1st v. Sosthenes ruler of the synagogue at Corinth first bishop of Colophon in Asia Minor converted by Paul (RM)
Apud Corínthum natális sancti Sósthenis, ex beáti Pauli Apóstoli discípulis; cujus mentiónem facit idem Apóstolus Corínthiis scribens. Ipse autem Sósthenes, ex príncipe Synagógæ convérsus ad Christum, fídei suæ primórdia, ante Galliónem Procónsulem ácriter verberátus, præcláro inítio consecrávit.
At Corinth, the birthday of St. Sosthenes, disciple of the blessed apostle Paul, who is mentioned in his Epistle to the Corinthians. He was chief of the synagogue when converted to Christ, and as a glorious beginning, consecrated the first fruits of his faith by being scourged before the proconsul Gallio.
Saint Sosthenes was the ruler of the synagogue at Corinth (Acts 18:17), who was converted by Paul (1 Corinthians 1:1). Greek tradition makes him the first bishop of Colophon in Asia Minor (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).

303 Martyr Irenarchus and Seven Women Martyrs at Sebaste
The Holy Martyr Irenarchus was from Sebaste, Armenia, and lived during the reign of Diocletian (284-305). When he was young, he would minister to the martyrs in prison after they were tortured.
He once saw seven women being tortured for Christ, who bravely endured their torments. St Irenarchus marveled at this because they showed great courage in standing up to the tyrant, even though they were weak by nature. Illumined by divine grace, St Irenarchus confessed Christ. First he endured trials by fire and water, then he was beheaded with the seven holy women.

Seven Women Martyrs at Sebaste
These seven women martyrs suffered for Christ at Sebaste during the reign of Diocletian (284-305). After vicious tortures, they were beheaded along with St Irenarchus in 303.

303 St. Papius Martyr who was put to death Sicily
during the persecution of the early fourth century. No other information is available.

304 St. Rufus and Companions
Romæ sancti Rufi, quem, cum omni família sua, Christi Mártyrem Diocletiánus fecit.
At Rome, St. Rufus, who was martyred with all his family by Diocletian.
Rufus was a Roman put to death with his entire Christian household during the persecutions launched by Emperor Diocletian.

Rufus & Companions MM (RM) . Saint Rufus was a Roman citizen who was martyred with his entire household under Diocletian (Benedictines).

361 Martyr Timothy at Tiberiopolis and others imprisoned by Julian the Apostate (331-363)
Saint Timothy was a bishop who was imprisoned by Julian the Apostate (331-363) together with his fellow bishop Theodore; the priests Peter, John, Sergius, Theodore, Nicephorus; the deacons Basil and Thomas; the monks Hierotheus, Daniel, Chariton, Socrates, Comasius; and Etymasius. They all suffered martyrdom in Tiberiopolis in 361.
Martyr Etymasius at Tiberiopolis Martyr Etymasius at Tiberiopolis
Martyr Eusebius at Tiberiopolis Martyr Comasius the Monk at Tiberiopolis Martyr Socrates the Monk at Tiberiopolis Martyr Chariton the Monk at Tiberiopolis Martyr Daniel the Monk at Tiberiopolis Martyr Hierotheus the Monk at Tiberiopolis Martyr Thomas the Deacon at TiberiopolisMartyr Basil the Deacon at Tiberiopolis Martyr Nicephorus the Presbyter at Tiberiopolis 361 Martyr Timothy at Tiberiopolis and others imprisoned by Julian the Apostate (331-363)

5th v. St. Papinianus With Mansuetus, bishops from Roman Africa
In Africa sanctórum Mártyrum Papiniáni et Mansuéti Episcopórum, qui, témpore Wandálicæ persecutiónis, sub Rege Ariáno Genseríco, pro fídei cathólicæ defensióne, candéntibus ferri láminis toto córpore adústi, gloriósum agónem consummárunt. Quo étiam témpore álii novem sancti Epíscopi, scílicet Valeriánus, Urbánus, Crescens, Eustáchius, Crescónius, Crescentiánus, Felix, Hortulánus et Florentiánus, damnáti exsílio, cursum vitæ suæ implevérunt.
In Africa, under the Arian king Genseric, in the persecution of the Vandals, the holy martyrs Papinian and Mansuetus, bishops, who, for the Catholic faith, were burned in every part of their bodies with hot plates of iron, which ended their glorious trial. At this time also, other holy bishops, Valerian, Urban, Crescens, Eustachius, Cresconius, Crescentian, Felix, Hortulanus, and Florentian ended the course of their lives in exile.
They were caught in the persecutions of the Orthodox Church by the Arian Vandal king Geiseric and put to death.
Papinianus & Mansuetus MM (RM)
5th century. African bishops, martyred under the Arian Vandal King Genseric, who had overrun that Roman province (Benedictines).

5th v. Hilary senator and Quieta his wife martyred at Dijon MM
Hilary was a senator and Quieta his wife. They were martyred at Dijon (Encyclopedia).

5th v. St. Valerian African bishop with Urban martyrs
Crescens, Eustace, Cresconius, Crescentian, Felix, Hortulanus, and Florentian.They were exiled from their sees because of their adherence to orthodox Christianity in the face of the domination of the region by the Arian Vandals. As each of the bishops subsequently died in exile, they were considered martyrs for the faith.

Valerian, Urban, & Companions BB (RM). Valerian, Urban, Crescens, Eustace, Cresconius, Crescentian, Felix, Hortulanus, and Florentian were all African bishops banished from the country by the Arian king Genseric. They died in exile and were afterwards honored as confessors of the faith (Benedictines).

6 th v. St. Fionnchu Abbot of Bangor Abbey Ireland, the successor of St. Comgall.

767 Monkmartyr and Confessor Stephen the New of Mt St Auxentius & over 300 monks: gift of wonderworking performed healings with holy icons and turned many away from Iconoclasm
Constantinópoli sanctórum Mártyrum Stéphani junióris, Basilíi, Petri, Andréæ, et Sociórum trecentórum et trigínta novem Monachórum; qui, sub Constantíno Coprónymo, pro sanctárum Imáginum cultu váriis excruciáti supplíciis, veritátem cathólicam effúso sánguine confirmárunt.
At Constantinople, in the time of Constantine Copronymus, the holy martyrs Stephen the Younger, Basil, Peter, Andrew, and their companions, numbering three hundred and thirty-nine monks, who were subjected to diverse torments for the veneration of holy images, and confirmed the Catholic truth with the shedding of their blood.

764 ST STEPHEN THE YOUNGER, Martyr
ST STEPHEN surnamed the Younger, one of the most renowned martyrs in the persecution by the Iconoclasts, was born at Constantinople, and his parents placed him when he was fifteen years old in the monastery of St Auxentius, not far from Chalcedon. Stephen’s employment was to fetch the provisions daily for the monastery. The death of his father obliged him to make a journey to Constantinople, where he sold his share of the estate and distributed the price among the poor. He had two sisters, one of whom was already a nun; the other he took with his mother into Bithynia, where he found them a home in a monastery. When John the abbot died, Stephen, though but thirty years of age, was placed at the head of the monastery. This was a number of small cells scattered up and down a mountain, and the new abbot succeeded his predecessor in a cave on the summit, where he joined labour with prayer, copying books and making nets.

After some years Stephen resigned his abbacy, and built himself a remoter cell, so narrow that it was impossible for him to lie or stand up in it at ease. He shut himself up in this sepulchre in his forty-second year.

The Emperor Constantine Copronymus carried on the war that his father Leo had begun against holy images, his efforts being chiefly levelled against the monks, from whom he expected and received the most resolute opposition. Knowing the influence of Stephen, he was particularly anxious to get his subscription to the decree passed by the Iconoclast bishops at the council of 754. Callistus, a patrician, tried to persuade the saint to consent, but he had to report failure. Constantine, incensed at St Stephen’s resolute answer, sent Callistus back with soldiers and an order to drag him out of his cell. They found him so weak in body that they were obliged to carry him to the bottom of the mountain. Witnesses were suborned to accuse the saint, and he was charged with having criminally conversed with his spiritual daughter, the holy widow Anne. She protested he was innocent, and because she would not say as the emperor wished she was whipped and then confined to a monastery, where she died soon after of the hard usage she suffered.

The emperor, seeking a new excuse to put Stephen to death, trapped him into clothing a novice, which had been forbidden; whereupon armed men dispersed his monks and burnt down the monastery and church. They took St Stephen, put him roughly on board a vessel, and carried him to a monastery at Chrysopolis, where Callistus and several court bishops came to examine him. They treated him first with civility, and afterwards with extreme harshness. He asked them how they could call a general council one which was not approved by the other patriarchs, and stoutly defended the honour due to holy images, insomuch that Stephen was condemned to banishment to the island of Proconnesus, in the Propontis.

Two years after Copronymus ordered him to be removed to a prison in Constantinople, where some days later he was carried before the emperor, who asked him whether he believed that men trampled on Christ by trampling on His image. “God forbid”, said Stephen; but then, taking a piece of money, he asked what treatment was deserved by one who should stamp upon that image of the emperor. The suggestion was received with indignation. “Is it then”, asked St Stephen, “so great a crime to insult the image of the king of the earth, and none to cast into the fire that of the King of Heaven?” The emperor commanded that he should be scourged. This was done with brutal violence, and Copronymus when he heard that Stephen was nevertheless yet alive cried out, “Will no one rid me of this monk?” Whereupon some of his hearers ran to the jail, seized the martyr and dragged him through the streets by his feet. Many of the mob struck him with stones and staves, till one dashed out his brains with a club. The Roman Martyrology mentions with St Stephen other monks who suffered in the same cause about the same time.

A Greek life, written by another Stephen, “deacon of Constantinople”, is printed in Migne, PG., vol. c, pp. 1068-1986. It has been pointed out that the text contains passages borrowed from the Life of St. Euthymius by Cyril of Scythopolis. A short account of the martyrdom will be found in B. Hermann’s Verborgene Heilige des griechischen Ostens (1935).

The Monk Martyr and Confessor Stephen the New was born in 715 at Constantinople into a pious Christian family. His parents, having two daughters, prayed the Lord for a son. The mother of the new-born Stephen took him to the Blachernae church of the Most Holy Theotokos and dedicated him to God.

During the reign of the emperor Leo the Isaurian (716-741) there was a persecution against the holy icons and against those venerating them. With the support of the emperor, the adherents of the Iconoclast heresy seized control of the supreme positions of authority in the Empire and in the Church. Persecuted by the powers of this world, Orthodoxy was preserved in monasteries far from the capital, in solitary cells, and in the brave and faithful hearts of its followers.

The Orthodox parents of St Stephen, grieved by the prevailing impiety, fled from Constantinople to Bithynia, and they gave over their sixteen-year-old son in obedience to the monk John, who labored in asceticism in a solitary place on the Mount of St Auxentius. St Stephen dwelt with the venerable monk John for more than fifteen years, devoting himself totally to this spirit-bearing Elder, and learning monastic activity from him. Here Stephen received the news that his father was dead, and his mother and sisters had been tonsured as nuns.

After a certain time his teacher John also died. With deep sorrow St Stephen buried his venerable body, and continued with monastic effort in his cave by himself. Soon monks began to come to the ascetic, desiring to learn from him the virtuous and salvific life, and a monastery was established, with St Stephen as the igumen. At forty-two years of age Stephen left the monastery he founded, and he went to another mountain, on whose summit he dwelt in deep seclusion in a solitary cell. But here also a community of monks soon gathered, seeking the spiritual guidance of St Stephen.

Leo the Isaurian was succeeded by Constantine Copronymos (741-775), a fiercer persecutor of the Orthodox, and an even more zealous iconoclast. The emperor convened an Iconoclast Council, attended by 358 bishops from the Eastern provinces. However, except for Constantine, the Archbishop of Constantinople, illegitimately raised to the patriarchal throne by the power of Copronymos, not one of the other patriarchs participated in the wicked doings of this Council, thus making it less likely to style itself as "ecumenical." This council of heretics, at the instigation of the emperor and the archbishop, described icons as idols, and pronounced an anathema on all who venerated icons in the Orthodox manner, and it described icon veneration as heresy.

Meanwhile, the monastery of Mount Auxentius and its igumen became known in the capital. They told the emperor about the ascetic life of the monks, about their Orthodox piety, about the igumen Stephen's gift of wonderworking, and of how St Stephen's fame had spread far beyond the region of the monastery, and that the name of its head was accorded universal respect and love. The saint's open encouragement of icon veneration and the implied rebuff to the persecutors of Orthodoxy within the monastery of Mount Auxentius especially angered the emperor. Archbishop Constantine realized that in the person of St Stephen he had a strong and implacable opponent of his iconoclastic intentions, and he plotted how he might draw him over to his side or else destroy him.

They tried to lure St Stephen into the Iconoclast camp, at first with flattery and bribery, then by threats, but in vain. Then they slandered the saint, accusing him of falling into sin with the nun Anna. But his guilt was not proven, since the nun courageously denied any guilt and died under torture and beatings. Finally, the emperor gave orders to lock up the saint in prison, and to destroy his monastery. Iconoclast bishops were sent to St Stephen in prison, trying to persuade him of the dogmatic correctness of the Iconoclast position. But the saint easily refuted all the arguments of the heretics and he remained true to Orthodoxy.

Then the emperor ordered that the saint be exiled on one of the islands in the Sea of Marmora. St Stephen settled into a cave, and there also his disciples soon gathered. After a certain while the saint left the brethren and took upon himself the exploit of living atop a pillar. News of the stylite Stephen, and the miracles worked by his prayers, spread throughout all the Empire and strengthened the faith and spirit of Orthodoxy in the people.

The emperor gave orders to transfer St Stephen to prison on the island of Pharos, and then to bring him to trial. At the trial, the saint refuted the arguments of the heretics sitting in judgment upon him. He explained the dogmatic essence of icon veneration, and he denounced the Iconoclasts because in blaspheming icons, they blasphemed Christ and the Mother of God. As proof, the saint pointed to a golden coin inscribed with the image of the emperor. He asked the judges what would happen to a man who threw the coin to the ground , and then trampled the emperor's image under his feet. They replied that such a man would certainly be punished for dishonoring the image of the emperor. The saint said that an even greater punishment awaited anyone who would dishonor the image of the King of Heaven and His Saints, and with that he spat on the coin, threw it to the ground, and began to trample it underfoot.

The emperor gave orders to take the saint to prison, where already there were languishing 342 Elders, condemned for the veneration of icons. In this prison St Stephen spent eleven months, consoling the imprisoned. The prison became like a monastery, where the usual prayers and hymns were chanted according to the Typikon. The people came to the prison in crowds and asked St Stephen to pray for them.

When the emperor learned that the saint had organized a monastery in prison, where they prayed venerated holy icons, he sent two of his own servants, twin-brothers, to beat the saint to death. When these brothers went to the prison and beheld the face of the monk shining with a divine light, they fell down on their knees before him, asking his forgiveness and prayers, then they told the emperor that his command had been carried out. But the emperor learned the truth and he resorted to yet another lie. Informing his soldiers that the saint was plotting to remove him from the throne, he sent them to the prison. The holy confessor himself came out to the furious soldiers, who seized him and dragged him through the streets of the city. They then threw the lacerated body of the martyr into a pit, where they were wont to bury criminals.

On the following morning a fiery cloud appeared over Mount Auxentius, and then a heavy darkness descended upon the capital, accompanied by hail, which killed many people.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone

Trained on the mountain in ascetical labours, with the whole armour of the Cross thou didst vanquish the spiritual arrays of unseen enemies; and when thou hadst stripped thyself with great courage for contest, thou didst slay Copronymus with the sword of the true Faith. For both these things hast thou been crowned by God, O righteous Martyr, blest Stephen of great renown.

Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone

With songs and hymns, O ye feast-lovers, let us all extol the godly Stephen, that great lover of the Trinity, for he honoured with his whole heart the comely image of the Master, of His Mother, and of all the Saints. Now with one accord, with longing, and with joy of heart, let us cry to him: Rejoice, O Father most glorious.

Reading:

The righteous Stephen was born in Constantinople in 715 to pious parents named John and Anna. His mother had prayed often to the most holy Theotokos in her church at Blachernae to be granted a son, and one day received a revelation from our Lady that she would conceive the son she desired. When Anna had conceived, she asked the newly-elected Patriarch Germanus (see May 12) to bless the babe in her womb. He said, "May God bless him through the prayers of the holy First Martyr Stephen." At that moment Anna saw a flame of fire issue from the mouth of the holy Patriarch. When the child was born, she named him Stephen, according to the prophecy of Saint Germanus. Stephen struggled in asceticism from his youth in Bithynia at the Monastery of Saint Auxentius, which was located at a lofty place called Mount Auxentius. Because of his extreme labours and great goodness, he was chosen by the hermits of Mount Auxentius to be their leader. The fame of his spiritual struggles reached the ears of all, and the fragrance of his virtue drew many to himself.

During the reign of Constantine V (741-775), Stephen showed his love of Orthodoxy in contending for the Faith. This Constantine was called Copronymus, that is, "namesake of dung," because while being baptized he had soiled the waters of regeneration, giving a fitting token of what manner of impiety he would later embrace. Besides being a fierce Iconoclast, Constantine raised up a ruthless persecution of monasticism. He held a council in 754 that anathematized the holy icons. Because Saint Stephen rejected this council, the Emperor framed false accusations against him and exiled him. But while in exile Saint Stephen performed healings with holy icons and turned many away from Iconoclasm.
When he was brought before the Emperor again, he showed him a coin and asked whose image the coin bore. "Mine," said the tyrant. "If any man trample upon thine image, is he liable to punishment?" asked the Saint. When they that stood by answered yes, the Saint groaned because of their blindness, and said if they thought dishonouring the image of a corruptible king worthy of punishment, what torment would they receive who trampled upon the image of the Master Christ and of the Mother of God? Then he threw the coin to the ground and trampled on it. He was condemned to eleven months in bonds and imprisonment. Later, he was dragged over the earth and was stoned, like Stephen the First Martyr; wherefore he is called Stephen the New. Finally, he was struck with a wooden club on the temple and his head was shattered, and thus he gave up his spirit in the year 767.

Stephen the Younger M (RM) (with Basil, Peter, Andrew & Comps.) Born at Constantinople in 714-715; died there 764-765. When the Iconoclast persecution was renewed by the Byzantine emperor Constantine V (Copronymus), this Stephen was the foremost defender at Constantinople of the veneration of religious images. He was a hermit-monk on Mount Saint Auxentius (near Chalcedon), and in 761 was banished for his activities to the island of Proconnesus in the sea of Marmara.

After three years he was brought before the emperor and questioned. Stephen produced a coin and asked if it were not wrong to treat the imperial effigy on it disrespectfully: "Very well," he continued, "how much more then does he deserve punishment who stamps on an image of Christ or his mother, and burns it" (which was what was being done).

He threw the coin to the floor and trampled on it. Constantine ordered him thrown in jail, where he spent 11 months with over 300 other monks, living a sort of monastic life together. Saint Stephen continued to be resolute in his principles, and was finally battered to death. It is said that the emperor was not willing to order his death but--like Henry II and Thomas a Becket--Stephen provoked it by the intemperance of his language. And so Stephen together with SS Basil, Peter, Andrew, and a band of over 300 monks were put to death for our faith (Attwater, Attwater 2, Benedictines, Coulson).

767 Monkmartyr and Confessor Basil and many others

The Holy Martyrs Stephen, Basil, Gregory, another Gregory, John and many others suffered for the veneration of holy icons with the Monk Martyr Stephen the New, with whom they languished together in prison. After his martyric death, they were executed.
Monkmartyr and Confessor Gregory
Monkmartyr and Confessor Gregory (another)
Monkmartyr and Confessor John
Monkmartyr and Confessor Andrew and many others

767 Martyr Saint Anna noblewoman sold all possessions gave money to the poor received monastic tonsure from St Stephen the New while he was living on Mt Auxentius in Bithynia receiving from Him the twin crowns of virginity and martyrdom
He sent her to live in the women's monastery called Trichinarion (Community of hairshirt-wearers).

When the iconoclasts tried to turn St Stephen from venerating the holy icons, they tried flattery, bribery, and threats, but all their efforts were in vain. Then they accused him of visiting the Trichinarion Monastery at night and falling into sin with the nun Anna. Although her own maidservant testified against her (she was promised her freedom and marriage to a nobleman if she did), St Anna denied any guilt.

The emperor's soldiers came to the monastery and seized St Anna and brought her before him, but she refused to lie about St Stephen. Therefore Emperor Constantine threw her into a dungeon in Constantinople.

The next morning the emperor sat in a public building with an assembled crowd, and had St Anna brought to his presence. Since she insisted that both she and St Stephen were innocent, the emperor had her stripped naked in the sight of all. During her interrogation, she remained silent. Meanwhile, her maidservant falsely swore that St Stephen had sinned with her mistress.

Angered by her refusal to speak, the emperor had St Anna stretched out on the ground, where soldiers beat her with rods. During this torment, she said, "I have never sinned with Stephen. Lord, have mercy." The soldiers continued to beat her until she was almost dead.

The emperor returned to his palace, leaving orders that St Anna be imprisoned in one of the city's abandoned monasteries. There she departed to the Lord, receiving from Him the twin crowns of virginity and martyrdom.

775 St. Hippolytus Benedictine abbot bishop of Saint Claude.
France. other details of his life are unknown.
Hippolytus of Saint-Claude, OSB B (AC) Died c. 775. Abbot-bishop of Saint-Claude in France.

1000 Simeon the Logothete (secretary of state) to Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus menology of legends and stories of the Byzantine saints wrote a chronicle, prayers, letters, and collections of maxims of Basil and Macarius of Egypt (AC)
(also known as Simeon Metaphrastes) Saint Simeon was probably a Logothete (secretary of state) to Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, at whose order he compile a menology of legends and stories of the Byzantine saints under the name Simeon the Logothete. It is the most famous of the Medieval Greek collections, comparable to The Golden Legend of Blessed James Voragine in the west. Because he "retold" the stories, he received the moniker "metaphrastes" (reteller). Simeon also wrote a chronicle, prayers, letters, and collections of maxims of Basil and Macarius of Egypt. Simeon's feast is celebrated in the Orthodox Church on November 28, but has never been formally recognized in Rome (Attwater 2, Coulson, Delaney).

1000 ST SIMEON METAPHRASTES
SIMEON METAPHRASTES, that is, “the Reteller”, requires a brief notice in a book of this kind for the same reason as do Bd Ado of Vienne and Bd James of Voragine, for he was the principal compiler of the legends of the saints found in the menologies of the Byzantine church. Though his life was written by Michael Psellos (d. 1078), little is known of him for certain. Unlike the other two hagiographers mentioned he was not a prelate -- Psellos says he was a logothete, a sort of secretary of state, and that he undertook his work on the saints at the command of an emperor, probably Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. He is now generally identified with the tenth-century Simeon the Logothete who wrote a chronicle.

Simeon’s collection of legends has made him one of the best known of Medieval Greek writers but there is still some uncertainty about his sources and where he got some of his material. He has been accused of wholesale fabrication and childish credulity, but his reputation has been vindicated by Ehrhard, Delehaye and others: the numerous ridiculous stories which he retails were not invented by him but were current, in writing or oral tradition, in his time, and he simply wrote them down. To what extent he believed them himself is another matter. He was the principal compiler of Greek legends of the saints, and has not inaptly been likened to Bd James of Voragine his collection was translated into Latin and printed at Venice in the mid-sixteenth century.

The feast day of St Simeon Metaphrastes is on November 28 in the Byzantine church, but there has been no cultus of him in the West, as the Latins remarked in the seventh session of the Council of Florence.

See A. Ehrhard, Die Legendensammlung des Symeon Metaphrastes… (1897) H. Delehaye in Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xvi (1897), pp. 312--329 and vol. xvii (1898), pp. 448—452, in the American Ecclesiastical Review, vol. xxiii (1900), pp. 113-120, and in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th edition, vol. xxvi, p. 285 A. Fortescue in the Catholic Encyclopaedia, vol. x, pp. 225—226 and H. Leclercq in DAC., t, xi, cc. 420-426. The collection of legends is in Migne, PG., vols. cxiv—cxvi vol. cxlv contains the life by Psellos and the office for St Simeon’s feast and in Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lxviii (1950), pp. 126—134 is printed the text of verses on Simon’s death by Nikephoros Ouranos (fl. 996). For a criticism of the attempt to date the Metaphrast in the middle of the eleventh century see A. Ehrhard, Überlieferung und Bestand der hagiographischen und homiletischen Literatur der griechischen Kirche, in Texte und Untersuchungen our Gesch. der altchristlichen Literatur, vol. li, pp. 307 seq.

1394 St Theodore the Archbishop of Rostov virtuous life and strict asceticism occupied himself with iconography

Saint Theodore, Archbishop of Rostov, in the world John, was the son of Stephen (brother of St Sergius of Radonezh), who occupied an important post under Prince Andrew of Radonezh. Left a widower, Stephen became a monk, and together with his twelve-year-old son, he went to the monastery to St Sergius, who foreseeing the ascetic life of the child John, tonsured him with the name Theodore on the Feast of St Theodore the Hair-Shirt Wearer (April 20).

After Theodore attained an appropriate age, he was given a blessing to be ordined to the priesthood. With the blessing of St Sergius, St Theodore built a church in honor of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos and founded a monastery on the banks of the River Moskva, at the place called Simonovo. Soon the monastery began to attract a throng of people. St Theodore built a cell five versts from the Moscow Kremlin, and pursued new ascetical labors, and here disciples gathered around him. St Sergius, visiting this place, blessed the founding of a monastery, and Metropolitan Alexis blessed the construction of a church in the name of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos at Novoe Simonovo, which also had its foundations laid in 1379. The old Simonov monastery remained the burial place of monks.

Because of his virtuous life and strict asceticism, St Theodore became known in Moscow. The Metropolitan St Alexis elevated him to the rank of igumen, and Great Prince Demetrius of the Don chose him as his father confessor. St Theodore journeyed to Constantinople several times on church matters for the Russian Metropolitan. On his first journey in 1384, Patriarch Nilus made him an archimandrite. The Simonov monastery was put directly under the Patriarch, thus became stavropegial. In 1387, he was consecrated archbishop and occupied the See of Rostov.

Being the igumen, and then the archimandrite of the Simonov monastery, and despite being occupied with churchly matters, St Theodore stalwartly guided those in the monastic life and counted many great and famous ascetics among his disciples. Saints Cyril (June 9) and Therapon (May 27), the future founders of two famous White Lake monasteries, were tonsured at the Simonov monastery. St Theodore occupied himself with iconography, and he adorned with icons of his own painting both the Simonov monastery, and many Moscow churches.

At Rostov, Archbishop Theodore founded the Nativity of the Virgin monastery. The blessed death of the saint occurred on November 28, 1394. His relics are in the Rostov Dormition cathedral. St Theodore is also commemorated on May 23.

1476 St. James of the Marche "four pillars" among the Franciscans
Neápoli, in Campánia, deposítio sancti Jacóbi Picéni, Sacerdótis ex Ordine Minórum et Confessóris, vitæ asperitáte, apostólica prædicatióne ac plúribus pro re Christiána óbitis legatiónibus præclári; quem Benedíctus Décimus tértius, Póntifex Máximus, Sanctórum fastis adjúnxit.
At Naples in Campania, the death of St. James della Marca, priest and confessor of the Order of Friars Minor, celebrated for the austerity of his life, his apostolic preaching, and his many diplomatic missions undertaken for the success of the affairs of Christianity. His name was added to the calendar of the saints by the Sovereign Pontiff, Benedict XIII.

1476 ST JAMES OF THE MARCH
THE native town of this saint was Montebrandone in the March of Ancona, whence his appellation della Marca; his family name was Gangala and his parents were humble folk. He was born in 1394, and in 1416 asked to be received among the Friars Minor at Assisi. He was sent for his novitiate to the small convent near Assisi called the Careen, and afterwards studied under St Bernardino of Siena at Fiesole. He was ordained priest when he was twenty-nine, and at once began to preach in Tuscany, Umbria and the March. St James regularly inflicted severe penances on himself, and is said to have allowed only three hours for sleep. He copied for himself most of the books he required to have with him, and he always wore a most threadbare habit. His zeal for souls was boundless and throughout his long active life he was continually engaged in preaching, which he did with great vehemence and effect whether he addressed himself to heretics or to sinful Catholics: his missions took him to Germany, Bohemia, Poland and Hungary.

James worked in concert with St John Capistrano, his fellow student under St Bernardino. In 1426 they were named together by Pope Martin V as inquisitors against the Fraticelli, the name given to a number of rigorist and heretical sects then rampant in Italy. The two friars proceeded with such severity that some bishops and others were moved to protest not only were thirty-six houses of the Fraticelli dispersed and destroyed, but some members were burned at the stake.

James took part in less violent measures as well, both as regards them and other schismatics: at the Council of Basle he helped in the conciliation of the moderate Hussites by the concession of communion in both kinds, and when the council moved to Florence he took part in the reunion of the dissident orientals. In 1445 St James preached the Lent at Perugia, and there clothed with the Franciscan habit Bd Bernardino of Fossa. Four years later he was again commissioned to deal with the Fraticelli, and wrote a “Dialogue” which was published against them.

St James belonged to the Observants among the Friars Minor, whose marked success at that time had excited a deal of envy and jealousy; in a letter to St John Capistrano he sets out his own difficulties and sufferings because of this. He took part in the efforts to settle the matters at issue between Observants and Conventuals, but the compromise which James recommended to the Holy See satisfied neither party.

In 1456 there was an interesting coincidence in his career. He was again preaching a series of Lenten sermons, this time at Padua, and again he attracted a young saint named Bernardino to the Friars Minor, Bd Bernardino of Feltre. St James himself was a favourer of those montes pietatis, which it was to be this Bernardino’s work to reorganize and popularize. Later in the same year St John Capistrano died and St James was sent to take his place in Austria and Hungary, where he carried on his work against the extreme Hussites.

On his return to Italy St James was offered the see of Milan, which he refused, preferring to serve souls by continuing to preach up and down the country; but two years later, in 1462, he got himself into trouble. Preaching at Brescia on Easter Monday he gave voice to a theological opinion that caused him to be cited before the local Inquisition. He refused to appear, and when the matter was pursued appealed to Rome. The subject was one upon which Friars Minor and Friars Preachers had already taken sides (the inquisitor was a Dominican), and this incident precipitated a full-length disputation before Pope Pius II. No decision was given and eventually silence was imposed on both parties.

St James of the March passed the last three years of his life at Naples and died there on November 28, 1476. He was canonized in 1726.

It is only of recent years that the most authentic testimony concerning St James has seen the light. This is the life or memoir written in Italian by Fr Vincent da Fabriano, who was his companion and intimate friend. It was edited in the Archivum Franciscanum Historicum, vol. xvii (1924), pp. 378—414, by Fr Teodosio Somigli. In the same article is contained a full bibliography, which dispenses us from any but a brief notice of other lives of the saint. Wadding, Mark of Lisbon, Tossignano and Mazzara in their chronicles all give full accounts. The principal separate biographies are those of G. B. Barberio (1702), Giuseppe-Arcangelo di Fratta Maggiore (1830), and G. Rocco (1909). See also Léon, Auréole Séraphique (Fog. trans.), vol. iv, pp. 125—154; and G. Caselli, Studi su S. Giacomo della Marca (2 vols., 1926).

Meet one of the fathers of the modern pawnshop!

James was born 1394 in the Marche of Ancona, in central Italy along the Adriatic Sea. After earning doctorates in canon and civil law at the University of Perugia, he joined the Friars Minor and began a very austere life. He fasted nine months of the year; he slept three hours a night. St. Bernardine of Siena told him to moderate his penances.

James studied theology with St. John of Capistrano. Ordained in 1420, James began a preaching career that took him all over Italy and through 13 Central and Eastern European countries. This extremely popular preacher converted many people (250,000 at one estimate) and helped spread devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus. His sermons prompted numerous Catholics to reform their lives and many men joined the Franciscans under his influence.
With John of Capistrano, Albert of Sarteano and Bernardine of Siena, James is considered one of the "four pillars" of the Observant movement among the Franciscans. These friars became known especially for their preaching.
To combat extremely high interest rates, James established montes pietatis (literally, mountains of charity) — nonprofit credit organizations that lent money at very low rates on pawned objects.
Not everyone was happy with the work James did. Twice assassins lost their nerve when they came face to face with him. James was canonized in 1726.

Comment: James wanted the word of God to take root in the hearts of his listeners. His preaching was directed to preparing the soil, so to speak, by removing any rocks and softening up lives hardened by sin. God’s intention is that his word take root in our lives, but for that we need both prayerful preachers and cooperative listeners.

Quote: "Beloved and most holy word of God! You enlighten the hearts of the faithful, you satisfy the hungry, console the afflicted; you make the souls of all productive of good and cause all virtues to blossom; you snatch souls from the devil’s jaw; you make the wretched holy, and men of earth citizens of heaven" (Sermon of St. James).

(This entry appears in the print edition of Day by Day With Followers of Francis and Clare.)

St. James of the Marches
James Gangala was born at Montebrandone, Ancona. He studied law and then joined the Franciscans at Assisi in 1416. He studied under St. Bernardino of Siena at Fiesole, was ordained when he was twenty-nine, and became an effective and forceful preacher. He worked as a missionary with St. John Capistran in Italy and in Germany, Bohemia, Poland, and Hungary, and in 1426, with John, was named inquisitor against the Fraticelli by Pope St. Martin V. They destroyed thirty-six Fraticelli houses, and their severity (some of the Fraticelli were burned at the stake) and their tactics resulted in great violence and caused many objections. James attended the Council of Basle-Florence, and helped reconcile Hussites, but was unsuccessful in attempts to reconcile the Observant and Conventual Franciscans.
In 1456, he was sent to Austria and Hungary to combat the Hussites. He refused offer of the See of Milan, and in 1462 became involved with the Inquisition because of a sermon he preached at Brescia. The case caused a sensation and was referred to Rome; silence was imposed on all parties, and no decision was ever rendered. He died in Naples, where he spent the last three years of his life, on November 28th. He was canonized in 1726 as St. James of the Marches.
James of the March, OFM (RM)
(also known as Giacomo della Marca or Jacopo Gangala)
Born in Montebrandone, March of Ancona, September 1, 1394; died in Naples 1475; canonized 1726.

You may have seen his portrait by Carlo Crivelli in the Louvre: an emaciated monk with a long, pointed nose reminiscent of Pinocchio. But long before his portrait was painted by Crivelli, it had been painted by God. For in his Book of Life God makes a picture of everything that He creates, and the true saints are those men and women who in their lives come closest to resembling God's picture of them.

And so on September 1, 1394, God made the portrait of an Italian Franciscan whose zeal and enterprise would make him a good instrument to carry out God's eternal purpose--the glorification of His name and the coming of His Kingdom.

At first this future Franciscan was just an ordinary little boy. He was born into a poor family living in Montebrandrone, a village in the Marches (the ancient Picenum) overlooking the Adriatic. He was baptized with the name of Dominic, and we can easily imagine him one day asking the priest the meaning of his name. When he heard the Dominic came from Dominus and meant "he who belongs to the Lord," he must have thought that his name was a call, and that the call should be answered.

After studying law he answered it when, at age 22, he took the Franciscan habit in 1416. As he was to recall much later, his first habit was tailored for him by Father Bernardino of Siena. Dominic took a new name as well as a new habit. Perhaps he regretted losing his lordly name, but a new vocation demands a new name, and besides the name Dominic, being reminiscent of the Dominicans, might have given offense to some of his Franciscan brothers.

And so, emerging from the waters of his second baptism, Dominic became James. In accordance with Franciscan custom, he also took the name of the province from which he came; thus, he is called James della Marca (of the Marches). This fine-sounding name, half apostle and half traveller, was well-suited to a man for the next 50 years was to travel all over Europe spreading the good news of Jesus Christ.

Before beginning his wandering ministry, however, James studied for the priesthood under Saint Bernardino of Siena at Fiesole (outside Florence, Italy) and was ordained at age 29 (1423). He became a zealous and well-attended preacher and is said to have brought both Blessed Bernardino of Feltre and Blessed Bernardino of Fosso into the Franciscan Order.

Saint James preached every day for 40 years. It was his vocation to march, or rather to run, along the roads of Christendom, trying to be everywhere at once for he was needed everywhere at once. One day while at supper he was lifting his glass to take a drink when he was brought a message from Eugene IV sending him to Hungary. He put down his glass and left immediately.

It would take the patience of a Benedictine to reconstruct all his missionary journeys, including those undertaken with Saint John Capistrano throughout Italy, Germany, Bohemia, Poland, and Hungary. In 1426, with Saint John, he was named inquisitor against the Fraticelli by Pope Saint Martin V. Their approach was harsh--some of the Fraticelli were burned at the stake--and they destroyed 36 Fraticelli houses, provoking opposition.

The most we can do to tract the progress of this energetic Franciscan is just to mention a few of the places where he turned up. In 1432, he was in Bosnia, where King Tuertko received him with open arms and the queen tried to murder him. There he preached against the heresy of the Bogomils.

In 1436, James della Marca was in Bohemia, Hungary, and Austria, founding on an average one monastery a month. In 1437, he was the chief almoner for the crusade that emperor Sigismond was leading against the Turks. In 1438 he returned to Italy, made a brief appearance in Bologna, attended a council in Ferrara, and then went back to Hungary.

In 1440 he fell ill in Cyprus. In 1444--a rare event--he spent three days resting in a little monastery on the shores of Lake Trasimene, where he was joined by John of Capistrano and Bernardine of Siena, who died a month later.

Succeeding Saint John Capistrano as papal legate in 1456, he went to Austria and Hungary to combat the Hussites. He was thereafter offered the bishopric of Milan, but turned it down because he preferred to continue preaching.

In 1462, as a result of a sermon he preached in Brescia in which he gave a theological opinion on the precious Blood of Christ, he himself became the subject of a local inquisition. The case was controversial and James refused to appear before the Inquisition and appealed to Rome. A silence was imposed upon both the Dominican inquisitors and the Franciscans, and no decision was ever reached.

And so on, always hurrying from place to place, always preaching and always fighting the good fight, until November 28, 1476, the date of his last journey, when he set out from Naples and arrived in heaven, where we have good reason to believe he still is.

Not surprisingly in view of the life he led, James della Marca did not put on much weight. Moreover he imposed on himself severe penances. He allowed himself only three hours of sleep nightly and wore a threadbare habit. He fasted every day and had, according to his biographer "a poor stomach and severe inflammation of the liver." Towards the end of his life the pope forbade him to fast, for his health was "in the public interest." It should be noted that Saint James was also a very strong supporter for the establishment of charitable pawnshops (montes pietatis).

The common sense of the good pope--Sixtus IV--is to be commended, ordering a saint to take care of his health, but even more admirable is the monk who set out every morning with his satchel containing a piece of bread, some beans, salt, garlic, and a few onions. He knew only too well that to be a witness of God among men it is far better to be full of the Holy Spirit than full of food.

And it was the Holy Spirit that inspired him to speak with such power and fire and amazing success. At Camerino he inflamed the townsfolk to such a point that they nearly burned his adversary alive. At Aquila 40,000 people waited for him to come down from the pulpit so that they could get what was then the equivalent of his autograph--a piece of parchment with the name of Jesus written on it. To meet the demand, the friars in the monastery had to mass-produce them and then give them to James to touch before distributing them among his admirers.

More enduring than these bonfires that are so easy to light under the hot Italian sun was his work as a peace-maker, for which he had a special gift. During the turbulent 15th century peace had disappeared nearly everywhere. James reconciled the conventuals and the observants, the two opposed branches of the Franciscans who were at loggerheads about their interpretations of the true spirit of their founder. He reconciled Catholics and heretics of every kind. For example, he moderated his opposition to the Hussites of Hungary by offering at the Council of Basle (part of the Council of Ferrara-Florence) the practice of Communion under both species (1431). At the Council of Florence (1438), he participated in the reunion of the Eastern and Western Churches. He reconciled Guelphs and Ghibellines who quarreled out of habit. Above all he reconciled men with God, which is surely the best way of reconciling men with each other.

In 1473, James was moved to Naples, where he died and was buried in the church of Santa Maria Nuova.

While nearly every day brought a different landscape before the eyes of Saint James della Marca, he gaze remained fixed unceasingly on the Eternal and Unchangeable. Popes, kings, and crowds called him, but in their call he always heard the same unique voice of God. Every evening he was breathless, yet each morning he preached because he had spent half the night breathing the Holy Spirit (Attwater, Attwater 2, Benedictines, Coulson, Encyclopedia, Farmer, White).

Saint James' emblem is a chalice and a serpent. He is generally depicted as a Franciscan holding a chalice and a veil; sometimes the image includes a staff and lily; or staff, castanets at his girdle, pointing to IHS (not to be confused with Saint Bernardino, whose face, old and toothless, is invariable). Venerated at Ancona (Roeder, White).

1521 Blessed Calimerius of Montechiaro, OP (PC).
The Dominican Calimerius spent his life preaching throughout Italy. At 90 and unable to climb into the pulpit persuaded others to lift him into it in order that he might preach. Talk about perseverance! (Benedictines).

1582 Bd. James Thompson, Priest 2 years; Blessed English martyr; He addressed the people, protested his loyalty to the queen, and as he was mounting the scaffold turned and said, “I have forgotten one thing. I pray you all to bear witness that I die in the Catholic faith.” As he hung, swinging and choking, he was seen, “to the great astonishment of the spectators” to make the sign of the cross.

1582 BD JAMES THOMPSON, MARTYR
THIS martyr was a native of York and spent most of his life in that city. He went to Rheims to study for the priesthood in 1580, where his health broke down, and within a year he had returned to England. But not before he had been ordained priest by virtue of a special dispensation. He worked on the mission, under the name of Hudson, for just a year before he was arrested and brought before the Council of the North. He at once admitted that he was a priest, which caused considerable surprise, for his short absence from the city had not been noticed. Some details of his examination, trial and passion are extant. Among the questions asked was whether he would take arms against the pope should he invade the realm. To which he replied, “When that time shall come I will show myself a true patriot”. But when asked if he would fight against the pope now, he answered “No".

After three months’ confinement, for a time in irons and among common criminals, Bd James was hanged, but not drawn or quartered, in the Knavesmire at York on November 28, 1582. He addressed the people, protested his loyalty to the queen, and as he was mounting the scaffold turned and said, “I have forgotten one thing. I pray you all to bear witness that I die in the Catholic faith.” As he hung, swinging and choking, he was seen, “to the great astonishment of the spectators” to make the sign of the cross.

The fullest account obtainable is that given in Camm and Pollen, LEM., vol. ii, pp. 589—599. See also MMP., pp. 70—72 and J. Morris, Troubles pp. 39—40.

A native of York, he studied for the priesthood at Reims and was ordained there in 1581. Arrested soon after his return to England, he was hanged at York. He used the name Hudson in his mission work. James was beatified in 1895.
Blessed James Thompson M (AC) also known as James Hudson Born at York, England; died there in 1582; beatified in 1895. Blessed James was educated for and ordained to the priesthood at Rheims. After his ordination in 1581, he returned to York under the name of Hudson to convert the Protestants and was hanged the following year (Attwater 2, Benedictines, Encyclopedia).

1811 Joseph Pignatelli, SJ (RM)
Born in Saragossa, Spain, 1737; died October 1811; canonized 1954 by Pope Pius XII; feast day formerly on November 11.

ST JOSEPH PIGNATELLI (A.D. 1811)
THE Pignatelli to whom this saint belonged was the Spanish branch of a noble family of Naples, and he was born at Saragossa in 1737. He became a Jesuit at Tarragona when he was sixteen, and after his ordination retuned to work in his native city. Four years later, in 1767, the persecution, which had already driven the Society of Jesus from Portugal and France, spread to Spain, and Charles III banished it from his dominions, “for reasons which were kept locked up in the royal bosom”.
As grandees of Spain, Father Joseph and his brother, Father Nicholas, were offered permission to stay if they would abandon their order; they refused. For a time the Aragonese Jesuits found a home in Corsica, but when the French occupied that island they were expelled from there, and eventually Father Pignatelli helped to arrange a centre for them, as well as their brothers from Peru and Mexico, at Ferrara.
Pope Clement XIII, a great defender of the Jesuits, died in 1769, and four years later his successor, Clement XIV, yielded to the ever-growing pressure of the Bourbon princes and suppressed the Society altogether.

It was a purely administrative measure and the papal brief was careful not to state that charges brought were proved. When this brief was read to the assembled fathers at Ferrara and the vicar general asked if they submitted themselves to it, they were true to their special fidelity as Jesuits to the Holy See and replied at once, “Yes, willingly”. The effect of the decree was to secularize 23,000 religious “It is a sad page of history, as everybody agrees”, said Pope Pius XI at the beatification of Father Joseph, “sad to read even after so many years. What then must it have been for Father Pignatelli and his numerous brethren!”

In the twenty years which followed he lived principally at Bologna, devoting himself to study, collecting books and manuscripts bearing on the history of the Society, and aiding his brethren spiritually and materially: many of them were in grave want and the Spaniards among them were not even allowed to fulfil their priestly office.

It is recorded that once, when on a visit to Turin, a stranger pointed out to Father Pignatelli a new church and cemetery as having been built with funds taken from the Jesuits. “It ought to be called Haceldama” * he observed grimly. {* “The field of blood.” (See Matt. xxvii 8.)}

As the Empress Catherine had refused to allow the bishops to promulgate the brief of suppression, the continued existence of the Society was tolerated in White Russia by the Holy See, and in 1792 the Duke of Parma invited three Italian fathers from there to establish themselves in his state. Father Pignatelli wished to associate himself with this venture, but was not willing to act without authority. When, however, Duke Ferdinand obtained a guarded approval from Pope Pius VI, Pignatelli renewed his vows privately and was put in charge, and two years later (1799), having received verbal permission from the pope, he organized a quasi-novitiate at Colorno. The students had to go to Russia to make their profession, and this proceeding was recognized as canonical when, in 1801, Pope Pius VII gave formal approbation to the Jesuit province in Russia.

Father Pignatelli worked unceasingly by prayer and secular activity for the further revival of the Society, and his efforts were rewarded in 1804 when it was re-established in the kingdom of Naples, he himself being named provincial.

In the following year the French invasion again brought dispersion. Most of the fathers, however, were able to retire to Palermo (the resulting Sicilian province became the mother of the modern Jesuit province in Ireland), but Joseph Pignatelli went to Rome and was there made provincial for Italy.

With help of the generous alms of his sister, he was able to restore the Society in Sardinia and re-lay its foundations in Rome, Tivoli and Orvieto. During the critical period of the French occupation and exile of Pius VII his prudence conserved safely all that he had gained towards his ultimate object—the complete restoration of the Society of Jesus. This took place in 1814, three years after his death. Nevertheless, St Joseph Pignatelli fully deserves to be regarded as what Pope Pius XI called him, “the chief link between the Society that had been and the Society that was to be…the restorer of the Jesuits”.

This “example of manly and vigorous holiness”—we again quote Pius XI— died at Rome on November 11, 1811, and was canonized in 1954.

A sketch of the life of this servant of God seems first to have been published in Italian by Fr A. Monçon in 1833, but a fuller and better-informed biography is that of Fr G. Boero, Istoria della Vita del V Padre Giuseppe M. Pignatelli (1856), and on this was based the French life which Fr G. Bouffier brought out in 1868. The most complete work seems to be that of Fr Nonell in Spanish, El V. P. José M. Pignatelli… (3 vols., 1893—94); this includes many of his letters. Since then several other lives have been produced, e.g. by P. Zurbitu (Spanish, 1933), by C. Beccari (Italian, 1933), by J. March (Spanish, 1935), and by D. A. Hanly (English, 1938).

Born of a Spanish mother and a princely Italian father, Saint Joseph, a Spanish grandee, was educated in Saragossa. He joined the Jesuits at Tarragona when he was 16, made his vows in 1755, was ordained in 1763, and was assigned to Saragossa. In addition to teaching young boys, Father Joseph had a special ministry to those condemned to execution. After his profession, he taught at Manresa, Bilboa, and Saragossa.

When Charles III banished the Jesuits from Spain in 1767, Father Pignatelli and his fellow Jesuits went to Corsica, where they were forced to leave when the French, who had also banished the Jesuits, occupied the island.

They then settled in Ferrara, Italy, where Joseph was placed in charge of young recruits. When Pope Clement XIV, under pressure from the Bourbons, suppressed the Jesuits in 1773 as an administrative measure without condemning any of the Society's actions. Joseph and the 23,000 members of the Society of Jesus were secularized.

He lived for the next 20 years at Bologna, Italy, contributing to the temporal support of his less fortunate fellow Jesuit exiles and strengthening their courage with brotherly advice. At the same time he worked hard for the restoration of his beloved institute and studied its history.

Meanwhile, Empress Catherine had refused to allow the bull of suppression to be published in Russia, and the Society of Jesus continued in existence there. In 1792, the duke of Parma invited three Italian Jesuits in Russia to establish themselves in his realm, and after receiving permission from Pope Pius VI, Father Pignatelli made his profession again in 1797 and became superior, thus bringing the Jesuits back to Italy.

He began a quasi-novitiate at Colorno in 1799 and saw Pope Pius VII give formal approval to the Jesuit province in Russia in 1801. Father Pignatelli worked to revive the Jesuits, and in 1804 the Society was re-established in the Kingdom of Naples, with him as provincial--"the link between the old and the new Society." The province was dispersed when the French invaded Naples later that same year, whereupon he went to Rome and was named provincial for Italy. Many Jesuits came back to Rome, where Pius VII offered them their former college and S. Pantaleon's near the Colosseum. Thus, he restored the Society in Sardinia and helped conserve it when the French occupied Rome.

Though the Society of Jesus was not fully restored until 1814, three years after the death of Saint Joseph in Rome on November 11, Pope Pius XII called him the "restorer of the Jesuits" and described him as a priest of "manly and vigorous holiness" when he canonized him (Attwater 2, Benedictines, Coulson, Delaney, Farmer).

1835 St. Andrew Trong Vietnamese martyr
Born in 1817, he was a soldier and a Christian. He was arrested in 1834 and in the presence of his mother he was beheaded. She knelt beside him at the execution site in Hué, receiving his head on her lap. He was canonized in 1988.

1876 Saint Catherine Labouré 'Miraculous Medal' sanctity revealed through her self-effacement, humility, holiness in little things everyday life; incorrupt V (RM)
1876 ST CATHERINE LABOURÉ, VIRGIN
Zoé LABOURÉ was the daughter of a yeoman-farmer at Fain-les-Moutiers in the Côte d’Or, where she was born in 1806. She was the only one of a large family not to go to school and did not learn to read and write. Her mother died when Zoé was eight, and when her elder sister, Louisa, left home to become a Sister of Charity the duties of housekeeper and helper to her father devolved upon her. From the age of fourteen or so she also heard a call to the religious life, and after some opposition M. Labouré allowed her to join the Sisters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul at Châtillon-sur-Seine in 1830. She took the name of Catherine, and after her postulancy was sent to the convent in the rue du Bac at Paris, where she arrived four days before the translation of the relics of St Vincent from Notre-Dame to the Lazarist church in the rue de Sèvres.

On the evening of the day of those festivities began the series of visions which were to make the name of Catherine Labouré famous. The first of the three principal ones took place three months later, on the night of July 18, when at about 11.30 p.m. she was woken up suddenly by the appearance of a “shining child”, who led her down to the sisters’ chapel. There our Lady appeared and talked with her for over two hours, telling her that she would have to undertake a difficult task and also, it is said, speaking of the future and the violent death of an archbishop of Paris forty years later (Mgr Darboy, in the Commune of 1871).
On November 27 following, our Lady appeared to Sister Catherine in the same chapel, in the form of a picture and as it were standing on a globe with shafts of light streaming from her hands towards it, surrounded by the words: “O Mary, conceived free from sin, pray for us who turn to thee” Then the picture turned about, and Sister Catherine saw on the reverse side a capital M, with a cross above it and two hearts, one thorn-crowned and the other pierced with a sword, below. And she seemed to herself to hear a voice telling her to have a medal struck representing these things, and promising that all who wore it with devotion should receive great graces by the intercession of the Mother of God. This or a similar vision was repeated in the following month and on several other occasions up to September 1831.

Sister Catherine confided in her confessor, M. Aladel, and he, after making very careful investigations, was given permission by the archbishop of Paris, Mgr de Quélen, to have the medal struck. In June 1832 the first 1500 were issued— the medal now known to Catholics throughout the world as “miraculous”. This epithet seems to be due to the circumstances of its origin rather than, as is commonly supposed, to miracles connected with its pious use.

In 1834 M. Aladel published a Notice historique sur l’origine et l’effets de la Médaille Miraculeuse, of which 130,000 copies were sold in six years. It was translated into seven languages, including Chinese. The archbishop of Paris instituted a canonical inquiry into the alleged visions in 1836, before which, however, Sister Catherine could not be induced to appear. The precautions she had taken to keep herself unknown, the promise she had wrung from M. Aladel not to tell anybody who she was, the secrecy she had kept towards everyone except her confessor, her constant unwillingness to appear before an ecclesiastical authority, account for this inquiry not being extended to the young sister herself.

The tribunal decided in favour of the authenticity of the visions, taking into consideration the circumstances, the character of the sister concerned, and the prudence and level-headedness of M. Aladel. The popularity of the medal increased daily, especially after the conversion of Alphonse Ratisbonne in 1842. He was an Alsatian Jew who, having reluctantly agreed to wear the medal, received a vision of our Lady in that form in the church of Sant’ Andrea delle Frate at Rome, whereupon he became a Christian and was later a priest and founder of a religious congregation, the Fathers and Sisters of Zion.

This vision of Ratisbonne also was the subject of a canonical inquiry, and the reports of this and of the archbishop of Paris’s were extensively used in the process of beatification of Catherine Labouré, of whose personal life very little is recorded. Her superiors speak of her as “rather insignificant”, “matter-of-fact and unexcitable”, “cold, almost apathetic”. From 1831 until her death on December 31, 1876, she lived unobtrusively among the community at Enghien-Reuilly, as portress, in charge of the poultry, and looking after the aged who were supported in the hospice. Not until eight months before her death did she speak to anyone except her confessor of the extraordinary graces she had received, and then she revealed them only to her superior, Sister Dufés. Her funeral was the occasion of an outburst of popular veneration, and a child of twelve, crippled from birth, was instantaneously cured at her grave soon after. St Catherine Labouré was canonized in 1947, and this day appointed for her feast.

A good deal has been written about St Catherine and “the miraculous medal”. The best-known biography is probably that of Fr E. Crapez, of which an English abbreviation was published in 1920. Another life is that by Fr E, Cassinari, and this also has been issued in English, in 1934. An earlier account is that of Lady Georgiana Fullerton, Life and Visions of a Sister of Charity (1880). Among other books are a popular life in English by Mrs P. Boyne (1948), and La vie secréte de Catherine Labouré (1948), by C. Yves.

Born at Fain-les-Moûtiers (near Dijon), Côte d'Or, France, May 2, 1806; died in Paris, December 31, 1876; beatified in 1933; canonized 1947; feast day formerly December 31.

Though Saint Catherine was called a "silly old thing" by the Republic, and as "matter of fact, unexcitable, insignificant, cold, and apathetic" by her superiors, you should know her story if you are one of the millions of Catholics now wearing a Miraculous Medal.

She was baptized Zoë Labouré, daughter of a yeoman farmer in the Côte d'Or. Without complaint she took over the running of the household at age 8, after the death of her mother and the departure of her elder sister, Louisa, to join the Sisters of Charity. After a few years, she worked as a waitress in her uncle's café in Paris. For this reason she was the only one in the family who never learned to read or write.

From the age of 14, she felt called to the religious life, to follow her elder sister. Overcoming opposition from her father, she was finally allowed to join the Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul at Châtillon-sur-Seine in 1830 (age 24), taking the name of Catherine. She was a model sister, practical, and unemotional by temperament.

After her postulancy, she went to a convent in the rue du Bac, Paris. She arrived several days before the translation of relics of Saint Vincent from Notre Dame to the Lazarist Church in rue de Sèvres.

Almost immediately she began experiencing the series of her famous visions of the Blessed Mother. In one of them the Blessed Virgin told Catherine that within her lifetime the archbishop of Paris would be brutally put to death. (This indeed happened in 1871 with the death of Msgr. Darboy.)

The first of three major visions took place three months later. She was awakened about 11:30 p.m. on July 18 by a "shining child," who led her to the chapel. Our Lady appeared and talked with her for hours, telling her that she would have to undertake a difficult task.

On November 27, Mary appeared in the same chapel in the form of a picture, standing on a globe, with shafts of light streaming from her hands, surrounded by the words

"O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!"

The picture turned around, and on the reverse side appeared a capital M with a cross above it and two hearts, one thorn-crowned and one pierced with a sword, beneath.

Catherine heard a voice asking her to have a medal struck, promising that all who wore the medal would receive great graces.
This or similar visions were repeated several times up to September 1831. From that time until her death, Catherine led a life that was outwardly uneventful tending the sick.

Catherine confided in her confessor, Father Aladel, and he, convinced of her sincerity, persuaded Archbishop de Quélen of Paris to give permission for a medal to be struck. In June 1832, the first 1,500 of the millions of medals to be made--now known to Catholics as the 'Miraculous Medal'--were struck. The popularity of the medal grew, especially after the conversion of Alphonse Ratisbonne in 1842. Alphonse was an Alsatian Jew who, having been persuaded to wear the medal received a vision of Our Lady in the church of Sant'Andrea delle Frate at Rome, became a priest, and founded the religious congregation known as the Fathers and Sisters of Zion.

In 1836, the archbishop initiated a canonical inquiry into the alleged visions. Catherine refused to appear, wishing her identity to be kept a secret. Fr. Aladel pleaded to be allowed to keep her name anonymous. The tribunal, basing its opinion on the stability of her confessor and Catherine's character, decided to favor the authenticity of the visions.

After her year of extraordinary grace, Catherine was sent to the convent Enghien-Reuilly on the outskirts of Paris. There Catherine served as portress until her death, engaging in menial tasks such as looking after the poultry and overseeing the aged living in the Hospice d'Enghien. Not until a few months before her death did she speak to anyone about the visions except her confessor; she confided in her superior, Sister Dufé.

Saint Catherine Labouré was not canonized because of the favor God showed her through this apparition. Her sanctity was revealed through her self-effacement and humility, through her seeking holiness in the little things of everyday life. Her incorrupt body remains in the convent chapel at the rue du Bac, where miracles were reported at her tomb (Attwater, Attwater 2, Benedictines, Bentley, Coulson, Delaney, Engelbert, Farmer, Walsh, White, Yves).

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

THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 218

Bring to Our Lady, O ye sons of God: bring to Our Lady praise and reverence.

Give strength to thy saints, O holy Mother: and thy blessing to those who praise and glorify thee.

Hear the groans of those who sigh to thee: and despise not the prayers of those who invoke thy name.

Let thy hand be ready to help me: and thy ear inclined to my prayer.

Let the heavens and the earth bless thee: the sea and the world.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Saint Frances Xavier Seelos Practical Guide to Holiness

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Meeting of the Saints walis (saints of Allah)

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

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

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

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Mother Angelica saving souls is this beautiful womans journey

Shrine_of_The_Most_Blessed_Sacrament

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

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

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

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

America's First Basilica Largest Nave in the World

August 7, 1907-ground broke for the foundation

by Archbishop Ireland-laying cornerstone May 31, 1908

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

Index to Part I and Part II 1932

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

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

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

Member -- St. Paul Seminary faculty.

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

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

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

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

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

THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi.

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

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

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

By Father John Corapi

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

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

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

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

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

Father Corapi's Biography

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

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

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

About Father John Corapi.

Father Corapi is a Catholic priest .

The pillars of father's preaching are basically:

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

God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LINKS:
Marian Apparitions (over 2000) India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes Feb 11- July 16, Loreto, Italy 1858
China Marian shrines May 23, 1995 Zarvintisya Ukraine Lourdes Kenya national Marian shrine    Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798
Links to Related Marian Websites Angels and Archangels
Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Apostles Roman Catholic Popes Purgatory Uniates, 218 2022