Et álibi aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum, atque sanctárum Vírginum.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
Пресвятая Богородице спаси нас!  (Santíssima Mãe de Deus, salva-nos!)
R.  Deo grátias. R.  Thanks be to God.
November is the month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory since 1888;
2022
22,810 lives saved since 2007


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

CAUSES OF SAINTS

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

Acts of the Apostles

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

St. Rose Philippine Duchesne
opened American Indian Missions.
Quote:
“We cultivate a very small field for Christ, but we love it, knowing that God does not require great achievements but a heart that holds back nothing for self.... The truest crosses are those we do not choose ourselves.... He who has Jesus has everything.”
 
November 20 - Francis Cardinal Spellman dedicated National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
(Washington, D.C., 1959)

Most Holy Theotokos Forefeast of the Entry into the Temple
All of us can attain to Christian virtue and holiness, no matter in what condition of life we live and no matter what our life work may be -- St Francis de Sales

November 20 – Cardinal Spellman dedicates the Upper Church of the
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington (USA, 1959)
 
  Mary, Mother of Jesus, in the Accomplishment of the Work of Redemption
For Saint John, Mary is above all “the Mother of Jesus.” He introduces her for the first time at the wedding at Cana, but he forgets to tell us her name: the Mother of Jesus was there... His Mother told the disciples (…). If we could understand the full significance of this title, we would know perfectly well who Mary is, for she is only this: the Mother of Jesus.
Yet, at the foot of the Cross, St John reveals a new light to us, by confirming the place of Mary's motherhood in the salvific economy of grace. Indeed, being the Mother of Jesus is not limited to giving birth to him. She remains his Mother during his whole life on earth and in the accomplishment of the work of Redemption, through the Sacrifice of the Cross.
At that supreme moment, in the presence of Mary, Jesus is still her Son: she is the first one he sees; he thinks of the intense pain that "pierces her heart," according to Simeon's prophecy. Beyond the solicitude of the Son for his Mother, this ultimate dialogue sheds light on their new relationship that springs from the fulfillment of his Sacrifice.
Fr. Guy Frenod, O.S.B. Excerpt from a homily
 
The Virgin Mary appeared three times in Wisconsin to Adele Brise (1831-1896). 
On December 8, 2010, the devotion to Our Lady's apparitions in the state of Wisconsin was officially approved at the diocesan level, during the feast of the Immaculate Conception, patroness of the United States.  These apparitions, which took place on three occasions in October of 1859, were first reported by a young immigrant from Belgium, Adele Brise (1831-1896).  
During the first apparition of the Virgin, Adele’s vision went blurry and Our Lady disappeared without saying a word. The following Sunday, Adele had another apparition of the Virgin while on her way to Mass. After Mass, the young woman confided to her confessor who invited her to ask in the name of God who she was and what she expected of Adele.
The Virgin appeared a third time to Adele who asked her those questions. The Virgin answered:
"I am the Queen of Heaven who prays for the conversion of sinners. I wish you to do the same."
 The Virgin Mary also gave her a mission of evangelism and catechesis:
“Gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation
… Go and fear nothing. I will help you.”
 
The Mary of Nazareth Team  Source : www.zenit.org

The Feast of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple has only one day of prefeast. The hymns for today praise St Anna for bringing her daughter, the living temple of God, to the Temple in Jerusalem: tent of the congregation: dedication of Solomon's Temple; the gate of the sanctuary which faces east.
God enters through this gate, which is shut so that no one else can enter by it.
9th v. B.C. St Obadiah The Holy Prophet [or Abdia] fourth of the Twelve Minor Prophets; He was from the village of Betharam, near Sichem, and he served as steward of the impious Israelite King Ahab. In those days the whole of Israel had turned away from the true God and had begun to offer sacrifice to Baal, but Obadiah faithfully served the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in secret. The God-inspired work of St Obadiah is the fourth of the Books of the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Bible, and contains predictions about the New Testament Church.
  235 Eustace, Thespesius & Anatolius Martyrs of Nicaea MM (RM)
        St. Bassus Denis, Agapitus, and 40 Companions Martyrs of Heraclea Thrace
  297 St. Octavius, Solutor, and Adventor Martyrs patron saints of Turin
  300 St. Dasius Martyred Roman soldier slain at Durosturum Bulgaria
  302 St. Ampelus Martyred with companion
  306 St. Agapius of Caesarea M (RM)
  343 St. Nerses of Sahgerd B & Companions MM (RM)
  343 SS Martyr Thekla and many other men and women who suffered in Persia
  343 St. Nerses Persian bishop martyr  450+ St Proclus the Archbishop of Constantinople
  446 Saint Proclus, Archbishop of Constantinople (Orthodox) Catholic Nov 24
  477 St. Benignus Archbishop Milan
  525 Saint Silvester of Châlons -sur-Saône "the glory of confessors" B (RM)
  535 Saint Simplicius of Verona B (RM)
6th V. St. Eval British bishop in Cornwall 
       St. Maxentia of Beauvais Irish/Scottish virgin martyr
  690 St. Autbodus Irish missionary hermit
  760 Saint Eudo of Corméry humility OSB Abbot (AC)
   816 Venerable Gregory Decapolite gifts of prophecy and wonderworking permitted to hear angelic singing in praise of the Holy Trinity
        Saint Colman this saint is remembered on November 20 in Wales
THE PRESENTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
THIS feast is popularly associated with a story that the parents of our Lady brought her to the Temple at Jerusalem when she was three years old and left her there to be brought up, related in several of the apocryphal gospels, e.g. in the Protevangelium of James.

And the child was two years old, and Joachim said, “Let us take her up to the Temple of the Lord, that we may pay the vow that we have vowed, lest perchance the Lord send to us and our offering be not received”. And Anne said, “Let us wait for the third year, in order that the child may not seek for father or mother”. And Joachim said, “Let us so wait”. And the child was three years old…and they went up into the Temple of the Lord, and the priest received her and kissed her and blessed her, saying, “The Lord has magnified thy name in all generations. In thee, on the last of the days, the Lord will manifest His redemption to the sons of Israel.” And he set her down upon the third step of the altar, and the Lord God sent grace upon her; and she danced with her feet and all the house of Israel loved her. And her parents went down marvelling, and praising the Lord God because the child had not turned back. And Mary was in the Temple of the Lord as if she were a dove that dwelt there.

It is not stated anywhere in the liturgy of the Roman church that this is the occasion of the presentation celebrated in today’s feast. The festival is not a very ancient one, even in the East where it originated: the Entrance of the All-holy Mother of God into the Temple. It seems probable that its origin was in the commemoration of the dedication of New St Mary’s church at Jerusalem in 543. In the West the first, and sporadic, observance of it was in the eleventh century, in England. Here it was, to quote Edmund Bishop,

a real liturgical feast and was actually observed in practice. Assurance of the fact is supplied by the Canterbury Cathedral Benedictional. In its proper place in this Benedictional (i.e. between the feasts of St Martin, November 11, and St Cecily, November 22) is a “Benedictio de praentatione sancte Marie”. This is that feast of the Presentation which after appearing in our English books of Winchester and Canterbury only to disappear again, was started in Latin Christendom in the later decades of the fourteenth century our English essay of 350 years earlier being forgotten by all the world usque in hodiernum diem (Liturgica Histori ca, p. 257).

The feast won general acceptance only gradually and was not finally admitted to the Western calendar till the pontificate of Sixtus V (1585).

See Kellner, Heortology, pp. 265—266 Schuster, The Sacramentary, vol. v, pp. 290—291 Holweck, Calendarium Liturgicum (1925), p. 386 S. Beissel, Verehrung Marias in Deutschland, vol. i, p . 306 vol ii, p. 386. It is curious that in none of these sources is any mention made of the fact that as early as the eleventh century the feast of the Presentation of our Lady was liturgically celebrated in England, and that at Canterbury itself: see the Henry Bradshaw Society’s edition of the Canterbury Benedictional, p. 116. This celebration seems to have had some diffusion in England. It is found in the calendar of an East Anglian Horae (Christ’s Coll. Camb., MS. 6, early thirteenth century) in the form “Oblacio B.M.V.”. In this form also it occurs in two Worcester books of the same date see The Leofric Collectar, vol. ii, p. 599. That the feast was somehow introduced from the East may be inferred from the fact that we find it attached to this same day (November 21) in the Greek synaxaries (the text is printed in Delehaye’s edition, cc. 243—244.) and these synaxaries certainly date from the tenth century. In the Henry Bradshaw Society’s reprint of the Missale Romanum of 1474 (vol. ii, pp. 251—253) is an interesting note which, while pointing out that the Presenta­tion feast does not occur in the calendar or text of the 1474 edition, prints a Mass for the feast from a Roman missal of 1505. This includes a long sequence so barbarously worded that one can readily believe that St Pius VThe Feast of the Presentation (1941) E. Campana, Maria nell culto cattolico, vol. (1943), pp. 207—214; and N. Chirat, Mélanges(1945) pp. 12 7—143. thought it better to suppress the feast altogether— as he did—rather than tolerate the continued recitation of such doggerel. For later references to the feast’s origins, see M. J. Kishpaugh,

The Power of the Rosary (II)
So Montfort said: "Since you do not care to sing, recite the rosary with me."
Then they all fell to their knees and with tears streaming down their faces, bawling like children, they recited the Hail Mary over the ocean, and their prayers reached heaven.  The rosary ended and the missionary spoke again: "Do not be afraid! Our Mother the Blessed Virgin has heard us! We are out of danger!" "Out of danger?" the crew screamed. "Don't you see that we are already within fire reach? "Have faith!" insisted Grignion de Montfort.

At that moment there was a strong gale. The enemy ships were turned and tossed like walnut shells, and they disappeared over the horizon. The crew of the ship was saved and they alighted on the island singing the Magnificat.
When some poor fishermen heard about the miracle, they were all ears to the missionary's preaching. Everyone asked to confess, except the governor, and they became fervent Christians, always remaining faithful to the rosary.
Written by Michael Faltz in Kleine Lebensbilde

The Caliph Who Defied the Coptic Church (IV) November 20 - Our Lady of Bozzola (Italy, 15th C.)
Researchers have attempted to find historic proof of this miracle and the true existence of Saint Simon.
Mottokan Mountain is actually crossed by three faults. Pope Abraam the Syrian chose to declare the 3-day fast as a definitive rule, adding them to the 40 days of fasting before Christmas. Inside the so-called "Suspended Church" of the Virgin Mary in Old Cairo is an icon, hanging on the northern wall of the courtyard, representing Abraam,
Saint Simon the Tanner and the Virgin Mary. It is said to be the copy of a more ancient icon that has been lost.

Taking into account the known date of the renovation of the Abu Sifein Church authorized by decree in A.D. 979,
the miracle is believed to have occurred in that same year. The 3-day fast addition to the Advent fast gives an indication of the date of the miracle. Since the Christmas fast begins on September 28 in Egypt-ending on their "Christmas day" (January 7 according to Coptic calendar) the miracle occurred on November 17 (18 Hatur 695 AM). In 1969, Mokattam Mountain became the city's landfill by a ruling of the governor of Cairo.
This is where the Christian community of Cairo moved and they have charge of collecting and sorting the trash.
Since that time many miracles have occurred there and in the 1970s the great church of Saint Simon was built on the mountain to serve the faith of this vibrant community, poor but traditionally very fervent.

In 1989, archeological research was done with blessing of His Holiness Shenouda III in search of relics of Saint Simon. Some manuscripts suggested that in the 16th century Popes Johannes X and Ghobrial IV (see the History of the Patriarchs by Youssab) had been buried alongside Saint Simon the Tanner in Al-Habach in Old Cairo.
On August 4, 1991, during the renovation of the ancient Church of Saint Mary in Babylon El-Darag,
skeletal remains of a man in his fifties were discovered.

Not far from there a thousand-year-old clay pot was unearthed inscription saying tomb of Saint Simon the Tanner. The presence at his side of the patriarchs' tombs was additional proof of his importance.
The results of a thorough investigation convinced His Holiness Shenouda III the bones were those of Saint Simon.
The findings were officially confirmed on July 7, 1992, the date on which three different churches were conferred the honor of housing his relics: the Church of Saint Mary in Babylon El-Darag, the Suspended Church of Saint Mary,
and the Church of Saint Simon the Tanner in Mokattam.
Adapted from an article by Mohamed Salmawy published in the weekly AL-AHRAM, March 8, 2000.
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.

Nov 20 Cardinal Spellman Consecrates the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. (1959)
The Presentation of the Virgin Mary in the Temple (I)
Mary, brought to the Temple to prepare herself - through a retreat, through humility and love - for her incomparable destiny, also received the mission to perfect, at the foot of figurative altars, the prayer of mankind,
which was too weak to rain the Savior from the heavens.
She was, says Saint Bernardine of Sienna, the blessed crowning of all expectations and demands of the advent of the Son of God; in her, as in a summit, all the desires of the saints who preceded her found their end and consummation.
Dom Prosper Gueranger        The Liturgical Year
  869 St. Edmund the Martyr king at 14 of the East Angles
  870  Saint Humbert of the East Angles crowned Saint Edmund king on Christmas Day BM
1000 St. Leo of Nonantula Benedictine abbot of Nonantula
1000 St. Bernward tutor Benedictine from a Saxon family
1212 St. Felix of Valois Hermit co-founder of the Trinitarians; a religious order dedicated to ransoming Christian slaves who were captured during the Crusades: Pope Innocent III, who not only gave his approval but also gave the founders a habit for their order: white, with a red and blue cross. John and Felix then returned to France, where their hermitage was renamed Cerfroid, in memory of the deer which had appeared there.
1242 St. Edmund Rich Archbishop of Canterbury baffled for discipline and justice
1439 Blessed Ambrose Traversari Renaissance scholar attempted reunification Eastern & Western Churches OSB Cam.
1633 Saint Diodorus of Yuregorsk; received monastic tonsure when 19 Solovki monastery under igumen Anthony;
Born in the village of Turchasovo at the River Onega. His parents, Jerothei and Maria, named their son Diomid. As a fifteen-year-old youth he went on pilgrimage to the Solovki monastery, and then remained there as a novice. There he received monastic tonsure when he was nineteen under the igumen Anthony; memory celebrated on November 20 because of the Feast of the Icon of the Mother of God "Of the Sign,"
1837 St. Francis Xavier Can native Vietnam Martyr
1852 St. Rose Philippine Duchesne care of poor /sick, opened school for street urchins risked life helping priests in the underground. 
1922 Blessed Maria Fortunata Viti: Patronage against poverty, against temptations, impoverishment, insanity, loss of parents, mental illness, mentally ill people, poverty.
1885 Blessed Salvatore Lilli, a Franciscan missionary in Armenia.  He built schools and clinics for the poor while he preached the Gospel: captured by Muslims and murdered for refusing to convert to Islam.


9th v. B.C. St Obadiah The Holy Prophet [or Abdia] fourth of the Twelve Minor Prophets; He was from the village of Betharam, near Sichem, and he served as steward of the impious Israelite King Ahab. In those days the whole of Israel had turned away from the true God and had begun to offer sacrifice to Baal, but Obadiah faithfully served the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in secret. The God-inspired work of St Obadiah is the fourth of the Books of the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Bible, and contains predictions about the New Testament Church.

When Ahab's wife, the impious and dissolute Jezebel, hunted down all the prophets of the Lord (because of her quarrel with the Prophet Elias), Obadiah gave them shelter and food (3/1 Kgs 18:3 ff). Ahab's successor King Okhoziah [Ahaziah] sent three detachments of soldiers to arrest the holy Prophet Elias (July 20). One of these detachments was headed by St Obadiah. Through the prayer of St Elias, two of the detachments were consumed by heavenly fire, but St Obadiah and his detachment were spared by the Lord 4/2 Kgs 1).

From that moment St Obadiah resigned from military service and became a follower of the Prophet Elias. Afterwards, he himself received the gift of prophecy. The God-inspired work of St Obadiah is the fourth of the Books of the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Bible, and contains predictions about the New Testament Church.
The holy Prophet Obadiah was buried in Samaria.
The Feast of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple has only one day of prefeast. The hymns for today praise St Anna for bringing her daughter, the living temple of God, to the Temple in Jerusalem:  tent of the congregation:  dedication of Solomon's Temple; the gate of the sanctuary which faces east. God enters through this gate, which is shut so that no one else can enter by it.

The three Old Testament readings at Great Vespers refer to the Temple. The first lesson (Exodus 40:1-5, 9-10, 16, 34-35) refers to the arrangement of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation (a portable sanctuary which was carried by the Israelites in their wanderings). The second lesson (III Kings/I Kings 7:51; 8:1, 3-7, 9-11) describes the dedication of Solomon's Temple. The third lesson (Ezekiel 43:27-44:4) speaks of the gate of the sanctuary which faces east. God enters through this gate, which is shut so that no one else can enter by it.
St. Bassus Denis, Agapitus, and 40 Companions Martyrs of Heraclea Thrace.
Heracléæ, in Thrácia, sanctórum Mártyrum Bassi, Dionysii, Agapíti et aliórum quadragínta.
    At Heraclea in Thrace, the holy martyrs Bassus, Denis, Agapitus, and forty others.
Bassus, Dionysius, Agapitus, and thirty-nine others endured martyrdom for the faith.
A band of 43 Christians put to death at Heraclea in Thrace (Benedictines).
235 Eustace, Thespesius & Anatolius Martyrs of Nicaea MM (RM).
Nicéæ, in Bithynia, sanctórum Mártyrum Eustáchii, Thespésii et Anatólii, in persecutióne Maximíni.
    At Nicaea in Bithynia, the holy martyrs Eustace, Thespesius, and Anatolius, in the persecution of Maximinus.
Martyrs of Nicaea in Asia Minor under Emperor Maximius the Thracian (Benedictines).
The Holy Martyrs Eustathius, Thespesius and Anatolius, natives of the city of Gangra, were the children of a rich merchant. They were baptized by Bishop Anthimus of Nicomedia (September 3).
They died as martyrs at Nicea, after suffering fierce tortures.
297 St. Octavius, Solutor, and Adventor  Martyrs patron saints of Turin Italy
Tauríni sanctórum Mártyrum Octávii, Solutóris et Adventóris, Thebánæ legiónis mílitum; qui, sub Maximiáno Imperatóre, egrégie decertántes, martyrio coronáti sunt.
    At Turin, the holy martyrs Octavius, Solutor, and Adventor, soldiers of the Theban Legion, who fought valiantly for the faith under Emperor Maximian and who were crowned with martyrdom.
They were martyred in Turin, but later became associated with the accounts of the Theban Legion.
Octavius, Solutor & Adventor MM (RM)
Died c. 284. Octavius, Solutor, and Adventor are patron saints of Turin, Italy, where they suffered martyrdom.
At a later date their story became connected with the legend of the Theban Legion (Benedictines).
300 St. Dasius Martyred Roman soldier slain at Durosturum Bulgaria
Doróstori, in Mysia inferióre, sancti Dásii Mártyris, qui, cum in festo Satúrni nollet impudicítiis ejus consentíre, sub Basso Præfécto cæsus est.
    At Silistria in Rumania, St. Dasius, bishop, who, for refusing to consent to the unholy rites of the Saturnalia, was put to death under the governor Bassus.
He was chosen to lead the local festival but refused to worship the god Kronos or to take part in the Roman Saturnalia and was beheaded.

303 ST DASIUS, MARTYR
THIRTY days before the winter festival called Saturnalia it was the custom in the Roman army to elect a “lord of misrule” whose office it was to be a leader in the revels, which did not stop short of excess and debauchery, and ended with the sacrifice of the leader to Kronos. At Durostorum (Silistria in Bulgaria) in the year 303 the garrison chose one of their number called Dasius. He knew well enough what was expected of him and, being a Christian, refused to play the part, arguing that he had to die in either case, and had better die in a good cause than a bad one. He was brought before the legate Bassus, who pressed him to renounce his faith or at least to go through the form of sacrificing before images of the emperors, reminding him of his obligation as a soldier to obey. But Dasius remained firm in his refusal, and was put to death by beheading. His alleged relics are preserved at Ancona, to which place they are supposed to have been taken, perhaps to save them from the Avars, in the second half of the sixth century.

The Greek Acts of St Dasius, first published from a unique text by Franz Cumont in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xvi (1897), pp. 5—11, have excited great interest but have met with very divergent judgements. By some the story has been received as an absolutely authentic narrative, in the eyes of others it is a tale with a moral purpose which has been elaborated upon the simple theme of a martyr’s decapitation. Delehaye, both in his CMH. (pp. 609—610) and his Les passions des martyrs . . . (1921), pp. 321—328, has dealt with the matter very fully, and has paid due regard to opinions differing from his own. In his view we cannot be certain that the martyr was a soldier, or that he suffered at Durostorum rather than at Heraclea. On the Ancona inscription see G. Mercati in the Rendiconti deli’ accademia pontificia di archeologia, vol. iv, pp. 59—71.
305 Martyr Dasius of Dorostorum on the Danube River for the faith
The Holy Martyr Dasius lived during the third century in the city of Dorostolum on the Danube River. The inhabitants of the city were preparing for a festival in honor of the pagan god Saturn. By custom, thirty days before the celebration they selected a handsome youth, dressed him in fine clothing, accorded him royal honors, and he would go forth in public made up like Saturn. For thirty days, he would indulge in wicked deeds and immoral pleasures. On the day of the feast he was brought before the idols and put to the sword as a sacrifice to Saturn.

The choice of his compatriots fell upon St Dasius, since in the city there was not a more handsome youth. Learning of this, the saint said, "If I am fated to die, then it's better to die for Christ as a Christian." He openly confessed his faith in Christ before his fellow citizens and refused to take part in the shameful ritual. He denounced the impiety and error of the idolaters and converted many of them to Christ. Therefore, on the orders of the emperors Diocletian (284-305) and Maximian (305-311), he was beheaded after cruel tortures.

Dasius of Dorostorum M (RM)  Saint Dasius, a Roman soldier, was martyred in Dorostorum in Mysia, Asia Minor, under Diocletian for refusing to participate in the heathen orgies connected with the Saturnalia. The details of his martyrdom have been questioned (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
302 St. Ampelus and Caius Martyred with companion.
Messánæ, in Sicília, sanctórum Mártyrum Ampeli et Caji.
    At Messina in Sicily, the holy martyrs Ampelus and Caius.
Gaius presumed to be Sicilians. They died at the hands of Roman persecutors in the reign of Emperor Diocletian.
Ampelius and Caius MM (RM)
Died c. 302. They are presumed to have been Sicilians, martyred at Messina under Diocletian, but nothing is known with certainty about them (Benedictines).
306 Agapius of Caesarea M (RM). second feast on August 19.
Cæsaréæ, in Palæstína, sancti Agápii Mártyris, qui, sub Galério Maximiáno Imperatóre, damnátus ad béstias et ab iis nil læsus, tandem, lapídibus ac pedes appénsis, in mare demérgitur.
    At Caesarea in Palestine, in the time of Emperor Galerius Maximian, the holy martyr Agapius, who was condemned to be devoured by the beasts; but being unhurt by them, he was cast into the sea with stones tied to his feet.
Saint Agapius suffered martyrdom at Caesarea in Palestine under Diocletian. Three times he was imprisoned for the faith. Eusebius relates how Agapius was again arrested, chained to a murderer and taken to the amphitheater to be thrown to the wild beasts. According to tradition, his companion was pardoned, and he was also his offered liberty if he would renounce Christ. When Agapius refused, a bear was allowed to attack him and almost mauled him to death. He was taken back to prison and the following day, weighted with heavy stones, he was cast into the sea.
Eusebius says that after he battled wild animals, he was beheaded (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
343 St. Nerses Persian bishop martyr.
In Pérside pássio sanctórum Nersæ Epíscopi, et Sociórum.
    In Persia, the martyrdom of St. Nersas, bishop, and his companions.
He was arrested with a group of ten or twelve disciples during the persecution of Christians under King Shapur II of Persia. Dragged before the king, they were offered the choice of worshiping the sun or being executed. When they refused to worship. they were all put to death. Nerses was bishop of Sahgerd.
Saint Nerses the bishop suffered for Christ in Persia with his disciple Joseph; Bishops John, Saverius, Isaac and Hypatius; the Martyrs Azades the Eunuch, Savonius, Thekla, Anna and many other men and women. They were executed in 343 during a persecution against Christians under the emperor Sapor II.  St Nerses and his disciple Joseph were beheaded.

343 SS. NERSES, BISHOP OF SAHGERD, AND OTHER MARTYRS
IN the fourth year of the great persecution raised by Sapor II in Persia were apprehended Nerses, Bishop of Sahgerd, and his disciple Joseph, whilst the king happened to be in that city. When they were brought before him he said to Nerses, “Your grey hairs and your pupil’s youth incline me in your favour. Consider your own safety. Worship the sun and I will confer honours upon you.” Nerses answered, “Your flattery does not deceive us. I am now over eighty years old and have served God from my infancy. I pray Him that I may be preserved from so grievous an evil and may never betray Him by worshipping the work of His hands.” He was threatened with death, and Nerses replied, “ If you had power to put us to death seven times over we should never yield”. The martyrs were led out of the tents, followed by a multitude of people. At the place of execution Joseph said to the bishop, “See how the people gaze at you. They are waiting for you to dismiss them and go to your own home.” Nerses embracing him replied, ‘You are happy, my blessed Joseph, to have broken the snares of the world and entered the narrow path of the kingdom of Heaven”. Their heads were then struck off.

In the same acts, the martyrdom of several others about the same time is recorded. Among them a eunuch in the royal palace refused to sacrifice, whereupon Vardan, an apostate priest who had shrunk at his trial and renounced his faith, was ordered to kill him with his own hand. He advanced, but at first sight of the martyr trembled and stopped, not daring. The martyr said to him, “Can you, who are a priest, come to kill me? I certainly am wrong when I call you a priest. Do your work, but remember the apostasy and end of Judas.” The impious Vardan made a trembling thrust and stabbed.

A very full account of this martyr, with the Syriac text, a Latin translation, and an immense array of bibliographical references, has been printed by P. Peeters in the Acta Sanctorum for November, vol. iv, under November 10. The text had previously been edited by E. Assemani in his Acta martyrum orientalium, vol i, pp. 99 seq., and also by Bedjan and Hoffmann.
343 St. Nerses of Sahgerd B & Companions MM (RM).
In Pérside pássio sanctórum Nersæ Epíscopi, et Sociórum.
    In Persia, the martyrdom of St. Nersas, bishop, and his companions.
(also known as Narses)
The authentic acta of this group of more than a dozen Persian Christians were recorded in Chaldaic. The most illustrious of the group were Nerses, bishop of Sahgerd (Schiahareadat, capital of Beth-Germa), and his disciple Joseph, were taken prisoner in the fourth year of the great persecution under King Shapur II. When they were brought before the visiting king, Shapur exhorted them: "Your venerable gray hairs, and the comeliness and bloom of your pupil's youth, strongly incline me in your favor. Seek your own advantage: receive the sacred rites of the sun, and I will confer on you most ample rewards and honors; for I am exceedingly taken with your persons."

Nerses: Your flattery is very disagreeable to us, because it ensnares and tends to draw us over to a treacherous world. Even you who enjoy whatever the world can give, and who promise it to others, will find it fleeting from you like a dream, and falling away like the morning dew. As for my part, I am now above four score years old, and have served God from my infancy. I pray him again and again, that I may be preserved from so grievous an evil, and may never betray the fidelity which I owe him by adoring the sun, the work of his hands.
Shapur: If you don't obey immediately, you shall this instant be led to execution.
Nerses: If you had power, O king, to put us to death seven times over, we should never yield to your desire.
The king pronounced the sentence and handed the martyrs over to the executioners. When the martyrs were led out of the tents, they were followed by a large crowd. At the place of execution Nerses looked at the multitude congregated to witness their execution.
Joseph: See how the people gaze at you. They are waiting for you to dismiss them and go to your own home.
Nerses: You are most happy, my blessed Joseph who have broken the snares of the world, and have entered with joy, the narrow path of the kingdom of heaven.
Joseph was the first to be beheaded. The same acta present the martyrdom of several other saints:
Bishop John of Beth-Seleucia was put to death in the castle of Beth-Hascita, by order of Ardascirus prince of Persia, probably a son of Sapor.
The priest Isaac of Hulsar was stoned to death outside the walls of Beth-Seleucia by order of the president of Adargusnasaphus.
The priest Papa of Herminum was killed in the castle of Gabal by prince Ardascirus, then the viceroy of Hadiabus.
Uhanam, a young clergyman, was stoned to death by some apostate gentlewomen of Beth-Seleucia by order of the same prince.
Guhsciatezades, a eunuch in the palace of Prince Ardascirus, refused to sacrifice to the sun; thereupon the prince commanded Vartranes, an apostate priest, to kill him as a sign of his renunciation of Christ. At first Vartranes hesitated. But Ghusciatezades dared him: "Do you who are a priest come to kill me? I certainly mistake when I call you a priest. Accomplish your design, but remember the apostasy and end of Judas." Thereupon Vartranes stabbed the holy eunuch to death.
The laymen Sasannes, Mares, Timaeus, and Zaron were martyred about the same time in the province of the Huzites.
Bahutha, a noble lady of Beth-Seleucia, was put to death for the same by order of the president.
Tecla and Danacla, virgins of Beth- Seleucia, were martyred soon after Bahutha under the same judge.
Tatona, Mama Mazachia, and Anne, also virgins of Beth-Seleucia, were killed outside the walls of the city of Burcatha.
Abiatha, Hathes, and Mamlacha, virgins of the province of Beth-Germa, were massacred by order of King Sapor during his travels through that territory (Benedictines, Husenbeth).
Saint Saverius the bishop suffered for Christ in Persia with St Nerses and his disciple Joseph; Bishops John, Isaac and Hypatius; the martyrs Azades the Eunuch, Savonius, Thekla, Anna and many other men and women. They were executed in 343 during a persecution against Christians under the emperor Sapor II.

St Nerses and his disciple Joseph were beheaded; St John was stoned. This fate befell also Sts Isaac and Hypatius. St Saverius died in prison, and after death they cut off his head. A certain apostate presbyter strangled the Martyr Azades the Eunuch. The Martyrs Savonius, Thekla, Anna and many other men and women also underwent torture, suffering and death for Christ in 343.
446 Saint Proclus, Archbishop of Constantinople (Orthodox) Catholic Nov 24
from his early years devoted all his time to prayer and the study of Holy Scripture. The Lord granted him the great good fortune to be a disciple of St John Chrysostom (November 13), who at first ordained him as a deacon, and then to the holy priesthood. He witnessed the appearance of the Apostle Paul to St John Chrysostom. St Proclus received from his teacher a profound understanding of Holy Scripture, and learned to elucidate his thoughts in a polished form.

After the exile and death of St John Chrysostom, the holy Patriarch of Constantinople Sisinius (426-427) consecrated St Proclus as bishop of the city of Kyzikos, but under the influence of Nestorian heretics he was expelled by his flock there.

St Proclus then returned to the capital and preached the Word of God in the churches of Constantinople, strengthening listeners in the Orthodox Faith and denouncing the impiety of the heretics. He once preached a sermon before Nestorius in which he fearlessly defended the title "Theotokos" in speaking of the holy Virgin. Upon the death of the Patriarch St Sisinius, St Proclus was chosen to take his place. Having thus been made Patriarch of Constantinople, he guided the Church over the course of twelve years (434-447). By the efforts of St Proclus, the relics of St John Chrysostom were transferred from Comana to Constantinople in the time of the holy emperor St Theodosius II (408-450).

When St Proclus was Patriarch, the Empire suffered destructive earthquakes, lasting for several months. At Bithynia, in the Hellespont, and in Phrygia cities were devastated, rivers disappeared from the face of the earth, and terrible flooding occurred in previously dry places. The people of Constantinople came out of the city with the patriarch and emperor at their head and offered prayers for an end to the unprecedented calamities.

During one prayer service, a boy from the crowd was snatched up into the air by an unseen force and carried up to such a height that he was no longer to be seen by human eyes. Then, whole and unharmed, the child was lowered to the ground and he reported that he heard and he saw the angels glorifying God singing: "Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal." All the people began to sing this Trisagion Prayer, adding to it the refrain, "Have mercy on us!" Then the earthquakes stopped. The Orthodox Church sings still this prayer at divine services to this very day.

The Constantinople flock esteemed their Patriarch for his ascetic life, for his concern about the downtrodden, and for his preaching. Many works of the saint have survived to the present day. Best known are his discourses against the Nestorians, two tracts of the saint in praise of the Mother of God, and four tracts on the Nativity of Christ, setting forth the Orthodox teaching about the Incarnation of the Son of God. The activity of the holy patriarch in establishing decorum in all the church affairs gained him universal esteem. Surrounded by love and respect, St Proclus departed to the Lord after serving as Patriarch for twenty years.
477 St. Benignus Archbishop Milan.
Medioláni sancti Benígni Epíscopi, qui, in magna barbarórum perturbatióne, commíssam sibi Ecclésiam summa constántia et religióne administrávit.
    At Milan, St. Benignus, bishop, who, amid great troubles caused by the barbarians, governed the Church entrusted to him with greatest constancy and piety.
Italy.
He headed the archdiocese when the Heruli, under Odoacer, occupied the city and inflicted untold suffering on the people. During the episcopacy of Archbishop Benignus of Milan, the Heruli, under Odoacer, occupied the city (Benedictines).
525 Saint Silvester of Châlons-sur-Saône "the glory of confessors" B (RM).
Cabillóne, in Gálliis, sancti Silvéstri Epíscopi, qui quadragésimo secúndo sui sacerdótii anno, plenus diérum atque virtútum, migrávit ad Dóminum.
    At Chalons in France, St. Sylvester, bishop, who went to God in the forty-second year of his priesthood, full of days and virtues.
Bishop of Châlons-sur-Saône from 484-525. Saint Gregory of Tours describes him as "the glory of confessors" (Benedictines).
535 Saint Simplicius of Verona B (RM).
Verónæ sancti Simplícii, Epíscopi et Confessóris.
    At Verona, St. Simplicius, bishop and confessor.
Bishop of Verona (Benedictines).
6th V. St. Eval British bishop in Cornwall B (AC).
A British bishop in Cornwall, from whom a village in that county is named (Benedictines).
St. Maxentia of Beauvais Irish/Scottish virgin martyr; worthless passio
She fled to France to escape marriage to a pagan chieftain and lived as a hermitess on the banks of the Qise River near Senlis. The chieftain she had spurned hunted her down and beheaded her at Pont-Sainte-Maxence when she refused to return with him to Ireland.
ST MAXENTIA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR
ACCORDING to the legend of the church of Beauvais this maiden was of Irish birth daughter of a prince. She dedicated herself to God at an early age, and when her father wished to give her in marriage to a pagan chief she fled from home. Taking with her two servants, a man and a woman, she crossed the sea to Gaul and settled at the place on the Oise that is now called Pont-Sainte-Maxence, near Senlis. One day she was surprised by the arrival of a number of horsemen outside her cottage it was the disappointed suitor, who had tracked her down. He asked her to return with him, but Maxentia refused indignantly. Then, when threats were of no avail, the man, carried away with fury, seized her by the hair and cut off her head. Her faithful servants suffered a like fate.

Two variant texts of this worthless passio have been printed in Renet, S. Lucien et les autres saints du Beauvaisis, vol. iii, pt 2 (1895), pp. 543—548. Capgrave has summarized the legend, but it is ignored, very rightly, by Dom Gougaud in his Saints irlandais hors d’Irlande.         
690 St. Autbodus Irish missionary hermit.
Autbodus preached in Hainault, Belgium, and in Artois and Picardy, France.
He retired to a hermitage near Laon where he died.
Autbodus of Laon (AC)
Died 690. Autbodus, an Irish missionary, preached in Artois, Hainault, and Picardy, before dying as a hermit near Laon (Benedictines, D'Arcy, Encyclopedia).
Saint Colman this saint is remembered on November 20 in Wales (AC).
Born at Dalriada, Argyllshire, Wales; date unknown. Although churches at Llangolman and Capel Colman in Dyfed are attributed to Saint Colman of Dromore, who was bishop of Dromore and trained Saint Finnian of Moville, it is likely that today's saint is another individual.
The feast of Colman of Dromore has consistently been celebrated on June 7 in Ireland and Scotland, but this saint is remembered on November 20 in Wales (Farmer).
760 Saint Eudo of Corméry humility OSB Abbot (AC).
(also known as Eudon, Eudes, Odo) Saint Eudo founded the abbey at Corméry-en- Velay (Charmillac, afterwards Saint-Chaffre). He demonstrated his humility by seeking instruction at Lérins in monastic observance prior to undertaking his role as abbot (Benedictines).
816 Venerable Gregory Decapolite gifts of prophecy and wonderworking permitted to hear angelic singing in praise of the Holy Trinity
Constantinópoli sancti Gregórii Decapolítæ, qui ob cultum sanctárum Imáginum multa passus est.
    At Constantinople, St. Gregory of Decapolis, who suffered many things for the veneration of sacred images.
Saint Gregory the Decapolite was born in the Isaurian city of Decapolis (ten cities) in the eighth century. From his childhood he loved the temple of God and church services. He read the Holy Scripture constantly and with reverence.
In order to avoid the marriage which his parents had intended for him, he secretly left home. He spent all his life wandering: he was in Constantinople, Rome, Corinth, and he lived as an ascetic on Olympus for a while. St Gregory preached the Word of God everywhere, denouncing the Iconoclast heresy, strengthening the faith and fortitude of the Orthodox, whom the heretics in those times oppressed, tortured and imprisoned.
Through his ascetic effort and prayer, St Gregory attained the gifts of prophecy and wonderworking. After overcoming the passions and reaching the height of virtue, he was permitted to hear angelic singing in praise of the Holy Trinity. St Gregory left the monastery of St Menas near Thessalonica, where he had labored for a long time, and he went again to Constantinople in order to combat the Iconoclast heresy. At the capital, a grievous illness undermined his strength, and he departed to the Lord in the year 816.
St Gregory was buried at a monastery in Constantinople, and many miracles took place at his tomb. As a result, the monks removed the holy relics of St Gregory and enshrined them in the church where people could venerate them.
When Constantinople fell to the Turks in 1453, the relics of St Gregory were carried to the region of the Danube by a Turkish official. In 1498 Barbu Craiovescu, the Ban of the Romanian Land (Wallachia) heard of the miracles performed by the holy relics and bought them for a considerable sum of money. Barbu Craiovescu placed the relics in the main church of Bistritsa Monastery which he founded in Rimnicu Vilcea, where they remain to the present day.
A small book describing the miracles and healings performed by St Gregory the Decapolite in Romania has been written by Abbess Olga Gologan, who reposed in 1972.
Gregory Decapolites (RM)
Born in Decapolis, Asia Minor; 9th century. Saint Gregory opposed the Iconoclasts zealously and suffered much at their hands (Benedictines).
870  Saint Humbert of the East Angles crowned Saint Edmund king on Christmas Day BM.
Saint Humbert crowned Saint Edmund king on Christmas Day in 855. Like his secular lord, Saint Humbert was martyred at the hands of the invading Danes (Husenbeth).
 870 ST EDMUND THE MARTYR
DURING the ninth century the Northmen or Danes with increasing frequency raided the coasts of England, till in the middle of the century “the heathen first began to winter in our land”.
At this time, on Christmas Day, 855, the nobles and clergy of Norfolk, assembled at Attleborough, acknowledged as their king Edmund, a youth of fourteen, who in the following year was accepted by Suffolk as well. He is said to have been as talented and successful as a ruler as he was virtuous as a man, learning the Psalter by heart in order that he might join in the Church’s worship and emulate the good deeds of King David. He was, wrote the Benedictine Lydgate in the fifteenth century, “In his estate most godly and benign, heavenly of cheer, of counsel provident, showing of grace full many a blessed sign…”
   Then came the biggest Danish invasion that had yet been. “In the year 866,” says the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, “a great army [of Danes] came to the land of the Angle kin and took up winter quarters among the East Angles, and there they were provided with horses. And the East Angles made peace with them.” Then the invaders crossed the Humber and took York, and marched south into Mercia as far as Nottingham, plundering, burning and enslaving as they went. In 870 the host rode across Mercia into East Anglia, and took up winter quarters at Thetford. “And that winter Edmund fought against them, and the Danish men got the victory and slew the king, and subdued all that land and destroyed all the monasteries that they came to.”

That brief and unadorned statement tells us all that is historically certain about the death of St Edmund. The traditions related by Abbo of Fleury, in his passio of the martyr, and other chroniclers are summed up by Alban Butler as follows. The barbarians poured down upon St Edmund’s dominions, burning Thetford, which they took by surprise, and laying waste all before them. The king raised what forces he could, met a part of the Danes’ army near Thetford, and discomfited them. But seeing them soon after reinforced with fresh numbers, against which his small body was not able to make any stand, he retired towards his castle of Framlingham in Suffolk. The barbarian leader, Ingvar, had sent him proposals which were inconsistent both with religion and with the justice which he owed to his people. These the saint rejected. In his flight he was overtaken and surrounded at Hoxne, upon the Waveney (alternatively, he allowed himself to be taken in the church). Terms were again offered him prejudicial to religion and to his people, which he refused, declaring that religion was dearer to him than his life, which he would never purchase by offending God. Ingvar had him tied to a tree and torn with whips, which he bore with patience, calling upon the name of Jesus. Then his tormentors shot at him with arrows, cunningly, so as not to kill him, till his body was “like a hedgehog whose skin is closely set with quills, or a thistle covered with thorns”. At last Ingvar cut his bonds, dragged him from the tree to which he was nailed by the arrows, and his head was hacked off.

The body of the king was buried at Hoxne, and about the year 903 translated to Beodricsworth, the town now known as Bury St Edmund’s (i.e. St Edmund’s Borough). In 1010, during the Danish ravages it was taken to the church of St Gregory by St Paul’s, in London, and three years later brought back to Bury.* During the reign of Canute the great Benedictine abbey of St Edmundsbury was founded, and the body of St Edmund was the principal relic in the abbey church.

* The “station “ for the second night on this return journey was at Greensted in the parish of Chipping Ongar, and an existing church is said to have been hastily put up to shelter the relics. The nave walls (the only original parts of the building) are exactly as Alban Butler describes the first church built for St Edmund at Bury : “Trunks of large trees were sawn lengthways in the middle, and reared up with one end fixed in the ground, with the bark or rough side outermost. These trunks being made of an equal height, and set up close to one another and the interstices filled up with mud or mortar, formed the four walls, upon which was raised a thatched roof.” Almost nothing remains of the church of Greensted today.

Thomas Carlyle’s comments (in Past and Present) on the chronicle of Jocelin of Brakelond, wherein is described the translation of the body to a new shrine in 1198, by Abbot Samson, have made the name of St Edmund and his abbey more familiar to many than they otherwise would be. The subsequent history of the relics is a matter of dispute. Devotion to St Edmund the Martyr was formerly very wide-spread and popular in England, numerous churches were dedicated in his honour, and in the thirteenth century and later his feast was a holiday of obliga­tion.

It is now observed in the dioceses of Westminster and Northampton, and by the English Benedictines.

One passio by Abbo of Fleury, and a second by Gaufridus de Fontibus, together with Archdeacon Herman’s collection of miracles and another similar collection made by Abbot Samson, have all been edited by Thomas Arnold for the Memorials of St Edmund’s Abbey, vol. i, in the Rolls Series. The editor in his introduction points out that William of Malmes­bury and the chroniclers purport to supply further information, though this is probably of little value. The same must be said of La Vie Seint Edmund le Rey, a French poem of the thirteenth century printed by Mr Arnold in his second volume, and also of the English poem of Dan Lydgate, himself a monk of Bury. There is a modern life by J. B. Mackinlay (1893) which is unfortunately quite uncritical (see The Month, October, 1893, pp. 275—280). On the other hand, Lord Francis Hervey in his Corolla Sti Eadmundi (1907) and his History of King Eadmund (1929) has given proof of a very careful and scholarly study of the subject. The supposed transference of the remains of St Edmund to the church of St Sernin at Toulouse and the return of part of them to England in 1901 have been the occasion of much animated discussion. See also Stanton’s Menology, pp. 559—561. La Vie Seint Edmund was published again in 1935 by H. Kjellman at Göteborg, and Jocelin’s Chronicle in 1949, by H. E. Butler. Cf. also R. M. Wilson, The Lost Literature of Medieval England (1952).
869 St. Edmund the Martyr king at 14 of the East Angles
In Anglia sancti Eadmúndi, Regis et Mártyris.
 In England, St. Edmund, king and martyr.
 b. 841 He was elected king in 855 at the age of fourteen and began ruling Suffolk, England, the following year. In 869 or 870, the Danes invaded Edmund’s realm, and he was captured at Hone, in Suffolk. After extreme torture, Edmund was beheaded and died calling upon Jesus.
For 15 years Edmund ruled over the East Angles with what all acknowledged as Christian dignity and justice. He himself seems to have modelled his piety on that of King David in the Old Testament, becoming especially proficient in reciting the Psalms in public worship.
His shrine brought about the town of Bury St. Edmund's. He is depicted as crowned and robed as a monarch, holding a scepter, orb, arrows, or a quiver.

Edmund the Martyr, King (RM) Born 841; died at Hoxne, Suffolk, England, in 869 or 870. Feast day formerly November 2.
On Christmas Day 855, 14-year-old Edmund was acclaimed king of Norfolk by the ruling men and clergy of that county. The following year the leaders of Suffolk also made him their king.

For 15 years Edmund ruled over the East Angles with what all acknowledged as Christian dignity and justice. He himself seems to have modelled his piety on that of King David in the Old Testament, becoming especially proficient in reciting the Psalms in public worship.

From the year 866 his kingdom was increasingly threatened by Danish invasions. For four years the East Angles managed to keep a shaky, often broken peace with them. Then the invaders burned Thetford. King Edmund's army attacked the Danes but could not defeat the marauders. Edmund was taken prisoner and became the target for Danish bowmen.

In a later account in the The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, reputedly derived second-hand from an eyewitness, Abbo compared Saint Edmund to Saint Sebastien, and so he also became a saint invoked against the plague. The story goes that Edmund was captured at Hoxne. He refused to share his Christian kingdom with the heathen invaders, whereupon he was tied to a tree and shot with arrows, till his body was 'like a thistle covered with prickles'; then his head was struck off. He died with the name of Jesus on his lips.

The record continues that the Danes "killed the king and overcame all the land...they destroyed all the churches that they came to, and at the same time reaching Peterborough, killed the abbot and monks and burned and broke everything they found there."

Saint Edmund thus remains the only English sovereign until the time of King Charles I to die for religious beliefs as well as the defense of his throne. Edmund was quickly revered as a martyr and his cultus spread widely during the middle ages (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Hervey, Roeder).

King Saint Edmund is generally depicted as a bearded king holding his emblem--an arrow. Sometimes he is shown suspended from a tree and shot, or his head between the paws of a wolf. He is sometimes confused with Saint Sebastien, who is never portrayed as a king (Roeder).  He is venerated at Bury Saint Edmunds (Saint Edmund's borough), where his body is enshrined and a great abbey arose in 1020. Richard II invoked St. Edmund the Martyr as patron as to those threatened by the plague (Roeder).
1022 Bernward of Hildesheim, studied at the cathedral school of Heidelburg and at Mainz, where ordained in 987; patron of architects, goldsmiths, painters, and sculptors; OSB B (RM)
Hildeshémii, in Saxónia, sancti Bernwárdi, Epíscopi et Confessóris, qui a Cælestíno Papa Tértio in Sanctórum númerum adscríptus est.
    At Hildesheim in Saxony, St. Bernard, bishop and confessor, who was numbered among the saints by Pope Celestine III.
(also known as Berward) Born c. 960; died at Hildesheim, ; canonized 1193 by Pope Celestine III.

1022 ST BERNWARD, BISHOP OF HILDESHEIM
HE came of a Saxon family and, being left an orphan at an early age, was taken charge of by his uncle, Bishop Volkmar of Utrecht, who sent him to the cathedral-school of Heidelberg. To complete his studies he was sent to Mainz, where he was ordained priest by St Willigis, but he refused any preferment until after the death of his grandfather, to whose care he devoted himself. The old man died in 987 and Bernward was made an imperial chaplain and tutor to the child-emperor, Otto III, over whose subsequent career the influence of Bernward had a strong though insufficient effect. Six years later he was elected bishop of Hildes­heim, where he built the great church and monastery of St Michael and ruled his see with prudence and ability. St Bernward had always been a great amateur of ecclesiastical art and his name is particularly remembered in connection with all kinds of metal-work; as bishop of a wealthy see he had ample opportunity and means of promoting good work and encouraging good workmen. Moreover his biographer, Thangmar, who had formerly been his preceptor, states that St Bernward himself was a painter and metal-worker and spent much time in the exercise of these arts. Several very beautiful pieces of metal-work at Hildesheim are attributed to his hands.

St Bernward’s episcopate of thirty years was unhappily disturbed by a dispute with St Willigis, Archbishop of Mainz, who made claim to episcopal rights in the great nunnery of Gandersheim. This dispute had begun during the episcopate of Bernward’s predecessor, and was revived by the bad conduct of a nun called Sophia, who “egged on” the Archbishop of Mainz, when the Bishop of Hildesheim called her to order. The conflict went on for over seven years, even after the Holy See had pronounced in favour of St Bernward, whose behaviour throughout was irreproachable. At length St Willigis submitted publicly and made full amends for his lack of prudence and his headstrong conduct. St Bernward died on November 20, 1022, after having assumed the habit of St Benedict. He was canonized in 1193.

The best text of the life by Thangmar is that in MGH., Scriptores, vol. iv, pp. 754—782; it is also printed in Migne, PL., vol. cxl, cc. 393-436. See further the Neues Archiv, vol. xxv, pp. 427 seq.; V. C. Habicht, Der hi. Berwards von Hildesheim Kunstwerke (1922); the Archiv für Kulturgeschichte, vol. xvii (1921), pp. 273—285; and F. J. Tschan, St Bernward of Hildesheim: his Life and Times (2 vols. and plates, 1942—52; University of Notre Dame Press, U.S.A.).

The Saxon Saint Bernward was ordained a priest by Saint Willigis in Mainz, and after serving as tutor and chaplain to Emperor Otto III was made bishop of Hildesheim in 993. His episcopate was disturbed by political and ecclesiastical troubles, including a seven-year dispute with Saint Willigis about the convent at Gandersheim.
Bernward is one of the most attractive figures of medieval Germany- -a German Saint Dunstan. He is primarily remembered as a patron of the arts. He himself excelled as an architect, sculptor, decorator, painter and metal-worker, and Hildesheim became famous for its 'school' of sacred art: the Bernward bronze doors, cross, column, and candlesticks are still there to testify to its achievements.
He was also responsible for building Saint Michael's abbey church at Hildesheim, which has been said to 'represent religious architecture in the absolute.'
He died "after having assumed the habit of Saint Benedict" (Butler- Thurston). In the crypt of this church Saint Bernward lies buried (Attwater, Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).
In art Saint Bernward is a bishop making a chalice using a goldsmith's hammer. Sometimes he also holds a short cross in his hand (Roeder). He is the patron of architects, goldsmiths, painters, and sculptors (Roeder).
1000 St. Bernward Bernward tutor Benedictine from a Saxon family
raised by his uncle Bishop Volkmar of Utrecht when orphaned as a child. He studied at the cathedral school of Heidelburg and at Mainz, where he was ordained in 987. He became imperial chaplain and tutor to the child Emperor Otto III. He was elected bishop of Hildesheim in 993, built St. Michael's church and monastery there, and administered his See capably. He was interested in architecture, art, and metal work and created several metalwork pieces. He was engaged in a dispute for years with Archbishop Willigis of Mainz over episcopal rights to the Gandersheim convent, but eventually Rome ruled in Bernward's favor. He became a Benedictine in later life and died on November 20th. He was canonized in 1193.

1022 Bernward of Hildesheim, OSB B (RM) (also known as Berward) Born c. 960; died at Hildesheim; canonized 1193 by Pope Celestine III.
1000 St. Leo of Nonantula Benedictine abbot of Nonantula. Abbey, near Modena, Italy. Leo of Nonantula, OSB Abbot (AC)  The monk Saint Leo became abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Nonantula, near Modena, Italy (Benedictines).
1212 St. Felix of Valois, with St. John of Matha, Hermit co-founder of the Trinitarians; a religious order dedicated to ransoming Christian slaves who were captured during the Crusades: Pope Innocent III, who not only gave his approval but also gave the founders a habit for their order: white, with a red and blue cross. John and Felix then returned to France, where their hermitage was renamed Cerfroid, in memory of the deer which had appeared there.
He lived as a recluse at Cerfroid, France, and in 1198 received approval from the Holy See for the Order of the Most Holy Trinity to ransoms captives from the Moors. Felix founded St. Mathburn Convent in Paris while in his seventies. He died in Cerfroid on November 4. In 1969 his feast was confined to local calendars.
Felix of Valois, Founder (RM) Born in Amiens, France, 1127; died 1212; cultus approved by Pope Alexander VII in 1666.
1212 ST FELIX OF VALOIS, CO-FOUNDER OF THE ORDER OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY
THE surname of Valois was given to this saint according to later writers of his order because he was of the royal family of Valois in France, but it was originally because he lived in the province of Valois. He lived, we are told, as a hermit in the wood of Gandelu in the diocese of Soissons, at a spot called Cerfroid; and he had no thoughts but of dying in the obscurity of this retreat when God called him thence. This was by means of his disciple, St John of Matha, who made the suggestion of establishing a religious order for the redemp­tion of captives. Felix, though said to be then seventy years of age, readily offered himself to do and suffer whatever it should please God in the carrying-out of so charitable a work, and together they set out in the winter of 1197 to obtain the approval of the Holy See.

From henceforward, indeed from the beginning, the life of St Felix of Valois shares the legends and uncertainties of that of St John of Matha and of the early history of the Trinitarian Order. These have already been set out herein in the account of St John of Matha under the date of his feast, February 8. According to the traditional account, while St John was working for the Christian slaves in Spain and Barbary, St Felix propagated the new order in Italy and France, founding the convent of St Maturinus (Mathurin) in Paris. When John finally returned to Rome, St Felix, in spite of his great age, administered the French province and the mother-house of the order at Cerfroid, where he died in his eighty-sixth year on November 4, 1212. Alban Butler notes that it is the tradition of the Trinitarians that the two founders were canonized by Pope Urban IV in 1262, but that “the bull is nowhere extant”. Alexander VII recognized their cultus in 1666, and twenty-eight years later the feast of St Felix of Valois was extended to the whole Western church.

Materials for the life of St Felix are practically non-existent, though Fr Calixte-de-la-­Providence compiled a Vie de St Felix de Valois of which a third edition appeared in 1878. The reader must be referred to the note on St John of Matha herein under February 8. See also Mann, History of the Popes, vol. xii, pp. 84 and 272; and cf. the observations in Baudot and Chaussin, Vies des saints, vol. xi (1954), pp. 669—670.
Felix of Valois is one of those difficult saints. His name is linked with that of John of Matha, founder of the Trinitarians. Some say that there is no evidence that he ever existed--that he is a purely imaginary character; members of the order insist that he and Saint John were canonized in 1262 by Pope Urban IV.
It is a difficult question for historians, and even more difficult for Christians, since the infallibility of the Church is somehow involved in the canonization of saints. If a saint who has been venerated by the universal Church, and who has been the object of a complete service and Mass turns out to be a myth and an invention, what will be the effect on faith?

Before answering these questions, let me tell you his story as it has come down to us, and as written by Father Calixte, a Trinitarian Cerfroid, in his book published in 1878.

At the beginning of the 12th century, what is now the Somme and Aisne districts of France was ruled by Count Raoul de Vermandois et de Valois, a prince of the houses of Capet and Charlemagne. His wife Alienor de Champagne was also of the house of Charlemagne. On April 19, 1127, she gave birth to a son who was baptized Hugh, like his grandfather, the son of Henry I, King of France.
Young Hugh was presented to Saint Bernard and later sent to the abbey of Clairaux to be educated. He was also presented to Pope Innocent II.
At 20 he set off on a crusade, but went incognito to avoid being treated with deference. Three years later he returned, travelled through Italy, and went to live as a hermit either in northern Italy or near Clermont d'Oise.
To avoid recognition and indicate a change of life, he took the name of Felix and became a priest.
In 1193-94, when he was living in extreme solitude near Montigny, he received a visit from Saint John de Matha, who had just graduated from the schools at Aix and Paris. They soon became friends and John stayed with Felix. They were joined by other disciples and formed a small community.
Then one day in 1197, a white deer, which often came to drink at the fountain where the hermits got their water, appeared with a red and blue cross between its antlers. John was reminded of the vision he had during his first Mass, when he had seen an angel dressed in white with a red and blue cross on his chest. Both he and Felix knew that the deer with a cross was a sign from God, and that they should go ahead with a plan they had been discussing.
This plan was to found a religious order dedicated to ransoming Christian slaves who were captured during the Crusades.

Together they presented their plan in Rome to Pope Innocent III, who not only gave his approval but also gave the founders a habit for their order: white, with a red and blue cross. John and Felix then returned to France, where their hermitage was renamed Cerfroid, in memory of the deer which had appeared there.

February 3, 1198, the pope sent a letter to "brother John, minister of the house of the Holy Trinity at Cerfroid, and to all his brothers both present and future." The letter placed the young "Order of the Holy Trinity for the Ransom of Captives" under the protection of the pope. The letter also mentioned the property that had already been given to the order by Roger de Catillon, Marguerite de Bourgogne, and a noble lady of Paris.

May 16, 1198, the pope sent another letter about the property. On December 17, 1198, a letter arrived approving the text of the order's rule. In the meantime, the king of France had also given his approval to the new order.

John left Cerfroid to begin the real work of redeeming captives by establishing a monastery in Rome. Felix remained as superior (or minister) at Cerfroid, but later went to Paris to establish the order in the hospital of Saint-Mathurin, which had been given to them. As a result, members of the order were popularly called "the Mathurins," or else they were called "friars on donkeys" because of their mode of transportation.

On the night of September 8, 1212, though the sacristan of Cerfroid had forgotten to ring the matins bell (generally about 3:00 a.m.), Felix went down to the church as usual and found the Blessed Virgin and angels, all of them wearing the order's habit. There were many other miracles, but that is the only one that will be recounted here.

A few days later John de Matha returned to Cerfroid to see his old friend. He stayed only a short while, and on November 4, 1212, Felix died at the age of 85. He was buried at Cerfroid. The great reputation for sanctity which both surrounded his tomb and his memory led Urban IV to canonize him on May 1, 1262.

It was a good life, long and eventful, but at the same time extremely simple. Unfortunately there are doubts and questions marks at every turn. For example, the authority for his royal birth was the Trinitarian breviary of 1482, which has been lost. Authorities quoted for other details are either ambiguous, lost, or of uncertain authorship. For a long, detailed explanation of the reasons for doubting his existence as related by Fr. Calixte, read the Encyclopedia cited below. It will give you some idea of how hagiographers work.

It may be that instead of being heir to an important family, he was simply a resident of Valois, which became confused later.

In 1631 the Trinitarians attempted to gain permission to celebrate the feasts of SS. John and Felix liturgically in France and Spain, as their brothers in England had been doing since 1308, but since the Council of Trent had established restrictive controls on such celebrations, they did not immediately gain permission. The Urban IV's papal bull canonizing Felix had been lost. So the Trinitarians started gathering data.

They found that the canons of Meaux had been invoking Saint Felix since 1219; in 1291 the chapter-general had fixed his feast day; and in 1308 the provincial of England received Mass and offices from John XXII. That was enough to convince Pope Alexander VII, who confirmed the cultus on October 21, 1666. But five years later the Sacred College of Rites had still not added Felix and John to the Roman Martyrology, and it was only after the intervention of Louis XIV and Philip V of Spain who, on the strength of the "de Valois," claimed descent from Felix, that Innocent XII extended the feasts of SS John de Matha and Felix de Valois to the Catholic Church in 1694.

The Encyclopedia also notes that the remains of Saint Felix have been lost, which is troublesome if he had been venerated throughout the ages. In 1705 searches were carried out for the bones at Cerfroid and no relics of any type were found.

If by chance the Church has canonized someone who didn't exist, does that mean that there is a crisis of faith? Certainly not. First of all the equivalent canonization which took place in the 17th century was not carried out with the full canonical procedure. It was a special procedure, based on prescription and good faith. Its meaning was: "the person here presented is certainly an everlasting beatitude if he really lived as is claimed."

The historical problem is not really Rome's concern and may more or less be set aside. To be sure, matters would be conducted very differently today--precisely in order to avoid the inaccuracies that are found with Saint Felix. But whether Saint Felix existed or not, humility, charity, and all the virtues that he had or were ascribed to him, are the ones which will bring us to a greater love of God. And isn't that the real reason we venerate the saints? (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia)

Saint Felix is depicted in art as an old man in Trinitarian habit with a coronet at his feet and chains or captives nearby. On occasion he is shown (1) near a fountain from which a stag drinks perhaps with a cross in his antlers; (2) often with Saint John of Matha (because together they organized the Trinitarians in France for the release of captives from the Moors); or (3) with the Holy Trinity appearing in the picture. He is venerated at Meaux and Valois (Roeder).
1242 St. Edmund Rich Archbishop of Canterbury battled for discipline and justice
England, who battled for discipline and justice, also called Edmund of Abingdon. Born in Abingdon, on November 30, 1180. he studied at Oxford, England, and in Paris, France. He taught art and mathematics at Oxford and was ordained. lie spent eight years teachins theology and became Canon and treasurer of Salisbwy Cathedral. An eloquent speaker, Edmund preached a crusade for Pope Gregory IX and was named archbishop of Canterbury. He became an advisor to King Henry Ill and presided in 1237 at Henry’s ratification of the Great Charter. When Cardinal Olt became a papal legate with the patronage of King Henry, Edmund protested. A long-lasting feud between Edmund, the king, and his legate led him to resigning his see in 1240. He went to Pontigny, France, where he became a Cistercian. He died at Soissons, on November 16. Edmund was canonized in 1246 or 1247. A hall in Oxford bears his name.
1439 Blessed Ambrose Traversari Renaissance scholar attempted a reunification of the Eastern and Western Churches  OSB Cam.  Abbot (PC)

1439 BD AMBROSE OF CAMALDOLI, ABBOT
AMBROSE TRAVERSARI was a conspicuous and engaging figure in the religious and literary life of the early fifteenth century in Italy: he was a characteristic “all-round” man of the Renaissance, humanist, monk and man of affairs.
He came of a noble Tuscan family, and was born at Portico in 1386. At the age of fourteen he became a Camaldolese monk in the monastery of our Lady of the Angels at Florence, and lived there for thirty years. During this time he became a thorough master of Greek and Latin, learned Hebrew, read deeply, especially in Greek, and collected a fine library; he made many valuable translations from the writings of the Greek fathers, including the Spiritual Meadow of John Moschus and the Ladder of Perfection of St John Climacus, some of which still appear in Migne’s Greek Patrology.
His great scholarship earned him a profound respect in Florence. He was patronized by Cosimo de’ Medici, and was asked to give lectures on theology and history to the sons of the nobility. There gathered in his cell such diverse characters as St Laurence Giustiniani, Niccoló  Niccoli and Poggio Bracciolini, Manuel Chrysoloras (of whom it could be said, as it has been said of Bd Ambrose himself, that “the careful niceness of his conscience as a humanist has not been maintained by all his followers”), and his pupil Leonard Bruni. Ambrose went out of his way to protect and help the last-named, who rewarded his benefactor by slandering him.

In 1431 this long and undisturbed period of worship, study and intellectual activity was brought to a sudden end, when Pope Eugenius IV appointed Bd Ambrose abbot general of the Camaldolese Order, with instructions to carry out certain reforms of urgent necessity. This he did with considerable vigour, and his own diary survives as evidence of the need for reform and the extraordinary difficulties with which the abbot visitor had to contend, not always successfully. Later the Holy See entrusted to him similar duties in respect of the Vallumbrosan monks. The researches which Bd Ambrose carried out in the libraries of the monasteries he had to visit still further commended him to the pope, and when in 1434 Eugenius fled from Rome and took refuge at Florence he attached Ambrose to his person. In the following year he was one of the papal envoys to the trouble­some council at Basic, where he strongly defended the rights of the Holy See and warned the extremists against the sin of schism. Bd Ambrose showed himself an admirable minister, particularly efficient in keeping the pope supplied with accurate information about persons and events.

In 1438 he was the papal representative at Venice to meet the emperor of the East, John VII, and his brother Joseph, Patriarch of Constantinople, coming to the Council of Ferrara.
Because of his expert knowledge of the Greek tongue and of Eastern theology, Ambrose was called on to play a very active part in the negotiations which led to the short-lived reunion of the Western and Eastern churches the emperor said that Ambrose knew Greek better than anyone else among the Latins.
With Bessarion he was commissioned to draw up the decree of union, beginning, “Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad”, which was solemnly proclaimed at Florence in July 1439. Less than five months later, on October 20, Ambrose Traversari was dead, at the age of fifty-three. He has never been officially beatified, but a popular cultus is extended to him at Florence and among the Camaldolese monks, and he is commemorated on this day.

Much of his history can be gathered from his letters, which have been printed in Martène, Veterum scriptorum amplissima collectio, vol. iii, supplemented by L. Bertalot, in the Römische Quartalschrift, vol. nix (1915), pp. 91 seq. There is also the account which Ambrose wrote of his visitations of the Camaldolese houses in 1431. It was edited by Bertholini, Beati Ambrosii Hodoeporicon (1680), but a better text is that of A. Dini-Traversari in the book Ambrogio Traversari e i suoi tempi (1912). See also Pastor, History of the Popes, vol. i, pp. 140—142, 306, 318; and G. C. Coulton, Five Centuries of Religion, vol. iv (1950), caps. xxvi—xxxi.

Born in Portico near Florence, Italy, in 1376; died in Florence. Ambrose became a typical well-rounded Renaissance scholar under the tutelage of the Greek humanist Chrysoloras in Venice. In 1400, he joined the Camaldolese at Santa Maria degli Angeli in Florence. Here he continued his studies, wrote prolifically, chiefly in Greek, and collected a large library. He was the soul of the Council of Florence, which attempted a reunification of the Eastern and Western Churches; thereafter (1431) he was elected abbot-general of the order. He was both a great churchman and a great scholar (Benedictines).
1633 Saint Diodorus of Yuregorsk; received monastic tonsure when 19 Solovki monastery under igumen Anthony;
Born in the village of Turchasovo at the River Onega. His parents, Jerothei and Maria, named their son Diomid. As a fifteen-year-old youth he went on pilgrimage to the Solovki monastery, and then remained there as a novice. There he received monastic tonsure when he was nineteen under the igumen Anthony; memory celebrated on November 20 because of the Feast of the Icon of the Mother of God "Of the Sign,"

He lived with the hermits on desolate islands, and then he settled at Lake Vodla. He spent seven years there with his disciple Prochorus. Resolving to found a monastery in honor of the Most Holy Trinity on Mount Yurev, the monk went to Moscow, where he received approval from Tsar Michael (1613-1645) and also money for the building of the monastery from the Tsar's mother, the nun and Eldress Martha.

Somewhat before his death, St Diodorus was obliged to journey to Kargopol on monastery matters. Taking leave of the brethren, he predicted his impending death. He died on November 27, 1633 and was buried at Kargopol. After two years his incorrupt body was transferred to the Trinity monastery and buried at the south wall of the cathedral church.
The memory of St Diodorus is celebrated on November 20 because of the Feast of the Icon of the Mother of God "Of the Sign," with which his repose coincides.
1837 St. Francis Xavier Can; native Vietnam Martyr
born in Sou-Ming, he worked as a catechist with the priests of the Foreign Missions of Paris.
 Arrested and refusing to deny the faith, Francis Xavier was strangled in prison. He was canonized in 1988.
Blessed Francis Xavier Can M (AC)
Born at Sou-Mieng in West Tonkin (Vietnam); died 1837; beatified in 1900. Francis Xavier Can, who was attached to the fathers of the Foreign Missions of Paris, was strangled in prison (Benedictines).
1852 St. Rose Philippine Duchesne care of poor /sick, opened school for street urchins; risked life helping priests in the underground
   
Born 1769 in Grenoble, France, of a family that was among the new rich, Philippine learned political skills from her father and a love of the poor from her mother. The dominant feature of her temperament was a strong and dauntless will, which became the material—and the battlefield—of her holiness. She entered the convent at 19 without telling her parents and remained despite their opposition. As the French Revolution broke, the convent was closed, and she began taking care of the poor and sick, opened a school for street urchins and risked her life helping priests in the underground.

When the situation cooled, she personally rented her old convent, now a shambles, and tried to revive its religious life. The spirit was gone, and soon there were only four nuns left. They joined the infant Society of the Sacred Heart, whose young superior, St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, would be her lifelong friend. In a short time Philippine was a superior and supervisor of the novitiate and a school.

Her ambition, since hearing tales of missionary work in Louisiana as a little girl, was to go to America and work among the Indians. At 49, she thought this would be her work. With four nuns, she spent 11 weeks at sea en route to New Orleans, and seven weeks more on the Mississippi to St. Louis. She then met one of the many disappointments of her life. The bishop had no place for them to live and work among Native Americans. Instead, he sent her to what she sadly called "the remotest village in the U.S.," St. Charles, Missouri. With characteristic drive and courage, she founded the first free school for girls west of the Mississippi.

It was a mistake. Though she was as hardy as any of the pioneer women in the wagons rolling west, cold and hunger drove them out—to Florissant, Missouri, where she founded the first Catholic Indian school, adding others in the territory. "In her first decade in America Mother Duchesne suffered practically every hardship the frontier had to offer, except the threat of Indian massacre—poor lodging, shortages of food, drinking water, fuel and money, forest fires and blazing chimneys, the vagaries of the Missouri climate, cramped living quarters and the privation of all privacy, and the crude manners of children reared in rough surroundings and with only the slightest training in courtesy" (Louis E. Callan, R.S.C.J., Philippine Duchesne).

Finally, at 72, in poor health and retired, she got her lifelong wish. A mission was founded at Sugar Creek, Kansas, among the Potawatomi. She was taken along. Though she could not learn their language, they soon named her "Woman- Who- Prays- Always." While others taught, she prayed. Legend has it that Native American children sneaked behind her as she knelt and sprinkled bits of paper on her habit, and came back hours later to find them undisturbed. She died in 1852 at the age of 83.
Comment: Divine grace channeled her iron will and determination into humility and selflessness, and to a desire not to be made superior. Still, even saints can get involved in silly situations. In an argument with her over a minor change in the sanctuary, a priest threatened to remove her tabernacle. She patiently let herself be criticized by younger nuns for not being progressive enough. Through it all, 31 years, she hewed to the line of a dauntless love and an unshakable observance of her religious vows.
Quote: “We cultivate a very small field for Christ, but we love it, knowing that God does not require great achievements but a heart that holds back nothing for self...The truest crosses are those we do not choose ourselves...He who has Jesus has everything.”
1885 Blessed Salvatore Lilli, a Franciscan missionary in Armenia.  He built schools and clinics for the poor while he preached the Gospel.  Salvatore was captured by Muslims and was murdered in 1895 for refusing to convert to Islam.
1922 Blessed Maria Fortunata Viti: Patronage against poverty, against temptations, impoverishment, insanity, loss of parents, mental illness, mentally ill people, poverty.
Also known as:  Anna Felice Viti
Maria, born 1827 in Veroli, Italy as Anna Felice Viti  where she died of natural causes, raised her siblings after her mother's early death, then became a Benedictine nun. Had a great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. Daughter of Luigi Viti, a gambler and heavy drinker, and Anna Bono, who died when Anna was fourteen. Raised her eight siblings after her mother's death, often working as a domestic servant to support them. Joined the Benedictines at the San Maria de’Franconi monastery in Veroli, Italy on 21 March 1851 at age 24, taking the name Sister Maria Fortunata. She was over 70 years in the Order, her days spent spinning, sewing, washing, mending - and praying the whole time. Sister Maria never learned to read or write, and never held any position in her house, but she had a great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, and whole generations of nuns and local lay people learned from her quiet, humble, happy, prayerful example.
Beatified 8 October 1967 by Pope Paul VI Canonization pending; if you have information relevant to the canonization of Blessed Maria, contact  Monastero S. Maria de’Franconi    P.zza de’Franconi 3    03029 Veroli (FR), ITALY


THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 211

O God, my God: let Him look at thy merits in me, ever Virgin Mary.

O my Lady, I have cried to thee by day and by night: and thou hast done mercy with thy servant.

Because I have hoped in thy mercy: thou hast taken away from me everlasting reproach.

Mine enemies have mocked me on every side:
but thou under the shadow of thy hand hast bestowed good refreshment on me.

Let all the families of the peoples adore thee: and let all the orders of the angels glorify thee.

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 Nizamuddin Aulia Sufi Saint Hazrath Khwaja Syed Mohammed Badshah Quadri Chisty Yamani Quadeer (RA) 1236-1325 welcomed people of all faiths & all walks of life.
801 Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya Sufi One of the most famous Islamic mystics
(b. 717). This 8th century saint was an early Sufi who had a profound influence on later Sufis, who in turn deeply influenced the European mystical love and troubadour traditions.  Rabi'a was a woman of Basra, a seaport in southern Iraq.  She was born around 717 and died in 801 (185-186).  Her biographer, the great medieval poet Attar, tells us that she was "on fire with love and longing" and that men accepted her "as a second spotless Mary" (186).  She was, he continues, “an unquestioned authority to her contemporaries" (218).
Rabi'a began her ascetic life in a small desert cell near Basra, where she lost herself in prayer and went straight to God for teaching.  As far as is known, she never studied under any master or spiritual director.  She was one of the first of the Sufis to teach that Love alone was the guide on the mystic path (222).  A later Sufi taught that there were two classes of "true believers": one class sought a master as an intermediary between them and God -- unless they could see the footsteps of the Prophet on the path before them, they would not accept the path as valid.  The second class “...did not look before them for the footprint of any of God's creatures, for they had removed all thought of what He had created from their hearts, and concerned themselves solely with God. (218)
Rabi'a was of this second kind.  She felt no reverence even for the House of God in Mecca:  "It is the Lord of the house Whom I need; what have I to do with the house?" (219) One lovely spring morning a friend asked her to come outside to see the works of God.  She replied, "Come you inside that you may behold their Maker.  Contemplation of the Maker has turned me aside from what He has made" (219).  During an illness, a friend asked this woman if she desired anything.
"...[H]ow can you ask me such a question as 'What do I desire?'  I swear by the glory of God that for twelve years I have desired fresh dates, and you know that in Basra dates are plentiful, and I have not yet tasted them.  I am a servant (of God), and what has a servant to do with desire?" (162)
When a male friend once suggested she should pray for relief from a debilitating illness, she said,
"O Sufyan, do you not know Who it is that wills this suffering for me?  Is it not God Who wills it?  When you know this, why do you bid me ask for what is contrary to His will?  It is not  well to oppose one's Beloved." (221)
She was an ascetic.  It was her custom to pray all night, sleep briefly just before dawn, and then rise again just as dawn "tinged the sky with gold" (187).  She lived in celibacy and poverty, having renounced the world.  A friend visited her in old age and found that all she owned were a reed mat, screen, a pottery jug, and a bed of felt which doubled as her prayer-rug (186), for where she prayed all night, she also slept briefly in the pre-dawn chill.  Once her friends offered to get her a servant; she replied,
"I should be ashamed to ask for the things of this world from Him to Whom the world belongs, and how should I ask for them from those to whom it does not belong?"  (186-7)
A wealthy merchant once wanted to give her a purse of gold.  She refused it, saying that God, who sustains even those who dishonor Him, would surely sustain her, "whose soul is overflowing with love" for Him.  And she added an ethical concern as well:
"...How should I take the wealth of someone of whom I do not know whether he acquired it lawfully or not?" (187)
She taught that repentance was a gift from God because no one could repent unless God had already accepted him and given him this gift of repentance.  She taught that sinners must fear the punishment they deserved for their sins, but she also offered such sinners far more hope of Paradise than most other ascetics did.  For herself, she held to a higher ideal, worshipping God neither from fear of Hell nor from hope of Paradise, for she saw such self-interest as unworthy of God's servants; emotions like fear and hope were like veils -- i.e., hindrances to the vision of God Himself.  The story is told that once a number of Sufis saw her hurrying on her way with water in one hand and a burning torch in the other.  When they asked her to explain, she said:
"I am going to light a fire in Paradise and to pour water on to Hell, so that both veils may vanish altogether from before the pilgrims and their purpose may be sure..." (187-188)
She was once asked where she came from.  "From that other world," she said.  "And where are you going?" she was asked.  "To that other world," she replied (219).  She taught that the spirit originated with God in "that other world" and had to return to Him in the end.  Yet if the soul were sufficiently purified, even on earth, it could look upon God unveiled in all His glory and unite with him in love.  In this quest, logic and reason were powerless.  Instead, she speaks of the "eye" of her heart which alone could apprehend Him and His mysteries (220).
Above all, she was a lover, a bhakti, like one of Krishna’s Goptis in the Hindu tradition.  Her hours of prayer were not so much devoted to intercession as to communion with her Beloved.  Through this communion, she could discover His will for her.  Many of her prayers have come down to us:
       "I have made Thee the Companion of my heart,
        But my body is available for those who seek its company,
        And my body is friendly towards its guests,
        But the Beloved of my heart is the Guest of my soul."  [224]
To Save A Life is Earthly; Saving A Soul is Eternal Donation by mail, please send check or money order to:
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Mother Angelica saving souls is this beautiful womans journey  Shrine_of_The_Most_Blessed_Sacrament
Colombia was among the countries Mother Angelica visited. 
In Bogotá, a Salesian priest - Father Juan Pablo Rodriguez - brought Mother and the nuns to the Sanctuary of the Divine Infant Jesus to attend Mass.  After Mass, Father Juan Pablo took them into a small Shrine which housed the miraculous statue of the Child Jesus. Mother Angelica stood praying at the side of the statue when suddenly the miraculous image came alive and turned towards her.  Then the Child Jesus spoke with the voice of a young boy:  “Build Me a Temple and I will help those who help you.” 

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

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

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

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

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

Father Corapi's Biography

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

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

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

God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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, 211 2022