Mary Mother of GOD
Festum beátæ Maríæ Vírginis de monte Carmélo.
Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel.
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;
2022
23,000  Lives Saved Since 2007

1420 The Chirsk (Pskov) Icon of the Mother of God
Reverse side of the icon are depicted the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, and St Theodosius of the Kiev Caves.

Pope Benedict XVI to The Catholic Church In China {article here }

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

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


Marian spirituality: all are invited.

Our Bartholomew Family Prayer List  Here

Joyful Mystery Monday Saturday   Glorius Mystery Sunday Wednesday
   Sorrowful Mystery Friday Tuesday  
Luminous Mystery Thursday Veterens of War


“One hour overtaketh another...and though never so long at last cometh death. And yet not death;
for death is the gate of life unto us whereby we enter into everlasting blessedness.
And life is death to those who do not provide for death,
for they are ever tossed and troubled with vexations, miseries, and wickedness.
To use this life well is the pathway through death to everlasting life.” 1612 St. John Almond
   
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
St. Bonaventure, Bishop, Doctor of the Church (Feast)
Saints of July 16 Décimo séptimo Kaléndas Augusti  

THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST  
1st v. St. Simon Cleophas, the Apostle Martyrdom of;  brother of Joseph the Just, to whom the Virgin Mary was betrothed; received the grace of the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room of Zion, and was ordained bishop for  Jerusalem succeeding St. James the Apostle. {Coptic}
  295 St. Domnio A martyr of Bergamo, in Lombardy
  305 St. Valentine Bishop of Trier (or Tongres, Belgium) , Germany, martyr
337 St. Eustathius of Antioch Confessor; a learned, eloquent, virtuous man; ardent zeal for purity of faith made bishop of Beroea, Syria;  attended Council of Nicaea concurred with fellow bishops forbid all translations of bishops from one see to another; During, before, and after the council, firm opponent of Arianism both preaching and writing
451 The Fourth Ecumenical Council, 630 bishops participated; convened 451 in the city of Chalcedon
635 Tenenan (Tininor) of Léon;  priest who became a hermit in Brittany and later bishop of Léon  B (AC)
682 Generosus of Poitou  abbot of Saint-Jouin-de-Marnes in Poitou (Benedictines), OSB Abbot (AC)
784 St. Fulrad Abbot of St. Denis Abbey near Paris, France; counselor of King Pepin and Charlemagne; guided the Franks in establishing close ties with the Holy See rather than Byzantium
866 Blessed Irmengard of Chiemsee daughter of King Louis, great granddaughter of Charlemagne
1158 Blessed Milo of Selincourt abbot of Donmartin in 1123 and bishop of Thérouanne; 
1420 The Chirsk (Pskov) Icon of the Mother of God
1794 Blessed Mary & Mary-Magdalen de Justamond sisters by blood and in the Cistercian convent of Sainte-Catherine at Avignon; guillotined at Orange during the French Revolution, OSB Cist. MM (AC)
1846 St. Mary Magdalen Postel opened a school for girls at Barfleur, leader in Barfleur against constitutional priests. sheltered fugitive priests in her home venerated for her holiness and miracle Bérgomi sancti Domniónis Mártyris.  At Bergamo, St. Domnio, martyr.

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

The priest occupies a central place in the history of Lourdes
 The Shrine of Lourdes was chosen by the Congregation for the Clergy to host an important international convention on July 4-5, 2016, under the chairmanship of Cardinal Beniamino Stella. "The priest, witness of Mercy" is meant to give priests the opportunity to experience mercy for themselves in the context of the Jubilee year of Mercy.
All priests were invited to participate.
The priest occupies a central place in the history of Lourdes—a reminder that the priesthood is at the heart of the universal mission of the Apostolic Church. Mary told Bernadette: "Go and tell the priests to build a chapel here." With these words, she confirmed that the Church, symbolized by the construction of a chapel,
is built through the intermediary of priests.
The first person informed of the apparitions in Lourdes was Father Pomian, Bernadette’s confessor.
In 1858, the combined efforts of the pastor of Lourdes, Rev. Peyramale, and Bishop Laurence,
\ were decisive to discerning the authenticity of the apparitions.
In 1866, the first chaplains promoted the presentation of the message of Lourdes.
Thousands of priests visit Lourdes each year.

18th and last apparition in Lourdes July 16 - Our Lady of Mount Carmel
The Word Rosary Means Crown of Roses (III)
Saint Dominic changed his homily and spoke of the devotion to the Rosary.
By his influence people gradually began to pray it with devotion, lead Christian lives, and abandon their bad habits.  Saint Dominic died in 1221, after a life dedicated to preaching and to promoting the devotion of the rosary among people of all social classes, for souls of Purgatory, for triumph over evil, and prosperity of the Holy Catholic Church.

The prayer of the rosary maintained its fervor for about one hundred years after Saint Dominic's death then slowly began to lose popularity among the faithful. In 1349, the Black Death Plaque ravaged Europe.
At this time, Abbot Alan de la Roche, superior of the Dominicans in France, had an apparition in which Jesus, the Blessed Virgin and Saint Dominic asked him to revive the old custom of the prayer of the rosary.
Father Alan began this work of propagation along with all the Dominican friars in 1460.
They gave the Rosary its present form, with ecclesiastical approval.  See www.pilgrimqueen.org

July 15 – Feast of Mary Mediatrix (Maronites and Syriacs) –
Saint Vladimir of Kiev – St Bonaventure, (d. 1274) Doctor of the Church 
The Maronite soul is Marian in nature
 The Virgin Mary occupies a special place in the daily life of the Maronite family. This is particularly apparent in the liturgical prayers that dedicate a stanza to the Virgin Mary in each hymn and at the first nocturn of Matins, in addition to the offices of her feasts that are attached to those of Our Lord, such as Advent, the Passion, Easter, Pentecost, ordinary time… and of course the feasts of Our Lady, such as the Immaculate Conception, the Nativity of Mary, the Assumption, and the month of May.

This privileged place given to the Virgin Mary is especially evident in the fact that the seats of the Maronite patriarchate are dedicated to the Virgin Mary. In Maronite homes, family members gather each night before the holy images to pray the Rosary, the litanies, and to sing "O most tender Mother of God" and "If you remain far from us."

In addition to these, we often encounter small shrines outside houses and processions in the streets, to the point that one can say that the Maronite soul possesses an unrivaled "Marian character."
Website of Our Lady of Lebanon: ndlweb.free.fr

Mary's Divine Motherhood
Called in the Gospel "the Mother of Jesus," Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the Mother of my Lord" (Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.). In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity.
Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos).
Catechism of the Catholic Church 495, quoting the Council of Ephesus (431): DS 251.
1st v. St. Simon Cleophas, the Apostle Martyrdom of;  brother of Joseph the Just, to whom the Virgin Mary was betrothed; received the grace of the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room of Zion, and was ordained bishop for  Jerusalem succeeding St. James the Apostle. {Coptic}
  166 St. Cladianus (Celadion) Departure of , the Ninth Pope of the See of St. Mark. {Coptic}
  250 St. Faustus Martyr caught in persecution of Emperor Trajanus Decius; crucified and then wounded by arrows. 
  295 St. Domnio A martyr of Bergamo, in Lombardy
  305 St. Valentine Bishop of Trier (or Tongres, Belgium) , Germany, martyr
  305 St. Athenogenes Bishop martyr, author of the hymn Phos Hilaron, used in Byzantine vespers liturgy;  theologian, Athenogenes died by burning with ten disciples at Sebaste; As Athenogenes entered flames sang the Phos Hilaron in joy Phos Hilaron (Φῶς Ἱλαρόν) is an ancient Christian hymn originally written in New Testament Greek. Often referred to by its Latin title Lumen Hilare 'O Gladsome/Joyous Light';  The Lord granted the saint to hear His Voice before death, "Today you shall be with Me in Paradise."
 308 SS Paul, Alevtina, and Chione The Holy Martyrs were from Egypt without the slightest fear they confessed themselves as followers of Christ
St. Vitalian Bishop of Capua, Italy; details of his episcopal labors are not available.
337 St. Eustathius of Antioch Confessor; a learned, eloquent, virtuous man; ardent zeal for purity of faith made bishop of Beroea, Syria;  attended Council of Nicaea concurred with fellow bishops forbid all translations of bishops from one see to another; During, before, and after the council, firm opponent of Arianism both preaching and writing
451 The Fourth Ecumenical Council, at which 630 bishops participated; convened 451 in the city of Chalcedon under emperor Marcian (450-457)
Julia The Virgin Martyr captured by Persians faithfully served her master; preserved herself in purity, kept fasts
prayed much to God. No amount of urging by her pagan master could turn her to idolatry; savage pagans o 
Corsica crucified her; An angel of the Lord reported the death of the holy martyr to the monks of a monastery; relics of the holy Martyr Julia were transferred to a women's monastery in the city of Breschia
 577  Patriarchen Eustathios, Zacharias und Johannes Scholasticus
635 Tenenan (Tininor) of Léon;  priest who became a hermit in Brittany and later bishop of Léon  B (AC)
6th v. Sinach MacDara (AC) Fisherman traditionally gathered on the island of MacDara for an annual Mass. It is still customary to dip sails or make the Sign of Cross when passing the island (Montague).
6th v. St. Helier Martyr on the island of Jersey, Britain. Also called Helerous; murdered by pagans he was evangelizing.
680 St. Reineldis pilgrimage to the Holy Land, returned home devoted herself to a life of charitable work at Saintes; Martyred with Grimoald, deacon, Gundulf, her servant, by barbarian invaders probably at Kontich, Antwerp
682 Generosus of Poitou  abbot of Saint-Jouin-de-Marnes in Poitou (Benedictines), OSB Abbot (AC)
776 St. Vitalian Bishop of Osimo, Italy. He is revered in the diocese of Ascoli province
784 St. Fulrad Abbot of St. Denis Abbey near Paris, France; counselor of King Pepin  and Charlemagne; guided the Franks in establishing close ties with the Holy See rather than Byzantium
851 Sisenandus of Cordova At every step, at every turn, the cross was before him; Led by the cross he went to Cordova study Latin, theology, canon law, liturgy, and all needed to become a priest; ordained deacon at Cordova
866 Blessed Irmengard of Chiemsee daughter of King Louis the Germans and great granddaughter of Charlemagne father appointed her abbess of Buchau and later of Chiemsee monasteries, OSB Abbess (AC)
 1158 Blessed Milo of Selincourt abbot of Donmartin in 1123 and bishop of Thérouanne;  miracles reported at his tomb in 1131 one of the ablest opponents of Gilbert de la Porrée, O. Praem.
1251 Our Lady of Mount Carmel Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock, a leader of the Carmelites, gave him a scapular, telling him to promote devotion to it. The scapular is a modified version of Mary’s own garment. It symbolizes her special protection and calls the wearers to consecrate themselves to her in a special way. 
  Pope Benedict XIV's projected reform envisaged the removal of this feast from the general calendar.
1420 The Chirsk (Pskov) Icon of the Mother of God
1546  Anna Askew Evangelische Kirche: 16. Juli
1794 Blessed Mary & Mary-Magdalen de Justamond sisters by blood and in the Cistercian convent of Sainte-Catherine at Avignon. They were guillotined at Orange during the French Revolution, OSB Cist. MM (AC)
1846 St. Mary Magdalen Postel opened a school for girls at Barfleur a leader in Barfleur against the constitutional priests and sheltered fugitive priests in her home venerated for her holiness and miracle Bérgomi sancti Domniónis Mártyris.  At Bergamo, St. Domnio, martyr.
        St. Sisenand At Cordova in Spain, cleric and martyr, who was strangled by the Saracens for the faith of Christ
St. Hilarinus, a monk relics translation of to Ostia; arrested with St. Donatus in the persecution of Julian; refused to sacrifice to idols, he was scourged at Arezzo in Tuscany, and underwent martyrdom on the 7th of August
 July 16, 2010 Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Hermits lived on Mount Carmel near the Fountain of Elijah (northern Israel) in the 12th century. They had a chapel dedicated to Our Lady. By the 13th century they became known as “Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.” They soon celebrated a special Mass and Office in honor of Mary. In 1726 it became a celebration of the universal Church under the title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. For centuries the Carmelites have seen themselves as specially related to Mary. Their great saints and theologians have promoted devotion to her and often championed the mystery of her Immaculate Conception.

St. Teresa of Avila called Carmel “the Order of the Virgin.” St. John of the Cross credited Mary with saving him from drowning as a child, leading him to Carmel and helping him escape from prison. St. Theresa of the Child Jesus believed that Mary cured her from illness. On her First Communion she dedicated her life to Mary. During the last days of her life she frequently spoke of Mary.

There is a tradition (which may not be historical) that Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock, a leader of the Carmelites, and gave him a scapular, telling him to promote devotion to it. The scapular is a modified version of Mary’s own garment. It symbolizes her special protection and calls the wearers to consecrate themselves to her in a special way. Obviously, no magic way of salvation is intended. Rather, the scapular is a reminder of the gospel call to prayer and penance—a call that Mary models in a splendid way.
Comment: The Carmelites were known from early on as “Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.” The title suggests that they saw Mary not only as “mother,” but also as “sister.” The word “sister” is a reminder that Mary is very close to us. She is the daughter of God and therefore can help us be authentic daughters and sons of God. She also can help us grow in appreciation of being sisters and brothers to one another. She leads us to a new realization that all human beings belong to the family of God. When such a conviction grows, there is hope that the human race can find its way to peace. 
Quote: “The various forms of piety toward the Mother of God, which the Church has approved within the limits of sound and orthodox doctrine, according to the dispositions and understanding of the faithful, ensure that while the mother is honored, the Son through whom all things h ave their being (cf. Colossians 1:15–16) and in whom it has pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell (cf. Colossians 1:19) is rightly known, loved and glorified and his commandments are observed” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 66).


THE COMMEMORATION CARMEL OF OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL
THE patronal feast of the Carmelite Order was originally the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 15; but between 1376 and 1386 the custom arose of observing a special feast of our Lady, to celebrate the approbation of their rule by Pope Honorius III in 1226. This custom appears to have originated in England; and the observance was fixed for July 16, which is also the date that, according to Carmelite tradition, our Lady appeared to St Simon Stock and gave him the scapular. At the beginning of the seventeenth century it became definitely the "scapular feast" and soon began to be observed outside the order, and in 1726 it was extended to the whole Western church by Pope Benedict XIII. In the proper of the Mass for the day no mention is made of the scapular or of St Simon's vision, but they are referred to in the lessons of the second nocturn at Matins; and our Lady's scapular is mentioned in the proper preface used by the Carmelites on this feast.
See B. Zimmerman, Monumenta historica Carmelitana (1907), pp. 334 seq.; and A. G. Forcadell, "De cultu B.M.V. in liturgia Carmelitana", in Analecta Ordinis Carmelitarum, vol. x (1940), pp. 437-445. For the scapular question refer to the bibliographical note to St Simon Stock on May 16. Pope Benedict XIV's projected reform envisaged the removal of this feast from the general calendar.
1st v. St. Simon Cleophas, the Apostle Martyrdom of;  brother of Joseph the Just, to whom the Virgin Mary was betrothed; received the grace of the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room of Zion, and was ordained bishop for Jerusalem succeeding St. James the Apostle. {Coptic}
On this day, St. Simon, the Apostle, was martyred. He was the son of Cleophas, brother of Joseph the Just, to whom the Virgin Mary was betrothed. He received the grace of the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room of Zion, and was ordained bishop for Jerusalem succeeding St. James the Apostle. He converted many of the Jews to the faith in the Lord Christ. The Lord wrought many wonders in his hands, and he urged the people for chastity and purity. When Emperor Trajan heard about him, he brought him, tortured him much, and then cut off his head. He was one hundred twenty years old. May his prayers be with us, Amen.
166 St. Cladianus (Celadion) Departure of , the Ninth Pope of the See of St. Mark. {Coptic}
On this day also, in the year 166 A.D. St. Cladianus (Celadion), the ninth Pope of the See of St. Mark, departed. He was a knowledgeable man, and righteous in his life. He was chosen Patriarch in the 8th day of Tubah (January 16th, 152 A.D.), after the departure of his predecessor Pope Marcianus. He continued to teach, preach, and better his people, until he departed in peace after he had stayed on the Chair for fourteen years and six months.  May his prayers be with us and Glory be to God forever, Amen.
250 St. Faustus Martyr caught in the persecution of Emperor Trajanus Decius; crucified then wounded by arrows
Eódem die natális sancti Fausti Mártyris, qui, sub Décio Imperatóre, cruci affíxus, quinque diébus in ea vixit, ac demum, sagíttis confóssus, migrávit in cælum.
    The same day, the birthday of St. Faustus, martyr, under Decius.  He lived five days fastened to a cross, and being then pierced with arrows, he went to heaven.
 Faustus M (RM). Faustus was martyred during the Decian persecutions by being crucified and transfixed with arrows. He is said to have lingered in agony for five days (Benedictines).
295 St. Domnio A martyr of Bergamo, in Lombardy
Domnio of Bergamo M (RM). A martyr of Bergamo in Lombardy under Diocletian (Benedictines).
305 St. Valentine Bishop of Trier (or Tongres, Belgium) , Germany, martyr
Tréviris sancti Valentíni, Epíscopi et Mártyris.    At Treves, St. Valentine, bishop and martyr.
He was executed during the severe persecutions of Emperor Diocletian (r. 284-305). Valentine of Trèves BM (RM). Bishop of Trier, Germany, martyred under Diocletian (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
305 St. Athenogenes Bishop and martyr, author of the hymn Phos Hilaron (Φῶς Ἱλαρόν) , used in Byzantine vespers liturgy. A theologian, Athenogenes died by burning with ten disciples at Sebaste. As Athenogenes entered the flames, he sang the Phos Hilaron in joy;  The Lord granted the saint to hear His Voice before death, "Today you shall be with Me in Paradise."
Sebáste in Arménia, sanctórum Mártyrum Athenógenis Epíscopi, et decem discipulórum ejus, sub Diocletiáno Imperatóre.
    At Sebaste in Armenia, the holy martyrs Athenogenes, bishop, and ten of his disciples, in the time of Emperor Diocletian.
Athenogenes_Antiochus_Theophrastus
Orthodoxe Kirche: 16. Juli
He was martyred in the reign of Emperor Diocletian.
ST ATHENOGENES, BISHOP AND MARTYR  (c. A.D. 305)
THE Roman Martyrology has on January 18, "In [Pontus], the birthday of the holy Athenogenes, an old theologian, who, when about to consummate his martyrdom by fire, sang a hymn of joy, which he left in writing to his disciples"; and again on July 16, "At Sebaste in Armenia, the birthday of the holy martyrs Athenogenes the Bishop and his ten disciples, under the Emperor Diocletian".
These are a double of the same martyr, of whom St Basil speaks in his treatise on the Holy Spirit, praising the hymn referred to. St Gregory the Enlightener is said to have established a feast in honour of St Athenogenes and St John Baptist in Armenia in order to displace a pagan festival.
The occurrence of the martyr's name in the ancient Syriac martyrology and in the "Hieronymianum" is a proof of the genuineness of the cult. See Delehaye, Les Origines du Culte des Martyrs, pp. 177-178; DAC., vol. i, cc. 3104-3105; and DHG., vol. i, cc. 44-46. The hymn of Athenogenes was one in which he professed his faith in the divinity of the Holy Spirit; it was not the Byzantine Vespers hymn, Phôs  hilaron.
Athenogenes BM (RM) On his way to martyrdom, Saint Athenogenes wrote the hymn Phos Hilarion, a feature of the vespers of the Byzantine liturgy. The Roman Martyrology states: "In Pontus, the birthday of Saint Athenogenes, an aged theologian, who, when about to consummate his martyrdom by fire, sang a hymn of joy, which he left in writing to his disciples." He is probably identical to the bishop who suffered at Sebaste, Armenia, with ten disciples under Diocletian on July 16. Venerated in the Eastern Church (Benedictines, Roeder). In art, Saint Athenogenes is represented as an aged bishop. The executioner's hand is paralyzed while attempting to scourge him. Sometimes he is shown singing a hymn of joy on his way to the stake (Roeder).

Hieromartyr Athenogenes and his Ten Disciples suffered for Christ during the persecution of Christians in the city of Sebastea in Cappadocia. The governor Philomachos arranged a large festival in honor of the pagan gods and called upon the citizens of Sebastea to offer sacrifice to the idols. Most of the inhabitants of Sebastea were Christians, and refused to participate in the impious celebration. Soldiers were ordered to kill those who resisted, and so many Christians received a martyr's crown.
It came to the governor's attention that Christianity was spreading because of the grace-filled preaching of Bishop Athenogenes. Soldiers were ordered to find the Elder and arrest him. Bishop Athenogenes and ten of his disciples lived in a small monastery not far from the city. The soldiers did not find the bishop there, so they arrested his disciples. The governor ordered that they be bound with chains and thrown into prison.
St Athenogenes was arrested when he came to Sebastea to inform the judge that those who had been jailed were innocent. While in prison, St Athenogenes encouraged his spiritual children for their impending struggle. Led forth to trial, all the holy martyrs confessed themselves Christians and refused to offer sacrifice to idols.
After undergoing fierce tortures, the disciples of the holy bishop were beheaded. After the execution of the disciples, the executioners were ordered to torture the bishop. Strengthened by the Lord, St Athenogenes underwent the tortures with dignity. His only request was that he be executed in the monastery.
Taken to his own monastery, the saint gave thanks to God, and he rejoiced in the sufferings that he had undergone for Him. St Athenogenes asked that the Lord would forgive the sins of all those who would remember both him and his disciples.
The Lord granted the saint to hear His Voice before death, announcing the promise given to the penitent thief: "Today you shall be with Me in Paradise." The hieromartyr willingly bent his neck beneath the sword.
The ten disciples of St Athenogenes suffered for Christ during the persecution of Christians in the city of Sebastea in Cappadocia. The governor Philomachos arranged a large festival in honor of the pagan gods and called upon the citizens of Sebastea to offer sacrifice to the idols. Most of the inhabitants of Sebastea were Christians, and refused to participate in the impious celebration. Soldiers were ordered to kill those who resisted, and so many Christians received a martyr's crown.

Antiochus The Holy Martyr native of Cappadocian Sebastea brother of the holy Martyr Platon (November 18), he was a physician; prayers of the martyr many miracles were worked and the idols crumbled into dust
The pagans learned that he was a Christian, and they brought him to trial and subjected him to fierce tortures. Thrown into boiling water, the saint remained unharmed. He was then given over to be eaten by wild beasts, but they did not harm him. Instead, the beasts lay peacefully at his feet.
Through the prayers of the martyr many miracles were worked and the idols crumbled into dust. The pagans beheaded St Antiochus .
Seeing the guiltless suffering of the saint, Cyriacus, a participant in the execution, was converted to Christ. He confessed his faith in front of everyone and was also beheaded. They buried the martyrs side by side.

Athenogenes
Orthodoxe Kirche: 16. Juli
Es gibt mehrere Berichte über Athenogenes. Nach der römischen Martyrologie war Athenogenes Bischof von Sebaste. Er wurde mit 10 Schülern während der diokletianischen Verfolgung (311) hingerichtet. Athenogenes soll beim Gang zum Scheiterhaufen den von ihm gedichteten Hymnus Phos hilarion (Heiteres Licht) gesungen haben, der auch heute in der orthodoxen Vesper gesungen wird.
Nach anderen Berichten war Athenogenes (oder Athenogoras) Bischof von Herakleopolis (Ägypten) oder von Pidahthoe.
308 Paul, Alevtina, and Chione The Holy Martyrs were from Egypt without the slightest fear they confessed themselves as followers of Christ
During the persecution against Christians under the emperor Maximian (305-313), they were taken to Palestinian Caesarea. Without the slightest fear they confessed themselves as followers of Christ. In the year 308 the sisters Alevtina and Chione were burned, and Paul was beheaded.

St. Vitalian Bishop of Capua, Italy. details of his episcopal labors are not available
Cápuæ sancti Vitaliáni, Epíscopi et Confessóris.
    At Capua, St. Vitalian, bishop and confessor.

Vitalian of Capua B (RM). Bishop of Capua in southern Italy (Benedictines).
337 Eustathius of Antioch Confessor  a learned, eloquent, virtuous man; ardent zeal for purity of faith caused made bishop of Beroea, Syria;  attended Council of Nicaea concurred with fellow bishops forbid all translations of bishops from one see to another; During, before, and after the council, Eustace a firm opponent of Arianism both in preaching and  writing B (RM)
Antiochíæ natális beáti Eustáchii, Epíscopi et Confessóris, doctrína et sanctitáte célebris; qui, sub Ariáno Imperatóre Constántio, ob cathólicæ fídei defensiónem, exsílio Trajanópolim Thráciæ pulsus, ibídem in Dómino requiévit.
    At Antioch, the birthday of blessed Eustace, bishop and confessor, celebrated for learning and sanctity.  Under the Arian emperor Constantius, for the defence of the Catholic faith, he was banished to Trajanopolis in Thrace, where he rested in the Lord.
(also known as Eustace)
Born in Side, Pamphylia; died in Thrace, Greece, c. 335, or Illyricum, c. 337.
Much of what we know about Eustace comes from Saint Athanasius. Confessor during a persecution by Diocletian of Licinius, Eustace was a learned, eloquent, and virtuous man. His ardent zeal for the purity of the faith caused him to be made bishop of Beroea, Syria.
When Saint Philogonius of Antioch died c. 323, the weak and wavering bishop Paulinus succeeded him for a short time as patriarch. Saint Eustace was called to replace Paulinus, but he opposed the transfer to the third most important see because of his zeal for the purity of the faith, the quality most needed at that time in Antioch. He felt that the transfer of bishops leads to dangerous temptations of ambition and avarice. In various ways, Eustace was forced to accept the patriarchal see of Antioch against his will.
   He attended the Council of Nicaea and concurred with his fellow bishops to forbid all translations of bishops from one see to another. During, before, and after the council, Eustace was a firm opponent of Arianism both in his preaching and in his writing.
Eustace was an outstanding bishop. Upon returning to Antioch, he convened a synod to unite the factions that had developed. He judiciously examined the character and faith of those seeking ordination. Many he rejected later became leaders of Arianism. He sent capable, virtuous men into other dioceses within his patriarchate to teach and encourage the faithful.
In a impolitic move, Eustace raised violent opposition against Eusebius of Caesarea, a suffragan bishop of Antioch, who was one of the Arian leaders and close to the throne. Together with Bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia, the bishop of Caesarea plotted to remove Saint Eustace from his see. They accused him of altering the Nicene Creed.
   Eusebius of Nicomedia went to Jerusalem and there gathered like- minded Arians, including Theognis of Nicea, Eusebius of Caesarea, Patrophilus of Scythopolis, Actius of Lydda, Theodotus of Laudicea, and others. They returned to Antioch and assembled a synod in 331. They obtained the false testimony of a women, who said that Eustace had fathered her child. Eustace protested his innocence and alleged that tradition requires two or more witnesses before convicting a priest. Before her death she did declare before many priests that she had been bribed to make the charge and that Patriarch Eustace was innocent, the father of the child was another Eustace, a brazier.
   The Arians also accused him of Sabellianism. Although the Catholic bishops present loudly protested against the injustice of these proceedings, the Arians pronounced a sentence of deposition against the saint. Eusebius of Nicomedia and Theognis hastened to inform Emperor Constantine of the decision. The people of Antioch raised a great sedition on this occasion, but Constantine was open to hearing the slanders presented by his friends. He ordered Eustace to Constantinople.
Before his departure from Antioch, the holy pastor assembled the people and exhorted them to remain steadfast in the true doctrine. Constantine banished Eustace, together with several of his priests and deacons, first into Thrace, as Saint Jerome and Saint John Chrysostom testify, then into Illyricum, as Theodoret adds (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).

St Eustatiilus, Bishop of Antioch
St Eustathius was a native of Side in Pamphylia, and confessed the faith of Christ before persecutors, as St Athanasius assures us. He was learned, eloquent and virtuous. Being made bishop of Beroea in Syria, he began to be highly considered in the Church; and in due course he was translated to the see of Antioch, in dignity the next to Alexandria, and then the third in the world. He at the same time was called on to assist at the general Council of Nicaea, wherehie was received with much honour and distinguished himself by his opposition to Arianism. Amidst his external work for the service of others he did not forget that charity must begin at home, and he laboured in the first place to sanctify his own soul; but after watering his own garden he did not confine the stream there, but let it flow abroad to enrich the neighbouring soil, and to dispense plenty and fruitfulness all around. He sent into other dioceses that were subject to his oversight men capable of instructing and encouraging the faithful, and was greatly alarmed to find that Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, favoured the new heresy (this same Eusebius is known and honoured as "the father of church history ").   The distrust of Eustathius for the doctrine of this and other bishops, and his accusation that they altered the Nicene creed, provoked a storm against him among the Arians, who about the year 330 obtained his deposition.
  The holy pastor assembled the people before his departure from Antioch, and exhorted them to remain steadfast in the true doctrine, which exhortations were of so great weight in preserving many in the orthodox faith that a body of" Eustathians" was formed, who refused to recognize bishops appointed over them by the Arians.  But this loyal behaviour afterwards developed into a factious and troublesome sectarianism in the face of orthodox prelates.
   St Eustathius was exiled with several priests and deacons to Trajanopolis in Thrace, but the place and date of his death are alike somewhat uncertain.  Most of his copious writings have perished; his principal extant work is a disquisition against Origen, in which the powers of the pythoness of Endor (I Kings xxviii 7-23) are criticized. Sozomen commends these works both for their style and their matter-but nothing shows his virtue so well as the patience with which he suffered first lying accusations in matters of weight, and then unjust deposition and banishment. St Eustathius bore his exile with resignation and submission, greater under its disgrace and hardships than whilst his virtues shone with lustre on the episcopal chair.
He is named in the canon of the Syrian and Maronite Mass.
Since Canon Venables wrote an account of this bishop in DCB., vol. ii, much has been written upon the controversies in which St Eustathius played so prominent a part  but it must suffice here to indicate the bibliographical references supplied in DTC., vol. v, cc. 1554-1565; and the Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, vol. iii, c. 864.  See also especially F. Cavallera, Le Schisme d'Antioche (1905);  L. Duchesne, History of the Early Church, vol. ii (1912)  and R. V. Sellers, Eustathias of Antioch (1928).
451 The Fourth Ecumenical Council, at which 630 bishops participated; convened 451 in the city of Chalcedon under the emperor Marcian (450-457)
Still back in the time of the emperor Theodosius II (408-450), the bishop of Dorileuseia Eusebios in 408 reported to a Council held at Constantinople under the holy Patriarch Flavian (Comm. 18 February), concerning a personage of one of the monasteries of the capital, the archimandrite Eutykhios, who in his undaunted zeal against the soul-destroying heresy of the Nestorius -- went to the opposite extreme and began to assert, that within Jesus Christ the human nature under the hypostatic union was completely absorbed by the Divine nature, in consequence of which it lost everything characteristic of human nature, except but for the visible form; wherein, such that after the union in Jesus Christ there remained only one nature (the Divine), which in visible bodily form lived upon the earth, suffered, died, and was resurrected.

The Constantinople Council condemned this new false-teaching. But the heretic Eutykhios had patronage at court, and was in close connection with the heretic Dioskoros, the successor to Sainted Cyril (Comm. 18 January) upon the patriarchal cathedra-seat at Alexandria. Eutykhios turned to the emperor with a complaint against the injustice of the condemnation against him, and he demanded the judgement of an OEcumenical Council against his opponents, whom he accused of Nestorianism. Wanting to restore peace in the Church, Theodosius had decided to convene a Fourth OEcumenical Council in the year 449 at Ephesus. But this Council became branded in the chronicles of the Church as the "Robbers Council". Dioskoros, appointed by the emperor to preside as president of the Council, ran it like a dictator, making use of threats and outright coercion. Eutykhios was exonerated, and Saint Flavian condemned. But in the year 450 the emperor Theodosius died. The new emperor Marcian raised up onto the throne with him the sister of Theodosius, Pulcheria.

Restoring peace to the Church was a matter of prime importance. An OEcumenical Council was convened in the year 451 at Chalcedon. The Patriarch of Constantinople, Saint Anatolios (Comm. 3 July) presided over the Council. Dioskoros at the first session was deprived of his place among those present, and at the third session he was condemned with all his partisans. The Sessions of the Council were 16 in all. The Chalcedon holy fathers pronounced anathemas against the heresy of Eutykhios. On the basis of Letters Saint Cyril of Alexandria and Pope Saint Leo the Great, the fathers of the Council resolved:
"Following the holy fathers, we all with one accord teach to confess as one and the same the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, perfect in Divinity and perfect in humanity, truly God, truly man, of Whom is a reasoned soul and a body, One in Essence with the Father through Divinity and that Same-One one-in-essence with us through humanity, in all things like unto us except for sin, begotten before the ages from the Father in Divinity, but in these latter days born for us and our salvation from Mary the Virgin Mother of God in humanity. This self-same Christ, Son and Lord, the Only-Begotten, is in two natures perceived without mingling, without change, without division, without separation [Greek: "asugkhutos, atreptos, adiairetos, akhoristos"; Slavic: "neslitno, neizmenno, nerazdel'no, nerazluchno"], such that by conjoining there be not infringement of the distinctions of the two natures, and by which is preserved the uniqueness of each nature conjoined in one Person and One Hypostasis, -- not split nor separated into two persons, but rather the One and Self-same Son, the Only-Begotten, the Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, as in antiquity the prophets taught of Him and as the Lord Jesus Christ Himself taught us, and as the Creed-Symbol of the fathers has passed down to us" .
In the two final Sessions of the Council, 30 Canon-rules were promulgated concerning ecclesial hierarchies and disciplines. Beyond this, the Council affirmed the decrees not only of the three preceding OEcumenical Councils, but also of the Local Councils of: Ancyra, Neocaesarea, Gangra, Antioch and Laodiceia, which had occurred during the IV Century.
577- Patriarchen Eustathios, Zacharias und Johannes Scholasticus
 Orthodoxe Kirche: 21. Februar  Katholische Kirche: Eustathios - 16. Juli  Katholische Kirche: Zacharias - 21. Februar
    Eustathios wurde in Pamphylien geboren. Er war Bischof von Beroea (Nordgriechenland) und wurde 323 oder 324 Patriarch von Antiochia. Er nahm an dem Konzil von Nicaea teil und kämpfte gegen die Arianer. Als die Arianer an Einfluß gewannen, wurde Eustathios auf einer Synode zwischen 326 und 331 abgesetzt und nach Thrakien verbannt. Er starb in der Verbannung (vor 337 oder nach 340). 482 wurden seine Gebeine nach Antiochia überführt. Eustathios ist wohl die historische Gestalt hinter dem legendären Eustachius.
   Zacharias wurde 609 Patriarch von Jerusalem. Als die Perser 614 Jerusalem erobert hatten, mußte er mit vielen Einwohnern der Stadt in die Gefangenschaft gehen, aus der er nicht zurückkehrte. Während seiner Gefangenschaft wurde das Patriarchat von Modestos verwaltet.
   Johannes Scholasticus war Jurist. Er wurde Presbyter und 565 Patriarch von Konstantinopel. Johannes erstellte eine Sammlung von Kirchengesetzen, die in Zusammenfassung noch heute als Nomocanon (Gesetzsammlung) genutzt werden. Außerdem verfaßte er zwei Hymnen, die in der Ostkirche gesungen werden. Johannes starb 577.
Julia The Virgin Martyr captured by the Persians faithfully served her master; preserved herself in purity, kept the fasts and prayed much to God. No amount of urging by her pagan master could turn her to idolatry savage pagans on Corsica crucified her; An angel of the Lord reported the death of the holy martyr to the monks of a monastery; relics of the holy Martyr Julia were transferred to a women's monastery in the city of Breschia
Born in Carthage into a Christian family. While still a girl she was captured by the Persians. They carried her off to Syria and sold her into slavery. Fulfilling the Christian commandments, St Julia faithfully served her master. She preserved herself in purity, kept the fasts and prayed much to God. No amount of urging by her pagan master could turn her to idolatry.

Once the master set off with merchandise for Gaul and took St Julia with him. Along the way the ship stopped over at the island of Corsica, and the master decided to take part in a pagan festival, but Julia remained on the ship. The Corsicans plied the merchant and his companions with wine, and when they had fallen into a drunken sleep, they took Julia from the ship. St Julia was not afraid to acknowledge that she was a Christian, and the savage pagans crucified her.

An angel of the Lord reported the death of the holy martyr to the monks of a monastery, located on a nearby island. The monks took the body of the saint and buried it in a church in their monastery.

In about the year 763 the relics of the holy Martyr Julia were transferred to a women's monastery in the city of Breschia (historians give conflicting years of the death of the saint: as either the fifth or seventh century) .
6th v. Sinach MacDara (AC) Fisherman traditionally gathered on the island of MacDara for an annual Mass. It is still customary to dip sails or make the Sign of Cross when passing the island (Montague).
6th v. St. Helier Martyr on the island of Jersey, Britain. Also called Helerous, he was murdered by pagans he was evangelizing.
He was born in Tongres, Belgium, and raised by a priest; later, he spent time with St. Marculf at Nanteuil.
Helier of Tongres M (AC) (also known as Elier, Herlier, Helerous). The town of Saint Helier in Jersey is named after this saint, but all that we really know of him comes from a corrupt version of a medieval account. According to this, he was born at Tongres (Limburg), Belgium, and his education was entrusted to Cunibert, who converted the youth to Christianity. In consequence his heathen father killed Cunibert, and Helier fled from home. He settled on the island of Jersey, and lived there as a hermit for 15 years with a man named Romard. Helier was murdered by sea rovers he was endeavoring to convert, and subsequently venerated as a martyr (Attwater, Benedictines).

St Helier, Martyr  In the isle of Jersey and on the coasts of Normandy the name of this servant of God has been in veneration from the time of his death, but little is certainly known of him.  He is said to have belonged to Tongres in Belgium, and to have been brought up to Christianity by a priest, Cunibert, who was afterwards murdered by the boy's heathen father. He then fled for refuge to St Marcou at Nanteuil in
the Cotentin.  Another tradition says he was converted by this abbot. Seized with an ardent desire of serving God in solitude, Helier retired to the isle of Jersey and, choosing for his abode a cave on the summit of a rock of difficult access, there led an eremetical life of fasting and prayer.  In this lonely retreat he was murdered by robbers or infidel barbarians to whom he had tried to preach the gospel.  The chief town in the island bears his name and he is commemorated on July 16 in the diocese of Portsmouth, which includes the Channel Islands; his feast is also kept by Rennes and by Coutances, the island having been formerly subject to the jurisdiction of that see.
There is a Life of St Heifer printed in the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. iv, though its historical value is not very great.  See also E. A. Pigeon, Vies des SS. du diocèse de Coutances, t. ii, pp. 136-145, and Stanton, Menology, pp. 342 and 661 .
635 Tenenan (Tininor) of Léon;  priest who became a hermit in Brittany and later bishop of Léon  B (AC)
Born in Britain; Tenenan was a priest who became a hermit in Brittany and later bishop of Léon. He probably died at Ploabennec, where he had built a forest hermitage and where his relics were long venerated (Benedictines, Farmer).
7th v. St. Tenenan Hermit and bishop. A native of Britain, he lived for many years as a recluse in Brittany, France, and later served as bishop of Leon, Spain.
680 St. Reineldis pilgrimage to the Holy Land, she returned home and devoted herself to a life of charitable work at Saintes; Martyred with Grimoald, a deacon, and Gundulf, her servant, by barbarian invaders probably at Kontich, in Antwerp
Sántis, in Gállia, sanctórum Mártyrum Rainéldis Vírginis, et Sociórum ejus, qui a bárbaris, pro Christe fide, cæsi sunt.
    At Saintes in France, the holy martyrs Raineld, virgin, and her companions who were slain by barbarians for the Christian faith.
 Also called Raineldis and Reinildis. The daughter of Count Witger and St. Arnalberga, she tried unsuccessfully to join her father at Lobbes Abbey, in France, when he and her mother both decided to enter the religious life. After a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, she returned home and devoted herself to a life of charitable work at Saintes. She was put to death with Grimoald, a deacon, and Gundulf, her servant, by barbarian invaders probably at Kontich, in Antwerp, Belgium. Her sister was St. Gudula.

Reineldis VM (RM) (also known as Raineld(is), Reinaldes, Reneldis). Daughter of Saint Amalberga and sister of SS. Gudula and Emebert, Saint Reineldis was a nun of Saintes near Hal in Hainault. She was killed, together with two clerics, by the raiding Huns at Saintes (Attwater, Benedictines). In art, Huns drag Reineldis by her hair. She may also be portrayed as a nun being killed by the Huns together with two priests (Roeder).

St Reineldis, Virgin and Martyr
   Reineldis was the daughter of St Amalberga, mentioned on the tenth of this month, and her acts are contained in an unreliable life not older then the eleventh century.  When her parents embraced the religious life and her sister St Gudula retired to Morzelle, she followed her father to the abbey of Lobbes, hoping to be allowed to join him there.  When she found this to be impossible she spent three days and nights in prayer in the church, and then, according to her biographer, went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, whence she returned after seven years.  She then lived at Saintes, near Hal, her birthplace, spending her time in works of piety and benevolence, helped by a subdeacon named Grimoald and her servant Gundulf.   All three were put to death by raiding barbarians, probably at Kontich in the province of Antwerp, and were venerated as martyrs.
The life is in the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. iv ; see also, for the translation of her relics, the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxii (1903), pp. 439-445, and for the place of her death, the same, vol. lxix (1951), pp. 348-387.  Cf. Van der Essen, Saints Mérovingiens, pp. 299-301 and E. de Moreau, Histoire de l' Église en Belgique, vol.  (1945), pp. 197-198 .
682 Generosus of Poitou  abbot of Saint-Jouin-de-Marnes in Poitou (Benedictines)., OSB Abbot (AC)
776 St. Vitalian Bishop of Osimo, Italy. He is revered in the diocese of Ascoli province.
Vitalian of Osimo B (AC) Died 776. Bishop of Osimo, Italy (Benedictines).
784 St. Fulrad Abbot of St. Denis Abbey near Paris, France, and a counselor of King Pepin  and Charlemagne; guided the Franks in establishing close ties with the Holy See rather than Byzantium
Born in Alsace, Fulrad became abbot in 750. He served Pepin, Carloman, and Charlemagne. In 750, with St. Burchard, Fulrad secured the approval of Pope St. Zachary for the accession of Pepin as king of the Franks. In 756, Fulrad aided Pepin in surren­dering Ravenna, Italy, to the Holy See. Fulrad also guided the Franks in establishing close ties with the Holy See rather than Byzantium
784   St  Fulrad, Abbot
  The abbey of Saint-Denis near Paris was one of the most famous monasteries of Europe in the middle ages; St Fulrad was the most famous of its abbots and the only one to be venerated as a saint.  He was born in Alsace, where he founded three monasteries, Liêvre and Saint-Hippolyte and Salone, which were afterwards affiliated to Saint-Denis, and in 750 he was elected abbot of that house.  In this office his sanctity and talents had full scope to make themselves felt, and they were recognized by his sovereigns with the added honours and responsibilities that they put upon him; he was a royal councillor and the archchaplain (that is, head of the court clergy) under Pepin, Carloman and Charlemagne, and in these capacities he received the trust of popes and princes and did great service to church and state.  In 750 he was appointed with St Burchard of Wurzburg to go to Rome to lay before Pope St Zachary the question of the succession to the throne of the Franks, and brought back a reply favourable to Pepin, who accordingly became king of the Franks and promised to support the pope against the Lombards.
     In 756 St Fulrad was Pepin's representative for the handing over to the Holy See of the exarchate of Ravenna and the duchy of the Pentapolis, which the king had taken by force of arms from the Lombard Aistuli (who had wrongfully seized them from their Byzantine governors); St Fulrad solemnly laid the deed of gift, with the keys of the cities, on the altar of St Peter .
  Thus he was closely connected with the early development of the papal states and with the shifting of the dependence of the Apostolic See for temporal support from the Byzantine emperor to the Frankish sovereigns.  Among the saint's benefactions to his own monastery, of which his holy life and paternal government were the chiefest, was the enshrining of the reputed relics of St Vitus, the fourth-century martyr, which he brought from Italy; in the next century they were given to the abbey of Corvey.  St Fulrad died, full of years and diversified labours for the Lord, in 784.
Although there is no formal life of St Fulrad, Mabillon in his Acta Sanctorum O.S.B., vol. iii, Pt. 2, has printed various documents concerning him with a sketch of his activities.  See also the Bollandist Acta Sanctorum, February, vol. iii.  There are modern accounts of the saint in French by Rapp (1883) and by Dubruel (1902) .
784 Fulrad of Saint-Denis, OSB Abbot (AC) Born in Alsace; Saint Fulrad became a Benedictine and founded monasteries in Lièvre, Saint-Hippolyte, and Salone. In 750, he was elected abbot of Saint-Denis near Paris. From this time his life is identified with that of the Carolingian court. He served in high office under Pepin, Carloman, and Charlemagne: councillor, court chaplain, grand-almoner, and ambassador.
The year of his abbatial election, he went to Rome with Saint Burchard and secured the approval from Pope Saint Zachary of Pepin as king of the Franks. Fulrad acted for Pepin in 756 in turning over the exarchate of Ravenna to the Holy See, the early seeds of the Papal States, and helped in setting up the Frankish kings as supporters of the Holy See rather than the Byzantine emperor, a move that was to have an incalculable impact on the future of Europe. Under his able guidance Saint-Denis flourished as one of the outstanding monasteries of Europe (Benedictines, Delaney).
851 Sisenandus of Cordova At every step, at every turn, the cross was before him; Led by the cross he went to Cordova to study Latin, theology, canon law, liturgy, and all that was needed to become a priest. He was ordained a deacon at Cordova; M (RM)
Born at Badajoz, Estremadura, Portugal; died at Cordova, Spain, 851. Sisenandus was a man of the cross. He made the sign of the cross on himself and on everything--on the face of the morning, on his bread, on the road that he travelled. At every step, at every turn, the cross was before him: the cross that can be seen planted in the earth or elevated above the altar, and the cross that cannot be seen, the cross that is secret and hidden.
From his youth he was filled with faith, and from his faith he learned hope, and from his contemplation of the cross he learned charity. Led by the cross he went to Cordova to study Latin, theology, canon law, liturgy, and all that was needed to become a priest. He was ordained a deacon at Cordova.
He lodged in the church of Saint Acisclus, martyred under Diocletian, and it was to Saint Acisclus that he prayed for help, as if he already knew what his own fate was to be.

He prayed to the saint fervently, constantly, appealing to him on the fellowship of the cross, not yet knowing just what it was that drew him on. Nevertheless, he answered the call, acknowledging the smallness of his understanding in the embrace of divine logic; and gradually, as he prayed, his resolution grew, his hesitation lessened and he prepared--not without fear--to answer the call of Peter, Wallabonsus, Sabinian, Wistremundus, Habentius, and Jeremias, all of them martyred by the Moors.  They were claiming him as one of them, and Sisenandus put himself into the hands of Jesus Christ. The Moors under Abderrahman II had just unleashed a new epidemic of persecutions against the Christians, but Sisenandus had put himself in the hands of Jesus Christ, so how could he be other than joyful?
He was imprisoned, but prison did not deprive him of his freedom for with the cross as his key no doors were locked to him. He lived without thought for the morrow and prayed for the conversion of his guards. He wrote to one of his friends, but had to break off the letter and end it with a cross, for he knew before they arrived that his guards were coming to take him to his death.
God had seen his strength and courage and found him worthy enough to know that his death was coming and to go out and meet it. When the guards came and dragged him out of the prison with insults and blows, he made the sign of the cross as if he were entering a church. And when he was taken in front of the large crowd to be bound and beheaded, he crossed himself for the last time (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
866 Bd Ermengard, Virgin daughter of King Louis the German, grandson of Charlemagne, and his queen Emma
Ermengard was born about 832, the daughter of King Louis the German, grandson of Charlemagne, and his queen Emma.  Her name, with those of her three sisters and of her mother, is found in the book of the confraternity of the monastery of Saint-Gall.  Louis, having established two of his other daughters as abbesses of convents (according to the custom of those times), appointed Ermengard to govern first the monastery of Buchau and then the royal abbey of Chiemsee in Bavaria. She was a model of virtue and penance, and of charitable care for the maidens over whom she ruled.   She died on July 16, 866, and was buried in her monastery church.
  The nuns of the abbey and people of the neighbourhood at once began to venerate Ermengard as a saint, a veneration which has continued without interruption to this day. In 1928 Pope Pius XI confirmed the cultus, which had been established by the findings of the court of the Archbishop of Munich and Freising at the instance of the present Chiemsee community.  This Ermengard must not be confounded with Bd Irmgard or Ermengard honoured in the diocese of Cologne on September 4, who died about 1100.
The decree for the confirmation of the cultus is printed in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, vol. xxi (1929), pp. 24-26; it contains a brief sketch of the life of Bd Ermengard.  See also Dummler, Gesch. d. Ostfänk. Reiches, vol. ii, pp. 425 seq., and the Abhandlungen of the Munich Academy, 1873, pp. 6 seq.
866 Blessed Irmengard of Chiemsee daughter of King Louis the Germans and great granddaughter of Charlemagne father appointed her abbess of Buchau and later of Chiemsee monasteries, OSB Abbess (AC)
Cultus confirmed in 1928. Irmengard was the daughter of King Louis the Germans and great granddaughter of Charlemagne. Her father appointed her abbess of Buchau and later of Chiemsee monasteries (Benedictines). In art, Blessed Irmengard is a crowned Benedictine abbess with a flaming heart and bell on her pastoral staff. She is venerated in Ettal (Roeder) .
1158 Bd Milo of Selincourt, Bishop of Therouanne; The title "Blessed" seems to have been accorded to Milo chiefly on account of the miracles reported at his tomb.
BD MILO OF SÉLINCOURT, BISHOP OF THÉROUANNE     (A.D. 1158)
During the second quarter of the twelfth century north-western Europe saw a revival of religion centring round the monasteries established by St Norbert at Prémontré and other places, spreading thence over France, Germany and the Netherlands, and to England and elsewhere.  Milo of Sélincourt, who for some years lived as a hermit with several others at Saint-Josse-au-Bois in the Pas-de-Calais, felt himself called to the common life ; he therefore offered his little group to the Premonstratensians, they were accepted, and in 1123 he was advanced to the government of the monastery, being instituted by St Norbert himself.  He held office for eight years, discharging it in perfect accordance with the constitutions of his order, dividing his time between the worship of God in choir and active work for souls.   In 1131 he was appointed bishop of Thérouanne, and his first episcopal act was to give the canonical benediction to Simon, the new abbot of the famous monastery of Saint-Bertin at Saint-Omer.  As befitted a canon regular Bd Milo insisted on the strictest discipline in his diocese, and he was quick to check any infringement of a bishop's prerogative: one Arnoul built a castle at Thérouanne which Milo saw as a threat to the independent position of the bishop and a menace to his people's peace-so he made him pull it down.  Milo also showed himself very critical of the Cluniac monks, for which he was rebuked by Bd Peter the Venerable.  Nevertheless he is said to have been personally a humble man.
   In the controversy about the teaching of Gilbert de Ia Porrée, Milo ranged himself on the side of St Bernard (they were also personal friends) and vigorously supported his attack; he appeared against Gilbert before Pope Eugenius III at the Council of Rheims in 1148.
  The English pope, Adrian IV, appointed Milo to be his delegate in 1157 to judge a dispute between the bishop of Amiens and the abbot of Corbie.  Cardinal Baronius highly praised the goodness and learning of Milo, but it is not decided which of the works attributed to him are authentic. Peter Cantor, a contemporary, in his Verbum Abbieviatum quotes a sermon said to be his in which the following passage occurs:
   "It is not decent that Christian women should trail at their heels long skirts which pick up filth off the roadway.  Surely you realize, dear ladies, that if a gown of this kind were necessary to you, Nature would have met the case by attaching to you something more suitable with which to sweep the ground."
See Corblet, Hagiographie d'Amiens, vol. iii, pp. 254-277; Le Paige, Bibliotheca Praemonstratensis, pp. 459 Seq.; Goovaerts, Dictionnaire bio-bibliographique, vol. i, pp. 590 seq.  The title "Blessed" seems to have been accorded to Milo chiefly on account of the miracles reported at his tomb.
1251 Our Lady of Mount Carmel Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock, a leader of the Carmelites, and gave him a scapular, telling him to promote devotion to it. The scapular is a modified version of Mary’s own garment. It symbolizes her special protection and calls the wearers to consecrate themselves to her in a special way.
Katholische Kirche: 16. Juli

Hermits lived on Mount Carmel near the Fountain of Elijah (northern Israel) in the 12th century. They had a chapel dedicated to Our Lady. By the 13th century they became known as “Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.” They soon celebrated a special Mass and Office in honor of Mary. In 1726 it became a celebration of the universal Church under the title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. For centuries the Carmelites have seen themselves as specially related to Mary. Their great saints and theologians have promoted devotion to her and often championed the mystery of her Immaculate Conception.
St. Teresa of Avila called Carmel “the Order of the Virgin.”
St. John of the Cross credited Mary with saving him from drowning as a child, leading him to Carmel and helping him escape from prison.
St. Theresa of the Child Jesus believed that Mary cured her from illness. On her First Communion she dedicated her life to Mary. During the last days of her life she frequently spoke of Mary.
There is a tradition (which may not be historical) that Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock, a leader of the Carmelites, and gave him a scapular, telling him to promote devotion to it. The scapular is a modified version of Mary’s own garment. It symbolizes her special protection and calls the wearers to consecrate themselves to her in a special way.
Obviously, no magic way of salvation is intended. Rather, the scapular is a reminder of the gospel call to prayer and penance—a call that Mary models in a splendid way.
Comment: The Carmelites were known from early on as “Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.” The title suggests that they saw Mary not only as “mother,” but also as “sister.” The word “sister” is a reminder that Mary is very close to us. She is the daughter of God and therefore can help us be authentic daughters and sons of God. She also can help us grow in appreciation of being sisters and brothers to one another. She leads us to a new realization that all human beings belong to the family of God. When such a conviction grows, there is hope that the human race can find its way to peace.
Quote: “The various forms of piety toward the Mother of God, which the Church has approved within the limits of sound and orthodox doctrine, according to the dispositions and understanding of the faithful, ensure that while the mother is honored, the Son through whom all things have their being (cf. Colossians 1:15–16) and in whom it has pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell (cf. Colossians 1:19) is rightly known, loved and glorified and his commandments are observed” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 66).
St. Carmen the name Carmen is a derivation of Carmel which is one of the titles given to Our Blessed Mother, namely, Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
This is the patronal feast of the Carmelites. The Order of Carmelites takes its name from Mount Carmel, which was the first place dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and where a chapel was erected in her honor before her Assumption into Heaven. July 16 is also the feast of the "Scapular of Mount Carmel". On that day in 1251, pious tradition says, the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Simon Stock, General of the
  Carmelites at Cambridge, England, showed him the scapular and promised supernatural favors and her special protection to his Order and to all persons who would wear the scapular. To obtain the indulgences and other benefits promised to those who wear the Carmelite scapular, a person must be invested by a priest who has the requisite faculties and must lead a consistent Christian life.

Unsere liebe Frau auf dem Berg Karmel
Katholische Kirche: 16. Juli
Schutzmantelmadonna Der Karmel (ein Berg oder ein Gebirge in Israel) wird im Alten Testament mehrfach erwähnt. Bedeutsam ist der Bericht über das Gottesurteil bei der Auseinandersetzung Elias mit den Baalspriestern (1. Könige 18).
Um 1115 ließ sich Berthold von Kalabrien (Gedenktag 29.3.) mit einigen Gefährten auf dem Berg Karmel nieder, um hier ein Leben wie Elia zu führen. Nach seinem Tod erhielt die Einsiedlergemeinschaft 1214 eine Ordensregel, die 1226 bestätigt wurde. Die Gemeinschaft nannte sich 'Brüder unserer Lieben Frau vom Berg Karmel'. Die Karmeliter, wie die Gemeinschaft kurz genannt wurde, wurden 1238 von Sarazenen vom Karmel vertrieben. Danach wuchs der Orden in Europa schnell an. Die strenge Ordensregel, die Einsamkeit und ständiges Gebet forderte, wurde hier abgemildert und der Orden um 1250 in einen Bettelorden umgewandelt. Teresa von Avila und Johannes vom Kreuz reformierten den Orden erneut und führten die strenge Richtung der unbeschuhten Karmeliten ein.
Seit Ende des 14. Jahrhunderts feierten die Karmeliter das Fest unserer lieben Frau auf dem Berg Karmel als Skapulierfest (der körperbreite Überwurf, den einige Orden über dem Ordenskleid tragen ist Abbild des Schutzmantels Mariens (siehe Mariä Schutz) und Zeichen für eine besondere Verbundenheit der Gemeinschaft mit Maria). 1726 wurde das Fest in der katholischen Kirche allgemein geboten.
The Commemoration Of Our Lady Of Mount Carmel
The patronal feast of the Carmelite Order was originally the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 15; but between 1376 and 1386 the custom arose of observing a special feast of our Lady, to celebrate the approbation of their rule by Pope Honorius III in 1226.  This custom appears to have originated in England; and the observance was fixed for July 16, which is also the date that, according to Carmelite tradition, our Lady appeared to St Simon Stock and gave him the scapular. At the beginning of the seventeenth century it became definitely the "scapular feast" and soon began to be observed outside the order, and in 1726 it was extended to the whole Western church by Pope Benedict XIII.  In the proper of the Mass for the day no mention is made of the scapular or of St Simon's vision, but they are referred to in the lessons of the second nocturn at Matins; and our Lady's scapular is mentioned in the proper preface used by the Carmelites on this feast.
See B. Zinimennan, Monumenta Izistorica Carnielitana (1907), pp. 334 seq. and A. G. Forcadell, "De cultu B.M.V. in liturgia Carmelitana", in Analecta Ordinis Carmelitarum, vol. x (1940), pp. 437-445. For the scapular question refer to the bibliographical note to St Simon Stock on May 16.   Pope Benedict XIV's projected reform envisaged the removal of this feast from the general calendar .
Brown Scapular: a "Silent Devotion"
Carmelite Recounts Mary's Promise to St. Simon Stock
WASHINGTON, D.C., JULY 16, 2008 (Zenit.org).- On the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, we present here an article written by Discalced Carmelite Father Kieran Kavanaugh, on the devotion of the brown Carmelite scapular.
Father Kavanaugh is the English translator of the writings of both St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross. He is a member of the Institute of Carmelite Studies and was the vice postulator for the canonization of St. Edith Stein.
* * *
During the Crusades in 12th century, a group of Westerners took up the life of hermits by the well of St. Elijah on Mt. Carmel. They built a chapel in honor of the Mother of Jesus, conscious that they were living in the area made holy by Jesus an d his Mother (Nazareth is less than 20 miles away).  When Saracens toppled the Latin kingdom of the Crusaders, the hermits of Carmel had to flee the holy mountain and return to the West -- to Cypress, Sicily, France, England, Ireland and other countries. They brought with them little more than their title of "Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel."
In Europe they were entering a hostile world cluttered with many new religious families. The arrival of strangers from Mount Carmel was inauspicious, they were frowned upon. Internally, they were divided as to whether they should cling to their background as hermits or adapt to a new status of begging friars.  According to tradition, as an important fact in the midst of these difficulties, Our Lady of Mount Carmel appeared to the prior general, St. Simon Stock, at Aylesford, England. According to tradition, Our Lady appeared on July 16, 1251.  The Blessed Virgin promised St . Simon Stock, oppressed with worries, that whoever would wear the Carmelite habit devoutly would receive the gift of final perseverance. The habit was taken to mean the scapular in particular.  The scapular was a broad band of cloth over the shoulders, falling below the knees toward the feet front and back as an apron, worn still as part of the religious habit by a number of orders of monks and friars. As it was gradually adapted for use by the laity, it became two small panels of brown cloth joined by strings and worn over the shoulders as a familiar Marian sacramental.
From the 16th century until the Second Vatican Council the scapular received warm welcome from the faithful and enjoyed a singular approval by the Church magisterium. Part of the reason for this esteem was undoubtedly the constant stream of wonderful graces, spiritual and temporal, that were poured out on individuals through its devout use.
But another reason for its popularity was it s strict connection with the last things, with the salvation of our soul, which takes priority over all our other duties here below.

Crisis
After the Council, the scapular devotion suffered the same "crisis of rejection" that so many other practices and teachings within the Catholic Church underwent.  First, it was said that St. Simon Stock never even existed. As a consequence, his feast day, which had been celebrated on May 16, the date of his death, was expunged from the liturgical calendar.  Second, if he never existed, then we must do away with the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and the scapular devotion. The effort was then made by a liturgical committee to expunge Our Lady of Mount Carmel from the liturgical calendar, but the Latin American bishops protested so vehemently that the feast was kept; however, on condition that nothing be mentioned about the scapular.
One of the internationally renowned Mariologists of our order, Father Nilo Geagea from Lebanon then set about doing a very thorough research into the whole history of devotion to Mary in our order.  The result of his years of study is a huge wonderfully researched and documented volume published by the Teresian Historical Institute in 1988; so it is a fairly recent study. The title of the book is "Maria Madre e Decoro del Carmelo."  Through painstaking demonstration, Father Nilo shows how even the most intransigent critic could not put into reasonable doubt the historical existence of St. Simon Stock. St. Simon Stock's feast day was, in fact, restored by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments in 1979.
Is it true?
As for the historicity of St. Simon Stock's vision of Our Lady, in which he is reported to have received the scapular promise, there are difficulties.  The earliest testimony comes at the end of the 1300s. That would place this testimony at an historical distance of over 100 years. Without taking away the validity of the testimony, the distance in time does lessen the power of the testimony to convince from a scholarly point of view. 
Practically speaking there are two attitudes we can take:
First, from a scholar's historical point of view, we must admit that there is a lack of documentary evidence that would demonstrate irrefutably the truth or historicity of the apparition. At the same time, there exists no cogent reason for denouncing the apparition as false and definitively denying its truth.
Second, on the pastoral level one should not contradict those who may want to continue accepting the traditional data. We should not then oppose those who say that for centuries the Carmelite order has held that the Blessed Virgin appeared to the prior general St. Simon Stock and promised eternal salvation to him and to all those who like him wore the scapular.
Another point is that in the minds of many, devotion to the scapular is the equivalent of devotion to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. This is understandable, but in reality the two are distinct in theory, and ought to be so in practice. The scapular is the means; the devotion is the end toward which the wearing of the scapular tends.
Yoke of Christ
If we look for the earliest references to the scapular, we find them in the Carmelite constitutions of 1281 in which it was prescribed that all Carmelite friars should wear their tunics and scapulars to bed under penalty of a serious fault. It was also prescribed that the white mantle be made in such a way that the scapular would not be hidden.
But the reason for these prescriptions was not a Marian one. At the time, the scapular was seen as signifying the "yoke of Christ." This yoke of Christ in turn pointed to obedience. And that explains the strictness of the legislation. Taking off the scapular was like taking off the yoke of Christ, or rebelling against authority.
Only gradually did the scapular take on a Marian tone and grow until it reached such a point that it became identified with Carmelite piety toward Our Lady. In fact the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel began to be called the scapular feast.
Devotion to Mary expressed by wearing the brown scapular seems to be resilient and resists the attempts made in various periods of history to diminish its value. The faithful keep coming back to it.  From the official teaching of the Church, we can gather that the scapular of Carmel is one of the most highly recommended Marian devotions. This is true through the centuries, and into our own times with popes Paul VI and John Paul II.
Sacramental
One of the early Carmelites in his enthusiasm went so far as to call the scapular a "sacrament." Actually the category into which the scapular fits is that of a sacramental. Sacramentals are sacred signs. The scapular is not a natural sign in the sense that smoke is the sign of fire. Smoke is intrinsically connected with fire. Where there's smoke there's fire, the saying goes.
The scapular is what is called a conventional sign. In the case of a conventional sign, the meaning is assigned to the object from outside. Thus a wedding ring is a sign or pledge of mutual love and enduring fidelity between two spouses. In this kind of sign, which is a conventional sign, there has to be an intervention from outside that establishes the connection between the object and what it represents. In the case of sacramentals, it is the Church that determines the connection.
Sacramentals also signify effects obtained through the intercession of the Church, especially spiritual graces. The sacramentals -- as holy pictures or icons, statues, medals, holy water, blessed palm and the scapular -- are means that dispose one to receive the chief effect of the sacr aments themselves, and this is closer union with Jesus.
St. Teresa of Avila for example speaks in her life about holy water and the power she experienced that this sacramental has against the devil. She mentions as well how this power comes not through the object in itself but through the prayer through the prayer of the Church.
Along with the sacraments, sacramentals sanctify almost every aspect of human life with divine grace. The passion, death, and resurrection of Christ is the source of the power of the sacramentals as it is of the sacraments themselves.  Such everyday things as water and words, oil and anointing, cloth and beeswax, paintings and songs are ingredients of the sacraments and sacramentals. The Son of God became the Son of Mary. What could be more down-to-earth, more human, indeed more unpretentious, plain, and simple?
Church position
With regard to the scapular as a conventional and sacred sign, the Church has intervened at various times in history to clarify its meaning, defend it, and confirm the privileges.  From these Church documents there emerges with sufficient clarity the nature and meaning of the Carmelite scapular.
1. The scapular is a Marian habit or garment. It is both a sign and pledge. A sign of belonging to Mary; a pledge of her motherly protection, not only in this life but after death.
2. As a sign, it is a conventional sign signifying three elements strictly joined: first, belonging to a religious family particularly devoted to Mary, especially dear to Mary, the Carmelite Order; second, consecration to Mary, devotion to and trust in her Immaculate Heart; third an incitement to become like Mary by imitating her virtues, above all her humility, chastity, and spirit of prayer.
This is the Church's officially established connection between the sign and that which is signified by the sign.
No mention is made of the vision of St. Simon Stock or of that of Pope John XXII in relation to the Sabbatine privilege, which promises that one will be released from Purgatory on the first Saturday after death.  Nonetheless, the Carmelites have also been authorized to freely preach to the faithful that they can piously believe in the powerful intercession, merits, and suffrages of the Blessed Virgin, that she will help them even after their death, especially on Saturday, which is the day of the week particularly dedicated to Mary, if they have died in the grace of God and devoutly worn the scapular. But no mention is made of the "first" Saturday after their death.
Even the Sabbatine privilege, then, is not so unconnected with the rest of our Catholic faith and practice. The Second Vatican Council has also insisted on Mary's solicitude toward those who seek her protection. "From the earliest times the Blessed Virgin is honored under the title of Mother of God, under whose protection the faithful take refuge together in prayer in all their perils and needs ("Lumen Gentium," No. 66).
If some day an historian were to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that there are no grounds to the Marian apparition to St. Simon Stock or the scapular promise, the scapular devotion would still maintain its value. The Church's esteem of it as a sacramental, her appreciation of its meaning and of the good that has come about through its pious use on the part of the faithful is all that is needed.

Gospel message
St. John of the Cross teaches that we ought not waste a lot of time and energy trying to discern whether or not a vision is authentic, but that we accept and follow it only insofar as the message is in accord with the Gospels and with what has already been revealed in Jesus Christ. Faith requires us to live with complete trust in God and in darkness with respect to seeing God or his saints.
The scapular a s a sign is rich in meaning. I think that after we consider the official interpretations of the scapular, we can discover in it our own personal meaning. I like to think of it as a sign of Mary's quiet presence, for the scapular is a silent devotion.
There are no prayers to be said. It reminds us of the contemplative aspect of our Christian life. Contemplation is what our saints wrote so much about. Contemplation is an ever-deepening silence in loving presence to God. It is in this silence that God best speaks to us.
Mary is the Church's greatest contemplative. In her silence she heard those extraordinary words spoken to her by the Lord -- "Blessed are you among women." And so Elizabeth could add: "Blessed are you who believed."
1420 The Chirsk (Pskov) Icon of the Mother of God
Initially in the Chirsk village church of the Pskov diocese. On July 16, 1420, during the time of Great Prince Basil Dimitrievich, Archbishop Simeon of Novgorod and Pskov, and Prince Theodore Alexandrovich were present in Pskov.
In a time of a deadly pestilence, tears flowed from the eyes of the Chirsk Icon of the Mother of God.
This was reported to authorities in the city of Pskov.
Priests and devout men carried the wonderworking icon to Pskov.
A church procession was formed to meet the icon, which was placed in the cathedral church of the Holy Trinity.

On the reverse of the icon are depicted the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke,
and St Theodosius of the Kiev Caves.
1546  Anna Askew Evangelische Kirche: 16. Juli
Anna Askew wurde um 1521 in Stallingborough geboren. Im März 1546 wurde sie vor dem Glaubensgericht angeklagt, die Wandlung der Hostie in Christi Leib zu leugnen. Sie wurde zweimal verhört und weigerte sich ein Bekenntnis zu unterschreiben. Sie wurde zum Tode verurteilt und schwer gefoltert, um Freunde preiszugeben. Sie verriet aber niemanden und wurde dem Tode durch die Folter nahe am 16.7.1546 auf dem Scheiterhaufen verbrannt. Mit ihr wurden John Lancels, John Adams und Nicolas Belenian verbrannt.
1794 Blessed Mary & Mary-Magdalen de Justamond were sisters by blood and in the Cistercian convent of Sainte-Catherine at Avignon. They were guillotined at Orange during the French Revolution, OSB Cist. MM (AC)
Beatified in 1925. Mary Saint-Henri (neé Marguerite-Eléonore de Justamond) and Mary-Magdalen du Saint-Sacrement (Magdalen-Françoise de Justamond) were sisters by blood and in the Cistercian convent of Sainte-Catherine at Avignon. They were guillotined at Orange during the French Revolution (Benedictines).
Bérgomi sancti Domniónis Mártyris.    At Bergamo, St. Domnio, martyr.
Córdubæ, in Hispánia, sancti Sisenándi, Levítæ et Mártyris; qui a Saracénis, pro Christi fide, jugulátus est.
    St. Sisenand At Cordova in Spain, cleric and martyr, who was strangled by the Saracens for the faith of Christ.
Apud Ostia Tiberína Translátio córporis sancti Hilaríni Mónachi, qui, una cum sancto Donáto, in persecutióne Juliáni Apóstatæ, comprehénsus est, et, cum nollet sacrificáre, demum, fústibus cæsus, Arétii, in Túscia, martyrium sumpsit séptimo Idus Augústi.
    St. Hilarinus, a monk relics translation of to Ostia.  He was arrested with St. Donatus in the persecution of Julian.  Because he refused to sacrifice to idols, he was finally scourged at Arezzo in Tuscany, and underwent martyrdom on the 7th of August.
1846 St. Mary Magdalen Postel opened a school for girls at Barfleur a leader in Barfleur against the constitutional priests and sheltered fugitive priests in her home venerated for her holiness and miracles
Apud Abbatíam Sanctíssimi Salvatóris, diœcésis Constantiénsis, in Gállia, sanctæ Maríæ-Magdalénæ Postel, Fundatrícis Institúti Sorórum Scholárum Christianárum a Misericórdia, a Pio Papa Undécimo in sanctárum Vírginum album relátæ.
    At the abbey of our Most Holy Redeemer, in the diocese of Coutances in France, St. Mary Magdalene Postel, foundress of the Sisters of Mercy of the Christian Schools, who was added to the list of the holy virgins by Pope Pius XI.
Mary was born at Barfleur, France, on November 28 and baptized Julia Frances Catherine. She was educated at the Benedictine convent at Valognes, and when eighteen she opened a school for girls at Barfleur. When the French Revolution broke out, the revolutionaries closed the school and she became a leader in Barfleur against the constitutional priests and sheltered fugitive priests in her home, where Mass was celebrated. When the concordat of 1801 between Napoleon and the Holy See brought peace to the French Church, she worked in the field of religious education, and in 1807, at Cherbourg, she and three other teachers took religious vows before Abbe Cabart, who had encouraged her in her work - the beginning of the Sisters of the Christian Schools of Mercy. She was named superior and took the name Mary Magdalen. During the next few years the community encountered great difficulties and was forced to move several times before settling at Tamersville in 1815. It was not until she obtained the abbey of St. Sauveur le Vicomte that the congregation finally began to expand and flourish. She died on July 16 at St. Sauveur, venerated for her holiness and miracles, and was canonized in 1925.

1846 St Mary-Magdalen Postel, Virgin,  Foundress of  The  Sisters of The Christian Schools of Mercy  
John Postel and Teresa Levallois his wife were members of the bourgeoisie in the smail port of Barfleur, to whom on November 28, 1756, was born a daughter, who was baptized with the names Julia Frances Catherine.  This child was of a pious disposition, and several illustrative anecdotes are told, of the sort that may be found in the childhood of some who grew up to be anything but saints; however, it may be noted that she was allowed to make her first communion when she was eight, four years earlier than was customary in those days.  She was sent to a local school and afterwards to that of the Benedictine convent at Valognes, and while there she determined to devote her life to the direct service of God and her neighbour and took a private vow of perpetual virginity.  On leaving school when she was eighteen she returned to Barfieur, where she opened a school for girls, and her pupiis in after life were a consistent witness to the grounding they had received from their first teacher.
  Julia carried on quietly for five years, and then the revolution burst.  In 1790 the National Assembly imposed an oath on the clergy to maintain the civil constitution, which oath Pope Pius VI forbade as detrimental to the freedom of the Church.  Nevertheless, many clergy (the "constitutionals ") took it and the Church in France was torn by a schism.
  In Barfleur the constitutional clergy had the upper hand, and Julia Postel was a leader among those who refused to attend their services or accept their ministrations.  She made a secret chapel under the stairs in her house, and here Mass was offered by the abbé Lamache, rector of Notre Dame de Barfleur, who had been proscribed as "refractory". M. Lamache trusted her to the extent of reserving the Blessed Sacrament in the chapel, and Julia made the secret arrangements necessary to enable him to minister to his flock.
  After a time it was deemed imprudent to reserve the Blessed Sacrament there any longer and, in accordance with the law of the Church in time of persecution or other extreme need, Julia was allowed to carry it on her person and to administer it as viaticum to the dying when no priest was at hand: a veritable "maiden-priest ", as St Pius X did not hesitate to call her in the decree of beatification.
  Admiration for her was not confined to the "refractories". Once when her house had been searched the comment of the disappointed soldiers was, "Let her alone.  She does nobody any harm, and is very kind to the children."   Year after year of such danger, responsibility, and nervous strain could be supported only by an intense inner life.  And if Julia was always with God, God showed time and again that He was always with her.
  For four years after the concordat of 1801 Julia was one of those devoted workers who laboured at whatever task came next to repair the ravages of revolution in the religious life of the people; she taught, she catechized, she prepared children and adults to receive the sacraments, she organized works of mercy, and always she prayed. Then, in her fifty-first year, armed with her reputation and a testimonial from a priest, but with no material resources beyond her own hands and head, she went to Cherbourg where she heard the municipality was in need of school-teachers. She told a local chaplain, the abbé Cabart, that "I want to teach the young and to inspire them with the love of God and liking for work.  I want to help the poor and relieve some of their misery.  These are the things I want to do, and for long I've seen that I must have a religious congregation to do it."  M. Cabart was not the man to discourage enthusiasm or fail to recognize ability. He told Julia she was just the woman he had been looking for and he would find her a house.
    One was soon rented; it was dedicated in honour of our Lady, Mother of Mercy (the patron of that former chapel under the stairs); pupils were got together; three other teachers joined her, Joan Catherine Bellot, Louisa Viel and Angelina Ledanois. In 1807 these four took the vows of religion before M. Cabart, representing the bishop, and Julia took the name of Mary-Magdalen. Three years later it was reported to the charity commissioners that two hundred little girls were being instructed by them in sacred and profane knowledge, handicrafts being taught to others, ragamuffins rescued from the streets, and ten thousand francs a year given in alms.
   In 1811, when the community numbered nine sisters, the Sisters of Providence returned to Cherbourg, and, rather than appear to emulate and rival them, Mother Mary-Magdalen withdrew her family to Octeville-L'Avenel, where they lived for six months in great hardship in a barn adjoining the school-house. Then they migrated to Tamerville, and looked after orphans and the poor there until their lease fell in. Again they migrated, this time to Valognes, where it looked as if the foundress's undertaking would come to nothing.  There were already three convents of nuns teaching in the town, and Mother Mary-Magdalen and her six sisters had to subsist on the work of their hands, they and their twelve orphans.  Sister Rosalia died, and when an untrue rumour that she had starved to death got around, the abbé Cabart thought it was the last straw, wished to sever his connection with them, and told the community it was time to give up.  The superioress thought otherwise.
  "Tell monsieur l'abbe ", she said, "that I am so certain that our Lord desires the realization of my aims that I shall not cease to pursue them with the greatest ardour.  He who has given my daughters to me and who watches over the birds of the air can easily provide me with the means to support them.   So long as God gives me strength to work I shall never leave one of them."
That act of faith turned the tide-but not yet. 
For two years they lived at Hamel-au-Eon, in extreme poverty, doing any work that came along, needlework, repairs, in the fields, and then Prince Le Brun offered them their former house at Tarnerville and the charge of a school.
  Allmost at once a famine broke out, which gave Mother Mary-Magdalen's sisters their chance to earn a permanent place in the hearts of the people, and then in 1818 in consequence of a new by-law she had, at sixty-two years old, to sit down and pass an examination to qualify as a head teacher.
  Though the community was reduced by deaths to four, a school was started at Tourlaville: and with this expansion of activity the community began to grow in numbers; by 1830 a larger convent was imperatively needed. Mother Mary-Magdalen obtained the dilapidated abbey of Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte, which had been founded in the eleventh century and abandoned at the Revolution.
  Here in the first twelve months the community received ten postulants, before whose coming its total number was only fifteen; among them was Bd Placida Viel. In 1837 the rule by which Mother Mary-Magdalen had governed her sisters for twenty-eight years was laid aside (not on her own initiative, but without a word of protest from her) and that approved by the Holy See for the Brothers of the Christian Schools was formally adopted; a canonical novitiate was begun, and at the end of the year their vows were received by Mgr Delamare, Bishop of Coutances, who was the devoted friend and adviser of the community.
  The last eight years of the foundress's life, though they had their trials, setbacks, and crosses, was a period of expansion and achievement: the congregation grew, the number of its pupils increased, and the great abbey church of St-Sauveur-le-Vicomte, which had been in ruins, began to rise again.
  She died when this last work was not yet finished on July 16, 1846, at the age of ninety years.  Miracles were not wanting to confirm her reputation for sanctity; and in 1925 she was canonized.  For forty-one years the life of St Mary-Magdalen Postel was the vicissitudes and progress of the institute that she founded; had she never been raised to the altars of the Church her name would still be rendered illustrious by the Sisters of the Christian Schools.
See the life by Mgr Grente (Eng. trans., 1928) and his Une sainte normande (1946).  There are other lives in French, e.g. by Mgr Legoux (1908, in two volumes) and by P. de Crisenoy (1938).


THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 176

May God have mercy on us and bless us: by her who brought Him forth.

Have mercy on us, O Lady, and pray for us: turn our sadness into joy.

Enlighten me, O Star of the sea: shed thy brightness upon me, O resplendent Virgin.

Extinguish the burning of my heart: refresh me with thy grace.

Let thy grace ever protect me: let thy presence give light to my end.

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

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

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

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

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

Brief History of our Beloved Holy Priest Here and his published books of Catholic History in North America
Reardon, J.M. Archbishop Ireland; Prelate, Patriot, Publicist, 1838-1918.
A Memoir (St. Paul; 1919); George Anthony Belcourt Pioneer Catholic Missionary of the Northwest 1803-1874 (1955);
The Catholic Church IN THE DIOCESE OF ST. PAUL from earliest origin to centennial achievement 1362-1950 (1952);
The Church of Saint Mary of Saint Paul 1875-1922;  (1932)
The Vikings in the American Heartland;
The Catholic Total Abstinence Society in Minnesota;
James Michael Reardon Born in Nova Scotia, 1872;  Priest, ordained by Bishop Ireland;
Member -- St. Paul Seminary faculty.
Affiliations and 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 176 2022