Mary Mother of GOD
Et álibi aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum, atque sanctárum Vírginum.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
Пресвятая Богородице спаси нас!  (Santíssima Mãe de Deus, salva-nos!)
R.  Deo grátias. R.  Thanks be to God.
June is the month of the Sacred Heart since 1873;
2022
22,600  Lives Saved Since 2007
St. Antony_walnut_tree

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

 

We are the defenders of true freedom.
  May our witness unveil the deception of the "pro-choice" slogan.
40 days for Life Campaign saves lives Shawn Carney Campaign Director www.40daysforlife.com , 
Please help save the unborn they are the future for the world

 It is a great poverty that a child must die
 so that you may live as you wish -- Mother Teresa
 Saving babies, healing moms and dads,
 'The Gospel of Life'

"Man Needs Eternity -- and Every Other Hope, for Him, Is All Too Brief"
It Makes No Sense Not To Believe In GOD 
Every Christian must be a living book
wherein one can read the teaching of the gospel



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

Acts of the Apostles

Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart From the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
 How do I start the Five First Saturdays?
Mary Mother of GOD 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary  .

Mary's Divine Motherhood

Called in the Gospel "the Mother of Jesus," Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the Mother of my Lord" (Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.). In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity.
Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos).
Catechism of the Catholic Church 495, quoting the Council of Ephesus (431): DS 251.

19-year-old Marquis de Lafayette purchased a ship and sailed to America, arriving JUNE 13, 1777.
Trained in the French Military, he was appointed a major general. Lafayette endured the freezing winter at Valley Forge, and fought at Brandywine, Barren Hill and Monmouth. Lafayette led troops against the traitor Benedict Arnold and commanded at Yorktown, pressuring Cornwallis to surrender.
On May 10, 1786, George Washington wrote from Mount Vernon to Marquis de Lafayette:
"Your late purchase of an estate in the colony of Cayenne, with a view of emancipating the slaves on it,
is a generous and noble proof of your humanity.
Would to God a like spirit would diffuse itself generally into the minds of the people of this country."
On August 15, 1787, in a letter from Philadelphia to the Marquis de Lafayette, George Washington wrote: "I am not less ardent in my wish that you may succeed in your plan of toleration in religious matters. Being no bigot myself to any mode of worship, I am disposed to indulge the professors of Christianity in the church with that road to Heaven which to them shall seem the most direct, plainest and easiest, and the least liable to exception."
Bill Federer http://www.amerisearch.net/June 13
On this day celebrates memory of 10,000 Martyrs, beheaded by sword for Christ. The year of their death is unknown.
  90 St. Felicula Virgin martyr, the foster sister of St. Petronilla. Flaccus, a powerful Roman official, pro­posed  to Petronilla and was refused. He then had her arrested. After Petronilla’s martyrdom, Felicula went without food or water in the prison. She was then thrown into a sewer, where she died. St. Nicomedes recovered her remains.
 293 St. Aquilina at the age of seven, living as a true Christian, and by the age of ten was so filled with divine understanding and the grace of the Holy Spirit that she used to preach Christ with great power and zeal to her girl friends. Killed but an angel of God appeared to her and said: 'Arise and be healed!' Asked to be martyred again, then her relics gave healing to many of the sick
3rd v. Antonina The Holy Martyr suffered during the third century under Diocletian (284-305) in the city of Nicea.Martyrdom of Sts. Apakir, John, Ptolemy and Philip.  {Coptic} 
 370 St. Triphyllius Bishop convert to Christianity and eventually named bishop of Nicosia, Cyprus a devoted supporter of St. Athanasius of Alexandria against the Arians and consequently was persecuted by them.  
St. Fortunatus & Lucian African martyrs whose acts are no longer extant.St. Fortunatus & Lucian
 600 St. Peregrinus murdered by Lombards-drowned in the Aterno River after pleading for mercy for a prisoner condemned to death.
 680 St. Rambert he opposed corruption;  member of the court of the Frankish king Thierry III of Neustria murdered in the Jura Mountains.
 826 Saint Anna and her son St John lived in the ninth century. St Anna was the daughter of a deacon of the Blachernae church in Constantinople. After the death of her husband, she dressed in men's clothing and called herself Euthymianus. She and her son St John lived in asceticism in one of Bythinian monasteries near Olympus.
852 St. Fandila entered the Benedictine monastery of Tabanos at Cordoba habitual practices of frequent prayer, vigils, and penances. His zeal to preach the faith and defend it prompted him to take the audacious step of going before a Moorish magistrate to deliver a refutation of Islam; miracle of hailstones
1138 Blessed Gerard Of Clairvaux St Bernard' second and favorite brother a monk he became the right hand of St Bernard, whom he accompanied to Clairvaux;  a pattern of obedience and of religious fervor: “How good it is of God to be the Father of men, and what glory it is for men that they are the children of God”
1231 St. Antony or Antonio of Padua Doctor of the Church a preaching friar most zealous in checking heresy, he gained great fame in Italy, the scene of his labours; miracles
1395 Saint Andronicus a disciple of St Sergius of Radonezh
1410 Saint Sava of Moscow succeeded St Andronicus as the igumen of the monastery of the Savior, dedicated to the Icon of Christ Not-Made-By Hands (August 16) in 1395.  Saint James acquired the gift of discernment, learned the straight and narrow path of God, and became a great wonderworker
1716 Saint Anthimus of Iberia was one of the most highly educated people of his time. He was fluent in many languages, including Greek, Romanian, Old Slavonic, Arabic, and Turkish and well-versed in theology, literature, and natural sciences; unusually gifted in the fine arts—in painting, engraving, and sculpture in particular; famed for his beautiful calligraphy; great writer, a renowned orator, and a reformer of the written Romanian language.
1839 St. Augustine of Huy A martyr of Vietnam native of Vietnam a soldier; discovered a Christian, he joined St. Nicholas in martyrdom they were sawed into pieces. Augustine was canonized in 1988.
1886 St. Gyavire Martyr of Uganda, slain by a King; Gyavire was known as “the good runner of messages” before being martyred for the faith.
         St. Damhnade Virgin venerated in Ireland.
1942 Pope Yoannis the Nineteenth 113th Patriarch of Alexandria Departure of ; monk ; priest; example of, ambition, honesty, purity of conduct, firmness, godliness, and good management loved, since his young age, to read the biographies of saints. He longed to follow their example  {Coptic}


90 St. Felicula Virgin martyr, the foster sister of St. Petronilla. Flaccus, a powerful Roman official, pro­posed to Petronilla and was refused. He then had her arrested. After Petronilla’s martyrdom, Felicula went without food or water in the prison. She was then thrown into a sewer, where she died. St. Nicomedes recovered her remains.
Romæ, via Ardeatína, natális sanctæ Felículæ, Vírginis et Mártyris; quæ, nec Flacco núbere neque idólis immoláre volens, trádita est cuídam Júdici, qui eam in confessióne Christi perseverántem, post tenebricósam custódiam et famis inédiam, támdiu fecit in equúleo torquéri, donec illa emítteret spíritum, et sic demum depóni et in cloácam præcipitári.  Ipsíus vero corpus, inde extráctum, sanctus Nicomédes Présbyter eádem via sepelívit.
    At Rome, on the Ardeatine Way, the birthday of St. Felicula, virgin and martyr, who was delivered to the judge for refusing to marry Flaccus and to sacrifice to idols.  As she persevered in the confession of Christ, he confined her in a dark dungeon without food, and afterwards caused her to be stretched on the rack until she expired.  She was then thrown into a sewer, but St. Nicomedes the Priest recovered her body and buried it on this road.

The cultus of St Felicula is closely connected with that of St Petronilla, whose foster-sister she is thought to have been. Both martyrs lived and suffered in Rome towards the end of the first century. Their legend asserts that after the death of St Petronilla, her rejected suitor, Count Flaccus, offered St Felicula the choice between marrying him and sacrificing to idols. As she refused to do either he delivered her over to an official who imprisoned her in a dark dungeon for seven days without food or drink. She was then consigned to the Vestal Virgins that they might overcome her opposition. But she would not touch the meals they had prepared, electing rather to starve for another seven days. At the end of a week she was tortured on the rack and then suffocated in one of the city sewers. Her body was rescued by St Nicomedes, a priest, and was buried on the Via Ardeatina at the seventh milestone. Several Roman churches—including those of St Praxedes and St Laurence in Lucina—claim to possess her relics, but it is uncertain where they actually lie. There were other saints called Felicula in the City itself, and their remains, when discovered, may well have been ascribed to their more famous namesake, the companion of St Petronilla.
The acts of SS. Nereus and Achilleus, to which the account given of St Felicula forms a kind of supplement, are printed in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. iii. See also Fr Delehaye’s Commentary on the Hieronymianum, p. 357, and cf. ibid. p. 306. Other references will be found in the bibliography to SS. Nereus and Achilleus on May 12.
293 St. Aquilina at the age of seven, living as a true Christian, and by the age of ten was so filled with divine understanding and the grace of the Holy Spirit that she used to preach Christ with great power and zeal to her girl friends Killed but an angel of God appeared to her and said: 'Arise and be healed!' Asked to be martyred again, then her relics gave healing to many of the sick
Bybli, in Phœnícia, sanctæ Aquilínæ, Vírginis et Mártyris, quæ, annos duódecim nata, sub Diocletiáno Imperatóre et Volusiáno Júdice, ob fídei confessiónem cólaphis et verbéribus cæsa, et súbulis candéntibus perforáta, demum, percússa gládio, virginitátem martyrio consecrávit.
    At Byblos in Phoenicia, St. Aquilina, virgin and martyr, at the age of twelve years, under Emperor Diocletian and the judge Volusian.  For the confession of the faith, she was beaten, scourged, pierced with heated stakes, and finally being struck with a sword, consecrated her virginity by martyrdom.

Orthodoxe und Katholische Kirche: 13. Juni
 Aquilina stammte aus frommen Elternhaus in Byblos (Phönizien). Sie wollte einen heidnischen Freund bekehren, wurde denunziert und 293 in Byblos unter Volusian gefoltert und hingerichtet. In der Legende werden die Folterungen ausführlich beschrieben. Aquilina wird besonders in der maronitischen Kirche verehrt.
Ausführliche Informationen zu Aquilina und ihrer Kirche in Byblos aus dem Journal of Maronite Studies (englisch):

 3rd v. End St Aquilina, Martyr
Eastern Christians in early ages had a great veneration for St Aquilina, and her name appears in nearly all their martyrologies. St Joseph the Hymnographer composed a special office in her honour with an acrostic hymn, in which the initial letters of the successive lines form an appeal to her, as his spiritual mother, graci­ously to accept his verses. She was a native of Byblus in Phoenicia, the child of Christian parents, and was baptized by the local Bishop Euthalius. At the age of twelve, in the persecution of Diocletian, she was arrested and brought before the magistrate Volusian. She boldly confessed her faith, and when blandishments and threats failed to shake her constancy she was buffeted, beaten with whips, and decapitated. Her so-called acts, written in Greek centuries after her death, are quite unreliable, though they may contain a substratum of truth. According to them, red-hot needles were thrust into her ears, so that she fainted and was thought to be dead. Her body was cast out, but was rescued by an angel who completely healed her. The following day she again presented herself before Volusian who, when he had recovered from his surprise at seeing her, ordered her to be cast into prison and beheaded. She expired before the sentence of execution could be carried out, and when the mutilation was executed upon her dead body, milk streamed forth instead of blood.
A Greek passio is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, June, vol. iii.
Born in the Palestinian town of Biblos of Christian parents, little Aquilina was already. When Diocletian's persecution began, Aquilina was handed over to the imperial governor, Volusianus, who was more like a beast than a man. He ordered that she first be flogged and then that a heated rod be passed through her ears and brain. Until the last moment, the virgin Aquilina freely and clearly confessed Christ the Lord; but when her brains started flowing with her blood from her head, she fell as if dead. Believing her to be indeed dead, the governor ordered that her body be taken outside the city and thrown onto a dungheap for the dogs to eat.

During the night, an angel of God appeared to her and said: 'Arise and be healed!', and the maiden arose and was restored to health, and stood a long time expressing her gratitude and praise to God and begging Him not to deny her a martyr's death. A voice was heard from heaven: 'Go; and it shall be to thee as thou desirest', and Aquilina went into the city. The city gates opened of their own accord for her, and she passed through them and went to the governor's palace like a ghost, standing before his bed and showing herself to him. The governor was seized with unspeakable terror when he saw the maiden whom he had thought dead. On the following day, he ordered the executioner to take Aquilina out and behead her with the sword.
Before her execution, she knelt in prayer and surrendered her spirit into God's hands, leaving her dead body to be beheaded by the executioner. Her relics gave healing to many of the sick. St Aquilina was twelve years old when she suffered for the Lord; she endured her Passion and was crowned with a wreath of martyrdom in the year 293.St Triphyllius, Bishop of Levcosia; St Anna and her son John.

The Holy Martyr Aquilina, a native of the Phoenician city of Byblos, suffered under the emperor Diocletian (284-305). Her parents raised her in Christian piety. When the girl was only twelve years old, she persuaded a pagan friend to convert to Christ. One of the servants of the imperial governor Volusian accused her of teaching others not to follow the religion of their fathers. The girl firmly confessed her faith in Christ before the governor and said that she would not renounce Him. Volusian tried to influence the young confessor through persuasion and by flattery, but seeing her confidence, he ordered her to be tortured.

They struck her upon the face, then they stripped her and beat her with whips. The torturer asked, "Where then is your God? Let Him come and take you out of my hands".
The saint answered, "The Lord is here with me invisibly, and the more I suffer, the more strength and endurance will He give me."
They drilled through the martyr's ears with heated metal rods. The holy virgin fell down as if dead. The torturer thought that the girl had actually died, and he gave orders to throw her body outside the city to be eaten by dogs.
By night a holy angel appeared to St Aquilina, roused her and said, "Arise and be healed. Go and denounce Volusian, so that he and his plans may come to nothing."
The martyr went to the court of the governor and stood before Volusian. Seeing St Aquilina, he called for his servants and ordered them to keep watch over her until morning.
In the morning he sentenced St Aquilina to death, saying that she was a sorceress who did not obey the imperial decrees. When they led the saint to execution, she prayed and gave thanks to God for allowing her to suffer for His Holy Name.
A voice was heard in answer to her prayer, summoning her to the heavenly Kingdom. Before the executioner could carry out the sentence, the martyr gave up her spirit to God (+ 293). The executioner feared to disobey the governor's orders, so he cut off her head although she was already dead.
Christians piously buried the martyr's body. Later, her relics were taken to Constantinople and placed in a church named for her.
Eastern Christians in early ages had a great veneration for St Aquilina, and her name appears in nearly all their martyrologies.

  The Holy Martyr Aquilina       SerbianOrthodoxChurch.net
Born in the Palestinian town of Biblos of Christian parents, little Aquilina was already, at the age of seven, living as a true Christian, and by the age of ten was so filled with divine understanding and the grace of the Holy Spirit that she used to preach Christ with great power and zeal to her girl friends. When Diocletian's persecution began, Aquilina was handed over to the imperial governor, Volusianus, who was more like a beast than a man. He ordered that she first be flogged and then that a heated rod be passed through her ears and brain. Until the last moment, the virgin Aquilina freely and clearly confessed Christ the Lord; but when her brains started flowing with her blood from her head, she fell as if dead. Believing her to be indeed dead, the governor ordered that her body be taken outside the city and thrown onto a dungheap for the dogs to eat. But, during the night, an angel of God appeared to her and said: 'Arise and be healed!', and the maiden arose and was restored to health, and stood a long time expressing her gratitude and praise to God and begging Him not to deny her a martyr's death. A voice was heard from heaven: 'Go; and it shall be to thee as thou desirest', and Aquilina went into the city. The city gates opened of their own accord for her, and she passed through them and went to the governor's palace like a ghost, standing before his bed and showing herself to him. The governor was seized with unspeakable terror when he saw the maiden whom he had thought dead. On the follow-ing day, he ordered the executioner to take Aquilina out and behead her with the sword. Before her execution, she knelt in prayer and surrendered her spirit into God's hands, leaving her dead body to be beheaded by the executioner. Her relics gave healing to many of the sick. St Aquilina was twelve years old when she suffered for the Lord; she endured her Passion and was crowned with a wreath of martyrdom in the year 293.
        Antipater_and_Acelina
St Joseph the Hymnographer composed a special office in her honor with an acrostic hymn, in which the initial letters of the successive lines form an appeal to her, as his spiritual mother, graciously to accept his verses. She was a native of Byblus in Phoenicia, the child of Christian parents, and was baptized by the local Bishop Euthalius. At the age of twelve, in the persecution of Diocletian, she was arrested and brought before the magistrate Volusian. She boldly confessed her faith, and when blandishments and threats failed to shake her constancy she was buffeted, beaten with whips, and decapitated. Her so-called acts, written in Greek centuries after her death, are quite unreliable, though they may contain a substratum of truth. According to them, red-hot needles were thrust into her ears, so that she fainted and was thought to be dead. Her body was cast out, but was rescued by an angel who completely healed her. The following day she again presented herself before Volusian who, when he had recovered from his surprise at seeing her, ordered her to be cast into prison and beheaded. She expired before the sentence of execution could be carried out, and when the mutilation was executed upon her dead body, milk streamed forth instead of blood.
A Greek passio is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, June, vol. iii.

The Holy Martyress Acelina, a native of the Phoenician city of Byblos, suffered under the emperor Diocletian (284-305). Her parents raised her in Christian piety. When the girl was but 12 years of age, she persuaded a pagan friend to convert to Christ. One of the servants of the imperial governor Volusian made a denunciation, that she was teaching her peers not to honour the religion of their fathers. The girl firmly confessed her faith in Christ in front of the governor and said, that she would not renounce Him. Volusian tried by persuasion and by flattery to sway the young confessor, but seeing her assuredness, he then gave orders to hand her over for torture. They struck her upon the face, and then, having been stripped they whipped her. The torturer mockingly asked: "Where then is thy God? Let Him come and take thee out of my hands". The saint answered: "The Lord is invisibly here together with me, and the more I suffer, all the more shalt He give me strength and endurance".

With red-hot rods they drilled at the head of the martyress at the ears. The holy martyress fell down as though dead. The torturer decided that the girl had actually died, and he gave orders to throw out her body outside the city for devouring by dogs. By night an holy Angel appeared to Saint Acelina, roused her and said: "Arise and be well. Go and denounce Volusian, that he himself and his intent are thus come to naught before God". The martyress, offering up praise to God, and having been restored unharmed, went to the court of the governor and stood before Volusian. Seeing Saint Acelina, Volusian in fright called for his servants and ordered them to keep watch over her until morning. In the morning he delivered a death sentence against Saint Acelina on the grounds of being a sorceress and not obeying the imperial decrees. When they led the saint to execution, she prayed and gave thanks to God, for having granted her to suffer for His Holy Name. A voice was heard in answer to her prayer, summoning her to the Heavenly Kingdom, after which the martyress gave up her spirit to God (+ 293). The executioner feared to disobey the orders of the governor, and although already dead, he cut off her head. Christians piously buried the body of the martyress. Later on, her relics were taken to Constantinople and placed within a church named for her.
3rd v. Antonina The Holy Martyr suffered during the third century under Diocletian (284-305) in the city of Nicea. They tortured her in various ways: they burned her with fire, they put her on a red-hot plate, they bored into her hands and feet with red-hot rods and they threw her in prison, where she languished for two days.

These torments did not break St Antonina's spirit, and to her very death she confessed her faith in Christ. The threw the holy martyr into the sea.

The Holy Martyress Antonina suffered during the III Century under Diocletian (284-305) in the city of Nicea. They tortured her which way -- they burnt at her with fire, they put her on a red-hot plate, they bored with red-hot rods into her hands and feet and they threw her in prison, where she languished for two days.
The torments did not break the spirit of Saint Antonina, and to her very death she confessed her faith in Christ. The threw the holy martyress into the sea.
Martyrdom of Sts. Apakir, John, Ptolemy and Philip.  

On this day also, Sts. Apakir, John, Ptolemy and Philip, were martyred. St. Apakir was born in the city of Damanhur, and had a rich brother called Philip. They had agreed with two priests, one called John and the other called Ptolemy, to receive the crown of martyrdom. They went to the city of Kartsa (Kartes), and confessed the name of the Lord Christ before the Governor. The governor ordered to shoot them to death with arrows, but the arrows did not touch them. They were then cast into red hot fire, but the angel of the lord delivered them from it. Then the governor commanded to tie them to the tails of horses, and to drag them from Kartes to the city of Damanhur, but the Lord guarded them from any harm. The governor commanded that their heads be cut off outside the city of Damanhur. They received the crown of martyrdom. People from the city of Sa came and took the body of St. Apakir, built for him a church, and laid his body inside it. Many signs and wonders took place through him. The people of Damanhur came and took the bodies of John, Ptolemy, and Philip, wrapped them in expensive shrouds and buried them there.
May their prayers be with us and Glory be to God forever. Amen.
370 St. Triphyllius Bishop convert to Christianity and eventually named bishop of Nicosia, Cyprus a devoted supporter of St. Athanasius of Alexandria against the Arians and consequently was persecuted by them
In Cypro sancti Triphylii Epíscopi.      In Cyprus, St. Triphyllius, bishop.
Sometimes called Tryphillius. Originally a lawyer.  St. Jerome considered him one of the most eloquent Church figures of the era.
370 St Triphyllius, Bishop Of Nicosia
The Church in Cyprus in the fourth century numbered in its hierarchy two very remarkable men: St Spiridion and St Triphyllius (as their names are spelt in the Roman Martyrology). St Spiridion was originally a shepherd, whereas St Tri­phyllius, who was intended for the law, received an excellent education at Bairut in Syria. Changing his mind, however, while still young, he attached himself to St Spiridion, his senior by many years, and became his constant companion and devoted disciple. Together they attended the Council of Sardica in 347, where they were zealous opponents of the Arian heresy. It is not known at what date Triphyllius became bishop of Leucosia (Nicosia). Besides being a learned man, he was a powerful preacher, and appears to have been a voluminous writer. Referring to him as a speaker and as a writer, St Jerome describes him as “the, most eloquent of his age, and the most celebrated during the reign of King Constantius”. Elsewhere he writes of  “Triphyllius the Cretan, who so filled his books with the doctrines and maxims of the philosophers that you did not know which to admire the more—his secular erudition or his knowledge of the Scriptures”. The good bishop was also something of a poet, and recorded the miracles of his master St Spiridion in iambics. His death is thought to have taken place about the year 370. The Hodigitria church at Nicosia still venerates his relics.

See the Acta Sanctorum, June, vol. iii, where a rather lengthy text is printed from a late MS. of the Constantinople Synaxary. Compare, however, Delehaye’s edition of this Synaxary, p. 173. In a Cypriot magazine (1934) pp. 181—188), an akolouthia is printed in honour of the saint.
Saint Tryphillius, Bishop of Leukosia, was born in Constantinople, and he received his education at Berit (Beirut, in Lebanon). He was very intelligent and eloquent. In spite of this, the saint chose as his guide a man neither bookish nor learned, but one of conspicuous holiness: St Spyridon of Tremithos (December 12).
The emperor Constantine II (337-340) fell grievously ill, and receiving no help from the doctors, he turned to God.
In a dream he saw an angel, directing him to a group of hierarchs. Pointing out two of them, the angel said that only through them could he receive healing.  Constantine issued an imperial edict, commanding the bishops to assemble. St Spyridon also received this order, and went to the emperor with his disciple St Tryphillius. The sick one immediately recognized them as the healers indicated by the angel.
He bowed to them and asked them to pray for his health. St Spyridon with a prayer touched the head of the emperor, and he became well.
St Tryphillius was charmed by the beautiful palace, the majestic figure of the emperor, and the pomp of palace life. St Spyridon said, "Why are you astonished? Does all this make the emperor any more righteous? All of them, emperors and dignitaries alike, will die and stand together with the very poorest before the judgment seat of God. One should seek eternal blessings and heavenly glory."
Soon St Tryphillius was made Bishop of Leukosia on Cyprus. He often visited with St Spyridon. Once, they passed through an area of vineyards and gardens of special beauty and abundance, named Parimnos. St Tryphillius, attracted by the beauty of nature, considered how they might explore this land. St Spyridon discerned the thoughts of St Tryphillius and said, "Why do you always think about earthly and transitory blessings? Our habitation and riches are in Heaven, for which we ought to strive." Thus did St Spyridon lead his disciple toward spiritual perfection, which St Tryphillius attained through the prayers of his instructor. St Tryphillius had a charitable soul, a heart without malice, right faith and love towards all, and many other virtues.
Once, a Council of bishops assembled on Cyprus. The Fathers of the Council requested that St Tryphillius, known for his erudition and eloquence, address the people. Speaking about the healing of the paralytic by the Lord (Mark 2:11). in place of the word "cot" he used the word "bed". Impatient with the imprecise rendering of the Gospel text, St Spyridon said to St Tryphillius, "Are you better than He who said "cot", that you should be ashamed of His wording?" and abruptly he left the church.

  St Triphyllius, Bishop of Levcosia in Cyprus  SerbianOrthodoxChurch.net
    A pupil of St Spiridon and later his fellow-bishop on the island of Cyprus, he was a merciful man, pure in thought, chaste in his life, 'a living fountain of tears', and a great ascetic. He governed Christ's flock well and, when he went to his rest, received his crown among the great hierarchs in heaven. He entered peacefully into rest in 370.  In this way St Spyridon gave St Tryphillius a lesson in humility, so that he would not become proud of his own eloquence. St Tryphillius wisely shepherded his flock. From the inheritance left him by his mother, he built a monastery at Leukosia. The saint died in old age in about the year 370. The Russian pilgrim Igumen Daniel saw the relics of St Tryphillius on Cyprus at the beginning of the twelfth century.
St Triphyllius, Bishop of Nicosia (c. A.D. 370)
   The Church in Cyprus in the fourth century numbered in its hierarchy two very remarkable men: St Spiridion and St Triphyllius (as their names are spelt in the Roman Martyrology). St Spiridion was originally a shepherd, whereas St Triphyllius, who was intended for the law, received an excellent education at Bairut in Syria. Changing his mind, however, while still young, he attached himself to St Spiridion, his senior by many years, and became his constant companion and devoted disciple.
Together they attended the Council of Sardica in 347, where they were zealous opponents of the Arian heresy.
It is not known at what date Triphyllius became bishop of Leucosia (Nicosia). Besides being a learned man, he was a powerful preacher, and appears to have been a voluminous writer. Referring to him as a speaker and as a writer, St Jerome describes him as “the most eloquent of his age, and the most celebrated during the reign of King Constantius “. Elsewhere he writes of “ Triphyllius the Cretan, who so filled his books with the doctrines and maxims of the philosophers that you did not know which to admire the more—his secular erudition or his knowledge of the Scriptures “. The good bishop was also something of a poet, and recorded the miracles of his master St Spiridion in iambics.
Hodigitria.  See the Acta Sanctorum, June, vol. iii, where a rather lengthy text is printed from a late MS. of the Constantinople Synaxary. Compare, however, Delehaye’s edition of this Synaxary, p. 573.
Triphyllius of Cyprus B (RM). Triphyllius, a lawyer converted to Christianity, was made bishop of Nicosia, Cyprus. He was a companion of Saint Spiridion and a loyal supporter of Saint Athanasius against the Arians, who bitterly persecuted him (Benedictines).
St. Fortunatus & Lucian African martyrs whose acts are no longer extant
In Africa sanctórum Mártyrum Fortunáti et Luciáni.    In Africa, the holy martyrs Fortunatus and Lucian.
Fortunatus and Lucian MM (RM) African martyrs, whose acta have been lost. Most martyrologies register at least six others who died with them (Benedictines).
600 St. Peregrinus murdered by the Lombards by being drowned in the Aterno River after pleading for mercy for a prisoner condemned to death.
In Pelígnis sancti Peregríni, Epíscopi et Mártyris, qui, pro fide cathólica, a Longobárdis in Atérnum flumen demérsus est.
    In Abruzzi, St. Peregrinus, bishop and martyr.  For the Catholic faith he was thrown into the river Aterno by the Lombards.
 Also known as Cetheus bishop of Amitemum.
Peregrinus (Cetheus) of Aquila BM (RM). Peregrinus was bishop of Amiternum (now Aquila) in southern Italy. He was drowned in the Aterno River by the Arian Lombards for asking mercy for a condemned prisoner (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
680 St. Rambert he opposed corruption  member of the court of the Frankish king Thierry III of Neustria murdered in the Jura Mountains.
Martyr, also listed as Ragnebert and Ragnobert. A member of the court of the Frankish king Thierry III of Neustria, he ran afoul of the powerful mayor of the palace, Ebroin, and was exiled. Not content with that, Ebroin had him murdered in the Jura Mountains. As he opposed corruption. Rambert is considered a martyr.
Rambert (Ragnebert, Ragnobert) M (AC). Rambert was a courtier of high standing and much influence at the court of Thierry III of Austrasia. Ebroin, mayor of the palace, had him exiled and then ambushed and murdered in the Jura mountains. He has always been considered a martyr (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
826 Saint Anna and her son St John lived in the ninth century. St Anna was the daughter of a deacon of the Blachernae church in Constantinople. After the death of her husband, she dressed in men's clothing and called herself Euthymianus. She and her son St John lived in asceticism in one of the Bythinian monasteries near Olympus.
St Anna died in Constantinople in 826. Her memory is also celebrated on October 29.

Today we also commemorate 10,000 Martyrs, beheaded by the sword for Christ. The year of their death is not known.

  St Anna and her son John       SerbianOrthodoxChurch.net
    Taken as an orphan into the house of a nobleman and treated as an adopted child, she was cared for and educated in that house. The rich man considered her worthy to be married to his son. When the old man died, the family urged the son to put his wife away because of her low birth and to marry another more suited to his rank and wealth. The rich man's son feared God and did not want to do this. Seeing her husband in difficulties with his family, Anna secretly left him and ran off to a distant island where there was not a living soul. She was pregnant, and soon gave birth to a son.

They laboured on the island for thirty years in fasting and prayer. Then, by divine providence, a hieromonk landed on the island. He baptised her son and named him John. Anna lived her ascetic life in the fifth century, and died peacefully.

The Nun Anna and her son Saint John lived in Byzantium, and Saint Anna was the daughter of a deacon of the Blakhernae church in Constantinople. After the death of her husband, dressed in men's clothing and using the name Euthymian, together with her son Saint John she began to pursue asceticism in one of the Bythinian monasteries, near Olympos. The Nun Anna died in Constantinople in 826.
852 St. Fandila  entered the Benedictine monastery of Tabanos at Cordoba habitual practices of frequent prayer, vigils, and penances. His zeal to preach the faith and defend it prompted him to take the audacious step of going before a Moorish magistrate to deliver a refutation of Islam; miracle of hailstones
Córdubæ, in Hispánia, sancti Fándilæ, Presbyteri et Mónachi; qui, in persecutióne Arábica, amputáto cápite, pro Christi fide martyrium súbiit.
   St. Fandila, a priest and monk, At Cordova in Spain, in the persecution of the Arabs,  who underwent martyrdom by beheading for the faith of Christ.
A native of Cadiz, Spain, Fandila entered the Benedictine monastery of Tabanos at Cordoba. His great holiness attracted the attention of the monks of the San Salvador Monastery at Pinna Mellaria. These persuaded him to become a priest for their religious community. Following his ordination, Fandila continued his habitual practices of frequent prayer, vigils, and penances. His zeal to preach the faith and defend it prompted him to take the audacious step of going before a Moorish magistrate to deliver a refutation of Islam. This sermon incurred the anger of the Moorish authorities occupying Spain, who thereupon imprisoned him, and afterwards beheaded him.

Fandilas of Penamelaria M (RM) Born in Andalusia, Spain; died at Cordova in 853. Saint Fandilas was a priest and the abbot of the monastery of Peñamelaria near Cordova, where he was beheaded by order of the Moorish emir (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
Centuries later, there was a Spanish farming district where each year in June, close to the date of Fandila’s feastday on the thirteenth, thunderstorms pounded the crops with hail, devastating the vineyards. Finally, one of the farmers invoked the intercession of Fandila by erecting a cross with the martyr’s name inscribed upon it. From that time onward, hailstorms no longer occurred in that district .
1138 Blessed Gerard Of Clairvaux St Bernard' second and favorite brother a monk he became the right hand of St Bernard, whom he accompanied to Clairvaux;  a pattern of obedience and of religious fervor: ” How good it is of God to be the Father of men, and what glory it is for men that they are the children of God “
Gerard, was not one of the party of young kinsmen and friends who accompanied him to Citeaux and received the habit with him. At that time Gerard was too much engrossed in his prospects as a soldier to heed St Bernard’s exhortations. But a severe wound received at the siege of Grancy, followed by a long term of imprisonment, led him to recognize the transitoriness of earthly glory, and after his liberation he came to place himself under his brother’s rule. As a monk he became the right hand of St Bernard, whom he accompanied to Clairvaux.
In the capacity of cellarer he not only conducted with efficiency the domestic affairs of the abbey, but he also developed such remarkable technical skill that the builders, smiths, laborers, shoemakers and weavers all turned to him as to their master for instruction and direction. These external activities in no way interfered with his spiritual life: he was a pattern of obedience and of religious fervor.
Blessed Gerard of Clairvaux, OSB Cist. (AC) Died 1138; feast day formerly January 30. The favorite brother of Saint Bernard, Gerard was a soldier when Bernard entered Cîteaux but joined him after having been wounded at the siege of Grancy and imprisoned. He followed Bernard to Clairvaux, became cellarer there and Bernard's close confidant and assistant. Gerard was noted for his fervor and holiness. Saint Bernard deeply mourned Gerard's death (Benedictines, Delaney). Gerard is pictured as a Cistercian with a wound in his side (Roeder).
He was on his way to Rome with St Bernard, in 1137, when he became so ill at Viterbo that he appeared to be at the point of death. St Bernard prayed earnestly that he might be spared to go home, and his petition was granted. Gerard made a temporary recovery, but fell ill again the following year. Just before his death he exclaimed with a happy smile,” How good it is of God to be the Father of men, and what glory it is for men that they are the children of God “ In a sermon which is still extant, St Bernard paid a most eloquent and touching tribute to the memory of his brother Gerard.
The Bollandists have extracted the relevant passages from the Cistercian Magnum Exordium, and printed these in the Acta Sanctorum, June, vol. iii.
1231 St. Anthony or Antonio of Padua a preaching friar most zealous in checking heresy, he gained great fame in Italy, which became the scene of his labours; miracles
Patávii sancti Antónii Lusitáni, Sacerdótis ex Ordine Minórum et Confessóris, atque Ecclésiæ Doctóris, vita et miráculis, ac prædicatióne illústris, quem, uno post illíus óbitum anno nondum expléto, Gregórius Papa Nonus in Sanctórum cánonem rétulit.
    At Padua, St. Anthony, a native of Portugal, priest of the Order of Friars Minor and confessor, illustrious for the sanctity of his life, his miracles, and his preaching.  Pope Gregory IX placed him on the canon of the saints within a year after his death.
St. Anthony and the Tree of Life  by Friar Jack Wintz, O.F.M. friarjack@americancatholic.org
The symbolism of the walnut tree;  Christ as the tree of life;  Join Friar Jack on pilgrimage

 In his lifetime he was called "hammer of heretics." Though small of stature and even chubby, Antony was one of the most powerful preachers of the 13th century. It seems he could by his brilliant personality overwhelm the sinful and convert them to God. He preached to crowded congregations; the shops were shut, people waited all night to hear him, and church buildings were too small to hold the numbers who flocked to listen; and wherever he came, his words broke down the barriers of apathy and impenitence.

ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA, AN EXAMPLE TO PREACHERS VATICAN CITY, 10 FEB 2010 (VIS)
Benedict XVI dedicated his catechesis during this morning's general audience to St. Anthony of Padua, "one of the most popular saints of the Catholic Church".  St. Anthony was born to a noble family in Lisbon around the year 1195. Following a period spent with the Augustinian Canons, he entered the Friars Minor in the hope of travelling to Morocco to work as a missionary. However he fell sick and returned to Italy where he dedicated himself to intense and effective apostolic labours. He died in Padua in 1231 and was canonised by Pope Gregory IX in 1232.
  "Anthony", the Pope explained, "made a significant contribution to the development of Franciscan spirituality with his outstanding gifts of intelligence, balance, apostolic zeal and, especially, mystic fervour. ... He was also one of the first, if not the first, master of theology among the Friars Minor".
 The saint wrote two cycles of sermons, one entitled "Sunday Sermons" the other "Sermons on the Saints", in which he presented "a true itinerary of Christian life. Such is the wealth of spiritual teachings contained in the 'Sermons' that in 1946 Venerable Pius XII proclaimed Anthony a Doctor of the Church, giving him the title of 'Doctor Evangelicus' because all the freshness and beauty of the Gospel emerges in his writings", said the Holy Father.

  Anthony of Padua, or of Lisbon as he is also known, defined prayer "as a relationship of love, which leads man to a dialogue with the Lord", and he described four "attitudes" which must characterise it: "trustingly opening our hearts to God, affectionately conversing with Him, presenting Him our needs, and giving Him praise and thanks. In this teaching of St. Anthony", the Pope explained, "we see one of the specific traits of Franciscan theology; ... that is, the central role of divine love which enters the sphere of the affections, of the will, of the heart, and which is the source of a spiritual knowledge that surpasses all other knowledge".
  But the "Doctor Evangelicus" also knew the defects of human nature, such as "the tendency to fall into sin, and so he continually exhorted people to combat the inclination to avarice, pride and impurity. ... At the beginning of the thirteenth century, in a context of expanding cities and flourishing trade, a growing number of people were insensitive to the needs of the poor. For this reason, Anthony frequently invited the faithful to turn their thoughts to true wealth, that of the heart" and to seek the friendship of those most in need.

  "Is this not", the Pope asked, "also an important lesson for us today, as the financial crisis and serious economic imbalances impoverish many people, and create situations of distresss?" He then went on to comment on one another aspect of Franciscan theology, Christocentrism, which "invites us to contemplate the mysteries of the Lord's humanity", especially His Nativity and Crucifixion.
  "The vision of the crucified Lord", said the Holy Father, inspired in Anthony "feelings of recognition towards God and of respect for the dignity of the human person". In that vision "everyone, believers and non-believers, may find a meaning that enriches life". This, he explained, "is the importance of the crucifixion in our culture and our humanity, which are born of the Christian faith, ... because God considers us so important as to be worthy of His suffering".
  The Pope concluded his catechesis by calling on St. Anthony to intercede for the whole Church, and in particular for "those who dedicate their lives to preaching. Drawing inspiration from his example, may they unite sound and healthy doctrine, sincere and fervent piety, and incisive communication. In this Year for Priests, let us pray that priests and deacons eagerly carry out their ministry of announcing and contextualising the Word of God for the faithful, especially in liturgical homilies".  AG/ANTHONY OF PADUA/... VIS 100210 (660)

Few of the medieval saints adopted into the Romish calendar have attained to such lasting celebrity as St. Anthony, or Antonio, of Padua. All over Italy his memory is held in the highest veneration; but at Padua in particular, where his festival is enthusiastically kept, he is spoken of as Il Santo, or the saint, as if no other was of any importance.  Besides larger memoirs of St. Anthony, there are current in the north of Italy small chap-books or tracts describing his character and his miracles. From one of these, purchased within the present year from a stall in Padua, we offer the following as a specimen of the existing folk-lore of Venetian Lombardy.
St. Anthony was born at Lisbon on the 15th of August 1195.

At twenty-five years of age he entered a convent of Franciscans, and as a preaching friar most zealous in checking heresy, he gained great fame in Italy, which became the scene of his labours. In this great work the power of miracle came to his aid.
On one occasion, at Rimini, there was a person who held heretical opinions, and in order to convince him of his error, Anthony caused the fishes in the water to lift up their heads and listen to his discourse.
This miracle, which of course converted the heretic, is represented in a variety of cheap prints, to be seen on almost every stall in Italy, and is the subject of a wood-cut in the chap-book from which we quote, here faithfully represented.
On another occasion, to reclaim a heretic, he caused the man's mule, after three days' abstinence from food, to kneel down and venerate the host, instead of rushing to a bundle of hay that was set before it. This miracle was equally efficacious.
Then we are told of St. Anthony causing a new-born babe to speak, and tell who was its father;
also, of a wonderful miracle he wrought in saving the life of a poor woman's child. The woman had gone to hear St. Anthony preach, leaving her child alone in the house, and during her absence it fell into a pot on the fire; but, strangely enough, instead of finding it scalded to death, the mother found it standing up whole in the boiling cauldron.
What with zealous labours and fastings, St. Anthony cut short his days, and died in the odour of sanctity on the 13th of June 1231.

Padua, now claiming him as patron saint and protector, set about erecting a grand temple to his memory. This large and handsome church was completed in 1307. It is a gigantic building, in the pointed Lombardo-Venetian style, with several towers and minarets of an Eastern character. The chief object of attraction in the interior is the chapel specially devoted to Il Santo.  It consists of the northern transept, gorgeously decorated with sculptures, bronzes, and gilding. The altar is of white marble, inlaid, resting on the tomb of St. Anthony, which is a sarcophagus of verd antique. Around it, in candelabra and in suspended lamps, lights burn night and day; and at nearly all hours a host of devotees may be seen kneeling in front of the shrine, or standing behind with hands devoutly and imploringly touching the sarcophagus, as if trying to draw succour and consolation from the marble of the tomb. The visitor to this splendid shrine is not less struck with the more than usual quantity of votive offerings suspended on the walls and end of the altar. These consist mainly of small framed sketches in oil or water colours, representing some circumstance that calls for particular thankfulness.

 The feast of St. Anthony I return in memory to Padua, where I had the good fortune of spending several days October, 2006. There I enjoyed the gracious hospitality of the Conventual Franciscan friars who run the magnificent Basilica of St. Anthony. In this grand structure sits Anthony’s tomb, which thousands of pilgrims visit and touch with their hands each week. Since I was a guest at the large Franciscan friary, which is part of the Basilica complex, I was able to visit Anthony’s tomb every day. It was an awesome experience for me.

    Antony_walnut_tree.  (Photo by Jack Wintz, O.F.M.)
One morning, a friar who lived there offered to drive me to the small town of Camposampiero 30 miles north of Padua. Camposampiero is where St. Anthony requested to go to take a break from his tiring schedule and to have more time dedicated to God alone. No doubt the saint also sensed that his short life was coming to a close, though he was only about 36 at the time. There a benefactor of the friars built Anthony a solitary hut—something like a small tree house—in the branches of a walnut tree. The tree was not far from the Franciscan hermitage where he would sleep at night. The saint spent a good part of the last months of his life praying in that tree hut.

One day, however, when Anthony came down from the tree to have lunch with the other friars he became deathly ill. He asked his brothers to take him back to Padua in an oxcart. When the group arrived on the outskirts of Padua near the Franciscan friary in Arcella, they saw that Anthony’s condition was much worse and they decided to stop. It was here that the saint would take his last breath. As he was about to die, Anthony began staring in front of himself for a long time. The friar who was supporting him asked, “What do you see?” Anthony responded, “I see my Lord!” And the saint’s journey thus came to a glorious end. It was June 13, 1231.

The symbolism of the walnut tree
Today a quaint chapel stands over the place where St. Anthony’s tree house once stood. In this chapel, known as the Shrine of the Walnut Tree, there is a beautiful painting (seen above) by Bonafacio De Pitata (1536). It depicts Anthony preaching from the tree’s branches to the faithful gathered below.
Visitors approach this chapel by driving or walking down a lovely road lined on each side by a long row of walnut trees.
Antony_chapel_tree_road  Photo by Jack Wintz, O.F.M.
Because of his great knowledge of Scripture, Anthony would have surely been well aware of the symbolism of his spending his last months in a hut or cell built into the branches of a giant walnut tree. And this symbolism was not lost on the artist who painted the picture of Anthony in the tree. The saint is shown in the tree halfway between earth and heaven. He has left his earthly concerns below in order to seek the face of God in holy contemplation and to share with the people his yearning to be with God in glory soon. The painter seems to be aware of what St. Anthony’s first biographer wrote in 1232 (within a year of the saint's death): “By climbing into it [Anthony] showed that he was drawing near to heaven.”
St. Anthony would have also been well aware of another symbol, the tree of life in the garden of Eden in Chapter 2 of Genesis. God had wanted this tree to be the source of ongoing life to those who ate its fruit. There was a river welling up in the garden, too, bringing water to the whole garden. We rightly identify this tree and this water with God, who is the source and fountain of all life. The two images are repeated in various ways throughout the Bible. In Psalm 1:3, for example, we read of the person who “delights in the law of the Lord” and “is like a tree planted near running water that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade.” When Anthony, whose knowledge of Scripture was profound, chose to live and pray in a tree during his last days on earth, he was very likely aware of the rich biblical meaning of his choice.
Christ as the tree of life
Adam and Eve had spurned the tree of life in the Garden of Eden, rejecting God’s plan and eating instead the fruit of the forbidden tree. Anthony was well aware that Christ had lovingly embraced God’s will in the Garden of Gethsemane while praying under an olive tree. Thus Jesus himself became the tree of life and fountain of life, which bring about the salvation of the whole world. This he did through the wood of a cross, which can also be identified as the “tree of life” by which we are saved. And even here the tree image is linked with the image of the “stream of water”—the water and blood flowing from the side of the crucified Jesus for the healing of the world.
 
If you look at the sculpture, you will see that it suggests a similar meaning. This is one of several works of sculpture that sit close to the Shrine of the Walnut Tree in Camposampiero. St. Anthony  is comforting Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Anthony is not like the disciples who fell asleep and left Jesus praying all alone. In solidarity with Christ, Anthony prays in a similar spirit of submission in anticipation of his own death. The artist suggests here that Christ is the tree of life by the cruciform shape you can see in the tree. Surely, the artist assumed that Anthony saw spiritual symbolism in the walnut tree.

St. Anthony of Padua, as appears from these pictures, is a saint ever ready to rescue persons from destructive accidents, such as the over-turning of wagons or carriages, the falling from windows or roofs of houses, the upsetting of boats, and such like; on any of these occurrences a person has only to call vehemently and with faith on St. Anthony in order to be rescued.
The hundreds of small pictures we speak of represent these appealling scenes, with a figure of St. Anthony in the sky interposing to save life and limb. On each are inscribed the letters P. G. R., with the date of the accident;—the letters being an abbreviation of the words Per Grazzia Ricevuto—for grace or favour received. On visiting the shrine, we remarked that many are quite recent; one of them depicting an accident by a railway train.
The other chief object of interest in the church is a chapel behind the high altar appropriated as a reliquary. Here, within a splendidly decorated cupboard, as it might be called, are treasured up certain relics of the now long deceased saint. The principal relic is the tongue of Il Santo, which. is contained within an elegant case of silver gilt, as here represented. This with other relics is exhibited once a year, at the great festival on the 13th of June, when Padua holds its grandest holiday.
It is to be remarked that the article entitled 'St. Anthony and the Pigs,' inserted under January 17, ought properly to have been placed here, as the patronship of animals belongs truly to St. Anthony of Padua, most probably in consequence of his sermon to the fishes.

 Portuguese by nationality and a native of Lisbon, St Antony nevertheless derives his surname from the Italian city of Padua where he made his last home and where his relics are still venerated. He was born in 1195 and baptized Ferdinand, a name that he was to change to that of Antony when he entered the Order of Friars Minor, out of devotion to the great patriarch of monks who was titular saint of the chapel in which he received the Franciscan habit.
His parents, young members of the Portuguese nobility, confided his early education to the clergy of the cathedral of Lisbon.  He joined the regular canons of St Augustine who were settled near the city at the age of fifteen. Two years later he obtained leave to be transferred to the priory at Coimbra—then the capital of Portugal—in order to avoid the distractions caused by the numerous visits of friends. There he devoted himself to prayer and study, acquiring, with the help of an unusually retentive memory, an extraordinary knowledge of the Bible. He had been living at Coimbra for eight years when Don Pedro of Portugal brought from Morocco in 1220 relics of Franciscans lately suffered a glorious martyrdom there. Ferdinand was profoundly moved, and conceived an ardent desire to lay down his life for Christ—an aspiration he had little prospect of realizing as a canon regular. To some Franciscans who came to his monastery of Holy Cross to beg, he laid open his heart, and eventually was admitted to their order in 1221.

Within a very short time he was permitted to embark for Morocco with the intention of preaching the Gospel to the Moors. Hardly had he arrived when he was prostrated by a severe illness that totally incapacitated him for some months and eventually necessitated his return to Europe. The vessel in which he sailed was driven out of its course by contrary winds and he found himself landed at Messina in Sicily. From thence he made his way to Assisi where, as he had learnt from his Sicilian brethren, a general chapter was about to be held. It was the great gathering of 1221—the last chapter open to all members of the order— and was presided over by Brother Elias as vicar general, with St Francis seated at his feet. It cannot fail to have deeply impressed the young Portuguese friar. At the close the brethren returned to the posts allocated to them, and Antony was appointed to the lonely hermitage of San Paolo near Forli. It is a moot point whether or not he was already a priest at this time. What is certain is that no one suspected the brilliant intellectual and spiritual gifts of the sickly young brother who kept silence. When he was not praying in the chapel or in the little cave, which had been made over to him, he was serving the other friars by washing up pots and dishes after the common meal.

His light was not destined to remain long hidden. It happened that an ordination was held at Forli, on which occasion the Dominican and Franciscan candidates were entertained at the Minorite convent there. Through some misunderstanding none of the Dominicans had come prepared to deliver the customary address at the ceremony, and as no one among the Franciscans seemed capable of filling the breach St Antony, who was present, was told to come forward and speak whatever the Holy Ghost should put into his mouth.
Very diffidently he obeyed; but once he began he delivered an address that amazed all who heard it by its eloquence, its fervor, and learning it displayed. The minister provincial, informed of talent possessed by the young friar he brought from Assisi, promptly recalled him from his retreat and sent him to preach in various parts of Romagna, which then comprised the whole of Lombardy.

Antony immediately sprang into fame and proved particularly successful in converting heretics who abounded in northern Italy and who were in many cases men of some education and best reached by arguments based on the Holy Scriptures. In addition to his commission as a preacher, he was appointed lector in theology to his brethren—the first member of his order to fill such a post.
In a letter generally regarded as authentic St Francis confirmed this appointment:
“To my dearest brother Antony, brother Francis sends greetings in Jesus Christ. I am well pleased that you should read sacred theology to the friars provided that such study does not quench the spirit of holy prayer and devotion according to our rule.”

It became more and more evident that his true mission lay in the pulpit. He had indeed all the qualifications —learning, eloquence, great power of persuasion, a burning zeal for souls and a sonorous voice that carried far. Moreover, he was said to be endowed with the gift of miracles and, though undersized and inclined to corpulence, he had an attractive, almost magnetic, personality. Sometimes the mere sight of him brought sinners to their knees: he appeared to radiate holiness. Wherever he went crowds flocked to hear him and hardened criminals, careless folk, and heretics alike were converted and brought to confession. Men closed their shops and offices to go to his sermons; women rose early or remained overnight in church to secure their places. Often the churches could not hold the congregations and he preached to them in the squares and market places. Shortly after the death of St Francis he was recalled to Italy, apparently to be minister provincial of Emilia or Romagna.

With regard to his attitude in the dissensions that arose in the order, modern historians discredit the legend that he headed the opposition to Brother Elias and to any departure from the original rule. They point out that the very lectorship, which was created for him, had been a signal innovation. He seems rather to have acted as envoy from the chapter general in 1226 to Pope Gregory IX, charged to lay before him for his decision the questions that had arisen. Antony on that occasion obtained from the pope his release from office that he might devote himself to preaching. The pope had the highest opinion of him and once called him “the Ark of the Testament”, because of his singular knowledge of the Holy Scriptures.

From that time St Antony resided at Padua—a city where he had previously labored, where he was greatly beloved, and where, more than anywhere else, he was privileged to see the great fruit that resulted from his ministry. His sermons listened to by enormous congregations led to a great and general reformation of conduct. Long-standing quarrels were amicably settled, prisoners were liberated and the owners of ill-gotten goods made restitution, often in public at St Antony’s feet.
In the interests of the poor he denounced the prevailing vice of usury and induced the state to pass a law exempting from prison such debtors as were willing to part with their possessions in order to pay their creditors. He is also said to have ventured boldly into the presence of the truculent Duke Eccelino to plead for the liberation of certain citizens of Verona the duke had captured. Although his efforts were unsuccessful it says much for the respect he inspired that he was apparently listened to with patience and allowed to depart unmolested.

After preaching a course of sermons in the spring of 1231, St Antony’s strength gave out and he retired with two other friars to a woodland retreat at Camposanpiero. It was soon clear that his days were numbered, and he asked to be taken back to Padua. He never reached the city, but only its outskirts. On June 13, 1231, in the apartment reserved for the chaplain of the Poor Clares of Arcella, he received last rites and passed to his eternal reward. He was only thirty-six. Extraordinary demonstrations of veneration were witnessed at his funeral and the Paduans have always regarded his relics as their most precious possession.

Within a year of his death Antony was canonized; on that occasion Pope Gregory IX intoned the anthem “0 doctor optime” in his honour, thus anticipating the year 1946 when Pope Pius XII declared him a Doctor of the Church. It has been impossible in this short account to embark upon any discussion of the miracles wrought by the saint. Whether he did or did not perform wonders in his lifetime, it is the innumerable favors he has obtained for his devotees since his death that have won for him the title of “The Wonder-worker “. Since the seventeenth century St Antony has been usually represented with the Infant Saviour because of a story of late date that once, when he was on a visit, his host, glancing through a window, saw him gazing with rapture on the Holy Child whom he was holding in his arms. In the earliest pictures we find nothing more distinctive than a book, emblematic of his knowledge of Holy Scripture, or a lily. Occasionally he is accompanied by the mule, which, according to the legend, knelt before the Blessed Sacrament upheld in the hands of the saint, and by so doing converted its owner to a belief in the real presence. St Antony is the patron of the poor, and alms specially given to obtain his intercession are called “ St Antony’s Bread”; this practice, however, seems only to date from 1890. How he came to be invoked to find lost articles admits of no quite satisfactory explanation, but it may not impossibly be connected with a story recounted among the miracles in the Chronica XXIV Generalium (No. 21). A novice ran away and carried off a valuable psalter St Antony was using.
He prayed for its recovery and the novice was compelled by an alarming apparition to come back and return it.
The literature which has grown up around St Antony of Padua is only exceeded by that which attests the veneration paid to St Francis himself. A summary account of the more important sources was published in 1931 by Father Pou y Marti, in the periodical Antonianum, vol. vi, pp. 225—252; but even this requires to be supplemented, as has been done in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. Ii (1933), pp. 455—456. Nevertheless, the positive knowledge we possess regarding the details of St Antony’s life amounts to extremely little, and is almost entirely dependent upon the anonymous narrative, known from its first word as the “Assidua”, which was edited originally in the Portugalliae Monumenta Historica, vol. i (1856), pp. 116—130. This may be most conveniently consulted in the edition of L. de Kerval, S. Antonii de Padua Vitae Duae (1904). From this source, developed by various amplifications, come most of the documents catalogued in BHL., nn. 587—602. The most important of the texts more recently brought to light is probably that by Bishop Jean Rigaud, Vita B. Antonii; it was edited in 1900 by F. M. d’Araules, and it probably does provide some authentic information regarding the saint’s preaching in the south of France. The legend known as the Laurentiana, published in 1902 by Fr Lemmens, is also worthy of notice, as investigation seems to have proved that it was written in the middle of the thirteenth century. A useful book is that of F. Conconi (1930), who publishes the best texts of those legends which belong to the earlier period. There is also a probability that certain sermons attributed to the saint do preserve for us the substance of his discourses and render testimony to the spirit which inspired him. The lives of St Antony which have been published in modern times are very numerous. One of the most bulky, but hardly the most critical, is that of D. M. Sparacio, S. Antonio di Padova; taumaturgo (1923); it runs to over one thousand pages in two volumes quarto. A shorter but acceptable work in Italian is that of N. Dal-Gal, S. Antonio di Padova; taumaturgo francescano (1907; French trans.). A further treatment of the subject under another title, Il santo di Padova nella storia, was issued by Father Dal-Gal in 1933. There are French biographies by L. de Chérancé (1906), I. Boucard (1897), W. Vian (Eng. trans., 1936), and others. B. Kleinschmidt’s Antonius von Padua in Leben und Kunst...(1931,) is a particularly valuable work for the attention paid to the artistic developments of devotion to St Antony. In English we have a good translation of Canon A. Lepitre’s excellent life in the series “Les Saints”, and also original works by C. M. Antony (1911), E. Gilliat-Smith (1926), R. Maloney (1931), R. M. Huber (1949 and Alice Curtayne (1950). In 1946 the Conventual friars of Padua issued a com­memorative volume of studies.
1395 Saint Andronicus a disciple of St Sergius of Radonezh
He was born in Rostov, and was a disciple of St Sergius of Radonezh (September 25), and received the monastic tonsure from him. Adorned with every virtue, St Andronicus lived at Holy Trinity Monastery for many years.

One day, the holy Metropolitan Alexis (February 12) visited the monastery to speak with St Sergius about founding a monastery in fulfillment of a vow he had made when he was saved from shipwreck. St Alexis wished to establish a cenobitic monastery dedicated to the Icon of Christ Not-Made-By Hands (August 16), and he wanted St Andronicus to become the igumen. St Sergius agreed to this proposal, and the monastery was completed between 1358-1361.
St Andronicus governed the monastery for many years, attracting many monks to that place. Among the notable monks of that monastery was St Andrew Rublev (July 4).
St Andronicus fell asleep in the Lord in 1395, and was succeeded as igumen by his disciple St Sava of Moscow.
1410 Saint Sava of Moscow succeeded St Andronicus as the igumen of the monastery of the Savior, dedicated to the Icon of Christ Not-Made-By Hands (August 16) in 1395. He died in 1410.
Saint James acquired the gift of discernment, learned the straight and narrow path of God, and became a great wonderworker had such love for Christ, and so little regard for the things of this world, that he liquidated his entire estate and gave the proceeds to the poor without spending any of the money on himself.
Later, he fell into a demonic temptation and became very proud. He would say, "Who knows better than I do, concerning my own salvation?" Following his own self will and personal preferences, he lived in solitude and undertook difficult struggles without first seeking the advice of wise and experienced ascetics.

Once a demon appeared to him in the guise of an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). He told James that Christ was very pleased by his labors, and would come that night to reward him. "Clean your cell," he said, "and make ready by lighting the lamps and burning incense."  The foolish James, in his delusion, accepted all of this without question. When the Antichrist came at midnight, James opened his door and fell down in worship before him. The devil struck him on the head, then vanished.

James awoke at dawn and went to visit a certain Elder to tell him what had happened. Before James could speak a single word, the Elder said, "You must leave this place, for you have been deceived by Satan."  James was heartbroken and wept bitter tears. The Elder also advised him to go to a cenobitic monastery, which he did. There he fulfilled his obedience in the trapeza with great humility. Then for seven years he sat in his cell working at some handicraft, and fulfilling his Rule of prayer.

St James acquired the gift of discernment, learned the straight and narrow path of God, and became a great wonderworker. He completed the course of his life in peace.
1716 Saint Anthimus of Iberia was one of the most highly educated people of his time. He was fluent in many languages, including Greek, Romanian, Old Slavonic, Arabic, and Turkish and well-versed in theology, literature, and the natural sciences. He was unusually gifted in the fine arts—in painting, engraving, and sculpture in particular. He was famed for his beautiful calligraphy. Finally, St. Anthimus was a great writer, a renowned orator, and a reformer of the written Romanian language.

Little is known about the youth of St. Anthimus. He was a native of the Samtskhe region in southern Georgia. His parents, John and Mariam, gave him the name Andria at Baptism. He accompanied King Archil to Russia and helped him to found a Georgian print shop there, but after he returned he was captured by Dagestani robbers and sold into slavery. Through the efforts of Patriarch Dositheus of Jerusalem, Anthimus was finally set free, but he remained in the patriarch’s service in order to further his spiritual education.

Already famed for his paintings, engravings, and calligraphy, Anthimus was asked by Prince Constantine Brincoveanu (1688–1714) of Wallachia (present-day Romania) to travel to his kingdom around the year 1691. After he had arrived inWallachia, he began to manage a local print shop. The printing industry in that country advanced tremendously at that time, and the chief inspiration and driving force behind the great advances was the Georgian master Anthimus. He succeeded in making Wallachia a center of Christianity and a major publisher of books for all the East.

In 1694 Anthimus was enthroned as abbot of Snagov Monastery (in present-day Romania), where he soon founded a print shop. In the same year his new print shop published Guidelines for the Divine Services on May 21, All Saints’ Day. The book was signed by Subdeacon Michael Ishtvanovich, future founder of the first Georgian print shop.

In 1705 Anthimus, “the chosen among chosen abbots of Wallachia,” was consecrated bishop of Rimnicu Vilcea, and in 1708 he was appointed metropolitan of Hungro-Wallachia. The whole country celebrated his elevation. As one abbot proclaimed: “The divine Anthimus, a great man and son of the wise Iberian nation, has come to Wallachia and enlightened our land. God has granted him an inexhaustible source of wisdom, entrusted him to accomplish great endeavors, and helped to advance our nation by establishing for us a great printing industry.”

Under the direct leadership of St. Anthimus, more than twenty churches and monasteries were erected in Wallachia. Of particular significance is All Saints’ Monastery, located in the center of Bucharest. The main gates of this monastery were made of oak and carved with traditional Georgian motifs by St. Anthimus himself. The metropolitan also established rules for the monastery and declared its independence from the Church of Constantinople.

From the day of his consecration, Metropolitan Anthimus fought tirelessly for the liberation of Wallachia from foreign oppressors. On the day he was ordained he addressed his flock: “You have defended the Christian Faith in purity and without fault. Nevertheless, you are surrounded and tightly bound by the violence of other nations. You endure countless deprivations and tribulations from those who dominate this world…. Though I am unworthy and am indeed younger than many of you—like David, I am the youngest among my brothers— the Lord God has anointed me to be your shepherd. Thus I will share in your future trials and griefs and partake in the lot that God has appointed for you.”

His words were prophetic: In 1714 the Turks executed the Wallachian prince Constantine Brincoveanu, and in 1716 they executed Stefan Cantacuzino (1714–1716), the last prince of Wallachia.

In his place they appointed the Phanariote (a member of one of the principal Greek families of the Phanar, the Greek quarter of Constantinople, who, as administrators in the civil bureaucracy, exercised great influence in the Ottoman Empire after the Turkish conquest.) Nicholas Mavrokordatos, who concerned himself only with the interests of the Ottoman Empire.

During this difficult time, Anthimus of Iberia gathered around him a group of loyal boyar patriots determined to liberate their country from Turkish and Phanariote domination. But Nicholas Mavrokordatos became suspicious, and he ordered Anthimus to resign as metropolitan. When Anthimus failed to do so, he filed a complaint with Patriarch Jeremiah of Constantinople.

Then a council of bishops, which did not include a single Romanian clergyman, condemned the “conspirator and instigator of revolutionary activity” to anathema and excommunication and declared him unworthy to be called a monk. But Nicholas Mavrokordatos was still unsatisfied and claimed that to deny Anthimus the title of Metropolitan of Hungro-Wallachia was insufficient punishment. He ordered Anthimus to be exiled far from Wallachia, to St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mt. Sinai. Metropolitan Anthimus, beloved of the Romanian people, was escorted out of the city at night since the conspirators feared the reaction of the people.

But Metropolitan Anthimus never reached Mt. Sinai. On September 14, 1716, a band of Turkish soldiers stabbed St. Anthimus to death on the bank of the Tundzha (Tunca) River where it flows through Adrianople, not far from Gallipoli, and cast his butchered remains into the river.

Thus ended the earthly life of one more Georgian saint—a man who had dedicated all of his strength, talent, and knowledge to the revival of Christian culture and the strengthening of the Wallachian people in the Orthodox Faith.

In 1992 the Romanian Church canonized Anthimus of Iberia and proclaimed his commemoration day to be September 14, the day of his repose. The Georgian Church commemorates him on June 13.
1839 St. Augustine of Huy A martyr of Vietnam native of Vietnam a soldier. When it was discovered he was a Christian, he joined St. Nicholas Then in martyrdom they were sawed into pieces. Augustine was canonized in 1988.
1886 St. Gyavire Martyr of Uganda, slain by King Mwanga. Gyavire was known as “the good runner of messages” before being martyred for the faith.
St. Damhnade Virgin venerated in Ireland.
1942 Pope Yoannis the Nineteenth 113th Patriarch of Alexandria Departure of; monk; priest; an example of, ambition, honesty, purity of conduct, firmness, godliness, and good management loved, since his young age, to read the biographies of saints. He longed to follow their example
On this day, of the year 1658 A.M. (1942 A.D.) Pope Yoannis the Nineteenth, 113th Patriarch of Alexandria, departed. He was born in the village of Dair Tasa, Asyiut governorate in the year 1571 A.M. (1855 A.D.). His parents were righteous, therefore he was raised on piety and godliness. He drank the love of virtuous life and loved, since his young age, to read the biographies of saints. He longed to follow their example, accordingly he went to the monastery of the Virgin Lady known as El-Baramous in Wadi El-Natroun, in the month of Baramoudah, 1591 A.M.
He became a monk on the third of Kiahk, 1592 A.M. (1876 A.D.). Because of his fervent worship, intelligence, and intellect, the fathers unanimously agreed to nominate him to be a priest. Pope Kyrillos the fifth, 112th Patriarch, ordained him a priest in the year 1593 A.M., then hegumen in Baramhat, 1594 A.M., and appointed him on the same day to be the head of the monastery. He remained the head of the monastery for ten years, during which he was an example of, ambition, honesty, purity of conduct, firmness, godliness, and good management.

When the Chair of the diocese of El-Biharah became vacant, the people chose Yoannis a metropolitan for that Chair. He was ordained on the 12th day of Baramhat, 1603 A.M. (1887 A.D.) and also was appointed as a deputy of the See of St. Mark. After the departure of Anba Yoannis, metropolitan of El-Menofaya at that time, the people of the diocese nominated him to care for them. The diocese of El-Menofaya was added to his duties in the year 1610 A.M. (1894 A.D.), and he became the metropolitan of El-Biharah, El-Menofaya, and the deputy of the See of St. Mark.

Since his official seat was in Alexandria, he established there a theological school to educate the monks. He sent from its students a mission to Athens for higher theological studies.

The revenue of the church properties was inconsiderable. By his good judgement, the revenue increased year after year. Because of the highrise buildings that he built and the renovation of the old ones. He also gave great care for the Coptic schools, elementary and high, until their standard became equivalent to the best schools. He built and renovated most of the churches in his parish. He also gave special attention to the monasteries in his jurisdiction, which were improved greatly because of his good care and close supervision.

Because of his foresight, and prudence, the government chose him as a representative for the Copts in many councils and committees at the general assembly, the committee for formulating the constitution and many others.

He spent forty-two years as a metropolitan, which were full of splendid works. When the blessed Pope Kyrillos the fifth, departed, on the 1st day of Misra, 1643 A.M. (August 7th, 1927 A.D.) the Holy Synod convened on the fourth of Misra. They unanimously agreed to chose him Acting Pope to run the affairs of the church until ordaining a patriarch. As a result of that, the Holy Synod had received many nominations from the parishes approving that choice.

He performed his duties as Acting Patriarch for one year, four months, and ten days. During this period he administered the affairs of the See of St. Mark very well, during which also the Holy Synod, with Anba Yoannis presiding, issued a canon to regulate the affairs of the monasteries and the monks. He organized a committee to oversee the church properties and those of the monasteries and to review their accounts.

From what everyone knew of his purity, virtuous life, good character, asceticism, and piety, they all unanimously agreed to chose him a patriarch with nominations from the bishops, priests and lay leaders. He was enthroned a patriarch on Sunday the 7th day of Kiahk 1645 A.M. (December 16th, 1928 A.D.) in the great St. Mark cathedral in Cairo (Azbakiah). That took place with a great celebration attended by the representatives of the King, princes, ministers, important Egyptian personalities, the metropolitans of different denominations eastern and western, and ambassadors of foreign countries.

After his ordination, Pope Yoannis directed his attention to caring for the affairs of the Coptic People and the church. He established a higher theological institution for the education of the monks in the city of Helwan. He ordained for the kingdom of Ethiopia, a Coptic Metropolitan and four well-learned Ethiopian bishops. He travelled to Ethiopia to reaffirm the unity between the Coptic and Ethiopian churches. He stayed there for thirteen days where they received him with great honor and respect. In Addis Ababa, he ordained the head of the Ethiopian monks (the successor of St. Takla Haymanot) a bishop.

With the will of God, he made the Holy Oil (Myron) in the year 1648 A.M. (1930 A.D.). The last time the oil was made was one hundred and ten years earlier during the papacy of Pope Peter, 109th Pope of Alexandria. Pope Yoannis made the Holy Oil a second time, specially for the kingdom of Ethiopia, attended by Anba Kyrillos, metropolitan of Ethiopia, and Anba Peter, an Ethiopian bishop.

His contributions, too numerous to be mentioned completely, include watching over the welfare of the church, kindness to the needy, support for charitable organizations, moral and financial support for the Coptic teaching institutions, and assistance on valuable projects that financially and spiritually benefitted the Copts.

During Pope Yoannis' papacy, a war broke out between Ethiopia and Italy, during which most of the Ethiopian bishops died except Anba Abraam and another bishop. When Italy occupied Ethiopia, the Emperor departed from his country. Anba Kyrillos, the metropolitan of Ethiopia, was exiled to Egypt, for he refused to agree with Italy on separating the Ethiopian church from the Coptic Orthodox church. In November, 1937 A.D., the Italian governor of Ethiopia decided the independence of the Ethiopian church and its separation from the Alexandrian See. He appointed Anba Abraam, the Ethiopian bishop, a patriarch for Ethiopia. Nevertheless, God punished him for his betrayal. He became blind and died shortly after. The Alexandrian Holy Synod decided to excommunicate him, not recognizing him nor the bishops that he ordained. This situation in Ethiopia did not last long; during the Second World War the Emperor of Ethiopia regained his kingdom from Italy. Anba Kyrillos returned to his church with great honor, in May 1942 A.D.

When Pope Yoannis had realized the return of the Ethiopian church to its mother church, the Coptic Church, he was stricken with the ailments of old age. He departed in peace on Sunday 14th day of Baounah, 1658 A.M. (June 21st, 1942 A.D.).  May his prayers be with us. Amen


THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 44

Our foolish enemy hath said in his heart: I will follow after and take him, and my hand shall slay him.

Arise, O Lady, and prevent him, and supplant him: destroy all his machinations.

Thy beauty astonishes the sun and the moon; the angelic powers serve and obey thee.

By thy gentle touch the sick are healed: by thy rose-sweet fragrance the dead revive.

Virgin Mother of God, He whom the whole world cannot contain was enclosed within thee, being made Man.

Let every spirit praise Our Lady

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Father Corapi's Biography

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

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

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

God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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