered the Order of St. Benedict laid the foundation of the Order of Vallombrosa founded several monasteries, reformed others eradicated simony no indigent person sent away without alms dedicated to poverty and humility. He never became a priest, in fact, he declined even to receive minor orders  known for his wisdom, miracles, and prophecies
In monastério Passiniáno, prope Floréntiam, sancti Joánnis Gualbérti Abbátis, qui fuit Institútor Ordinis Vallis Umbrósæ.
    In the monastery of Passignano, near Florence, Abbot St. John Gualbert, founder of the Order of Vallombrosa.
 The city of Florence gave to the world Saint John Gaulbert. Although he enjoyed the benefits of an early Christian education, his youthful heart was soon attracted to the vanities of the world. A painful incident was the means God made use of, to open his eyes. Hugo, his only brother, had been murdered and St. John had resolved to avenge his death. On a certain Good Friday he met his enemy in a place where there was no escape for the latter. St. John drew his sword and would have killed his adversary on the spot, but the latter threw himself on his knees begging him by the passion of Jesus Christ to spare his life. St. John was touched at the words, embraced his enemy, entered a church and prayed with many tears for the pardon of his sins.
He now entered the Order of St. Benedict, in which he made such great progress in virtue that after the death of the Abbot, the monks wished to impose this dignity upon him, but the Saint absolutely refused to accept it. Sometime later, he left the monastery with one companion in quest of greater solitude.
Having visited the hermitage of Camaldoli, he finally settled at Valle Ombrosa in Tuscany. Together with two hermits whom he found there, he and his companions built a small monastery, observing the primitive rule of St. Benedict. Thus was laid the foundation of the Order of Vallombrosa. The humility of the saint was such that he would never be promoted, even to Minor Orders. His charity for the poor caused him to make a rule that no indigent person should be sent away without an alms. He founded several monasteries, reformed others, and succeeded in eradicating the vice of simony from the part of the country where he lived. He died on July 12, 1073, at about 80 years of age.

ST JOHN GUALBERT was born at Florence towards the end of the tenth  century, the son of a nobleman.  Hugh, his elder and only brother, was murdered by a man reputed to be his friend, and John conceived it to be his duty to avenge his brother.   Under the influence of his resentment, heightened by the sorrow and persuasion of his father, he listened to the voice neither of reason nor of religion.  The motive of revenge is criminal if it be present even in demanding the just punishment of an offender; much more if it push men to vindicate their own cause themselves by returning injury for injury and by wreaking wrongson those that inflict them.   But John was persuaded that his honour in the world required that he should not suffer so flagrant an outrage to pass unpunished.  One day he came upon the murderer in so narrow a passage that it was impossible for either to avoid the other.  John drew his sword and advanced upon the defenceless man, who fell upon his knees, his arms crossed on his breast.   The remembrance of Christ, who prayed for His murderers on the cross seized the heart of the young man; he put up his sword, embraced his enemy, and they parted in peace.
  John went on his road till he came to the monastery of San Miniato, where, going into the church, he offered up his prayers before a crucifix. And as he continued his prayer the crucifix miraculously bowed its head, as it were to give a token how acceptable were the sacrifice of his revenge and his sincere repentance.  Divine grace so took possession of his heart that he went to the abbot and asked to be admitted to the religious habit.  The abbot was apprehensive of his father's displeasure; but after a few days John cut off his hair himself, and put on a babit which he borrowed.
    John devoted himself to his new state in the dispositions of a true penitent, so that he became entirely a new man.  When the abbot of San Miniato died John, apparently on account of a scandal concerning the abbatial succession, left the house with one companion in quest of a closer solitude.  He paid a visit to the hermitage of Camaldoli, and while there decided to make a new foundation of his own.
    This he did in a pleasant place near Fiesole, called Vallis Umbrosa, where with his companions he built a small monastery of timber and mud walls and formed a little community serving God according to the primitive austere rule and spirit of St Benedict.  The abbess of Saint Ellero gave them ground on which to build.  The saint added to the original Rule of St Benedict certain constitutions, one of which was the provision of conversi, lay-brothers, and the abolition of manual work for choir-monks.   Vallombrosa was perhaps the first monastery in which the institution of conversi appeared.
The life of this congregation was one of great austerity, and for some time it flourished and established other houses;
 but though it still exists it now numbers but few monks.
  St John Gualbert feared no less the danger of too great lenience and forbearance than of harshness, and was a true imitator of both the mildness and zeal of Moses, whom the Holy Ghost calls "a man exceeding meek above all men that dwelt upon earth".  His humbleness would not allow him to receive even minor orders; he was zealous for poverty, and would not allow any of his monasteries to be built on a costly or imposing scale, thinking such edifices not agreeable to a spirit of poverty.  His kindness to the poor was not less active than his love for poverty.
He would have no poor person sent from his door without an alms, and often emptied the stores of his monasteries in relieving them; in a famine he supplied, sometimes by miracle, the multitudes of people that flocked to Rozzuolo.
   The saint was endowed with the spirit of prophecy, and by his prayers restored many sick persons to health.  Pope St Leo IX went to Passignano on purpose to converse with him and Stephen X had the greatest esteem for him. Pope Alexander II testified that the whole country where he lived owed to his zeal the extinction of simony, for John's enthusiasm for the purely contemplative life did not prevent him and his monks from taking an active part in putting down that disorder, which was rife at the time.
  St John Gualbert died on July 12, 1073, the only certain date in his history, being eighty or more years old.
     Pope Celestine III enrolled him among the saints in 1193.
The materials for St John's life are in a sense abundant: see the long list in BHL., nn. 4397-4406.  Still we do not get from them much significant detail. The earliest is that by Bd Andrew of Strumi (d. 1097): unfortunately the only manuscript is mutilated.  Another biography, by Bd Atto, must have been written within half a century of the saint's death.  Perhaps another narrative belonging to the twelfth century, which was edited by Davidsohn in his Forschungen sur alteren Geschichte von Florenz (1896), is not the least valuable of our available sources.  Curiously enough this last omits all reference to the pardon accorded to the murderer, from which incident St John's conversion is said to date.  The two lives first named are printed in the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. iii, and that by Andrew of Strunii has been re-edited in the folio continuation of MGH., Scriptores, vol. xxx, part 2 (1929).  There is a popular sketch in Italian by D. F. Tarani (1903), and see Lugano, L'Italia Benedettina (1929). pp. 307-356.
John Gualbert (Gualberto), OSB Vall. Abbot (RM) Born in Florence, Tuscany, Italy, c. 993;
died at Passignano (near Florence) in 1073; canonized in 1193.
Because of his birth into the noble Visdomini family, John Gualbert had no more thought of following a life of austerity and humility than did his noble Florentine friends and companions. Bred to be a soldier, he spent his time in worldly amusements. Indeed, so far from intending to follow the precepts of Our Lord, his one over-riding ambition was to avenge the murder of his elder brother, Hugh. To him this was a matter of justice and, more importantly, a matter of honor.
It happened that one Good Friday as he was riding through a narrow pass on his way to Florence, Gualbert came face to face with the man he had been seeking. The man was alone and there was no means of escape. Gualbert drew his sword and moved forward, but at his approach the murderer, in a gesture not so much of supplication as of despair, fell to his knees, threw out his arms and commended his soul to God.  Gualbert hesitated, and as he looked down on his victim he was suddenly reminded of the image of Christ suffering on the Cross and of the forgiveness which Our Lord had asked for those who murdered him. Sheathing his sword, he embraced and forgave the man. Having pardoned his brother's murderer, he saw the image of the crucifix miraculously bow its head in acknowledgement of Gualbert's good action and they separated in peace.  Continuing his journey, Gualbert went to the monastery of San Miniato del Monte in Florence where, as he prayed before the crucifix, he was filled with divine grace. He asked the abbot for permission to be admitted. But the abbot delayed, fearing the anger and resentment of Gualbert's parents. To demonstrate the seriousness of his call, Gualbert shaved his head himself and put on a habit that he had borrowed.
For the next few years he remained at San Miniato, leading the life of a penitent and hoping to end his days there; but when the abbot died and the new one bribed his way to office, he left in disgust. (Other sources say that he left with a companion to find solitude when it looked likely that he would be appointed abbot.) He wanted to find a life untouched by the current abuses in the Church: clerical concubinage, nepotism, and simony. For a while he stayed with the Camaldolesi at Saint Romuald's abbey, but then decided to make an entirely new foundation.

The abbess of Sant'Ellero gave him some land in the Vallis Umbrosa (Vallombrosa), about 20 miles east of Florence near Fiesole; and there, with the help of a few companions, he built a small and unpretentious monastery of timber. The monks followed the austere rule of Saint Benedict to the letter, except for a special provision admitting conversi, or lay- brothers who could take on the manual labor and free the choir monks for contemplation and more prayer.  He was dedicated to poverty and humility. He never became a priest, in fact, he declined even to receive minor orders. Vallombrosa inspired other communities with its hospices for the poor and sick. These became part of his new order under John's rule, in spite of rival claims to jurisdiction. In this and other ways John became involved in the reform movement in the Church, for which he was commended by popes.
Other monasteries were established, but in all cases Gualbert insisted that the buildings should be constructed as modestly and cheaply as possible and that the money saved should be given to the poor. Indeed, his zeal for charity was such that he often gave away all the monastery's supplies to the poor who came to its gates. The area in which the first monastery was located was wild and barren, but the monks planted fir and pine trees and transformed it into a parkland.
 
Gualbert was known for his wisdom, miracles, and prophecies. Pope Saint Leo IX, travelled specially to Passignano to speak with him, as did Stephen X. Pope Alexander II attributed the eradication of simony in his country to him. Though respected and visited by popes, Gualbert retained his humility. He died aged about 80. The congregation of Vallombrosan Benedictines that he founded spread chiefly throughout Tuscany and Lombardy, but it still exists today and includes more than six monasteries (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer, White).
In art, Saint John Gualbert is an elderly Vallombrosan abbot with a tau-staff, book and heretic under foot. At times, he may be shown (1) with the devil under foot; (2) enthroned among Vallombrosan monks, tau staff and book of rule in hands; (3) kneeling before a crucifix, which bows towards him; (4) present at an ordeal by fire of Saint Peter Igneus; (5) watching a luxurious monastery carried away by a flood; or as a young man forgiving the murderer of his relative (Roeder). A fine altarpiece in Santa Croce, Florence, depicts four scenes from Saint John's life (Farmer).
John Gualbert is the patron on foresters and park keepers (White).
1079 St. Leo of Lucca Benedictine abbot and disciple of St. Alferius. He succeeded him at La Cava Abbey.
 Leo I of Cava, OSB Abbot (AC) Born at Lucca, Tuscany, Italy; died 1079; cultus approved as a saint in 1579 and again in 1893. Although Saint Leo was born in northern Italy, he became a Benedictine monk at La Cava Abbey near Naples under its founder, Saint Alferius. In 1050, Leo succeeded Alferius as abbot, where he gained the patronage of Duke Gisulf II of Salerno (Benedictines).
1088 Blessed Benno of Osnabrück educated and professed a Benedictine at Reichenau official architect to Henry III;  founded and retired to Iburg Abbey OSB B (AC) he always upheld the pope's cause.
Born in Swabia, Germany;  educated and professed a Benedictine at Reichenau, where he was taught by Blessed Herman the Cripple. In turn, Benno became an educator, too. He was headmaster at Gozlar (Hanover) and later at the cathedral school of Hildesheim. But that was not the limitation of Benno's talents: He was also the official architect to Henry III. In 1067, Benno was consecrated archbishop of Osnabrück, in which position he always upheld the pope's cause. He founded and retired to Iburg Abbey, where he died (Benedictines).
1163 Blessed Lambert of Morimond spent most of his life at Morimond Abbey, where he first entered the Cistercians, he also was abbot of Clairfontaine and Cîteaux OSB Cist. Abbot (AC)
Although Lambert spent most of his life at Morimond Abbey, where he first entered the Cistercians, he also was abbot of Clairfontaine and Cîteaux. He returned to Morimund in 1161 to die (Benedictines).
1462 Bl. Andrew Oexner of Riun Martyred at age three, place of death was made into a shrine, and many miracles were reported there
ANDREW was born in 1459, the son of Simon and Maria Oexner, peasants of Rinn, near Innsbruck.  At two years old his father died and the boy was confided to the care of his uncle, Mayer, an innkeeper of the village.  On July 12, 1462, the child disappeared, and his mother eventually found him hanging dead from a tree, his body terribly slashed with knife-cuts.  Mayer explained that he had sold him to some Jewish pedlars as the boy was a nuisance to him, and showed the payment he had received-but the gold pieces were turned to yellow willow leaves; the man was out of his mind, he had to be confined, and died raving.
  It must be noticed that at the time no active notice was taken of Mayer's statement that Andrew had been taken away by Jews; but when in 1475 certain Jews of Trent were tortured into a confession that they had murdered a Christian boy, Simon, of that city, the peasants of Rinn accused them of like dealings with Andrew.  The place where his body was found was named the Judenstein, miracles were reported, the veneration of the child as a martyr spread all over the northern Tirol, and in 1670 a chapel was built to shelter his relics. In 1750 Pope Benedict XIV allowed the cultus and granted a local office in honour of Andrew; but five years later the same pope refused the request of the bishop of Brixen for the canonization of the boy.  It may reasonably be held that be was not a victim of the Jews at all, but was killed by his mad uncle in an outburst of homicidal mania.
See the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. iii; where also may be found the reproduction of a curious set of engravings, published at Innsbruck in 1658, depicting the principal incidents of the story of the martyrdom. For a reference to some similar cases of alleged ritual murder see March 24 herein, under Simon of Trent, and August 27, Little St Hugh .

Andrew was born in Rinn, near Innsbruck, Austria, in 1459. Orphaned at the age of two, he was given to his uncle, Mayer. Andrew's body was soon discovered hanging from a tree, bearing terrible knife wounds. Mayer, arrested for the crime, declared that he had sold the baby to Jewish peddlers. Mayer was judged insane. In 1475, a group of Jews near Trent, Italy, admitted under severe torture that they had killed a Christian boy. The people of Rinn believed the Jews had also killed Andrew. His place of death was made into a shrine, and many miracles were reported there. Pope Benedict XV allowed Andrew to be beatified, but refused all requests that the baby be canonized.
1541 Bl. David Gonson Martyred for his faith English knight of St. John. He was the son of a British vice-admiral. David was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Southwark.
1598 St. John Jones b.1530 1679 St. John Wall  b. 1620 These two friars were martyred in England (16th and 17th centuries) for refusing to deny their faith.
JOHN Jones, known on the mission as John Buckley and having the names in religion of Godfrey Maurice, came of a Catholic family of Clynog Fawr in Caernarvonshire.  He became a Friar Minor of the Observance in Rome, and in 1592 he was sent at his own request to the English mission and lodged for a time in London.  He worked in various parts of the country until 1596, when he was arrested on an order of the priest-hunter Topcliffe, and subjected to cruel tortures.  He was kept in prison for two years, during which time he contrived to reconcile Bd John Rigby, a layman who for a time conformed to Protestantism and suffered death in 1600 for his repentance.  On July 3, 1598, Bd John was tried for having been ordained overseas and returned to the realm.  He protested that he had never been guilty of any treason, and asked that his case should be referred to the conscience of the judges, rather than to an ignorant jury.  Mr Justice Clinch pointed out to him that his offence was treason by statute, whereto the prisoner replied, "If this be a crime I must own myself guilty; for I am a priest and came over into England to gain as many souls as I could to Christ ".
     The place fixed for his execution was St Thomas Waterings in the Old Kent Road, the place where in days not then long past pilgrims to the shrine of St Thomas Becket had made their first halt and watered their horses at a ford (Chaucer mentions it in the prologue to the Canterbury Tales).  When the martyr had been dragged to this place on a hurdle, the hangman was found to have forgotten the rope, and it took an hour to fetch it; Bd John passed the time in prayer and in talking to the people, asserting that he had prayed daily for the queen's welfare.
His head was displayed in Southwark and his members in the Lambeth and Newington roads; two young men were committed to prison for trying to rescue these relics, but where they failed others succeeded.
See Challoner, MMP., pp. 234-239;  Catholic Record Society Publications, vol. v, pp. 362-375 ; The Rambler, January 1859, pp.49-55; Mason, Certamen Seraphicum (1885 ed.), p. 17
John Jones was Welsh. He was ordained a diocesan priest and was twice imprisoned for administering the sacraments before leaving England in 1590. He joined the Franciscans at the age of 60 and returned to England three years later while Queen Elizabeth I was at the height of her power. John ministered to Catholics in the English countryside until his imprisonment in 1596. He was condemned to be hanged, drawn and quartered. John was executed on July 12, 1598.
John Wall was born in England but was educated at the English College of Douai, Belgium. Ordained in Rome in 1648, he entered the Franciscans in Douai several years later. In 1656 he returned to work secretly in England.
In 1678 Titus Oates worked many English people into a frenzy over an alleged papal plot to murder the king and restore Catholicism in that country. In that year Catholics were legally excluded from Parliament, a law which was not repealed until 1829. John Wall was arrested and imprisoned in 1678 and was executed the following year.
John Jones and John Wall were canonized in 1970.

Quote: "No one is a martyr for a conclusion; no one is a martyr for an opinion. It is faith that makes martyrs" (Cardinal Newman, Discourses to Mixed Congregations).
Comment:  Every martyr knows how to save his/her life and yet refuses to do so. A public repudiation of the faith would save any of them. But some things are more precious than life itself. These martyrs prove that their 20th-century countryman, C. S. Lewis, was correct in saying that courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form (shape) of every virtue at the testing point, that is, at the point of highest reality.
1626 Bl. Monica Naisen Martyr of Japan native, she was arrested for sheltering Blessed John Baptist Zola; beheaded at Nagasaki with husband, Blessed John Naisen. Monica was beatified in 1867.
1626 Bl. Peter Araki Kobjoje native Japanese martyr he was burned alive at Nagasaki by government officials for the crime of giving shelter to Christians. Peter was beatified in 1867.
1626 Bl. Louis Naisen Martyr of Japan, only seven, son of Blesseds John and Monica Naisen. He was beheaded at Nagasaki, Japan. Louis was beatified in 1867.
1626 Bl. Matthias Araki Martyr native of Japan, brother of Blessed Mancius Araki; Matthias sheltered priests and was burned alive at Nagasaki. He was beatified in 1867.
1626 Bl. John Naisen Martyr of Japan wealthy Japanese from Arirna; arrested as a Christian. When his wife was threatened with being put in a brothel. John abjured. but then repented
Firm once more in the faith, John was bumed alive in Nagasaki and beatified in 1867.
1626 Bl. John Tanaka Martyr of Japan; layman, sheltered Blessed Balthasar de Torres and was arrested, imprisoned, and then burned alive in Nagasaki. John was beatified in 1867.
1641 Simon of Volomsk Hosiomartyr received monastic tonsure at the Pinegsk Makariev monastery settled in the Volomsk forest, 80 versts to the southwest of Ustiug at the River Kichmenga grace-filled miracles at his relics
In the world Simon, son of the peasant Michael from the vicinity of Volokolamsk, was born in the year 1586. At 24 years of age, after long pilgrimage through Orthodox monasteries, he received monastic tonsure at the Pinegsk Makariev monastery. In the year 1613 he settled in the Volomsk forest, 80 versts to the southwest of Ustiug at the River Kichmenga. Here he spent five years alone, away from people. He nourished himself with vegetables which he himself cultivated, and sometimes asked for bread in some settlement.

When lovers of the quiet life began to gather to him, St Simon, through a grant of Tsar Michael Theodoreovich and with the blessing of the Rostov Metropolitan Barlaam, built a temple in honor of the Cross of the Lord, and in 1620 was made head of the monastery he founded.
A strict ascetic, serving as an example to all in virtue, love of toil, fasting and prayer, he was wickedly murdered in his own monastery on July 12, 1641. The body of the venerable Simon was buried on the left side of the church he built.

Veneration of the saint began in 1646 after grace-filled miracles at his relics were attested. His Life was written in the seventeenth century .
1780-1842 St. Peter Khanh native Vietnamese Martyr; he served as a catechist until his arrest and beheading by Vietnamese authorities.
1841 St. Agnes De Vietnamese Christian martyr; born in Baiden and raised in a Christian family; arrested - died in prison at Namdinh  Agnes was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1988.


THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 172

O God, my God: I will glorify thee by Thy Mother.

For she hath conceived thee in virginity: and without travail she hath brought Thee forth.

Blessed be thou, O Lady: stand for us before the throne of God.

Beauty and brightness are in thy sight.

Keep my soul, O Lady: that it may never fall into sin.

 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

Saint Frances Xavier Seelos  Practical Guide to Holiness
1. Go to Mass with deepest devotion. 2. Spend a half hour to reflect upon your main failing & make resolutions to avoid it.
3. Do daily spiritual reading for at least 15 minutes, if a half hour is not possible.  4. Say the rosary every day.
5. Also daily, if at all possible, visit the Blessed Sacrament; toward evening, meditate on the Passion of Christ for a half hour, 6.  Conclude the day with evening prayer & an examination of conscience over all the faults & sins of the day.
7.  Every month make a review of the month in confession.
8. Choose a special patron every month & imitate that patron in some special virtue.
9. Precede every great feast with a novena that is nine days of devotion. 10. Try to begin & end every activity with a Hail Mary
My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee.  I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not
O most Holy trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly.  I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended, and by the infite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  I beg the conversion of poor sinners,  Fatima Prayer, Angel of Peace
The voice of the Father is heard, the Son enters the water, and the Holy Spirit appears in the form of a dove.
THE spirit and example of the world imperceptibly instil the error into the minds of many that there is a kind of middle way of going to Heaven; and so, because the world does not live up to the gospel, they bring the gospel down to the level of the world. It is not by this example that we are to measure the Christian rule, but words and life of Christ. All His followers are commanded to labour to become perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect, and to bear His image in our hearts that we may be His children. We are obliged by the gospel to die to ourselves by fighting self-love in our hearts, by the mastery of our passions, by taking on the spirit of our Lord.
   These are the conditions under which Christ makes His promises and numbers us among His children, as is manifest from His words which the apostles have left us in their inspired writings. Here is no distinction made or foreseen between the apostles or clergy or religious and secular persons. The former, indeed, take upon themselves certain stricter obligations, as a means of accomplishing these ends more perfectly; but the law of holiness and of disengagement of the heart from the world is general and binds all the followers of Christ.
God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique each the result of a new idea.
As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike.
It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints.
Dear Lord, grant us a spirit not bound by our own ideas and preferences.
 Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves.
O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory.
 Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.
Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.
The 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary ) Revealed to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan)
1.    Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces. 2.    I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. 3.    The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. 4.    It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things.  Oh, that soul would sanctify them by this means.  5.    The soul that recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish. 6.    Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying themselves to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune.  God will not chastise them in His justice, they shall not perish by an unprovided death; if they be just, they shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life. 7.    Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church. 8.    Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise. 9.    I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. 10.    The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.  11.    You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary. 12.    I shall aid all those who propagate the Holy Rosary in their necessities. 13.    I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death. 14.    All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ. 15.    Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
His Holiness Aram I, current (2013) Catholicos of Cilicia of Armenians, whose See is located in Lebanese town of Antelias. The Catholicosate was founded in Sis, capital of Cilicia, in the year 1441 following the move of the Catholicosate of All Armenians back to its original See of Etchmiadzin in Armenia. The Catholicosate of Cilicia enjoyed local jurisdiction, though spiritually subject to the authority of Etchmiadzin. In 1921 the See was transferred to Aleppo in Syria, and in 1930 to Antelias.
Its jurisdiction currently extends to Syria, Cyprus, Iran and Greece.
Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac
The exact date of the introduction of Christianity into Edessa {Armenian Ourhaï in Arabic Er Roha, commonly Orfa or Urfa, its present name} is not known. It is certain, however, that the Christian community was at first made up from the Jewish population of the city. According to an ancient legend, King Abgar V, Ushana, was converted by Addai, who was one of the seventy-two disciples. In fact, however, the first King of Edessa to embrace the Christian Faith was Abgar IX (c. 206) becoming official kingdom religion.
Christian council held at Edessa early as 197 (Eusebius, Hist. Ecc7V,xxiii).
In 201 the city was devastated by a great flood, and the Christian church was destroyed (“Chronicon Edessenum”, ad. an. 201).
In 232 the relics of the Apostle St. Thomas were brought from India, on which occasion his Syriac Acts were written.

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

680 Shiite saint Imam Hussein, grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammad Known as Ashoura and observed by Shiites across the world, the 10th day of the lunar Muslim month of Muharram: the anniversary of the 7th century death in battle of one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints.  Imam Hussein died in the 680 A.D. battle fought on the plains outside Karbala, a city in modern Iraq that's home to the saint's shrine.  The battle over a dispute about the leadership of the Muslim faith following Muhammad's death in 632 A.D. It is the defining event in Islam's split into Sunni and Shiite branches.  The occasion is the source of an enduring moral lesson. "He sacrificed his blood to teach us not to give in to corruption, coercion, or use of force and to seek honor and justice."  According to Shiite beliefs, Hussein and companions were denied water by enemies who controlled the nearby Euphrates.  Streets get partially covered with blood from slaughter of hundreds of cows and sheep. Volunteers cook the meat and feed it to the poor.  Hussein's martyrdom recounted through a rich body of prose, poetry and song remains an inspirational example of sacrifice to many Shiites, 10 percent of the world's estimated 1.3 billion Muslims.
Meeting of the Saints  walis (saints of Allah)
Great men covet to embrace martyrdom for a cause and principle.
So was the case with Hazrat Ali. He could have made a compromise with the evil forces of his time and, as a result, could have led a very comfortable, easy and luxurious life.  But he was not a person who would succumb to such temptations. His upbringing, his education and his training in the lap of the holy Prophet made him refuse such an offer.
Rabia Al-Basri (717–801 C.E.) She was first to set forth the doctrine of mystical love and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets. An elderly Shia pointed out that during his pre-Partition childhood it was quite common to find pictures and portraits of Shia icons in Imambaras across the country.
Shah Abdul Latif: The Exalted Sufi Master born 1690 in a Syed family; died 1754. In ancient times, Sindh housed the exemplary Indus Valley Civilisation with Moenjo Daro as its capital, and now, it is the land of a culture which evolved from the teachings of eminent Sufi saints. Pakistan is home to the mortal remains of many Sufi saints, the exalted among them being Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, a practitioner of the real Islam, philosopher, poet, musicologist and preacher. He presented his teaching through poetry and music - both instruments sublime - and commands a very large following, not only among Muslims but also among Hindus and Christians. Sindh culture: The Shah is synonymous with Sindh. He is the very fountainhead of Sindh's culture. His message remains as fresh as that of any present day poet, and the people of Sindh find solace from his writings. He did indeed think for Sindh. One of his prayers, in exquisite Sindhi, translates thus: “Oh God, may ever You on Sindh bestow abundance rare! Beloved! All the world let share Thy grace, and fruitful be.”
Shia Ali al-Hadi, died 868 and son Hassan al-Askari 874. These saints are the 10th and 11th of Shia's 12 most revered Imams. Baba Farid Sufi 1398 miracle, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki renowned Muslim Sufi saint scholar miracles 569 A.H. [1173 C.E.] hermit gave to poor, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti greatest mystic of his time born 533 Hijri (1138-39 A.D.), Hazrat Ghuas-e Azam, Hazrat Bu Ali Sharif, and Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia Sufi Saint Hazrath Khwaja Syed Mohammed Badshah Quadri Chisty Yamani Quadeer (RA) 1236-1325 welcomed people of all faiths & all walks of life.
801 Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya Sufi One of the most famous Islamic mystics
(b. 717). This 8th century saint was an early Sufi who had a profound influence on later Sufis, who in turn deeply influenced the European mystical love and troubadour traditions.  Rabi'a was a woman of Basra, a seaport in southern Iraq.  She was born around 717 and died in 801 (185-186).  Her biographer, the great medieval poet Attar, tells us that she was "on fire with love and longing" and that men accepted her "as a second spotless Mary" (186).  She was, he continues, “an unquestioned authority to her contemporaries" (218).
Rabi'a began her ascetic life in a small desert cell near Basra, where she lost herself in prayer and went straight to God for teaching.  As far as is known, she never studied under any master or spiritual director.  She was one of the first of the Sufis to teach that Love alone was the guide on the mystic path (222).  A later Sufi taught that there were two classes of "true believers": one class sought a master as an intermediary between them and God -- unless they could see the footsteps of the Prophet on the path before them, they would not accept the path as valid.  The second class “...did not look before them for the footprint of any of God's creatures, for they had removed all thought of what He had created from their hearts, and concerned themselves solely with God. (218)
Rabi'a was of this second kind.  She felt no reverence even for the House of God in Mecca:  "It is the Lord of the house Whom I need; what have I to do with the house?" (219) One lovely spring morning a friend asked her to come outside to see the works of God.  She replied, "Come you inside that you may behold their Maker.  Contemplation of the Maker has turned me aside from what He has made" (219).  During an illness, a friend asked this woman if she desired anything.
"...[H]ow can you ask me such a question as 'What do I desire?'  I swear by the glory of God that for twelve years I have desired fresh dates, and you know that in Basra dates are plentiful, and I have not yet tasted them.  I am a servant (of God), and what has a servant to do with desire?" (162)
When a male friend once suggested she should pray for relief from a debilitating illness, she said,
"O Sufyan, do you not know Who it is that wills this suffering for me?  Is it not God Who wills it?  When you know this, why do you bid me ask for what is contrary to His will?  It is not  well to oppose one's Beloved." (221)
She was an ascetic.  It was her custom to pray all night, sleep briefly just before dawn, and then rise again just as dawn "tinged the sky with gold" (187).  She lived in celibacy and poverty, having renounced the world.  A friend visited her in old age and found that all she owned were a reed mat, screen, a pottery jug, and a bed of felt which doubled as her prayer-rug (186), for where she prayed all night, she also slept briefly in the pre-dawn chill.  Once her friends offered to get her a servant; she replied,
"I should be ashamed to ask for the things of this world from Him to Whom the world belongs, and how should I ask for them from those to whom it does not belong?"  (186-7)
A wealthy merchant once wanted to give her a purse of gold.  She refused it, saying that God, who sustains even those who dishonor Him, would surely sustain her, "whose soul is overflowing with love" for Him.  And she added an ethical concern as well:
"...How should I take the wealth of someone of whom I do not know whether he acquired it lawfully or not?" (187)
She taught that repentance was a gift from God because no one could repent unless God had already accepted him and given him this gift of repentance.  She taught that sinners must fear the punishment they deserved for their sins, but she also offered such sinners far more hope of Paradise than most other ascetics did.  For herself, she held to a higher ideal, worshipping God neither from fear of Hell nor from hope of Paradise, for she saw such self-interest as unworthy of God's servants; emotions like fear and hope were like veils -- i.e., hindrances to the vision of God Himself.  The story is told that once a number of Sufis saw her hurrying on her way with water in one hand and a burning torch in the other.  When they asked her to explain, she said:
"I am going to light a fire in Paradise and to pour water on to Hell, so that both veils may vanish altogether from before the pilgrims and their purpose may be sure..." (187-188)
She was once asked where she came from.  "From that other world," she said.  "And where are you going?" she was asked.  "To that other world," she replied (219).  She taught that the spirit originated with God in "that other world" and had to return to Him in the end.  Yet if the soul were sufficiently purified, even on earth, it could look upon God unveiled in all His glory and unite with him in love.  In this quest, logic and reason were powerless.  Instead, she speaks of the "eye" of her heart which alone could apprehend Him and His mysteries (220).
Above all, she was a lover, a bhakti, like one of Krishna’s Goptis in the Hindu tradition.  Her hours of prayer were not so much devoted to intercession as to communion with her Beloved.  Through this communion, she could discover His will for her.  Many of her prayers have come down to us:
       "I have made Thee the Companion of my heart,
        But my body is available for those who seek its company,
        And my body is friendly towards its guests,
        But the Beloved of my heart is the Guest of my soul."  [224]
To Save A Life is Earthly; Saving A Soul is Eternal Donation by mail, please send check or money order to:
Eternal Word Television Network 5817 Old Leeds Rd. Irondale, AL 35210  USA
  Catholic Television Network  Supported entirely by donations from viewers  help  spread the Eternal Word, online Here
Mother Angelica saving souls is this beautiful womans journey  Shrine_of_The_Most_Blessed_Sacrament
Colombia was among the countries Mother Angelica visited. 
In Bogotá, a Salesian priest - Father Juan Pablo Rodriguez - brought Mother and the nuns to the Sanctuary of the Divine Infant Jesus to attend Mass.  After Mass, Father Juan Pablo took them into a small Shrine which housed the miraculous statue of the Child Jesus. Mother Angelica stood praying at the side of the statue when suddenly the miraculous image came alive and turned towards her.  Then the Child Jesus spoke with the voice of a young boy:  “Build Me a Temple and I will help those who help you.” 

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

Brief History of our Beloved Holy Priest Here and his published books of Catholic History in North America
Reardon, J.M. Archbishop Ireland; Prelate, Patriot, Publicist, 1838-1918.
A Memoir (St. Paul; 1919); George Anthony Belcourt Pioneer Catholic Missionary of the Northwest 1803-1874 (1955);
The Catholic Church IN THE DIOCESE OF ST. PAUL from earliest origin to centennial achievement 1362-1950 (1952);
The Church of Saint Mary of Saint Paul 1875-1922;  (1932)
The Vikings in the American Heartland;
The Catholic Total Abstinence Society in Minnesota;
James Michael Reardon Born in Nova Scotia, 1872;  Priest, ordained by Bishop Ireland;
Member -- St. Paul Seminary faculty.
Affiliations and Indulgences  Litany of Loretto in Stained glass windows here.  Nave Sacristy and Residence Here
Sanctuary spaces between them filled with grilles of hand-forged wrought iron the life of our Blessed Lady After the crucifixon
Apostle statues Replicas of those in St John Lateran--Christendom's earliest Basilica.
Ordered by Rome's first Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great, Popes' cathedral and official residence first millennium of Christian history.
The only replicas ever made:  in order from west to east {1932}.
Every Christian must be a living book wherein one can read the teaching of the gospel
 It Makes No Sense Not To Believe In GOD
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi. 
  June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
By Father John Corapi
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi. 
  June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
By Father John Corapi
Among the most important titles we have in the Catholic Church for the Blessed Virgin Mary are Our Lady of Victory and Our Lady of the Rosary. These titles can be traced back to one of the most decisive times in the history of the world and Christendom. The Battle of Lepanto took place on October 7 (date of feast of Our Lady of Rosary), 1571. This proved to be the most crucial battle for the Christian forces against the radical Muslim navy of Turkey. Pope Pius V led a procession around St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City praying the Rosary. He showed true pastoral leadership in recognizing the danger posed to Christendom by the radical Muslim forces, and in using the means necessary to defeat it. Spiritual battles require spiritual weapons, and this more than anything was a battle that had its origins in the spiritual order—a true battle between good and evil.

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

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

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

Father Corapi's Biography

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

Father Corapi's academic credentials are quite extensive. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Pace University in the seventies. Then as an older man returned to the university classrooms in preparation for his life as a priest and preacher. He received all of his academic credentials for the Church with honors: a Masters degree in Sacred Scripture from Holy Apostles Seminary and Bachelor, Licentiate, and Doctorate degrees in dogmatic theology from the University of Navarre in Spain.
Father John Corapi goes to the heart of the contemporary world's many woes and wars, whether the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia, or the Congo, or the natural disasters that seem to be increasing every year, the moral and spiritual war is at the basis of everything. “Our battle is not against human forces,” St. Paul asserts, “but against principalities and powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness...” (Ephesians 6:12). 
The “War to end all wars” is the moral and spiritual combat that rages in the hearts and minds of human beings. The outcome of that  unseen fight largely determines how the battle in the realm of the seen unfolds.  The title talk, “With the Moon Under Her Feet,” is taken from the twelfth chapter of the Book of Revelation, and deals with the current threat to the world from radical Islam, and the Blessed Virgin Mary's role in the ultimate victory that will result in the conversion of Islam. Few Catholics are aware of the connection between Islam, Fatima, and Guadalupe. Presented in Father Corapi's straight-forward style, you will be both inspired and educated by him.

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

God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pope Francis creates new path to beatification under ‘offering of life’
Jul 11, 2017 - 06:22 am .- On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor.
 
Twentieth century Polish nurse among causes advancing toward sainthood
Jul 7, 2017 - 06:14 am .- Pope Francis on Friday approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Hanna Chrzanowska, a Polish nurse and nursing instructor who died from cancer in 1973, paving the way for her beatification.
 
Sainthood causes advance, including layman who resisted fascism
Jun 17, 2017 - 09:22 am .- Pope Francis on Friday recognized the heroic virtue of six persons on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of an Italian man who died from injuries of a beating he received while imprisoned in a concentration camp for resisting fascism.
 
Solanus Casey, Cardinal Van Thuan among those advanced toward sainthood
May 4, 2017 - 10:47 am .- Pope Francis on Thursday approved decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints advancing the causes for canonization of 12 individuals, including the American-born Capuchin Solanus Casey and the Vietnamese cardinal Francis Xavier Nguen Van Thuan.
 
Pope clears way for canonization of Fatima visionaries
Mar 23, 2017 - 06:44 am .- On Thursday Pope Francis approved the second and final miracle needed to canonize Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the Fatima Marian apparitions.
Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward
Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life.
8 Martyrs Move Closer to Sainthood 8 July, 2016
Posted by ZENIT Staff on 8 July, 2016

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

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

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

On the List Are Lay Founder of a Hospital and Eastern Catholic Religious
VATICAN CITY, June 12, 2014 (Zenit.org) - Today, the Vatican announced that during the celebration of the feast of Christ the King on Sunday, November 23, an ordinary public consistory will be held for the canonization of the following six blesseds, who include a lay founder of a hospital for the poor, founders of religious orders, and two members of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See:
-Giovanni Antonio Farina (1803-1888), an Italian bishop who founded the Institute of the Sisters Teachers of Saint Dorothy, Daughters of the Sacred Hearts
-Kuriakose Elias Chavara (1805-1871), a Syro-Malabar priest in India who founded the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate
-Ludovico of Casoria (1814-1885), an Italian Franciscan priest who founded the Gray Sisters of St. Elizabeth
-Nicola Saggio (Nicola da Longobardi, 1650-1709), an Italian oblate of the Order of Minims
-Euphrasia Eluvathingal (1877-1952), an Indian Carmelite of the Syro-Malabar Church
-Amato Ronconi (1238-1304), an Italian, Third Order Franciscan who founded a hospital for poor pilgrims
CAUSES OF SAINTS July 2015.
Pope Recognizes Heroic Virtues of Ukrainian Archbishop
Recognition Brings Metropolitan Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky Closer to Beatification
By Junno Arocho Esteves Rome, July 17, 2015 (ZENIT.org)
Pope Francis recognized the heroic virtues of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky. According to a communique released by the Holy See Press Office, the Holy Father met this morning with Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MIRACLES
– Blessed Alfonso Maria Fusco, diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist (1839-1910);
– Venerable Servant of God John Sullivan, professed priest of the Society of Jesus (1861-1933);
MARTYRDOM
– Servants of God Nikolle Vinçenc Prennushi, O.F.M., archbishop of Durres, Albania, and 37 companions killed between 1945 and 1974;
– Servants of God José Antón Gómez and three companions of the Benedictines of Madrid, Spain, killed 1936;
HEROIC VIRTUES
– Servant of God Thomas Choe Yang-Eop, diocesan priest (1821-1861);
– Servant of God Sosio Del Prete (né Vincenzo), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Congregation of the Little Servants of Christ the King (1885-1952);
– Servant of God Wenanty Katarzyniec (né Jósef), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1889-1921);
– Servant of God Maria Consiglia of the Holy Spirity (née Emilia Pasqualina Addatis), founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Addolorata, Servants of Mary (1845-1900);
– Servant of God Maria of the Incarnation (née Caterina Carrasco Tenorio), founder of the Congregation of the Franciscan Tertiary Sisters of the Flock of Mary (1840-1917);
– Servant of God , founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Family of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1851-1923);
– Servant of God Ilia Corsaro, founder of the Congregation of the Little Missionaries of the Eucharist (1897-1977);
– Servant of God Maria Montserrat Grases García, layperson of the Personal Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei (1941-1959).
LINKS:
Marian Apparitions (over 2000)  India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes Feb 11- July 16, Loreto, Italy 1858 
China 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, PSALTER  BLESSED VIRGIN MARY 172 2022