Mary Mother of GOD
Et álibi aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum, atque sanctárum Vírginum.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
Пресвятая Богородице спаси нас!  (Santíssima Mãe de Deus, salva-nos!)
RDeo grátias. R.  Thanks be to God.
September is the month of Our Lady of Sorrows since 1857;
  2023
22,013  Lives Saved Since 2007

                 
We are the defenders of true freedom.
  May our witness unveil the deception of the "pro-choice" slogan.
40 days for Life Campaign saves lives Shawn Carney Campaign Director www.40daysforlife.com
Please help save the unborn they are the future for the world

It is a great poverty that a child must die so that you may live as you wish -- Mother Teresa
 Saving babies, healing moms and dads, 'The Gospel of Life'

Six Canonized on Feast of Christ the King

CAUSES OF SAINTS

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

Acts of the Apostles

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

Our actions have a tongue of their own; they have an eloquence of their own, even when the tongue is silent.
For deeds prove the lover more than words.
St. Cyril of Jerusalem

Apostle of My mercy, proclaim to the whole world My unfathomable mercy.- Revelation to St. Faustina

May the spirit and example of the Good Samaritan
fill the hearts and minds of all our citizens.

Michael, Gabriel and Raphael

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

Mary made earthly what was heavenly
 The first evangelizer of Armenia, Saint Addai, is said to have received from Saint Luke an image of the Virgin
painted by him. Later, Christians fleeing persecution in Rome came to Armenia, where that image was venerated.

A native Armenian, Saint Gregory of Narek (951-1003) is one of the prominent figures of Eastern Christianity.
He is considered the apostle of Armenia. He was also a poet, a spiritual master, a visionary cantor, teacher of faith.
A saint of the Armenian Apostolic Church and of the Catholic Church, his proclamation as doctor of the Church was announced on February 21, 2015, by Pope Francis.

The Armenian Apostolic Church’s liturgy highlights the personality of Mary. She is the "Throne of Salvation, Dawn of Peace, Orient of the Sun of Justice, Daughter of the Light, Interpreter of the Divinity, Altar of the Holy Spirit, Mediatrix, Patroness of the Church, Queen of the Universe, Hope and Refuge of Christians."
Mary not only made earthly what was heavenly, she also has the charisma to accustom the earthly to the heavenly, that is to say, to help mankind resemble God.

 
September 29 - Archangels Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael and more link Here
Holy Mary, Mother of Angels, pray for us
Saint Michael, who was ever the defender of the people of God, pray for us.
Saint Gabriel, who did announce to Blessed Mary the Incarnation of the Divine Word, pray for us.
Saint Raphael, who did lead Tobias safely through his journey home, pray for us.

Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel, and Saint Raphael - Archangels - Feast Day
Mary Gives Us the Courage to Go On


We may well ask how the Blessed Virgin helps us. She certainly prays for us, and in my own case I have often asked my best Friend’s mother to put in a good word. Anyone familiar with Marian devotion knows that Our Lady may help us in two ways. First, through her intercession we may realize that things did not go as badly as we might have expected them to, or perhaps they even vastly improved (which is rare).

The second aspect we experience with this devotion is that we receive the courage to go on. In the film The Passion of the Christ, Mary is portrayed as the one who goes on in the worst of circumstances; it is a most powerful image.
Many Protestants are more interested in Mary than they have been for centuries because of that portrayal.
Surely, the Mother of Christ prayed at every step of her Son’s passion that “it wouldn’t happen,” that he wouldn’t be scourged, crowned with thorns, made to drag the cross, or crucified. But all those things did happen. What did she do? She remained faithful and believing, and although it is not emphasized in the gospel, she surely had the most incredible and rewarding experience that any human being in great suffering ever had. I cannot help thinking how beneficial it would be if we had some record of the Blessed Virgin’s response to the resurrection of Christ…
This mysterious aspect of Our Lady’s Sorrows is often most helpful to me.

Excerpt from Priests’ Response in the Face of Reports of Marian Private Revelations, by Father Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R.  published in Behold Your Mother, Ave Maria Press, 2007, p. 8

        St. Raphael {"God heals."} is one of seven Archangels
        St. Gabriel means "man of God,"
        St. Michael, the Archangel
 290 St. Rhipsime Virgin martyr put to death with group  fellow virgins
Ripsimis the holy virgin martyr and her companions In Armenia
 318 St. Theodota Martyr and penitent
340 St. Gudelia A Persian martyr; converted many to faith, refused adore sun, fire, murdered.
 368 St. Dadas A Persian martyr
 450 St. Fraternus Bishop and martyr
             Eutychius, Plautus, and Heracleas
6th v. St. Quiriacus A Greek hermit who lived in Palestine
  713 St. Ludwin Benedictine bishop of Trier
1073 St. Garcia Benedictine abbot
1137 St. Grimoaldus Archpriest of Pontecorvo
1349 Bl. Richard Rolle de Hampole English mystic and hermit
1364 BD CHARLES OF BLOIS  would always rather been Franciscan friar than prince;  provided for poor /suffering.

The Miracle (II) September 29 - OUR LADY OF TONGRES (France, 1081)
"Can I be a real painer? Alas! I paint like a child spells." And the humble artist ran to the chapel choir.
There, shrouded in silence, he almost complained To Jesus his Savior, his Master, his Friend, and his Brother.
"O you, her Almighty Son, there next to her, Grant me genius, or at the very least send me a model!
Her face dazzles your angels in heaven And me, a mere mortal, a bold sinner,
I want to melt within a ray of ephemeral color Her virginal smile and maternal beauty!"

Then Angelico returned to his blessed work, But his painting, his divine masterpiece, was finished.
The face, at once humble and gentle, smiling and severe, Reflected both the Manger and Calvary; Completed by the hand of an invisible artist. And such as Angelico had always dreamed, Wonderfully gathering up the loose folds of the veil.  And the Angel, from the corner of the canvas, beamed As if to say: "Friend, it's me, it's my secret."
And there, before his canvas, Angelico sobbed. 
      Victor Delaporte (1846-1910).
“The saints must be honored as friends of Christ and children and heirs of God, as John the theologian and evangelist says: ‘But as many as received him, he gave them the power to be made the sons of God....’ Let us carefully observe the manner of life of all the apostles, martyrs, ascetics and just men who announced the coming of the Lord. And let us emulate their faith, charity, hope, zeal, life, patience under suffering, and perseverance unto death, so that we may also share their crowns of glory” Exposition of the Orthodox Faith
Called in the Gospel "the Mother of Jesus," Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the Mother of my Lord" (Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.). In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh,
was none other than the Father's eternal Son,  the second person of the Holy Trinity.
Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos).

Catechism of the Catholic Church 495, quoting the Council of Ephesus (431): DS 251.

Michael, Gabriel and Raphael
Angels—messengers from God—appear frequently in Scripture, but only Michael, Gabriel and Raphael are named.

Michael appears in Daniel's vision as
the great prince who defends Israel against its enemies; in the Book of Revelation, he leads God's armies to final victory over the forces of evil. Devotion to Michael is the oldest angelic devotion, rising in the East in the fourth century. The Church in the West began to observe a feast honoring Michael and the angels in the fifth century.

Gabriel also makes an appearance in Daniel's visions, announcing Michael's role in God's plan.
His best-known appearance is an encounter with a young Jewish girl named Mary, who consents to bear the Messiah.

Raphael's activity is confined to the Old Testament story of Tobit. There he appears to guide Tobit's son Tobiah through a series of fantastic adventures which lead to a threefold happy ending:
Tobiah's marriage to Sarah, the healing of Tobit's blindness and the restoration of the family fortune.

The memorials of Gabriel (March 24) and Raphael (October 24) were added to the Roman calendar in 1921.
The 1970 revision of the calendar joined their feasts to Michael's.

Comment: Each of these archangels performs a different mission in Scripture: Michael protects; Gabriel announces; Raphael guides. Earlier belief that inexplicable events were due to the actions of spiritual beings has given way to a scientific world-view and a different sense of cause and effect. Yet believers still experience God's protection, communication and guidance in ways which defy description. We cannot dismiss angels too lightly.
Quote: The question of how many angels could dance on the point of a pin no longer is absurd in molecular physics, with its discovery of how broad that point actually is, and what part invisible electronic 'messengers' play in the dance of life (Lewis Mumford).
DEDICATION OF THE BASILICA OF ST MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL, COMMONLY CALLED MICHAELMAS DAY

In monte Gargáno venerábilis memória beáti Michaélis Archángeli, quando ipsíus nómine ibi consecráta fuit Ecclésia, vili quidem facta schémate, sed cælésti præstans virtúte.
    On Mount Gargano, the commemoration of the blessed archangel Michael.  This festival is kept in memory of the day when, under his invocation, there was consecrated a church, unpretending in its exterior, but endowed with celestial virtue.


IT cannot he disputed that in the apocryphal literature, which, both before and after the coming of Christ, was so prevalent in Palestine and among the Jewish communities of the Diaspora, the archangel Michael (Michael who is like to God ?) played a great part.

A starting—point may be found in the authentic scriptures, for the tenth and twelfth chapters of the Book of Daniel speak of Michael as “one of the chief princes“, the special protector of Israel, and describe how at that time shall Michael rise up, “the great prince who standeth for the children of thy people“ (Dan. xii x). In the Book of Henoch, which is regarded as the most important and influential of all the Old Testament apocrypha, Michael comes before us repeatedly as “the great captain“,“ the chief captain“, he “is set over the best part of mankind“, i.e. over the chosen race who are the inheritors of the promises.

He is merciful, and it is he who will explain the mystery which underlies the dread judgments of the Almighty .Michael is depicted as ushering

 Henoch himself into the divine presence, hut he is also associated with the other great archangels, Gabriel, Raphael and Shanuel, in binding the wicked potentates of earth and casting them into a furnace of fire. The merciful conception of the leader’s office is, however, especially emphasized in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs and in the Ascension of Isaias (c. A.D. 90?) in which last we read of “the great angel Michael always interceding for the human race “, but in this same work he is further presented as the scribe who records the deeds of all men in the heavenly books

In New Testament times it is written in the Apocalypse of St John (xii 7—9) “there was a great battle in Heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels; and they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in Heaven.  And that great dragon was cast out, that old serpent who is called the Devil and Satan, who seduceth the whole world: and he was cast unto the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”

Still more significant of the close association of a cult of St Michael with Jewish traditions or folk-lore is the mention of his name in the Epistle of St Jude (v 9): When Michael the archangel, disputing with the Devil, contended about the body of Moses, he durst not bring against him the judgment of railing speech, but said The Lord rebuke thee.’
“Whether this is a direct quotation from the apocryphal writing known as The Assumption of Moses may he disputed, because we do not possess the text of the latter part of that work but Origen expressly states that it is a quotation and names this book. The story there recounted seems to have been that when Moses died, Samael
(i.e. Satan) claimed the body on the ground that Moses, having killed the Egyptian, was a murderer. This blasphemy kindled the wrath of Michael, but he restrained himself, saying only The Lord rebuke thee, thou slanderer (diabole).” What seems certain is that The Assumption of Moses did give prominence to the part played by St Michael in the burial of Moses, and also that this same book was cited by certain fathers at the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325. It was probably of pre-Christian origin, but we find in the Shepherd of Hermas, dating from the early part of the second century A.D., an illustration of the veneration in which St Michael was held by those who were undoubtedly Christians. In the eighth similitude “we have the allegory of the twigs cut from the great willow tree, some of which sprout into vigorous life when planted and watered, while others droop or whither away. An angel of majestic aspect presides over the awards when these twigs are brought back for inspection and judgment is passed upon them. This, we are told, is “the great and glorious angel Michael who has authority over this people and governs them; for this is he who gave them the law and implanted it in the hearts of believers; he accordingly superintends them to whom he gave it to see if they have kept the same.”

The Shepherd of Hermas was treated by some of the early fathers as if it formed part of the canon of scripture, but it hardly seems to have been so widely popular as a very extravagant apocryphal writing of Jewish origin known as the Testament of Abraham, which is probably not very much later in date. In this the archangel Michael throughout plays almost the leading part. His difficult task is to reconcile Abraham to the necessity of death. Michael is presented to the reader as God’s commander-in-chief, the organizer of all the divine relations with earth, one whose intervention is so powerful with God that at his word souls can be rescued even from Hell itself. We have, for example, passages like the following

And Abraham said to the chief-captain [i.e. St Michael, “I beseech thee, archangel, hearken to my prayer, and let us call upon the Lord and supplicate His compassion and entreat His mercy for the souls of the sinners whom I formerly in my anger cursed and destroyed, whom the earth swallowed up and the wild beasts tore in pieces and the fire consumed through my words. Now I know that I have sinned before the Lord our God. Come then, Michael, chief captain of the hosts above, come let us call upon God with tears, that He may forgive my sins and grant them to me.” And the chief captain heard him and they made entreaty before the Lord, and when they had called upon Him for a long space there came a voice from Heaven, saying: Abra­ham, Abraham, I have hearkened to thy voice and to thy prayer, and I forgive thee thy sin, and those whom thou thinkest that I destroyed I have called up and brought them into life by my exceeding kindness, because for a season I have requited them in judgment and those whom I destroy living upon earth I will not requite in death.”

Whether this and similar apocrypha were based on Jewish traditions or not there can be no doubt that they were read by Christians. In most of them there is nothing so glaringly unorthodox as to stamp them as attacks upon the Christian faith. What is more, the thinly disguised fictional element, which is predominant in most of the hagiographical literature even of the early centuries, must infallibly have dulled the critical sense of the great majority of readers, however piously inclined. To this we may safely attribute the fact that these apocryphal writings were very widely circulated and that we find echoes of them even in a canonical epistle like that of St Jude and still more in several of the early Greek fathers. The liturgy itself was imperceptibly coloured by them. A most conspicuous example is the still existing offertory chant in Masses for the dead

Lord Jesus Christ, king of glory, deliver the souls of all the faithful departed from the pains of Hell and from the deep pit deliver them from the mouth of the lion that Hell may not swallow them up and that they may not fall into darkness, but may the standard-hearer Michael conduct them into the holy light, which thou didst promise of old to Abraham and his seed. We offer to thee, Lord, sacrifices and prayers; do thou receive them in behalf of those souls whom we commemorate this day. Grant them, Lord, to pass from death to that life which thou didst promise of old to Abraham and to his seed

There are many reminiscences here of the type of apocryphal literature which has just been spoken of. The association of St Michael with Abraham is full of significance for anyone who is acquainted with the so-called Testament of Abraham. To enter into details would here be out of place, but it must suffice to point out that from the prominence thus given to St Michael, further developments followed very naturally, as has been pointed out herein under the Appearing of St Michael, on May 8.

Today’s festival has been kept with great solemnity at the end of September ever since the sixth century at least. The Roman Martyrology implies that the dedication of the famous church of St Michael on Mount Gargano gave occasion to the institution of this feast in the West, but it would appear that it really cele­brates the dedication of a basilica in honour of St Michael on the Salarian Way six miles north of Rome. In the East, where he was regarded as having care of the sick (rather than, as today, captain of the heavenly host and protector of soldiers), veneration of this archangel began yet earlier and certain healing waters were named after him, as at Khairotopa and Colossae. Sozomen tells us that Constantine the Great built a church in his honour, called the Michaelion, at Sosthenion, some way from Constantinople, and that in it the sick were often cured and other wonders wrought. Many churches in honour of St Michael stood in the city of Constan­tinople itself, including a famous one at the Baths of Arcadius, whose dedication gave the Byzantines their feast of November 8.

Though only St Michael he mentioned in the title of this festival, it appears from the prayers of the Mass that all the good angels are its object, together with this glorious tutelary angel of the Church. On it we are called upon in a particular manner to give thanks to God for the glory which the angels enjoy and to rejoice in their happiness to thank Him for His mercy in constituting such beings to minister to our salvation by aiding us ; to join them in worshipping and praising God, praying that we may do His will as it is done by these blessed spirits in Heaven and lastly, we are invited to honour them and implore their intercession and succour.

Apart from the veneration of St Michael, the earliest liturgical recognition of the other great archangels seems to be found in the primitive Greek form of the Litany of the Saints. Edmund Bishop was of opinion (Liturgica Historica, pp. 142—151) that this may be traced back to the time of Pope Sergius (687—701). In it St Michael, St Gabriel and St Raphael are invoked in succession just as they are today, the only difference being that they there take precedence, not only of St John the Baptist, but also of the Blessed Virgin herself. See Dictionnaire de la Bible, vol. iv, cc. 1067—1075 DAC., vol. xi, CC. 903—907 DTC., vol. i, cc. 1189—1271; Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. vii; K. A. Kellner, Heortology (1908), pp. 328—333; and on the archangels in art it is sufficient to give a reference to Kunstle, Ikonographie, vol. i, pp. 239—264, though the subject has also been fully treated by A. Didron, van Drival, and others. For the angels in the church fathers, see J. Danie!ou, Les anges et leur, mission (1952).
St. Raphael {"God heals."} is one of seven Archangels
who stand before the throne of the Lord. He was sent by God to help Tobit, Tobiah and Sarah. At the time, Tobit was blind and Tobiah's betrothed, Sarah, suffered seven bridegrooms perish on the night of their weddings. Raphael accompanied Tobiah into Media disguised as a man named Azariah. Raphael helped him through his difficulties and taught him how to safely enter marriage with Sarah. Tobiah said that Raphael caused him to have his wife and that he gave joy to Sarah's parents for driving out the evil spirit in her.
He also gave Raphael credit for his father's seeing the light of heaven and for receiving all good things through his intercession.
Besides Raphael, Michael and Gabriel are the only Archangels mentioned by name in the bible. Raphael's name means "God heals." This identity came about because of the biblical story which claims that he "healed" the earth when it was defiled by the sins of the fallen angels in the apocryphal book of Enoch. Raphael is also identified as the angel who moved the waters of the healing sheep pool. He is also the patron of the blind, of happy meetings, of nurses, of physicians and of travelers
.
The name Gabriel means man of God, Gabriella is the feminine form of Gabriel
or
God has shown himself mighty. It appears first in the prophesies of Daniel in the Old Testament. The angel announced to Daniel the prophecy of the seventy weeks. His name also occurs in the apocryphal book of Henoch. He was the angel who appeared to Zachariah to announce the birth of St. John the Baptizer. Finally, he announced to Mary that she would bear a Son Who would be conceived of the Holy Spirit, Son of the Most High, and Saviour of the world. The feast day is September 29th. St. Gabriel is the patron of communications workers.
Gabriella is the feminine form of Gabriel. Angels are spirits without bodies, who possess superior intelligence, gigantic strength, and surpassing holiness. They enjoy an intimate relationship to God as His special adopted children, contemplating, loving, and praising Him in heaven. Some of them are frequently sent as messengers to men from on high. The name Gabriel means
man of God. or God has shown himself mighty. It appears first in the prophesies of Daniel in the Old Testament. The angel announced to Daniel the prophecy of the seventy weeks. His name also occurs in the apocryphal book of Henoch. He was the angel who appeared to Zachariah to announce the birth of St. John the Baptizer. Finally, he announced to Mary that she would bear a Son Who would be conceived of the Holy Spirit, Son of the Most High, and Saviour of the world. The feast day is September 29th. St. Gabriel is the patron of communications workers .
St. Michael, the Archangel
In monte Gargáno venerábilis memória beáti Michaélis Archángeli, quando ipsíus nómine ibi consecráta fuit Ecclésia, vili quidem facta schémate, sed cælésti præstans virtúte.
    On Mount Gargano, the commemoration of the blessed archangel Michael.  This festival is kept in memory of the day when, under his ínvocation, there was consecrated a church, unpretending in its exterior, but endowed with celestial virtue.
Patron of grocers, mariners, paratroopers, police, and sickness.

290 St. Rhipsime Virgin martyr put to death with group  fellow virgins Armenia  
312 SS. RHIPSIME, GAIANA, AND THEIR COMPANIONS, VIRGINS AND MARTYRS

ALTHOUGH these maidens, apparently the protomartyrs of the Armenian church, are mentioned in the Roman Martyrology on this date as suffering under King Tiridates, nothing at all is known of their history or the circumstances of their passion. They are referred to in the legend of St Gregory the Enlightener, and may have been put to death during the persecution which preceded the baptism of Tiridates and his family by Gregory, but more likely later their acta is a romance of the most barefaced kind.

These legends tell us that Rhipsime (Hrip’sime) was a maiden of noble birth, one of a community of consecrated virgins at Rome presided over by Gaiana. The Emperor Diocletian, having made up his mind to marry, sent a painter around Rome to paint the portraits of all those ladies who seemed to him eligible, and he did his work with such thoroughness that he penetrated into the house of Gaiana and made likenesses of some of her Christian maidens. When Diocletian examined the portraits his choice fell on Rhipsime, and she was informed of the honour that had befallen her. It was not at all to her liking, and Gaiana was so afraid of what the emperor might do that she summoned her charges at once from Rome, went aboard ship, and proceeded to Alexandria. From thence they made their way through the Holy Land to Armenia, where they settled down at the royal capital, Varlarshapat, and earned their living by weaving. The great beauty of Rhipsime soon attracted attention, but the noise of it apparently reached back to Rome before it came to the ears of King Tiridates, for Diocletian wrote asking him to kill Gaiana and send Rhipsime back—unless he would like to keep her for himself. Tiridates thereupon sent a deputation to fetch her to his palace with great magnificence, but when it arrived at the convent Rhipsime prayed for deliverance, and so fierce a thunderstorm at once broke out that the horses of the courtiers and their riders were scattered in confusion. When Tiridates heard this and that the girl refused to come he ordered her to be brought by force, and when she was led into his presence he was so attracted by her beauty that he at once tried to embrace her. Rhipsime not only resisted but threw the king ignominiously to the floor, so that in a rage he ordered her to prison. But she escaped and returned to her companions during the night.

At morning when they found her gone the king sent soldiers after her with orders that she was to die, and all the other maidens with her. St Rhipsime was roasted alive and torn limb from limb, and St Gaiana and the others to the number of thirty-five likewise were brutally slain. St Mariamne was dragged to death from a bed of sickness, hut one, St Nino, escaped and became the apostle of Georgia in the Caucasus. This massacre took place on October 5, on which date the martyrs are named in the Armenian menology. A week later retribution overtook the brutal Tiridates who, as he was setting out to hunt, was turned into a wild boar. He was brought back to nature by St Gregory the Enlightener, who had been confined in a pit for fifteen years. These martyrs figured in the fabulous vision of St Gregory at Etshmiadzin, and around the great church there are three smaller churches on the alleged site of the martyrdom of St Rhipsime, of St Gaiana and of the others.

Extravagant as the legend is, there can be no question that the cultus of these martyrs meets us at an early date in Armenia, and that it was very widely diffused. We find Rhipsime mentioned in Egypt under the Coptic form Arepsima” (see Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xlv (1927), pp. 157 and 395), as well as in Arabic texts and in the Syriac martyrology of Rabban Sliba. From the testimony of the Armenian historians Faustus and Lazarus, it seems safe to state that the martyrs were venerated before the middle of the fifth century. See Tournebize, Histoire politique et religieuse d’Armenie, pp. 452 seq. and passim. One Greek version of their acts, attributed to Agathangelus, is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. viii, associated with those of St Gregory on September 30 all students of his legend agree that the Rhipsime part of it is pure fable. Cf. also S. Weber, Die katho­lische Kirche in Armenien (1903), p. 117, etc., and the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lx (1942), pp. 102-114. In the opinion of Fr Paul Peeters It would perhaps be going too far to deny the existence of these martyrs…”

According to her unreliable acts, she belonged to a community of virgins under the direction of Gaiana in Rome. Renowned for her extreme beauty, she supposedly attracted the attentions of Emperor Diocletian and was forced to flee Rome with the other members of the community. They went first to Alexandria, Egypt, and then settled in Valarshapat, where Rhipsime’s beauty again gained notice. Brought before King Tiridates. Rhipsime refused the royal favors and was put to death by being roasted alive. Gaiana and all of the other maidens except one, called Christiana, were massacred by Armenian soldiers. Christiana later became a missionary in Georgia. While it is certain that Rhipsime and the virgins were martyred in Armenia, the details of their deaths were most likely fictitious. They are honored as the first Christian martyrs of Armenia
318 St. Theodota Martyr and penitent
318 ST THEODOTA, MARTYR
THIS Theodota is supposed to have suffered at Philippopolis in Thrace during the persecution raised by the Augustus Licinius when he professed paganism and went to war with Constantine the Great. Her quite unreliable “acts are full of exaggeration and embroidery. According to them, Agrippa the prefect at a festival of Apollo commanded that the whole city should offer sacrifice with him. Theodota was accused of refusing to conform and, being called upon by the president, answered him that she had indeed been a grievous sinner, but could not add sin to sin or defile herself with a sacrilegious sacrifice. Her constancy en­couraged seven hundred and fifty people to step forward and, professing themselves Christians, to refuse to join in the sacrifice. Theodota was cast into prison where she lay twenty days. Being brought to the bar again she burst into tears and prayed aloud that Christ would pardon the crimes of her past life, and arm her with strength that she might be enabled to bear with constancy the torments she was going to suffer. In her answers to the judge she confessed that she had been a harlot but that she had become a Christian, though unworthy to bear that sacred name. Agrippa commanded her to be scourged. Those that stood near exhorted her to free herself from torments by obeying the president: for one moment would suffice. But Theodota remained constant.
The president then ordered her to be put on the rack and her body to be torn with an iron comb. Under these tortures she prayed and said, “I worship you, O Christ, and thank you, because you have made me worthy to suffer this for your name. The judge, enraged at her resolution and patience, ordered the execu­tioner to pour vinegar and salt into her wounds. But she only said, “I fear your torments so little that I ask you to increase them, that I may find mercy and attain to the greater crown.” Agrippa next commanded the executioners to pull out her teeth, which they did violently, one by one. The judge at length condemned her to he stoned to death. She was led out of the city and during her martyrdom prayed, 0 Christ, who showed favour to Rahab the harlot and received the good thief, turn not your mercy from me. In this manner she died and her soul ascended triumphant to Heaven.
This extravagant legend has not been included by the Bollandists in the Acta Sanctorum. The Syriac text was first published by Assemani in his Acta Sanctorum Orientalium et Occidentalium, vol. ii, pp. 210—226, and since then by other scholars. Mrs. A. Smith Lewis, in Studia Sinaitica, vol. x, has printed some better readings of the text.

According to her generally unreliable Acts, she was a one-time harlot who had been converted and refused to obey the decree of the local prefect for all citizens of Philipopolis, Thrace (modern southeast Balkans), to participate in the festival of Apollo. Hundreds of Christians followed her lead, and she was arrested and put to torture. After days of harrowing and imaginatively fiendish tortures, she was finally stoned to death.
340 St. Gudelia A Persian martyr; After converting many to the faith, refused to adore the sun and the fire, she was murdered.
In Pérside sanctæ Gudéliæ Mártyris, quæ, cum plúrimos convertísset ad Christum, ac Solem et Ignem adoráre noluísset, ideo, sub Sápore Rege, post multa torménta, cute cápitis detrácta, ligno affíxa, méruit obtinére triúmphum.
    In Persia, under King Sapor, the holy martyr Gudelia.  After converting many to the faith, and having refused to adore the sun and the fire, she was subjected to numerous torments.  Having the skin torn off her head, and being fastened to a post, she merited an eternal triumph.
a maiden who suffered in the persecution of King Shakur II.
368 St. Dadas A Persian martyr Persian noble
In Pérside sanctórum Mártyrum Dadæ, e Sáporis Regis consanguíneis, Cásdoæ uxóris, et Gabdélæ fílii; qui, honóribus exúti ac váriis torméntis dilaniáti, tandem, post longos cárceres, gládio sunt animadvérsi.
    In Persia, the holy martyrs Dadas, a blood relative of King Sapor, Casdoa, his wife, and Gabdelas, his son.  After being deprived of their dignities, and subjected to various torments, they were imprisoned for a long time and finally put to the sword.
Dadas, was a Persian noble, related to King Shapur II. He was martyred with his wife, Casdoe, and Gabdelas for refusing to abjure the faith
.
450 St. Fraternus Bishop and martyr of Auxerre, France
Antisiodóri sancti Fratérni, Epíscopi et Mártyris.     At Auxerre, St. Fraternus, bishop and martyr.
In Thrácia natális sanctórum Mártyrum Eutychii, Plauti et Heracléæ.  
   
Eutychius, Plautus, and Heracleas.
In Thrace, the birthday of the holy martyrs.
6th v. St. Quiriacus A Greek hermit who lived in Palestine  
In Palæstína sancti Quiríaci Anachorétæ.    In Palestine, St. Quiriacus, an anchoret.
Quiriacus belonged to several of the famed communities of eremites of that era and was revered for his holiness.
In Arménia sanctárum Vírginum Rípsimis et Sociárum Mártyrum, sub Tiridáte Rege.
   
Ripsimis the holy virgin martyr and her companions
In Armenia, under King Tiridates.
713 St. Liutwin Benedictine bishop
founder of Mettlach Abbey, Germany. He was the bishop of Trier, Germany
.
713 St. Ludwin Benedictine bishop of Trier
Germany. He was born in Austrasia, and trained by St. Basinus. Married he became a widower and founded the abbey of Mettlach before being consecrated a bishop
.
1073 St. Garcia Benedictine abbot
who was the companion of King Ferdinand I of Castile, Spain, in battles.
A native of Qiuntanilla, Garcia was made abbot of Artanza Abbey in 1039. He became a counselor to the king and an advisor on military campaigns
.
1137 St. Grimoaldus Archpriest of Pontecorvo  
In Ponte Curvo, apud Aquínum, sancti Grimoáldi, Presbyteri et Confessóris.
    At Pontecorvo near Aquino, St. Grimoaldus, priest and confessor.
Italy, possibly English by descent.
1349 Bl. Richard Rolle de Hampole  English mystic and hermit

THE authority for the attribution of the title Blessed to Richard Rolle is no more than that given by a considerable popular cultus in the past, which has never yet been confirmed by the competent authority. After his death the honour in which he was held and the miracles reported at his tomb caused preparations for his canonization to he made, but the cause was never prosecuted. The Breviary of the Church of York had an office prepared for his feast, to which this warning was attached “The Office of Saint Richard, hermit, after he shall be canonized by the Church, because in the meantime it is not allowed to sing the canonical hours de eo in public, nor to solemnize his feast.” Nevertheless, having evidence of the extreme sanctity of his life, we may venerate him and in our private devotions seek his intercession, and commend ourselves to his prayers.” The Matins lessons of this office are the principal source for the life of Richard, in whom more interest has been taken in recent years than in-any other English uncanonized saint on account of the unique position which he holds among English mystical writers.

Richard was born about the year 1300 at Thornton in Yorkshire, traditionally identified as Thornton-le-Dale in the North Riding. With the help of Master Thomas Neville, afterwards archdeacon of Durham, his parents sent him to Oxford, which he left in his nineteenth year. The officium tells us that he went home, begged two of his sister’s gowns, and made out of them so well as he was able a habit which roughly resembled that of a hermit. His sister thought he was mad and told him so, and he fled away lest his friends should prevent him, for he was acting without his father’s knowledge and against his wish. On the vigil of our Lady’s Assumption he turned up in the church of a neighbouring parish (Top­cliffe?) at Vespers, and knelt down at the bench reserved to the squire, John of Dalton. He was recognized by the squire’s sons, who had been with him at Oxford. Next day he was in church again and, vested in a surplice, assisted at the singing of Matins and Mass. After the gospel he came and asked the celebrant’s blessing, and went into the pulpit and “gave the people a sermon of wonderful edification, in so much that the crowd that heard it was moved to tears, and they all said that they had never before heard a sermon of such virtue and power.”

After Mass John of Dalton asked Richard to dinner, and when he had convinced himself of the youth’s good faith and honesty of purpose he offered him a suitable place to live in and gave him proper clothes, food and all else that he required.

“Then be began with all diligence by day and night to seek how to perfect his life and to take every opportunity to advance in contemplation and to be fervent in divine love.’’

    On the face of it there are certain features in this narrative appropriate to a more primitive age of Christianity than England in the fourteenth century, and there is reason to think that the author of the officium has somewhat “telescoped events”, with the usual object of making his story more edifying to the faithful. In his own works Richard Rolle refers to his youth as having been unclean and sinful, which, even after allowing for the self-depreciation of holiness, does not accord with the tone of the officium.

Therefore when his sudden appearance in a Yorkshire parish church and subsequent events took place he was not a youth fresh from Oxford but an experi­enced man of twenty-seven or twenty-eight not, as is usually supposed, a relatively unlearned layman, but perhaps a priest, even a doctor of theology. “He was first a Doctor, and then leaving the world became an Eremite, wrote the priest John Wilson, who published an English martyrology in 1608. For some years Richard continued his eremitical life on the Daltons’ estate. Writers on mysticism have described from his own writings his progress in contemplation, and brought it into accord with the now classical scheme of the purgative, illuminative and unitive ways, though the terms which he uses, dulcor, canor and calor or fervor do not correspond with these stages. The last is undoubtedly the state of passive contemplation or mystical union where, as he says, the soul “ascends not into another degree, but as it were confirmed in grace, so far as mortal can be, she rests. “I did not think anything like it or anything so holy could be received in this life.” But Richard claims no direct revelations or visions such as are apparently granted to so many of the mystics, and his spiritual experiences were, so far as we know, unaccompanied by any unusual physical phenomena. His seeing the Devil in a certain woman who tempted him seems to be a figure of speech, as perhaps were the demons who left the death-bed of Dame Dalton only to infest his own cell.

Richard himself tells us something of his early difficulties and discouragements. “Rotten rags hardly covered me, and in my nakedness I was annoyed with the bites of the flies which no comfortable covering prevented from walking over me, and my skin became rough with ingrained dirt; and yet in warm weather I was tor­mented by the heat, among men who were enjoying all the shade that they desired; and my teeth chattered with the cold while they were indulging in rich adornments and rejoicing in superfluities—although nevertheless they loved not the Giver of these things.” “Indeed, I have so weakened my body and suffer so from headaches in consequence that I cannot stand, so bad are they, unless I am strengthened by wholesome food.”
Later in life he wrote from experience, “It behoves him truly to be strong that will manfully use the love of God. The flesh being enfeebled with great disease ofttimes a man cannot pray, and then much more he cannot lift himself to high things with hot desire. I would rather therefore that man failed for the greatness of love than for too much fasting…” For many years he was troubled by mischief-making tongues, and learned that this too was a mortification to be turned to good account. “This have I known, that the more men have raved against me with words of backbiting, so much the more I have grown in spiritual profit. Forsooth, the worst backbiters I have had are those which I trusted before as faithful friends. Yet I ceased not for their words from those things that were profitable to my soul…” At first Richard lived in the Daltons’ house, but afterwards removed to a hermitage at some distance on their estate. But its proximity drew down ill-natured criticism; “my detractors say that I am led astray by the pleasures in which the rich delight, and am unworthy of God. He provoked the resentment of some of the clergy including, it would seem, his own bishop, for he did not hesitate to attack those who lived evilly or were worldly, and particularly those who discharged their duties mechanically and did not encourage those who were sincerely concerned for the good of souls.

After the death of Dame Dalton, Richard “for most urgent and practical reasons went to live in the district of Richmondshire, where one Maundy Thurs­day he was summoned to Dame Margaret Kirkby, a recluse and dear friend, who had been seriously ill for a fortnight and quite speechless. And as she sat by the window of her dwelling and they were eating together, it befell at the end of the meal that the recluse desired to sleep and, so oppressed by sleep, she drooped her head at the window where Richard leaned. And after she had slept thus for a short time, leaning slightly upon Richard, suddenly a violent convulsion seized her.  She awoke from sleep, the power of speech was restored to her, and she burst forth, Gloria tibi Domine’. And Richard finished the verse which she had begun, saying, ‘Qui natures de Virgine, with the rest of the Compline hymn. Then said he to her, ‘Now your speech is come back to you, use it as a woman whose speech is for good. From time to time Richard visited various places in York­shire, “so that dwelling in many places he might benefit many unto salvation - -for it is not ill for hermits to leave cells for a reasonable cause, and afterwards, if it accord, to turn again to the same. He eventually settled at Hampole, on the Wakefield road four miles from Doncaster, where he had a cell near the priory of Cistercian nuns. Whether he was their accredited chaplain or simply an unofficial adviser and friend is not known.

Some think that Richard Rolle’s best-known work, Incendium amoris, was written here, the book in which “I here stir all manner of folk to love, and am busy to show the hottest and supernatural desire of love. But it is more likely that he was now writing only, or mostly, in English. He had already translated and commented on the psalms for Margaret Kirkby (a chained copy was kept at Hampole Priory) and written a little book in English for a Benedictine nun at Yedingham, and he now wrote for one of the Hampole nuns the Commandment of Love to God, a fruit of the experience of middle age and one of the most moving of all his works. Any further details of his life we do not know, but it is abundantly clear from his own writings that he had reached those heights of contemplation and joyful resignation to God’s will that are hardly attainable without an exercise of virtue not less than heroic. “As death slays all living things in this world, so perfect love slays in a man’s soul all earthly desires and covetousness. And as Hell spares nought to dead men but torments all that come thereto, so a man that is in this degree of love not only forsakes the wretched solace of this life but also he desires to suffer pains for God’s love.”

Richard Rolle died at Hampole on September 29, 1349; the circumstances are not known but it is extremely likely that he was a victim of the Black Death which raged in Yorkshire in that year. The sort of man Richard was, as seen in his written works, is no less attractive than the works themselves he was the opposite of all those qualities which ignorance and prejudice attribute to those who choose to be hermits and seek God alone rather than in company. “The holy lover of God shows himself neither too merry nor full heavy in this habitation of exile, but he has cheerfulness with maturity. Some, indeed, reprove laughter and some praise it. Laughter therefore which is from lightness and vanity of mind is to be reproved, but that truly which is of gladness of conscience and spiritual mirth is to be praised; the which is only in the righteous, and it is called mirth in the love of God. Wherefore if we be glad and merry the wicked call us wanton; and if we he heavy, hypocrites.

Miss Hope Emily Allen has of all other investigators rendered the greatest service to students in her books, Writings ascribed to Richard Rolle and Materials for his Biography (1927) and his English Writings (1931). See also F. Comper, Life and Lyrics of Richard Rolle (1928) R. M. Woolley, Richard Rolle of Hampole (1919); C. Horstman, English Works of Richard Rolle, 2 vols. (1896)—an uncritical compilation M. Deanesly, the Incendiun, amoris (1926); G.C.Heseltine, Selected Works of Richard Rolle (1930); and a French translation of sundry works by Dom Noetinger, in his Mystiques anglais (1928). See too an article by this last writer in the Month, January 1926, pp. 22 seq

Born at Thornton, Yorkshire, England, circa 1300, he was educated at Oxford and in Paris from 1320-1326, before entering into the life of a hermit on the estate of a friend, John Dalton of Pickering in 1326. After several years of intense contemplation, he took to wandering across England, finally settling down at Hampole where he assisted the spiritual development of the nuns in a nearby Cistercian community. He died there on September 29. Richard was very well known and his writings widely read during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. He was one of the first religious writers to use the vernacular. A cult developed to promote his cause after miracles were reported at his tomb, although the cause was never officially pursued. His works include letters, scriptural commentaries, and treatises on spiritual perfection. Perhaps his best known writing was De Incendio Amoris. He also wrote a poem, Pricke of Conscience.
1364 BD CHARLES OF BLOIS (A.D.) , the man who would always rather have been a Franciscan friar than a prince;  provided for the poor and suffering,
THIS royal saint has a particular interest for English people as he had the mis­fortune to spend nine years in England —as a prisoner in the Tower of London. He was born in 1320, son of Guy de Chatillon, Count of BLOIS, and Margaret, the sister of the king of France, Philip VI. As a young man showed himself both virtuous and brave and unusually worthy of his high rank. In 1337 he married Joan of Brittany, and by this marriage himself claimed the dukedom of Brittany. His claim was disputed by John de Montfort, and he was immediately involved in warfare that continued to the end of his life. Charles did all in his power to allay the stress of war for his subjects, and is said to have offered to settle the succession by single combat in his own person. The first thing he did after the capture of Nantes was to provide for the poor and suffering, and he showed the same solicitude at Rennes, Guingamp and elsewhere. To pray for his cause and the souls of those who were slain he founded religious houses, and in general behaved so that the less devout of his followers complained that he was more fit to be a monk than a soldier. He went on pilgrimage barefooted to the shrine of St Ivo at Tréguier, and when he held up the siege of Hennebont that his troops might assist at Mass one of his officers was moved to protest. “My lord, retorted Charles, “we can always have towns and castles. If they are taken away from us, God will help us to get them back again. But we cannot afford to miss Mass.” Charles was, in fact, as good a soldier as he was a Christian, but the weight of arms against him was too heavy. He had the support of the French king, but his rival John was helped by Edward III of England, who for his own reasons had announced his intention of winning back his “lawful inheritance of France. For four years Charles was able to keep his enemies at bay, but 1346 was a year of piled-up misfortune. France was beaten by England at Crecy, Poitiers was sacked, and Poitou overrun; then Charles in a great battle at La Roche-Derrien, not far from Tréguier, was defeated, captured and shipped across to England.

He was housed in the Tower and a huge sum of money was asked for his ransom, so that it was nine years before Charles regained his liberty. Like many prisoners in the Tower before and since his time, he sanctified his confinement by patience and prayer and earned the ungrudging admiration of his gaolers. He pursued his struggle for the defence of his duchy another nine years, with varying fortunes but with ever growing respect and admiration from his people. At one time it was even thought that the pilgrimage of Bonne Nouvelle at Rennes commemorated one of the battles, but this has been shown not to be so. The last engagement took place at Auray on September 29, 1364, a battle in which the English forces were commanded by Sir John Chandos, and Bertrand du Guesclin was taken prisoner. Charles, the man who would always rather have been a Franciscan friar than a prince, was killed on the field. Numerous and remarkable miracles were reported at his tomb at Guingamp, and there was a strong movement for his canonization in spite of the opposition of John IV de Montfort, whose cause in Brittany might suffer were his late rival to be canonized. Pope Gregory XI seems in fact to have decreed it, but in the turmoil of his departure from Avignon in 1376 the bull was never drawn up. The people nevertheless continued to venerate Bd Charles, his feast was celebrated in some places, and finally in 1904 this ancient cultus was confirmed by St Pius X.

The Bollandists mention Charles of Blois among the praetermissi of September 29  the Acta Sanctorum, and refer to Pope Benedict XIV’s De...beatificatione, bk ii, ch. 8. See A. de Sérent, Monuments du procès de canonisation du bx Charles de Blois (1921), which include a Dom Plaine’s account of Charles of 1872 G. Lobineau, Histoire de Bretagne (1744), vol. ii, pp. 540—570 and N. Maurice-Denis-Boulet, La canonisation de Charles de Blois” In the Revue d’histoire de l‘Eglise de France, t. xxviii (1942), pp. 216—224.


THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 80

Out of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lady: Lady, hear my prayer.

Let thine ears be attentive: to the voice of praise and of thy glorification.

Deliver me from the hand of my adversaries: confound their plans and their attempts against me.

Deliver me in the evil day: and in the day of death forget not my soul.

Lead me unto the harbor of salvation: may my name be written among the just.

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

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


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

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

God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique, for each is the result of a new idea.  As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike. It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints. Dear Lord, grant us a spirit that is not bound by our own ideas and preferences.  Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves.
O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory. Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.  Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.   God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heavenonly 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 htmIndulgences 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 2000Quang 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  UniateChalcedon

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

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

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

My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee.  I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not
O most Holy trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly.  I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended, and by the infite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  I beg the conversion of poor sinners,  Fatima Prayer, Angel of Peace
The voice of the Father is heard, the Son enters the water, and the Holy Spirit appears in the form of a dove.
THE spirit and example of the world imperceptibly instil the error into the minds of many that there is a kind of middle way of going to Heaven; and so, because the world does not live up to the gospel, they bring the gospel down to the level of the world. It is not by this example that we are to measure the Christian rule, but words and life of Christ. All His followers are commanded to labour to become perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect, and to bear His image in our hearts that we may be His children. We are obliged by the gospel to die to ourselves by fighting self-love in our hearts, by the mastery of our passions, by taking on the spirit of our Lord.
   These are the conditions under which Christ makes His promises and numbers us among His children, as is manifest from His words which the apostles have left us in their inspired writings. Here is no distinction made or foreseen between the apostles or clergy or religious and secular persons. The former, indeed, take upon themselves certain stricter obligations, as a means of accomplishing these ends more perfectly; but the law of holiness and of disengagement of the heart from the world is general and binds all the followers of Christ.
God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique each the result of a new idea.
As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike.
It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints.

Dear Lord, grant us a spirit not bound by our own ideas and preferences.
 
Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves.

O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory.
 
Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.
Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.
The 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary ) Revealed to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan)
1.    Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces. 2.    I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. 3.    The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. 4.    It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things.  Oh, that soul would sanctify them by this means.  5.    The soul that recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish. 6.    Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying themselves to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune.  God will not chastise them in His justice, they shall not perish by an unprovided death; if they be just, they shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life. 7.    Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church. 8.    Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise. 9.    I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. 10.    The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.  11.    You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary. 12.    I shall aid all those who propagate the Holy Rosary in their necessities. 13.    I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death. 14.    All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ. 15.    Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
His Holiness Aram I, current (2013) Catholicos of Cilicia of Armenians, whose See is located in Lebanese town of Antelias. The Catholicosate was founded in Sis, capital of Cilicia, in the year 1441 following the move of the Catholicosate of All Armenians back to its original See of Etchmiadzin in Armenia. The Catholicosate of Cilicia enjoyed local jurisdiction, though spiritually subject to the authority of Etchmiadzin. In 1921 the See was transferred to Aleppo in Syria, and in 1930 to Antelias.
Its jurisdiction currently extends to Syria, Cyprus, Iran and Greece.
Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac
The exact date of the introduction of Christianity into Edessa {Armenian Ourhaï in Arabic Er Roha, commonly Orfa or Urfa, its present name} is not known. It is certain, however, that the Christian community was at first made up from the Jewish population of the city. According to an ancient legend, King Abgar V, Ushana, was converted by Addai, who was one of the seventy-two disciples. In fact, however, the first King of Edessa to embrace the Christian Faith was Abgar IX (c. 206) becoming official kingdom religion.
Christian council held at Edessa early as 197 (Eusebius, Hist. Ecc7V,xxiii).
In 201 the city was devastated by a great flood, and the Christian church was destroyed (“Chronicon Edessenum”, ad. an. 201).
In 232 the relics of the Apostle St. Thomas were brought from India, on which occasion his Syriac Acts were written.

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

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

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

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

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

The Church of Saint Mary of Saint Paul 1875-1922;
  (1932)
The Vikings in the American Heartland;
The Catholic Total Abstinence Society in Minnesota;
James Michael Reardon Born in Nova Scotia, 1872;  Priest, ordained by Bishop Ireland;
Member -- St. Paul Seminary faculty.
Affiliations and Indulgence Litany of Loretto in Stained glass windows here.  Nave Sacristy and Residence Here
Sanctuary
spaces between them filled with grilles of hand-forged wrought iron the
life of our Blessed Lady After the crucifixon
Apostle statues Replicas of those in St John Lateran--Christendom's earliest Basilica.
Ordered by Rome's first Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great, Popes' cathedral and official residence first millennium of Christian history.

The only replicas ever made:  in order from west to east {1932}.
Every Christian must be a living book wherein one can read the teaching of the gospel
 
It Makes No Sense
Not To Believe In GOD
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi
  June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
By Father John Corapi
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi
  June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
By Father John Corapi
Among the most important titles we have in the Catholic Church for the Blessed Virgin Mary are Our Lady of Victory and Our Lady of the Rosary. These titles can be traced back to one of the most decisive times in the history of the world and Christendom. The Battle of Lepanto took place on October 7 (date of feast of Our Lady of Rosary), 1571. This proved to be the most crucial battle for the Christian forces against the radical Muslim navy of Turkey. Pope Pius V led a procession around St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City praying the Rosary. He showed true pastoral leadership in recognizing the danger posed to Christendom by the radical Muslim forces, and in using the means necessary to defeat it. Spiritual battles require spiritual weapons, and this more than anything was a battle that had its origins in the spiritual order—a true battle between good and evil.

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

No other issue, not all other issues taken together, can constitute a proportionate reason for voting for candidates that intend to preserve and defend this holocaust of innocent human life that is abortion.

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

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

Father Corapi's Biography

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

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

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

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


God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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