Neápoli, in Campánia, natális sancti Andréæ Avellini, Clérici Reguláris et Confessóris, sanctitáte et salútis proximórum procurándæ stúdio præcélebris, quem, miráculis clarum, Clemens Undécimus, Póntifex Máximus, Sanctórum catálogo adscrípsit.
St. Andrew Avellini, Cleric Regular and confessor At Naples in Campania, the birthday of , celebrated for his sanctity, his zeal in procuring the salvation of souls, and renowned for his miracles. He was inscribed on the catalogue of the Saints by Pope Clement XI.

Erastus, Sosipater (April 28), Quartus and Tertius (October 30) holy Apostles disciples of St Paul.

The Apostle to the Gentiles speaks of them in the Epistle to the Romans, "And Erastus, the city treasurer, greets you, and Quartus, a brother" (Rom 16: 23).
St Sosipater, a native of Achaia, was Bishop of Iconium, where also he died. St Paul mentions him in Romans 16:21.

St Tertius is mentioned in the Epistle to the Romans, " I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord" (Rom 16:22).

St Tertius, to whom St Paul dictated the Epistle to the Romans, was the second Bishop of Iconium, where also he died.

St Quartus endured much suffering for his piety and converted many pagans to Christ, dying peacefully as a bishop in the city of Beirut.

Saint Rodion, or Herodion (April 8), was a kinsman of the Apostle Paul (Romans 16:11), and left the bishop's throne at Patras to go to Rome with the Apostle Peter. St Olympas was also a companion of the Apostle Peter.

Sts Rodion and Olympas were beheaded on the very day and hour when St Peter was crucified.

Rodion.jpg

1st century Sts. Trypbaena & Tryphosa mentioned in St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans

Eódem die natális quoque sanctórum Mártyrum Tryphónis, et Respícii, ac Nymphæ Vírginis.
    On the same day, the birthday of the holy martyrs Trypho and Respicius, and the virgin Nympha.

Icónii, in Lycaónia, sanctárum mulíerum Tryphénnæ et Tryphósæ, quæ, beáti Pauli prædicatióne et exémplo Theclæ, in Christiána disciplína plúrimum profecérunt.
    At Iconium in Lycaonia, the holy women Tryphenna and Tryphosa, who profited by the preaching of blessed Paul and the example of Thecla to make great progress in Christian perfection.
Two converts to Christianity supposedly mentioned in St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans   "Greetings to those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa." They are also connected to the traditions of St. Thecla.
Tryphenna and Tryphosa (RM). Two converts of Saint Paul from Iconium in Lycaonia, Tryphenna and Tryphosa are mentioned by the apostle in his letter to the Romans (16:12). Tradition represents them as protectresses of Saint Thecla (Benedictines).

175 Probus sixth bishop of Ravenna B (RM)
The relics of Probus, a Roman who became the sixth bishop of Ravenna, are still venerated in the cathedral there (Benedictines).

251 St. Tryphon Martyr at Nicaea popular in the early Greek Church also called Trypho.
Icónii, in Lycaónia, sanctárum mulíerum Tryphénnæ et Tryphósæ, quæ, beáti Pauli prædicatióne et exémplo Theclæ, in Christiána disciplína plúrimum profecérunt.

At Iconium in Lycaonia, the holy women Tryphenna and Tryphosa, who profited by the preaching of blessed Paul and the example of Thecla to make great progress in Christian perfection.
Eódem die natális quoque sanctórum Mártyrum Tryphónis, et Respícii, ac Nymphæ Vírginis.
On the same day, the birthday of the holy martyrs Trypho and Respicius, and the virgin Nympha.
He was supposedly a gooseherder near Apamea (modern Syria) who was executed at Nicaea (modern Turkey) under Emperor Trajanus Decius. Attached to his feast day since the eleventh century have been two other saints, Respicius and Nympha, of whom nothing is known. Owing to the lack of documentation, the cult was suppressed in 1969.

Tryphon, Respicius and Nympha MM (RM). Tryphon was a gooseherd at Campsada near Apamea in Syria and was martyred at Nicaea under Decius. The names of Respicius and Nympha have been joined to that of Tryphon only since the 11th century; we know nothing about either of them and, in fact, there is doubt about their authenticity (Benedictines, Encyclopedia). In art, Tryphon is represented as a boy quelling a basilisk. Sometimes (1) an angel brings a crown of flowers to his martyrdom; (2) his feet are nailed to the ground; or (3) he is shown hung up and burned with torches. Venerated at Catarro. Patron of gardeners (Roeder).

SS. TRYPHO, RESPICIUS AND NYMPHA, MARTYRS
THESE saints are named together today in the Roman Martyrology because what purported to be the relics of all three were preserved in the church of the hospital of the Holy Ghost in Sassia at Rome. Trypho is said to have been a native of Phrygia who was a goose-herd when a boy; of Respicius too nothing whatever is known: he is first joined with Trypho in an early eleventh-century passio, compiled from older ones by a monk of Fleury. The legend is an historical romance woven around a martyrdom said to have taken place at Nicaea during the persecution of Decius. St Nympha, according to one account, was a Panormitan maiden who fled to Italy and was put to death at Porto in the fourth century. Another says that when the Goths regained Sicily in the sixth century she went from Palermo to Tuscany, where she served God in holiness and died in peace at Savona.

Although Ruinart included Trypho and Respicius in his Acta Sincera, Delehaye, in the Acta Sanctorum, November, vol. iv, speaks of this passio, together with the life and miracles, in all their variants, as belonging to the most unsatisfactory class of martyr acts, a view which Harnack, Chronologie der altchristlichen Litteratur, vol. ii, p. 470, fully endorses. All the principal texts in Greek and Latin have been edited by Delehaye in the article referred to. Tryphon was a very popular martyr in the Greek church, where his feast is kept on February I. Consult further Franchi de' Cavalieri in Studi e Testi, vol. xix, pp. 45-174, and Arnauld in Echos d'Orient, 1900, pp. 201-205.

St. Demetrius bishop Martyr with Anianus Eustosius, and twenty companions in Antioch Syria.
Antiochíæ sanctórum Demétrii Epíscopi, Aniáni Diáconi, Eustósii et aliórum vigínti Mártyrum.
At Antioch, Saints Demetrius, bishop, Anian, deacon, Eustosius, and twenty other martyrs.
Martyr with Anianus, Eustosius, and twenty companions in Antioch, Syria.
Demetrius is identified as a bishop. Anianus was a deacon.

3rd v. Orestes the Physician of Cappadocia Martyr; miracle of the pagan temple colapse; illustrious; capable soldier from childhood;
St Orestes truly a good Christian lived at the end of the third century in the city of Tyana in Cappadocia in the time of the emperor Diocletian (284-311). He was an illustrious and capable soldier, and from childhood St Orestes was truly a good Christian.

By order of the emperor, the military officer Maximinus was sent to Tyana to deal with Christianity, which then had spread widely throughout Cappadocia. Orestes was among the first brought to trial to Maximinus. He bravely and openly confessed his faith in the Crucified and Risen Lord, Jesus Christ. The prosecutor offered the saint riches, honors and renown to renounce God, but St Orestes was unyielding.

At the order of Maximinus, they took Orestes to a resplendant pagan temple and again demanded that he worship idols. When he refused, forty soldiers, took turns one after the other, beating the holy martyr with lashes, with rods, with rawhide, and then they tormented him with fire. St Orestes cried out to the Lord, "Establish with me a sign for good, let those who hate me see it and be put to shame (Ps. 85/86:17). "And the Lord heard His true servant. The earth began to tremble, and the idols fell down and were smashed. Everyone rushed out of the temple, and when St Orestes came out, the very temple tumbled down.

Infuriated, Maximinus ordered the holy martyr to be locked up in prison for seven days giving him neither food nor drink, and on the eighth day to continue with the torture. They hammered twenty nails into the martyr's legs, and then tied him to a wild horse. Dragged over the stones, the holy martyr departed to the Lord in the year 304. His relics were thrown into the sea.

In 1685, when St Demetrius, later the Bishop of Rostov, (October 28) was preparing the Life of St Orestes to be printed by the Kiev Caves Lavra, he became tired and fell asleep. The holy martyr Orestes appeared to him in a dream. He showed him the deep wound in his left side, his wounded and severed arms, and his legs which had been cut off. The holy martyr looked at St Demetrius and said, "You see, I suffered more torments for Christ than you have described." The humble monk wondered whether this was St Orestes, one of the Five Martyrs of Sebaste (December 13). The martyr said, "I am not that Orestes, but he whose Life you have just finished writing."

303 St. Tiberius Martyr with Modestus and Florentiaat Agde, France.
In território Agathénsi, in Gállia, sanctórum Mártyrum Tibérii, Modésti et Floréntiæ; qui, témpore Diocletiáni, váriis torméntis cruciáti, martyrium complevérunt.
In the diocese of Agde in France, the holy martyrs Tiberius, Modestus, and Florence, who were subjected to diverse torments and fulfilled their martyrdom in the time of Diocletian.
They suffered during the persecution of Emperor Diocletian at Agde, France.

Tiberius (of Agde), Modestus, and Florence MM (RM). These martyrs met their death under Diocletian at Agde, diocese of Montpellier (Benedictines). Tiberius is shown as a hermit with two lions at his feet, one of which holds a spiked club. He holds the martyrs palm in his hands. Invoked against madness and possession (Roeder).

303 Great-martyr George regarded with special reverence among the Georgian people.
was slain by Emperor Diocletian in the year 303. Celebrated by the whole Christian world,
The holy martyr is appropriately considered the intercessor for all Christians and the patron saint of many. He is regarded with special reverence among the Georgian people, since he is believed to be the special protector of their nation. Historical

accounts often describe how St. George appeared among the Georgian soldiers in the midst of battles.

The majority of Georgian churches (in villages especially) were built in his honor and, as a result, every day there is a feast of the great-martyr George somewhere in Georgia. The various daily commemorations are connected to one of the churches erected in his name or an icon or a particular miracle he performed.

November 10 marks the day on which St. George was tortured on the wheel. According to tradition, this day of commemoration was established by the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Nino, the Enlightener of Georgia. St. Nino was a relative of St. George the Trophy-bearer.

She revered him deeply and directed the people she had converted to Christianity to cherish him as their special protector.

The Founding of the Church of the Great Martyr George in Georgia: Georgia was enlightened with the Christian faith by the holy Equal of the Apostles Nino (January 14), a kinswoman of the holy Great Martyr George the Victory-Bearer (April 23). Therefore, Georgia has special veneration for St George as its patron saint.

The name Georgia is derived from George (this name is preserved now in many languages of the world). St Nino established a feastday in his honor. It is celebrated in Georgia on November 10, in remembrance of the sufferings of St George. In 1891, near the village of Kakha in the Zakatalsk region of the Caucasus, a new church in place of the old was built in honor of the holy Great Martyr George the Victory-Bearer, and many of the heterodox Bogomils came in droves to it.

4th v. Hieromartyr Milus, Bishop of Babylon, gifts of prophecy and healing; and his disciples Euores the Presbyter and Seboes the Deacon.

lived during the fourth century. The holy Martyr Milus was banished from the city of Suza, where his bishop's throne was situated. By his pious and ascetic life he was granted gifts of prophecy and healing.

St Milus suffered in the year 341 with two of his disciples, Abrosim and Sinos in their native city of Suza (trans. note: The discrepancy of these names in the header and in the text is found in the Russian original, and may reflect alternate transcriptions of Persian names in Greek and Russian), They returned to Suza after long wanderings and brought many to Christ.

461 St. Leo the Great was born in Tuscany persuaded Attila the Hun to turn back at the very gates of Rome

Romæ item natális sancti Leónis Papæ Primi, Confessóris et Ecclésiæ Doctóris; qui, virtútum excéllens méritis, dictus est Magnus. Ejus tempóribus celebráta fuit sancta Synodus Chalcedonénsis, in qua ipse per legátos damnávit Eutychen; cujus étiam Synodi decréta póstmodum auctoritáte sua confirmávit. Tandem, cum sanxísset multa luculentérque scripsísset, Pastor bonus, de sancta Dei Ecclésia et univérso grege Domínico óptime méritus, quiévit in pace. Ipsíus tamen festívitas tértio Idus Aprílis celebrátur.
At Rome, Pope St. Leo I, confessor and doctor of the Church, surnamed the Great because of his extraordinary merits. During his pontificate the holy Council of Chalcedon was held which condemned Eutyches through his legates, and whose decrees were afterwards given the seal of his authority. After meriting the gratitude of the Church of God and the whole flock of Christ by the many decrees which he issued, and by the many excellent works which he wrote, this good and zealous shepherd rested in peace. His feast is celebrated on the 11th of April.
As deacon, he was dispatched to Gaul as a mediator by Emperor Valentinian III. He reigned as Pope between 440 and 461. He persuaded Emperor Valentinian to recognize the primacy of the Bishop of Rome in an edict in 445.
The doctrine of the Incarnation was formed by him in a letter to the Patriarch of Constantinople, who had already condemned Eutyches.
At the Council of Chalcedon this same letter was confirmed as the expression of Catholic Faith concerning the Person of Christ.
All secular historical treatises eulogize his efforts during the upheaval of the fifth century barbarian invasion. His encounter with Attila the Hun, at the very gates of Rome persuading him to turn back, remains a historical memorial to his great eloquence. When the Vandals under Genseric occupied the city of Rome, he persuaded the invaders to desist from pillaging the city and harming its inhabitants. He died in 461, leaving many letters and writings of great historical value.

Leo the Great, Pope Doctor (RM) Born in Rome or Tuscany, Italy; died in Rome, November 10, 461; feast day formerly April 11.

“ In Jesus humility was taken up into majesty, weakness into strength, mortality into eternity; and to pay the debt that we humans had incurred, an inviolable nature was united with a nature capable of suffering. He assumed the form of a servant without the stain of sin, enhancing what was human, not detracting from what was divine ”

--Leo the Great.

Born in Tuscany or in Rome of Tuscan parents, Leo was a man of the noblest character and great ability. He became a deacon under Saint Celestine I and later under Saint Sixtus III. Saint Cyril wrote directly to him, and Saint John Cassian dedicated his treatise against Nestorius to him.
In 440, Leo was sent to arbitrate a dispute between Aetius and Albinus, the imperial generals whose quarrels were leaving Gaul open to attacks by the barbarians. While he was still with the two generals, a deputation came to announce the death of Pope Sixtus III and his own succession to the papacy.

Leo took the Chair of Saint Peter on September 29, 440. In this capacity he showed himself a true shepherd and father of souls during a time of crisis both in the Church and in the empire. He immediately set about advancing and consolidating the Roman see, and began his pastoral duties with a series of 96 still extant sermons on faith, encouraging various acts of Christian social charity, elaborating on Christian doctrine, strenuously opposing Manichaeanism, Pelagianism, Priscillianism, and Nestorianism, and defending papal primacy in the jurisdiction of the Church.

Because of his efforts to preserve the integrity of the faith, to defend the unity of the Church, and to repel or mitigate the effects of the barbarian invasions, he well deserves to be called "the Great."

In 448 he received a letter from an abbot (archimandrite) in Constantinople, Eutyches, complaining about the revival of the Nestorian heresy. He replied guardedly and promised to make enquiries. The following year Leo received a protest by Eutyches (supported by the Emperor Theodosius II) against the fact that Saint Flavian, patriarch of Constantinople, had excommunicated him. Duplicates of this letter were sent to the patriarchs of Alexandria and Jerusalem.
Because no official notice of Eutyches excommunication proceedings had reached Rome, Leo wrote to Flavian, who sent a report of the synod at which the abbot had been sentenced. Communication with Saint Flavian revealed that Eutyches denied the two natures of Christ--making him a heretic.

In 449, a council was summoned at Ephesus by Emperor Theodosius, with the superficial intention of investigating the matter. The synod, dubbed "the Robber Synod," was packed with Eutyches's friends and acquitted him while condemning Saint Flavian. Dioscorus, the patriarch of Alexandria, prevented the papal legates from reading aloud a letter Pope Leo had sent through Flavian. Saint Flavian was physically assaulted during the synod and died from the violence done to his person during his deposition. Following the council Dioscorus was intruded as patriarch of Constantinople in place of Flavian by Emperor Theodosius.

In 451, under Emperor Marcian, 600 bishops and Leo's representatives met during the fourth general council at Chalcedon to consider the teaching of Eutyches (Monophysism). Leo's doctrinal letter (The Dogmatic Letter or Tome of Saint Leo) on the Incarnation was acclaimed as the basis of the council's declaration of orthodox doctrine on Christ's two natures. This Tome was the letter sent to the earlier synodal council through Patriarch Flavian of Constantinople, suppressed by Dioscorus, which stated that in Jesus Christ "was born true God in the entire and perfect nature of true man. . . . The Son of God, came down from heaven without withdrawing from his Father's glory, and entered this lower world, born after a new order, by a new mode of birth."

Thus, Saint Flavian was vindicated in the Council of Chalcedon and Dioscorus was excommunicated and deposed.

The immediate aim of Saint Leo was to combat the teaching of the monk Eutyches, who had insisted that Jesus had only one nature, since (Eutyches maintained) his human nature was absorbed into his divine nature. But the Tome also greatly enhanced the papacy for the Council of Chalcedon recognized Leo's teaching as "the voice of Saint Peter."
The Council of Chalcedon also issued a canon that Leo refused to recognize: Constantinople was given a dignity second only to Rome above that of Alexandria and Antioch, which threatened to disrupt an ancient traditional order.

The following year, after Attila the Hun had plundered Milan and destroyed Pavia, Leo in person went to Peschiera to confront the invading Huns at the river Mincio, and induced Attila--in consideration of an annual tribute from Rome--to withdraw beyond the Danube. Unfortunately, he could not stop the Vandals. In 455 the Vandal Genseric attacked and sacked Rome, but Leo persuaded him against killing the inhabitants and burning the city. After the Vandals departed, Leo ministered to the people, replacing the treasures of the churches, and he sent missionary priests with money to Africa to minister to the captives, whom the Vandals took with them, and to purchase their freedom.

In his lifetime Leo gained the respect of people of all ranks, from emperors to barbarians, and his sagacity and effectiveness were to influence the concept of the papacy for centuries. Saint Leo continually attempted to meet the demands of his day firmly and authoritatively. He saw the need to strengthen and extend the influence of the Roman Church; he exerted his authority as pope in Spain, in Gaul, in Illyricum, and in North Africa. His actions provided the energetic central authority needed for stability during this chaotic time.

Leo the Great left 432 (Walsh says 143) surviving letters as well as the 96 sermons noted previously. His writings are remarkable for their precision and clear expression, revealing him to be a decisive and firm man, who speaks with the voice of Peter. He secured the support of Emperor Valentinian III, although he did not manage to persuade the whole eastern church to accept his jurisdiction.

Saint Leo was typical of the best Roman character: energetic, magnanimous, consistent and unswerving in duty, his religion firmly anchored in the central Christian mystery of the Incarnation of the Word. He always trusted in God, was never discouraged, and maintained an unruffled equanimity even in the most difficult circumstances. The learned Pope Benedict XIV in 1754 added Saint Leo's name to those of the doctors of the Church. His relics are preserved in the Vatican basilica (Attwater, Bentley, Delaney, Jalland, Walsh, White).

Leo is depicted as a pope with a dragon near him as in the 15th- century Breviary of Martin of Aragon. Sometimes he is shown (1) with SS Peter and Paul confronting Attila; (2) Saint Peter giving him the Pallium; (3) angels surrounding him; (4) meeting Attila the Hun at the gates of Rome; (5) on horseback, with Attila and his soldiers kneeling before him; or (6) praying at the tomb of Saint Peter (Roeder, White).

His relics are preserved in the Vatican Basilica. He is the patron saint of choristers and musicians (Roeder).
His Letters

Letter 1 TO THE BISHOP OF AQUILEIA. Letter 4 10 Oct, in the consulship of the illustrious Maximus(a second time) and Paterius(A.D. 443) to all the bishops appointed in Campania, Picenum, Etruria, and all the provinces. Letter 6 to his beloved brother Anastasius..12 Jan in consulship of Theodosius (18th time) and Albinus(444). Letter 7 to all the bishops set over the provinces of Italy 30 Jan in consulship of illustrious Theodosius Augustus (18th time) and Albinus (444). Letter 9 to Dioscorus, bishop of Alexandria,Dated 21 June (?445) Letter 10 To the beloved brothers, the whole body of bishops of the province of Vienne Letter 12 to all the bishops of Mauritania Caesariensis in Africa Letter 14 to Anastasius, bishop of Thessalonica Letter 15 To Turribius, Bishop Of Asturia, Upon The Errors Of The Priscillianists. July 21 in consulship of illustrious Calipius and Ardaburis (447). Letter 16 to all the bishops throughout Sicily 21 Oct., in the consulship of the illustrious Alipius and Ardaburis (447) Letter 17 To all the bishops of Sicily (forbidding the sale of church property except for the advantage of the church).20 Oct., in the consulship of the illustrious Calepius (447) Letter 18 to Januarius, bishop of Aquileia 0 Dec., in the consulship of the illustrious Calepius and Ardaburis (447) Letter 19 To Dorus, Bishop Of Beneventum 8th March, in the consulship of the illustrious Postumianus (448) Letter 20 to his dearly-beloved son, Eutyches, presbyter Abbot Of Constantinople. Letter 21 From Eutyches presbyter and archimandrite To Leo. Letter 22 The First From Flavian, Bp. Of Constantinople To Pope Leo. Letter 23 To his well-beloved brother Flavian the bishop 18 February (449), in the consulship of the illustrious Asturius and Protogenes Letter 24 to Theodosius Augustus II 18th of February, in the consulship of the illustrious Asturius and Protogenes (449) Letter 26 A Second One From Flavian To Leo. Letter 27 to Flavian, bishop of Constantinople 21st May in the consulship of Asturius and Protogenes (449) Letter 28 - Better known as "The Tome"The 13 June, 449, in the consulship of the most illustrious Asturius and Protogenes.

TO FLAVIAN. COMMONLY CALLED "THE TOME".

I. Eutyches has been driven into his error by presumption and ignorance. Having read your letter, beloved, at the late arrival of which we are surprised, and having perused the detailed account of the bishops' acts, we have at last found out what the scandal was which had arisen among you against the purity of the Faith: and what before seemed concealed has now been unlocked and laid open to our view: from which it is shown that Eutyches, who used to seem worthy of all respect in virtue of his priestly office, is very unwary and exceedingly ignorant, so that it is even of him that the prophet has said: "he refused to understand so as to do well: he thought upon iniquity in his bed." But what more iniquitous than to hold blasphemous opinions, and not to give way to those who are wiser and more learned than ourself. Now into this unwisdom fall they who, finding themselves hindered from knowing the truth by some obscurity, have recourse not to the prophets' utterances, not to the Apostles' letters, nor to the injunctions of the Gospel but to their own selves: and thus they stand out as masters of error because they were never disciples of truth. For what learning has he acquired about the pages of the New and Old Testament, who has not even grasped the rudiments of the Creed? And that which, throughout the world, is professed by the mouth of every one who is to be born again, is not yet taken in by the heart of this old man.

II. Concerning the twofold nativity and nature of Christ. Not knowing, therefore, what he was bound to think concerning the incarnation of the Word of GOD, and not wishing to gain the light of knowledge by researches through the length 39 and breadth of the Holy Scriptures, he might at least have listened attentively to that general and uniform confession, whereby the whole body of the faithful confess that they believe in GOD the Father Almighty, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. By which three statements the devices of almost all heretics are overthrown. For not only is GOD believed to be both Almighty and the Father, but the Son is shown to be co-eternal with Him, differing in nothing from the Father because He is GOD from. GOD, Almighty from Almighty, and being born from the Eternal one is co-eternal with Him; not later in point of time, not lower in power, not unlike in glory, not divided in essence: but at the same time the only begotten of the eternal Father was born eternal of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. And this nativity which took place in time took nothing from, and added nothing to that divine and eternal birth, but expended itself wholly on the restoration of man who had been deceived: in order that he might both vanquish death and overthrow by his strength, the Devil who possessed the power of death. For we should not now be able to overcome the author of sin and death unless He took our nature on Him and made it His own, whom neither sin could pollute nor death retain. Doubtless then, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit within the womb of His Virgin Mother, who brought Him forth without the loss of her virginity, even as she conceived Him without its loss. But if He could not draw a rightful understanding (of the matter) from this pure source of the Christian belief, because He had darkened the brightness of the clear truth by a veil of blindness peculiar to Himself, He might have submitted Himself to the teaching of the Gospels. And when Matthew speaks of "the Book of the Generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham," He might have also sought out the instruction afforded by the statements of the Apostles. And reading in the Epistle to the Romans, "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called an Apostle, separated unto the Gospel of GOD, which He had promised before by His prophets in the Holy Scripture concerning His son, who was made unto Him of the seed of David after the flesh," he might have bestowed a loyal carefulness upon the pages of the prophets. And finding the promise of God who says to Abraham, "In thy seed shall all nations be blest," to avoid all doubt as to the reference of this seed, he might have followed the Apostle when He says, "To Abraham were the promises made and to his seed. He saith not and to seeds, as if in many, but as it in one, and to thy seed which is Christs." Isaiah's prophecy also he might have grasped by a closer attention to what he says, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is interpreted" GOD with us." And the same prophet's words he might have read faithfully. "A child is born to us, a Son is given to us, whose power is upon His shoulder, and they shall call His name the Angel of the Great Counsel, Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty GOD, the Prince of Peace, the Father of the age to come." And then he would not speak so erroneously as to say that the Word became flesh in such a way that Christ, born of the Virgin's womb, had the form of man, but had not the reality of His mother's body. Or is it possible that he thought our LORD Jesus Christ was not of our nature for this reason, that the angel, who was sent to the blessed Mary ever Virgin, says, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: and therefore that Holy Thing also that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of GOD," on the supposition that as the conception of the Virgin was a Divine act, the flesh of the conceived did not partake of the conceiver's nature? But that birth so uniquely wondrous and so wondrously unique, is not to be understood in such wise that the properties of His kind were removed through the novelty of His creation. For though the Holy Spirit imparted fertility to the Virgin, yet a real body was received from her body; and, "Wisdom building her a house," "the Word became flesh and dwelt in us," that is, in that flesh which he took from man and which he quickened with the breath of a higher life. 40

III. The Faith and counsel of GOD in regard to the incarnation of the Word are set forth. Without detriment therefore to the properties of either nature and substance which then came together in one person, majesty took on humility, strength weakness, eternity mortality: and for the paying off of the debt belonging to our condition inviolable nature was united with possible nature, so that, as suited the needs of our case, one and the same Mediator between GOD and men, the Man Christ Jesus, could both die with the one and not die with the other. Thus in the whole and perfect nature of true man was true GOD born, complete in what was His own, complete in what was ours. And by "ours" we mean what the Creator formed in us from the beginning and what He undertook to repair. For what the Deceiver brought in and man deceived committed, had no trace in the Saviour. Nor, because He partook of man's weaknesses, did He therefore share our faults. He took the form of a slave without stain of sin, increasing the human and not diminishing the divine: because that emptying of Himself whereby the Invisible made Himself visible and, Creator and LORD of all things though He be, wished to be a mortal, was the bending down of pity, not the failing of power. Accordingly He who while remaining in the form of GOD made man, was also made man in the form of a slave. For both natures retain their own proper character without loss: and as the form of GOD did not do away with the form of a slave, so the form of a slave did not impair the form of GOD. For inasmuch as the Devil used to boast that man had been cheated by his guile into losing the divine gifts, and bereft of the boon of immortality had undergone sentence of death, and that he had found some solace in his troubles from having a partner in delinquency, and that GOD also at the demand of the principle of justice had changed His own purpose towards man whom He had created in such honour: there was need for the issue of a secret counsel, that the unchangeable GOD whose will cannot be robbed of its own kindness, might carry out the first design of His Fatherly care towards us by a more hidden mystery; and that man who had been driven into his fault by the treacherous cunning of the devil might not perish contrary to the purpose of GOD.

IV. The properties of the twofold nativity and nature of Christ are weighed one against another. There enters then these lower parts of the world the Son of GOD, descending from His heavenly home and yet not quitting His Father's glory, begotten in a new order by a new nativity. In a new order, because being invisible in His own nature, He became visible in ours, and He whom nothing could contain was content to be contained: abiding before all time He began to be in time: the LORD of all things, He obscured His immeasurable majesty and took on Him the form of a servant: being GOD that cannot suffer, He did not disdain to be man that can, and, immortal as He is, to subject Himself to the laws of death. The LORD assumed His mother's nature without her faultiness: nor in the LORD Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin's womb, does the wonderfulness of His birth make His nature unlike ours. For He who is true GOD is also true man: and in this union there is no lie, since the humility of manhood and the loftiness of the Godhead both meet there. For as GOD is not changed by the showing of pity, so man is not swallowed up by the dignity. For each form does what is proper to it with the co-operation of the other; that is the Word performing what appertains to the Word, and the flesh carrying out what appertains to the flesh. One of 41 them sparkles with miracles, the other succumbs to injuries. And as the Word does not cease to be on an equality with His Father's glory, so the flesh does not forego the nature of our race. For it must again and again be repeated that one and the same is truly Son of GOD and truly son of man. GOD in that "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with GOD, and the Word was GOD;" man in that "the Word became flesh and dwelt in us." GOD in that "all things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made:" man in that "He was made of a woman, made under law." The nativity of the flesh was the manifestation of human nature: the childbearing of a virgin is the proof of Divine power. The infancy of a babe is shown in the humbleness of its cradle: the greatness of the Most High is proclaimed by the angels' voices. He whom Herod treacherously endeavours to destroy is like ourselves in our earliest stage: but He whom the Magi delight to worship on their knees is the LORD of all. So too when He came to the baptism of John, His forerunner, lest He should not be known through the veil of flesh which covered His Divinity, the Father's voice thundering from the sky, said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." And thus Him whom the devil's craftiness attacks as man, the ministries of angels serve as GOD. To be hungry and thirsty, to be weary, and to sleep, is clearly human: but to satisfy 5,000 men with five loaves, and to bestow on the woman of Samaria living water, droughts of which can secure the drinker from thirsting any more, to walk upon the surface of the sea with feet that do not sink, and to quell the risings of the waves by rebuking the winds, is, without any doubt, Divine. Just as therefore, to pass over many other instances, it is not part of the same nature to be moved to tears of pity for a dead friend, and when the stone that closed the four-days' grave was removed, to raise that same friend to life with a voice of command: or, to hang on the cross, and turning day to night, to make all the elements tremble: or, to be pierced with nails, and yet open the gates of paradise to the robber's faith: so it is not part of the same nature to say, "I and the Father are one," and to say, "the Father is greater than I." For although in the LORD Jesus Christ GOD and man is one person, yet the source of the degradation, which is shared by both, is one, and the source of the glory, which is shared by both, is another. For His manhood, which is less than the Father, comes from our side: His Godhead, which is equal to the Father, comes from the Father.

V. Christ's flesh is proved real from Scripture. Therefore in consequence of this unity of person which is to be understood in both natures, we read of the Son of Man also descending from heaven, when the Son of GOD took flesh from the Virgin who bore Him. And again the Son of GOD is said to have been crucified and buried, although it was not actually in His Divinity whereby the Only-begotten is co-eternal and con-substantial with the Father, but in His weak human nature that He suffered these things. And so it is that in the Creed also we all confess that the Only-begotten Son of God was crucified and buried, according to that saying of the Apostle: "for if they had known, they would never have crucified the LORD of glory." But when our LORD and Saviour Himself would instruct His disciples' faith by His questionings, He said, "Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" And when they had put on record the various opinions of other people, He said, "But ye, whom do ye say that I am?" Me, that is, who am the Son of Man, and whom ye see in the form of a slave, and in true flesh, whom do ye say that I am? Whereupon blessed Peter, whose divinely inspired confession was destined to profit all nations, said, "Thou art Christ, the Son of the living GOD." And not undeservedly was he pronounced blessed by the LORD, drawing from the chief corner-stone the solidity of power which his name also expresses, he, who, through the revelation of the Father, confessed Him to be at once Christ 42 and Son of GOD: because the receiving of the one of these without the other was of no avail to salvation, and it was equally perilous to have believed the LORD Jesus Christ to be either only GOD without man, or only man without GOD. But after the LORD'S resurrection (which, of course, was of His true body, because He was raised the same as He had died and been buried), what else was effected by the forty days' delay than the cleansing of our faith's purity from all darkness? For to that end He talked with His disciples, and dwelt and ate with them, He allowed Himself to be handled with diligent and curious touch by those who were affected by doubt, He entered when the doors were shut upon the Apostles, and by His breathing upon them gave them the Holy Spirit, and bestowing on them the light of understanding, opened the secrets of the Holy Scriptures. So again He showed the wound in His side, the marks of the nails, and all the signs of His quite recent suffering, saying, "See My hands and feet, that it is I. Handle Me and see that a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have;" in order that the properties of His Divine and human nature might be acknowledged to remain still inseparable: and that we might know the Word not to be different from the flesh, in such a sense as also to confess that the one Son of GOD iS both the Word and flesh. Of this mystery of the faith your opponent Eutyches must be reckoned to have but little sense if he bus recognized our nature in the Only-begotten of GOD neither through the humiliation of His having to die, nor through the glory of His rising again. Nor has he any fear of the blessed apostle and evangelist John's declaration when he says, "every spirit which confesses Jesus Christ to have come in the flesh, is of GOD: and every spirit which destroys Jesus is not of GOD, and this is Antichrist." But what is "to destroy Jesus," except to take away the human nature from Him, and to render void the mystery, by which alone we were saved, by the most barefaced fictions. The truth is that being in darkness about the nature of Christ's body, he must also be befooled by the same blindness in the matter of His sufferings. For if he does not think the cross of the LORD fictitious, and does not doubt that the punishment He underwent to save the world is likewise true, let him acknowledge the flesh of Him whose death he already believes: and let him not disbelieve Him man with a body like ours, since he acknowledges Him to have been able to suffer: seeing that the denial of His true flesh is also the denial of His bodily suffering. If therefore he receives the Christian faith, and does not turn away his ears from the preaching of the Gospel: let him see what was the nature that hung pierced with nails on the wooden cross, and, when the side of the Crucified was opened by the soldier's spear, let him understand whence it was that blood and water flowed, that the Church of GOD might be watered from the font and from the cup. Let him hear also the blessed Apostle Peter, proclaiming that the sanctification of the Spirit takes place through the sprinkling of Christ's blood. And let him not read cursorily the same Apostle's words when he says, "Knowing that not with corruptible things, such as silver and gold, have ye been redeemed from your vain manner of life which is part of your fathers' tradition, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ as of a lamb
without spot and blemish." Let him not resist too the witness of the blessed Apostle John, who says: "and the blood of Jesus the Son of GOD cleanseth us from all sin." And again: "this is the victory which overcometh the world, our faith." And "who is He that overcometh the world save He that believeth that Jesus is the Son of GOD. This is He that came by water and blood, Jesus Christ: not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that testifieth, because the Spirit is the truth, because there are three that bear witness, the Spirit, the water and the blood, and the three are one." The Spirit, that is, of sanctification, and the blood of redemption, and the water of baptism: because the three are one, and remain undivided, and none of them is separated from this connection; because the catholic Church lives and progresses by this faith, so that in Christ Jesus neither the manhood without the true Godhead nor 43 the Godhead without the true manhood is believed in.

VI. The wrong and mischievous concession of Eutyches. The terms on which he may be restored to communion. The sending of deputies to the East. But when during your cross-examination Eutyches replied and said, "I confess that our LORD had two natures before the union but after the union I confess but one," I am surprised that so absurd and mistaken a statement of his should not have been criticised and rebuked by his judges, and that an utterance which reaches the height of stupidity and blasphemy should be allowed to pass as if nothing offensive had been heard: for the impiety of saying that the Son of GOD was of two natures before His incarnation is only equalled by the iniquity of asserting that there was but one nature in Him after "the Word became flesh." And to the end that Eutyches may not think this a right or defensible opinion because it was not contradicted by any expression of yourselves, we warn you beloved brother, to take anxious care that if ever through the inspiration of GOD'S mercy the case is brought to a satisfactory conclusion, his ignorant mind be purged from this pernicious idea as well as others. He was, indeed, just beginning to beat a retreat from his erroneous conviction, as the order of proceedings shows, in so far as when hemmed in by your remonstrances he agreed to say what he had not said before and to acquiesce in that belief to which before he had been opposed. However, when he refused to give his consent to the anathematizing of his blasphemous dogma, you understood, brother, that he abode by his treachery and deserved to receive a verdict of condemnation. And yet, if he grieves over it faithfully and to good purpose, and, late though it be, acknowledges how rightly the bishops' authority has been set in motion; or if with his own mouth and hand in your presence he recants his wrong opinions, no mercy that is shown to him when penitent can be found fault with s: because our LORD, that true and "good shepherd" who laid down His life for His sheep and who came to save not lose men's souls, wishes us to imitate His kindness; in order that while justice constrains us when we sin, mercy may prevent our rejection when we have returned. For then at last is the true Faith most profitably defended when a false belief is condemned even by the supporters of it. Now for the loyal and faithful execution of the whole matter, we have appointed to represent us our brothers Julius Bishop and Renatus priest [of the Title of S. Clement], as well as my son Hilary, deacon. And with them we have associated Dulcitius our notary, whose faith is well approved: being sure that the Divine help will be given us, so that he who had erred may be saved when the wrongness of his view has been condemned. GOD keep you safe, beloved brother. The 13 June, 449, in the consulship of the most illustrious Asturius and Protogenes.

Letter 29 To Caesar Theodosius, the most religious and devout Augustus Leo pope of the Catholic Church of the city of Rome 13th June in the consulship of the illustrious Asturius and Protogenes (449) Letter 31 Leo to Pulcheria Augusta 13 June in the consulship of the illustrious Asturius and Protogenes (449) Letter 32 To the Archimandrites of Constantinople 13th June, in the consulship of the illustrious Asturius and Protogenes (449) Letter 33 Leo, bishop, to the holy Synod which is assembled at Ephesus 13th June in the consulship of the illustrious Asturius and Protogenes (449) Letter 34 To Julian, Bishop of Cos. 13th June in the consulship of the illustrious Asturius and Protogenes (449) Letter 35 To Julian, Bishop of Cos. 13th June in the consulship of the illustrious Asturius and Protogenes (449) Letter 37 to Theodosius Augustus 21st of June, in the consulship of the illustrious Asturius and Protogenes, (449) Letter 38 to Flavian, bishop of Constantinople 23 July in the consulship of the illustrious Asturius and Protogenes (449) Letter 39 To Flavian, Bishop Of Constantinople 11th August in the consulship of the illustrious Asturius and Protogenes (449) Letter 40 To his well-beloved brethren Constantinus Audentius, Rusticus, Auspicius, Nicetas, Nectarius, Florus, Asclepius, Justus, Augustalis, Ynantius, and Chrysaphius Bishops Of The Province Of Arles In Gaul 22 August in the consulship of Asturius and Protogenes (449) Letter 42 to his well-beloved brother Ravennius Bishop Of Arles 26th, August, in the consulship of the illustrious Asturius and Protogenes (449) Letter 43 To the most glorious and serene Emperor Theodosius Letter 44 Leo, the bishop, and the holy Synod which is assembled at Rome to Theodosius Augustus 13th of October, in the consulship of the illustrious Asturius and Protogenes (449) Letter 45 Leo, the bishop, and the holy Synod which is assembled in the City of Rome to Pulcheria Augusta 13th of October in the consulship of the illustrious Asturius and Protogenes (449) Letter 52 From Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus, to Leo. (See vol. iii. of this Series, p. 293 Date about the end of 449 Letter 56 (FROM GALLA PLACIDIA AUGUSTA TO THEODOSIUS). To the Lord Theodosius, Conqueror and 58 Emperor, her ever august son, Galla Placidia, most pious and prosperous, perpetual Augusta and mother Letter 59 Leo the bishop to the clergy, dignitaries, and people, residing at Constantinople October 15, in the consulship of the illustrious Asturius and Protogenes, 449.) Letter 66 LEO'S REPLY TO LETTER LXV. Leo, the pope, to the dearly-beloved brethren Constantinus, Armentarius, Audientius Severianus, Valerianus, Ursus, Stephanus, Nectarius, Constantius, Maximus, Asclepius, Theodorus, Justus Ingenuus, Augustalis, Superventor, Ynantius, Fonteius, and Palladius 5th of May, in the consulship of Valentinianus Augustus (7th time), and the most famous Avienus (450.) Letter 67 To Ravennius, Bishop Of Arles.5th of May, in the consulship of the most glorious Valentinianus (for the 7th time) and of the famous Avienus (450) Letter 68 FROM THREE GALLIC BISHOPS TO ST. LEO. Ceretius, Salonius and Veranus to the holy Lord, most blessed father, and pope most worthy of the Apostolic See, Leo. I Letter 69 to Theodosius ever Augustus 17th July in the consulship of the illustrious Valentinianus for the seventh time) and Avienus (450) Letter 79 Leo, bishop of the city of Rome to Pulcheria Augusta. April 13, in the consulship of the illustrious Adelfius (451) Letter 80 To Anatolius, Bishop Of Constantinople 13 April, in the consulship of the illustrious Adelfius (451) Letter 82 To Marcian Augustus 23rd of April in the consulship of the illustrious Adelfius (451) Letter 85 To Anatolius, Bishop Of Constantinople 9th of June in the consulship of the illustrious Adelfius (451) Letter 88 To Paschasinus, Bishop Of Lilybaeum June 24th in the consulship of the illustrious Adelfius (451). Letter 93 Leo, the bishop of the city of Rome, to the holy Synod, assembled at Nicaea 26th, of June, in the consulship of the illustrious Adelfius (451) Letter 95 To Pulcheria Augusta By The Hand Of Theoctistus The Magistrian 20th of July, in the consulship of the illustrious Adelfius (451) Letter 9 8 The great and holy and universal Synod, which by the grace of God and the sanction of our most pious and Christ-loving Emperors has been gathered together in the metropolis of Chalcedon in the province of Bithynia, to the most holy and blessed archbishop of Rome, Leo. I Letter 101

FROM ANATOLIUS, BISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE, TO LEO.

(Dealing with much the same subjects as Letter XCVIII. from Anatolius' own standpoint: Chap. iii. is translated in extenso as illustrating XCVIII., chap. iii.) III.

He describes the circumstances under which the doctrine of the Incarnation had been formulated by the Synod Letter 104 To Marcian Augustus, about the presumption of Anatolius, by the hand of Lucian the bishop and Basil the deacon.) Leo, the bishop, to Marcian Augustus Letter 105 (TO PULCHERIA AUGUSTA ABOUT THE SELF-SEEKING OF ANATOLIUS.) Leo the bishop to Pulcheria Augusta 22nd of May, in the consulship of the illustrious Herculanus (452) Letter 106 To Anatolius, Bishop Of Constantinople, In Rebuke Of His Self-Seeking 22nd of May in the consulship of the illustrious Herculanus (452) Letter 108 to Theodore, bishop of Forum Julii. June 11th in the consulship of the illustrious Herculanus (452) Letter 109 To Julian, Bishop Of Cos. November 25th in the consulship of Herculanus (452) Letter 113 to Julian, bishop of Cos. March 11th, in the consulship of the illustrious Opilio (453) Letter 117 TO JULIAN, BISHOP OF COS. Leo to Julian the bishop. I. He wishes his assent to the Acts of Chalcedon to be widely known. How watchfully and how devotedly you guard the catholic Faith, brother, the tenor of your letter shows, and my anxiety is greatly relieved by the information it contains; supplemented as it is by the most religious piety of our religious Emperor, which is clearly shown to be prepared by the Lord for the confirmation of the whole Church; so that, whilst Christian princes act for the Faith with holy zeal, the priests of the Lord may confidently pray for their realm. What therefore our most clement Emperor deemed needful I have willingly complied with, by sending letters to all the brethren who were present at the Synod of Chalcedon, in which to show that I approved of what was resolved upon by our holy brethren about the Rule of Faith; on their account to wit, who in order to cloke their own treachery, pretend to consider invalid or doubtful such conciliar ordinances as are not ratified by my assent albeit, after the return of the brethren whom I had sent in my stead, I dispatched a letter to the bishop of Constantinople; so that, if he had been minded to publish it, abundant proof might have been furnished thereby how gladly I approved of what the synod had passed concerning the Faith. 21st March, in the consulship of the illustrious Opilio (453) Letter 119 TO MAXIMUS, BISHOP OF ANTIOCH, BY THE HAND OF MARIAN THE PRESBYTER, AND OLYMPIUS THE DEACON. Leo to Maximus of Antioch. I. The Faith is the mean between the two extremes of Eutyches and Nestorius. How much, beloved, you have at heart the most sacred unity of our common Faith and the tranquil harmony of the Church's peace, the substance of your letter shows, which was brought me by our sons, Marian the presbyter and Olympius the deacon, and which was the more welcome to us because thereby we can join as it were in conversation, and thus the grace of GOD becomes more and more known and greater joy is felt through the whole world over the revelation of catholic Truth. And yet we are sore grieved at some who still (so your messengers indicate) love their darkness; and though the brightness of day has arisen everywhere, even still delight in the obscurity of their blindness, and abandoning the Faith, remain Christians in only the empty name, without knowledge to discern one error from another, and to distinguish the blasphemy of Nestorius from the impiety of Eutyches. 11th of June, in the consulship of the illustrious Opilio (453) Letter 120 TO THEODORET, BISHOP OF CYRUS, ON PERSEVERANCE IN THE FAITH. Leo, the bishop, to his beloved brother Theodoret, the bishop. I. He congratulates Theodoret on their joint victory, and expresses his approval of an hottest inquiry which leads to good results. On the return of our brothers and fellow-priests, whom the See of the blessed Peter sent to the holy council, we ascertained, beloved, the victory you and we together had won by assistance from on high over the blasphemy of Nestorius, as well as over the madness of Eutyches. 11 June in the consulship of the illustrious Opilio (453) Letter 123 TO EUDOCIA AUGUSTA, ABOUT THE MONKS OF PALESTINE. Leo, the bishop, to Eudocia Augusta. I. A request that she should use her influence with the monks of Palestine in reducing them to order. I do not doubt that your piety is aware how great is my devotion to the catholic Faith, and with what care I am bound, GOD helping me, to guard against the Gospel of truth being withstood at any time by ignorant or disloyal men. For as the catholic Faith condemns Nestorius, who dared to maintain two persons in our one LORD Jesus Christ, so does it also condemn Eutyches and Dioscorus who deny that the 91 true human flesh was assumed in the Virgin Mother's womb by the only-begotten Word of GOD. If your exhortations have any success in convincing these persons, which will win for you eternal glory, I beseech your clemency to inform me of it by letter; that I may have the joy of knowing that you have reaped the fruit of your good work, and that they through the LORD'S mercy have not perished. Dated the 15th of June, in the consulship of the illustrious Opilio (453) Letter 124 TO THE MONKS OF PALESTINE. Leo, the bishop, to the whole body of monks settled throughout Palestine. I. They have possibly been misled by a wrong translation of his letter on the Incarnation to Flavian. The anxious care, which I owe to the whole Church and to all its sons, has ascertained from many sources that some offence has been given to your minds, beloved, through my interpreters, who being either ignorant, as it appears, or malicious, have made you take some of my statements in a different sense to what I meant, not being capable of turning the Latin into Greek with proper accuracy, although in the explanation of subtle and difficult matters, one who undertakes to discuss them can scarcely satisfy himself even in his own tongue. And yet this has so far been of advantage to me, that by your disapproving of what the catholic Faith rejects, we know you are greater friends to the true than to the false: and that you quite properly refuse to believe what I myself also abhor, in accordance with ancient doctrine. Letter 129 TO PROTERIUS, BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA. Leo to Proterius, bishop of Alexandria. I. He commends his persistent loyalty to the Faith. Your letter, beloved, which our brother and fellow-bishop Nestorius duly brought us, has caused me great joy. For it was seemly that such an epistle should be sent by the head of the church of Alexandria to the Apostolic See, as showed that the Egyptians had from the first learnt from the teaching of the most blessed Apostle Peter through his blessed disciple Mark, that which it is agreed the Romans have believed, that beside the LORD Jesus Christ "there is no other name given to men under heaven, in which they must be saved." March 10th, in the consulship of the illustrious Aetius and Studius (454) Letter 139 TO JUVENAL, BISHOP OF JERUSALEM. Leo, bishop of the city of Rome, to Juvenal, bishop of Jerusalem. 1.He rejoices over Juvenal's return to orthodoxy, though chiding him far having gone astray. When I received your letter, beloved, which our sons Andrew the presbyter and Peter the deacon brought me, I rejoiced indeed that you had been allowed to return to the seat of your bishopric; but when all the reasons came to my remembrance, which brought you into such excessive troubles, I grieved to think you had been yourself the source of your adversities by failing in persistency of opposition to the heretics: for men can but think you were not bold enough to refute those with whom when in error you professed yourself satisfied. For the condemnation of Flavian of blessed memory, and the acceptance of the most unholy Eutyches, what was it but the denial of our LORD Jesus Christ according to the flesh? which He Himself of His great mercy caused to be overthrown, when by the authority of the holy Council of Chalcedon He brought to nought that accursed judgment of the Synod of Ephesus without debarring any of the attainted from being healed by correction. And therefore, because in the tithe of long-suffering, you have chosen return to wisdom rather than persistency in folly, I rejoice that you have so sought the heavenly remedies as at last to have become a defender of the Faith which is assailed by heretics.4th September, in the consulship of the illustrious Aetius and Studius (454) Letter 156 TO LEO AUGUSTUS. Leo, the bishop, to Leo Augustus. 1. There is no need to open the question of doctrine again now. Your clemency's letter, which was full of vigorous faith and of the light of truth, I have respectfully received, which I wish I could obey, even in the matter of my personal attendance, which your Majesty thinks necessary; for then I should gain the greater advantage from the sight of your splendour. But I believe you will approve of my view when reason has shown it preferable. For since with holy and spiritual zeal you consistently maintain the Church's peace, and nothing is more conducive to the defence of the Faith than to adhere to those things which have been incontrovertibly defined under the unceasing guidance of the Holy Spirit, we shall seem to be doing our best to upset 100 the decrees, and at the bidding of a heretic's petition to overthrow the authorities which the universal Church has adopted, and thus to remove all limits from the conflicts of Churches, and giving full rein to rebellion, to extend rather than appease contentions. And hence because after the disgraceful scenes at the synod of Ephesus, whereat through the wickedness of Dioscorus the catholic Faith was rejected, and Eutyches' heresy accepted, nothing more useful could be devised for the preservation of the Christian Faith than that the holy Synod of Chalcedon should rescind his wicked acts, and that such care should be bestowed thereat on heavenly doctrine, that nothing should linger in any one's mind in disagreement with the utterances of either the Prophets or the Apostles, such moderation of course being observed that only the persistent rebels should be east off from the unity of the Church, and no one who was penitent should be denied pardon, what more in accordance with men's expectations or with religion will your Majesty be able to decree, than that no one henceforth be permitted to attack what has been determined by decrees which are Divine rather than human, lest they be truly worthy but to lose GOD's gift, who have dared to doubt concerning His Truth? 1st of Dec. in the consulship of the illustrious Constantine and Rufus (457) Letter 158 TO THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS OF EGYPT SOJOURNING IN CONSTANTINOPLE. Leo to the catholic Egyptian bishops sojourning in Constantinople. He encourages them in their sufferings for the Faith, and in their entreaties for redress to the Emperor. I have before now been so saddened by tidings of the crimes committed in Alexandria, and my spirit has been so wounded by the atrocity of the deed itself, that I know not what tears to show and what lamentation to utter over it, and am fain to use the prophet's language, "who will give waters to my head and a fountain of tears to my eyes?" Yet anticipating your complaint, beloved, I have entreated our most clement and Christian Emperor for a remedy of these great evils, and by our sons and assistants Gerontius and Olympius have at a different time demanded that he should make haste to purge of a heresy already condemned the church of that city, in which so many Catholic teachers have flourished, and not allow murderous spirits whom no reverence for place or times could deter from shedding their ruler's blood, to gain anything from his clemency, more particularly when they desire to reconsider the council of Chalcedon to the overthrow of the Faith. 1st of Dec. in the consulship of Constantine and Rufus (457) Letter 159 TO NICAETAS, BISHOP OF AQUILEIA. (Leo, the bishop, to Nicaetas, bishop of Aquileia, greeting.) I. Prefatory My son Adeodatus, deacon of our See, on returning to us has delivered your request, beloved, to receive from us the authority of the Apostolic See upon matters which seem indeed to be hard to decide, but which we must make provision for with a view to the necessities of the times that the wounds which have been inflicted by the attacks of the enemy may be healed chiefly by the agency of religion. II. About the women who married again when their husbands were taken prisoners. As then you say that through the disasters of war and through the grievous inroads of the enemy families have in certain cases been so broken up that the husbands have been carried off into captivity and their wives remain forsaken, and these latter thinking their own husbands either dead or never likely to be freed from their masters, have contracted another marriage under stress of loneliness, and as, now that the state of things has im- 103 proved through the Lord's help, some of those who were thought to have perished have returned, you seem, dear brother, naturally to be in doubt what ought to be settled by us about women thus joined to other husbands. But because we know it is written that "a woman is joined to a man by God," and again, we are aware of the precept that "what God hath joined, man may not put asunder," we are bound to hold that the compact of the lawful marriage must be renewed, and after the removal of the evils inflicted by the enemy, what each lawfully had must be restored to him; and we must take every pains that each should recover what is his own. 21st March, in the consulship of Majorian Augustus (458) Letter 162 To Leo Augustus. By the hand of Philoxenus agens in rebus. Leo the Bishop to Leo Augustus. I. The decrees of Chalcedon and Nicaea are identical and final. With much joy my mind exults in the Lord, and great is my cause for thankfulness, now that I perceive your clemency's most excellent faith to be in all things enlarged by the gifts of heavenly grace, and I experience by increased diligence the devotion of a priestly mind in you. For in your Majesty's communications! it is beyond doubt revealed what the Holy Spirit is working through you for the good of the whole Church, and how greatly it is to be desired by the prayers of all the faithful that your empire may be everywhere extended with glory, seeing that besides your care for things temporal you so perseveringly exercise a religious foresight in the service of what is divine and eternal: to wit that the catholic Faith, which alone gives life to and alone in hallows mankind, may abide in the one confession, and the dissensions which spring from the variety of earthly opinions may be driven away, most glorious Emperor, from that solid Rock, on which the city of God is built. 21st of March in the consulship of Leo and Majorian Augusti (458) Letter 164 TO LEO AUGUSTUS. Leo, the bishop, to Leo Augustus. I. He sends envoys but de deprecates any fresh discussion of the Faith. Rejoicing that it has been proved to me by 106 many clear proofs with what earnestness you consult the interests of the universal Church, I have not delayed to obey your Majesty's commands on the first opportunity, by despatching Domitian and Geminian my brothers and fellow-bishops, who in furtherance of my earnest prayers, shall entreat you for the peaceful acceptance of the gospel-teaching and obtain the liberty of the Faith in which through the instruction of the Holy Spirit you yourself are so conspicuously eminent, now that the enemies of Christ are driven far away, who even if they had wished to conceal their madness, could not lie hid, because the holy simplicity of the Lord's flock is very different from the pretences of beasts who hide themselves in sheeps' clothing, nor can they creep in by hypocrisy now that their exceeding madness has revealed them. Recognize, therefore, august and venerable Emperor, how that you are called by Divine providence to the guardianship of the whole world, and understand what aid you owe to your Mother, the Church, who makes especial boast of you. Disputes that are ended must not be allowed to rise with renewed vigour against the triumphs of the Almighty's right hand, especially when this can in no wise be allowed to heretics, whose attempts have long ago been condemned and the labours of the faithful have a just claim to this result, that all the fulness of the Church shall remain secure in the completeness of her unity, and that nothing whatever of what has been well laid down shall be reconsidered, because, after constitutions have been legitimately framed under Divine guidance, to wish still to wrangle is the sign not of a peace-making but of a rebellious spirit, as says the Apostle, "for to strive with words is profitable for nothing, but for the subverting of them that hear'." 17th of August, in the consulship of Leo and Majorian Augusti (458) Letter 166 Leo, the bishop, to Neo, bishop of Ravenna, greeting. I. Those, who being taken captives in infancy cannot remember or bring witnesses of their baptism, must not be denied this sacrament. We have indeed frequently, God's Spirit instructing us, steadied the brethren's hearts, when they were tottering on the slippery places of doubtful questions, by formulating an answer either out of the teaching of the Holy Scriptures or from the rules of the Fathers: but lately in Synod a new and hitherto unheard-of subject of debate has arisen. For at the instance of certain brethren we have discovered that some of the prisoners of war, on their free return to their own homes, such to wit as went into captivity at an age when they could have no sure knowledge of anything, crave the healing waters of baptism, but in the ignorance of infancy cannot remember whether they have received the mystery and rites of baptism, and that therefore in this uncertainty of defective recollection their souls are brought into jeopardy, so long as under a show of caution they are denied a grace, which is withheld, because it is thought to have been bestowed. And so, since certain brethren in a not unjustifiable fear have hesitated to perform the rites of the Lord's mystery, at a synodal meeting, as we have said, we have received a formal request for advice on this matter, and in carefully discussing it, we have desired to weigh each members opinion, and to handle it in so cautious a manner as to arrive with certainty at the truth by making use of the knowledge of many. 24th of Oct., in the consulship of Ms Majorian Augustus (458) Letter 167 To Rusticus, Bishop of Gallia Narbonensis, with the Replied His Questions on Various Points. Leo, the bishop, to Rusticus, bishop of Gallia Narbonensis. 109 1. He exhorts him to act with moderation towards two bishops who have offended him. Your letter, brother. which Hermes your archdeacon brought, I have gladly received; the number of different matters it contains makes it indeed lengthy, but not so tedious to me on a patient perusal that any point should be passed over, amid the cares that press upon me from all sides. And hence having grasped the gist of your allegation and reviewed what took place at the inquiry of the bishops and leading men, we gather that Sabinian and Leo, presbyters, lacked confidence in your action, and that they have no longer any just cause for complaint, seeing that of their own accord they withdrew from the discussion that had been begun. ... QUESTION XIX. Concerning those who after being baptized in infancy were captured by the Gentiles, and lived with them after the manner of the Gentiles, when they come back to Roman territory as still young men, if they seek communion, what shall be done? REPLY. If they have only lived with Gentiles and eaten sacrificial food, they can be purged by fasting and laying on of hands, in order that for the future abstaining from things offered to idols, they may be partakers of Christ's mysteries. But if they have either worshipped idols or been polluted with manslaughter or fornication, they must not be admitted to communion, except by public penance. Letter 169 TO LEO AUGUSTUS. Leo, the bishop, to Leo Augustus. I. He heartily thanks the Emperor far what he has done, and asks him to complete the work in any way he can. If we should seek to reward your Majesty's glorious resolution in defence of the Faith with all the praise that the greatness of the issue demands, we should be found unequal to the task of giving thanks and celebrating the joy of the universal Church with our feeble tongue. But His worthier recompense awaits your acts and deserts, in whose cause you have shown so excellent a zeal, and are now triumphing gloriously over the attainment of the wished-for end. Your clemency must know therefore that all the churches of GOD join in praising you and rejoicing that the unholy parricide has been cast off from the neck of the Alexandrine church, and that GOD's people, on whom the abominable robber has been so great a burden, restored to the ancient liberty of the Faith, can now be recalled into the way of salvation by the preaching of faithful priests, when it sees the whole hotbed of pestilence done away with in the person of the originator himself. 17th of June, in the consulship of Magnus and Apollonius (460). (By the hand of Philoxenus agens in rebus.) Letter 171 Leo, the bishop, to Timothy, catholic bishop of the church of Alexandria. I. He congratulates him on his election, and bids him win back wanderers to the fold. It is dearly apparent from the brightness of the sentiment quoted by the Apostle, that "all things work together for good to them that love GOD," and by the dispensation of GOD's pity, where adversities are received, there also prosperity is given. This the experience of the Alexandrine church shows, in which the moderation and long suffering of the humble has laid up for themselves great store in return for their patience: because "the LORD is nigh them that are of a contrite heart, and shall save those that are humble in spirit," our noble Prince's faith being glorified in all things, through whom "the right-hand of the LORD hath done great acts," in preventing the abomination of antichrist any longer occupying the throne of the blessed Fathers; whose blasphemy has hurt no one more than himself, because although he has induced some to be partners of his guilt, yet he has inexpiably stained himself with blood.18th of August, in the consulship of Magnus and Apollonius (460)

440 Sancti Leónis Papæ Primi, cognoménto Magni, Confessóris et Ecclésiæ Doctóris, cujus dies natális recólitur quarto Idus Novémbris.

St. Leo the First, pope and confessor, who was surnamed the Great. His birthday falls on the 10th of November.

In the Latin Church the feast day of the great pope is held on 11 April, and in the Eastern Church on 18 February.

Leo's pontificate, next to that of St. Gregory I, is the most significant and important in Christian antiquity.

At a time when the Church was experiencing the greatest obstacles to her progress in consequence of the hastening disintegration of the Western Empire, while the Orient was profoundly agitated over dogmatic controversies, this great pope, with far-seeing sagacity and powerful hand, guided the destiny of the Roman and Universal Church. According to the "Liber Pontificalis" (ed. Mommsen, I, 101 sqq., ed. Duchesne, I, 238 sqq.), Leo was a native of Tuscany and his father's name was Quintianus. Our earliest certain historical information about Leo reveals him a deacon of the Roman Church under Pope Celestine I (422-32). Even during this period he was known outside of Rome, and had some relations with Gaul, since Cassianus in 430 or 431 wrote at Leo's suggestion his work "De Incarnatione Domini contra Nestorium" (Migne, P.L., L, 9 sqq.), prefacing it with a letter of dedication to Leo. About this time Cyril of Alexandria appealed to Rome against the pretensions of Bishop Juvenal of Jerusalem. From an assertion of Leo's in a letter of later date (ep. cxvi, ed. Ballerini, I, 1212; II, 1528), it is not very clear whether Cyril wrote to him in the capacity of Roman deacon, or to Pope Celestine. During the pontificate of Sixtus III (422-40), Leo was sent to Gaul by Emperor Valentinian III to settle a dispute and bring about a reconciliation between Aëtius, the chief military commander of the province, and the chief magistrate, Albinus. This commission is a proof of the great confidence placed in the clever and able deacon by the Imperial Court. Sixtus III died on 19 August, 440, while Leo was in Gaul, and the latter was chosen his successor.

Returning to Rome, Leo was consecrated on 29 September of the same year, and governed the Roman Church for the next twenty-one years.

490 St. Monitor of 12th bishop of Orlèans B (RM).
Aureliánis, in Gállia, sancti Monitóris, Epíscopi et Confessóris.
At Orleans in France, St. Monitor, bishop and confessor.
Twelfth bishop of Orlèans (Benedictines).

Ravénnæ sancti Probi Epíscopi, miráculis clari.
St. Probus, a bishop renowned for miracles At Ravenna,

589 St. Aedh MacBricc Miracle worker founder reputedly cured St. Brigid
of a headache. Aedh was the son of Bricc, or Breece, of the Hy Neill. He was robbed of his inheritance by his brother and came under the influence of bishop Illathan of Rathlihen, Offay. Admitted into the monastic life, Aedh founded a religious community in Westmeath. He is listed in some records as a bishop.

THE birth of this St Aedh, a son of Brecc of the Hy Neill, was marked by marvels and the prediction of a stranger that he would be great in the eyes of God and man . . He received no schooling in his youth, being intended for the lay state, but worked on his father's land, where one day St Brendan of Birr and St Canice helped him to find the pigs that had strayed. Mter the death of Brecc, Aedh's brothers withheld his patrimony from him, and he tried to coerce them into yielding his share by carrying off a girl from their household. Coming to Rathlihen in Offaly he was persuaded by St Illathan, bishop in that place, to renounce his claim and to send the girl back again. This Aedh accordingly did, and remained with the bishop till, in consequence of a sign of God's favour given while his disciple was ploughing, Illathan sent him to establish a monastery in his own district. His chief settlement is said to have been at Cill-air in Westmeath, but he was active over a wide area.

Many miracles are recorded of St Aedh, some of them extravagant enough: healing, transportation through the air (with or without his car), turning water into wine, and resuscitating three people who had had their throats cut by robbers are among them. It is said that St Brigid herself (alternatively, " a certain man ") came to him to be cured of a chronic headache, which he took upon himself. There is a story told of St ado of Cluny which is paralleled by the following told of St Aedh: that he one day saw a girl washing her head after Saturday Vespers (i.e. when, ecclesiastically, Sunday had begun), and that at his word all her hair fell out until she had repented of doing servile work on the Lord's day. When he came to die, St Aedh said to one of his monks, " Prepare to take the road to Heaven with me ". The man was not willing to die, but a country fellow standing by exclaimed, " Would to God you would ask me to come with you ". " Very well," said St Aedh, " go and wash yourself and get ready." So the peasant did, and lay down on the saint's bed, and together they died. At the same moment, St Columba in far Iona knew of Aedh's departure to Heaven, and told the news to his brethren.

There are three Latin lives of this saint, but no text is known to have been preserved in Irish. The Latin recensions have all been printed in full by Fr P. Grosjean in the Acta Sanctorum, November, vol. iv, the second being here edited for the first time, though C. Plummer had quoted fragments of it when he published the third life in his VSH., vol, i, pp. 34·45· In any case the second differs little from the first, which is preserved to us in the Codex Salmanticensis and had been previously printed in 1888. Fr Grosjean has greatly added to the value of his article by copious annotations. See also Plummer's preface to VSH., vol. i, pp. xxvi-xxviii, and G. Stokes in Journal of R. Soc. of Antiq., Ireland, vol. xxvi (1896), pp. 325-335. St Aedh seems to have been popularly invoked to cure headaches; cf, J. F. Kenney, Sources, vol. i, p. 393.

627 St. Justus of Canterbury a Roman sent by Pope St. Gregory I the Great in 601 to England aide to St. Augustine.
In Anglia sancti Justi Epíscopi, qui, una cum Augustíno, Mellíto et áliis a beáto Gregório Papa in eam ínsulam missus ad prædicándum Evangélium, ibídem, sanctitáte célebris, obdormívit in Dómino.
In England, St. Justus, bishop, who was sent by Pope Gregory with Augustine, Mellitus, and others to preach the Gospel in that country. There he went to repose in the Lord, celebrated for his sanctity.

Benedictine archbishop of Canterbury. Justus was a Roman sent by Pope St. Gregory I the Great in 601 to England, to evangelize the Anglo-Saxons. Justus and others were sent as aides to St. Augustine. In 604, Justus was consecrated the first bishop of Rochester. The death of King Ethelbert in 616 caused a rise in paganism, and Justus returned to Rome. In the following year he went back to England and became archbishop of Canterbury in 624. He consecrated St. Paulinus.

WHEN in the year 601 Pope St Gregory the Great sent more missionaries to help St Augustine in England, Justus was of their number. Three years later St Augustine consecrated him to be bishop of Rochester, the first of that see, where King Ethelbert built a church dedicated in honour of St Andrew, from whose church on the Coelian the Roman missionaries had set out. When Augustine was succeeded-at Canterbury by St Laurence, Justus joined with him and St Mellitus of London in addressing a letter to the Irish bishops and abbots inviting them to conform certain of their ecclesiastical usages to those of Rome. A similar letter was sent to the clergy of the Christian Britons; " what was gained by so doing", St Bede caustically observes, "the present times still declare" .

After the death of King Ethelbert in 616 a pagan reaction set in in Kent and the same happened among the East Saxons. In face of it the three bishops, Laurence, Justus and Mellitus, decided to retire for a while as they could do no good where they were in opposition to the pagan princes. Accordingly Justus and Mellitus crossed over into Gaul. Within a year Justus was recalled, for St Laurence, spurred on by a vision of St Peter, had succeeded in converting King Edbald of Kent.

St Justus himself became archbishop of Canterbury in 624. and Pope Boniface V sent him the pallium, together with a letter delegating the patriarchal right to consecrate bishops in England. In the course of his letter the pope shows what he thinks of Justus: he refers to “the perfection which your work has obtained,” “ to God's promise to be with His servants, which promise His mercy has particularly manifested in your ministry”, and to Justus's “ hope of patience and virtue of endurance. ” “” You must therefore endeavour, my brother ”, he concludes, “ to preserve with unblemished sincerity of mind that which you have received through the favour of the Apostolic See, as an emblem whereof you have obtained so principal an ornament [i.e. the pallium] to be borne on your shoulders .... God keep you in safety, most dear brother. ”

St Justus did not long survive his promotion but before his death he consecrated St Paulinus, to accompany Ethelburga of Kent when she went north to marry the heathen Edwin, King of Northumbria, an alliance which was “ the occasion of that nation's embracing the faith ”, as St Bede remarks. The feast of St Justus is kept in the diocese of Southwark.

Our knowledge of the doings of St Justus depends mainly upon the Ecclesiastical History of Bede (see C. Plummer's edition and notes). In the Acta Sanctorum, November, vol. iv, Delehaye has also printed the eleventh-century life by Goscelin. With regard to the relics of the early archbishops of Canterbury see W. St John Hope, Recent Discoveries in the Abbey Church of St Austin at Canterbury (1916). It is noteworthy that Justus with Mellitus and Laurence, but not Augustine, is inscribed in the diptychs of the Irish sacramentary known as the Stowe Missal.

695 St. Guerembaldus renounced the office of bishop of Spire out of humility.
Benedictine bishop of Hirschau, Germany, who renounced the office of bishop of Spire out of humility.

St. Leo of Melun venerated at Melun, near Paris.
In óppido Milledúno, in Gállia, sancti Leónis Confessóris.
In the town of Melun in France, St. Leo, confessor.
Saint venerated at Melun, near Paris, France.

St. Natalene Martyr of Pamiers M (RM).
(also known as Lene) Martyr of Pamiers.

Saint Spes martyred during the persecutions at Les Andelys (Eure) (RM).
(also known as Space)
Saint Spes was martyred during the persecutions at Les Andelys (Eure) (Benedictines).

852 Constantine the King of Georgia Martyr
The 9th century was one of the most difficult periods in Georgian history. The Arab Muslims wreaked havoc throughout the region of Kartli, forcibly converting many to Islam with fire and the sword. Many of the destitute and frightened were tempted to betray the Faith of their fathers.

At that time the valorous aristocrat and faithful Christian, Prince Constantine, was living in Kartli. He was the descendant of Kakhetian princes, hence his title “Kakhi.”

As is meet for a Christian believer, St. Constantine considered himself the greatest of sinners and often said, “There can be no forgiveness of my sins, except through the spilling of my blood for the sake of Him Who shed His innocent blood for us!”

While on a pilgrimage to the holy places of Jerusalem, Constantine distributed generous gifts to the churches, visited the wilderness of the Jordan, received blessings from the holy fathers, and returned to his motherland filled with inner joy. After that time Constantine would send thirty thousand pieces of silver to Jerusalem each year.

In the years 853 to 854, when the Arab Muslims invaded Georgia under the command of Buga-Turk, the eighty-five-year-old Prince Constantine commanded the army of Kartli with his son Tarkhuj.

Outside the city of Gori an uneven battle took place between the Arabs and the Georgians. Despite their fierce resistance, the Georgians suffered defeat, and Constantine and Tarkhuj were taken captive.

The captive Constantine-Kakhi was sent to Samarra (a city in central Iraq) to the caliph Ja’far al Mutawakkil (847–861). Ja’far was well aware of the enormous respect Constantine-Kakhi received from the Georgians and all the Christian people who knew him. Having received him with honor, he proposed that Constantine renounce the Christian Faith and threatened him with death in the case of his refusal. Strengthened by divine grace, the courageous prince fearlessly answered, “Your sword does not frighten me. I am afraid of Him Who can destroy my soul and body and Who has the power to resurrect and to kill, for He is the true God, the almighty Sovereign, Ruler of the world, and Father unto all ages!”

The enraged caliph ordered the beheading of St. Constantine-Kakhi. Bowing on his knees, the holy martyr lifted up a final prayer to the Lord. St. Constantine-Kakhi was martyred on November 10, 852, the day on which Great-martyr George is commemorated. The holy martyr’s body was hung from a high pillar to intimidate the Christian believers, but after some time it was buried.

A few years later a group of faithful Georgians translated St. Constantine’s holy relics to his motherland and reburied them there with great honor. In that same century the Georgian Orthodox Church numbered Prince Constantine-Kakhi of Kartli among the saints.

10th v. St. Theoctiste Nun and hermitess.

In Paro ínsula sanctæ Theoctístis Vírginis. In the island of Paros, St. Theoctistis, virgin.

According to tradition, she lived on the island of Lesbos in the Aegean Sea before being kidnapped by Arab raiders. They took her to the island of Paros where she escaped and lived thereafter for thirty years as a herrmitess. Discovered one day by a hunter named Simon, she begged him to return when he could with Holy Communion, a plea he fulfilled a year later after which she soon died.

It is thought by scholars that the tale of the Holy Communion was based on the similar event in the life of St. Mary of Egypt.

Theoctista of Lesbos V (RM) (also known as Theoctiste). A nun of Lesbos, Theoctista became a hermitess on the Isle of Paros. The story of her last Holy Communion seems to be an adaptation from the life of Saint Mary of Egypt (Benedictines).

ST THEOCTISTA, VIRGIN
THE Roman Martyrology today mentions the death on the island of Paros of St Theoctista, but it is the conclusion of the Bollandists that her story is an empty fable, imitated from the last days of St Mary of Egypt: "a pious tale fabricated by a man of leisure for the gratification of simple religious people". It tells that in the year 902 a certain Nicetas accompanied the expedition under the admiral Himerius sent against the Arabs of Crete. While there he visited the ruined church of our Lady at Paros, and met an old priest who had been a hermit on the island for thirty years. He told Nicetas all about the Arab devastations and finally of what he had heard from a man called Simon some years before about a certain Theoctista. This Simon came with some friends to Paros to hunt, and as they approached the middle of the island they heard a voice calling to them, " Don't come any nearer. I am a woman and I should be ashamed to be seen by you, for I am naked." They were astounded, but threw a cloak among the bushes in the direction of the voice, and soon a woman emerged. She told them that her name was Theoctista and that she and her family lived on Lesbos, until she was carried off by Arabs. They took her to Paros, where she escaped into the woods and remained in hiding until the marauders withdrew. That was thirty years before, and she had lived there ever since as an ankress, feeding herself on vegetables and fruit; her clothes had become so worn out that the rags fell from her body. Never in all that time had she been able to assist at the Eucharist or receive the body of the Lord, and she implored Simon the next time he came that way to bring her holy communion. This they did in the following year, bringing the Blessed Sacrament in a pyx, which Theoctista received with the Nunc dimittis. Afterwards they called on her again to say good-bye, and found her at the point of death. Before she was buried Simon severed one of her hands to take away as a relic, but his ship was miraculously prevented from putting to sea until he had restored it, when it grew again on to the wrist. When the others went to look into this marvel, the body had entirely disappeared.

It was formerly supposed that the man who went to Paros and heard this story from the mouth of the hermit was Simeon Metaphrastes himself, the great Byzantine compiler of saints' legends, in whose collection the tale of Theoctista is found. But in fact he transcribed the legend just as it was written down by Nicetas, only adding thereto a preface, expressed in general terms of edification which did not make it clear that the events narrated in the first person did not happen to himself. Metaphrastes, who figures in the Greek Menaia on the 28th of this month, lived some fifty years after the expedition of Himerius.

In the Acta Sanctorum, November, vol. iv (under November 9), Delehaye has dealt with the question exhaustively, editing the original Greek narrative of Nicetas from a variety of manuscripts, and recording the variations of the Metaphrast. See also his Legends of the Saints, p. 88.

1066 St. John of Ratzeburg Martyred Scottish bishop on the coast of the Baltic Sea.
Born in Scotland, John became a missionary in Germany. Named the bishop of Ratzeburg, he labored on the coast of the Baltic Sea where he was martyred for the faith by local pagans.

1084 St. Elaeth a monk there under St. Seiriol.
British king driven by locals into Wales. He became a monk there under St. Seiriol. Elaeth’s poems have survived.

1608 ST ANDREW AVELLINO number of miraculous happenings recorded in life 5 volumes devotional writings published at Naples in 1733-1734 there are others still unprinted
Neápoli, in Campánia, natális sancti Andréæ Avellini, Clérici Reguláris et Confessóris, sanctitáte et salútis proximórum procurándæ stúdio præcélebris, quem, miráculis clarum, Clemens Undécimus, Póntifex Máximus, Sanctórum catálogo adscrípsit.
At Naples in Campania, the birthday of St. Andrew Avellini, Cleric Regular and confessor, celebrated for his sanctity, his zeal in procuring the salvation of souls, and renowned for his miracles. He was inscribed on the catalogue of the Saints by Pope Clement XI.

Native of Castronuovo a small town in the kingdom of Naples, and born in 1521, His parents gave him the name of Lancelot at baptism. He determined to enter the clerical state, and was sent to Naples to study civil and canon law. Being there promoted to the degree of doctor and to the priesthood, he began to practise in the ecclesiastical courts. This employment, however, too much engrossed his thoughts and dissipated his mind; and, having while pleading a cause caught himself in a lie, and reading that same evening the words of Holy Scripture, “ The mouth that belieth killeth the soul, ” he resolved to give himself up entirely to the spiritual care of souls. This he did, and with such prudence and ability that in 1556 Cardinal Scipio Ribiba entrusted to him the task of trying to reform the nuns of Sant' Arcangelo at Baiano, This convent had an evil reputation, and the efforts of the young priest were ill received both by some of the nuns and certain men who used to visit them. These did not stop short of physical violence, but Don Lancelot's strivings and willingness to give his life for the good of souls met with little success, for eventually the convent had to be suppressed.

Don Lancelot in the meantime determined to put himself under a rule, and joined the congregation of clerks regular called Theatines, which had been founded at Naples by St Cajetan thirty years before; his novice-master was Bd John Marinoni. Lancelot himself was now thirty-five, and on changing his way of life he also changed his name, to Andrew. He remained in the Theatine house at Naples for fourteen years, his goodness, spiritual fervour and exactness in discipline causing him to be employed as master of novices, and then elected superior.

Among those whom he trained was Father Lorenzo Scupoli, author of the Spiritual Combat, who became a clerk regular when he was forty. The fine qualities of St Andrew Avellino and his zeal for a better priesthood were recognized by many reforming prelates in Italy, particularly Cardinal Paul Aresio and St Charles Borromeo. The last-named in 1570 asked the provost general of the Theatines to send St Andrew into Lombardy, where he founded a house of his congregation at Milan and became a close friend and counsellor of St Charles. He then founded another house, at Piacenza, where his preaching converted several noble ladies, induced others to enter the religious life, and generally “ turned the city upside down ”, so that complaints were made to the Duke of Parma, who sent for him. St Andrew was able to satisfy the duke, and so impressed his wife that she asked him to be her spiritual director.

In 1582 St Andrew returned to Naples, and preached with great fruit in the conversion of sinners and the disabusing of the minds of the people of the beginnings of Protestant error which had penetrated even into southern Italy. A number of miraculous happenings are recorded in his life, including the case of a man who denied the real presence of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. This man is said to have gone to holy communion out of human respect and fear, but removed the Host from his mouth and wrapped It up in a handkerchief, which he subsequently found stained with blood. In remorse and terror he went to St Andrew, who published the story but refused to divulge the penitent man's name lest he should be proceeded against for sacrilege.

On November 10, 1608, being in his eighty-eighth year, St Andrew Avellino had an attack of apoplexy just as he was beginning to celebrate Mass, and died that same afternoon. His body was laid out in the crypt of the church of St Paul, where it was visited by large crowds of the faithful, many of whom snipped off locks of his hair to be carried away as relics. In so doing they seem to have made cuts in the skin of his face. The next morning, thirty-six hours after death, these cuts were seen to have exuded blood, and as the body of the saint was still warm it is natural to suppose that he was not really dead. Further incisions were made by physicians, and for another thirty-six hours blood continued to trickle from them. This blood was, of course, carefully kept, and four days later it was seen to be bubbling; in subsequent years it is recorded that, on the anniversary of St Andrew's death, the solidified blood liquefied, after the manner of that of St Januarius in the same city of Naples. St Andrew was canonized in 1712. During the process the phenomena connected with his blood were proposed as a miracle, but the evidence was regarded as inadequate. Mgr Pamphili (afterwards Pope Innocent X) deposed that a phial of the solid blood in bis care failed to liquefy on any occasion.

The Bollandists, in the Acta Sanctorum, November, vol. iv, virtually apologize for the limited space allotted to this saint, but, as they point out, the large numbers of lives published in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries have made him very well known, and have left no particular problems to elucidate. Besides a clear but concise summary of the principal incidents of his career and a very full bibliography of the printed literature, they have edited a valuable manuscript memoir in Italian by Father Valerio Pagani, the intimate friend of St Andrew, dealing more particularly with the saint's connection with the Theatines. In the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xli (1923), pp. 139-148, there had previously been printed some interesting details regarding the" conversion" of St Andrew. Most of the information that comes to us is contributed by contemporaries. In 1609 Bishop del Tufo published a Historia della Religione de' Padri Cherici Regolari in which he included a narrative of the saint's early days; while a formal biography by Father Castaldo appeared in 1613. Other Italian lives, e.g, by Baggatta, Bolvito, de Maria, are easily met with. On the blood phenomena mentioned above see The Month for May 1926, pp 437-443· In the Dictionnaire de Spiritualite, vol. i (1937), cc. 551-554, G. de Luca has contributed an article dealing mainly with St Andrew's devotional writings. Five volumes of these were published at Naples in 1733-1734, but there are others still unprinted.

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

THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 113

How long, O Lady, wilt thou forget me and not deliver me in the day of tribulation ?

How long will my enemy be exalted above me? By the might of thy strength do thou crush him.

Open the eyes of thy mercy: lest our enemy prevail against us.

We magnify thee, the finder of grace, by whom the ages of the world are restored.

Thou art exalted above the choirs of angels: pray for us before the throne of God.

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.

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Saint Frances Xavier Seelos Practical Guide to Holiness

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Meeting of the Saints walis (saints of Allah)

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

So was the case with Hazrat Ali. He could have made a compromise with the evil forces of his time and, as a result, could have led a very comfortable, easy and luxurious life. But he was not a person who would succumb to such temptations. His upbringing, his education and his training in the lap of the holy Prophet made him refuse such an offer.
Rabia Al-Basri (717–801 C.E.) She was first to set forth the doctrine of mystical love and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets. An elderly Shia pointed out that during his pre-Partition childhood it was quite common to find pictures and portraits of Shia icons in Imambaras across the country.
Shah Abdul Latif: The Exalted Sufi Master born 1690 in a Syed family; died 1754. In ancient times, Sindh housed the exemplary Indus Valley Civilisation with Moenjo Daro as its capital, and now, it is the land of a culture which evolved from the teachings of eminent Sufi saints. Pakistan is home to the mortal remains of many Sufi saints, the exalted among them being Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, a practitioner of the real Islam, philosopher, poet, musicologist and preacher. He presented his teaching through poetry and music - both instruments sublime - and commands a very large following, not only among Muslims but also among Hindus and Christians. Sindh culture: The Shah is synonymous with Sindh. He is the very fountainhead of Sindh's culture. His message remains as fresh as that of any present day poet, and the people of Sindh find solace from his writings. He did indeed think for Sindh. One of his prayers, in exquisite Sindhi, translates thus: “Oh God, may ever You on Sindh bestow abundance rare! Beloved! All the world let share Thy grace, and fruitful be.”
Shia Ali al-Hadi, died 868 and son Hassan al-Askari 874. These saints are the 10th and 11th of Shia's 12 most revered Imams. Baba Farid Sufi 1398 miracle, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki renowned Muslim Sufi saint scholar miracles 569 A.H. [1173 C.E.] hermit gave to poor, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti greatest mystic of his time born 533 Hijri (1138-39 A.D.), Hazrat Ghuas-e Azam, Hazrat Bu Ali Sharif, and Hazrat 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, 113 2023