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Showing posts from August, 2010

St. Raymond Nonnatus

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Born in the very beginning of the thirteenth century . Your name leaves gaping to anyone who hears or reads it first . Nonnatus - Nonnatus however brief , suggests a saint only potential , as if the word were an advertising slogan that was inviting to anyone who reads or hears it decided to start a program that would end the sanctity of the predetermined script . In fact , it means the unborn. " pretend that the strange name , was not born yet the saint who complete the full application of their qualities and virtues, is like expecting the Church to have one it decides when to reproduce ? That would , of course , to confuse holiness as something that springs from the will and human decision when she is actually the result of the action of the Holy Spirit who freely cooperates . It would simply Pelagianism. The term , which has already become -name Raymond comes to the fact that it was removed from the womb through surgery , when her mother died . Why was not born as children are b...

St. Felix and Adauctus

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ST. Felix was a holy priest in Rome, no less happy in his life and virtue than in his name. Being apprehended in the beginning of Dioclesian’s persecution, he was put to cruel torments, which he suffered with admirable constancy, and was at length condemned to lose his head. As he was going to execution he was met by a stranger, who, being a Christian, was so inflamed at the sight of the martyr, and the lively prospect of the glory to which he was hastening, that he was not able to contain himself, but cried out aloud: “I confess the same law which this man professeth; I confess the same Jesus Christ; and it is also my desire to lay down my life in this cause.” The magistrates hearing this, caused him forthwith to be seized, and the martyrs were both beheaded together about the year 303. The name of this latter not being known, he was called by the Christians Adauctus, because he was joined to Felix in martyrdom.

The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist

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St. Mark 's Gospel tells follows the death of the great forerunner , John the Baptist : "Herod had sent to prisoner John the Baptist, and had been chained to the prison because of Herodias , his brother Philip 's wife With which Herod had gone to live in free union. For John said to Herod, " You are not allowed to go live with the wife of his brother. " Herodias you had a great hatred for this and wanted to Juan Bautista him killed , but could not because Herod had a deep respect for John and consider him a holy man, and protected him and stayed to hear him speak thoughtfully and fearful, and listened with pleasure . " "But the day came when appropriate, when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet to all the main city . He came to the party and the daughter of Herodias danced the dance she pleased Herod , and promised with an oath : " Ask me what you and I will give , if only half of my kingdom. " The girl went to his mother and asked : "Wh...

St. Augustine of Hippo

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St. Augustine of Hippo is the patron of brewers because of his conversion from a former life of loose living, which included parties, entertainment, and worldly ambitions. His complete turnaround and conversion has been an inspiration to many who struggle with a particular vice or habit they long to break. This famous son of St. Monica was born in Africa and spent many years of his life in wicked living and in false beliefs. Though he was one of the most intelligent men who ever lived and though he had been brought up a Christian, his sins of impurity and his pride darkened his mind so much, that he could not see or understand the Divine Truth anymore. Through the prayers of his holy mother and the marvelous preaching of St. Ambrose, Augustine finally became convinced that Christianity was the one true religion. Yet he did not become a Christian then, because he thought he could never live a pure life. One day, however, he heard about two men who had suddenly been converted on reading ...

St. Monica of Hippo

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Today we celebrate Santa Monica , whose testimony was able to convert her husband, her mother and her son, St. Augustine , who also is a great saint of the Church. Santa Monica was a woman of great faith and gave us a testimony of fidelity and trust in God , so who achieved sainthood in keeping with his vocation as wife and mother. A little history Monica, the mother of St. Augustine , was born in Tagaste (North Africa ) about 100 km from the city of Carthage in 332 . Training Her parents entrusted the training of their daughters to a very religious woman and strict discipline. She would not let them drink between meals (though those lands are very hot weather ) because he said: " Now whenever you are thirsty will drink to calm her. And when they are older and have the keys to the room where wine, liquor and this will make them much harm. " Monica obeyed the early years but after elderly , began to go to hidden tank and whenever he was thirsty drank a glass of wine. More happ...

St. Alexander of Bergamo

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Alexander may simply have been a Roman soldier or resident of Bergamo who was tortured and killed for not renouncing his Christian faith. Details of his life are uncertain, but subsequent Christian legends consider him a centurion of the Theban Legion commanded by Saint Maurice. He was a survivor of the decimation, that is, the killing of every tenth man. He escaped to Milan. At Milan, he was recognized and imprisoned, and it was demanded that he renounce his Christian faith. However, he was visited in jail by Saint Fidelis and Bishop Saint Maternus. Fidelis managed to organize Alexander's escape. Alexander fled to Como but was captured again. Brought back to Milan, he was once more condemned to death by decapitation, but during the execution the executioner's arms went stiff. He was imprisoned again, but Alexander once again managed to escape, and ended up in Bergamo after passing through Fara Gera d'Adda and Capriate San Gervasio. At Bergamo, he was the guest of the lord ...

St. Louis IX of France

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He was born April 25, 1214 Poissy, France. During his second crusade, Louis died at Tunis, 25 August 1270, and was succeeded by his son, Philip III. Louis was traditionally believed to have died from bubonic plague but the cause is thought by modern scholars to have been dysentery. The Bubonic Plague did not strike Europe until 1348, so the likelihood of his contracting and ultimately dying from the Bubonic Plague was very slim. Christian tradition states that some of his entrails were buried directly on the spot in Tunisia, where a Tomb of Saint-Louis can still be visited today, whereas other parts of his entrails were sealed in an urn and placed in the Basilica of Monreale, Palermo, where they still remain. His corpse was taken, after a short stay at the Basilica of Saint Dominic in Bologna, to the French royal necropolis at Saint-Denis, resting in Lyon on the way. His tomb at Saint-Denis was a magnificent gilt brass monument designed in the late 14th century. It was melted down duri...

St. Bartholomew

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In the East, where Bartholomew's evangelical labours were expended, he was identified with Nathanael, in works by Ebedjesu, the fourteenth century Nestorian metropolitan of Soba, and Elias, the bishop of Damascus. Nathanael is mentioned only in the Gospel according to John. In the Synoptic gospels, Philip and Bartholomew are always mentioned together, while Nathanael is never mentioned; in John's gospel, on the other hand, Philip and Nathanael are similarly mentioned together, but nothing is said of Bartholomew. Giuseppe Simone Assemani specifically remarks, "the Chaldeans confound Bartholomew with Nathaniel". Some Biblical scholars reject this identification, however. In the Gospel of John,[1:45-51] Nathanael is introduced as a friend of Philip. He is described as initially being skeptical about the Messiah coming from Nazareth, saying: "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?", but nonetheless, follows Philip's invitation. Jesus immediately characteriz...

St. Rose of Lima

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Santa Rosa de Lima was born on April 20 1586, in Peru. Her father was Spanish businessman Gaspar de Flores and her mother, Maria d'Olivia, was a mestiza of Spanish and Incan ancestry. She was baptized as Isabel de Herrara. The infant Isabel was first baptized at home because of her poor health at birth. Eventually she was baptized at the church of San Sebastian. Isabel's complexion and features were both a problem and source of praise. The praise caused her name to be casually changed to Rose over the years, eventually becoming her name at her confirmation ceremony in 1597. Some say her face was transformed as a child when exposed to a mystical rose. But the praise and concentration on her extreme beauty vexed Rose throughout her life. She feared that the praise would make her proud and be a source of distraction to those who should be thinking of God, including herself. Over the years, she used mortification to refocus herself on God and remove distractions. This process that ...

Queenship of Mary

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Queenship of Mary is a Marian feast day in the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church, created by Pope Pius XII. On 11 October 1954, the Pontiff pronounced the new feast in his encyclical Ad caeli reginam. The feast was celebrated on May 31, the last day of the Marian month. In 1969, Pope Paul VI moved the feast day to August 22. The movement to officially recognise the Queenship of Mary was initially promoted by several Catholic Mariological congresses in Lyon France, Freiburg Germany, and Einsiedeln Switzerland. Gabriel Roschini founded in Rome, Italy, an international society to promote the Queenship of Mary, Pro Regalitate Mariae. Several Popes had described Mary as Queen and Queen of Heaven, which was documented by Gabriel Roschini. Pope Pius XII repeated the title in numerous encyclicals and Apostolic Letters, especially during World War II

Pope St. Pius X

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On June 2, 1835, Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto saw the light of earth at Riesi, Province of Treviso, in Venice; on August 20, 1914, he saw the light of heaven; and on May 29, 1954, he who had become the two hundred fifty-ninth pope was canonized St. Pius X. Two of the most outstanding accomplishments of this saintly Pope were the inauguration of the liturgical renewal and the restoration of frequent communion from childhood. He also waged an unwavering war against the heresy and evils of Modernism, gave great impetus to biblical studies, and brought about the codification of Canon Law. His overriding concern was to renew all things in Christ. Above all, his holiness shone forth conspicuously. From St. Pius X we learn again that "the folly of the Cross", simplicity of life, and humility of heart are still the highest wisdom and the indispensable conditions of a perfect Christian life, for they are the very source of all apostolic fruitfulness. His last will and testament bears the...

St. Bernand of Clairvaux

Saint Bernard, the founding abbot of Clairvaux Abbey in Burgundy, was one of the most commanding Church leaders in the first half of the twelfth century as well as one of the greatest spiritual masters of all times and the most powerful propagator of the Cistercian reform. He was born in Fontaines-les-Dijon in 1090 and entered the Abbey of Citeaux in 1112, bringing thirty of his relatives with him, including five of his brothers-- his youngest brother and his widowed father followed later. After receiving a monastic formation from St. Stephen Harding, he was sent in 1115 to begin a new monastery near Aube: Clairvaux, the Valley of Light. As a young abbot he published a series of sermons on the Annunciation. These marked him not only as a most gifted spiritual writer but also as the "cithara of Mary," especially noted for his development of Mary's mediatorial role. Bernard's spiritual writing as well as his extraordinary personal magnetism began to attract many to Clai...

St. John Eudes

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John Eudes was born at Ri, Normandy, France, on November 14, 1601, the son of a farmer. He went to the Jesuit college at Caen when he was 14, and despite his parents' wish that he marry, joined the Congregation of the Oratory of France in 1623. He studied at Paris and at Aubervilliers, was ordained in 1625, and worked as a volunteer, caring for the victims of the plagues that struck Normandy in 1625 and 1631, and spent the next decade giving Missions, building a reputation as an outstanding preacher and confessor and for his opposition to Jansenism. He became interested in helping fallen women, and in 1641, with Madeleine Lamy, founded a refuge for them in Caen under the direction of the Visitandines. He resigned from the Oratorians in 1643 and founded the Congregation of Jesus and Mary (the Eudists) at Caen, composed of secular priests not bound by vows but dedicated to upgrading the clergy by establishing effective seminaries and to preaching missions. His foundation was opposed ...

St. Helena

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St. Helena was the mother of Constantine the Great. This made her the Queen to the Roman Empire, it was because of Helena that Constantine converted to Christianity and thus creating the Holy Roman Empire. According to St. Ambrose, Helena was an inn-keeper when Constantius lifted her from her lowly position and made her his consort. There exists a legend that she was the daughter of a British king, but there is no historical foundation for this. It is, however, true that Constantius spent some time in Britain putting down a rebellion among the Picts and Scots, and died at York, but it is thought that he had cast off Helena and taken a new wife long before this time. On the death of his father, the young Constantine brought his mother to live at court at Byzantium, the capital of the Eastern Empire. He honored her by giving her the Roman title of Augusta and also had coins struck bearing her image. Everyone knows the story of Constantine's dramatic conversion. The Church historian...

St. Hyacint

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Dominican missionary called “the Apostle of Poland.” Born in Oppeln, Poland, he received the Dominican habit in 1217 or 1218 from St. Dominic. Hyacinth preached in Poland, Pomerania, Denmark, Prussia, Lithuania, Sweden, Norway, Russia, China, and Tibet. He died in Cracow, Poland, on August 15. Hyacinth was canonized in 1594. His feast is now confined to local calendars.

St. Roch

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This saint has become famous in the world by getting great favors for poor and sick. Its popularity has been extraordinary when towns or regions have come pests or epidemics, because it gets rid of the disease and spread to many of those who entrust themselves to him. Maybe he can get rid of dangerous epidemics. St. Roch was born in Montpellier , an extremely wealthy family . Killed his parents, he sold all his possessions, divided the money among the poor and went like a poor pilgrim to Rome to visit shrines. And in that time typhus fever broke out and people were dying in droves everywhere. Roch then quit to attend to the most abandoned. A cure many achievements just make the sign of the Holy Cross on his forehead. A good death helped many , and he himself was the grave, because no one dared to approach them for fear of contagion. With all the finest practicing charity. It came to Rome, and in that city was dedicated to serving the most dangerous of the infected . People said to him ...

St. Tarcisius

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He died a martyr during the persecution of Valerian. His figure of the child hero has encouraged Christian and an example for eighteen centuries generations have been baptized since waking up to the faith. Your generosity in helping others and his willingness to serve, loaded with a generous love for Jesus Christ in the Eucharist have helped the imagination of later believers to renew their devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. Also, seniors have learned from him to live with consistency Eucharistic faith and invigorate the attitudes of adoration and worship that for centuries have practiced the Lord's disciples . The story of the events with all the features of historical verisimilitude is as follows: The Christians could not live the faith with external manifestations. They had no right to express the joyous explosion of happiness I had inside by knowing they are children of God with an external worship . It was necessary to hide to worship the one true God as disciples of Jesus Chr...

The Assumption of the Virgin Mary

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The Feast of the Assumption The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 15 August; also called in old liturgical books Pausatio , Nativitas (for heaven ), Mors , Depositio , Dormitio S. Mariae . This feast has a double object: (1) the happy departure of Mary from this life ; (2) the assumption of her body into heaven. It is the principal feast of the Blessed Virgin. THE FACT OF THE ASSUMPTION Regarding the day, year, and manner of Our Lady's death, nothing certain is known. The earliest known literary reference to the Assumption is found in the Greek work De Obitu S. Dominae . Catholic faith, however, has always derived our knowledge of the mystery from Apostolic Tradition. Epiphanius (d. 403) acknowledged that he knew nothing definite about it (Haer., lxxix, 11). The dates assigned for it vary between three and fifteen years after Christ's Ascension. Two cities claim to be the place of her departure: Jerusalem and Ephesus. Common consent favours Jerusalem, where he...

St. Maximilan Kolbe

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Maximilian Kolbe also known as Maksymilian or Massimiliano Maria Kolbe and “Apostle of Consecration to Mary,” born as Rajmund Kolbe, was a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz in Poland. He was canonized by the Catholic Church as Saint Maximilian Kolbe on October 10, 1982 by Pope John Paul II, and declared a martyr of charity. He is the patron saint of drug addicts, political prisoners, families, journalists, prisoners and the pro-life movement. Pope John Paul II declared him the “The Patron Saint of Our Difficult Century”. Maximilian Kolbe was born in January 1894 in Zduńska Wola, which was at that time part of Russian Empire. Maximilian was the second son of Julius Kolbe and Maria Dabrowska. His father was an ethnic German and his mother of Polish origins. He had four brothers, Francis, Joseph, Walenty (who lived a year) and Andrew (who lived 4 years). His parents moved to Pabianice where they wor...

St. Cassian of Imola

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One day the poet Aurelio Prudencio went to Rome . It is in the early fifth century On his way to the imperial capital stops at the Forum Cornelius, Imola today . Take a heavy heart , because the solution of business, purpose of travel , perhaps depends the security of your future and your family. profoundly Christian spirit , is urged to commend the Redeemer and goes to pray in a church. Kneels before the tomb of the martyr Cassian, whose relics are venerated there, and sinks into deep prayer. A prayer is a count contrite sins and sufferings. When , in tears, he lifts his eyes to heaven , his eye is caught in the contemplation of a painting of vivid colors. We see in him the image of a naked man , covered with wounds and blood, his skin torn by a thousand sites. In a crowd of kids around wield against him exalted school instruments and strive to stab him in the flesh lacerated and stilettos used to write. Moved by this tragic poet pictorial vision , which certainly is a move of its own...

St. Euplius

The Passion of Saint Euplius states that he was a deacon and that he was arrested for owning and reading from a copy of the Bible during the Diocletian persecution. He was brought before the governor of the city, Calvinianus (Calvinian, Calvinianus), who asked the saint to read him extracts from the book. He was then tortured and beheaded. He is also the patron saint of Francavilla di Sicilia and Trevico. Ruins of the old church of Saint Euplius are located in Catania near Piazza Stesicoro. This urban site coincides with the place of his martyrdom.

St. Philomena

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According to history St. Philomena was born January 10, 291 in Corfu, Greece. She was the daughter of a king in Greece who, with his wife had converted to Christianity. Philomena was thirteen she took a vow that she consecrated herself to God as a virgin. When Emperor Diocletian threatened to declare war on her father, he went with his family to Rome to ask for peace. The Emperor fell in love with the young and beautiful Philomena. He proposed that Philomena marry him, but she refused to marry him. After she refused, he subjected her to a series of torments such as scourging, from whose effects two angels cured her; drowning with an anchor attached to her, but two angels cut the rope and raised her to the river bank; being shot with arrows, but on the first occasion her wounds were healed, on the second the arrows turned aside, and on the third, they returned and killed six of the archers, and several of the others became Christians. Finally the Emperor had her decapitated, which occur...

St. Clare of Assisi

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St. Clare was born in the town of Assisi, in the Umbrian region of Italy, in 1193. Chiara or Clare meaning clear-radiant light was born of nobility and grew up with the privileges of wealth. Francis was born twelve years earlier. We can't tell the story of Clare without including Francis. He was her greatest inspiration, her mentor, her model. The only thing that Clare and Francis had in common at this time was that they were both from Assisi. There was a great distinction in those days placed on those who were nobility and those who were rich. They were not always the same people. Clare's family was noble; Francis' family was rich. The nobility always looked down upon the rich as being beneath them; while the rich knew they could very often buy and sell the nobility. Clare had two sisters, Agnes and Beatrice. Her mother was Ortulana and her father Faverone Offreduccio. There is not too much know about Clare's childhood and teenage years. We do know that Clare w...