100 AD 'Saint Prosdocimus (Prosdecimus) of Padua' venerated as the first bishop of Padua. Of Greek origin, tradition holds that he was sent from Antioch by Saint Peter the Apostle.
Patávii deposítio sancti Prosdócimi, qui fuit primus ejúsdem civitátis Epíscopus. Hic, a beáto Petro Apóstolo Epíscopus ordinátus, ad prædicándum Dei verbum ad prædíctam civitátem missus est; ibíque, multis virtútibus et prodígiis corúscans, beáto fine quiévit.
At Padua, the death of St. Prosdocimus, consecrated as first bishop of that city by the blessed apostle Peter. He was sent to that city to preach the word of God and there he died a holy death, celebrated for many virtues and miracles.
Thus, he is often depicted in art with this Apostle. The cathedral at Feltre is dedicated to him and Saint Peter the Apostle, and the artist Il Pordenone (c. 1483 - 1539) created a work depicting Prosdocimus with Peter. He evangelized the region and is said to have founded the parish church at Isola Vicentina. His tomb is situated at the basilica of Santa Giustina at Padua. The chapel dedicated to him there was built over his tomb outside the walls of Padua. The church also once contained the relics of Prosdocimus's deacon, Saint Daniel, though these were moved to the Paduan church of Santa Sofia in the 11th century.

St. Auctus unknown Martyrs with Taurio and Thessalonica
Amphípoli, in Macedónia, sanctórum Mártyrum Aucti, Tauriónis et Thessalonícæ.
At Amphipolis in Macedonia, the holy martyrs Auctus, Taurio, and Thessalonica.
They were slain at Amphipolis in Macedonia.
Auctus, Taurion & Thessalonica MM (RM) This trio was martyred at Amphipolis in Macedonia (Benedictines).
Saint Thessalonikia was the daughter of a pagan priest. When the impious father learned that his daughter was become a Christian, he ruthlessly beat her and threw her out of the house, bereft of any means of providing for herself. Saints Auktos and Taurion attempted to intercede for the girl and to reason with the embittered father. The pagan priest denounced them both to the authorities, and they were arrested. Having confessed their faith in Christ afront the torturers and having undergone cruel tortures, the saints were then beheaded. Soon after their martyr's death, Saint Thessalonikia also died. Her body was reverently buried in the city of Amphypolis in Macedonia, together with the holy Martyrs Auktos and Taurion

3rd v. Amaranthus of Albi Saint Gregory of Tours attests to the martyrdom M (RM)
Eódem die sancti Amaránthi Mártyris, qui apud Albigénsem urbem, in Gállia, exácto agónis fidélis cursu, sepúltus, vivit in glória.
The same day, St. Amaranthus, martyr. After successfully fulfilling the course of his trials he was buried in the city of Albi, but lives in eternal glory.
Saint Gregory of Tours attests to the martyrdom of Saint Amaranthus, who is venerated at Albi in southern France. Nothing further is known about him (Benedictines).

300 St. Hieron Martyr with Hesychius & 31 Armenians Nicander, and thirty Armenians. They suffered at Melitene.
Melitínæ, in Arménia, pássio sanctórum Hierónis, Nicándri, Hesychii et aliórum trigínta; qui in persecutióne Diocletiáni, sub Lysia Præside, coronáti sunt.
At Melitina in Armenia, the martyrdom of the Saints Hiero, Nicander, Hesychius, and thirty others, who were crowned in the persecution of Diocletian under the governor Lysias.
33 Martyrs at Meletina: Hieron, Hesykhios, Nikander, Athanasias, Mamant, Barakhios, Kallinikos, Theagenes, Nikon, Longinos, Theodore, Ualerios, Xanthos, Theodoulos, Kallimakhos, Eugene, Theodokhos, Ostrykhias, Epiphanios, Maximian, Ducitios, Claudian, Theophilos, Gigantios, Dorotheos, Theodotos, Castrikhios, Anyketos, Themelios, Eutykhios, Hilarion, Diodotos and Amonites (III). Martyr Athenodoros. Saint Gregory. Monk Zosima of Vorbozomsk. Uncovering of Relics of Monk Kirill (Cyril) of Novoezersk and Novgorod (1649). Martyr Theodotos the Tavern-keeper (+ 303). Martyrs Melasippos and Kasynia and their son Antoninos (+ 363). Martyrs Auktos, Taurion and Thessalonkia. Monk Lazaros of Galiseia (+ 1053). Icon of the Mother of God "Leaping with Joy" ("Vzygranie") (1795).

The Holy Martyr Hieron was born in the city of Tiana in great Cappadocia. Raised by a pious mother, he was a kindly and good Christian.

The co-ruling emperors Diocletian and Maximian (284-305) sent to Cappadocia a large military detachment headed by Lyzias to eradicate the wide-spread Christianity there, and also, to conscript into the imperial army healthy and strong soldiers. Amidst the many others, Lyzias gave orders also to draft into military service Hieron, who was distinguished by his great physical strength and dexterity. But Hieron refused to serve emperors who would persecute Christians. When they attempted to grab hold of him by force and bring him to Lyzias, he took hold a beam of wood, and sent scattering the soldiers who had been sent to bring him. He then hid himself away in a cave, together with eighteen others of like mind. Lyzias would not risk losing his soldiers assaulting the cave even by storming it. Upon the advice of Kyriakos, one of the friends of Hieron, Lyzias lifted the siege of the cave and withdrew his detachment. Then Kyriakos, having reassured Hieron, persuaded him not to offer resistance to the authorities; and he together with the other new conscripts amidst accompanying soldiers were dispatched to the nearby city of Meletina. Soon Hieron had a vision in his sleep, in which was foretold him his imminent martyr's end. Lyzias proposed to the soldiers gathered at Meletina that they offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. Hieron and behind him another 32 soldiers refused to do this, and openly they confessed their faith in Christ. Then the persecutor gave orders to beat the martyrs, and to cut off the hand of Hieron. After cruel tortures they threw the barely alive martyrs into prison, and in the morning they beheaded them.

A certain rich and illustrious Christian by the name of Chrysanthos ransomed the head of Hieron from Lyzias. And when the persecutions finally ceased, he built a church on the place where they executed the holy martyrs, and he placed the venerable head therein. The bodies of all the executed saints were secretly buried by Christians. During the reign of the emperor Justinian later on, amidst the construction of a church in the name of Saint Irene, the venerable relics were uncovered undecayed.

313 St. Achillas Bishop of Alexandria; theologian lived in era of dispute in Church
Alexandríæ beáti Achíllæ Epíscopi, qui eruditióne, fide, conversatióne ac móribus fuit insígnis.
At Alexandria, the blessed Achilles, bishop, renowned for his learning, faith, and purity of life.
Achillas was the bishop in Egypt, one of the most powerful cities in the world at the time. Succeeding as bishop a man named St. Peter the Martyr, Achillas ordained Arius, who was to begin the influential heresy of Arianism. When Achillas recognized the untruths in Arius' preaching, he took steps to defend the faith and was attacked by Arius and another heretical group called the Meletians. Achillas remained firm in the faith.
A council held in Alexandria condemned Arius forced him to flee to Palestine. Achillas, did not live to see this condemnation.

Achillas of Alexandria B (RM). Saint Achillas, successor to Bishop Saint Peter of Alexandria, Egypt, ordained to the priesthood the man who afterwards became world famous as the heresiarch Arius. Saint Athanasius praised Achillas for the purity of his doctrine when he maligned by the party of Meletius (Benedictines).

360 St. Melasippus Martyr with Carina, his wife, and Anthony, their son
Ancyræ, in Galátia, pássio sanctórum Melasíppi, Antónii et Carínæ, sub Juliáno Apóstata.
At Ancyra in Galatia, the martyrdom of Saints Melasippus, Anthony and Carina, under Julian the Apostate.
They suffered at Ancyra. Melasippus and Carina died under torture. Anthony was beheaded.

The Holy Martyrs Melasippos and Kasynia and their son Antoninos suffered during the reign of the emperor Julian the Apostate in the city of Ancyra in Phrygia in the year 363. The holy Martyrs Melasippos and Kasynia, lacerated by iron hooks and exhausted, died under torture. Their son the lad Antoninos, whom the persecutor forced to watch the torturing of his parents, spat in the face of the God-apostate emperor. For this he was subjected to cruel tortures, in which he remained unharmed, and then he was beheaded. And forty other youths, witnessing that the Lord had preserved His confessor Antoninos unharmed by tortures, believed in Christ, and they openly confessed their faith and accepted death by martyrdom.

400 St. Rufus of Metz Bishop for nearly 3 decades

Metis, in Gállia, sancti Rufi, Epíscopi et Confessóris. At Metz, St. Rufus, bishop and confessor.

It is possible that he is the same Rufus of Metz who took part in the Priscillianist Controversy.

St. Tremorus murdered while still an infant by his father 6th century
Count Canmore of Brittany. His mother was St. Triphina.

547 ST HERCULANUS, BISHOP OF PERUGIA, MARTYR
WHEN the Goths took the city of Perugia after beleaguering it off and on for seven years King Totila ordered that the bishop, Herculanus, should be put to death in most barbarous fashion: a strip of skin was to be pulled off him from his crown to his heels before he was beheaded. The officer entrusted with the execution had the humanity to cut off his head before flaying him, and the body was then thrown off the walls into the fosse. Christians hastily buried it there with the severed head, but when they disinterred it forty days later for translation to the church of St Peter, the head, St Gregory the Great says, was found attached to the trunk with no sign of separation.
When the Goths captured Tifernum (Città di Castello) a young deacon had taken refuge in Perugia and was there made priest by St Herculanus. He was afterwards bishop of Tifernum, and as St Floridus he is commemorated on the 13th of this month. The Perugians venerate also another St Herculanus, bishop of their city, who, they say, was a Syrian who came to Rome and was sent to evangelize Perugia, where he was put to death for the faith. This Herculanus is probably a duplication of the one mentioned above.

The Bollandists hold that there was only one St Herculanus connected with Perugia, and they discuss the matter primarily on March 1, quoting the notice in the dialogues of St Gregory the Great. They have also a brief reference to the same matter in their third volume for November, p. 322. The story of the miracle, and Bonfigli's frescoes in the Palazzo del Municipio, have helped to perpetuate the memory of Herculanus.

St. Cumgar Monastic founder 6th or 8th century
possibly identified with St. Docuinus. A native of Devon, he founded monasteries at Budgworth, Somerset, England, and at West Glamorgan, Wales. He was buried at Somerset.

675 St. Gebetrude Third abbess of the Benedictine Abbey of Remiremont
France, also listed as Gertrude. Her cult was approved by Pope St. Leo IX in 1051.

693 St. Florentius of Strasbourg Irish bishop curing the blind and deaf

Argentoráti sancti Floréntii Epíscopi. At Strasbourg, St. Florentius, bishop.

of Strasbourg, France. He went to Alsace and there he became a hermit on Mount Ringelberg. After curing the blind and deaf daughter of St. King Dagobert II, he had the king’s patronage in founding a monastery. He was appointed the bishop of Strasbourg and founded St. Thomas Monastery, mostly staffed by Irish.
7^th v. ST FLORENTIUS, BISHOP OF STRASBURG
ST FLORENTIUS is said to have been an Irishman, who came to Alsace (of which he is venerated as an apostle) and settled as a hermit in a valley at the foot of the Ringelberg. From thence he preached to the neighbouring people, and, having healed King Dagobert’s daughter, who was a blind-mute, the king enabled him to found a monastery near by, at Haslach. After he had become bishop, about 678, many Irish monks and others came to St Florentius at Strasburg. For these he built a house outside the walls, dedicated in honour of St Thomas the Apostle, which became a monastery under the Irish rule and later a collegiate chapter of canons.

The twelfth-century Life of St Florentius, which is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, November, vol. iii, with a full discussion of the difficulties involved, is of no historical value. The date of the saint’s death, whether towards the close of the seventh or the beginning of the eighth century must be left quite indeterminate. As Dom Gougaud makes no mention of Florentius either in his Gaelic Pioneers of Christianity (1923) or in his Saints irlandais hors d’Irlande (1936) it may be assumed that he discredits the saint’s supposed Irish origin. See also Duchesne, Fastes Épiscopaux, vol. iii, p. 171; and M. Barth, Der hi. Florentius von Strassburg (1952).

700 St. Amarand Bishop and Benedictine abbot
Amarand was the abbot of Moissac Monastery until becoming the bishop of Albi, in France, about 700.
Amarand of Albi, OSB B (AC). Saint Amarand, abbot of Moissac, was raised to the see of of Albi, France, sometime between 689 and 722 (Benedictines).

739 St. Willibrord Apostle of Frisia Netherlands missionary archbishop Apostle of the Frisians
In Frísia deposítio sancti Willibrórdi, Epíscopi Trajecténsis; qui, a beáto Sérgio Papa ordinátus Epíscopus, in Frísia et Dánia Evangélium prædicávit.
In Friesland, the death of St. Willibrord, bishop of Utrecht, who was consecrated bishop by blessed Pope Sergius, and preached the Gospel in Friesland and Denmark.

739 ST WILLIBRORD, BISHOP OF UTRECHT
ST WILLIBRORD was born in Northumbria in the year 658, and placed before he was seven years old in the monastery of Ripon, which was at that time governed by St Wilfrid. In his twentieth year he went over to Ireland, where he joined St Egbert and St Wigbert who had gone thither to study in the monastic schools and lead a more perfect life among their monks. In their company he spent twelve years in the study of the sacred sciences. St Egbert was anxious to preach the gospel in northern Germany but was prevented, and his companion Wigbert came back to Ireland after spending two fruitless years on this mission. Thereupon Willibrord, who was then thirty-one, and had been ordained priest a year before, expressed a desire to be allowed to undertake this laborious and dangerous task, and was accordingly sent out with eleven other monks, Englishmen, among whom was St Swithbert.

They landed in 690 at the mouth of the Rhine, made their way to Utrecht, and then to the court of Pepin of Herstal, who encouraged them to preach in Lower Friesland, between the Meuse and the sea, which he had conquered from the heathen Radbod.

Willibrord set out for Rome and cast himself at the feet of Pope St Sergius I, begging his authority to preach the gospel to idolatrous nations. The pope granted him ample jurisdiction and gave him relics for the consecration of churches. He then returned and with his companions preached the gospel with success in that part of Friesland that had been conquered by the Franks. St Swithbert was consecrated as bishop by St Wilfrid in England, but perhaps Pepin did not approve of this, for Swithbert soon went off up the Rhine to preach to the Boructvari; and Pepin soon sent St Willibrord to Rome, with letters of recommendation that he might be ordained bishop. Pope Sergius still sat in St Peter’s chair and he received him with honour, changed his name to Clement and ordained him bishop of the Frisians in St Cecilia’s basilica on her feast-day in the year 695. St Willibrord stayed only fourteen days in Rome, and coming back to Utrecht built there the church of our Saviour, in which he fixed his see.

The bishop’s indefatigable application to the conversion of souls seemed to prove that, with the new obligation he had received at his consecration of labouring to enlarge the kingdom of his Master, he had acquired fresh strength and zeal. Some years after his consecration, assisted by the liberality of Pepin and the abbess St Irmina, he founded the abbey of Echternach in Luxemburg, which soon became an important centre of his influence.

Willibrord extended his labours into Upper Friesland, which still obeyed Radbod, and penetrated into Denmark, but with no more success than to purchase thirty young Danish boys, whom he instructed, baptized and brought back with him. In his return, according to Alcuin, he was driven by stress of weather upon the island of Heligoland, revered as a holy place by the Danes and Frisians. It was looked upon as a sacrilege for anyone to kill any living creature on that island, to eat anything that grew on it, or to draw water out of a spring there without observing strict silence. St Willibrord, to undeceive the inhabitants, killed some of the beasts for his companions to eat and baptized three persons in the fountain, pronouncing the words very loudly. The idolaters expected to see them go mad or drop down dead, and when no such judgement befell could not determine whether this was to be attributed to the patience of their god or to his want of power. They informed Radbod, who ordered lots to be cast for the person who should appease the god, so that one of Willibrord’s company was sacrificed to the superstition of the people and died a martyr for Jesus Christ. The saint, upon leaving Heligoland, went ashore on Walcheren and his charity and patience made considerable conquests to the Christian religion there. He overthrew and destroyed an idol, whereupon he was attacked by its outraged priest who tried to kill the missionary, but he escaped and returned in safety to Utrecht. In 714 Charles Martel’s son Pepin the Short, afterwards king of the Franks, was born, and baptized by St Willibrord, who on that occasion is related by Alcuin to have prophesied that the child would surpass in glory all his ancestors.

In 715 Radbod regained the parts of Frisia he had lost, and undid much of Willibrord’s work, destroying churches, killing missionaries and inducing many apostasies. For a time Willibrord retired, but after the death of Radbod in 719 he was at full liberty to preach in every part of the country. He was joined in his apostolical labours by St Boniface, who spent three years in Friesland before he went into Germany. Bede says, when he wrote his history in 731,

“Willibrord, surnamed Clement, is still living, venerable in his old age, having been bishop thirty-six years, and sighing after the rewards of the heavenly life after many spiritual conflicts”.
“Willibrord was to England what Columbanus had been to Ireland. He inaugurated a century of English spiritual influence on the continent”. (W. Levison).

He was, says Bd Alcuin, of a becoming stature, venerable in his aspect, comely in his person, graceful and always cheerful in his speech and countenance, wise in his counsel, unwearied in preaching and all apostolic works, amidst which he was careful to nourish the interior life of his soul by public prayer, meditation and reading. By the prayers and labours of this apostle and his colleagues the faith was planted in many parts of Holland, Zeeland, and the Netherlands, whither St Amand and St Lebwin had never penetrated; and the Frisians, till then a rough and barbarous people, became more civilized and virtuous. He is commonly called the Apostle of the Frisians, a title to which he has every claim; but it must not be lost sight of that in the earlier days of the mission St Swithbert also played a very considerable part and seems in some degree to have been its leader. And the Frisians, like other nations, were not converted with the speed and in the numbers that medieval hagiographers would have us believe. “Willibrord was to England what Columbanus had been to Ireland. He inaugurated a century of English spiritual influence on the continent”. (W. Levison).

It had always been St Willibrord’s habit to go from time to time to his monastery at Echternach for periods of retreat, and in his old age he made it his place of permanent retirement. There he died at the age of eighty-one on November 7, 739, and was buried in the abbey church, which has ever since been a place of pilgrimage. In connection with the shrine there takes place every Whit-Tuesday a curious observance called the Springende Heiligen, the Dancing Saints. Its true origin is unknown, but it is known to have taken place regularly (except from 1786 till 1802) from at least 1553 until the present day. It consists of a procession from a bridge over the Sure to St Willibrord’s shrine. The participants, four or five abreast and hand-fasted or arm-in-arm, proceed with a hopping or dancing motion, in which for every three steps forward they take two back, in time to a traditional tune played by bands. Priests, religious, and even bishops take part, and the ceremony ends with benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Whatever its origin, the procession is now penitential in character and intercessory on behalf of those suffering from epilepsy and similar maladies. St Willibrord’s feast is kept in the diocese of Hexham as well as in Holland.

The account of St Willibrord contributed to the Acta Sanctorum, November, vol. iii, by Fr A. Poncelet, is worthy of all praise, not only for its clear statement, but for its complete mastery of the facts and of the whole period. He recalls the tributes paid to St Willibrord by his contemporaries St Bede, St Boniface, etc., and prints entire a critically revised text of the life by Alcuin as also of that by Theofrid, abbot of Echternach, though this last adds very little to our reliable historical data. A point of special interest is the fact that in what is known as the “Epternach MS.” of the Hieronymianum (now MS. Paris Latin 10837) a calendar is prefixed which contains a note written by Willibrord himself in 728, stating that he, “ Clement”, came over the sea in 690 and was consecrated bishop by Pope Sergius at Rome in 695. See on this and other points of detail the Calendar of St Willibrord edited for the Henry Bradshaw Society by H. A. Wilson (1918). There are also good notices of St Willibrord in DNB. (by Mrs Tout) and DCB. On the dancing procession at Echternach consult Fr John Morris in The Month, December, 1892, pp. 495—513, and Krier, Die Springprozession in Echternach (1870). A Life of St Willibrord in English, prepared originally for J. H. Newman’s Anglican series (? by Fr T. Meyrick), was published anonymously in 1877. The more important texts concerned with the saint have also been edited by W. Levison, whose conclusions in nearly all cases agree with those of Fr Poncelet, notably in his acceptance of the genuineness of the so-called “will” of St Willibrord. As recently as 1934 Levison has included in the continuation of the MGH., Scriptores, vol. xxx (pp. 1368—1371), a collection of the miracles attributed to him. Some of the reputed relics of the saint have come to light in the church of St Gertrude at Utrecht, and have been described by W. J. A. Visser, on which see the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lii (1934), pp. 436—437. See also G. H. Verbist, St Willibrord, apâtre des Pays-Bas (1939); and W. Levison, England and the Continent...(1946), especially pp. 53—69. The life by Alcuin is translated by C. H. Talbot in Anglo-Saxon Missionaries in Germany (1954).

Born in Northumbria, England, circa 658, he studied at Ripon monastery under St. Wilfrid and spent twelve years studying in Ireland at the abbey of Rathmelsigi (most likely Mellifont, County Louth) under Sts. Egbert and Wigbert. After receiving ordination and extensive training in the field of the missions, he set out about 690 with a dozen companions for Frisia, or Friesland.
In 693, St. Willibrord went to Rome to seek papal approval for his labors, Pope Sergius I (r. 687-701) gave his full approbation and, during Willibrord's second Roman visit, the pontiff consecrated him archbishop to the Frisians, in 696, with his see at Utrecht. In his work, Willibrord also received much support and encouragement from the Frankish leader; Pepin of Heristal (r. 687-714). Willibrord founded the monastery of Echternach, Luxembourg, to serve as a center of missionary endeavors, and extended the efforts of missionaries into Denmark and Upper Friesland. He faced chronic dangers from outraged pagans, including one who nearly murdered him after he tore down a pagan idol.
In 714, Duke Radbod reclaimed the extensive territories acquired by Pepin, and Willilbrord watched all of the progress he had made be virtually undone. After Radbod's death, Willibrord started over with great enthusiasm, receiving invaluable assistance, from St. Boniface. Willibrord died on retreat at Echternach on November 7. For his efforts, he is called the Apostle of the Frisians.

9th v. St. Blinlivet 25 bishop of Vannes asceticism and prayerfulness 9th century
The twenty-fifth bishop of Vannes, in Brittany, France. He became a monk after his retirement and was noted for his asceticism and prayerfulness.

1053 The Monk Lazaros of Galiseia was born in Lydia, in the city of Magnesium; The brethren buried the body of the saint at the pillar, upon which he had pursued asceticism. The saint was glorified by many miracles after his death;

As a youth educated and loving God, Lazaros became a monk at the monastery of Saint Sava, the founder of great ascetic piety in Palestine. The monk spent ten years within the walls of the monastery, winning the love and respect of the brethren for his intense monastic effort.

Ordained presbyter by the Jerusalem Patriarch, the Monk Lazaros returned to his native country and settled not far from Ephesus, on desolate Mount Galiseia. Here he was granted a wondrous vision: a fiery pillar, rising up to the heavens, was encircled by Angels, singing: "Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered". On the place where this vision appeared to the saint, he built a church in honour of the Resurrection of Christ and took upon himself the feat of pillar-dwelling. Monks soon began to flock to the great ascetic, thirsting for wise spiritual nourishment by the Divinely-inspired word and blessed example of the saint. Thus arose a monastery.

Having received a revelation about his impeding end, the monk related this to the brethren, but through the tearful prayers of all, the Lord prolonged the earthly life of Saint Lazaros for another 15 years.

The Monk Lazaros died at 72 years of age, in the year 1053. The brethren buried the body of the saint at the pillar, upon which he had pursued asceticism. The saint was glorified by many miracles after his death.

St. Ernest Abbot Benedictine Abbey of Zwiefalten martyr Crusades Mecca
There is very little known about St. Ernest; Ernest was the Abbot of the Benedictine Abbey of Zwiefalten in Germany. He went on the Crusades, preached in Arabia and Persia, and was captured by the Moors. He was tortured to death in Mecca.

1225 St. Engelbert Archbishop of Cologne martyr
Apud Swelménsem civitátem, in Germánia, pássio sancti Engelbérti, Epíscopi Coloniénsis, qui, cum illuc ex óppido Sosátio ad templum dedicándum pérgeret, a sicáriis intercéptus in via multísque vulnéribus cæsus, gloriósum pro defensióne ecclesiásticæ libertátis et Románæ Ecclésiæ obediéntia martyrium súbiit.
At Schwelm in Germany, the martyrdom of St. Engelbert, bishop of Cologne. He was on his way from that city to the town of Essen in order to consecrate a church, when he was set upon by ruffians on the road and slain by their many blows. Thus he suffered martyrdom in defence of Church liberty and for obedience to the Roman Church.
Germany, slain by hired assassins and venerated as a martyr. He was the son of the count of Berg and became the possessor of many benefices. Engelbert was excommunicated but was restored into union with the Church. He became the archbishop of Cologne in 1217, at the age of thirty. In this office he proved his mettle and became tutor to the son of Emperor Frederick II. In 1222 he crowned Henry King of the Romans. Engelbert was slain by his cousin Frederick, whom he had thwarted in an attempt to steal from the nuns of Essen. Engelbert was ambushed at Gevelsberg and murdered on November 7.

1225 ST ENGELBERT, ARCHBISHOP OF COLOGNE, MARTYR
AMONG the ecclesiastical abuses rife in the middle ages was the presentation of youths, and even children, to church benefices, and often more than one at a time. This Engelbert, who doubtless owed his preferment to the fact that his father was the powerful count of Berg, provides a characteristic example. While still a boy at the Cologne cathedral-school he was provost of St Mary’s at Aachen and of St George’s, of St Severinus, and of the cathedral at Cologne itself. His youthful life was not at all in accordance with his obligations and he was excommunicated for taking up arms against the Emperor Otto IV. For a short time he joined the crusade against the Albigensians; and then, playing his cards skilfully between two claimants, was himself consecrated to the see of Cologne in 1217. He was only about thirty years old and the great diocese had suffered severely from political and ecclesiastical upheavals. Nevertheless, Engelbert was well endowed with the natural qualities necessary for his task, a keen judgement, regard for justice, strong will and commanding presence. And after his excommunication was raised his personal life was blameless, though bad it not been for his violent end in defence of a religious house it is doubtful if his cultus would have ever arisen or been officially recognized.

Engelbert welcomed both the Friars Minor and the Dominicans to the diocese, and held synods for the maintenance of discipline among the clergy, both secular and regular. He was popular with the people, for he was affable, generous to the poor, and peace-loving in spite of his firmness. But his time was in the main taken up by affairs of state. He supported the Hohenstaufen emperor, Frederick II, and when in 1220 Frederick went to Sicily he appointed Engelbert regent during the minority of his son, Henry. This boy of twelve was crowned king of the Romans by his guardian at Aachen in 1222. St Engelbert discharged his duties with vigour and determination, but, while earning the love and respect of King Henry, his firm justice raised up many powerful enemies, especially among his own kinsfolk.

St Engelbert’s cousin, Count Frederick of Isenberg, took advantage of his position as administrator for the nuns of Essen to steal their property and oppress their vassals. Engelbert called him to order and restitution, and Frederick laid a plot to murder his cousin. St Engelbert was warned of his danger, and he took precautions, but on November 7, 1225, he set out to go from Soest to Schwein with an inadequate escort. At the Gevelsberg he was set upon by Frederick of Isenberg, with other aggrieved nobles and half a hundred soldiers, and was left dead with forty-seven wounds in his body. Young King Henry had Count Frederick brought to justice, and the papal legate, Cardinal von Urach, declared that Engelbert was a martyr. He has never been formally canonized but his feast was instituted at Cologne and his name admitted to the Roman Martyrology.

There is a life by Caesarius of Heisterbach, a contemporary, which has been edited in the Acta Sanctorum for November, vol. iii. The Regesta of the diocese of Cologne also supply useful information; the relevant texts were published in 1909 by R. Knipping, forming vol. iii of the series. Two or three dispatches from the English envoy, Walter, Bishop of Carlisle, printed in the Letters of Henry III (Rolls Series), show that Engelbert of Cologne just before his death was on very friendly terms with England. See also the German biographies by J. Ficker (1853) and H. Foerster (1925).

1280 BD MARGARET COLONNA, VIRGIN; had the gift of miracles, and other unusual graces are recorded of her

MARGARET was daughter of Prince Odo Colonna, but losing both her parents when a child she was brought up under the care of her two brothers. She refused the marriage arranged for her, and lived a retired life with two attendants in a villa at Palestrina, devoting her time and her goods to the relief of the sick and poor. It was her intention to join the Poor Clares in their house at Assisi, but sickness prevented this, and she conceived the idea of establishing a convent at Palestrina.
Her younger brother, James, who had been created cardinal (and so is distinguished as dignior frater from her senior frater, John, who wrote her life), obtained the pope’s permission and the community was given the rule of the Poor Clare nuns as modified by Urban IV. But it would seem that, on account of ill-health, Bd Margaret herself neither governed nor was professed in this convent; for the last seven years of her life she suffered from a malignant growth, bearing continual pain with the greatest courage and patience. She had the gift of miracles, and other unusual graces are recorded of her. After her death at an early age the nuns of Palestrina removed into the City to San Silvestro in Capite, taking the body of their foundress with them. When this monastery was turned into a general post office seven hundred years later the relics were translated to the nuns’ new home at St Cecilia in Trastevere. Pope Pius IX confirmed the cultus of Bd Margaret Colonna in 1847.

The Franciscan Chroniclers, such as Wadding and Mark of Lisbon, have published full accounts of Bd Margaret; the story is told in detail in, e.g. Mazzara, Leggendario Francescano (1680), vol. ii Pt. 2, pp. 775—780. In B. Margherita Colonna (1935) Fr L. Oliger edited and introduced an unpublished MS. of the fourteenth century, which combines parts of vitae by John Colonna (d. c. 1292) and by a Poor Clare of San Silvestro (fl 1290). For English readers there is an account available in Léon, Auréole Séraphique Eng. trans.), vol. iv, pp. 170—173.

1300 BD MATTHIA OF MATELICA, VIRGIN Miracles incorrupt in 1756; Miracles became so frequent at her grave that the body was soon moved to a tomb beside the high altar of the chapel, where her veneration was continued without interruption. In 1756 the tomb had to be moved on account of repairs, and the Bishop of Camerino took the opportunity to examine the relics; the body was found to be incorrupt and giving off a pleasant smell. It was re-enshrined under the altar of St Cecilia, and since then miracles have again been reported there.

AT the town of Matelica in the March of Ancona there is a monastery of Poor Clare nuns whose origin is said to go back to about the year 1233, when St Clare was still living; this ancient convent was dedicated in honour of St Mary Magdalene, but since 1758 has been known as Bd Matthia’s. This beata was born in Matelica about the same time as the convent was founded, the only child of Count Gentile Nazzarei, who naturally wished his daughter to marry and perpetuate his house. She, however, was called to be a nun and offered herself to the abbess of Santa Maria Maddalena, who was related to Count Gentile and refused to receive her without her father’s consent. According to an old tradition Matthia thereupon went into the convent chapel, changed her secular clothes for a religious habit, cut off her hair, and there offered herself to Christ before a crucifix. Count Gentile found her thus, and was reluctantly persuaded to give his permission. Nothing is known of the life in religion of Bd Matthia except vague generalities. She filled the office of abbess for forty years, and died on December 28, 1300. Miracles became so frequent at her grave that the body was soon moved to a tomb beside the high altar of the chapel, where her veneration was continued without interruption. In 1756 the tomb had to be moved on account of repairs, and the Bishop of Camerino took the opportunity to examine the relics; the body was found to be incorrupt and giving off a pleasant smell. It was re-enshrined under the altar of St Cecilia, and since then miracles have again been reported there. In particular, the body is said to have exuded from time to time a sweet-smelling, blood-like liquid, especially when a member of the community is going to die. The cultus of Bd Matthia was confirmed in 1765. It must be added that it is said by some that the Matelica convent was founded for Benedictine nuns and became Franciscan only after the lifetime of Bd Matthia, which is put earlier.

Full accounts of the beata are available in nearly all the Franciscan chroniclers. Mazzara commemorates her in June; see the Leggendario Francescano, pt I (1676), pp. 875—876. There are Italian lives by G. Baldassini (1852), and by Vincent de Porto San Giorgio (1877). See also Leon, Aureole Séraphique (Eng. trans.), vol. i, pp. 332—338; and cf. A. M. Zimmermann, Kalendarium Benedictinum, vol. iii (1937).

1365 BD PETER OF RUFFIA, MARTYR; nominated inquisitor general for Piedmont, Upper Lombardy and Liguria. Several sects were active in northern Italy at that time, particularly the Waldensians, and for fourteen years Bd Peter laboured among them. The measure of his success was also the measure of the hatred which the more stubborn heretics had for him.
THE Friars Preachers, especially during the mastership of Humbert of Romans, were very reluctant to accept offices in the Inquisition, and particularly after the murder of St Peter of Verona in 1242 urged the Holy See to relieve them from this service. Their request was not granted, and during the second half of the fourteenth century these duties brought more martyrs to the order. Bd Peter of Ruffia, a member of the Piedmontese family of the Cambiani, joined the Dominicans, and in 1351 was nominated inquisitor general for Piedmont, Upper Lombardy and Liguria.

Several sects were active in northern Italy at that time, particularly the Waldensians, and for fourteen years Bd Peter laboured among them. The measure of his success was also the measure of the hatred which the more stubborn heretics had for him. While he was staying at Susa in 1365 some sectaries attacked him and put him to death. Peter was at once venerated as a martyr, and this cultus was confirmed in 1856.

The Bollandists in the Acta Sanctorum, November, vol. iii, complain that little was to be learnt of the history of this martyr, but they were able to print a contemporary legal instrument, issued by the bishop of Turin, which authorized another bishop to reconcile and reconsecrate the Franciscan cloister which had been the scene of the violent death of Bd Peter. See also Procter, Lives of the Dominican Saints, pp. 313—314.

1463 St. Didacusis living proof that God “chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong” (1 Corinthians 1:27).
(1400-1463)
Didacus is living proof that God “chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong” (1 Corinthians 1:27).
As a young man in Spain, Didacus joined the Secular Franciscan Order and lived for some time as a hermit. After Didacus became a Franciscan brother, he developed a reputation for great insight into God’s ways. His penances were heroic. He was so generous with the poor that the friars sometimes grew uneasy about his charity. Didacus volunteered for the missions in the Canary Islands and labored there energetically and profitably. He was also the superior of a friary there.
In 1450 he was sent to Rome to attend the canonization of St. Bernardine of Siena. When many friars gathered for that celebration fell sick, Didacus stayed in Rome for three months to nurse them. After he returned to Spain, he pursued a life of contemplation full-time. He showed the friars the wisdom of God’s ways.
As he was dying, Didacus looked at a crucifix and said: “O faithful wood, O precious nails! You have borne an exceedingly sweet burden, for you have been judged worthy to bear the Lord and King of heaven” (Marion A. Habig, O.F.M., The Franciscan Book of Saints, p. 834).

San Diego, California, is named for this Franciscan, who was canonized in 1588.

Comment: We cannot be neutral about genuinely holy people. We either admire them or we consider them foolish. Didacus is a saint because he used his life to serve God and God’s people. Can we say the same for ourselves?
Quote: “He was born in Spain with no outstanding reputation for learning, but like our first teachers and leaders unlettered as men count wisdom, an unschooled person, a humble lay brother in religious life. [God chose Didacus] to show in him the abundant riches of his grace to lead many on the way of salvation by the holiness of his life and by his example and to prove over and over to a weary old world almost decrepit with age that God's folly is wiser than men, and his weakness is more powerful than men”. (Bull of Canonization).

1717 Bl. Anthony Baldinucci Jesuit missionary preacher; His father, painter and writer by profession, after recovery from an illness, which he attributed to the intercession of St Antony of Padua, vowed his next child to that saint; and when a boy was born in 1665, appropriately within the octave of his feast, he had him baptized Antony and brought up with the idea of becoming a priest. The Baldinucci family lived in the same house in the via degli Angeli at Florence in which St Aloysius Gonzaga had lived for a time when a child, and the intimate memory of this young saint had much influence on the growing Antony. When he was sixteen he offered himself to the Society of Jesus and was accepted, in spite of his rather uncertain health.
He was born in Florence, Italy, in 1665, the son of an author and artist, and was destined for the priesthood by his father. Entering the Jesuits in 1681, Anthony taught at Rome and Terni, Italy. Ordained at the age of thirty, he began missionary work in Viterbo and Trascanti, Italy, ministering to the poor while conducting missions. Anthony conducted more than five hundred such missions, at times leading processions while carrying a cross and scourging himself. He died on November 7, 1717, and was beatified in 1893.

Blessed Antony Baldinucci, SJ (AC). After becoming a Jesuit in 1681, Antony evangelized the area of Colli Albani near Rome. He used very unconventional methods of preaching and calling people to penance (Benedictines).

1717 BD ANTONY BALDINUCCI

ON this day the Society of Jesus and several Italian dioceses that profited by his labours keep the feast of this Bd Antony, the fifth son of Philip Baldinucci and Catherine Scolari, of Florence. His father, painter and writer by profession, after recovery from an illness, which he attributed to the intercession of St Antony of Padua, vowed his next child to that saint; and when a boy was born in 1665, appropriately within the octave of his feast, he had him baptized Antony and brought up with the idea of becoming a priest. The Baldinucci family lived in the same house in the via degli Angeli at Florence in which St Aloysius Gonzaga had lived for a time when a child, and the intimate memory of this young saint had much influence on the growing Antony. When he was sixteen he offered himself to the Society of Jesus and was accepted, in spite of his rather uncertain health.

Antony hoped to be sent as a missionary to the Indies, but instead he was set to teach young men and give instructions to confraternities, first at Terni and then in Rome. A bout of seizures and bad headaches caused him to be sent back to Florence, and then to several country colleges, where his health improved and he began to preach, very successfully. When he was thirty he was ordained priest, and after he had completed his tertianship he asked if he might now go to the Indies. He was refused and sent to minister in Viterbo and Frascati, in whose neighbourhood he spent the remaining twenty years of his life, working principally among the poorer and uninstructed people. To attract them he adopted missionary methods that were, to put it mildly, demonstrative and startling, modelled on those of St Peter Claver among the Negroes and Bd Julian Maunoir among the Bretons. Bd Antony organized imposing processions from different places to the centre where the mission was being held, in which penitents walked wearing crowns of thorns and beating themselves with a discipline; he himself often preached carrying a heavy cross or wearing chains, and would strike the hearts of the people by going along the streets scourging himself violently. After a due impression had been made and he had got the people of a place to come and listen to him, he would modify his methods to a more usual pattern. To keep order in the crowds that flocked to his preaching he appointed lay marshals, often men of notoriously bad lives, who were thus flattered and brought to a more amenable frame of mind. Among the exterior results of his missions was generally a public burning of cards, dice, obscene pictures and other occasions of sin and excess. He found particularly widespread the evils of reckless gambling, violence arising from revenge, and lewdness of speech and action, and his zeal did not end in bonfires but brought about many real conversions and the establishment of organized good works.

Although he was incessantly engaged in preaching missions and the work ancillary thereto, Bd Antony wrote down numerous sermons and instructions and kept up a wide correspondence. He rarely slept more than three hours in a night, and then on a bed of planks, and fasted three days of every week; in view of his tremendous activity Pope Clement XI dispensed him from the daily recitation of the Divine Office, but Antony did not make use of the dispensation. In all he gave in twenty years 448 missions in thirteen dioceses of the Abruzzi and Romagna. In 1708 he was called to preach the Lent at Leghorn by order of Duke Cosimo III. Antony arrived bare-footed, in a tattered cassock, with his luggage on his back, and at first the gentry would not come to his sermons. But he won them in the end, and every Lent after he had to preach in some principal city. The year 1716 saw a terrible famine in central Italy, and Bd Antony was indefatigable in the work of relief. He was still only just over fifty, but he was literally worn out with work and hardly survived the strain of this additional effort. He died on November 7 in the following year. During a mission at Carpineto in 1710 he had stayed in the house of the Pecci, a family which afterwards gave a pope to the Church in the person of Leo XIII. By this pope Bd Antony Baldinucci was beatified in 1893.

The details of the history of Bd Antony are very fully known from the testimony of the witnesses in the process of beatification as well as from his own letters and other contemporary documents. There is a satisfactory, if summary, account of these sources in the Acta Sanctorum, November, vol. iii. Within two and a half years of the missioner’s death a substantial biography had been published by Father F. M. Galluzzi. The best modern life is probably that by Father Vannucci (1893), but there are several others, e.g. by Father Goldie in English (1894). See also DHG., vol. iii, cc. 756—760. A large collection of Bd Antony’s letters was edited and published by Father L. Rosa in 1899.

1773 St. Hyacinth Castaneda Martyr of Vietnam a Dominican
Born in Setavo, Spain, he was sent to China and Vietnam. Hyacinth was beheaded in Vietnam. He was canonized in 1988.

1773 St. Vincent Liem Vietnamese Dominican martyr native
Vietnamese, he entered the Dominicans and was ordained a priest, working under St. Hyacinth Castaneda until he was arrested, tortured, and beheaded. He was canonized in 1988.

1814 Bl. Peter Ou Chinese martyr native six hundred converts
Peter was originally an innkeeper who was converted to the Catholic faith and became a catechist. He is credited with giving Christian instruction to more than six hundred converts before he was strangled by enemies of the Church. He was beatified.

Saint Amandin Patron of Saint-Amandin (Cantal) and of a church in Clermont- Ferrand
but for reasons that have been lost (Encyclopedia).

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

THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 117

I will love thee, O Lady of heaven and earth: and I will call upon thy name in the nations.

Give praise to her, ye who are troubled in heart: and she will strengthen you against your enemies.

Give to us, O Lady, the grace of thy breasts:
from the dropping milk of thy sweetness refresh the inmost souls of thy children.

Honor her, O all ye religious: for she is your helper and your special advocate.

Be thou our refreshment, glorious Mother of Christ: for thou art the admirable foundation of the religious life.

For thy spirit is kind: thy grace fills the whole world.

Thunder, ye heavens, from above, and give praise to her: glorify her, ye earth, with all the dwellers therein.

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

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

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

As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike. It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints. Dear Lord, grant us a spirit that is not bound by our own ideas and preferences.
Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves. O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory. Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives. Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts. God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heaven: only saints are allowed into heaven.

The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR the benefit of others.

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

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

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

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

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

Saint Frances Xavier Seelos Practical Guide to Holiness

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Meeting of the Saints walis (saints of Allah)

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

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

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

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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

Index to Part I and Part II 1932

James M. Reardon Publication History of the Basilica of Saint Mary 1955 {update}

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

James Michael Reardon Born in Nova Scotia, 1872; Priest, ordained by Bishop Ireland;

Member -- St. Paul Seminary faculty.

Affiliations and Indulgences Litany of Loretto in Stained glass windows here. Nave Sacristy and Residence Here
Sanctuary spaces between them filled with grilles of hand-forged wrought iron the life of our Blessed Lady After the crucifixon

Apostle statues Replicas of those in St John Lateran--Christendom's earliest Basilica.
Ordered by Rome's first Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great, Popes' cathedral and official residence first millennium of Christian history.

The only replicas ever made: in order from west to east {1932}.

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

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

THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi.

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

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

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

By Father John Corapi

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

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

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

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

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

Father Corapi's Biography

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

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

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

About Father John Corapi.

Father Corapi is a Catholic priest .

The pillars of father's preaching are basically:

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

God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LINKS:
Marian Apparitions (over 2000) India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes Feb 11- July 16, Loreto, Italy 1858
China Marian shrines May 23, 1995 Zarvintisya Ukraine Lourdes Kenya national Marian shrine    Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798
Links to Related Marian Websites Angels and Archangels
Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Apostles Roman Catholic Popes Purgatory Uniates, 117 2022