1st v. The Hieromartyr Cornelius the Centurion
Soon after the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross and His Ascension into Heaven, a centurion by the name of Cornelius settled at Caesarea in Palestine. He had lived previously in Thracian Italy. Although he was a pagan, he distinguished himself by deep piety and good deeds, as the holy Evangelist Luke says (Acts 10:1). The Lord did not disdain his virtuous life, and so led him to the knowledge of truth and to faith in Christ.

Once, Cornelius was praying in his home. An angel of God appeared to him and said that his prayer had been heard and accepted by God. The angel commanded him to send people to Joppa to find Simon, also called Peter. Cornelius immediately fulfilled the command.
While those people were on their way to Joppa, the Apostle Peter was at prayer, and he had a vision: three times a great sheet was lowered down to him, filled with all kinds of beasts and fowl. He heard a voice from Heaven commanding him to eat everything. When the apostle refused to eat food which Jewish Law regarded as unclean, the voice said: "What God hath cleansed, you must not call common" (Acts 10:15).
Through this vision the Lord commanded the Apostle Peter to preach the Word of God to the pagans. When the Apostle Peter arrived at the house of Cornelius in the company of those sent to meet him, he was received with great joy and respect by the host together with his kinsmen and comrades. Cornelius fell down at the feet of the apostle and requested to be taught the way of salvation. St Peter talked about the earthly life of Jesus Christ, and spoke of the miracles and signs worked by the Savior, and of His teachings about the Kingdom of Heaven. Then St Peter told him of the Lord's death on the Cross, His Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven. By the grace of the Holy Spirit, Cornelius believed in Christ and was baptized with all his family. He was the first pagan to receive Baptism.

He retired from the world and went preaching the Gospel together with the Apostle Peter, who made him a bishop. When the Apostle Peter, together with his helpers Sts Timothy and Cornelius, was in the city of Ephesus, he learned of a particularly vigorous idol-worship in the city of Skepsis. Lots were drawn to see who would go there, and St Cornelius was chosen. In the city lived a prince by the name of Demetrius, learned in the ancient Greek philosophy, hating Christianity and venerating the pagan gods, in particular Apollo and Zeus. Learning about the arrival of St Cornelius in the city, he immediately summoned him and asked him the reason for his coming. St Cornelius answered that he came to free him from the darkness of ignorance and lead him to knowledge of the True Light. The prince, not comprehending the meaning of what was said, became angry and demanded that he answer each of his questions. When St Cornelius explained that he served the Lord and that the reason for his coming was to announce the Truth, the prince became enraged and demanded that Cornelius offer sacrifice to the idols. The saint asked to be shown the gods. When he entered the pagan temple, Cornelius turned towards the east and uttered a prayer to the Lord. There was an earthquake, and the temple of Zeus and the idols situated in it were destroyed. All the populace, seeing what had happened, were terrified.

The prince was even more vexed and began to take counsel together with those approaching him, about how to destroy Cornelius. They bound the saint and took him to prison for the night. At this point, one of his servants informed the prince that his wife and child had perished beneath the rubble of the destroyed temple. After a certain while, one of the pagan priests, by the name of Barbates, reported that he heard the voice of the wife and son somewhere in the ruins and that they were praising the God of the Christians. The pagan priest asked that the imprisoned one be released, in gratitude for the miracle worked by St Cornelius, and the wife and son of the prince remained alive. The joyful prince hastened to the prison in the company of those about him, declaring that he believed in Christ and asking him to bring his wife and son out of the ruins of the temple. St Cornelius went to the destroyed temple, and through prayer the suffering were freed.

After this the prince Demetrius, and all his relatives and comrades accepted holy Baptism. St Cornelius lived for a long time in this city, converted all the pagan inhabitants to Christ, and made Eunomios a presbyter in service to the Lord. St Cornelius died in old age and was buried not far from the pagan temple he destroyed.

St. Macrobius a Cappadocian, who died at Tomis, on the Black Sea & Julian Martyrs Julian, a priest, died in Galatia suffered under co-Emperor Licinius.
Item sanctórum Mártyrum Macróbii et Juliáni, qui sub Licínio passi sunt.
Also, the holy martyrs Macrobius and Julian, who suffered under Licinius.
Saint Macrobius was from Paphlagonia, and suffered martyrdom with Sts Gordian, Elias, Zoticus, Lucian and Valerian.

Gordian and Macrobian served in the imperial court, and they enjoyed the particular favor of the emperor. When he found out that they were Christians, he sent them to Scythia. There they met Zoticus, Lucian and Elias, who were also courageous confessors of Christ. First Sts Gordian and Macrobius suffered. After this Sts Elias, Zoticus, Lucian and Valerian were tortured and then beheaded in the city of Tomis in Scythia (Tomis, Romania). They suffered at Paphlagonia (Asia Minor) at the beginning of the fourth century during the reign of the Roman emperor Licinius (311-324).

Alexandríæ natális beáti Philíppi, patris sanctæ Eugéniæ Vírginis. Hic, dignitátem Præfectúræ Ægypti déserens, Baptísmatis grátiam assecútus est; quem, in oratióne constitútum, jussit Teréntius Præféctus, ejus succéssor, gládio jugulári.
At Alexandria, the birthday of blessed Philip, father of the virgin St. Eugenia. Resigning the dignity of prefect of Egypt, he received the grace of baptism. His successor, the prefect Terentius, had him pierced through the throat with a sword while he was praying.

3rd v. The Holy Martyr Chronides with Sts Stratonicus, Serapion, Leontius and Seleucus
Suffered for the Christian Faith in the third century with Sts Stratonicus, Serapion, Leontius and Seleucus. StsChronides, Leontius, and Serapion were from Egypt. After fierce torments for their confession of faith in Christ, the holy martyrs were savagely killed. Sts Chronides, Leontius and Serapion were bound hand and foot and cast into the sea. Their bodies were carried to shore by the waves, where Christians gave them burial.

St. Ligorius unknown Eastern martyr whose relics are venerated in Venice, Italy
Eódem die sancti Ligórii Mártyris, qui a Gentílibus, in erémo degens, ob Christi fidem necátus est.
On the same day, St. Ligorius, martyr. While living in the desert, he was murdered by heathens for faith of Christ.
He was put to death by a pagan mob.

313 Commemoration of the Founding of the Church of the Resurrection (Holy Sepulchre) at Jerusalem
Commemorated on September 13

The Dedication of the Temple of the Resurrection of Christ at Jerusalem celebrates the dedication of the Church of the Resurrection, built by St Constantine the Great and his mother, the empress Helen.

After the voluntary Passion and Death on the Cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the holy place of His suffering was long trampled on by pagans. When the Roman emperor Titus conquered Jerusalem in the year 70, he razed the city and destroyed the Temple of Solomon on Mount Moriah, leaving there not a stone upon a stone, as even the Savior foretold (Mt.13:1-2).

Later on the zealous pagan emperor Hadrian (117-138) built on the site of the Jerusalem destroyed by Titus a new city named Aelia Capitolina for him (Hadrian Aelius). It was forbidden to call the city by its former name. He gave orders to cover the Holy Tomb of the Lord with earth and stones, and on that spot to set up an idol. On Golgotha, where the Savior was crucified, he constructed a pagan temple dedicated to the goddess Venus in 119.

Before the statues they offered sacrifice to demons and performed pagan rites, accompanied by wanton acts.

In Bethlehem, at the place the Savior was born of the All-Pure Virgin, the impious emperor set up an idol of Adonis. He did all this intentionally, so that people would forget completely about Christ the Savior and that they would no longer remember the places where He lived, taught, suffered and arose in glory.

At the beinning of the reign of St Constantine the Great (306-337), the first of the Roman emperors to recognize the Christian religion, he and his pious mother the empress Helen decided to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. They also planned to build a church on the site of the Lord's suffering and Resurrection, in order to reconsecrate and purify the places connected with memory of the Savior from the taint of foul pagan cults.
The empress Helen journeyed to Jerusalem with a large quantity of gold, and St Constantine the Great wrote a letter to Patriarch Macarius I (313-323), requesting him to assist her in every possible way with her task of the renewing the Christian holy places.
After her arrival in Jerusalem, the holy empress Helen destroyed all the pagan temples and reconsecrated the places desecrated by the pagans. She was zealous to find the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, and she ordered the excavation of the place where the temple of Venus stood. There they discovered the Sepulchre of the Lord and Golgotha, and they also found three crosses and some nails.

In order to determine upon which of the three crosses the Savior was crucified, Patriarch Macarius gave orders to place a dead person, who was being carried to a place of burial, upon each cross in turn. When the dead person was placed on the Cross of Christ, he immediately came alive. With the greatest of joy the empress Helen and Patriarch Macarius raised up the Life-Creating Cross and displayed it to all the people standing about.

The holy empress quickly began the construction of a large church which enclosed within its walls Golgotha, the place of the Crucifixion of the Savior, and the Sepulchre of the Lord, located near each other. The holy Apostle and Evangelist John wrote about this: "Now in the place where He was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been laid. Therefore they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day, for the tomb was nearby" (John 19:41-42). The Church of the Resurrection was ten years in building, and the holy empress Helen did not survive to see its completion. She returned to Constantinople, and reposed in the year 327. After her arrival in Jerusalem, the holy empress built churches in Bethlehem, on the Mount of Olives, at Gethsemane and in many other places connected with the life of the Savior and events in the New Testament.

The construction of the church of the Resurrection, called "Martyrion" in memory of the sufferings of the Savior, was completed in the same year as the Council of Tyre, and in the thirtieth year of the reign of St Constantine the Great. Therefore, at the assembly of September 13, 335, the consecration of the temple was particularly solemn. Hierarchs of Christian Churches in many lands: Bythnia, Thrace, Cilicia, Cappadocia, Syria, Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, Arabia, Palestine, and Egypt, participated in the consecration of the church. The bishops who participated in the Council of Tyre, and many others, went to the consecration in Jerusalem. On this day all the city of Jerusalem was consecrated. The Fathers of the Church established September 13 as the commemoration of this remarkable event.

397 St. Nectarius Bishop of Autun friend of St. Germanus of Paris succeeded by St. John Chrysostom.
Nectarius (Nechtarios), Patriarch of Constantinople, (381-397), died 27 Sept, 397, eleventh bishop of that city since Metrophanes, and may be counted its first patriarch.

He came frorn Tarsus of a senatorial family and was praetor at Constantinople at the time of the second general council (381). When St. Gregory Nazianzen resigned his occupation of that see the people called for Nectarius to succeed him and their choice as ratified by the Council (Socrates, "H.E.", V), before August, 381.

Sozomen (H.E., VII, 8) adds that Nectorius, about to return to Tarsus, asked Diodorus, Bishop of Tarsus, if he could carry any letters for him. Diodorus, who saw that his visitor was the most suitable person to become Bishop of Constantinoble, persuaded Meletius, Bishop of Antioch, to add his name to the list of candidates presented by the council to the emperor.
The emperor then to every one's surprise, chose Nectarius, who was not yet baptized, and in neophyte's robe he was consecrated bishop. Tillemont (Mémoires, IX, 486) doubts this story.

Soon after Nectarius' election the Council passed the famous third canon giving Constantinople rank immediately after Rome. A man of no very great power, Nectarius had an uneventful reign with which St. Gregory was not altogether pleased ("Ep." 88, 91, 151, etc; Tillemont, op. cit., IX, 488). Suspected of concessions to the Novarians (Socrates, V, 10; Sozomen, VII, I2), he made none to the Arians, who in 388 burnt his house (Socrates, V, 13).
Palsamon says that in 394 he held a synod at Constantinople which decreed that no bishop should be deposed without the consent of several other bishops of the same province (Harduin, I, 955). The most important event, however, is that, according to Socrates (V, 19) and Sozomen (VII, 16), as a result of a public scandal Nectarius abolished the discipline of public penance and the office of penitentiary hitherto held by a priest of his diocese.

The incident is important for the history of Penance. Nectarius preached a sermon about the martyr Theodore still extant (P.G. XXXIX, 1821-40, Nilles "Kalendarium manuale", II, 96-100). He was succeeded by St. John Chrysostom and appears as St. Nectarius in the Orthodox Menaion for 11 October (Nilles, op. cit. I, 300; "Acta SS". May, II, 421).

407 St. John Chrysostom "golden-mouthed" When it came to justice and charity, John acknowledged no double standards.
The ambiguity and intrigue surrounding John, the great preacher (his name means "golden-mouthed") from Antioch, are characteristic of the life of any great man in a capital city. Brought to Constantinople after a dozen years of priestly service in Syria, John found himself the reluctant victim of an imperial ruse to make him bishop in the greatest city of the empire. Ascetic, unimposing but dignified, and troubled by stomach ailments from his desert days as a monk, John began his episcopate under the cloud of imperial politics. If his body was weak, his tongue was powerful. The content of his sermons, his exegesis of Scripture, were never without a point. Sometimes the point stung the high and mighty. Some sermons lasted up to two hours.

His life-style at the imperial court was not appreciated by some courtiers. He offered a modest table to episcopal sycophants hanging around for imperial and ecclesiastical favors. John deplored the court protocol that accorded him precedence before the highest state officials. He would not be a kept man.

His zeal led him to decisive action. Bishops who bribed their way into their office were deposed. Many of his sermons called for concrete steps to share wealth with the poor. The rich did not appreciate hearing from John that private property existed because of Adam's fall from grace any more than married men liked to hear that they were bound to marital fidelity just as much as their wives. When it came to justice and charity, John acknowledged no double standards.

Aloof, energetic, outspoken, especially when he became excited in the pulpit, John was a sure target for criticism and personal trouble. He was accused of gorging himself secretly on rich wines and fine foods. His faithfulness as spiritual director to the rich widow, Olympia, provoked much gossip attempting to prove him a hypocrite where wealth and chastity were concerned. His action taken against unworthy bishops in Asia Minor was viewed by other ecclesiastics as a greedy, uncanonical extension of his authority.

Two prominent personages who personally undertook to discredit John were Theophilus, Archbishop of Alexandria, and Empress Eudoxia. Theophilus feared the growth in importance of the Bishop of Constantinople and took occasion to charge John with fostering heresy. Theophilus and other angered bishops were supported by Eudoxia. The empress resented his sermons contrasting gospel values with the excesses of imperial court life. Whether intended or not, sermons mentioning the lurid Jezebel and impious Herodias were associated with the empress, who finally did manage to have John exiled. He died in exile in 407.

Comment: John Chrysostom's preaching, by word and example, exemplifies the role of the prophet to comfort the disturbed and to disturb the comfortable. For his honesty and courage he paid the price of a turbulent ministry as bishop, personal vilification and exile.

Quote: Bishops "should set forth the ways by which are to be solved very grave questions concerning the ownership, increase and just distribution of material goods, peace and war, and brotherly relations among all people" (Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops, 12).

407 Transfer of the relics of St John Chrysostom condemned by Eudoxia
Sancti Joánnis Chrysóstomi, Epíscopi Constantinopolitáni, Confessóris et Ecclésiæ Doctóris, cæléstis Oratórum sacrórum Patróni; qui décimo octávo Kaléndas Octóbris obdormívit in Dómino. Ejus sacrum corpus, sub Theodósio junióre, hac die Constantinópolim, inde póstea Romam translátum fuit, et in Basílica Príncipis Apostolórum cónditum.
St. John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, confessor and doctor of the Church, and the heavenly patron of preachers, who fell asleep in the Lord on the 14th of September. His holy body was brought to Constantinople on this day in the reign of Theodosius the younger; it was afterwards taken to Rome and placed in the basilica of the Prince of the Apostles.

407 St John Chrysostom, Archbishop Of Constantinople And Doctor Of The Church
This incomparable teacher, on account of the fluency and sweetness of his eloquence, obtained after his death the surname of Chrysostom, or Golden Mouth. But his piety and his undaunted courage are titles far more glorious, by which he may claim to be ranked among the greatest pastors of the Church. He was born about the year 347 at Antioch in Syria, the only son of Secundus, commander of the imperial troops. His mother, Anthusa, left a widow at twenty, divided her time between the care of her family and her exercises of devotion. Her example made such an impression on our saint’s master, a celebrated pagan sophist, that he could not forbear crying out, “What wonderful women are found among the Christians!”
Anthusa provided for her son the ablest masters that the empire at that time afforded. Eloquence was esteemed the highest accomplishment, and John studied that art under Libanius, the most famous orator of the age; and such was his proficiency that even in his youth he excelled his masters. Libanius being asked on his deathbed who ought to succeed him in his school, “John”, said he, “would have been my choice, had not the Christians stolen him from us.”

According to a common custom of those days young John was not baptized till he was over twenty years old, being at the time a law student. Soon after, together with his friends Basil, Theodore (afterwards bishop of Mopsuestia) and others, he attended a sort of school for monks, where they studied under Diodorus of Tarsus; and in 374 he joined one of the loosely knit communities of hermits among the mountains south of Antioch. He afterwards wrote a vivid account of their austerities and trials. He passed four years under the direction of a veteran Syrian monk, and afterwards two years in a cave as a solitary. The dampness of this abode brought on a dangerous illness, and for the recovery of his health he was obliged to return into the city in 381. He was ordained deacon by St Meletius that very year, and received the priesthood from Bishop Flavian in 386, who at the same time constituted him his preacher, John being then about forty. He discharged the duties of the office for twelve years, supporting during that time a heavy load of responsibility as the aged bishop’s deputy. The instruction and care of the poor he regarded as the first obligation of all, and he never ceased in his sermons to recommend their cause and to impress on the people the duty of almsgiving. Antioch, he supposes, contained at that time one hundred thousand Christian souls and as many pagans; these he fed with the word of God, preaching several days in the week, and frequently several times on the same day.
The Emperor Theodosius I, finding himself obliged to levy a new tax on his subjects because of his war with Magnus Maximus, the Antiochenes rioted and vented their discontent on the emperor’s statue, and those of his father, Sons and late consort, breaking them to pieces. The magistrates were helpless. But as soon as the fury was over and they began to reflect on the probable consequences of their outburst, the people were seized with terror and their fears were heightened by the arrival of two officers from Constantinople to carry out the emperor’s orders for punishment. In spite of his age, Bishop Flavian set out in the worst weather of the year to implore the imperial clemency for his flock, and Theodosius was touched by his appeal an amnesty was accorded to the delinquent citizens of Antioch. Meanwhile St John had been delivering perhaps the most memorable series of sermons, which marked his oratorical career, the famous twenty-one homilies “On the Statutes”. They manifest in a wonderful way the sympathy between the preacher and his audience, and also his own consciousness of the power that he wielded for good. There can be no question that the Lent of 387, during which these discourses were delivered, marked a turning-point in Chrysostom’s career, and that from that time forward his oratory became, even politically, one of the great forces by which the Eastern empire was swayed. After the storm he continued his labours with unabated energy, but before very long God was pleased to call him to glorify His name upon a new stage, where He prepared for his virtue other trials and other crowns.
Nectarius, Archbishop of Constantinople, dying in 397, the Emperor Arcadius, at the suggestion of Eutropius, his chamberlain, resolved to procure the election of John to the see of that city. He therefore despatched an order to the count of the East, enjoining him to send John to Constantinople, but to do so without making the news public, lest his intended removal should cause sedition. The count repaired to Antioch, and desiring the saint to accompany him out of the city to the tombs of the martyrs, he there delivered him to an officer who, taking him into his chariot, conveyed him with all possible speed to the imperial city. Theophilus, Archbishop of Alexandria, a man of proud and turbulent spirit, had come thither to recommend a nominee of his own for the vacancy; but he had to desist from his intrigues, and he consecrated John on February 26 in 398.
When regulating his domestic concerns, the saint cut down the expenses which his predecessors had considered necessary to maintain their dignity, and these sums he applied to the relief of the poor and supported many hospitals. His own household being settled in good order, the next thing he took in hand was the reformation of his clergy. This he forwarded by zealous exhortations and by disciplinary enactments, which, while very necessary, seem in their severity to have been lacking in tact. But to give these his endeavours their due force, he lived himself as an exact model of what he inculcated on others. The immodesty of women in their dress in that gay capital aroused him to indignation, and he showed how false and absurd was their excuse in saying that they meant no harm. Thus by his zeal and eloquence St John tamed many sinners, converting, moreover, many idolaters and heretics. His mildness towards sinners was censured by the Novatians; for he invited them to repentance with the compassion of a most tender father, and was accustomed to cry out, “If you have fallen a second time, or even a thousand times into sin, come to me, and you shall be healed”. But he was firm and severe in maintaining discipline, and to impenitent sinners he was inflexible. One Good Friday many Christians went to the races, and on Holy Saturday crowded to the games in the stadium. The good bishop was pierced to the quick, and on Easter Sunday he preached an impassioned sermon, “Against the Games and Shows of the Theatre and Circus”. Indignation made him not so much as mention the paschal solemnity, and his exordium was a most moving appeal.
A large number of Chrysostom’s sermons still exist, and they amply support the view of many that he was the greatest preacher who ever lived. But it must be admitted that his language was at times, especially in his later years, excessively violent and provocative. As has been observed, he “sometimes almost shrieks at his delinquent empresses” ; and one has a painful feeling that his invective in face of undoubted provocation from many Jews must have been partly responsible for the frequent bloody collisions between them and Christians in Antioch. Not all Chrysostom’s opponents were blameworthy men: there were undoubtedly good and earnest Christians amongst those who disagreed with him—he who became St Cyril of Alexandria among them.
Another good work, which absorbed a large share of the archbishop’s activities, was the founding of new and fervent communities of devout women. Among the holy widows who placed themselves under the direction of this great master of saints, the most illustrious, perhaps, was the truly noble St Olympias. Neither was his pastoral care confined to his own flock; he extended it to remote countries. He sent a bishop to instruct the wandering Scythians; another, an admirable man, to the Goths. Palestine, Persia and many other distant provinces felt the beneficent influence of his zeal. He was himself remarkable for an eminent spirit of prayer, and he was particularly earnest in inculcating this duty. He even exhorted the laity to rise for the midnight office together with the clergy. “Many artisans”, said he, “get up at night to labour, and soldiers keep vigil as sentries; cannot you do as much to praise God?”
Great also was the tenderness with which he discoursed on the divine love which is displayed in the holy Eucharist, and exhorted the faithful to the frequent use of that heavenly sacrament. The public concerns of the state often claimed a share in the interest and intervention of St Chrysostom, as when the chamberlain and ex-slave Eutropius fell from power in 399, on which occasion he preached a famous sermon while the hated Eutropius cowered in sanctuary beneath the altar in full view of the congregation. The bishop entreated the people to forgive a culprit whom the emperor, the chief person injured, was desirous to forgive; he asked them how they could beg of God the forgiveness of their own sins if they did not forgive one who stood in need of mercy and time for repentance.
It remained for St Chrysostom to glorify God by his sufferings, as he had already done by his labours, and, if we contemplate the mystery of the Cross with the eyes of faith, we shall find him greater in the persecutions he sustained than in all the other occurrences of his life. His principal ecclesiastical adversary was Archbishop Theophilus of Alexandria, already mentioned, who had several grievances against his brother of Constantinople. A no less dangerous enemy was the empress Eudoxia. John was accused of referring to her as “Jezebel”, and when he had preached a sermon against the profligacy and vanity of so many women it was represented by some as an attack levelled at the empress. Knowing the sense of grievance entertained by Theophilus, Eudoxia, to be revenged for the supposed affront to herself, conspired with him to bring about Chrysostom’s deposition. Theophilus landed at Constantinople in June 403, with several Egyptian bishops; he refused to see or lodge with John; and got together a cabal of thirty-six bishops in a house at Chalcedon called The Oak. The main articles in the impeachment were: that John had deposed a deacon for beating a servant; that he had called several of his clergy reprobates; had deposed bishops outside his own province; had sold things belonging to the church; that nobody knew what became of his revenues; that he ate alone; and that he gave holy communion to persons who were not fasting—all which accusations were either false or frivolous. John held a legal council of forty bishops in the city at the same time, and refused to appear before that at The Oak. So the cabal proceeded to a sentence of deposition against him, which they sent to the Emperor Arcadius, accusing him at the same time of treason, apparently in having called the empress “Jezebel “. Thereupon the emperor issued an order for his banishment.
For three days Constantinople was in an uproar, and Chrysostom delivered a vigorous manifesto from his pulpit.

“Violent storms encompass me on all sides: yet I am without fear, because I stand upon a rock. Though the sea roar and the waves rise high, they cannot overwhelm the ship of Jesus Christ. I fear not death, which is my gain; nor banishment, for the whole earth is the Lord’s; nor the loss of goods, for I came naked into the world, and I can carry nothing out of it.”

He declared that he was ready to lay down his life for his flock, and that if he suffered now, it was only because he had neglected nothing that would help towards the salvation of their souls. Then he surrendered himself, unknown to the people, and an official conducted him to Praenetum in Bithynia. But his first exile was short. The city was slightly shaken by an earthquake. This terrified the superstitious Eudoxia, and she implored Arcadius to recall John; she got leave to send a letter the same day, asking him to return and protesting her own innocence of his banishment. All the city went out to meet him, and the Bosphorus blazed with torches. Theophilus and his party fled by night.
But the fair weather did not last long. A silver statue of the empress having been erected before the great church of the Holy Wisdom, the dedication of it was celebrated with public games which, besides disturbing the liturgy, were an occasion of disorder, impropriety and superstition. St Chrysostom had often preached against licentious shows, and the very place rendered these the more inexcusable. And so, fearing lest his silence should be construed as an approbation of the abuse, he with his usual freedom and courage spoke loudly against it. The vanity of the Empress Eudoxia made her take the affront to herself, and his enemies were invited back. Theophilus dared not come, but he sent three deputies. This second cabal appealed to certain canons of an Arian council of Antioch, made to exclude St Athanasius, by which it was ordained that no bishop who had been deposed by a synod should return to his see till he was restored by another synod. Arcadius sent John an order to withdraw. He refused to forsake a church committed to him by God unless forcibly compelled to leave it. The emperor sent troops to drive the people out of the churches on Holy Saturday, and they were polluted with blood and all manner of outrages. The saint wrote to Pope St Innocent I, begging him to invalidate all that had been done, for the miscarriage of justice had been notorious. He also wrote to beg the concurrence of other bishops of the West. The pope wrote to Theophilus exhorting him to appear before a council, where sentence should be given according to the canons of Nicaea. He also addressed letters to Chrysostom, to his flock and several of his friends, in the hope of redressing these evils by a new council, as did also the Western emperor, Honorius. But Arcadius and Eudoxia found means to prevent any such assembly, the mere prospect of which filled Theophilus and other ringleaders of his faction with alarm.
Chrysostom was suffered to remain at Constantinople two months after Easter. On Thursday in Whit-week the emperor sent an order for his banishment. The holy man bade adieu to the faithful bishops, and took his leave of St Olympias and the other deaconesses, who were overwhelmed with grief. He then left the church by stealth to prevent sedition, and was conducted into Bithynia, arriving at Nicaea on June 20, 404. After his departure a fire broke out and burnt down the great church and the senate house. The cause of the conflagration was unknown, and many of the saint’s supporters were put to the torture on this account, but no discovery was ever made. The Emperor Arcadius chose Cucusus, a little place in the Taurus Mountains of Armenia, for St John’s exile. He set out from Nicaea in July, and suffered very great hardships from the heat, fatigue and the brutality of his guards. After a seventy days’ journey he arrived at Cucusus, where the good bishop of the place vied with his people in showing him every mark of kindness and respect. Some of the letters, which Chrysostom addressed from exile to St Olympias and others, have survived, and it was to her that he wrote his treatise on the theme “That no one can hurt him who does not hurt himself”.
Meanwhile Pope Innocent and the Emperor Honorius sent five bishops to Constantinople to arrange for a council, requiring that in the meantime Chrysostom should be restored to his see. But the deputies were cast into prison in Thrace, for the party of Theophilus (Eudoxia had died in childbed in October) saw that if a council were held they would inevitably be condemned. They also got an order from Arcadius that John should be taken farther away, to Pityus at the eastern end of the Black Sea, and two officers were sent to convey him thither. One of these was not altogether destitute of humanity, but the other was a ruffian who would not give his prisoner so much as a civil word. They often travelled in scorching heat, from which the now aged Chrysostom suffered intensely; and in the wettest weather they forced him out of doors and on his way. When they reached Comana in Cappadocia he was very ill, yet he was hurried a further five or six miles to the chapel of St Basiliscus. During the night there this martyr seemed to appear to John and said to him, “Courage, brother! To-morrow we shall be together.” The next day, exhausted and ill, John begged that he might stay there a little longer. No attention was paid; but when they had gone four miles, seeing that he seemed to be dying, they brought him back to the chapel. There the clergy changed his clothes, putting white garments on him, and he received the Holy Mysteries. A few hours later St John Chrysostom uttered his last words, “Glory be to God for all things”, and gave up his soul to God. It was Holy Cross day, September 14, 407.
St John’s body was taken back to Constantinople in the year 438, the Emperor Theodosius II and his sister St Pulcheria accompanying the archbishop St Proclus in the procession, begging forgiveness of the sins of their parents who had so blindly persecuted the servant of God. It was laid in the church of the Apostles on January 27, on which day Chrysostom is honoured in the West, but in the East his festival is observed principally on November 13, but also on other dates. In the Byzantine church he is the third of the Three Holy Hierarchs and Universal Teachers, the other two being St Basil and St Gregory Nazianzen, to whom the Western church adds St Athanasius to make the four great Greek doctors; and in 1909 St Pius X declared him to be the heavenly patron of preachers of the word of God. He is commemorated in the Byzantine, Syrian, Chaldean and Maronite eucharistic liturgies, in the great intercession or elsewhere.

Our principal sources for the story of St John’s life are the Dialogue of Palladius (whom Abbot Cuthbert Butler, with the assent of nearly all recent scholars, considers to be identical with the author of the Lausiac History), the autobiographical details which may be gleaned from the homilies and letters of the saint himself, the ecclesiastical histories of Socrates and Sozomen, and the panegyric attributed to a certain Martyrius. The literature of the subject is, of course, vast. No better general account can be recommended, especially in view of its admirable setting in a background which does justice to the circumstances of the times, than that provided by Mgr Duchesne in his Histoire ancienne de l’Eglise (English trans.), vols. ii and iii; but the definitive biography is by Dom C. Baur, Der hl. Johannes Chrysostomus und seine Zeit (2 vols., 1929—1930). An English translation of the Dialogue of Palladius was published in 1925, and the Greek text, ed. P. R. Coleman-Norton, in 1928. In English at the general level mention may be made of lives by W. R. W. Stephens (1883) and D. Attwater (1939), and Dr A. Fortescue’s lively sketch in The Greek Fathers (1908). A good introduction to the works is (Greek) Selections from St John Chrysostom (1940), ed. Cardinal D’Alton. See also Puech, St John Chrysostom (English trans.) in the series “Les Saints” the volume of essays brought out at Rome in 1908, under the title XpveoTroaLKd, in honour of the fifteenth centenary; the article by Canon E. Venables in DCB., vol. i, pp. 518—535 and that by G. Bardy in DTC., vol viii, cc. 66o seq., where a full bibliography will be found.

This great ecumenical teacher and hierarch died in the city of Comana in the year 407 on his way to a place of exile. He had been condemned by the intrigues of the empress Eudoxia because of his daring denunciation of the vices ruling over Constantinople. The transfer of his venerable relics was made in the year 438, thirty years after the death of the saint during the reign of Eudoxia's son emperor Theodosius II (408-450).

St John Chrysostom had the warm love and deep respect of the people, and grief over his untimely death lived on in the hearts of Christians. St John's disciple, St Proclus, Patriarch of Constantinople (434-447), during services in the Church of Hagia Sophia, preached a sermon praising St John. He said, "O John, your life was filled with sorrow, but your death was glorious. Your grave is blessed and reward is great, by the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus ChriSt O graced one, having conquered the bounds of time and place! Love has conquered space, unforgetting memory has annihilated the limits, and place does not hinder the miracles of the saint."

Those who were present in church, deeply touched by the words of St Proclus, did not allow him even to finish his sermon. With one accord they began to entreat the Patriarch to intercede with the emperor, so that the relics of St John might be brought back to Constantinople.

The emperor, overwhelmed by St Proclus, gave his consent and gave the order to transfer the relics of St John. But those he sent were unable to lift the holy relics until the emperor realized that he had sent men to take the saint's relics from Comana with an edict, instead of with a prayer. He wrote a letter to St John, humbly asking him to forgive his audacity, and to return to Constantinople. After the message was read at the grave of St John, they easily took up the relics, carried them onto a ship and arrived at Constantinople.

The coffin with the relics was placed in the Church of Holy Peace (Hagia Eirene). When Patriarch Proclus opened the coffin, the body of St John was found to be incorrupt. The emperor approached the coffin with tears, asking forgiveness for his mother, who had banished St John. All day and night people did not leave the coffin.

In the morning the coffin was brought to the Church of the Holy Apostles. The people cried out, "Father, take up your throne." Then Patriarch Proclus and the clergy standing by the relics saw St John open his mouth and say, "Peace be to all." Many of the sick were healed at his tomb.

The celebration of the transfer of the relics of St John Chrysostom was established in the ninth century.

426 Saint Maurilius; closely associated with France early church history; Bishop of Angers; miracle worker
Andégavi, in Gállia, sancti Maurílii Epíscopi, qui innúmeris miráculis cláruit.
At Angers in France, St. Maurilius, a bishop renowned for numberless miracles.
(336-426)

Saint Maurilius, closely associated with the early history of the church of France, was born near Milan, of an illustrious Christian family, in the year 336. He was later drawn to Tours by the virtues of Saint Martin, who built a monastery in Milan, where he undertook to form young men to virtue and sacred studies. Maurilius was among them; but when the Arians drove Saint Martin, a stranger in Italy, from the city, he lost his beloved master.
Maurilius remained for a time as cantor for Saint Ambrose, bishop of Milan, but after the death of his father, renounced his patrimony and went to Tours to rejoin Saint Martin. There, the Apostle of Gaul ordained him a priest.

He devoted himself to the salvation of souls; his zeal led him to a site near Angers where, by his prayers, he brought down fire from heaven on a pagan temple, and afterwards built a church of Jesus Christ at the same site. Alongside it he had a monastery constructed, and soon many souls came to dwell in the shadow of the cross, thus forming the city of Chalonne. When the bishop of Angers died, Maurilius was chosen by Saint Martin to succeed him. On the day of his consecration, a dove entered the church and came to rest on his head.

453 St Maurilius, Bishop Of Angers

This Maurilius was a native of Milan who came into Tourajne and became a disciple of St Martin, by whom he was ordained. He was a vigorous missionary, who knew how to make the most of an opportunity. When a pagan temple was struck by lightning he showed it to the people as an indication of God’s anger, and at once set to work to build a church in its place. He was made bishop of Angers and governed that see in virtue and prudence for thirty years.

Later writers have embroidered his life with a number of quite false tales, particularly one of a dying boy to whom he did not go to minister till it was too late. Overcome with remorse he deserted his see and made his way to the Breton coast. There, having written on a rock the words, “I, Maurilius of Angers, passed this way”, he took ship for Britain. In the Channel he accidentally dropped the key of his cathedral into the sea. The people of Angers were stricken with grief at the loss of their bishop, and eventually traced him to Brittany, where the inscription on the rock was found. Some of them then passed over into Britain to seek him there, and on the way a fish jumped into the boat; in its belly was found the key of the cathedral of their city. St Maurilius was presently found working as a gardener, and they besought him to return. I cannot come back to Angers he said, without the key of my church.” But when he was shown that they had the key he gladly went with them, and when they had safely arrived he went to the grave of the boy who by his fault had died unconfirmed and unhouseled, and called him by his name. The boy rose from the grave and was therefore given the name of Renatus (René), and lived to succeed St Maurilius as bishop of Angers: he is venerated as a saint both there and as bishop of Sorrento in Italy. The fable of an object recovered from the belly of a fish is found in the legends of St Ambrose of Cahors, St Kentigern, St Maglorius and others, as well as in several non-Christian sources, particularly the story of the ring of Polycrates. There is a tradition at Angers that St Maurilius introduced the feast of the Birthday of our Lady into that diocese, in consequence of a man having a vision of singing angels on the night of September 8 but it deserves no more credence than the other stories told about this holy bishop.

On the 3rd of the month is celebrated the feast of another ST MAURILIUS, a bishop of Cahors who died in the year 580.

Deliberate fraud has been associated with what at one time passed current as the Life of St Maurilius. A certain deacon named Archanaldus in 905 rewrote an earlier account of the saint, and pretended that it had originally been compiled by Venantius Fortunatus and had afterwards been corrected by Gregory of Tours. The deception was exposed by Launoy in 1649, and the whole matter will be found discussed in the Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. iv. The genuine life by Magnobodus, written c. 620, has also in part been edited by B. Krusch when writing of Venantius in MGH., Auctores Antiquissimi, vol. iv, Pt 2, pp. 84—101. See also the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xviii (1899), pp. 417—421, and J. Levron, Les saints du pays angevin (1943), pp. 53—64.

A few years later, a strange episode occurred. During the consecration of a Mass celebrated by the bishop, a dying child was brought in great haste to the church, to receive Confirmation. The Saint waited for the end of the Holy Sacrifice, but during this time the child died. Maurilius was so grieved by this that he fled without advising anyone and embarked for England, where in great humility he took employment as the gardener of a nobleman.
His diocesans at Angers were inconsolable, and sought him out so well that they discovered his retreat. He refused, however, to return as bishop, stating that he could not do so because during his voyage he had lost at sea the keys to the cathedral, and had vowed not to return until he found them. “But see,” said the messengers, “what we have here; during our crossing a fish was cast up by a wave onto the deck of the ship, and in its stomach we found these keys!” Maurilius obeyed the Will of Heaven. When he returned he asked to be taken to the tomb of the child, and with tears streaming from his eyes asked God to restore him to life. The resurrected child was given the name of René for this reason, which in French means reborn, and he became the successor to Maurilius as bishop of Angers.

7th v. Queen Ketevan of Georgia martyred in Persia: her holy relics were illumined with a radiant light
The holy Queen Ketevan was the daughter of Ashotan Mukhran-Batoni, a prominent ruler from the Bagrationi royal family. The clever and pious Ketevan was married to Prince David, heir to the throne of Kakheti. David’s father, King Alexander II (1574–1605), had two other sons, George and Constantine, but according to the law the throne belonged to David. Constantine was converted to Islam and raised in the court of the Persian shah Abbas I.

Several years after David and Ketevan were married, King Alexander stepped down from the throne and was tonsured a monk at Alaverdi. But after four months, in the year 1602, the young king David died suddenly. He was survived by his wife, Ketevan, and two children—a son, Teimuraz, and a daughter, Elene—and his father ascended the throne once more.

Upon hearing of David’s death and Alexander’s return to the royal throne, Shah Abbas commanded Alexander’s youngest son, Constantine-Mirza, to travel to Kakheti, murder his father and the middle brother, George, and seize the throne of Kakheti. As instructed, Constantine-Mirza beheaded his father and brother, then sent their heads, like a precious gift, to Shah Abbas.

Their headless bodies he sent to Alaverdi. (Since the beginning of the 11th century, Alaverdi had been the resting place of the Kakhetian kings.) The widowed Queen Ketevan was left to bury her father-in-law and brother-in-law.

But Constantine-Mirza was still unsatisfied, and he proposed to take Queen Ketevan as his wife.

Outraged at his proposition, the nobles of Kakheti rose up and killed the young man who had committed patricide and profaned his Faith and the throne. Having buried the wicked Constantine-Mirza with the honor befitting his royal ancestry, Ketevan sent generous gifts to Shah Abbas and requested that he proclaim her son, Teimuraz, the rightful heir to the throne.

While she was awaiting his reply, Ketevan assumed personal responsibility for the rule of Kakheti. Concerned that, if he denied this request, Kakheti would forcibly separate from him and unite with Kartli, Shah Abbas hastily sent Prince Teimuraz to Georgia, laden with great wealth.

In 1614 Shah Abbas informed King Teimuraz that his son would be taken hostage, and Teimuraz was forced to send his young son Alexander and his mother Ketevan to Persia. As a final attempt to divide the royal family of Kakheti, Shah Abbas demanded that the eldest prince, Levan, be brought before him, and he finally summoned King Teimuraz himself.

The shah’s intentions were clear: to hold all of the royal family in Persia and send his own viceroys to rule in Kakheti. He sought to eliminate King Luarsab II of Kartli as well, but Teimuraz and Luarsab agreed to attack the Persian army with joint forces and drive the enemy out of Georgia.

Shah Abbas sent his hostages, Queen Ketevan and her grandsons, deep into Persia, while he himself launched an attack on Kakheti.

With fire and the sword the godless ruler plundered all of Georgia. The royal palace was razed, churches and monasteries were destroyed, and entire villages were abandoned. By order of the shah, more than three hundred thousand Georgians were exiled to Persia, and their homes were occupied by Turkic tribes from Central Asia. Hunger and violence reigned over Georgia.

The defeated Georgian kings Teimuraz and Luarsab sought refuge with King George III of Imereti.

After they had spent five years exiled in Shiraz (Persia), the princes Alexander and Levan were separated from Ketevan and castrated in Isfahan. Alexander could not endure the suffering and died, while Levan went mad.

St. Ketevan, meanwhile, remained a prisoner of the ruler of southeastern Persia, the ethnic Georgian imam Quli-Khan Undiladze, who regarded the widowed Queen of Kakheti with great respect. According to his command, Ketevan was not to discover the fate of her grandsons.

Queen Ketevan spent ten years in prison, praying for her motherland and loved ones with all her might and adhering to a strict ascetic regime. Constant fasting, prayer and a stone bed exhausted her previously pampered body, but in spirit she was courageous and full of vitality. She looked after those assigned to her care and instructed them in the spiritual life.

After some time Abbas resolved to convert Ketevan to Islam, and he announced his intention to marry her. He asked that his proposal be conveyed to her the same day she was informed of the fate of her grandsons. As a condition of their marriage, Abbas insisted that Ketevan renounce the Christian Faith and convert to Islam. In the case of her acquiescence, Imam Quli-Khan was to respect and honor her as a queen, and in the case of her refusal, to subject her to public torture.

The alarmed imam begged the queen to submit to the shah’s will and save herself, but the queen firmly refused and began to prepare for her martyrdom. (According to one foreign observer, her steadfastness delayed the Islamization of the Georgians in Persia: “In the course of a conversation at the court of Shah Abbas, where a young and recently converted Georgian was present, the question arose as to why it was that, while all young Georgians were forced to embrace Islam, their mothers were not. The explanation given by one of those present was that since the Queen would not change her faith Georgian mothers likewise refused.” (Z. Avalishvili, “Teimuraz I and His Poem ‘The Martyrdom of Queen Ketevan,’” Georgica [vol I, no. 4/5, 1937] pp. 22.)

Queen Ketevan was robed in festive attire and led out to a crowded square. Her persecutors subjected her to indescribable torment: they placed a red-hot copper cauldron on her head, tore at her chest with heated tongs, pierced her body with glowing spears, tore off her fingernails, nailed a board to her spine, and finally split her forehead with a red-hot spade.

St. Ketevan’s soul departed from her body, and the executioners cast her mutilated body to the beasts. But the Lord God sent a miracle: her holy relics were illumined with a radiant light.

A group of French Augustinian missionary fathers, who had witnessed the inhuman tortures, wrapped Queen Ketevan’s body in linens scented with myrrh and incense and buried it in a Catholic monastery.

Some time later the holy relics of Great-martyr Ketevan were delivered to her son, Teimuraz, King of Kakheti.

Teimuraz wept bitterly for his mother and sons and buried the relics with great honor in the Alaverdi Cathedral of St. George.

607 St Eulogius, Patriarch Of Alexandria celebrated for learning and sanctity
Alexandríæ sancti Eulógii Epíscopi, doctrína et sanctitáte célebris.
At Alexandria, St. Eulogius, a bishop celebrated for learning and sanctity.

St Eulogius was a Syrian by birth and while young became a monk, and at length abbot of his monastery of the Mother of God at Antioch. Amongst the evils with which the Church was then afflicted, the disorder and confusion into which the monophysites had thrown the church of Alexandria called for strong measures, and an able pastor endowed with prudence and vigour to apply them. Upon death of patriarch John, in 579 St Eulogius was raised to that dignity.

Two or three years later Eulogius was obliged to make a journey to Constantinople on the affairs of his church, and there he met St Gregory the Great, who was at that time the papal representative (apocrisiarius) at the Byzantine court. Between the two a friendship soon sprang up, and there are extant a number of letters which in after years Gregory addressed to Eulogius. In one of these letters St Gregory, now pope, refers to the success of the monk Augustine among the pagan Angli, “living in an angle of the world”, stating that on the preceding Christmas-eve ten thousand of them had been baptized he goes on to use this as an encouragement for Eulogius in his efforts against the monophysites. One passage almost seems to imply that St Eulogius had something to do with originating St Augustine’s mission to England. St Gregory, who had already had to rebuke the patriarch of Constantinople, John IV the Faster, for assuming the pompous title of “Ecumenical Patriarch” and had thenceforward in protest signed himself “Servant of the Servants of God”, likewise reproved St Eulogius for addressing him as

“Ecumenical Pope”. “I do not wish to be exalted in words but in virtue”, he wrote. “Away with these words which puff up pride and offend charity.”

Of the numerous writings of St Eulogius, chiefly against heresies, only a sermon and a few fragments remain one treatise was submitted to St Gregory before publication, and he approved it with the words, “I find nothing in your writings but what is admirable”. St Eulogius did not long survive his friend, dying at Alexandria about the year 607.

Besides the Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. iv, an account of Eulogius will be found in Bardenhewer’s Patrology (Eng. trans.), pp. 575—576, and in DCB., vol. ii, p. 283. His works are printed in Migne, PG., vol. lxxxvi. See also the Theologische Quartalschrift, vol. lxxviii, pp. 353—401. Pope Gregory I’s letter about the English mission is in lib. viii, ind. i, no. 30 of his Epistolae.

630 St. Amatus Benedictine monk hermit founded a double monastery in 620
Benedictine abbot and hermit, also called Ame. He was born into a noble family of Grenoble, France, and placed into St. Maurice Abbey as a small child. After becoming a Benedictine monk, Amatus lived as a hermit, going to Luxueil Monastery in 614. St. Eustace, one of his mentors, advised this assignment. While in Luxueil, Amatus converted a Merovingian noble named Romaric. This convert founded a double monastery in 620, and Amatus became its first abbot.

630 St Amatus, or Ame, Abbot
The first in time of the two saints of this name commemorated today was born of a Gallo-Roman family at Grenoble. While still a child he was taken to the abbey of Agaunum where he passed over thirty years of his life, first as a schoolboy, then as a religious in the community, and finally as a hermit in a cell on the cliff behind the monastery. There he lived alone, supporting himself by the cultivation of a small patch of land, helped therein, it was said in after ages, by divine intervention. Persevering and improving in every grace and virtue, he in the year 614 attracted the attention of St Eustace, when he visited Agaunum on his way back from a visit to Italy. He induced Amatus to return with him to Luxeuil and become a monk in that monastery.
The most important external achievement of St Amatus was the conversion of Romaric, a Merovingian nobleman who had a castle at Habendum, on the Moselle. This conversion was begun when one day St Amatus was dining at the table of Romaric, who asked the question of another certain ruler: “What shall I do to possess everlasting life?” Amatus pointed out a silver dish as representing the possessions to which his questioner was enslaved, and added the words of our Lord: “Sell all whatever thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven. And come, follow me.” Romaric took these words to heart and was given the grace to interpret them literally: he manumitted his serfs, gave most of his goods, except Habendum, to the poor and the Church, and became a monk at Luxeuil. Then, about the year 620, the converted nobleman himself founded a double monastery wider the Columbanian rule, St Amatus being appointed its first abbot. This monastery was on his estate at Habendum, and was afterwards called after the founder Remiremont (Romarici Mans). Its early days are said darkened by a sad quarrel between Amatus and Romaric on the one hand and Eustace on the other, in which a monk of Luxeuil, named Agrestius, was deeply implicated. But that unhappy man came to a bad end; he was murdered (it is said by a wronged husband) and after his death peace was gradually restored. St Amatus died about the year 630, in love and charity with St Eustace and the monks of Luxeuil.
During his last years he reverted to the solitary life of his earlier ones, living in a cell apart, cultivating his garden and looking after their bees for the nuns, and coming to choir only on Sundays and great feasts. His friend and convert Romaric took over the direction of the two communities, and in due course he too was venerated as a saint.

The Latin life, which was formerly accepted (e.g. in the Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. iv) as written by a monk of Remiremont who was practically a contemporary of the saint, has been reedited by B. Krusch in MGH., Scriptores Merov., vol. iv, pp. 215—221. Krusch arrives at the conclusion the document is quite untrustworthy and fabricated in the ninth century. The matter is not altogether clear, though the life must in any case have been written as much as fifty years after the death of St Amatus. As against Krusch, see Besson in the Zeitschrift für Schweitzerische Kirchengeschichte, vol. (1907), pp. 20-51, and cf. the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxvi, pp. 342—343.

680 St. Columbinus Benedictine abbot, the successor of St. Deicola at Lure, in the Vosges, France.

690 St. Amatus Benedictine bishop abbot of Agaune monastery in Switzerland
Amatus was the abbot of Agaune monastery in Switzerland. He became the bishop of Sion diocese in the Swiss canton of Valais but was accused falsely by enemies and banished to Peronne and then Breuil, France, where he died as a monk.

690 St Amatus, or Âme, Bishop Of Sion In Valais
This other Amatus became bishop of Sion (Sitten), in what is now Switzerland, about the year 66o. We hear little of him till some sixteen years later when, for reasons unknown, King Thierry III of Austrasia banished him to the monastery at Péronne, where St Ultan, brother of its founder St Fursey, was then abbot. After the death of St Ultan, St Amatus was in 686 given into the care of St Maurontus at his newly founded abbey at Breuil in Flanders. On his way thither the bishop, while vesting himself in the church at Cambrai, emulated St Goar and other saints by hanging his cloak not on a beam but on a sun-beam. But it was the holiness of St Amatus and the injustice of his position, rather than this imaginary incident, that caused St Maurontus to kneel at his feet and apologize for being his guardian. At Breuil St Amatus both by words and example excited the monks to fervour and humility. He himself lived in a cell near the church, and occupied his soul in heavenly contemplation. Thus he lived some years with these monks, and only left them to become an intercessor with Christ in His glory for them about the year 690.
The Roman Martyrology implies that St Amatus was bishop of Sens, as indeed he is generally called there has been confusion between Senonensis and Sedunensis, and his name was interpolated in the episcopal lists of that see during the tenth century. Nevertheless his attribution to Sion in Valais is not without its difficulties.

There are two Latin lives of the saint, the one printed in the Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. iv, the other in the Catalogue of the Hagiographical MSS. of Brussels, ii, pp 44-55. The Bollandists formerly described him as bishop of Sens, not Sion, and this view has been supported in modern times by H. Bouvier, Histoire de l‘Eglise de Sens, vol. i (1906), pp. 457—460. On the other side see Besson, Monasterium Agaunense (1913), p. 171. Cf. also Duchesne, Fastes Episcopaux, vol. i, p. 246, and ii, p. 239.

7th v. St. Venerius Hermit abbot island of Tino, in the Gulf of Genoa
He lived as a hermit on the island of Tino, in the Gulf of Genoa, Italy, and eventually became an abbot over a monastic community on the island.

8th v. Saint Peter from Atroe was dedicated to God from childhood
He spent his whole life in exploits of fasting and unceasing prayer. He pursued asceticism in the city of Atroe, near Asian Olympos. A distinctive feature of the holy ascetic was his extreme temperance. During his lifetime, the saint worked many miracles and peacefully reposed in the time of Patriarch Tarasius of Constantinople (784-806).

16th v. Saint John monk of the Prislop Monastery in southwestern Romania; lead a solitary ascetical life, struggling against the assaults of the demons
was a monk of the Prislop Monastery in southwestern Romania at the turn of the sixteenth century. After several years in that place, he went into the mountains to lead a solitary ascetical life, struggling against the assaults of the demons.

One day, while St John was making a window in his cell, he was shot and killed by a hunter on the other side of the creek, who mistook him for a wild animal. St John's holy relics were later brought to Wallachia (southern Romania).

He was glorified by the Orthodox Church of Romania in 1992.

1745 Saint Hierotheus received the monastic tonsure at the Iveron monastery; Many sick and afflicted with bodily suffering were healed by prayers to the saint.
Born in 1686 in Greece. Desiring to comprehend Divine wisdom as it is in the sciences and also as it is in monastic life, the pious youth, displaying great ability and diligence, studied Latin and Greek philosophy.

After the death of his parents, and wanting to continue his education, St Hierotheus first of all visited Mount Athos, which was famous for its many male teachers. At first he was the disciple of a certain hermit near the cell of St Artemius (October 20), and then he joined the brethren of the Iveron monastery, where he received the monastic tonsure.

St Hierotheus soon journeyed to Constantinople on monastery business, and from there to Valachia, where the Lord directed him to continue his interrupted education. Having been instructed by a certain Cypriot monk, St Hierotheus by his good manners merited the favor of Metropolitan Auxentius of Sofia, and was ordained deacon.

After completing his education in Venice, St Hierotheus returned to the Holy Mountain. He settled near the Iveron monastery in the Khaga wilderness. According to the testimony of his contemporaries, he led a very strict hermit's life; with the constant Jesus Prayer the monk discovered deep love for neighbor and joy-creating sorrow. On the intercession of the igumen of the Iveron monastery St Hierotheus was ordained to the priesthood by Metropolitan James of Neocaesarea, who lived there in retirement.

At the request of the inhabitants of Skopelo, who had no priest, the self-denying ascetic forsook his solitude. He celebrated the services and preached for eight years, together with his Athonite disciples the hieromonk Meletius and the monks Joasaph and Simeon.

Foreseeing his own impending end, St Hierotheus with three disciples withdrew to the island of Yura, where those banished for life were usually sent. There after a short illness he departed to the Lord in the year 1745. His disciples buried him on that island, and after three years his venerable head was transferred to the Iveron monastery. Many sick and those afflicted with bodily suffering were healed by prayers to the saint.

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

THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 6

My soul hath fainted in thy ways, O Lady:
and unless thou didst have the greatest compassion on me, I should indeed have perished in my weakness.

My eyes have failed in thy contemplation: like a bottle in the frost my soul has been before thee.

According to thy goodness quicken thou me: and I shall not forget thy words, because to cling to thee is good.

By thy ruling the world goes on: which thou together with God hast founded from the beginning.

I am all thine, o Lady; save me: for thy praises were desirable to me in the time of my pilgrimage.

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

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

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

God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique, for each is the result of a new idea. As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike. It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints. Dear Lord, grant us a spirit that is not bound by our own ideas and preferences. Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves. O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory. Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives. Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts. God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heaven: only saints are allowed into heaven. The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR the benefit of others.

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

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

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

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

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

Saint Frances Xavier Seelos Practical Guide to Holiness

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Meeting of the Saints walis (saints of Allah)

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

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

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

To Save A Life is Earthly; Saving A Soul is Eternal Donation by mail, please send check or money order to:

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Mother Angelica saving souls is this beautiful womans journey

Shrine_of_The_Most_Blessed_Sacrament

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

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

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

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

America's First Basilica Largest Nave in the World

August 7, 1907-ground broke for the foundation

by Archbishop Ireland-laying cornerstone May 31, 1908

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

Index to Part I and Part II 1932

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

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

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

Member -- St. Paul Seminary faculty.

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

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

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

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

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

THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi.

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

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

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

By Father John Corapi

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

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

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

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

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

Father Corapi's Biography

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

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

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

About Father John Corapi.

Father Corapi is a Catholic priest .

The pillars of father's preaching are basically:

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

God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LINKS:
Marian Apparitions (over 2000) India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes Feb 11- July 16, Loreto, Italy 1858
China Marian shrines May 23, 1995 Zarvintisya Ukraine Lourdes Kenya national Marian shrine    Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798
Links to Related Marian Websites Angels and Archangels
Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Apostles Roman Catholic Popes Purgatory Uniates, 68 2023