Mary Mother of GOD
Et álibi aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum, atque sanctárum Vírginum.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
Пресвятая Богородице спаси нас!  (Santíssima Mãe de Deus, salva-nos!)
R.  Deo grátias. R.  Thanks be to God.
September is the month of Our Lady of Sorrows since 1857
2022
22,013  Lives Saved Since 2007

ABORTION IS A MORAL OUTRAGE

Pope Francis  PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR SEPTEMBER 2023
 
For people living on the margins
We pray for those persons living on the margins of society, in inhumane life conditions; may they not be overlooked by institutions and never considered of lesser importance.

CAUSES OF SAINTS

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

Acts of the Apostles

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

   Nativity of the Mother of God Forefeast of Readings interpreted as prefiguring the Mother of God
   69 Evodius  is a saint in the Christian church and one of the first identifiable Christians.
       St. Titus, the Apostle Departure of born in Crete, and he was the nephew of the governor of the island. He learned the Greek language, its literature and wisdom, and he excelled in it. he believed in the Lord Christ, and sent to his uncle telling him all that he had seen and heard. When the Lord chose the seventy apostles, Titus was one of them. {COPTIC}
        Sosthenes, Apollos, Cephas, Tychikus, Epaphroditus, Caesarius und Onesiphorus
117-138  St. Eupsychius healed of his wounds by an angel.
  304 St. Sozon, At Pompeiopolis in Cilicia native of Lykaonia, a shepherd read Holy Scriptures attentively, and he loved to share his knowledge about the One God with the shepherds who gathered together with him; brought many to the faith in Christ and Baptism; destroyed idol; by his grave and at the place where he had the vision, many of the sick were healed.
 251 St. Regina was a virgin martyr
  303 St. "John" of Nicomedia "when he saw the cruel decrees against the Christians displayed in the forum he  was fired with zeal for the faith and pulled them down and tore them up with his own hands."
 304 St. Anastasius the Fuller Martyr from Aquileia
 340 Evortius of Orléans B  abbey of Saint-Euvert (Evortius) at Orléans was founded to enshrine his relics, which have been translated three times (RM)
4th v. Enurchus or Evortius Bishop of Orleans
 400 St. Pamphilus  Bishop of Capua A Greek, consecrated bishop by Pope Siricius. Pamphilus’ relics are in Benevento
        St. Carissima hermitess and then a religious
 450 Augustalis as the first historical bishop of Gaul
 451 St. Memorius Martyred deacon with companions
 470 St. Gratus Bishop and patron saint of Aosta Italy. He promoted evangelization and charity .
St. Grimonia virgin A chapel was built over her grave which became famous for miracles, and around it grew up a town, called from its origin La Chapelle
560 Saint Clodoald a hermit;  disciple of St. Severinus remained at Nogent, near Paris; became known as Saint-Cloud.
 706 St. Madalberta Benedictine abbess Daughter of Sts. Vincent Madelgarus and Waldetrudis. St Aldegund was her superior and aunt who founded Maubeuge, where Madalberta took the veil. became abbess 697. sister was St. Aldetrudis
7th v. St. Diuma Bishop of Mercia and companion of St. Cedd An Irishman, Diuma was praised by St. Bede
   750 St. Hilduard Benedictine bishop and missionary
   781 St. Alcmund Bishop and miracle worker
   789 St. Tilbert Bishop of Hexham
 950 Faciolus of Poitiers, OSB (AC) A Benedictine monk of Saint Cyprian Abbey, Poitiers, France (Benedictines). 10th v. St Luke of Prusa was the third holy igumen at the monastery of the Savior, in Batheos Ryakos (near Triglia, Lykaonia). He died in peace.
1106 St. John of Lodi  Benedictine bishop of Gubbio authored a life of St. Peter Damian.
1186 Saint John, Archbishop of Novgorod; establish  monastery in honor of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos; Just like other Russian hierarchs, he calmed and soothed the internecine strife in much-suffering Rus by his prayers and his virtue
1211 Eustace of Flay, OSB Cist. Abbot  apostolic legate of Pope Innocent III to England and represented the holy father against the Albigensians (PC)
1480 Saint Serapion of Pskov; dwelt constantly with St Euphrosynus for 55 years; zealously fulfilled everything commanded of him and was a role model for monks;
1534 Lazarus Spengler Evangelische Kirche: Sein engagiertes Eintreten für die Reformation war von entscheidender Bedeutung.
1619 Bb. Mark, Stephen And Melchior, Martyrs at the instigation of the Calvinists
1627 Bl. Louis Maki Martyr of Japan layman
1627 Bl. John Maid  Martyr of Japan
1644 Bl. John Duckett  Martyr of England
1644 Bl. Ralph Corby Jesuit martyr of England
1678 The Hieromartyr Macarius of Kanev This was a most terrible time for Orthodox Christians in western Rus. The constant struggles of the Hieromartyr, were an attempt to defend the Orthodox Faith under difficult conditions, when it was possible only to defend the future of the Russian Orthodox Church, which was preserved from the brusque passing of the hurricane of the Unia, endured together with Tatar incursions.
1853 Blessed Frederick Ozanam served poor of Paris
1860 The future St Macarius was born in 1788 into the noble Ivanov family, and was baptized with the name Michael in honor of St Michael of Tver (November 22).
1912  Martin Kähler distinction between "Christ of faith" and the Jesus of history often traced to Martin Kahler (1835-1912), "though he probably did not mean by the term what most contemporary critics do".


Our Lady of Aparecida, Patroness of Brazil  September 7 - Our Lady of Aparecida (Brazil, 1717)
In 1717, a statue of Our Lady of Conception, 14 inches tall, was caught in the net of three men, Felipe Pedroso, João Alves and Domingos Garcia, who were fishing in the Paraíba River near the town of Guaratinguetá, in the Province of São Paulo, Brazil. They first found the body of the statue, then, after throwing their net a second time in a little deeper place, they found its head.
They began by paying her homage by calling her "Nossa Senhora Aparecida" because she had appeared in their net while they were fishing. The first miracles occurred soon after the discovery, when people had gathered to sing the rosary and the litanies. After that, when they were invoking Our Lady, several graces were granted by the Virgin. And after these the first pilgrimages began, with pilgrims coming from even far-off places.
In July 1930, by a decree of Pope Pius XI, Our Lady of Aparecida was proclaimed Queen and official Patron Saint of Brazil, a title publicly recognized by the Government of Brazil in the presence of more than a million people. Currently, the shrine welcomes over 8 million pilgrims each year. On October 12th, feast day of the Patron Saint, a considerable number of pilgrims flock to the sanctuary, and the Pilgrimage of Workers takes place every year on September 7th, the national holiday.
Archbishop Damasceno of Aparecida, Brazil  Interview Ave Maria - 2005
   
Our Lady of Aparecida, Queen of Brazil (II) September 7- OUR LADY OF APARECIDEA (Brazil, 1717)
In the course of the moving history of the dark image of their Queen and Mother for whom they have such deep love, people of all milieus and cultures have proclaimed her "Queen."
This is what led my Venerable Predecessor, Pius X, sensitive to the request of the devout sons and daughters of the Virgin "Aparecida," to crown her as Our Lady Queen of Brazil in 1904. Mary's patronage of a nation is not something that happens without the involvement of those she protects. It implies their freely-given consent, renewed daily; it presupposes that they ask for this protection and show that they are worthy of it by embodying it in a life of commitment inspired by the assurance of a deep, firm faith.
(...) It is certain that the patronage of Mary with her title of "Aparecida" requires a commitment on the part of her subjects to take one another by the hand, in an effort to ensure that the country becomes what Mary wants it to be, having adopted it as her own: a land distinguished by hospitality, friendliness, the ability to start a dialogue and to "reconcile" rather than to "oppose."
Letter of John Paul II to H.E. Raymundo Damasceno Assis
For the centenary of the coronation of Nossa Senhora Aparecida (Brazil)

1198 - 1216 Pope Innocent III; One of the greatest popes of the Middle Ages; a learned theologian; one of the greatest jurists of his time; held various ecclesiastical offices during short reigns of Lucius III, Urban III, Gregory VIII, and Clement III; re-established papal authority in Rome; scarcely a country in Europe over which Innocent III did not in some way or other assert supremacy he claimed for the papacy; During his reign two great founders of the mendicant orders, St. Dominic and St. Francis, laid before him their scheme of reforming the world. Innocent was not blind to the vices of luxury and indolence which had infected many of the clergy and part of the laity. In Dominic and Francis he recognized two mighty adversaries of these vices and he sanctioned their projects with words of encouragement.  He wrote "De quadripartita specie nuptiarum" (P. L., CCXVII, 923-968), an exposition of the fourfold marriage bond, namely, between man and wife, between Christ and the Church, between God and the just soul, between the Word and human nature - - entirely based on passages from Holy Scripture.


Readings are interpreted as prefiguring the Mother of God
The first lesson at Great Vespers (Genesis 28:10-17) describes Jacob's dream of a ladder reaching from earth to heaven, and the angels ascending and descending upon it. The second lesson (Ezekiel 43:27-44:4) speaks of the gate of the sanctuary which faces east. God enters through this gate, which is shut so that no one else can enter by it. The third reading (Proverbs 9:1-11) talks about the house that Wisdom has built.

These readings are interpreted as prefiguring the Mother of God.

Sosthenes, Apollos, Cephas, Tychikus, Epaphroditus, Caesarius und Onesiphorus

Orthodoxe Kirche: 8. Dezember Sosthenes, Apollos, Cephas, Caesarius und Epaphrodites: Orthodoxe Kirche: 30. März Caesarius: Katholische Kirche: 10. Dezember Onesiphorus: Orthodoxe Kirche: 7.September / Katholische Kirche: 6. September
Apollos wird mehrfach im Neuen Testament genannt (z. B. Apg. 18, 24). Er wirkte zunächst längere Zeit in Korinth (vgl. 1. Kor. 3, 6), ging dann nach Kreta und wurde schließlich Bischof von Caesarea oder von Smyrna.
Caesarius war Bischof von Dirracheia (Durazzo) im heutigen Albanien. Er starb vielleicht den Märtyrertod.
Cephas wird im Neuen Testament mehrfach genannt. Zum einen ist Cephas das aramäische Wort für Fels (griech. petros), also der Beiname des Petrus (Joh. 1, 42). Andere Stellen, insbesondere im 1. Korintherbrief (1, 11-13; 3, 21; 9, 5; 15,5), können sich aber auch auf einen anderen Cephas beziehen. So berichten Clemens von Alexandrien, Dorotheos und Eusebius von Cephas (von Antiochien), der einer der siebzig Jünger war und den gleichen Namen wie Petrus trug. Cephas soll später Bischof von Ikonium gewesen sein.
Epaphroditus war Mitarbeiter des Paulus (Phil. 2, 25 und 4, 18) und später Bischof von Adriaka in Thrakien oder Adrianum in Italien.
Onesiphorus wurde wohl in Ikonium geboren. Er war Mitarbeiter des Paulus in Ephesus und suchte Paulus nach dessen Gefangennahme in Rom (2. Tim. 1, 16). Er fand ihn auch und starb dann in Rom. Das Gebet des Paulus (2. Tim. 1, 18) ist ein frühes Zeugnis der Fürbitte für Verstorbene.
Sosthenes war Leiter der jüdischen Synagoge in Korinth (Apg. 18, 17). Er wurde von Paulus bekehrt und arbeitete mit ihm zusammen (1. Kor. 1,1,). Später wurde er Bischof von Kolophonium.
Tychikus stammte aus Kleinasien (Apg. 20, 4). Er war Schüler von Paulus und brachte während dessen erster Gefangenschaft die Briefe zu den Ephesern und Kolossern (Eph. 6, 21; Kol. 4, 7; 2. Tim. 4, 12; Tit. 3, 12). Er wurde nach Sosthenes Bischof von Kolophonium .
69 Evodius  is a saint in the Christian church and one of the first identifiable Christians.
Aureliánis, in Gállia, deposítio sancti Evótii Epíscopi, qui, primo Románæ Ecclésiæ Subdiáconus, dehinc divíno múnere per colúmbam designátus est Póntifex præfátæ urbis.
    Evortius At Orleans in France, the departure from this life of the holy bishop, who was first a subdeacon of the Roman Church, and afterwards, through a divine favour, was designated by a dove as bishop of that city.
Euodias Orthodoxe Kirche: 7. September

His feast day in the Roman Catholic Church is May 6 and in the orthodox church September 7.
Very little is known of the life of Evodius. However, he was a pagan who converted to Christianity due to the apostolic work of Saint Peter. In the Book of Acts, one of the first communities to receive evangelism was the Jews and pagans of Antioch. The city was opulent and cosmopolitan, and there were both Hellenized Jews and pagans influenced by monotheism. The term "Christian" was coined for these Gentile (mainly Syrian and Greek) converts, and Peter became the bishop of Antioch and led the church there. When Peter left Antioch for Rome, he was succeeded as bishop of Antioch by a man named Evodius.

Evodius was bishop of Antioch until 69 AD, when Ignatius of Antioch succeeded him. It is more likely that Evodius died of natural causes, in office, than that he was martyred. As one of the first pagans to come to the new church, he is venerated in both the Orthodox churches of the east and Roman Catholic church as a saint.

The Holy Apostle Evodius of the Seventy was, after the holy Apostle Peter, the first bishop in Syrian Antioch. His successor, the Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-Bearer (December 20), disciple of the holy Apostle John the Theologian, mentions him in his Letter to the Antiochians: "Remember your blessed father Evodus, who was made your first pastor by the Apostles."
St Evodius served as bishop for 27 years and died as a martyr under the emperor Nero (54-68). St Evodus wrote several compositions. In one of them he writes that the Most Holy Virgin Mary gave birth to the Savior of the world at the age of fifteen.
Other writings of the saint have not survived. A book entitled THE STAR is mentioned by the fourteenth century church historian Nicephorus Callistus. St Evodus received the crown of martyrdom in the year 66.

Euodias Orthodoxe Kirche: 7. September
Euodias (Evodus) wurde nach Petrus Bischof von Antiochia (Syrien). Eusebius nennt ihn als zweiten Bischof vor Ignatius während andere Quellen Ignatius als direkten Nachfolger Petri nennen. Euodias wurde um 66 verhaftet, nach Rom gebracht und dort hingerichtet .
St. Titus, the Apostle Departure of born in Crete, and he was the nephew of the governor of the island. He learned the Greek language, its literature and wisdom, and he excelled in it. he believed in the Lord Christ, and sent to his uncle telling him all that he had seen and heard. When the Lord chose the seventy apostles, Titus was one of them.{COPTIC}

On this day, St. Titus, the Apostle, was martyred. He was born in Crete, and he was the nephew of the governor of the island. He learned the Greek language, its literature and wisdom, and he excelled in it. He was meek and merciful. When the news of our Lord Jesus Christ spread in all the land of Palestine and Syria, the governor of Crete, the uncle of this saint, wanted to confirm what he had heard about the magnificent signs, and eminent teachings of Christ. He sent Titus to verify that and to bring him accurate information.

When Titus arrived in the land of Judah, he saw the signs and heard the Divine words of the Lord Christ. He compared the words and miracles of our Lord to the words and deeds of the Greeks, and he found a great and clear difference between them. So he believed in the Lord Christ, and sent to his uncle telling him all that he had seen and heard. When the Lord chose the seventy apostles, Titus was one of them. After the ascension of our Lord Christ, Titus received the grace of the Holy Spirit along with the disciples. He accompanied the apostle Paul to many countries.

When St. Paul went to Rome, St. Titus returned to Crete. He built a church there, and ordained for it priests and deacons. Having finished his apostolic strife, St. Titus departed in peace.  May his prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen .
St. Regina was a virgin martyr
Apud Aléxiam véterem, in território Augustodunénsi, sanctæ Regínæ, Vírginis et Mártyris; quæ, sub Procónsule Olybrio, cárceris et equúlei ac lampadárum afflícta supplíciis, demum, cápite damnáta, migrávit ad Sponsum.
    In the diocese of Autun, under the proconsul Olybrius, St. Regína, virgin and martyr.  After having suffered imprisonment, the rack, and burning with torches, she was finally condemned to capital punishment, and so went to her spouse.
St Regina Or Reine, Virgin And Martyr
St Regina, mentioned in the Roman Martyrology as having been martyred in the territory of Autun, the true history is not known.  French legends represent her as the daughter of Clement, a pagan citizen of Alise, in Burgundy.  Her mother died at the child's birth, and Regina was handed over to the care of a Christian woman, who brought her up in the faith.   When Clement discovered this, he refused to receive his daughter, and she went back to live with her nurse, earning her bread as a shepherdess.  She attracted the desire of the prefect Olybrius who, when her good birth was told to him, wanted to marry her. Regina refused him, nor would she listen to the persuasions of her father who, now that his daughter had attracted a distinguished suitor, was willing to own her. She was therefore locked up in a dungeon, and when her spirit remained unbroken Olybrius vented his rage by having her cruelly tortured. That night she was consoled in her prison by a vision of the cross and a voice telling her that her release was at hand.  The next day Olybrius ordered her to be tortured again and then that she should be beheaded; the appearance of a shining dove hovering over her converted many of the onlookers.  This romance invites comparison with the story of St Margaret on July 20.
Though no trust can be placed in what purports to be the passio of St Regina (printed in the Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. iii), the cultus is certainly early, as is vouched for by the fact of the inclusion of her name in the "Hieronymianum ". The foundations of a basilica dedicated in her honour at Alise have been discovered in comparatively recent times see e.g. J. Toutain in Bulletin archiologique dii Comite des Travaux histonques, 1914, pp. 365-387. The legend has been set out at length, with pictorial illustrations by F. Grignard, La Vie de Ste Reine d'Alise (1881); and by Quiilot, Ste Reine d'Alise
She was an actual martyr at Autun, France. Legend has her the daughter of a pagan, Clement, and tortured and beheaded during the second century {3rd} when she refused to marry the proconsul Olybrius (1881,). .
Cæsaréæ, in Cappadócia, sancti Eupsychii Mártyris, qui, sub Hadriáno Imperatóre, accusátus quod Christiánus esset, in cárcerem conjéctus est; et, paulo post inde emíssus, patrimónium statim véndidit, et prétium partim paupéribus, partim accusatóribus, tamquam benefactóribus, distríbuit.  Sed, íterum comprehénsus, atque, cum sacrificáre nollet idólis, sævíssime dilaniátus et gládio confóssus, sub Saprítio Júdice martyrium consummávit.
    117-138 St. Eupsychius At Caesarea in Cappadocia, in the time of Emperor Adrian, martyr who was accused of professing Christianity and who was cast into prison.  Having been released shortly after, he immediately sold his inheritance, and distributed the price of it partly to his accusers, whom he regarded as his benefactors.  But being again arrested, under the judge Sapritius, he was tortured, pierced through with a sword, and thus completed his martyrdom

The Holy Martyr Eupsychius was born in Caesaria, Cappadocia. In one of the Synaxaria he is called the son of a senator Dionysius. During a time of a persecution against Christians under Hadrian, he was arrested and tortured. After the torture they threw him into prison, where he was healed of his wounds by an angel.

When they set the martyr free, he distributed all his property to the poor. He gave away a certain portion even to his enemies, who had reported him and given him over to torture. Under a new governor, St Eupsychius was again arrested. They hung him up and cut his body with iron hooks, and then they cut off his head with a sword. The martyr died under the emperor Hadrian (117-138) .
303 St. John of Nicomedia A Christian of Nicomedia "when he saw the cruel decrees against the Christians displayed in the forum he was fired with zeal for the faith and pulled them down and tore them up with his own hands."
Nicomedíæ natális beáti Joánnis Mártyris, qui, cum vidéret crudélia advérsus Christiános edícta in foro pendére, hinc fídei ardóre accénsus, injécta manu, illa detráxit atque discérpsit.  Cumque hoc relátum esset Diocletiáno et Maximiáno Augústis, in eádem urbe constitútis, ómnia suppliciórum génera in eum experíri jussérunt; quæ vir nobilíssimus tanta vultus ac spíritus alacritáte pértulit, ut ne tristis quidem pro his vidéri potúerit.
    At Nicomedia, the birthday of the blessed martyr John, who upon seeing the cruel edicts against Christians, posted in the public square, and being inflamed with an ardent faith, reached out his hand, took them away and tore them up.  This was related to Emperors Diocletian and Maximian, then residing in the city, who gave orders that he should be subjected to many kinds of torments.  The noble champion bore them with such cheerfulness of spirit as not to shew on his countenance the least trace of pain or grief.

Called Euthis in the Syrian Church. He tore up an imperial Roman decree declaring the persecution of Christians when it was put on display in the city forum. John was burned alive as a result.

303 St John Of Nicomedia, Martyr
  When the edict of the Emperor Diocletian against Christians was published in Nicomedia a certain Christian, "a man of secular dignity", at once tore it down and was punished by death.  The name of this man is not known, but his memory is venerated in the Western church under the name of "John".  The Roman Martyrology says that "when he saw the cruel decrees against the Christians displayed in the forum he was fired with zeal for the faith and pulled them down and tore them up with his own hands.  When this was told to the emperors, Diocletian and Maxirnian, who were residing in the city, they ordered that all kinds of sufferings should be inflicted on him.  This most noble man endured them with such readiness both of demeanour and spirit that they seemed not at all to disturb him."  He was burnt alive, on February 24, 303, according to Lactantius.  he unknown man whom we call John has sometimes been erroneously identified with St George, protector of England. The Syrians called him Euhtis (Euetios) and put his feast on February 24.
Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History (bk viii, ch. 5), and also Lactantius, almost certainly make reference to the fate of this martyr, though they do not actually name him.  The passages are quoted and commented on in the Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. iii.  We find the name of John given, and the commemoration assigned to this day, in the so called "Parvum Romanum".   See Quentin, Martyrologes historiques, p. 439 .
304 St. Anastasius the Fuller Martyr from Aquileia
Aquiléjæ sancti Anastásii Mártyris.    At Aquileia, St. Anastasius, martyr.
St Anastasjus The Fuller, Martyr
The Roman Martyrology refers today to the passion "of the holy Anastasius the martyr at Aquileia", though the martyr indicated did not suffer on this date nor at Aquileia. It would appear that vij Idus Septembris has been copied for vij Kalendas Septembris, i.e. August 26, the day given in earlier martyrologies and on which his feast is still kept at Split (Spalato). According to his more than doubtful acta, Anastasius was born at Aquileia of a good family, but remembering the word of the Apostle to the Thessalonians, "that you do your own business and work with your own hands", he became a fuller and practised his trade at Salona (Split) in Dalmatia.  During the persecution of Diocletian he would not conceal his faith, but boldly painted up a cross on his door, wherefore he was arrested and brought before the governor.  He stood firm, and was therefore thrown into the sea with a stone tied round his neck.
A matron of the city, Asciepia, promised their liberty to any of her slaves who should recover the body, and they eventually came upon it in the hands of some Negroes who had found it in the water. They threatened the Negroes that if they did not give it up they would be charged with having murdered the man, and so brought the body back in triumph to their mistress.  She buried it honourably in her garden, which later became a Christian cemetery with a basilica.

  St Anastasius, martyr at Salona, named in the Roman Martyrology on August as is an invention of hagiographers, though attempts have been made to identify him with St Anastasius the Fuller; he is made to be the converted officer mentioned in the passio of St Agapitus (August 18).
That there has been confusion is certain, and it is likely that the acts (in Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. iii) are altogether fictitious; but we have good evidence that there was a real martyr Anastasius who was probably a fuller and was honoured at Salona. His proper day, as the "Hieronymianum" shows, is August 26. All that we can say is that this one saint has had two different days and two different stories assigned to him.  See CMH., pp. 467-468, 492, and references given.
Near modern Venice, Italy. A fuller or cloth merchant, Anastasius moved to Salona in Dalmatia, Yugoslavia. There he painted a cross on the door of his shop and was speedily arrested and drowned .
304 St. Sozon, a native of Lykaonia, was a shepherd read Holy Scriptures attentively, and he loved to share his knowledge about the One God with the shepherds who gathered together with him; brought many to the faith in Christ and Baptism destroyed idol; by his grave and at the place where he had the vision, many of the sick were healed.
Pompejópoli, in Cilícia, sancti Sozóntis Mártyris, qui, sub Maximiáno Imperatóre, in ignem injéctus, réddidit spíritum.
    St. Sozon, At Pompeiopolis in Cilicia, in the time of Emperor Maximian, a martyr who was thrown into the fire and yielded up his spirit.

St Sozon, Martyr 
The following is the legend of this young shepherd of Cilicia, who was originally called Tarasius and took the name of Sozon at baptism. One day while sleeping under a tree our Lord appeared to him, told him to leave his sheep, and to follow Him to death.  Sozon awoke and at once made his way to the nearest town, Pompeiopolis, Where he found a pagan festival was being celebrated. He went straight into the temple of the god and with a mighty blow of his crook knocked down the golden image and broke off its hand.  This hand he took and broke into further small pieces, which he distributed as alms among the poor. Several innocent persons were arrested for this, Whereupon Sozon marched into court and gave himself up as the true culprit.    He was offered pardon and freedom if he would Worship the god whose statue he had mutilated, but Sozon mocked at the idea of worshipping a god that could be broken by a sheep-crook.   Nails were then driven, points upward, through the soles of his sandals and he was made thus to walk around the arena.  As Sozon passed before the magistrate he pointed at his blood-stained feet and said, " I have finer red shoes than you ". "You are a brave fellow ", said the magistrate.  "Play a tune on your pipe and I will let you go."  But Sozon refused, saying that be had often piped to his sheep but would now make music only to God. So he was sentenced to be burned, and when night had come the Christians of the place collected his charred bones and gave them honourable burial.
Two Greek texts preserve the alleged acts of this martyr.  One has been edited in the Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. iii  the other in vol. cxv of Migne, PG.
The Martyr Sozon, a native of Lykaonia, was a shepherd. He read the Holy Scriptures attentively, and he loved to share his knowledge about the One God with the shepherds who gathered together with him. He brought many to the faith in Christ and to Baptism. One night, as he sat under an oak tree, he had a vision foretelling his martyrdom for Christ. He went to the city of Cilician Pompeiopolis, where a festal pagan celebration was being prepared for a golden idol, standing in a pagan temple. Unseen by anyone, St Sozon went into the pagan temple and broke off the idol's hand, then he smashed it and gave the gold to the poor. The missing hand of the idol caused an uproar and commotion in the city. Many were under suspicion, and were subjected to interrogation and torture. Not wanting to be the cause of suffering for other people, St Sozon went to the emperor Maximian (284-305) and declared that it was he who broke the hand of the idol.  "I did this," he said, "so that you might see the lack of power of your god, which offered me no resistance. It is not a god, but a deaf and dumb idol. I wanted to smash it all into pieces, so that people would no longer worship the work of men's hands."
The emperor in a fitful rage commanded that St Sozon be tortured mercilessly. They hung him up and struck him with iron claws, and then they put iron boots in which there were nails on his feet and took him through the city. After this they again suspended him and beat him with iron rods until his bones broke. In these terrible torments St Sozon gave up his spirit to God. By decree of the emperor, slaves lit a fire to burn the body of the martyr, but suddenly lightning flashed, it thundered loudly, and rain poured down over the fire.
Christians took the body of the martyr by night and buried it. By his grave and at the place where he had the vision, many of the sick were healed. A church was built later in memory of the sufferings of the holy martyr.
340 Evortius of Orléans B  abbey of Saint-Euvert (Evortius) at Orléans was founded to enshrine his relics, which have been translated three times (RM)
(also known as Enurchus, Evertius, Evurtius)
Nothing is known about Saint Evortius with certainty. It appears that he was a Roman cleric, perhaps a subdeacon, during the reign of Constantine the Great, who miraculously was chosen to become bishop of Orléans, France. He may possibly be the Eortius who participated in the council of Valencia in 374. The abbey of Saint-Euvert (Evortius) at Orléans was founded to enshrine his relics, which have been translated three times. In 1604, his name was added to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer from the York Breviary to honor the birthday of Queen Elizabeth I (Attwater, Benedictines, Farmer, Husenbeth).
4th century Enurchus or Evortius Bishop of Orleans
 Aureliánis, in Gállia, deposítio sancti Evótii Epíscopi, qui, primo Románæ Ecclésiæ Subdiáconus, dehinc divíno múnere per colúmbam designátus est Póntifex præfátæ urbis.
    At Orleans in France, the departure from this life of the holy bishop Evortius, who was first a subdeacon of the Roman Church, and afterwards, through a divine favour, was designated by a dove as bishop of that city.
400 St. Pamphilus  Bishop of Capua A Greek, he was consecrated bishop by Pope Siricius. Pamphilus’ relics are in Benevento
Cápuæ sancti Pámphili Epíscopi.    At Capua, St. Pamphilus, bishop.
A Greek, he was consecrated bishop by Pope Siricius. Pamphilus’ relics are in Benevento. 
451 St. Memorius Martyred deacon with compan­ion
Trecis, in Gállia, sancti Nemórii Diáconi, et Sociórum Mártyrum, quos Attila, Rex Hunnórum, interfécit.
    At Troyes, St. Nemorius, deacon, and his companions, all martyrs, who were slain by Attila, king of the Huns.

Put to death by Attila the Hun. Also called Mesmin or Nemorius, he was a deacon of Troyes, France, sent by St. Lupus, the bishop of Trier, with four compan­ions to ask Attila to spare the town. Attila beheaded Memorius and his fellow delegates. There is some doubt about this account, but the relics of the martyrs are still venerated.
450 Augustalis as the first historical bishop of Gaul
Duchesne saya assisted at councils in 441 and 442 and signed in 449 and 450 the letters addressed to Pope Leo I from the province of Arles France.
5th v. St. Carissima  hermitess and then a religious.
Nun at Viants, France. She was born at Albi and became a hermitess and then a religious. Carissima is venerated in Albi.
470 St. Gratus Bishop and patron saint of Aosta Italy. He promoted evangelization and charity invoked against dangerous animals, fire, insects, hail, lightning, rain, and storm
Gratus of Aosta B (AC)
Saint Gratus, former bishop of Aosta, is now its patron saint (Benedictines).
In art, Saint Gratus is depicted as a bishop carrying the head of Saint John the Baptist and a bunch of grapes.
There may be lightning flashing near him (Roeder).
He is the protector of vineyards and is invoked against dangerous animals, fire, insects, hail, lightning, rain, and storm (Roeder).
560 Saint Clodoald a hermit and a disciple of St. Severinus.
He remained at Nogent, near Paris, which became known as Saint-Cloud.
In território Parisiénsi sancti Clodoáldi, Presbyteri et Confessóris.
    In the territory of Paris, St. Cloud, priest and confessor.
Also Cloud, a grandson of King Clovis of the Franks and the youngest son of King Clodomir of Orleans. Clodoald was born in 524. He and his brothers were raised by their grandmother St. Clotilda, Queen of the Franks. Two of his brothers, Theodoald and Gunther, were slain at the ages of ten and nine by their uncle Clotaire, king of the Franks from 558-561. Clodoald survived by being sent to Provence, France. There he became a hermit and a disciple of St. Severinus. He remained at Nogent, near Paris, which became known as Saint-Cloud.

St Clodoald, Or Cloud
   On the death of Clovis, King of the Franks, in the year 511 his kingdom was divided between his four sons, of whom, the second was Clodomir. Thirteen years later he was killed fighting against his cousin, Gondomar, King of Burgundy (he had first murdered St Sigismund of Burgundy, whom the Roman Martyrology calls a martyr), leaving three sons to share his dominions.  The youngest of these sons of Clodomir was St Clodoald, a name more familiar to English people under its French form of Cloud from the town of Saint-Cloud near Versailles.  The three boys were brought up by their grandmother St Clotilda, widow of Clovis, who lavished much care and affection on them in her home at Paris, while their kingdom was administered by their uncle Childebert.  When Cloud was eight years old, Childebert entered into a plot with his brother, Clotaire of Soissons, to get rid of these boys and partition their kingdom.  A familiar of Childebert was sent to Clotilda asking her to choose whether the three boys should be put to death or forcibly tonsured and shut up in monasteries. He so twisted the reply of the distracted queen that she was made to appear to choose their death, whereupon Clotaire seized the eldest boy, Theodoald, and stabbed him.   The second, Gunther, fled in terror to his uncle Childebert, whose heart was so softened by fear and sickened at the brutal killing that he tried to protect him.  But Clotaire did not approve of such faintheartedness, dragged Gunther from Childehert's arms and killed him too. Cloud escaped, and was taken for safety into Provence or elsewhere.
  Childebert and Clotaire shared the fruits of their crime, and Cloud made no attempt to recover his kingdom when he came of age. He had seen quite enough of the politics of the world, and voluntarily hid himself in a hermit's cell.  After some time he put himself under the discipline of St Severinus, a recluse who lived near Paris, and he afterwards went to Nogent on the Seine and had his hermitage where is now Saint-Cloud.  St Cloud was indefatigable in instructing the people of the neighbouring country, and ended his days at Nogent about the year 560 when he was some thirty-six years old.  By a pun on his name St Cloud is venerated in France as the patron of nail-makers.
  Understandably distressed by the monstrous brutality of Merovingian politics as exemplified by the fate of the sons of Clodomir, Alban Butler adds the following suitable reflection from the fifteenth-century humanist Pico della Mirandola.  Many think it a man's greatest happiness in this life to enjoy dignity and power and to live amid the riches and splendour of a court.  Of these you know I have had a share  and I can assure you I could never find in my soul true satisfaction in anything but retreat and contemplation.  I am persuaded that the Caesars, if they could speak from their sepulchres, would declare Pico more happy in his solitude than they were in the government of the world ; and if the dead could return, they would choose the pangs of a second death rather than risk their salvation again in public offices."
There is a life which has, been critically edited by B. Krusch in MGH., Scnptores Merov. vol. ii, pp. 350-357, as also at an earlier date by Mabillon and the Bollandists.  But as the life is pronounced to be not older than the close of the ninth century, the data provided by St Gregory of Tours and reproduced in the Acta Sanctorum are more trustworthy.  J. Legrand's St Cloud  prince, moine, prétre (1922) is an uncritical booklet.
560 St. Cloud discipline of St. Severinus
On the death of Clovis, King of the Franks, in the year 511 his kingdom was divided between his four sons, of whom the second was Clodomir. Thirteen years later he was killed fighting against his cousin, Gondomar, leaving three sons to share his dominions. The youngest of these sons of Clodomir was St. Clodoald, a name more familiar to English people under its French form of Cloud from the town of Saint-Cloud near Versailles. When Cloud was eight years old, his uncle Childebert plotted with his brother, to get rid of the boys and divide their kingdom. The eldest boy, Theodoald was stabbed to death. The second, Gunther fled in terror, but was caught and also killed. Cloud escaped and was taken for safety into Provence or elsewhere.

Childebert and his brother Clotaire shared the fruits of their crime, and Cloud made no attempt to recover his kingdom when he came of age. He put himself under the discipline of St. Severinus, a recluse who lived near Paris, and he afterwards went to Nogent on the Seine and had his heritage where is now Saint-Cloud. St. Cloud was indefatigable in instructing the people of the neighboring country, and ended his days at Nogent about the year 560 when he was some thirty-six years old.

Saint Cloud was born in 520. When his father was killed in battle in 524 he and his brothers were brought up by their grandmother St Clotilde (June 3). His brothers were murdered by their uncles Childebert and Clotaire to prevent them from succeeding to the Frankish throne. St Cloud escaped and lived as a hermit, renouncing any claim to the throne.
Later, St Cloud was ordained to the holy priesthood, and lived a life of virtue and good works. He died around 560 .
7th century  St. Diuma Bishop of Mercia and companion of St. Cedd An Irishman, Diuma was praised by St. Bede.
706 St. Madalberta Benedictine feast day formerly on February 6.; abbess Daughter of Sts. Vincent Madelgarus and Waldetrudis. St Aldegund was her superior and aunt who founded. Maubeuge, where Madalberta took the veil. She became abbess in 697. Her sister was St. Aldetrudis.
Madalberta of Maubeuge, OSB V (AC)
Saint Madalberta is a member of a very holy family. Her parents were Saints Vincent Madelgarus and Waldetrudis (Waudru), who also produced Saints Aldetrudis, Landericus, and Dentlin. Madalberta and her sister were educated by their aunt, Saint Aldegund, who founded the convent at Mauberge. When Aldegund died in 684, Madalberta's elder sister succeeded the founder as abbess, but Madalberta's turn came upon the death of Aldetrudis about 696. Her relics were translated from Maubeuge to Liège by Saint Hubert about 722. In art, Saint Madelberta is shown in prayer being tempted by the devil (Roeder).
750 St. Hilduard Benedictine bishop and missionary
Also called Garibald or Hilward. He worked in Flanders, Belgium, then founded St. Peter’s Abbey in Dickelvenne, near Ghent.
Hilduard (Hilward, Garibald) of Dickelvenne, OSB B (AC)
Saint Hilduard was a missionary bishop of Flanders, who founded Saint Peter's abbey at Dickelvenne, between Ghent and Audenarde, in the Schelde (Benedictines).
781 St. Alcmund Bishop and miracle worker
Ss. Alcmunid and Tilebrt, Bishops of Hexham (A.D. 781 And 789)
No details are known of the lives of these holy bishops, respectively the seventh and eighth occupants of the see of Hexham.  St Alemund succeeded to St Frithebert in the year 767, and at his death was buried beside St Acca in the cemetery outside the cathedral-church.  During the Danish raids all trace and memory of his grave were lost, but about the year 1032 it is said that the saint appeared in a vision to a man of Hexham, pointed out the place where his body lay, and asked him to tell the sacristan of the church of Durham to have it translated to a more honourable resting-place within the cathedral.  This was accordingly done.  Tradition says that during the translation the Durham monk, Alured, secretly abstracted one of Alcmund's bones to take back to his own church; but the coffin became so weighty that it was found impossible to move it-until Alured restored the stolen relic.  Alban Butler includes St Tilbert with St Alcmund on this day, but the chronicler Simeon of Durham records the date of his death as October 2. In 1154 the relics of all the six saints among the twelve early bishops of Hexham, which then ceased to exist as a bishopric, were collected into one shrine; they were finally and completely scattered by the Scots when they raided Hexham in 1296.
For historical details consult the volumes of the younger James Raine, The Priory of Hexham (1864-65). Here, as in the Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. iii, extracts are given from Simeon of Durham. There seems to have been no liturgical cultus.
Also called Alchmund in some lists. He was the bishop of Hexham in Northumberland, England, in 767, succeeding to the see established by St. Wilfrid. His tenure as bishop lasted until his death on September 7, 781. He was buried near St. Acca beside the Hexham church, but invasions by the Danes decimated that area of England, and the grave was forgotten. In the eleventh century, St. Alcmund appeared to a parishioner, telling him to inform the sacrist of Durham, a man named Alfred or Alured, to move the bones. Alfred agreed, but he took one bone from the remains when the grave was opened. No one could move the remains of St. Alemund until that one bone was placed among the rest. In 1154, Hexham was again invaded, and the bodies of the Hexham saints were gathered into one shrine. Remains destroyed in 1296, when Scottish Highlanders attacked the region .
789 St. Tilbert Bishop of Hexham
England, from 781. He was the eighth bishop of that see. Simeon of Durham wrote of him.
St. Grimonia virgin A chapel was built over her grave which became famous for miracles, and around it grew up a town, called from its origin La Chapelle.
St  Grimonia, Virgin and Martyr
A French legend relates that St Grimonia was the daughter of a pagan Irish chief. When she was twelve she converted to Christianity and made a vow of perpetual virginity.  Her father in defianèe of or not understanding such a vow, wished her to marry, and when she refused shut her up.
 Grimonia escaped and fled to France, where she became a solitary in the forest of Thierache - Picardy. Here the contemplation of the beauty of created things would often bring her to the state of ecstasy.  After a prolonged search the messengers of her father traced her to her retreat, where they put before her the alternatives of return and a forced marriage or death. Grimonia remained firm and so she was beheaded on April 20 in an unknown year. A chapel was built over her grave which became famous for miracles, and around it grew up a town, called from its origin La Chapelle. On September 7, 1231, her relics, together with those of St Proba (Preuve), another Irishwoman, who is supposed to have suffered with Grimonia, were enshrined at Lesquielles.  The facts about St Grimonia are hard to come by: she may have been a solitary who lost her life in defending her chastity.
What little is known concerning this saint and her cultus may be read in the Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. iii.
A French legend relates that St. Grimonia was the daughter of a pagan Irish chief, and that when she was twelve years old, she was converted to Christianity and made a vow of perpetual virginity. Her father, in defiance of or not understanding such a vow, wished her to marry, and when she refused, shut her up. Grimonia escaped and fled to France, where she became a solitary in the forest of Thierache in Picardy. Here the contemplation of the beauty of created things would often bring her to the state of ecstacy. After a prolonged search, the messengers of her father traced her to her retreat, where they before her the alternatives of return in a forced marriage or death. Grimonia remained firm and so she was beheaded on April 20th in an unknown year. A chapel was built over her grave which became famous for miracles, and around it, grew up a town called from its origin, LaChapelle. On September 7, 1231, her relics, together with those of Saint Proba (Preuve), another Irish woman, who is supposed to have suffered with Grimonia, were enshrined at LesQuielles. The facts about St. Grimonia are hard to come by; she may have been a solitary who lost her life in defending her chastity .
950 Faciolus of Poitiers, OSB (AC) A Benedictine monk of Saint Cyprian Abbey, Poitiers, France (Benedictines).
10th v. St Luke of Prusa was the third holy igumen at the monastery of the Savior, in Batheos Ryakos (near Triglia, Lykaonia). He died in peace.
The first holy igumen was St Basil, who died at the beginning of the ninth century (July 1 on the Greek calendar); the second holy igumen was St Ignatius (September 27).
The monastery was famed for the strictness of the ascetic life of its residents. St Luke died at the end of the tenth century.

The Monk Luke was the third holy hegumen (from the year 975) at the Saviour monastery, named "Deep Rivers" (near Constantinople in the Cythian Gulf). The first holy hegumen was the Monk Basil (he died at the beginning of the IX Century, and his memory in the Greek Church is 1 July); the second holy hegumen -- was the Monk Ignatios (c. 963-975, Comm. 27 September). The monastery was famed for the especial strictness of the ascetic life of its residents. The Monk Luke died at the end of the X Century .
1106 St. John of Lodi  Benedictine bishop of Gubbio authored a life of St. Peter Damian.
Italy. Born in Lodi Vecchio, Italy, he lived for some time as a hermit before becoming a bishop. He also authored a life of St. Peter Damian.
1186 Saint John, Archbishop of Novgorod; establish  monastery in honor of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos; Just like other Russian hierarchs, he calmed and soothed the internecine strife in much-suffering Rus by his prayers and his virtue.
Saint John was born at Novgorod of the pious parents Nicholas and Christina. He passed his childhood in quiet and peaceful surroundings.  After the death of their parents, John and his brother Gabriel decided to establish a small monastery in honor of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos with their inheritance.  At first they built a wooden church, but a short time later they also built a stone church. Their good intentions were not without difficulties. Before they finished construction on the stone temple, the brothers totally exhausted their means. Only their steadfast and living faith inspired them to continue what they had started.
They turned for help with it to the Queen of Heaven, on Whose account this God-pleasing matter was begun.

Because of their unflagging faith and zeal, She manifested Her mercy to them. She told them in a dream that everything necessary for the completion of the temple would be provided. On the following morning, the brothers saw a splendid horse loaded with two sacks of gold. No one came for it, and when the brothers removed the sacks, the horse vanished. Thus did the Mother of God provide for the monastery.

Upon completion of the monastery construction, under the protection of the Mother of God, the brothers were clothed in the monastic schema. St John took the name of Elias, and St Gabriel took the name Gregory.

The chronicles speak of St John being made bishop under the entries for the year 1162. His first archpastoral letter was addressed to the clergy of his diocese. It was filled with an endearing concern about his flock, written in a spirit of fatherly guidance: "It has pleased God and the Most Holy Theotokos, through your prayers, that I, a mere man, should not refuse this high office, of which I am unworthy. Since you yourselves have encouraged me to this service, now listen to me..."

The saint spoke about the vocation of the pastor. He is concerned about his sheep, he not only chastizes, but also heals those who lead a sinful life. "At the beginning of my discourse I ask you not to be too much attached to this world, but rather be instructive to people. Look first of all, that they not give themselves over to drunkenness. You yourselves know, that through this vice most of all, not only do the simple people perish, but we also. When your spiritual children come to you in repentance, then question them with mildness. It is not seemly to impose harsh penances.Do not scorn the reading of books, since if we do not start doing this, then what will distinguish us from the simple unschooled people?... Do not impose penances upon orphans...Let everything be seemly, for the yoke of Christ ought to be light."

In the year 1165 St John was elevated to archbishop (from that time the Novgorod cathedra became an archbishopric).
The winter of 1170 was a very difficult time for Novgorod. Suzdal forces with their allies laid siege to the city for two days, since the Novgorod people would not accept Prince Svyatoslav. They also took the tribute-tax of the Dvina district which was not subject to them.  In grief the people of Novgorod prayed to God and the Most Holy Theotokos for the salvation of the city. On the third night, while he was praying before an icon of the Savior, St John heard a voice ordering him to go to the church of the Savior on Il'ina street, to take the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos and carry it out to the walls of the city.

In the morning the saint told the people about the command and sent his deacon with clergy to the church of the Savior for the icon. Going into the church, the archdeacon bowed down before the icon and wanted to take it, but the icon would not budge. The archdeacon returned to the archbishop and told him what had happened. 

Then the saint with all the assembly went to the Il'ina church and on their knees began to pray before the icon. They began to sing a Molieben, and after the Sixth Ode at the kontakion "Protectress of Christians," the icon itself moved from the place. The people with tears cried out: "Lord, have mercy!"

Then St John took the icon and together with two deacons carried it to the city walls. The Novgorodian people saw their doom, for the Suzdal forces and their allies were ready for pillage. In the sixth hour the assault began, and the arrows fell like rain. Then the icon turned its visage towards the city, and tears trickled down from the eyes of the Most Holy Theotokos, which the saint gathered on his phelonion.

A darkness covered the Suzdal forces, they became unable to see and they fell back in terror. This occurred on February 25, 1170. St John established a solemn feastday for Novgorod, the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos (November 27).

The Suzdal army inflicted great harm on the Novgorod region. Here also the archpastor did not remain on the sidelines. He showed fatherly concern for devastated households suffering hunger, and he distributed aid to orphans. Just like other Russian hierarchs, he calmed and soothed the internecine strife in much-suffering Rus by his prayers and his virtue. In 1172, the archpastor journeyed to Vladimir to reconcile Prince Andrew Bogoliubsky with the Novgorod people.

The saint not only shared in the adversity of his people, but most of all he concerned himself with their spiritual enlightenment. St John devoted much attention to spiritual conversations, which often occurred in the circle of the clergy and the laypeople. There are preserved about 30 of his instructions concerning Baptism, Confession, the Holy Eucharist.

His Guidance for Monks is filled with spiritual grandeur: "Once having followed after Christ, monks as actualisers of spiritual life by the Cross ought to live in solitary places, separate from worldly folk. Let them steal nothing for themselves, and let them be wholly dedicated to God. A monk ought always to be a monk, at every time and at every place, both in asleep and awake he should preserve the memory of death, and be fleshless in the flesh."

"Not for everyone does the monastery serve as a therapy for sensual love, just as silence is for anger, and non-acquisitiveness is for money, and the tomb is for avarice. Monastic life and worldly life are incompatible, just as one would not harness a camel and horse together. The monk bends his neck beneath the yoke of the Creator and ought to pull the plow in the valley of humility, in order to multiply the fine wheat by the warmth of the Life-giving Spirit and to sow the seeds of the reason of God. The black-robed is not his own master; being like gods, take care not to rot in likeness to people, nor fall from the heights like Lucifer...for haughty pride comes from human glory."

The saint's spiritual powers of grace were unusual. For his simplicity of soul and purity of heart God gave him power against demons. Once, when the saint prayed by night, as was his custom, he heard something splashing the water in the washbasin. Seeing that there was no one beside him, the saint realized that this was a demon trying to scare him.

The saint made the Sign of the Cross over the washbasin and restrained the devil. Soon the evil spirit could no longer bear the prayer of the saint, which scorched it like fire, and it began to beg to be released from the washbasin. The saint was agreeable, but ordered the demon to carry him from Novgorod to Jerusalem to the Sepulchre of the Lord and back, all in one night. The demon fulfilled the saint's command, but asked him to tell no one about his shame.

In one of his conversations, the saint told his flock that he knew a man who visited the Holy Land in one night. The revenge of the evil spirit was not slow in coming. It began to scatter women's things in his cell. Once, when people had gathered in St John's cell, the devil transformed himself into a woman who ran in front of them as if fleeing from the cell.

The saint heard the racket and gently asked, "What has happened, my children, what is the noise all about?" The unruly crowd, shouting various charges of perverse life against the saint, dragged him to the River Volkhov. They put the saint on a raft and released it down along the current of the river. But the raft, contrary to expectation, sailed against the current straight to the St George men's monastery, three versts from Novgorod.

Seeing this, people were ashamed and with weeping and shouts they went along the riverbank after the raft, beseeching the saint to forgive them and to return to the city. The heart of the simple archpastor was filled with joy, not only for himself, but for his flock: "Lord, do not hold this sin against them!" he prayed, and granted pardon to all.

This happened not long before the death of the saint. Sensing its approach, he put off the hierarch's omophor and took the schema with the name John, the same name he had in his youth. He appointed his brother, St Gregory (May 24) as his successor. The saint died on September 7, 1186 and was buried in the church of Holy Wisdom.

In 1439, repairs were being made at the cathedral of Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) through the zeal of St Euthymius; in the portico chapel of St John the Forerunner, a stone suddenly came loose and cracked the lid of the tomb standing there. St Euthymius gave orders to lift off the boards broken by the stone, and the temple was filled with fragrance.

In the tomb they beheld the incorrupt relics of the saint, but no one was able to identify who this archpastor was. In his cell, St Euthymius fervently began to pray for God to reveal to him the name of this saint.  That night a man appeared before him, clothed in the vestments of a hierarch, and said that he was Archbishop John, who was found worthy to serve the miracle of the Most Holy Theotokos in honor of Her Sign.

"I proclaim to you the will of God," continued the saint, "to celebrate the memory of the archbishops and princes lying here, on October 4, and I shall pray Christ for all Christians."
His memory is also celebrated at the Synaxis of Novgorod hierarchs on February 10.
In 1630, a feastday was also established for December 1 .
1211 Eustace of Flay, OSB Cist. Abbot  apostolic legate of Pope Innocent III to England and represented the holy father against the Albigensians (PC)
Born in Beauvais, France. Saint Eustace was a priest of the diocese of Beauvais in Picardy. He later entered the Cistercian abbey of Flay (later Saint-Germer) and later became its abbot. He also served as the apostolic legate of Pope Innocent III to England and represented the holy father against the Albigensians. He is highly honored among the Cistercians even though he cultus has never been formally confirmed (Benedictines).
1480 Saint Serapion of Pskov; dwelt constantly with St Euphrosynus for 55 years; zealously fulfilled everything commanded of him and was a role model for monks;
Saint Serapion was born at Yuriev (now Tartu), which then was under the rule of Germans, who sought to stamp out Orthodoxy. His parents were parishioners of a Russian church in the name of St Nicholas.

St Serapion was well versed in the Holy Scripture, and more than once he entered into the defense of Orthodoxy. When they wanted to convert him by force to the foreign faith, he departed to the Tolvsk wilderness, not far from Pskov, where the Pskov ascetic monk Euphrosynus (May 15) began his prayerful work.

Under his nurturing, St Serapion began to acquire the wisdom of wilderness life. But soon he happened to undergo temptations. Without a blessing, he wanted to leave his guide and to live an ascetic life in complete solitude. But the Lord brought the inexperienced novice to his senses: after he seriously hurt his leg, he repented of his self-will and disobedience and returned to the Elder.

After he received the Great Schema, he dwelt constantly with St Euphrosynus for 55 years, strictly keeping the vow of silence. Brethren began gradually to gather around St Euphrosynus, for which the Elder built a temple in the name of the Three Hierarchs and gave a skete rule.

St Serapion zealously fulfilled everything commanded of him and was a role model for the monks. The monk so strictly fulfilled the monastic vow of uncovetousness, that a copyist of his life called him "an unburied corpse." He bore every insult with extraordinary humility, always blaming himself alone, and he himself asked forgiveness of his insulter. The monk deeply sensed the power of communal prayers and he said that "the order of the twelve Psalms" sung alone in the cell cannot equal one "Lord, have mercy" sung in church.

St Serapion died on September 8, 1480, on the Feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos. Since the day of repose of St Serapion coincides with one of the twelve Great Feasts, his commemoration is on September 7. A Troparion and Kontakion were composed for the saint.

St Euphrosynus himself committed the body of his disciple to the earth. By his fervent deeds he had transformed himself into mere "bones, covered by skin." St Serapion was not separated from his spiritual Father even after death: their holy relics were placed beside each other. A common service was composed to Sts Euphrosynus and Serapion (15 May), wherein St Serapion is glorified as the first co-ascetic, "companion and friend" of St Euphrosynus .
St. Eustace abbot, was apostolic legate to England
St. Eustace was born at Beauvais, France. He was ordained and served as a priest in his native diocese until he joined the Cistercians at Flay (St. Germer). He later was elected abbot, was apostolic legate to England for Pope Innocent III {1161  1216}, and was later sent by Innocent as his legate to combat Albigensianism in southern France.
1534 Lazarus Spengler Evangelische Kirche: Sein engagiertes Eintreten für die Reformation war von entscheidender Bedeutung.
Lazarus Spengler wurde am 13.3.1479 in Nürnberg geboren. Er war kein Theologe, bei Theologen und Juristen wegen seines Verhandlungsgeschicks aber hoch angesehen. Er vertrat die Reichsstadt Nürnberg auf den Reichstagen und bei anderen Vertragsverhandlungen. Sein engagiertes Eintreten für die Reformation war von entscheidender Bedeutung.
Auch in Nürnberg führte er die Reformation ein und sein Einsatz wirkte noch über seinen Tod hinaus.
Er arbeitete auch an der deutschen Bibelübersetzung Luthers mit und dichtete Lieder (Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt). Spengler starb am 7.9.1534.
1619 Bbs. Mark, Stephen And Melchior, Martyrs at the instigation of the Calvinists
   Canon Mark Crisin (Korosy) belonged to a distinguished Croat family.  Having made his studies at the Germanicum in Rome, he returned to labour in his own country, and under the primate of Hungary, Archbishop Pazmany, he was entrusted with important duties in the archdiocese of Esztergom.  The two other martyrs were Jesuits, Stephen Pongracz, a Hungarian by birth, and Meichior Grodecz, who was a Czech.
  In 1619, when these priests were all engaged in apostolic and educational work in the neighbourhood of Kaschau or Kassa (now Kosice in Slovakia), an army under George Racoczy invaded the district, acting at the instigation of the Calvinist leader, Bethien Gabor.  The troops seized these three influential priests, tortured them for the greater part of the night, and then put them to death under conditions of great barbarity.  These martyrs were beatified in 1905.
See Schmidl, Historia Provinciae Bohemicac S.J., vol. iii, pp. 193 seq.  Etudes, vol. civ (1905), pp. 5-27; N. Angejini, I beati Ganonico Marco Stefano Crisino ... (1904); and H. Leclercq, Les Martyrs, t. viii, pp. 338-352.
1619 St. Marek Krizin Martyr of Hungary
sometimes called Mark Crisin. He was born into a famed Croat family and studied at the Germanicum in Rome. Ordained, he returned to Hungary and became a canon at Esztergom. He was assigned to missionary work near Kosice, Slovakia, with two Jesuits - Hungarian Stephen Pongracz and Melchior Grodecz, a Czech. In 1619 they were taken prisoner by invading Calvinist troops under George Racoczk. Tortured, Marek and his companions were martyred. They were canonized in 1995 as the Martyrs of Kosice by Pope John Paul II.
1627 Bl. John Maki  Martyr of Japan
The adopted son of Blessed Louis Maki. A Christian, he refused to abjure the faith when arrested and was burned alive at Nagasaki. Pope Pius IX beatified him in 1867.
1627 Bl. Louis Maki Martyr of Japan layman
He was a Japanese layman who allowed Blessed Thomas Tsughi to celebrate Mass in his home. Arrested, Louis was burned alive at Nagasaki, Japan. He was beatified in 1867.
1644 Bl. John Duckett And Ralph Corby, Martyrs of England
    The north country family of Duckett had already given one martyr to the Church in the person of Bd James Duckett (April 19).  He had a son who became prior of the English Carthusians at Nieuport in Flanders. Whether James Duckett who fathered Bd John was another son is not certain; but Bd John was related to Bd James in some way. He was born at Underwinter in the parish of Sedbergh in the west riding of Yorkshire in 1613, went to the English College at Douay, and was made priest there in 1639.  He then studied for three years at Paris, where the long periods he passed in prayer were commented on and he was rumoured to have gifts of contemplation of a high order.
  When he was at length sent to the English mission he passed two months of preparatory retreat with Carthusians at Nieuport, under the direction of Father Duckett, whom Bishop Challoner refers to as his kinsman but does not specify to have been his uncle.  When he had ministered in the county palatine of Durham for about twelve months he was arrested while on his way to baptize two children, on July 2, 1644, the day on which the battle of Marston Moor was fought, together with two laymen. Mr Duckett was examined before a parliamentary committee of sequestrators at Sunderland, and refused to admit that he was a priest, demanding to see their proofs. The holy oils and Rituale found on him were pretty clear evidence, but the examiners wanted a personal admission, so they put him in irons and threatened to torture him. When he heard that the two laymen were being questioned and that inquiries were to be made among his friends and associates, he decided he must save them from the possibility of their implicating themselves; and therefore confessed his priesthood. Thereupon he was sent up to London, together with a Jesuit, Father Corby, who had been seized when celebrating Mass at Hamsterley Hall, near Newcastle.
  Ralph Corby (or Corbington) came of a Durham family, but was born at Maynooth, in 1598. When Ralph was five his parents returned to England, and after years of persecution every member of the family entered religion. The father, Gerard Corbington, became a temporal coadjutor with the Jesuits and reconciled to the Church his own father when he was a hundred years old.  The mother, Isabel Richardson, died a Benedictine at Ghent, and two surviving daughters joined the same order at Brussels, while Ralph's elder and younger brothers also were Jesuits.  He himself joined the Society of Jesus at Watten in Flanders, and came on the mission in 1632, ministering for twelve years thereafter with unquenchable zeal among the widely scattered faithful of county Durham.  Challoner tells us that "they loved him as their father and reverenced him as an apostle".
  On their arrival in London the two confessors were committed to Newgate to await the September sessions. There was no doubt what the upshot would be, and the English Jesuits abroad were making feverish efforts in concert with the imperial chargé d'affaires in London to get Father Corby exchanged for a Scots colonel who was held prisoner in Germany by the emperor. When it seemed as if this would be successful, Father Corby offered the reprieve to Mr Duckett. To which he replied, "This thing is being procured and arranged by your friends. Be you therefore pleased to accept it." Corby disclaimed it-Mr Duckett was younger and better qualified for service on the mission than himself. And thus it was "handed to and fro between them, neither being willing to accept of it, till an expedient was proposed to save them both; but it succeeded not, for the Parliament, it seems, was resolved they both should suffer". At the trial they both pleaded guilty to being priests, but Father Corby claimed that as he was born in Ireland he did not come within the statute. This plea was overruled (quite properly) and sentence of death pronounced. While he was celebrating his last Mass in their Newgate lodging, Father Corby "appeared to be as it were in an agony of sadness and fear", but the trial passed, and at ten o'clock in the morning of September 7, 1644, they both set out on the journey to Tyburn, with their crowns shaved, in their cassocks, and with a smiling look".  Mr Duckett spoke little but to give his blessing to the many who asked it and to say to the Protestant minister that would address him, "Sir, I come not hither to be taught my faith but to die for the profession of it".  Bd Ralph made a short speech, they lovingly embraced one another, and the cart was drawn away: nor would the sheriff allow them to be cut down and disembowelled before they were both dead. He took extraordinary precautions to prevent any relics escaping the flames, nevertheless a hand of Bd John and some pieces of their cassocks were saved; and in the archives of the diocese of Westminster there is treasured a letter written by Bd John on the eve of his passion to Dr Richard Smith, titular Bishop of Chalcedon and vicar apostolic of England, who was then living in Paris. "I fear not death", he writes, "nor I contemn not life. If life were my lot, I would endure it patiently; but if death, I shall receive it joyfully, for that Christ is my life and death is my gain."
Ralph Corby is included in his brother's Certamen Triplex (see biography of Bd Henry Morse on February 1). See also MMP., pp. 457-466 ; REPSJ., vol. iii, pp. 68-96; and J. Brodrick, Procession of Saints (1949), pp. 111-130.
Born in Underwinder, Yorkshire, John was ordained in 1639 at Douai. He studied three years in Paris and then returned to the English mission at Durham, where he worked until his arrest and martyrdom on September 7 at Tyburn with Blessed Ralph Corby. They were hanged, drawn, and quartered. Both were beatified in 1929.
1644 Bl. Ralph Corby  Jesuit martyr of England
Also known as Ralph Corbington. Born in Maynooth Ireland, on March 25, 1598, he was trained at St. Omer, France, Seville, and Valladolid, Spain, before receiving ordination. He entered the Jesuits in 1631, and volunteered in 1632 for the dangerous mission in England He was given responsibility for the area around Durham Ralph worked for twelve years before he was arrested near Newcastle with Blessed John Duckett. He was martyred by being hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tybum on September 7. Ralph was beatified in 1929.
1678 The Hieromartyr Macarius of Kanev lived in the seventeenth century. This was a most terrible time for Orthodox Christians in western Rus. The constant struggles of the Hieromartyr, were an attempt to defend the Orthodox Faith under difficult conditions, when it was possible only to defend the future of the Russian Orthodox Church, which was preserved from the brusque passing of the hurricane of the Unia, endured together with Tatar incursions.
The holy Hieromartyr Macarius was born in 1605 in the city of Ovruch in Volhynia into the illustrious Tokarevsky family, renowned adherents of Orthodoxy. In the years between 1614-1620 the saint studied at the Ovruch Dormition monastery, and upon the death of his parents he became a monk at this monastery, having begun his service as a novice.
In 1625 St Macarius, with the blessing of the archimandrite, left the Dormition monastery and was sent to the Pinsk bishop, Avramii, who assigned him to the Pinsk Kupyatichsk monastery. In 1630 he was ordained as hierodeacon, and in 1632 as hieromonk.
Fame about the excellence of the monastic life of the hieromonk Macarius spread beyond the bounds of the Kupyatichsk monastery, and in 1637 the brethren of the Bretsk Symonov monastery turned with a request to the igumen of the Kupyatichsk monastery, Hilarion (Denisevich), to send them St Macarius to be their head. But the Kupyatichsk igumen also had need of the hieromonk Macarius.
In 1637 the head of the Kupyatichsk monastery sent him to Metropolitan Peter Moghila of Kiev to hand over money collected by the brethren for the rebuilding of Kiev's church of the Holy Wisdom, and for the solicitation of help for the construction and repair of damaged monastery churches. Seeing in the hieromonk Macarius a talented son of God's Church, the Metropolitan issued him a certificate to collect offerings, and in 1638 appointed him head of the Kamenetsk Resurrection monastery (in Grodnensk district).
Until the pillaging and seizing of the monastery by the Uniates in 1642, St Macarius guided the brethren of the Resurrection monastery. In these harsh times the brethren of the Kupyatichsk monastery elected St Macarius as igumen, who led the monastery until 1656. From 1656 through 1659, St Macarius headed the Pinsk monastery, and from 1660 as archimandrite St Macarius guided the brethren of his original Ovruch Dormition monastery.
More than ten years passed in constant struggle with the Latin Poles in Ovruch. Nothing could compel the brethren to quit the monastery, neither the seizure of the farm lands belonging to the monastery by the Dominicans, nor the rapacious pillaging of moveable property, nor beatings. Only in the year 1671, after the devastation of Ovruch by the Tatars, did the holy archimandrite Macarius leave the monastery, in which there remained not a single monk, and he went to the Kiev Caves Lavra.
But the defenders of Orthodoxy, like St Macarius, were needed not only at Kiev, but even more outside of Kiev. Metropolitan Joseph (Neliubovich-Tukal'sky) assigned Archimandrite Macarius as head of the Kanev monastery. Thus, after thirty years of struggle with the Uniates, St Macarius was again on the front lines of battle for the Orthodox Faith.
In 1672 Yuri, the son of Bogdan Khmel'nitsky, sought shelter at the Kanev monastery. The hetman Doroshenko, petitioned Metropolitan Joseph for the assignment of St Macarius, and repeatedly visited Kanev monastery. In 1675, he switched his allegiance to Russia, after he renounced allegiance to the Turks, evidently, not without counsel from St Macarius.
In response the Turkish powers dispatched an army to Little Russia. On September 4, 1678, the aggressors rushed on the monastery. St Macarius met the enemy with cross in hand at the entrance to the church. The Turks demanded that the monk hand over to them the monastery treasury. Hearing the answer of the monk, that his treasure was in Heaven, the furious robbers hung the saint hand and foot between two posts.
After two days they beheaded the Hieromartyr on September 7, 1678. Witnesses to the martyric death of Archimandrite Macarius carried his body to the monastery church, in which they were hidden for safety. But the returning Turks placed firewood around the church and burned everything in the temple. When the surviving citizens of Kanev began removing the bodies of those who perished, then only one body was found whole and as though alive. This was the body of the Hieromartyr Macarius, attired in hairshirt, with a cross on his breast and another cross in his hand. The holy body was buried in this temple beneath the altar on September 8, 1678.
The holy Hieromartyr Macarius was a man of highly righteous and spiritual life, glorified while still alive by miracles and the gift of clairvoyance. At Kanev, he healed the blind and the dying.
In 1688, during renovation of the temple, the grave of the Hieromartyr was opened, and the incorrupt body of the saint was found. In connection with the danger of invasion for the Kanev monastery, on May 13, 1688 the holy relics were solemnly transferred to the Pereyaslavl regimental Resurrection church. There also they transferred the beloved book of the Hieromartyr, "Discourse of John Chrysostom on the 14 Epistles of the holy Apostle Paul" (Kiev edition 1621-23) with his signature on one of the pageleafs. Under Bishop Zachariah (Cornelovich) the relics were transferred in 1713 to a new-built temple of the Pereyaslavl Mikhailovsk monastery, and after its closing the relics rested at the Pereyaslavl Resurrection monastery from August 4, 1786.
In 1942, the relics were transferred to the Trinity church in the city of Cherkassa, and from 1965 they have been in the church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in that same city.
The commemoration of the Hieromartyr Macarius is made twice: September 7, the day of his repose, and on May 13, the transfer of his holy relics .
1853 Blessed Frederick Ozanam served poor of Paris
A man convinced of the inestimable worth of each human being, Frederick served the poor of Paris well and drew others into serving the poor of the world. Through the St. Vincent de Paul Society, his work continues to the present day.
Frederick was born 1813 the fifth of Jean and Marie Ozanam’s 14 children, one of only three to reach adulthood. As a teenager he began having doubts about his religion. Reading and prayer did not seem to help, but long walking discussions with Father Noirot of the Lyons College clarified matters a great deal.
Frederick wanted to study literature, although his father, a doctor, wanted him to become a lawyer. Frederick yielded to his father’s wishes and in 1831 arrived in Paris to study law at the University of the Sorbonne. When certain professors there mocked Catholic teachings in their lectures, Frederick defended the Church.
A discussion club which Frederick organized sparked the turning point in his life. In this club Catholics, atheists and agnostics debated the issues of the day. Once, after Frederick spoke on Christianity’s role in civilization, a club member said: "Let us be frank, Mr. Ozanam; let us also be very particular. What do you do besides talk to prove the faith you claim is in you?"
Frederick was stung by the question. He soon decided that his words needed a grounding in action. He and a friend began visiting Paris tenements and offering assistance as best they could. Soon a group dedicated to helping individuals in need under the patronage of St. Vincent de Paul formed around Frederick.
Feeling that the Catholic faith needed an excellent speaker to explain its teachings, Frederick convinced the Archbishop of Paris to appoint Father Lacordaire, the greatest preacher then in France, to preach a Lenten series in Notre Dame Cathedral. It was well attended and became an annual tradition in Paris.
After Frederick earned his law degree at the Sorbonne, he taught law at the University of Lyons. He also earned a doctorate in literature. Soon after marrying Amelie Soulacroix on June 23, 1841, he returned to the Sorbonne to teach literature. A well-respected lecturer, Frederick worked to bring out the best in each student. Meanwhile, the St. Vincent de Paul Society was growing throughout Europe. Paris alone counted 25 conferences.
In 1846, Frederick, Amelie and their daughter Marie went to Italy; there Frederick hoped to restore his poor health. They returned the next year. The revolution of 1848 left many Parisians in need of the services of the St. Vincent de Paul conferences. The unemployed numbered 275,000. The government asked Frederick and his co-workers to supervise the government aid to the poor. Vincentians throughout Europe came to the aid of Paris.
Frederick then started a newspaper, The New Era, dedicated to securing justice for the poor and the working classes. Fellow Catholics were often unhappy with what Frederick wrote. Referring to the poor man as "the nation’s priest," Frederick said that the hunger and sweat of the poor formed a sacrifice that could redeem the people’s humanity
In 1852 poor health again forced Frederick to return to Italy with his wife and daughter. He died on September 8, 1853. In his sermon at Frederick’s funeral, Lacordaire described his friend as "one of those privileged creatures who came direct from the hand of God in whom God joins tenderness to genius in order to enkindle the world."
Frederick was beatified in 1997. Since Frederick wrote an excellent book entitled Franciscan Poets of the Thirteenth Century and since Frederick’s sense of the dignity of each poor person was so close to the thinking of St. Francis, it seemed appropriate to include him among Franciscan "greats."
Comment: "Those who mock the poor insult their Maker" (Proverbs 17:5). Frederick Ozanam never demeaned the poor in offering whatever service he could. Each man, woman and child was too precious for that. Serving the poor taught Frederick something about God that he could learn only there.
Quote: Professor Bailly, the spiritual leader of the first St. Vincent de Paul conference, told Frederick and his first companions in charity, "Like St. Vincent, you, too, will find the poor will do more for you than you will do for them."
1860 The future St Macarius was born in 1788 into the noble Ivanov family, and was baptized with the name Michael in honor of St Michael of Tver (November 22). His parents Nicholas and Elizabeth had an estate in the village of Shepyatino in the Dimitrov district in the Orel province. They also owned property in other provinces, including the village of Zhelezniki in Orel Province where they lived. The Ivanovs moved to Moscow in 1794 so Elizabeth could receive medical treatment for tuberculosis.
Michael's beloved mother died on January 21, 1797, and was buried in the St Andronicus monastery. The nine-year-old Michael moved to the village of Karachev to live with his sister Daria and her husband Simeon Peredelsky, who had been elected to the District Court of Karachev. Michael received his primary education there in the local parish school.
Around 1801, Michael and his two brothers moved into the house of his aunt Anna M. Verevkina, where they were educated along with her own son. In 1802, when he was fourteen, Michael and his brother Alexis were hired as assistant bookkeepers in the District Treasury of Lgov. Although the job was difficult, Michael carried out his duties with precision and care that he attracted the attention of the provincial authorities.
In 1805 Michael was appointed as head of the Financial Board (Treasury) in Kursk. When he was not working, he liked to spend his time reading or playing the violin. Michael's father died on March 17, 1806 after a long illness, and was buried near the parish church at Turischev.
Michael visited the Ploschansk Hermitage, twenty-four miles from his family's estate in Schepyatino, in October of 1810. From there he wrote to his brothers saying that he was leaving the estate to them, for he intended to remain at the hermitage. His only condition was that they donate 1000 rubles to build a stone church at Turischev where their father was buried.
Those closest to Michael never knew whether his visit to Ploschansk was accidental or premeditated. He did seem inclined to the monastic life, but perhaps he did not make a final decision to become a monk until he had observed the monastic life at Ploschansk.
Michael entered the Ploscansk Hermitage of the Theotokos at the age of twenty-two. It had no large buildings, no great wealth, and was far from populated areas. Perhaps he was attracted by the unpretentiously humble circumstances of the place. There were fifty monks at the Hermitage, led by Hieromonk Joannicus.
Michael was enrolled as a novice a month after arriving at Ploschansk, and was tonsured as a rassophore on December 24, 1810 with the name Melchizedek. He did not mind the privation and hard work at the Hermitage, but there were no Elders there capable of offering spiritual guidance.
Hearing that Elders of lofty spiritual life were living in the forests of Bryansk, and in the monasteries of the Orel and Kursk dioceses, Fr Melchizedek longed to meet them and profit from their teaching. However, the opportunity did not arise for some time.
In 1814, he went on pilgrimage to Kiev, where he venerated the relics of various saints. On the way back, he met some experienced Elders and was able to converse with them.
Father Paul, who came from a family of Rostov merchants, and who was tonsured on Mount Athos, became the new Superior of Ploschansk in 1815. He noticed Fr Melchizedek's zeal for the monastic life, and for fulfilling his obediences. On March 7, 1815 Fr Paul tonsured him as a monk with the new name Macarius. A few days later, on March 12, Bishop Dositheus of Orel and Sevsk ordained Fr Macarius as a hierodeacon.
Schemamonk Athanasius (Zakharov), a disciple of St Paisius Velichkovsky (November 15) was visiting Ploschansk in 1815. He had lived at White Bluff Monastery and Florischev Hermitage in the Vladimir Province. While at Ploschansk, Fr Athanasius fell off a bench and dislocated a joint in his leg. He went to Cholnsk Monastery in 1816 and partially recovered, but he could no longer walk without a crutch. In 1817 he returned to Ploschansk, and Fr Macarius moved to his cell to take care of him.
Elder Athanasius had a great influence on the spiritual development of Fr Macarius, who revered him as his Father and teacher. For seven years he had lived in the Neamts Monastery, where he was tonsured by St Paisius Velichkovsky. Fr Athanasius finished the course of his earthly life on October 17, 1825, and died in the arms of Fr Macarius. He had lived at Ploschansk for ten years, and Fr Macarius derived much benefit from his Elder's example.
Fr Athanasius had copies of the translations of the ascetical Fathers made by St Paisius, and he himself had translated the Life of St Gregory of Sinai, the Catechetical Homilies of St Theodore the Studite, the homilies of St Gregory Palamas, and many other profitable writings. Not only did Fr Macarius read and copy these translations and absorb the wisdom contained in them, he later published them for the benefit of others.
Fr Macarius was ordained to the holy priesthood by Bishop Dositheus of Orel and Sevsk on May 27, 1817. When Igumen Paul retired to the bishop's residence at Kaluga in 1818, he was replaced by Hieromonk Seraphim, a disciple of Fr Basil (Kishkin), the Superior of White Bluff Hermitage. Fr Seraphim brought good order to Ploschansk, instructing the monks in the spiritual life.
With Fr Seraphim's blessing, Fr Macarius made a pilgrimage to Kiev in 1819 with Hierodeacon Palladius. There they met Archimandrite Anthony, who later became Archbishop of Voronezh and Zadonsk. On the way back to Ploschansk, the two visited Glinsk Hermitage. Fr Macarius became acquainted with Hierodeacon Samuel, who was experienced in mental prayer. Since Fr Athanasius had never spoken to him of this activity, Fr Macarius was gratified to meet someone who could speak about it from personal experience.
In 1824, Fr Macarius went to Rostov to venerate the relics of St Demetrius (September 21 and October 28). On that same trip he visited Optina Monastery and its new Skete for the first time.
Two of Fr Macarius's spiritual guides passed away within a short time: Elder Athanasius in 1825, and Igumen Seraphim in 1826. Hieromonk Marcellinus was appointed as Superior of Ploschansk in addition to his duties as Bishop Gabriel's steward. He continued to live at Orel for two years, while the Ploschansk Hermitage was administered by Fr Anatole, the treasurer.
Fr Macarius was made dean of the Hermitage on June 10, 1826. In January of 1827, he was assigned as confessor at the Holy Trinity Convent of Sevsk. This began his period of spiritual direction and spiritual correspondence which lasted until his death. He did not assume such a role on his own, but only in obedience to the will of the bishop.
In 1828 Fr Leonid (Nagolkin) came to Ploschansk from the St Alexander of Svir Monastery with several disciples. Fr Macarius thought that the arrival of Fr Leonid was the answer to his prayers, for Fr Leonid was a man of great spiritual wisdom. This holy Elder, who had struggled against many visible and invisible foes, was able to give useful advice to those who were experiencing temptations. He understood from personal experience that those who wish to serve the Lord must prepare their souls for temptation (Sirach 2:1). He agreed to Fr Macarius's repeated requests to accept him as a spiritual son and disciple. When Fr Leonid moved to Optina in 1829, Fr Macarius kept in touch with him through letters.
Fr Macarius visited Optina and Fr Leonid in 1831 on his way to Petersburg, where Bishop Nicodemus of Orel was serving his term in the Holy Synod. He appointed Fr Macarius as treasurer and steward, much to the latter's chagrin. Fr Macarius did not care for the bustle of the city, and longed to return to the tranquility of the monastery, yet he remained in his position out of obedience to the bishop.
After serving for almost a year in Petersburg, Fr Macarius returned to Ploschansk Hermitage. On the way back, he visited Fr Leonid again at Optina. He also submitted a request to Fr Moses to be admitted to the Skete at Optina as soon as this might be arranged. The desired transfer from Ploschansk to Optina did not take place until January 14, 1834.
Fr Macarius had lived at Ploschansk for twenty-three years, and always retained a certain fondness for the place for the rest of his life. Fr Macarius finally arrived at Optina on February 5, 1834.
At the age of forty-six, Fr Macarius placed himself at the feet of Fr Leonid, humbling himself and demonstrating complete obedience. At first, he helped the Elder with his correspondence, but later his responsibilities increased. In October of 1836 he was appointed as confessor for the monastery. After Fr Anthony was assigned to St Nicholas Monastery in Maloyaroslavets as abbot, Fr Macarius succeeded him as Superior of the Skete on December 1, 1839. Fr Macarius's relationship with Fr Leonid did not change because of his new position. He never did anything without consulting Fr Leonid, and always attributed any success he achieved to the blessing and prayers of his Elder.

Fr Macarius remained humble and obedient to Fr Leonid until the Elder's death on October 11, 1841. Even when Fr Leonid was transferred from the Skete to the Monastery in 1836, Fr Macarius visited him every day to ask his advice on various matters.

During his final illness, Fr Leonid told his spiritual children to go to Fr Macarius for spiritual counsel. Seeing in Fr Macarius the same spiritual gifts possessed by Fr Leonid, people recommended him to their friends and acquaintances. As a result, the number of Fr Macarius's disciples grew larger every year. He was also assigned as instructor of the new novices, and of those who were about to be tonsured.

Fr Macarius received visitors from morning until night, and also kept up an extensive spiritual correspondence. Sometimes he was exhausted by the crowds of people, and by the number of letters he had to write. His humility and love for people who were afflicted in body and in spirit would not permit him to curtail his activities, however.

Fr Macarius had always loved reading and studying patristic literature. At Ploschansk, he had copied many translations done by St Paisius Velichkovsky which were in the possession of Schemamonk Athanasius. His knowledge and understanding of the Fathers increased at Optina under the guidance of Fr Leonid, a disciple of Fr Theodore of Svir, who was himself a disciple of St Paisius. Fr Anthony, abbot of the Skete and Fr Moses, abbot of the Monastery, both encouraged the study of patristic books. Conditions for the publication of these manuscripts, translated and corrected by St Paisius, were quite favorable, for Optina possessed the best copies of these writings.

In 1845, Ivan V. Kireyevsky, the editor of The Muscovite, asked Fr Macarius to write a biography of St Paisius for his magazine. In 1846, Fr Macarius was visiting the Kireyevskys at their estate, and the discussion turned to the lack of spiritual books offering instruction in the Christian life. Natalia Kireyevsky, the spiritual daughter of Fr Macarius since 1838, happened to have some manuscripts of ascetical literature. They both asked Fr Macarius, "What prevents us from offering these spiritual treasures to the world?"

At the beginning of 1847 a biography of Fr Pasius Velichkovsky, with extracts from his writings, was published. Over the course of time, sixteen books of patristic literature were published under the Elder's supervision, including works by St Nilus of Sora, Sts Barsanuphius and John, St Simeon the New Theologian, and St Isaac of Syria.

In 1853, Fr Macarius resigned as Superior of the Skete of St John the Baptist, and was succeeded by Fr Paphnutius. This took place on November 30, exactly fourteen years from the time Fr Macarius had first assumed the office.

In 1859, one of Fr Macarius's spiritual daughters, was at the point of death. Maria asked Fr Macarius to pray that God would spare her life so that she could see her son again. The Elder told her that she would recover, and that they would both die around the same time. The old woman told her friends of this prediction, saying, "Beware my death, for it is connected with the Elder's death. Maria died on August 23, 1860 in the presence of Fr Macarius and Fr Leonid Kavelin.

On August 26, the Elder became ill with ischuria. A doctor who happened to be at Optina saw him and treated him with drugs. Fr Macarius felt worse that evening, and so they sent for a certain nobleman's personal physician. That doctor was not available, so Fr Kavelin went to another doctor to ask for advice. Fr Macarius showed no improvement, so he received Holy Unction and the life-giving Mysteries of Christ. On September 2, he received two gifts which delighted him. One was an enamel icon of the Vladimir Mother of God from Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow, which wore on his breast. The other was a cross containing a relic of the Cross of Christ.

The Elder felt weaker on September 4, and received Holy Communion after Vespers. During his illness the brethren who cared for him read the daily rule of prayer for him at the proper times. He also asked them to read certain portions of the writings of the holy Fathers.

On September 5, Fr Macarius was moved from his small bedroom into the larger reception room where the air was fresher. During the night the ninety-year-old Schemamonk Hilarion reposed, and the church bell was rung three times according to the custom of the Monastery, indicating that one of the brethren had departed. Many of Fr Macarius's disciples and some visitors in the guesthouse thought that the bell tolled for him. They became alarmed until it was announced that Fr Hilarion had passed away.

The Elder experienced shortness of breath on September 6. He received Communion, and was visited by two doctors, but there was nothing they could do for him. Fr Macarius felt worse that evening, and received Holy Communion a second time around 8:00 P.M. Around midnight he talked with his confessor for about half an hour, receiving absolution and forgiveness of his sins.

Fr Macarius asked to have the prayer for the dying read, which he heard while sitting in a chair. The Canon and Akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos were also read, and the Canon to the Sweetest Lord Jesus Christ was read during Matins. During these readings it appeared that the Elder's sufferings were alleviated.

During the night Fr Macarius asked to be moved several times from the bed to the chair. He was calm and peaceful, and thanked those around him for caring for him. At 6:00 the next morning he received Holy Communion for the last time.

At 7:00 on the morning of September 7, 1860, Fr Macarius departed to the Lord while the Ninth Ode of the Canon for the Departure of the Soul from the Body was being read. Two years before his death, he was secretly tonsured into the Great Schema. Therefore, a schema which had been blessed on the Lord's Sepulchre was placed on his body. Several Panikhidas were offered for his soul throughout the day.

Fr Macarius was laid to rest on September 10, in a grave prepared for him opposite the altar of the St Nicholas chapel in the main church. He was buried to the right of the grave of Fr Leonid, his friend and fellow ascetic.

The Moscow Patriarchate authorized local veneration of the Optina Elders on June 13,1996. The work of uncovering the relics of Sts Leonid, Macarius, Hilarion, Ambrose, Anatole I, Barsanuphius and Anatole II began on June 24/July 7, 1998 and was concluded the next day. However, because of the church Feasts (Nativity of St John the Baptist, etc.) associated with the actual dates of the uncovering of the relics, Patriarch Alexey II designated June 27/July 10 as the date for commemorating this event. The relics of the holy Elders now rest in the new church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God.

The Optina Elders were glorified by the Moscow Patriarchate for universal veneration on August 7, 2000.
1912  Martin Kähler distinction between the "Christ of faith" and the Jesus of history is often traced to Martin Kahler (1835-1912), though he probably did not mean by the term what most contemporary critics do
Evangelische Kirche: 7. September
Martin Kähler, in The So-Called Historical Jesus and the Historic Biblical Christ, 1896, argued that the Jesus of history was inseparable from the Christ of faith and yet since the New Testament mainly concerns itself with the latter as does the church - and it is this Christ that has influenced history, so scholars should only be interested in the Christ of faith.
The distinction between the "Christ of faith" and the Jesus of history is often traced to Martin Kahler (1835-1912), though he probably did not mean by the term what most contemporary critics do.
Martin Kähler wurde am 6.1.1835 in Neuhausen b. Königsberg geboren. Er unterbrach sein Jurastudium nach einer schweren Typhus-Erkrankung und studierte Theologie. Geprägt wurde er insbesondere von Friedrich A. Tholuck. 1867 wurde er außerordentlicher Professor in Halle und wirkte hier als Erzieher und Seelsorger der Studenten des sächsischen Konvikts. Er war kaum wissenschaftlich tätig, da ihm die Seelsorge wichtiger war und erhielt deshalb lange keinen Lehrstuhl. 1877 stellte er sein Buch "Das Gewissen" fertig. Dieses Werk brachte ihm 1879 den Lehrstuhl für systematische Theologie ein, den er bis zu seinem Tod am 7.9.1912 innehatte. Er sah sich selbst mehr als Lehrer und Seelsorger denn als Wissenschaftler und rechnete sich den biblischen Theologen zu. In seinem wohl wichtigsten Werk "Der sogenannte historische Jesus und der geschichtliche, biblische Christus" stellte er den biblischen Christus in den Mittelpunkt und sah die Forschung nach dem historischen Jesus als unnütz an. Die meisten älteren Mitglieder der Bekenntnissynode in Barmen 1934 waren Schüler Kählers und seine Theologie hatte so auch Einfluß auf den Kirchenkampf.



THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 58

Give praise to the Lord, for He is good: give praise to His Mother, for her mercy endureth forever.

The love of her driveth out sin from the heart: and her grace purifieth the conscience of the sinner.

The way to come to Christ is to approach her: he who shall fly her shall not find the way of Peace.

Let him who is hardened in sins, often call upon her: and light shall arise in his darkness.

He who is sad in his heart, let him cry out to her: and he will be inebriated with a sweet-flowing dew.

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

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

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

God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique, for each is the result of a new idea.  As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike. It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints. Dear Lord, grant us a spirit that is not bound by our own ideas and preferences.  Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves. O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory. Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.  Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.   God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heaven:  only saints are allowed into heaven. The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR the benefit of others.
There are over 10,000 named saints beati  from history
 and Roman Martyology Orthodox sources
Patron_Saints.html  Widowed_Saints html  Indulgences The Catholic Church in China
LINKS: Marian Shrines   India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes 1858  China Marian shrines 1995
Kenya national Marian shrine  Loreto, Italy  Marian Apparitions (over 2000)  Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798
  Links to Related MarianWebsites  Angels and Archangels  Saints Visions of Heaven and Hell
Widowed Saints  html
Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Of_The_Apostles  Roman Catholic Popes  Purgatory  Uniates  Chalcedon
Mary the Mother of Jesus Miracles_BC  Lay Saints  Miraculous_Icons  Miraculous_Medal_Novena Patron Saints
Miracles by Century 100   200   300   400   500   600   700    800   900   1000    1100   1200   1300   1400  1500  1600  1700  1800  1900 2000
Miracles 100   200   300   400   500   600   700    800   900   1000  
 1100   1200   1300   1400  1500  1600  1700  1800   1900 Lay Saints

The great psalm of the Passion, Chapter 22, whose first verse “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Jesus pronounced on the cross, ended with the vision: “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations shall worship before him” For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations. All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage. And I will live for the LORD; my descendants will serve you. The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought.
Pope Benedict XVI to The Catholic Church In China {whole article here} 2000 years of the Catholic Church in China
The saints “a cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Father Corapi's Biography

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

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

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

God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MIRACLES
– Blessed Alfonso Maria Fusco, diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist (1839-1910);
– Venerable Servant of God John Sullivan, professed priest of the Society of Jesus (1861-1933);
MARTYRDOM
– Servants of God Nikolle Vinçenc Prennushi, O.F.M., archbishop of Durres, Albania, and 37 companions killed between 1945 and 1974;
– Servants of God José Antón Gómez and three companions of the Benedictines of Madrid, Spain, killed 1936;
HEROIC VIRTUES
– Servant of God Thomas Choe Yang-Eop, diocesan priest (1821-1861);
– Servant of God Sosio Del Prete (né Vincenzo), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Congregation of the Little Servants of Christ the King (1885-1952);
– Servant of God Wenanty Katarzyniec (né Jósef), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1889-1921);
– Servant of God Maria Consiglia of the Holy Spirity (née Emilia 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, 58 2023