The Three Wise Men
1st century; feast day formerly January 6. It is related, in Matthew 2:1-2, that wise men came from the East to worship the Infant Jesus. They were queried by Herod as to the child's whereabouts, found the child, "did him homage," and "offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh."
Warned in a dream, they returned to their own country by a different route so that they did not have to report to Herod where Jesus could be found. Ancient tradition calls them "magi" and says there were three of them--probably because of the three gifts-- named Balthasar, Caspar (Gaspar), and Melchoir.
The Old Testament foretells that 'The kings of Tarshish and the islands shall bring tribute, the kings of Arabia and Seba offer gifts. May all the kings bow before him, all nations serve him. For he rescues the poor when they cry out, the oppressed who have no one to help..." (Psalm 72:10-12). By connecting this prophecy with the wisemen, Christians have decided that they must have been kings.

Modern scholars, however, believe they were astrologers from Babylonia or Arabia.

These three are the first non-Jews to have worshipped Jesus. Very early in the Christian era they became a favorite subject of Christian art, painted on the walls of a catacomb in the early second century. Early in the next century they were given their names. Artists began to paint one as a young king, another in mid- life, and the third as an old man. Later the artists reasoned that if they came from the east, at least one of them must have been a black man.

A magnificent Medieval shrine in Cologne, Germany, contains their reputed bones.

Soon Christians began to speculate on the significance of the three gifts. Gold obviously symbolized Jesus as a king himself. Frankincense for the devotion of the wise men to Jesus. But myrrh was used to embalm bodies:

This gift foreshadowed Jesus's death on the Cross, the means of our salvation (Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney).

That the three Wise Men or Magi were three in number, though this is not directly stated in the gospel, appears to be a tradition of great antiquity, founded, no doubt, upon the fact that three kinds of gifts are specified. They are represented as three in some of the oldest catacomb paintings (though there are a few exceptions, in which we find two, four, and even six-apparently from a motive of artistic symmetry), and several of the fathers-e.g. Origen (Hom. in Genesim, XIV 3), St Maximus of Turin, and St Leo-seem to take the number three for granted.
   The fact that the adoration of the Magi is often balanced against the Old Testament scene of the three youths in the fiery furnace may also have helped to stereotype the convention.
In the catacomb frescoes and sarcophagus sculptures of early date the Magi are always depicted as wearing Phrygian caps.    The idea of their royal character developed later, being probably suggested by the wording of Psalm lxxi 10: "The kings of Tharsis and the islands shall offer presents; the kings of the Arabians and of Saba shall bring gifts." It seems to occur first in a sermon attributed to St Caesarius of Arles (Migne, PL., vol. xxxix, c. 2018), who died in 543. From the eighth century onwards we find them in Christian art commonly represented with crowns.
Still later the Magi acquire definite names. A Paris manuscript of the eighth century calls then "Bithisarea, Melchior and Gathaspa"; in a miniature of the Codex Egberti (c. 990) we find written against two of them "Pudizar" and "Melchias".
Despite these prirna-facie divergences, there can be no doubt that these represent some common form from which have come the Balthasar, Melchior and Caspar now popularly received. In the later middle ages one often notices that in pictures of the Magi one is represented as a youth, another as an old man, and the third as middle-aged. Lastly, the practice of painting one of them as a Negro only developed in the fifteenth century.
The bones of these three holy "kings" are now believed by some to rest in Cologne cathedral, in a shrine which is one of the finest examples of the craft of the medieval metal-worker. There is no reason to doubt that these relics are identical with those which were brought to Cologne in 1164 from the basilica of St Eustorgius at Milan, having been given to the archbishop of Cologne by Frederick Barbarossa. But the earlier history is much less satisfactorily attested, although the identification of the relics at Milan with those of the three kings may probably be traced back to the ninth century. The bones are said to have come to Milan from Constantinople, possibly in the time of the Emperor Zeno (474-491), but we know nothing of how they were identified with the kings nor of how they got to Constantinople. No one can dispute that the three kings were enthusiastically venerated, especially in Germany during the middle ages, the devotion being probably fostered by the many pilgrimages made to their shrine at Cologne and by the mystery plays in which the corning of the Magi to Bethlehem was a favourite
theme.   They were naturally often venerated as the special patrons of travellers.
See Hugo Kehrer, Die heiligen Drei Konige in Literatur und Kunst... (2 vols., 1909); Kraus, Geschichte der christ!. Kunst, vol. i, p. 151, and many other passages; H. Detzel, Christliche Ikonographie (1896), vol. ii, pp. 473-475 ; and G. Messina, I Magi a Betlemme (1933). The traditional English form of the name Caspar is Jasper.

75 St. Apollinaris first bishop of Ravenna, Italy martyr

Ravénnæ natális sancti Apollináris Epíscopi, qui, ab Apóstolo Petro Romæ ordinátus et Ravénnam missus, pro fide Christi divérsas et multíplices pœnas perpéssus est; póstea, Evangélium in Æmília prædicans, plúrimos ab idolórum cultu revocávit; tandem, Ravénnam revérsus, gloriósum martyrium, sub Vespasiáno Cæsare, complévit.
At Ravenna, the birthday of the holy bishop Apollinaris, who was consecrated at Rome by the Apostle Peter, and sent to Ravenna, where he endured many different tribulations for the faith of Christ. He afterwards preached the Gospel in Emilia, where he converted many from the worship of idols. Finally, returning to Ravenna, he completed his confession of Christ by a glorious martyrdom under Vespasian Caesar.

St. Apollinaris was the first bishop of Ravenna, and its only known martyr. His acts say that he was born at Antioch, a disciple of St Peter, and made by him bishop of Ravenna, but this is an invention of the seventh century, when the pretensions of that see were in need of support. He was famous among the earlier martyrs, and the high veneration which the Church paid early to his memory is a sufficient testimony to his sanctity and apostolic spirit; but no reliance can be put in his legend. According to it he miraculously healed the wife of an official and converted her and her husband, cured one Boniface who was dumb, and made many converts, for which he was flogged and chased from the city; he preached the gospel in Bologna and converted the household of the patrician Rufinus, and was banished from thence and wrecked on the Dalmatian coast, where his preaching caused him to be ill-treated. Three times he returned to his see, and each time was captured, tortured, and driven out again; the fourth time the Emperor Vespasian issued a decree of banishment against Christians, and for a time Apollinaris lay in hiding with the connivance of a Christian centurion; but he was recognized and set upon by the mob at Classis, a suburb of the city, knocked about, and left for dead. St Peter Chrysologus, the most illustrious among his successors, has left a sermon in his honour, in which he styles him martyr; but adds that God preserved him a long time to His Church, and did not suffer the persecutors to take away his life. So he may have been a martyr only by the torments he endured for Christ. The name of St Apollinaris occurs in the canon of the Milanese Mass.

St Peter Chrysologus in his sermons (no. 128) refers to St Apollinaris as first bishop of Ravenna and as a martyr. Beyond this we know very little. The life, printed in the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. 5, is not of older date than the seventh century, and there is no reason to suppose it to be based on any genuine tradition. The subject has been fully discussed by Mgr Lanzoni in his essay Le fonti della leggenda di Sant' Apollinare di Ravenna (1915), and again in his book Le diocesi d'Italia...(1923), pp. 455 seq., and see E. Will, S. Apollinaire de Ravenne (1936). Cf. also Delehaye, "L'Hagiographie ancienne de Ravenne" in Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xlvii (1929), pp. 5-30; Zattoni, La data della Passio S. Apollinaris (1904), with other later papers ; M. G. Loreta, Le chiese di S. Apollinare (1924); and CMH., pp. 390-392.

Bishop, martyr, and possible disciple of St. Peter. Apollinaris was born in Antioch, Turkey, and became the first bishop of Ravenna, in Italy. He suffered exile because of his preaching and converts. When Emperor Vespasian {69-79} banished Christians, Apollinaris was beaten by a mob and reputedly died soon after from his wounds. His shrine in the Benedictine Abbey of Classe in Ravenna was once a popular pilgrimage destination. Apollinaris was credited with many miracles. He also appeared to St. Romuald, the founder of the Camaldolese. He is patron of Ravenna, Burthscheid, Aachen, Remagen, and Düsseldorf, and he is invoked against gout, epilepsy, and diseases of the sexual organs. Apollinaris is depicted as a bishop in liturgical art. His cult was confined to local calendars in 1969.
Apollinaris of Ravenna BM (RM) Apollinaris was the first bishop of Ravenna, Italy. According to his late and unreliable acta, he was a disciple of Saint Peter and a native of Antioch, who at one time survived a shipwreck in Dalmatia, was driven from his see three times, went into hiding the fourth time when Emperor Vespasian banished all Christians, and was discovered and beaten by a mob. But nothing is known with certainty about him--even the date of his death is debatable. Saint Bede's martyrology reports that he governed Ravenna for 20 years and was killed during Vespasian's reign.
Some say he was repeatedly tortured for the faith and to have died in the process. But he may be a martyr only because he suffered for Christ; he may not have died of it. The best literary witness to his existence is Saint Peter Chrysologus (died c. 450), who left a sermon in honor of Apollinaris. In it Chrysologus styles his subject as a martyr, but adds that although he spilled his blood many times for Christ and desired to lay down his life, God preserved him.
His shrine is at the Benedictine Abbey of Classe in Ravenna, which became famous throughout Christendom. Saint Fortunatus exhorted his friends to make pilgrimages to his tomb, and Saint Gregory the Great ordered parties in doubtful lawsuits to be sworn before it. Apollinaris's best memorials are the superb churches of Ravenna dedicated to name; however, Pope Honorius built one in Rome dedicated to him about 630. There is a fine mosaic representing him as a shepherd of his flock in Ravenna. The feast of Apollinaris occurs in all martyrologies, and the high veneration which the church paid early to his memory is a sufficient testimony of his eminent sanctity and apostolic spirit (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Husenbeth, White).
In art, Saint Apollinaris is an early Christian bishop with a club. He may also be shown (1) beaten with a club by the devil; (2) standing or seated on hot coals; (3) bearded, in a chasuble and pallium, with sheep around him (in a mosaic); or (4) preaching to sheep. The sheep in early Christian mosaics signify that he was a pastor (Roeder).
Apollinarius, Bishop of Ravenna: Hieromartyr During the reign of the Roman emperor Claudius (41-54), the holy Apostle Peter came to Rome from Antioch, and he ordained Apollinarius, who had come with him, to be Bishop of Ravenna. Arriving in Ravenna as a stranger, St Apollinarius asked shelter of a local inhabitant, the soldier Irenaeus, and in conversation with him revealed for what purpose he had come.
Irenaeus had a blind son, whom St Apollinarius healed, having turned to the Lord with prayer. The soldier Irenaeus and his family were the first in Ravenna to believe in Christ. The saint stayed at the house of Irenaeus and preached about Christ to everyone wanting to hear what he said. One of the miracles performed by St Apollinarius was the healing of Thekla, the incurably sick wife of the Ravenna tribune. She arose from her bed completely healthy, through the prayers of the saint. Not only did she believe in Christ, but so did the tribune. At the house of the tribune St Apollinarius constructed a small church, where he celebrated Divine Liturgy. St Apollinarius ordained two presbyters, Aderetus and Calocyrus, and also two deacons for the newly-baptized people of Ravenna.

St Apollinarius preached the Gospel at Ravenna for twelve years, and the number of Christians steadily increased. Pagan priests complained about the bishop to the governor Saturninus. St Apollinarius was brought to trial and subjected to grievous tortures. Thinking that he had died, the torturers took him out of the city to the seacoast and threw him into the water. The saint, however, was alive. A certain pious Christian widow helped him and gave him shelter in her home. St Apollinarius stayed at her home for six months, and continued secretly to preach about Christ. The saint's whereabouts became known when he restored the power of speech to an illustrious resident of the city named Boniface, whose wife requested the saint to help her husband.
After this miracle many pagans were converted to Christ, and they again brought St Apollinarius to trial and tortured him, setting his bare feet on red-hot coals. They removed him from the city a second time, but the Lord again kept him alive. The saint did not cease preaching until they expelled him from the city. For a certain time St Apollinarius found himself elsewhere in Italy, where he continued to preach the Gospel as before. Returning to Ravenna to his flock, St Apollinarius again went on trial and was sentenced to banishment.
In heavy fetters, he was put on a ship sailing to Illyrica to the River Danube. Two soldiers were responsible for conveying him to his place of exile. Three of the clergy voluntarily followed their bishop into exile. Along the way the vessel was wrecked and everyone drowned, except for St Apollinarius, his clergy and the two soldiers. The soldiers, listening to St Apollinarius, believed in the Lord and accepted Baptism. Not finding any shelter, the travellers came to Mycea, where St Apollinarius healed a certain illustrious inhabitant from leprosy, and for which both he and his companions received shelter at his home. In this land St Apollinarius preached tirelessly about Christ and he converted many of the pagans to Christianity, for which he was subjected to persecution on the part of unbelievers. They beat up the saint mercilessly, and placing him on a ship sailing for Italy, they sent him back.
After a three year absence, St Apollinarius returned to Ravenna and was joyfully received by his flock. The pagans, however, having fallen upon the church where the saint served the Divine Liturgy, scattered those at prayer, and dragged the saint to the idolatrous priests in the pagan temple of Apollo, where the idol fell just as they brought the saint in, and it shattered. The pagan priests brought St Apollinarius for trial to Taurus, the new governor of the district. Apollinarius performed a new miracle, healing the son of the governor, who had been blind from birth. In gratitude for the healing of his son, Taurus tried to protect St Apollinarius from the angry crowd. He sent him to his own estate outside the city. Although the son and wife of Taurus were baptized, he feared the anger of the emperor, and did not accept Baptism. However, he conducted himself with gratitude and love towards his benefactor.
St Apollinarius lived for five years at the estate of Taurus and preached without hindrance about salvation. During this time pagan priests sent letters of denunciation to the emperor Vespasian with a request for a sentence of death or exile of the Christian "sorcerer" Apollinarius. But the emperor told the pagan priests that the gods were sufficiently powerful to take revenge for themselves, if they felt themselves insulted. All the wrath of the pagans fell upon St Apollinarius: they caught hold of him when the saint left the city for a nearby settlement, and they beat him fiercely. Christians found him barely alive and took him to the settlement, where he lived for seven days. During his final illness the saint did not cease to teach his flock. He predicted that after the persecutions ended, Christians would enter upon better times when they could openly and freely confess their faith. Having given those present his archpastoral blessing, the hieromartyr Apollinarius fell asleep in the Lord. St Apollinarius was Bishop of Ravenna for twenty-eight years and he died in the year 75.

75 Apollinaris of Ravenna BM (RM) Apollinaris was the first bishop of Ravenna, Italy. According to his late and unreliable acta, he was a disciple of Saint Peter and a native of Antioch, who at one time survived a shipwreck in Dalmatia, was driven from his see three times, went into hiding the fourth time when Emperor Vespasian banished all Christians, and was discovered and beaten by a mob. But nothing is known with certainty about him--even the date of his death is debatable. Saint Bede's martyrology reports that he governed Ravenna for 20 years and was killed during Vespasian's reign.
Some say he was repeatedly tortured for the faith and to have died in the process. But he may be a martyr only because he suffered for Christ; he may not have died of it. The best literary witness to his existence is Saint Peter Chrysologus (died c. 450), who left a sermon in honor of Apollinaris. In it Chrysologus styles his subject as a martyr, but adds that although he spilled his blood many times for Christ and desired to lay down his life, God preserved him.
His shrine is at the Benedictine Abbey of Classe in Ravenna, which became famous throughout Christendom. Saint Fortunatus exhorted his friends to make pilgrimages to his tomb, and Saint Gregory the Great ordered parties in doubtful lawsuits to be sworn before it. Apollinaris's best memorials are the superb churches of Ravenna dedicated to name; however, Pope Honorius built one in Rome dedicated to him about 630. There is a fine mosaic representing him as a shepherd of his flock in Ravenna. The feast of Apollinaris occurs in all martyrologies, and the high veneration which the church paid early to his memory is a sufficient testimony of his eminent sanctity and apostolic spirit (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Husenbeth, White).
In art, Saint Apollinaris is an early Christian bishop with a club. He may also be shown (1) beaten with a club by the devil; (2) standing or seated on hot coals; (3) bearded, in a chasuble and pallium, with sheep around him (in a mosaic); or (4) preaching to sheep. The sheep in early Christian mosaics signify that he was a pastor (Roeder).

Apollonius and Eugene MM (RM). Apollonius was pierced with arrows at the stake and Eugene was beheaded (Benedictines).

Saint Primitiva of Rome was a very early martyr, probably of Rome. She may be the same Primitiva celebrated on February 24 (Benedictines). VM (RM)

Item Romæ pássio sanctæ Primitívæ, Vírginis et Mártyris.
In the same city, the martyrdom of St. Primitiva, virgin and martyr.

(also known as Primitia, Privata)

Rasyphus of Rome Rasyphus another very early martyr relics are enshrined in the Pantheon
Little is known. He may be identical to Saint Rasius, relics are enshrined in the Pantheon (Benedictines). M (RM)

Ibídem sancti Rásyphi Mártyris.
Also, St. Rasyphus, martyr.

302 Sts. Trophimus & Theophilus Two Roman martyrs slain under Emperor Diocletian.
Eódem die natális sanctórum Mártyrum Tróphimi et Theóphili, qui, sub Diocletiáno Imperatóre, cæsi lapídibus et igne incénsi, demum, gládio percússi, martyrio coronántur.
The same day, the birthday of the holy martyrs Trophimus and Theophilus, who received their crown of martyrdom by being beaten with stones, scorched with fire, and finally struck with the sword, in the time of Emperor Diocletian.

303 St. Phocas the Gardener lived at Sinope, in Paphiagonia, on the Black Sea gave welcome to the Roman soldiers sent to find and execute him using the rest of the night to prepare his soul. In the morning he led them to his prepared grave and informed them of his identity he encouraged them to complete their task and behead him
Martyred Christian gardener who lived at Sinope, in Paphiagonia, on the Black Sea and was put to death during the persecutions launched by Emperor Diocletian. Phocas is sometimes confused with Phocas of Antioch, although there is no doubt about the historical act of his martyrdom. According to tradition, he gave welcome to the Roman soldiers sent to find and execute him and, as they did not know who he was, he agreed to take them to the Phocas whom they sought. After fixing them food and allowing them to sleep in his house, he went out and dug his grave, using the rest of the night to prepare his soul. In the morning he led them to his prepared grave and informed them of his identity. When they were aghast and hesitated to slay him, he encouraged them to complete their task and behead him.

He is especially venerated in the East and was long considered a patron saint for sailors.

3rd v. Trophimus, Theophilus, and thirteen martyrs The Holy Martyrs with them, suffered during the persecution against Christians refused to offer sacrifice to idols After fierce tortures and fire, Strengthened by the Lord, they came out of the fire completely unharmed, and they glorified Christ all the more

Item sanctórum Mártyrum Apollónii et Eugénii.
Also the holy martyrs Apollonius and Eugene.

Under the emperor Diocletian (284-305). Brought to trial, they bravely confessed themselves Christians and refused to offer sacrifice to idols. After fierce tortures, they broke the legs of the holy martyrs and threw them into a fire. Strengthened by the Lord, they came out of the fire completely unharmed, and they glorified Christ all the more. Unable to break the will of the holy confessors, the torturers beheaded them.

390 St. Liborius second or third bishop of Le Mans Patron saint of Paderborn, Germany, and the bishop of Le Mans, France

Cenómanis, in Gállia, sancti Libórii, Epíscopi et Confessóris.
At Le Mans in France, St. Liborius, bishop and confessor.

St Liborius, Bishop of Le Mans
Nothing at all is known about St Liborius except that he was bishop of Le Mans, apparently for nearly fifty years, during the fourth century. St Martin of Tours was present at his funeral, and in 836 his relics were translated to Paderborn. St Liborius is invoked against gravel and allied complaints, and this, curiously enough, accounts for his commemoration in the liturgy of the Western church on July 23: the observance was instituted by Pope Clement XI (d. 1721), who suffered from that painful disease.

See the Acta Sanctotorum, July, vol. v, but the lives there printed are of little service; ef. A. Ledru, La premiers temps de l'église du Mans (1913). A long account of the translation of the relics to Paderborn is edited in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxii (1903), pp. 146-172, and a collection of historical and archaeological essays was published in 1936, Sankt Liborius, sein Dam und sein Bistum. And cf. Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lxxi (1953), p. 480.

His cult is now confined to local calendars. Liborius of Le Mans B (RM) Liborius, the second or third bishop of Le Mans (348 to 390), is the patron of Paderborn, to which his relics were translated in 836 (Benedictines, Encyclopedia). In art, Saint Liborius is depicted as a bishop with a peacock. He may be carrying small stones on a book (Roeder). Liborius is invoked against colic, fever, and gallstones (Roeder).
Liborius of Le Mans B (RM) the second or third bishop of Le Mans (348 to 390), is the patron of Paderborn, to which his relics were translated in 836 (Benedictines, Encyclopedia). In art, Saint Liborius is depicted as a bishop with a peacock. He may be carrying small stones on a book (Roeder). Liborius is invoked against colic, fever, and gallstones (Roeder).

5th v. St. Rasyphus and Ravennus Martyrs. They came from Britain, fleeing the islands upon the invasions by the Anglo Saxons
Settling in Gaul, they became hermits and were martyred, perhaps by Arian Goths who were advancing through the West. Their relics are enshrined in the cathedral of Bayeux.
Rasyphus and Ravennus MM (AC) 5th century. These British natives fled to northern France to escape invaders. There they became hermits and were finally martyred for the faith at Macé in the diocese of Séez. Their relics are enshrined in the cathedral at Bayeux (Benedictines).

433 St. John Cassian Eastern monk and theological writer. He went to Palestine in 380 with a companion, Germanus, and became a monk in Egypt. In 400 he entered into the discipleship of St. John Chrysostom, going to Rome to defend the much-oppressed saint before Pope Innocent I. Ordained in Rome, John started monasteries in southern France, near Marseilles, thus helping to pioneer monasticism in Europe
This patriarch of monachism, commonly known simply as Cassian, was born about 360, probably in the Dobruja (Rumania), and may have fought against Goths at the battle of Adrianople. Somewhere about the year 380 he set out with a friend, Germanus, to visit the holy places of Palestine. In Bethlehem they became monks. In those days the heart of the contemplative life was in Egypt, and before long they went into that country, and visited in turn the famous holy men who from their solitudes "had a great mission to the world, not only a mission of prayer for the needs of the world, but a great mission to edify and instruct the ages after them" (Ullathorne).
For a time they lived as hermits under Archebius, and then Cassian penetrated into the desert of Skete, there to hunt out the anchorites concealed among its burning rocks and live with the monks in their cenobia. For some reason unknown, about the year 400 he crossed over to Constantinople. He became a disciple of St John Chrysostom, by whom he was ordained deacon, and when that great saint was uncanonically condemned and deposed Cassian was among those sent to Rome to defend the archbishop's cause to Pope St Innocent I. It is possible that he was ordained priest while in Rome, but nothing more is known of his life until several years later, when he was in Marseilles.

Here Cassian founded two monasteries, one, whose church was built over the tomb of St Victor the martyr, for monks, the other for nuns; and there radiated from him and his foundations the spirit and ideal of Egyptian asceticism which had great effect on the Church of southern Gaul. For the instruction and guidance of religious he drew up his Institutes of the Monastic Life and Conferences*...{*Collationes, a word which has crept into our common speech. For "collation", in the sense of a meal, derives from the monastic custom of reading collationes (not necessarily Cassian's) while food is taken.}...on the Egyptian Monks, and these were destined to have an influence far beyond anything within the intention of the author; for, with the Vitae patrum and the Rule of St Basil, they were recommended by St Benedict as the most suitable reading for his monks after the Bible, and had the greatest influence on his rule, both in the planning of its life and the adumbration of its spirituality.

Through St Benedict, Cassian has left his mark on all Christendom. In the first four books of the Institutes he describes a way of living as a pattern for the monastic state; the rest of the work is devoted to the virtues which the monk must strive for and the deadly sins that lie in wait for him in common with all Christians.

He prefaces the book with the declaration that, "I shall make no attempt to relate anecdotes of miracles and prodigies. For although I have heard of many unbelievable marvels from my elders and have seen some with my own eyes, I have wholly omitted them because they contribute nothing but astonishment to the instruction of the reader in the perfect life."

That sobriety is characteristic of Cassian.

It is surprising that Cassian is not named in the Roman Martyrology; but doubtless he was not included by Baronius because he came to be regarded as the originator and leading exponent of that teaching which is now known as Semi-Pelagianism. His views were expressed in the course of a controversy about St Augustine's On Rebuke and Grace, and may more fairly be called "anti- Augustinian". All St John Cassian's later life was passed at Marseilles, where he died about 433; there his feast is kept today and by the Byzantines on February 29.

There is no ancient life of Cassian, but a good deal of information may be found collected in the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. v; see also the introduction to Petschenig's edition of his works in the Vienna Corpus script. eccl. Lat. English trans. of works by E.C.S. Gibson (1894). Most writers who are concerned with early monasticism make frequent reference to him, e.g. Herwegen, Albers and C.Butler. Cassian has received a good deal of attention lately, e.g. L. Cristiani's Cassien (2 vols., 1946); but an even better book on the strictly biographical side is O. Chadwick's John Cassian (1950), full bibliography. Cf. also DHG., vol. xi.

His two main writings, Institutes of the Monastic Life and Conferences on the Egyptian Monks, were much praised by St. Benedict and were long influential; the former had a direct impact upon Benedict during the time that he was composing his famed Rule. John also authored the work De Incarnatione Doniini, in seven books, at the. behest of Pope Leo I the Great so as to inform the Western Church of the details of the teachings of the heresiarch Nestorius. While never canonized officially in the West, John has long been considered a saint among the Eastern Churches.
John Cassian, Abbot (AC) Born c. 360; died at Marseilles, France, July 23, c. 433. The world is full of collectors, but Saint John Cassian was a different sort of collector. What interested him was living saintliness, the Gospel in action. He knew that a good example was worth more than a good sermon, and so he made an enormous collection of concrete examples. He gathered them over the course of several years as he travelled from one monastery to another in Egypt. Cassian's two books, Conferences (which I highly recommend) and Cenobitic Institutes had, and indeed still have, an enormous influence, both in the teaching of ascetic and mystic theology and in the practices of those in monastic life.
Perhaps in order to teach us that Cassian was the perfect example of a monk, Providence has decreed that we should know nothing of his birth or childhood, thereby reserving our attention for what was truly important in his life. It is likely that he was born in Provence in France, although some historians say that he was born in Romania, some in Syria, still others say in Palestine, and Gennadius (5th century) says he was born in Scythia; however, they all agree on the approximate date of his birth.
The first thing known about Cassian with any certainty is that, about 380, he and his friend Germanus became monks at Bethlehem, in a monastery near the place of the Nativity--a good place to be born into the new life. They stayed there until Cassian was 25 (c. 385), by which time he had learned all that they had to teach him. He left because he had an urgent desire to travel; not as a tourist who gapes at different scenes, because for a contemplative person all men are the same with the unhappiness and all countries are the same with their stones and trees and houses. He travelled to see the work of God, the reflection of God in his creation, and the means whereby men united themselves with God; all the rest is vanity.
And so Cassian and Germanus, equipped with the permission and blessing of their superiors, stout pilgrims' sticks, and an ardent desire to visit the great masters of saintliness, set out boldly for Egypt to satisfy both pious curiosity and a longing for perfection. For 12 or 13 years, until about 400, the two companions travelled throughout Lower Egypt and the Nile delta, staying with the most famous monks and anchorites who were the spiritual descendants of the great Saint Antony. They lived for a time as hermits under Archebius, were influenced by Evagrius Ponticus, and then went to Skete. And all the time Cassian, who surely deserves to be the patron of journalists, recorded everything he saw, setting it down with a vivid style and minute accuracy, a sense of humor, and an eye for the picturesque.

On leaving Egypt the two men went to Constantinople, where Saint John Chrysostom ordained Germanus a priest and Cassian a deacon. In 405, after Chrysostom was deposed, they went to Pope Saint Innocent I in Rome, bringing a letter from the clergy of Constantinople on behalf of their bishop who was being persecuted. Germanus then disappears without a trace.

Cassian is ordained a priest, and 10 years later we find him again in Marseilles, France, where he founded two monasteries: Saint Victor for men and Saint Savior for women.

As part of the rule, the monks would prostrate themselves at each Gloria; otherwise, the generally prayed with their arms outstretched. The Psalms were an important vehicle for meditation for the community. Cassian said they should be prayed with the heart as one's own prayers, "...recognize that the words were not only fulfilled formerly in the person of the prophet, but that they are fulfilled and carried out daily...[in our own case]."
Cassian's "Nocturnes" (otherwise known as Matins) prayed at midnight included three psalms sung antiphonally while standing; three psalms led by a cantor with the rest responding while seated; three lessons recited from memory; then everyone bowed for more private prayer before returning to bed.
All awakened again at 2:30 a.m. for Lauds, which followed the pattern of Nocturns and included Pss. 148, 149, and 150. Prime (or Second Mattins) at daybreak included Psalms 51, 62, and 90. Terce at 9 a.m. (the third hour) reminded the monks of the time the Holy Spirit first descended upon the Apostles assembled for prayer. Sext at midday recalled the Crucifixion at the sixth hour of the day. Nones at 3 p.m. reflected on the time Jesus yielded up his spirit.
A neighboring bishop, Castor of Apt, who had himself founded some monasteries, asked Cassian to compile a summary of all the observations that he had made and all the teachings that he had learned during his travels. And so, perhaps reluctantly, the pilgrim became an author.
Cassian first wrote Cenobitic Institutes and the Remedies for the Eight Captial Sins. This 12-volume work gives full account of the rules and organization of communities in Egypt and Palestine, and of the means used by the monks in their spiritual combat the eight chief hindrances to a monk's perfection.
His next work were the 24 Conferences on the Egyptian Monks, which were addressed to different people, among them Saint Honoratus, abbot and founder of Lérins. In them Cassian tells of the discussions or conferences that he had with the monks; however, the doctrine that he expressed in them was often unorthodox, and in the opinion of Saint Augustine gave too much importance to human free will in the virtuous act and not enough to divine grace. This whiff of heresy, which went under the name of 'semi-Pelagianism,' earned the author public reproof, and his Conferences were officially relegated to the ranks of the apocrypha by a decree attributed to Pope Saint Gelasius. Nevertheless, Saint Benedict prescribed the Conferences as one of the books to be read aloud to his monks after supper.
Though Cassian was in bad odor with the Holy Office, the success and popularity of his works in no way diminished, particularly among the monks of southern France, who were strongly anti-Augustinian. In about 430, Cassian was commissioned by the future Pope Saint Leo to write seven books entitled On the Incarnation of the Lord against the heretic Nestorius. This work was evidently written in haste and does not compare with the other two works. Nestorius, archbishop of Constantinople, was solemnly condemned by the Council of Ephesus in 431, whereas Cassian, the champion of semi- Pelagianism, was not condemned by a council until 529.

Cassian's answer to the theological bickering and to the violent attacks against his works was one of silence, for he desired only to live in peace and watch over the pious souls who had come to his monasteries to seek the way of perfection.
Though Cassian studied the lives of the desert anchorites, he did not recommend their extreme asceticism for the monks of the West. His first essential rule is that perfection does not consist in the solitary life and tightening the belt a notch a day, but is instead a matter for the soul, and above all of the charity and loving- kindness that makes man most like God.

He regarded sadness and melancholy as vices, for a person who knows that he is loved by God, and who loves God as his Father and all men as his brothers, ought to be joyful.
He insisted on the importance of the Gospel precept that commands us to go into our room and close the door and pray; but he added that this is less a matter of physical circumstances than of withdrawing our hearts from the cares and thoughts of the world and entering into an intimate colloquy with God.
We pray with the door closed when we pray without opening our lips, for God sees into our hearts rather than listens to our words.

Fasts, meditation on the Scriptures, poverty, and asceticism are only the means to perfection, and not perfection itself.

In many ways Cassian was the precursor of Saint Benedict, who drew on him heavily, though he also altered a great deal. Every generation has found in Cassian one of its best guides. His works, which have been endlessly republished and translated, have been quoted by a large number of spiritual writers, from Saint Bernard and Saint Thomas down to the Jesuit father Rodriguez.

Cassian, in short, was and still is one of the great teachers of the religious life (Attwater, Benedictines, Chadwick, Delaney, Encyclopedia).

460 St. Valerian Bishop and orator. Originally a monk in Lerins monastery; named bishop of Cimeiz, Gaul (France); took part in the Councils of Riez (439) and Vaison (442)' Some of his sermons were discovered in the sixteenth century attesting to his eloquence and offering considerable insight into his historical era.

St. John, of the Golden Gospel Departure of righteous monk Many miracles were manifested from his relics {Coptic}
On this day, St. John, the owner of the Golden Gospel, departed. This saint was born in the city of Rome. His father was a rich man whose name was Atrofius (Trabius). His father gave him a copy of the Gospel of St. John written in letters of gold and bound with a golden cover and from this he was generally known as "John of the Golden Gospel." John rejoiced exceedingly with this gift.
A monk, who was on his way to Jerusalem, came to visit his father's house. John asked the monk to take him with him. The monk told him that he was going to Jerusalem and not to the monastery. He also told him that he was young and could not endure the rough life that the monks practiced. Nevertheless, John was sincere in his intention, so he embarked on a ship, without telling anyone, to the monastery of that monk. When the Abbot saw him, he refused to accept him because of his young age, and explained to him that the monastic life was difficult for one like him. John pleaded with him, and when the Abbot saw his firm intention and strong conviction, he accepted him. He shaved his head, and arrayed him in the holy garb of the monastic life. John devoted himself to the ascetic life with many worships. The Abbot often advised him saying, "Have pity on yourself, and do as the rest of the brethren." But John used to answer, saying, "The power of God and your prayers support me."
Seven years later, he saw in a vision, who told him, "Rise, and go to your parents, that you might receive their blessings before your departure from this world." This vision was repeated on three consecutive nights, and he told the Abbot about it. The Abbot told him that this was from God, and advised him to go to see his parents.

When he left the monastery, he found a poor man wearing ragged garments, he took them from him, and gave him his own monk's garb. When he arrived at his father's house, he lived for three years, near the door of the house, in a small hut made of straw. He ate, during this time, the fragments from his father's table which the servants threw to him. Whenever his mother passed by him, she was disgusted by his smell and the appearance of his clothes.
When his departure drew near, the Lord made it known to him that after three days he would depart from this world. St. John sent and called his mother. Without telling her that he was her son, he made her swear to bury him in that hut with whatever clothes he had on. Then, he gave her the golden Gospel and said to her, "Whenever you read in it, remember me." When his father returned to the house, she showed him the Gospel, and immediately he recognized that it was the Gospel of his son John. They came in haste to St. John and asked him about the Gospel and about their son. He asked them to assure him that they would not bury him except in the clothes that he had on, and then he told them that he was their son. They wept with a great weeping. When the nobles of the city of Rome heard that, they gathered to see this righteous monk. After three days, he departed and his mother clothed him with the clothes that she had prepared for his wedding day before he went to the monastery. Thereupon she fell sick, and her husband remembered the oath that they had given. Immediately he removed the clothes of his son and clothed him with the old ragged cloth that he had on and buried him in the hut in which he had lived. Many miracles were manifested from his body. Then they built a church in his name and placed his body in it. May his prayers with us. Amen.

6th v. St. Romlua A virgin who lived with St. Redempta as a hermitess near the church of Mary Major, Rome. Redempta had been trained as a nun by St. Herundo in Palestine. They formed a small community in Rome, and they earned the praise of Pope St. Gregory I the Great. Romula was paralyzed for the last years of her life.
On July 23 the Roman Martyrology mentions "the holy maidens Romula, Redempta and Herundo, of whom St Gregory the Pope has written". St Redempta was brought up by St Herundo in the ways of virtue and the solitary life, and when she had grown old went from the hills near Palestrina to live with St Romula and another woman in a small house near the church of St Mary Major, about the year 575. St Gregory, who knew them personally, says that they showed a perfect humility and obedience, and hardly opened their mouths to speak except in prayer. During the last years of her life Romula suffered from a general paralysis, which kept her motionless in bed; she turned this infirmity to her advantage, guarding her tongue that she should never complain of it, especially as it enabled her to concentrate on prayer and worship of God free from the distraction of any other duties. Doubtless her disease was the cause of Romula dying the first, for she was considerably younger than Redempta. One night the two active ones were aroused by Romula crying out, and running to her room they found it full with a wonderful light, and heard a noise as it were of people about to enter the room. They were rather frightened, but reassured by Romula, who said: "Do not fear; I shall not die yet." Three nights later, she called them again, and this time asked for viaticum, which was brought to her. She had scarcely received it, when again a noise was heard : it seemed as if a heavenly choir were outside the door, singing in alternate strophes the most perfect music. And so Romula died, and the singing gradually became fainter, as though the singers were moving away and away, bearing her soul to Paradise.

See the Dialogue: of St Gregory, bk iv, ch. 15, and his Homilies, 40, ch. ii.

580 Romula, Redempta, and Herundo Three Roman maidens who lived lives of austerity and prayer in or near the church of Saint Mary Major. They were venerated by Saint Gregory the Great (Benedictines, Encyclopedia). VV (RM)
Romæ sanctárum Vírginum Rómulæ, Redémptæ et Herúndinis, de quibus scribit sanctus Gregórius Papa.
At Rome, the saintly virgins Romula, Redempta, and Herundo, mentioned by Pope St. Gregory in his writings.

9th v. Martyrs of Bulgaria war between the Greek emperor, Nicephorus, and the Bulgars (RM)
In Bulgária sanctórum plurimórum Mártyrum, quos ímpius Imperátor Nicéphorus, Ecclésias Dei devástans, divérso mortis génere, nimírum ense, láqueo, sagíttis, diútino cárcere et fame necári fecit.
In Bulgaria, many holy martyrs, whom the impious Emperor Nicephorus, while devastating the churches of God, put to death in various ways: by the sword, by hanging, arrows, long imprisonment, and by starvation.
An unknown number of Bulgarian Catholics who were martyred for their faith during the war between the Greek emperor, Nicephorus, and the Bulgars, who were not yet Christians. Many fell on the battlefield. Others were more traditional martyrs. There is much uncertainty as exact circumstances, but they have always been accounted martyrs (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).

918 St. Anne Hermitess went to Leucadia, Epirus, about 896. She lived as a hermitess there until her death
Also called Susanna. Born in Constantinople in 840 to aristocrats, she fled the city to avoid marriage to Agarenus whose marriage proposal was supported by Emperor Basil the Macedonian. Anne went to Leucadia, Epirus, about 896. She lived as a hermitess there until her death. Anne may be the "Maura" listed in the Roman Martyrology as suffering martyrdom in Constantinople
Anne (Susanna) of Constantinople V Hermit (AC) Born in Constantinople c. 840; died c. 918. Anne was orphaned at an early age and inherited a large fortune, which attracted many unsuitable men. She refused their offers of marriage, spent her money in the service of the poor, and finally lived half a century as a solitary on the Leucadian promontory of Epirus (Benedictines).
Anne, also called Susanna, was born at Constantinople about the year 840. Her father died while she was young, leaving a large fortune to her mother, who brought her up with care. Anne added personal beauty to her material riches, but refused several offers of marriage. One suitor, Agarenus, was backed by the emperor himself, Basil the Macedonian, and when Anne again refused she was subjected to persecution and ill-treatment. Hitherto she had led a monastic life in the world, but now she fled to Leucadia, the promontory in Epirus, and there passed the rest of her life in complete solitude. She was then about twenty-eight and died fifty years later.
Long afterwards her tomb was the scene of such marvellous cures, especially of those possessed by evil spirits, that it was opened; her body was found quite undecayed and giving off a sweet smell, and thenceforth St Anne was held in great veneration by the Greeks.
It is interesting to note that Leucadia is also known as Saint Maura, the name of a town thereon, after a virgin martyr of whom nothing at all is known except that veneration for her memory was so great that the apostate Emperor Julian, in order to overcome it, gave it out that the cultus was really a disguised worship of Aphrodite. The Roman Martyrology mentions her on November 30, and puts her at Constantinople; it does not name this St Anne.

See the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. v. It is noted by Martynov, Annus Ecclesiasticus Graeco-Slavicus (in Acta Sanctorum, October, vol. xi), that in certain texts of the synaxaries the virgin is named Susanna, not Anna.

Anne (Susanna) of Constantinople V Hermit (AC) Born in Constantinople c. 840. Anne was orphaned at an early age and inherited a large fortune, which attracted many unsuitable men. She refused their offers of marriage, spent her money in the service of the poor, and finally lived half a century as a solitary on the Leucadian promontory of Epirus (Benedictines).

1306 Blessed Jane of Orvieto a Dominican tertiary her life was one of unwearied devotion to God, attention to the poor; it was known that she bore particular good will towards those who were unkind to her, doing penance for their sins;
Also known as Giovanna, Vanna) Born at Carnajola, near Orvieto, Italy; cultus approved in 1754. Blessed Jane was a Dominican tertiary (Benedictines) OP Tert. V (AC)
Joan was a peasant girl of Carnaiola, and was, and is at Orvieto, commonly called Vanna. She was left an orphan at the age of five, and her companions tried to frighten her by telling her that now she would have no one to look after her and she would starve. This did not disturb her and she retorted on them that " I've got a better father than you have!" When asked what she meant she led them to the church and pointed triumphantly to an image of a guardian angel: "He will look after me!" Her trust was justified, for she was adopted by a family in Orvieto, who brought her up and arranged a marriage for her. But Joan had different ideas. She ran away to the house of a friend and joined the third order of St Dominic. Henceforward her life was one of unwearied devotion to God and attention to the poor; it was known that she bore particular good will towards those who were unkind to her, doing penance for their sins, and it became a byword in Orvieto that anyone who wanted Sister Joan's prayers should do her a bad turn.

Numerous ecstasies and other unusual occurrences were reported of her.
For some years she was under the spiritual direction of Bd James of Mevania, stationed at the Dominican priory in Orvieto;
there is a remarkable story told of Joan confessing to him at Orvieto, when he was in fact lying dead at Bevagna.

Joan predicted among other things some of the miracles that would happen after her own death, but made every effort to conceal the supernatural favours that were accorded her; her detachment from the world, her humility and her sweetness she could not hide. She always maintained great devotion to the holy angels, and died in their care on July 23, 1306. Her cultus was approved in 1754.

Bd Joan is lmown to us primarily by a Latin life that was written by James Scaiza this was edited in 1853, and other editions in Italian were issued by L. Furni and by L.m Passarini. See also Procter, Dominican Saints, and M. C. Ganay, Les bienheureuses Dominicaines (1913).

Blessed Jane of Orvieto, OP Tert. V (AC) (also known as Giovanna, Vanna) Born at Carnajola, near Orvieto, Italy; cultus approved in 1754. Blessed Jane was a Dominican tertiary (Benedictines).

1340 Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God is in the Pochaev monastery among the most venerable sacred items of the Orthodox Church

Pochaev_original_Icon of the Mother of God

The Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God is among the most venerable sacred items of the Orthodox Church. Located at the Dormition Cathedral, Pochaev, Ukraine, the icon is renowned throughout the Slavic world and is venerated by Orthodox Christians throughout the world. Christians of other confessions also come to venerate the wonderworking image of the Most Holy Theotokos, together with the Orthodox. The wonderworking icon has been kept at the Pochaev Lavra, an ancient bastion of Orthodoxy, for about 400 years. (The account of the transfer of the icon to the Pochaev monastery is found under September 8). The miracles which issued forth from the holy icon are numerous and are testified to in the monastery books with the signatures of the faithful who have been delivered from unclean spirits, liberated from captivity, and sinners brought to their senses.

In the year 1721, Pochaev was occupied by Uniates. Even in this difficult time for the Lavra, the monastery chronicle notes 539 miracles from the glorified Orthodox icon. During the time of the Uniate rule in the second half of the eighteenth century, for example, the Uniate nobleman Count Nicholas Pototski became a benefactor of the Pochaev Lavra through the following miraculous circumstance. Having accused his coachman of overturning the carriage with frenzied horses, the count took out a pistol to shoot him. The coachman, turning towards Pochaev Hill, reached his hands upwards and cried out: "Mother of God, manifest in the Pochaev Icon, save me!" Pototski several times tried to shoot the pistol, which had never let him down, but the weapon misfired. The coachman remained alive. Pototski then immediately went to the wonderworking icon and decided to devote himself and all his property to the building-up of the monastery. From his wealth the Dormition cathedral was built, as well as buildings for the brethren.

The return of Pochaev into the bosom of Orthodoxy in 1832 was marked by the miraculous healing of the blind maiden Anna Akimchukova, who had come on pilgrimage to the holy things together with her seventy-year-old grandmother from Kremenets-Podolsk, 200 versts away. In memory of this event, the Volhynia archbishop and Lavra archimandrite Innocent (1832-1840) established the reading of the Akathist on Saturdays before the wonderworking icon. During the time of Archimandrite Agathangelus, Archbishop of Volhynia (1866-1876), a separate chapel was constructed in the galleries of the Holy Trinity church in memory of the victory over the Tatars, which was dedicated on July 23, 1875.

The Pochaev Icon is also commemorated on Friday of Bright Week and on September 8.

Two monks settled on the hill where the monastery is now located in the year 1340. One of the monks went to the top of the hill after he had prayed, and suddenly he saw the Theotokos standing on a stone and encircled by flame. He summoned the other monk to behold the marvel. A third witness of the vision was the herdsman Ioann Bosoi. He ran to the hill, and the three of them glorified God. The Most Holy Theotokos left the imprint of Her right foot on the stone where She had stood.

In 1559 Metropolitan Neophytus of Constantinople, on his journey through Volhynia, visited the noblewoman Anna Goiskaya living at the estate of Orlya, not far from Pochaev. As a farewell blessing he left Anna an icon of the Mother of God which he brought from Constantinople. They began to notice a radiance coming from the icon. In 1597 Anna's brother Philip was healed of an ailment before the eyes of a monk who lived on the hill at Pochaev. She then gave the wonderworking image to the monk. The icon was placed in a church which was built in honor of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. A monastery was later established there, and Anna Goiskaya provided a large portion of the money needed for construction.

The following is one of the more famous accounts of help from the Queen of Heaven through her wonderworking Pochaev Icon.

A monk of Pochaev monastery was taken into captivity by the Tatars. Held as a slave, he thought of the Pochaev monastery, its holy things, the divine services, and the church singing. In particular the monk yearned to be in Pochaev for the approaching Feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. He prayed tearfully to the Mother of God for deliverance from captivity,

suddenly, through the prayers of the Holy Virgin, the walls of the dungeon disappeared,
and the monk found himself standing before the walls of the Pochaev monastery.

The Pochaev Icon is also celebrated on Friday of Bright Week and on July 23.

Celebration in honor of the Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God on July 23 established in memory of deliverance of the Dormition Lavra monastery from a Turkish siege on July 20-23, 1675.
In the summer of 1675 during the Zbarazhsk War with the Turks, in the reign of the Polish King Jan Sobesski (1674-1696).
regiments composed of Tatars under the command of Khan Nurredin via Vishnevets fell upon the Pochaev monastery, surrounding it on three sides. The weak monastery walls and its stone buildings did not offer much defense against a siege. The igumen Joseph Dobromirsky urged the brethren and laypeople to pray to their heavenly intercessors: the Most Holy Theotokos and St Job of Pochaev (October 28).

The monks and the laypeople prayed fervently, prostrating themselves before the wonderworking icon of the Mother of God and the reliquary with the relics of St Job. At sunrise on the morning of July 23, as the Tatars were planning an assault on the monastery, the igumen ordered an Akathist to the Theotokos to be sung. At the opening words, "O Queen of the Heavenly Hosts," the Most Holy Theotokos suddenly appeared over the church, in "an unfurled gleaming-white maphorion," with angels holding unsheathed swords. St Job stood beside the Mother of God, bowing to Her and beseeching Her to defend the monastery.
The Tatars believed the heavenly army was a vision, and in confusion they began to shoot arrows at the Most Holy Theotokos and St Job, but the arrows fell backwards and wounded those who shot them. Terror seized the enemy. In a flight of panic and without looking, they trampled upon and killed each other. The defenders of the monastery attempted pursuit and took many prisoners.

Some of the prisoners afterwards accepted the Christian Faith and remained at the monastery thereafter.

1373 Bridget (Birgitta) of Sweden, Religious visions were written in a book called Revelations
Born in 1304; feast day formerly on October 8.
"True wisdom, then, consists in works, not in great talents, which the world admires; for the wise in the world's estimation... are the foolish who set at naught the will of God, and know not how to control their passions." --Saint Brigit of Sweden.
Bridget was the daughter of Birger, the wealthy governor of Upland, Sweden, and his second wife, Ingeborg, the daughter of the governor of East Gothland. When Bridget was 12, her mother died, and she was raised by an aunt at Aspenaes on Lake Sommen. When she was 14, she was wedded to 18-year-old prince Ulf Gunmarsson. The fruit of their happy, 28-year marriage was eight children, including another saint, Karin or Catherine of Vadstena.
For several years she acted as the feudal lady on her husband's estate at Ulfasa, and, uncharacteristically for women of the period, she cultivated friendships with many erudite men. In 1335, she was summoned to be chief lady-in-waiting at the court of King Magnus Eriksson (Magnus II), who had married Blanche of Namur. Magnus was weak-willed and Blanche, rather frivolous. It was Bridget's duty to correct the lives of the immature king and queen.

1373 ST BRIDGET, WIDOW, FOUNDRESS OF THE ORDER OF THE MOST HOLY SAVIOUR
ST BIRGITTA, more commonly called Bridget, was daughter of Birger, governor of Upland, the principal province of Sweden, and his second wife, Ingeborg, daughter to the governor of East Gothland. Ingeborg, who had several other children, died about the year 1315, some twelve years after the birth of Bridget, who thenceforward was brought up by an aunt at Aspenäs on lake Sommen. She had not begun to speak till she was three years old, and then she spoke quite clearly and unhesitatingly, rather than confusedly like a child; her goodness and devotion matched her speech. But she tells us that in her youth she was inclined to be proud and overbearing. When she was seven she had a vision of being crowned by our Lady; at ten she was deeply affected by a sermon on the passion of Christ, and the night following seemed to see Him hanging upon His cross and she thought she heard Him say to her, “Look upon me, my daughter”. “Alas”, said she, “who has treated you thus ?” She seemed to herself to hear Him answer, “They who despise me, and spurn my love for them”.
The impression made upon her mind was never effaced, and from that time the sufferings of her Redeemer became the centre of her spiritual life. Before she was fourteen, Bridget married Ulf Gudmarsson, who was himself only eighteen, and the marriage subsisted happily for twenty-eight years. They had eight children, four boys and four girls, of whom one is venerated as St Catherine of Sweden. For some years Bridget led the life of a feudal lady on her husband’s estate at Ulfasa, with the difference that she cultivated the friendship of a number of learned and virtuous men.
   About the year 1335 St Bridget was summoned to the court of the young king of Sweden, Magnus II, to be principal lady-in-waiting to his newly-wedded queen, Blanche of Namur. Before she had been long at court Bridget found that her responsibilities could not stop at the duties of her office. Magnus was weak and tended to be wicked; Blanche was good-willed but irresponsible and luxury loving. The saint bent all her energies to developing the better side of the queen’s character and to establishing an influence for good over both of them. As so often happens in such cases, she earned the respect of the young sovereigns, but did not succeed in making much difference in their lives; they could not or would not take her altogether seriously. The personal revelations which later were to make St Bridget so famous were already supporting her, and concerned matters so far apart as the necessity of washing and terms for peace between England and France, “which if the English king does not accept, he will prosper in none of his affairs, but will end his life in grief and leave his realm and children in tribulation and anguish”. But the court did not seem susceptible to these influences: “What was the Lady Bridget dreaming about last night?” became a sort of byword. And St Bridget had troubles of her own. Her eldest daughter had married a riotous noble whom his mother-in-law refers to as “the Brigand”; and about 1340 the youngest son, Gudmar, died. St Bridget thereupon made a pilgrimage to the shrine of St Olaf of Norway at Trondhjem, and on her return, fortified thereby, she made a further attempt to curb the excesses of Magnus and Blanche. Meeting with no more success than before, she got leave of absence from the court, and with Ulf went on pilgrimage to Compostela. On the way back Ulf was taken ill at Arras, where he received the last sacraments and all seemed over. But Bridget spared neither pains nor prayers for his recovery, and she received an assurance of it by a revelation of St Denis. He was in fact restored again to health, and husband and wife vowed henceforward to devote their lives to God in religious houses. But, apparently before this resolution could take effect, Ulf died in 1344 at the monastery of Alvastra of the Cistercian Order.
   St Bridget continued to live at Alvastra for four years, having taken upon herself the state of a penitent, and from that day she seemed to forget what she had been in the world. She changed her manner of dress, using no more linen except for a veil to cover her head, wearing a rough hair-shift and cords full of knots for a girdle. Her visions and revelations now became so insistent that she was alarmed, fearing to be deluded by the Devil or by her own imagination. But a thrice-repeated vision told her to submit them to Master Matthias, a canon of Linköping and a priest of experience and learning, and he pronounced them to be of God. From now to her death she communicated them as they occurred to Peter, prior at Alvastra, who wrote them down in Latin. Those of this period culminated in a command of our Lord to go to the royal court and warn King Magnus of the judgement of God on his sins. She did so, and included the queen, the nobles and the bishops in her denunciation. For a time Magnus mended his ways, and liberally endowed the monastery which St Bridget now, in consequence of a further vision, planned to found at Vadstena, on Lake Vättern.
   In this house St Bridget provided for sixty nuns, and in a separate enclosure monks, to the number of thirteen priests, in honour of the twelve Apostles and St Paul, four deacons, representing the Doctors of the Church, and eight choir-brothers not in orders, making the number of our Lord’s apostles and disciples, eighty-five, in all. She prescribed them certain particular constitutions, which are said dictated to her by our Saviour in a vision. This circumstance is neither mentioned by Pope Boniface IX in the bull of her canonization, nor by Martin V when he ratified the privileges of Syon Abbey and reaffirmed the canonization; and the popes when they speak of this rule mention only the approbation of the Holy See, without making reference to any such private revelation. In this institute, as in the Order of Fontevrault, the men were subject to the abbess of the nuns in temporals, but in spirituals the women were subject to the superior of the monks, because the order was principally instituted for women and the men were admitted only to afford them spiritual ministrations. The convents of the men and women were separated by an inviolable enclosure, but had the same church, in which the nuns’ choir was above in a gallery, so they could not even see one another.
   There are now no men in the Order of the Most Holy Saviour, or Bridgettines as they are commonly called, and where formerly there were seventy houses of nuns there are today but about a dozen. All surplus income had every year to be given to the poor, and ostentatious buildings were forbidden; but each religious could have as many books for study as he or she pleased.* * The Bridgettine community at South Brent in Devon has unbroken organic identity with a pre-Reformation community, and is the only English religious community of which this is true. It was founded by King Henry V in 1415, and settled in 1431 at Syon House, Isleworth. The nuns took refuge at Termonde in Flanders at the dissolution under Henry VIII, after various vicissitudes settled at Lisbon, and returned to England (Spettisbury in Dorset) in 1861. Building of the abbey at Vadstena was not finally begun till 1369.
   During the fifteenth century Vadstena was the literary centre of Sweden.
   In consequence of a vision St Bridget wrote a very outspoken letter to Pope Clement VI, urging him to abandon Avignon for Rome, and to bring about peace between Edward III of England and Philip IV of France. The pope declined to leave Avignon, but sent Hemming, Bishop of Abö, to Philip’s court, where, however, he could do nothing. King Magnus, meanwhile, who valued Bridget’s prayers if not her advice, asked for her interest in a projected crusade against the pagan Letts and Estonians, which was really a disguised plundering expedition. The saint saw through it, and tried to dissuade him.
She was now out of favour at the Swedish court, but was beloved by the people, among whom she went travelling about the country and looking after their temporal and spiritual welfare. Many of them were not long converted, and she enforced the preaching of her chaplains by miracles of healing. In 1349, in spite of the Black Death that was ravaging Europe, she decided to go to popeless Rome for the year of jubilee in 1350.
With her confessor, Peter of Skeninge, and others, she embarked at Stralsund, amid the tears of the people who were never to see her again for at Rome she settled down, to work among the people and for the return of the popes to their City. She lived by a rule, being present at Mass at five o’clock every morning; it is said she went to confession every day and to communion several times a week. The brightness of her virtue shone doubly in contrast to the degradedness of Rome in those days, where open robbery and violence were rife, vice no less open and unashamed, the churches falling through neglect, and the people uncared for except to be exploited. The austerity of her way of living, the fervour of her devotion, her love of the holy shrines, her severity to herself and kindness to others, her tirelessness in serving the sick, the poor and pilgrims, made her loved by all in whom the light of Christianity was not entirely extinguished. She made the care of her fellow-countrymen her particular charge, and every day she fed Swedish pilgrims in her house near St Laurence in Damaso.
   Nor did St Bridget confine her good works and exhortations to holy living to the poor and humble. She went to the great monastery of Farfa to remonstrate with the abbot, “a very worldly man, who did not trouble about souls at all”; but it is to be feared that he did not mend his ways. So Bridget turned her attention to another relaxed house, at Bologna, where she had more success. It was probably at Bologna that her daughter, St Catherine, joined her. Bridget persuaded her not to return to Sweden, and Catherine remained her helper and dear companion throughout the remainder of her life. Among the places particularly associated with St Bridget in Rome are the churches of St Paul’s-outside-the-Walls and San Francesco a Ripa. In the first is the most beautiful crucifix of Cavallini before which she prayed, which is said to have spoken to her, and in the second she had a vision of St Francis, who said to her, “Come, eat and drink with me in my cell”. She took this to be an invitation to go to Assisi, which she accordingly did. Later she made a tour of shrines in Italy that lasted for two years.
   The saint’s prophecies and revelations had reference to most of the burning political and religious questions of her time, both of Sweden and Rome. She prophesied that pope and emperor would shortly meet amicably in Rome (which Bd Urban V and Charles IV did in 1368), and the using of her by factions did somewhat to abate her popularity among the Romans. Her prophecies that their iniquities would be visited with condign punishments had the same effect, and several times her ardour drew down persecution and slander upon her. On the other hand, she was not sparing of her criticisms, and did not fear to denounce a pope as “a murderer of souls, more unjust than Pilate and more cruel than Judas”.

Once she was turned out of her house at a month's notice, and more than once she and Catherine found themselves seriously in debt; they sometimes even had to beg food at a convent of Poor Clares. St Bridget's joy at the coming of Pope Urban V was short-lived, for he soon retired to Viterbo and Montefiascone, and it was rumoured he was going back to Avignon. On her return from a pilgrimage to Amalfi she had a vision in which our Lord appeared to tell her to go to the pope, warn him that his death was near, and show him the rule of the religious at Vadstena. This rule had already been submitted to Urban when he arrived in Rome, and he had done nothing about it. So now Bridget set off to Montefiascone on her white mule, and as a result the pope gave a general approval to her religious foundation, prescribing for it the general Rule of St Augustine with the Bridgettine constitutions. Four months later Urban was dead, and St Bridget three times wrote to his successor at Avignon, Gregory XI, warning him to come back to the apostolic see, which he eventually did four years after her death.

In 1371, in consequence of another vision, St Bridget embarked on the last of her journeys, a pilgrimage to the Holy Places, taking with her St Catherine, her sons Charles and Birger, Alphonsus of Vadaterra and others. The expedition started inauspiciously, for at Naples Charles got himself entangled with Queen Joanna I, of unenviable reputation. Although his wife was still alive in Sweden, and her third husband in Spain, Joanna wanted to marry him, and he was far from unwilling. His mother was horror-stricken, and set herself to ceaseless prayer for the resolution of the difficulty. It came about in an unexpected and tragic way. Charles was struck down by a fever, and after a fortnight's illness died in the arms of his mother.
He was, with St Catherine, her favourite child, and Bridget after his funeral went on in deepest grief to Palestine. Here, after being nearly drowned in a wreck off Jaffa, her progress through the Holy Places was a succession of visions of the events that had happened there and other heavenly consolations. On her way back, in the autumn of 1372, she landed at Cyprus where she denounced the wickedness of the royal family and the citizens of Famagusta, who had mocked at her warnings on her way out; then she passed on to Naples, where her warnings were read by the clergy from the pulpit but with little effect on their uninstructed and erring congregations. The party arrived back in Rome in March 1373. Bridget had been ailing for some months, and now she got weaker every day till, having received the last sacraments from her faithful friend; Peter of Alvastra, she died on July 23 in her seventy-first year. She was temporarily buried in the church of St Lawrence in Panisperna. Four months after, the body was taken up and, in the care of St Catherine and Peter of Alvastra; it was carried in triumphal progress by way of Dalmatia, Austria, Poland and Danzig to Vadstena, where it was laid to rest in the abbey.
St Bridget was canonized in 1391 and is the patron saint of the kingdom of Sweden. Thirty-five or so years after her death, one of her maids in Rome told Margery Kempe of Lynn that Bridget “was kind and meek to every creature, and had a laughing face”.
Nothing is more famous in the life of St Bridget than the many revelations with which God, chiefly concerning the sufferings of our Saviour, favoured her and events that were to happen in certain kingdoms. By order of the Council of Basle, the learned John Torquemada, afterwards cardinal, examined the book of St Bridget's revelations, and approved it as profitable for the instruction of the faithful, but this approbation met with not a little opposition. It, however, amounts to no more than a declaration that the doctrine contained in that book is conformable to the orthodox faith, and that the revelations are credible upon a historical probability.
Pope Benedict XIV referred specifically to the revelations of St Bridget, among others, when he wrote that, “Even though many of these revelations have been approved, we cannot and we ought not to give them the assent of divine faith, but only that of human faith, according to the dictates of prudence whenever these dictates enable us to decide that they are probable and worthy of pious credence”.

St Bridget with true simplicity of heart always submitted her revelations to the judgement of the pastors of the Church; and she was far from ever glorying in any extraordinary graces, which she never desired and on which she never relied except to be obedient thereto and to increase her love and humility.

If her revelations have rendered her name famous, it is by her heroic virtue that it is venerable to the whole Church. To live according to the spirit of the mysteries of religion is something much greater and more sublime than to know hidden things or to be favoured with the most extraordinary visions. To have the knowledge of angels without charity is to be only a tinkling cymbal; both to have charity and to speak the language of angels was the happy privilege of St Bridget.

The book of her revelations was first printed at Lübeck in 1492, and has been translated into many languages. They were known in England soon after the Bridgettine Richard Whytford translated the saint’s death, and part in 1531. The lessons at Matins in the Bridgettine office are taken from the revelations on the glories of our Lady, the Sermo angelicus, according to the alleged words of our Lord to St Bridget, “I will send my angel who will reveal to you the lesson that shall be read at Matins by the nuns of your monastery, and you shall write it as he tells you”. Alban Butler pertinently remarks that if we had the revelations as written down by St Bridget herself, instead of passing through the mind and translation of Peter of Alvastra and, in part, Alphonsus of Vadaterra, “it would have been compiled with more simplicity and with greater life and spirit, and would have received a higher degree of certainty”.

Owing to the immense interest which has been taken in St Bridget by Scandinavian scholars of all creeds, the materials formerly available in the various editions of the Revelationes Stae Birgittae and in the Acta Sanctorum, October, vol. iv, have to a large extent been superseded. The oldest life, which was compiled immediately after her death by her confessor Peter of Alvastra and Peter of Skeninge was only printed for the first time in 1871 in the collection Scriptores rerum Suecicarum, vol. iii, pt 2, pp. 185-206. Other lives, such as that by Birger, archbishop of Upsala, will be found in the Bollandists and in the publications of Swedish learned societies. A scholarly edition of the whole collection of the canonization documents has been compiled by Isak ColIijn, Acta et Processus canonizacionis Beate Birgitte (1924-31). There are furthermore a number of biographies and of studies of special aspects of the saint's career, mostly in Swedish; notably an account of the historical personages connected with her life in Sweden and in Rome. This, published under the title Birgittinska Gestalter (1929), is also by Collijn. One historically excellent Swedish life, by E. Fagelklou, has been translated into German (1929) by M. Loehr. Among French biographies that written by Countess de Flavigny, Sainte Brigitte de Suede, may be recommended as having made good use of Swedish sources. It seems rather doubtful whether the Revelations have not been to some extent coloured by the prepossessions of her confessors who copied them or translated them into Latin. The most reliable text is said to be that of G. E. Klemming in Swedish (1857-84), of which a modernized selection has been edited by R. Steffen (1900). F. Partridge contributed an English life of St Bridget to the Quarterly Series in 1888; The Story of the English Bridgettines (1933) has been briefly told by Canon J. R. Fletcher; and in 1947 there was published in America God's Ambassadress, by Helen Redpath, an admirable biography, both scholarly and popular. Cf. also E. Graf, Revelations and Prayers of St Bridget (1928), which consists of the Sermo angelicus; and The Book of Margery Kempe (1936), pp. 149—141. J. Jorgensen’s St. Bridget of Sweden (2 vols.) appeared in English in 1954. St Bridget (and her daughter St Catherine) is commonly called “of Sweden”, but she was not of the royal house, either by birth or marriage; nor did she ever found an order of knights.

Bridget's personal revelations, which were to make her famous later, were already guiding her opinions on subjects as varied as the necessity of washing, to the terms for peace between England and France. The court remained largely deaf to her suggestions and some whispered against her. Bridget became more preoccupied with her own family when her daughter made an unfortunate marriage and her youngest son, Gudmar, died in 1340.
The saint made a pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Olaf of Norway at Trondheim. When she returned to court, she renewed her efforts to guide the steps of the young royal couple. Still unsuccessful in this task, she begged leave and was given permission to make a pilgrimage with her husband to Santiago de Compostella.
On the way home, Ulf fell ill and received the last sacraments at Arras. He finally recovered as Bridget had foreseen in a vision of Saint Denis, and the couple vowed to devote their lives to God in religious houses. Ulf entered the Cistercian monastery at Alvastra, where he died in 1344. Bridget continued to live as a penitent at that double-monastery for another four years.
When her visions and revelations became frequent, she grew afraid that she might be imaging them all. After experiencing the same vision three times, she submitted them to Master Matthias, canon of Linkoeping. He pronounced her visions to be originated from God. From that point until her death, she submitted them to Peter, the prior of Alvastra, who copied them down in Latin.
A vision commanded her to go to court and warn Magnus of the judgment of God on his sins. She did so, denouncing the whole royal court in her warning. Magnus briefly changed his ways, and endowed a monastery, which Bridget, in response to a vision in 1344, planned to found at Vadstena on Lake Vattern.

The monastery provided for 60 nuns. There was a separate enclosure for monks, including 13 priests (in honor of the twelve apostles and Saint Paul), four deacons (representing the four great Latin Doctors of the Church), and eight choir brothers not in orders, totalling the number of the Lord's apostles and disciples (12 plus 72 or 84 in all).
Bridget prescribed a constitution, which was said to have been dictated to her by the Savior in a vision. The men were subject to the abbess of nuns in temporal matters, but the women were subject to the men in spiritual ones, the reason for which men were asked to join. The convents were separate, and while they used the same church, it was designed so that the men and women could not see one another. The community was named the Order of the Most Holy Savior, or the Bridgettines, as they came to be called.
Extra income from the monastery was given to the poor, and ostentatious buildings were forbidden. The religious were allowed to have as many books for study as they wished, however, and the monastery was to become the intellectual center of Sweden in the 15th century.
In 1349, Bridget travelled to Rome with her confessor, Peter of Skeninge, and others for the 1350 Jubilee even though no Pope in residence there. She hoped to obtain approval for the order. In Rome she settled down to devote herself to the poor, reform monasteries, and to lobby for the return of the pope to the city.
She is associated with the churches of Saint Paul's Outside-the- Walls and San Francesco a Ripa. In Saint Paul's, a crucifix of Cavallini is said to have spoken to her. In San Francesco a Ripa, she was visited by a vision of Saint Francis of Assisi. She took this to be an invitation to visit Assisi, which she did. Bridget toured the shrines of Italy for two years.
Her prophecies and revelations made reference to the prominent religious and political events of the day, both in Rome and in Sweden. She refused to support Magnus in his crusade against the pagans in Latvia and Estonia, saying it was an excuse for a marauding expedition. She wrote to Pope Clement VI telling him that a vision demanded that he return to Rome and that he secure peace between England and France. She prophesied that the pope and emperor would be able to meet peacefully in Rome. Like her contemporary, Saint Catherine of Siena, Bridget was famous for her criticism, even of popes.
In 1371, in response to another vision, she travelled on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with her daughter Karin, sons Charles (Karl) and Birger, Alphonsus of Vadaterra, and others. Her son Charles became involved with Queen Joanna I, who despite the fact that both were already married, wanted to marry him. Horrified, Bridget prayed ceaselessly for a resolution. It came when Charles was sickened by a fever and died in her arms a few weeks later. He had been one of her favorite children.
After the funeral, she went to Cyprus, grieving terribly. She nearly drowned in a shipwreck off Jaffa, but her journey to holy places was enriched by a series of comforting visions of things that had occurred there. She returned to Rome in 1373, but ailing. Bridget died after receiving the viaticum from her friend Peter of Alvastra. Her body was taken to Vadstena.

July 23, 2010 St. Bridget (1303?-1373)

From age seven on, Bridget had visions of Christ crucified. Her visions formed the basis for her activity—always with the emphasis on charity rather than spiritual favors. She lived her married life in the court of the Swedish king Magnus II. Mother of eight children (the second eldest was St. Catherine of Sweden), she lived the strict life of a penitent after her husband's death.

Bridget constantly strove to exert her good influence over Magnus; while never fully reforming, he did give her land and buildings to found a monastery for men and women. This group eventually expanded into an Order known as the Bridgetines (still in existence). In 1350, a year of jubilee, Bridget braved a plague-stricken Europe to make a pilgrimage to Rome. Although she never returned to Sweden, her years in Rome were far from happy, being hounded by debts and by opposition to her work against Church abuses. A final pilgrimage to the Holy Land, marred by shipwreck and the death of her son, Charles, eventually led to her death in 1373. In 1999, she, Saints Catherine of Siena and Edith Stein were named co-patronesses of Europe.

Comment: Bridget's visions, rather than isolating her from the affairs of the world, involved her in many contemporary issues, whether they be royal policy or the Avignon papacy. She saw no contradiction between mystical experience and secular activity, and her life is a testimony to the possibility of a holy life in the market place. Quote: Despite the hardships of life and wayward children (not all became saints), Margery Kempe of Lynn says Bridget was "kind and meek to every creature" and "she had a laughing face."

Bridget's visions were written in a book called Revelations. Today there are 12 Bridgettine convents left (Martindale, White).
In art, Saint Bridget is portrayed as a crowned Brigittine abbess with a cross on her brow, holding a book and a pilgrim's staff. She may also be shown (1) writing with a pilgrim's attributes near her; (2) as Christ and the Virgin appear while she is writing; (3) reading, holding a cross, with builders in the background; (4) in ecstasy before the crucifix with instruments of the Passion nearby; (5) as a small child present at the Scourging of Christ (one of her revelations); (6) as a nun with a cross on her brow witnessing the Birth of Christ (another revelation); (7) enthroned, with Christ above her and hell below, she gives books to the emperor and kings; or (8) giving a book to Saint Augustine (Roeder).

Bridget is the patron saint of Sweden (White).

1408—1427 St. George, the Great Martyr Recovery of the Holy Relics of; many signs were manifested from it to his church in Old Cairo {Coptic}

On this day also, was the arrival of the holy relics of St. George, the great martyr, to his church in Old Cairo. A monk called Fr. Marcus, who was the hegumen and Abbot of El-Qualamoun monastery, used to visit the villages and the cities every year to visit the Christians. One night, while he was visiting someone in one of the villages he used to visit, he saw St. George (Gawargios) in a vision, who told him,

"Take my body from the woman that will be coming to you tomorrow,
and place it in my church that is in Old Cairo."

On the next day, a woman came to him and told him that she had a box that her father had brought before his death from the church of St. George in Palestine.
This fulfilled the vision, and he went with her and examined the box. Then, he went to Pope Gabrial, 88th Pope, and told him about the vision and the box. Immediately the Pope rose up and took with him the priests and the deacons, and went to where the box was. After they took the blessings of the holy relics and gave some money to the woman, they carried the box in a venerable celebration. They brought it to the church of St. George in Old Cairo where many signs were manifested from it. May his prayers be with us and Glory be to God forever. Amen.
1888 "Joy of All Who Sorrow" (With Coins) The Icon of the Mother of God was glorified in the year 1888 in Petersburg

When during the time of a terrible thunderstorm lightning struck in a chapel. All was burned or singed, except for this icon of the Queen of Heaven. It was knocked to the floor, and the poor box broke open at the same time.
Somehow, twelve small coins (half-kopeck pieces), became attached to the icon. A church was built in 1898 on the chapel site.

To Save A Life is Earthly; To Save A Soul is Eternal

THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 3

O Lady, why hast thou cast us off? and why wilt thou not help us in the day of tribulation?

Let my prayer come into thy sight: and despise not the voices of those who groan.

The enemy hath stretched his bow against us: he has strengthened his right hand, and there is no consoler.

Break for us the bonds of his malicious doings: and deliver us by thy right hand.

Drive him back into the place of perdition: let eternal damnation possess him.

Rejoice, ye Heavens, and be glad, O Earth: because Mary will console her servants and will have mercy on her poor.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost as it was in the beginning and will always be.

God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique, for each is the result of a new idea. As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike. It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints. Dear Lord, grant us a spirit that is not bound by our own ideas and preferences. Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves. O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory. Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives. Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts. God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heaven: only saints are allowed into heaven. The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR the benefit of others.

There are over 10,000 named saints beati from history
and Roman Martyology Orthodox sources
Patron_Saints.html Widowed_Saints html Indulgences The Catholic Church in China
LINKS: Marian Shrines India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East Lourdes 1858 China Marian shrines 1995
Kenya national Marian shrine Loreto, Italy Marian Apparitions (over 2000) Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798
Links to Related MarianWebsites Angels and Archangels Saints Visions of Heaven and Hell
Widowed Saints html
Doctors_of_the_Church Acts_Of_The_Apostles Roman Catholic Popes Purgatory Uniates Chalcedon

Mary the Mother of Jesus Miracles_BC Lay Saints Miraculous_Icons Miraculous_Medal_Novena Patron Saints
Miracles by Century 100   200   300   400   500   600   700    800   900   1000    1100   1200   1300   1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000
Miracles 100   200   300   400   500   600   700    800   900   1000
1100   1200   1300   1400 1500 1600 1700 1800   1900 Lay Saints

The great psalm of the Passion, Chapter 22, whose first verse “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Jesus pronounced on the cross, ended with the vision: “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations shall worship before him” For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations. All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage. And I will live for the LORD; my descendants will serve you. The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought.

Pope Benedict XVI to The Catholic Church In China {whole article here} 2000 years of the Catholic Church in China
The saints “a cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.

Join us on CatholicVote.org. Be part of a new movement committed to using powerful media projects to create a Culture of Life. We can help shape the movement and have a voice in its future. Check it out at www.CatholicVote.org

Saint Frances Xavier Seelos Practical Guide to Holiness

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

My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee. I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not

O most Holy trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended, and by the infite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. I beg the conversion of poor sinners, Fatima Prayer, Angel of Peace

The voice of the Father is heard, the Son enters the water, and the Holy Spirit appears in the form of a dove.

THE spirit and example of the world imperceptibly instil the error into the minds of many that there is a kind of middle way of going to Heaven; and so, because the world does not live up to the gospel, they bring the gospel down to the level of the world. It is not by this example that we are to measure the Christian rule, but words and life of Christ. All His followers are commanded to labour to become perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect, and to bear His image in our hearts that we may be His children. We are obliged by the gospel to die to ourselves by fighting self-love in our hearts, by the mastery of our passions, by taking on the spirit of our Lord.

These are the conditions under which Christ makes His promises and numbers us among His children, as is manifest from His words which the apostles have left us in their inspired writings. Here is no distinction made or foreseen between the apostles or clergy or religious and secular persons. The former, indeed, take upon themselves certain stricter obligations, as a means of accomplishing these ends more perfectly; but the law of holiness and of disengagement of the heart from the world is general and binds all the followers of Christ.

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

As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike.
It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints.
Dear Lord, grant us a spirit not bound by our own ideas and preferences.
Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves.
O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory.
Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.

Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.

The 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary ) Revealed to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan)

1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces. 2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. 3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. 4. It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that soul would sanctify them by this means. 5. The soul that recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish. 6. Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying themselves to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise them in His justice, they shall not perish by an unprovided death; if they be just, they shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life. 7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church. 8. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise. 9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. 10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven. 11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary. 12. I shall aid all those who propagate the Holy Rosary in their necessities. 13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death. 14. All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ. 15. Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

His Holiness Aram I, current (2013) Catholicos of Cilicia of Armenians, whose See is located in Lebanese town of Antelias. The Catholicosate was founded in Sis, capital of Cilicia, in the year 1441 following the move of the Catholicosate of All Armenians back to its original See of Etchmiadzin in Armenia. The Catholicosate of Cilicia enjoyed local jurisdiction, though spiritually subject to the authority of Etchmiadzin. In 1921 the See was transferred to Aleppo in Syria, and in 1930 to Antelias.

Its jurisdiction currently extends to Syria, Cyprus, Iran and Greece.

Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac

The exact date of the introduction of Christianity into Edessa {Armenian Ourhaï in Arabic Er Roha, commonly Orfa or Urfa, its present name} is not known. It is certain, however, that the Christian community was at first made up from the Jewish population of the city. According to an ancient legend, King Abgar V, Ushana, was converted by Addai, who was one of the seventy-two disciples. In fact, however, the first King of Edessa to embrace the Christian Faith was Abgar IX (c. 206) becoming official kingdom religion.

Christian council held at Edessa early as 197 (Eusebius, Hist. Ecc7V,xxiii).

In 201 the city was devastated by a great flood, and the Christian church was destroyed (“Chronicon Edessenum”, ad. an. 201).

In 232 the relics of the Apostle St. Thomas were brought from India, on which occasion his Syriac Acts were written.

Under Roman domination martyrs suffered at Edessa: Sts. Scharbîl and Barsamya, under Decius; Sts. Gûrja, Schâmôna, Habib, and others under Diocletian.

In the meanwhile Christian priests from Edessa evangelized Eastern Mesopotamia and Persia, established the first Churches in the kingdom of the Sassanides. Atillâtiâ, Bishop of Edessa, assisted at the Council of Nicæa (325). The “Peregrinatio Silviæ” (or Etheriæ) (ed. Gamurrini, Rome, 1887, 62 sqq.) gives an account of the many sanctuaries at Edessa about 388.

Although Hebrew had been the language of the ancient Israelite kingdom, after their return from Exile the Jews turned more and more to Aramaic, using it for parts of the books of Ezra and Daniel in the Bible. By the time of Jesus, Aramaic was the main language of Palestine, and quite a number of texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls are also written in Aramaic.

Aramaic continued to be an important language for Jews, alongside Hebrew, and parts of the Talmud are written in it.

After Arab conquests of the seventh century, Arabic quickly replaced Aramaic as the main language of those who converted to Islam, although in out of the way places, Aramaic continued as a vernacular language of Muslims.

Aramaic, however, enjoyed its greatest success in Christianity. Although the New Testament wins written in Greek, Christianity had come into existence in an Aramaic-speaking milieu, and it was the Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac, that became the literary language of a large number of Christians living in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire and in the Persian Empire, further east. Over the course of the centuries the influence of the Syriac Churches spread eastwards to China (in Xian, in western China, a Chinese-Syriac inscription dated 781 is still to be seen); to southern India where the state of Kerala can boast more Christians of Syriac liturgical tradition than anywhere else in the world.

680 Shiite saint Imam Hussein, grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammad Known as Ashoura and observed by Shiites across the world, the 10th day of the lunar Muslim month of Muharram: the anniversary of the 7th century death in battle of one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints. Imam Hussein died in the 680 A.D. battle fought on the plains outside Karbala, a city in modern Iraq that's home to the saint's shrine. The battle over a dispute about the leadership of the Muslim faith following Muhammad's death in 632 A.D. It is the defining event in Islam's split into Sunni and Shiite branches. The occasion is the source of an enduring moral lesson. "He sacrificed his blood to teach us not to give in to corruption, coercion, or use of force and to seek honor and justice." According to Shiite beliefs, Hussein and companions were denied water by enemies who controlled the nearby Euphrates. Streets get partially covered with blood from slaughter of hundreds of cows and sheep. Volunteers cook the meat and feed it to the poor. Hussein's martyrdom recounted through a rich body of prose, poetry and song remains an inspirational example of sacrifice to many Shiites, 10 percent of the world's estimated 1.3 billion Muslims.

Meeting of the Saints walis (saints of Allah)

Great men covet to embrace martyrdom for a cause and principle.

So was the case with Hazrat Ali. He could have made a compromise with the evil forces of his time and, as a result, could have led a very comfortable, easy and luxurious life. But he was not a person who would succumb to such temptations. His upbringing, his education and his training in the lap of the holy Prophet made him refuse such an offer.
Rabia Al-Basri (717–801 C.E.) She was first to set forth the doctrine of mystical love and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets. An elderly Shia pointed out that during his pre-Partition childhood it was quite common to find pictures and portraits of Shia icons in Imambaras across the country.
Shah Abdul Latif: The Exalted Sufi Master born 1690 in a Syed family; died 1754. In ancient times, Sindh housed the exemplary Indus Valley Civilisation with Moenjo Daro as its capital, and now, it is the land of a culture which evolved from the teachings of eminent Sufi saints. Pakistan is home to the mortal remains of many Sufi saints, the exalted among them being Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, a practitioner of the real Islam, philosopher, poet, musicologist and preacher. He presented his teaching through poetry and music - both instruments sublime - and commands a very large following, not only among Muslims but also among Hindus and Christians. Sindh culture: The Shah is synonymous with Sindh. He is the very fountainhead of Sindh's culture. His message remains as fresh as that of any present day poet, and the people of Sindh find solace from his writings. He did indeed think for Sindh. One of his prayers, in exquisite Sindhi, translates thus: “Oh God, may ever You on Sindh bestow abundance rare! Beloved! All the world let share Thy grace, and fruitful be.”
Shia Ali al-Hadi, died 868 and son Hassan al-Askari 874. These saints are the 10th and 11th of Shia's 12 most revered Imams. Baba Farid Sufi 1398 miracle, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki renowned Muslim Sufi saint scholar miracles 569 A.H. [1173 C.E.] hermit gave to poor, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti greatest mystic of his time born 533 Hijri (1138-39 A.D.), Hazrat Ghuas-e Azam, Hazrat Bu Ali Sharif, and Hazrat Nizamuddi n Aulia Sufi Saint Hazrath Khwaja Syed Mohammed Badshah Quadri Chisty Yamani Quadeer (RA) 1236-1325 welcomed people of all faiths & all walks of life.

801 Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya Sufi One of the most famous Islamic mystics
(b. 717). This 8th century saint was an early Sufi who had a profound influence on later Sufis, who in turn deeply influenced the European mystical love and troubadour traditions. Rabi'a was a woman of Basra, a seaport in southern Iraq. She was born around 717 and died in 801 (185-186). Her biographer, the great medieval poet Attar, tells us that she was "on fire with love and longing" and that men accepted her "as a second spotless Mary" (186). She was, he continues, “an unquestioned authority to her contemporaries" (218).
Rabi'a began her ascetic life in a small desert cell near Basra, where she lost herself in prayer and went straight to God for teaching. As far as is known, she never studied under any master or spiritual director. She was one of the first of the Sufis to teach that Love alone was the guide on the mystic path (222). A later Sufi taught that there were two classes of "true believers": one class sought a master as an intermediary between them and God -- unless they could see the footsteps of the Prophet on the path before them, they would not accept the path as valid. The second class “...did not look before them for the footprint of any of God's creatures, for they had removed all thought of what He had created from their hearts, and concerned themselves solely with God. (218)
Rabi'a was of this second kind. She felt no reverence even for the House of God in Mecca: "It is the Lord of the house Whom I need; what have I to do with the house?" (219) One lovely spring morning a friend asked her to come outside to see the works of God. She replied, "Come you inside that you may behold their Maker. Contemplation of the Maker has turned me aside from what He has made" (219). During an illness, a friend asked this woman if she desired anything.
"...[H]ow can you ask me such a question as 'What do I desire?' I swear by the glory of God that for twelve years I have desired fresh dates, and you know that in Basra dates are plentiful, and I have not yet tasted them. I am a servant (of God), and what has a servant to do with desire?" (162)
When a male friend once suggested she should pray for relief from a debilitating illness, she said,
"O Sufyan, do you not know Who it is that wills this suffering for me? Is it not God Who wills it? When you know this, why do you bid me ask for what is contrary to His will? It is not well to oppose one's Beloved." (221)
She was an ascetic. It was her custom to pray all night, sleep briefly just before dawn, and then rise again just as dawn "tinged the sky with gold" (187). She lived in celibacy and poverty, having renounced the world. A friend visited her in old age and found that all she owned were a reed mat, screen, a pottery jug, and a bed of felt which doubled as her prayer-rug (186), for where she prayed all night, she also slept briefly in the pre-dawn chill. Once her friends offered to get her a servant; she replied,
"I should be ashamed to ask for the things of this world from Him to Whom the world belongs, and how should I ask for them from those to whom it does not belong?" (186-7)
A wealthy merchant once wanted to give her a purse of gold. She refused it, saying that God, who sustains even those who dishonor Him, would surely sustain her, "whose soul is overflowing with love" for Him. And she added an ethical concern as well:
"...How should I take the wealth of someone of whom I do not know whether he acquired it lawfully or not?" (187)
She taught that repentance was a gift from God because no one could repent unless God had already accepted him and given him this gift of repentance. She taught that sinners must fear the punishment they deserved for their sins, but she also offered such sinners far more hope of Paradise than most other ascetics did. For herself, she held to a higher ideal, worshipping God neither from fear of Hell nor from hope of Paradise, for she saw such self-interest as unworthy of God's servants; emotions like fear and hope were like veils -- i.e., hindrances to the vision of God Himself. The story is told that once a number of Sufis saw her hurrying on her way with water in one hand and a burning torch in the other. When they asked her to explain, she said:
"I am going to light a fire in Paradise and to pour water on to Hell, so that both veils may vanish altogether from before the pilgrims and their purpose may be sure..." (187-188)
She was once asked where she came from. "From that other world," she said. "And where are you going?" she was asked. "To that other world," she replied (219). She taught that the spirit originated with God in "that other world" and had to return to Him in the end. Yet if the soul were sufficiently purified, even on earth, it could look upon God unveiled in all His glory and unite with him in love. In this quest, logic and reason were powerless. Instead, she speaks of the "eye" of her heart which alone could apprehend Him and His mysteries (220).
Above all, she was a lover, a bhakti, like one of Krishna’s Goptis in the Hindu tradition. Her hours of prayer were not so much devoted to intercession as to communion with her Beloved. Through this communion, she could discover His will for her. Many of her prayers have come down to us:
       "I have made Thee the Companion of my heart,
        But my body is available for those who seek its company,
        And my body is friendly towards its guests,
        But the Beloved of my heart is the Guest of my soul." [224]

To Save A Life is Earthly; Saving A Soul is Eternal Donation by mail, please send check or money order to:

Eternal Word Television Network 5817 Old Leeds Rd. Irondale, AL 35210 USA
Catholic Television Network Supported entirely by donations from viewers help spread the Eternal Word, online Here

Mother Angelica saving souls is this beautiful womans journey

Shrine_of_The_Most_Blessed_Sacrament

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

Thus began a great adventure that would eventually result in the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, a Temple dedicated to the Divine Child Jesus, a place of refuge for all. Use this link to read a remarkable story about The Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament

Father Reardon, Editor of The Catholic Bulletin for 14 years Lover of the poor; “A very Holy Man of God.”

Monsignor Reardon Protonotarius Apostolicus
Pastor 42 years BASILICA OF SAINT MARY Minneapolis MN

America's First Basilica Largest Nave in the World

August 7, 1907-ground broke for the foundation

by Archbishop Ireland-laying cornerstone May 31, 1908

James M. Reardon Publication History of Basilica of Saint Mary 1600-1932

Index to Part I and Part II 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}.

Saints Simon (saw), Bartholomew (knife), James the Lesser (book), John (eagle), Andrew (transverse cross), Peter keys), Paul (sword), James the Greater (staff), Thomas (carpenter's square), Philip (serpent), Matthew (book), and Jude sword

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

THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi.

June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.

By Father John Corapi
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi.

June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.

By Father John Corapi

Among the most important titles we have in the Catholic Church for the Blessed Virgin Mary are Our Lady of Victory and Our Lady of the Rosary. These titles can be traced back to one of the most decisive times in the history of the world and Christendom. The Battle of Lepanto took place on October 7 (date of feast of Our Lady of Rosary), 1571. This proved to be the most crucial battle for the Christian forces against the radical Muslim navy of Turkey. Pope Pius V led a procession around St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City praying the Rosary. He showed true pastoral leadership in recognizing the danger posed to Christendom by the radical Muslim forces, and in using the means necessary to defeat it. Spiritual battles require spiritual weapons, and this more than anything was a battle that had its origins in the spiritual order—a true battle between good and evil.

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

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

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

Talk is weak. Prayer is strong. Pray! God bless you, Father John Corapi

Father Corapi's Biography

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

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

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

About Father John Corapi.

Father Corapi is a Catholic priest .

The pillars of father's preaching are basically:

Love for and a relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary
Leading a vibrant and loving relationship with Jesus Christ
Great love and reverence for the Most Holy Eucharist from Holy Mass to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
An uncompromising love for and obedience to the Holy Father and the teaching of the Magisterium of the Church

God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi

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

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

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

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

Pope Francis will beatify these martyred Greek-Catholic bishops in Romania
May 30, 2019 - 03:01 pm .- On Sunday in Blaj, Pope Francis will beatify seven Greek-Catholic bishops of Romania who were killed by the communist regime between 1950 and 1970.

Woman who served Brazil’s poorest to be canonized
May 14, 2019 - 06:53 am .- Pope Francis Tuesday gave his approval for eight sainthood causes to proceed, including that of Bl. Dulce Lopes Pontes, a 20th-century religious sister who served Brazil’s poor.

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

Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women
Jan 15, 2019 - 11:12 am .- Pope Francis approved Tuesday the next step in the canonization causes of 17 women from four countries, including the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters killed in Spain at the start of the Spanish Civil War.

Nineteen Algerian martyrs beatified
Dec 10, 2018 - 03:08 pm .- Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, were beatified Saturday during a Mass in Oran.

The Algerian martyrs shed their blood for Christ, pope says
Dec 7, 2018 - 10:02 am .- Ahead of the beatification Saturday of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, Pope Francis said martyrs have a special place in the Church.
Algerian martyrs are models for the Church, archbishop says
Nov 16, 2018 - 03:01 am .- Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers has said that Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, are “models for our lives as disciples today and tomorrow.”

Francesco Spinelli to be canonized after healing of a newborn in DR Congo
Oct 9, 2018 - 05:01 pm .- Among those being canonized on Sunday are Fr. Franceso Spinelli, a diocesan priest through whose intercession a newborn was saved from death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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

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

Pope Francis creates new path to beatification under ‘offering of life’
Jul 11, 2017 - 06:22 am .- On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor.

Twentieth century Polish nurse among causes advancing toward sainthood
Jul 7, 2017 - 06:14 am .- Pope Francis on Friday approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Hanna Chrzanowska, a Polish nurse and nursing instructor who died from cancer in 1973, paving the way for her beatification.

Sainthood causes advance, including layman who resisted fascism
Jun 17, 2017 - 09:22 am .- Pope Francis on Friday recognized the heroic virtue of six persons on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of an Italian man who died from injuries of a beating he received while imprisoned in a concentration camp for resisting fascism.

Solanus Casey, Cardinal Van Thuan among those advanced toward sainthood
May 4, 2017 - 10:47 am .- Pope Francis on Thursday approved decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints advancing the causes for canonization of 12 individuals, including the American-born Capuchin Solanus Casey and the Vietnamese cardinal Francis Xavier Nguen Van Thuan.

Pope clears way for canonization of Fatima visionaries
Mar 23, 2017 - 06:44 am .- On Thursday Pope Francis approved the second and final miracle needed to canonize Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the Fatima Marian apparitions.
Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward
Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life.

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

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

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

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

Pope Francis will beatify these martyred Greek-Catholic bishops in Romania
May 30, 2019 - 03:01 pm .- On Sunday in Blaj, Pope Francis will beatify seven Greek-Catholic bishops of Romania who were killed by the communist regime between 1950 and 1970.

Woman who served Brazil’s poorest to be canonized
May 14, 2019 - 06:53 am .- Pope Francis Tuesday gave his approval for eight sainthood causes to proceed, including that of Bl. Dulce Lopes Pontes, a 20th-century religious sister who served Brazil’s poor.

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

Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women
Jan 15, 2019 - 11:12 am .- Pope Francis approved Tuesday the next step in the canonization causes of 17 women from four countries, including the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters killed in Spain at the start of the Spanish Civil War.

Nineteen Algerian martyrs beatified
Dec 10, 2018 - 03:08 pm .- Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, were beatified Saturday during a Mass in Oran.

The Algerian martyrs shed their blood for Christ, pope says
Dec 7, 2018 - 10:02 am .- Ahead of the beatification Saturday of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, Pope Francis said martyrs have a special place in the Church.
Algerian martyrs are models for the Church, archbishop says
Nov 16, 2018 - 03:01 am .- Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers has said that Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, are “models for our lives as disciples today and tomorrow.”

Francesco Spinelli to be canonized after healing of a newborn in DR Congo
Oct 9, 2018 - 05:01 pm .- Among those being canonized on Sunday are Fr. Franceso Spinelli, a diocesan priest through whose intercession a newborn was saved from death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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

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

Pope Francis creates new path to beatification under ‘offering of life’
Jul 11, 2017 - 06:22 am .- On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor.

Twentieth century Polish nurse among causes advancing toward sainthood
Jul 7, 2017 - 06:14 am .- Pope Francis on Friday approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Hanna Chrzanowska, a Polish nurse and nursing instructor who died from cancer in 1973, paving the way for her beatification.

Sainthood causes advance, including layman who resisted fascism
Jun 17, 2017 - 09:22 am .- Pope Francis on Friday recognized the heroic virtue of six persons on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of an Italian man who died from injuries of a beating he received while imprisoned in a concentration camp for resisting fascism.

Solanus Casey, Cardinal Van Thuan among those advanced toward sainthood
May 4, 2017 - 10:47 am .- Pope Francis on Thursday approved decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints advancing the causes for canonization of 12 individuals, including the American-born Capuchin Solanus Casey and the Vietnamese cardinal Francis Xavier Nguen Van Thuan.

Pope clears way for canonization of Fatima visionaries
Mar 23, 2017 - 06:44 am .- On Thursday Pope Francis approved the second and final miracle needed to canonize Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the Fatima Marian apparitions.
Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward
Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life.

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

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

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

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

Sunday, November 23 2014 Six to Be Canonized on Feast of Christ the King.

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

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

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

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

October 01, 2015 Vatican City, Pope Authorizes following Decrees
(ZENIT.org) By Staff Reporter
Polish Layperson Recognized as Servant of God
Pope Authorizes Decrees
Pope Francis on Wednesday authorised the Congregation for Saints' Causes to promulgate the following decrees:

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

HEROIC VIRTUES
- Servant of God Giovanni Folci, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the Opera Divin Prigioniero (1890-1963);
- Servant of God Franciszek Blachnicki, Polish diocesan priest (1921-1987);
- Servant of God Jose Rivera Ramirez, Spanish diocesan priest (1925-1991);
- Servant of God Juan Manuel Martín del Campo, Mexican diocesan priest (1917-1996);
- Servant of God Antonio Filomeno Maria Losito, Italian professed priest of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (1838-1917);
- Servant of God Maria Benedetta Giuseppa Frey (nee Ersilia Penelope), Italian professed nun of the Cistercian Order (1836-1913);
- Servant of God Hanna Chrzanowska, Polish layperson, Oblate of the Ursulines of St. Benedict (1902-1973).

March 06 2016 MIRACLES authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
Pope Francis received in a private audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, during which he authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
MIRACLES

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

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

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

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

LINKS:
Marian Apparitions (over 2000) India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes Feb 11- July 16, Loreto, Italy 1858
China 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 3 2022