Saints of the Day & More

Brief notes on the Letters of St. Paul are the only news that Sacred Scripture presents on St. Luke, the solicitous good news researcher and author of the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. For his travel notes, ie the pages of Acts in which St. Luke speaks in first person, we can rebuild part of his missionary activity. He was a companion and disciple of the apostles. The historian Eusebius says that: "... had sex with all the apostles, and was very attentive. " This sensitivity and his availability for others testifies the same St. Paul, joined him great friendship. In the letter to the Colossians: "Luke greet you, beloved physician ...". We trace the medical profession to assume that he spent much time studying. Their cultural background is also seen by the style of his books, his Gospel is written in simple Greek, clean and beautiful, rich in terms that the other three evangelists do not have. You have to make another account on his Gospel, than the fact...

St. Michael When GOD created the angels, these beautiful spirits of light and love lived in the Kingdom of Heaven, when GOD created them he gave them holiness, beauty, and wisdom. GOD wanted to test the angels to see if they loved him before they saw him face to face in Heaven. Outof many angels, one of the most powerful angels was Lucifer, whose name meant "Receiver of Light." Glad with his power, he shouted a yell of disobedience yelling "I shall not serve GOD!" But another Archangel, Michael, shouted a yell of love and obedience yelling "Who is like GOD?!" In a great battle, the Good Angels threw the Evil Angels out of Heaven and into Hell. As a reward for his love and obedience GOD made Michael Prince of the Celestial Courts. Since the beginning of time, St. Michael was the chief of the temple chosen by GOD. In the new testament Michael is the Guardian Angel and protector of the Holy Catholic Church. The name Michael means "Who is like GOD?" ...

She has fallen into my hands a little story of Mercy , and I look forward to dedicate this message today to Our Lady of Mercy, a name and a beautiful invocation of Mary, who appeared to St. Peter Nolasco, the Court held St. Raymond Nonnatus and liberaated many captives. They called the Merced for using the highest charity with their children most in need. We have to move to Europe at the beginning of the twelfth century . The Mediterranean was infested by pirates and Saracens, Turks , Muslim fanatics who attacked the boat , down the coast , leveling homes and entire villages , robbed , murdered , and , worst of all, Christians were carried to North Africa to be sold as slaves and make them forsake the faith. Given the impotence of the Christian nations , will be the Virgin Mary - the same as always , which is the Help of Christians - who is involved with a hand gently but firmly , and with Mother's heart . A wealthy merchant of Barcelona asked anxious relatives and friends - But wh...

The Feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary has been celebrated in the Church at least since the 8th Century. The Church's calendar observes the birthdays of only two saints: Saint John the Baptist (June 24), and Mary, Mother of Jesus. John the Baptist is considered especially sanctified even before his birth. His birth to Elizabeth and Zachariah is foretold in the first chapter of Luke, and it is also recorded (Lk 1:41) that Elizabeth felt the infant John "leap in her womb" when Mary approached her soon after the Annunciation. The birth of Mary was also miraculous. She was conceived without sin as a special grace because God had selected her to become the mother of His Son (the feast of her Immaculate Conception is celebrated on December 8). The dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, though generally believed throughout the Church for many centuries, was formally declared by Pope Pius IX in 1854. There is nothing contained in Scripture about the bir...

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.

Today we celebrate St. Mary Magdalen , we must refer to three biblical characters, which some identify a single person: Mary Magdalene , Mary the sister of Lazarus and Martha, and the anonymous sinner who anoints Jesus' feet .Three characters for a story, Mary Magdalene , and , with your full name, appears in several scenes from the Gospels . Ranks first among the women who accompanied Jesus ( Mt 27, 56 , Mk 15, 47 , Luke 8, 2 ) is present during the Passion (Mark 15: 40) and at the foot of the cross with the Mother of Jesus ( Jn 19 , 25); see how buried the Lord (Mark 15, 47 ); comes before Peter and John to the tomb on Easter morning (John 20 , 1-2 ) is the first to whom appears risen Jesus ( Mt 28 , 1-10 , Mk 16, 9 , Jn 20, 14 ), although not recognized and is mistaken for the gardener ( Jn 20, 15), is sent as an apostle of the apostles ( Jn 20 , 18). Both Mark and Luke report that Jesus had driven out "seven demons. " (Luke 8, 2 , Mark 16, 9 ) Mary of Bethany is the s...

St. Bernardino Realino was born into a noble family of Capri, Italy in 1530. After receiving a thorough and devout Christian education at the hands of his mother, he went on to study medicine at the University of Bologna, but after three years he switched to law and received his doctorate in 1563. Word of his learning, dedication, and legal brilliance spread rapidly, and in 1554 he was summoned to Naples to assume the position of auditor and lieutenant general. Shortly afterward, his exemplary young man came to the realization that he had a religious vocation and, aided by our Lady's appearance to him, joined the Society of Jesus, being ordained in 1567. For three years he labored unstintingly at Naples, devoting himself wholeheartedly to the service of the poor and the youth, and then he was sent to Lecce where he remained for the last forty-two years of his life. St. Bernardino won widespread recognition as a result of his ceaseless apostolic labors. He was a model confessor, a p...

In 1498, the picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was in a church on the island of Crete, in Greece. The picture had been there for some time and was known to be miraculous. One day a merchant from Crete stole the picture of Our Lady. He hid the picture among his things, boarded a ship and set out to sea. When a great storm arose the terrified sailors begged God and Our Lady to save them. Their prayers were heard and they were saved from shipwreck. A year later, the merchant went to Rome with the picture. There he got a disease and became terribly sick. He asked his Roman friend to take care of him. The merchant grew worse and realized that he would soon die. He called on his friend and with tears in his eyes, begged his friend to do him one last favour. When the Roman promised to do so, the weeping merchant continued, “Some time ago I stole a beautiful, miraculous picture of Our Lady from a church in Crete! You will find it with my belongings. I beg you, please place it ...

When Mary was three months pregnant with Jesus Elizabeth was six months pregnant with John The Baptist.When mary got to Elizabeth's house, Elizabeth said "Blessed are thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.""How could I deserve the visit of the mother of my Lord?""I heard your salutations and the baby jumped in my womb!"When Mary heard this she recited the Magnificat.During that time Zacharias had lost his voice. Zacharias was a Jewish priest he was blessing the altar when an angel told him he was going to have son. Zacharias didn't believe the angel because he was an elderly person. The angel told him his son was going to be named John. Three months later John The Baptist was born. A lot of people said the baby should be named like his father. After three months Zacharias finally spoke He said The baby would be named John. Prayer Almighty and eternal GOD you gave us St. John the Baptist to so we also can have a holy life like his....

The Virgin Mary, illuminated by God, he felt anxious to go visit her cousin Elizabeth. In his advanced age, was pregnant with God nothing is impossible. He had in mind the words of Paul to the Corinthians: "Charity is kind, does not seek only their own interest, and endures all things." A great apostle of the Universal Church, St. Ambrose, says these words about this day: "It was Mary who came forward to greet the first. She is the one who always comes forward to give demonstrations of affection to those you love." Mary does not seek reputation, fame or praise as in many of the views of our day. As I was filled with the grace of God, filled the house of her cousin of blessings. "As soon as Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit." Her cousin, very grateful, he said: "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of the womb. Whence to me that the mother of my Lord should come...

A native of Pisa, she is reported as having experienced visions from an early age. On one occasion, the figure on the crucifix at the Holy Sepulchre church held out his hand to her. At another church, she saw a vision of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and three saints, including James the Greater. She was frightened by the light around these figures, and ran away. James pursued her, and led her back to the image of Jesus. Bona observed a very pronounced devotion to James for the rest of her life. By the age of ten, she had dedicated herself as an Augustinian tertiary. She regularly fasted from an early age, taking only bread and water three days a week. Four years later, she made the first of her many journeys, going to see her father who was fighting in the Crusades near Jerusalem. On her trip home, she was captured by Muslim pirates on the Mediterranean Sea, wounded, and subsequently imprisoned. Remains of Santa Bona, in Church of San Martino, PisaShe was later rescued by some of her countr...

The Jews held a feast to give thanks for the harvest, 50 days after Easter. Hence the name Pentecost. Then the meaning of the celebration changed to give thanks for the Law given to Moses. In this event recalled the day when Moses went to Mount Sinai and received the tablets of the law and taught the people of Israel what God wanted of them. And celebrated the alliance of the Old Testament God established with the people: they are committed to live according to His commandments and God promised to be with them forever. People came from many places at the Temple of Jerusalem, the feast of Pentecost. As part of this Jewish holiday is where comes our Christian festival of Pentecost. The Promise of the Holy Spirit At the Last Supper, Jesus promised to his apostles: "My Father will give you another Advocate, who will be with you forever-the Spirit of Truth" (John 14, 16-17). Later they said: "I have said these things while I am with you, but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, who...

The story of how the miraculous fresco of Our Lady of Good Counsel left Albania and traveled to Italy is one that is marvelous and true. There is a little town, about 25 miles outside of Rome, called Genazzano. In pagan times it was a celebrated shrine for the worship of Venus, but in the fourth century a church was built there in honor of Our Lady and called the Church of the Virgin Mother of Good Counsel. Through the course of time the church was abandoned and almost fell into ruins. So it remained until the mid 15th century when a pious woman gave all she had for its restoration. This story is about that pious woman, who in many ways is a symbol for our times. Most of the time her name is lost in the marvel of the facts of the story. She is simply recorded as a pious widow, a tertiary of the Order of St. Augustine, and perhaps she would have it that way. But it seems to me that the story and the miracle of image of Our Lady of Good Counsel of Genazzano is in a special way her story,...

As early as the first century, the Church set aside every Friday as a special day of prayer and fasting. It was not until the fourth century, however, that the Church began observing the Friday before Easter as the day associated with the crucifixion of Christ. First called Holy or Great Friday by the Greek Church, the name "Good Friday" was adopted by the Roman Church around the sixth or seventh century. With every Good Friday and also every Friday during Lent we walk alongside Christ and venerate his Passion, Death and Resurrection. We First begin with the Betrayal of Judas, which is said to have taken place in Gethsemane at some time around Mid-Night. Later Jesus is taken before the High Priests and is interrogated and later judged and sent before Pilate in the early morning hours. Pilate then sent Jesus to King Herod, the son of Herod the Great, to which to his belief, Jesus was a crazy person who just needed to be taught a lesson or ignored. Christ then returns to Pilate...

The story of the Annunciation, meaning the announcing, from the Latin annuntiare, is told in Luke's gospel. At the Annunciation, the angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will conceive a Son, and his name will be Jesus. His greeting, "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you" has echoed down through the ages in many prayers, and is known as the "Hail Mary." Mary is initially confused as to how she will bear God's Son, seeing as she is a virgin. The angel then explains that the Holy Spirit will come upon on her. This is why when we recite the Nicene creed we say "by the power of the Holy Spirit, [Jesus] was born of the Virgin Mary and became man." The Apostles Creed likewise affirms that Jesus was "conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit." Thus, the Feast of the Annunciation is the beginning of Jesus' miraculous life, and it begins with the theotokos conceiving Jesus by the Holy Spirit's power. Mary's response to the...

Everything we know about the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus comes from Scripture and that has seemed too little for those who made up legends about him. We know he was a carpenter, a working man, for the skeptical Nazarenes ask about Jesus, "Is this not the carpenter's son?" (Matthew 13:55). He wasn't rich for when he took Jesus to the Temple to be circumcised and Mary to be purified he offered the sacrifice of two turtledoves or a pair of pigeons, allowed only for those who could not afford a lamb (Luke 2:24). Despite his humble work and means, Joseph came from a royal lineage. Luke and Matthew disagree some about the details of Joseph's genealogy but they both mark his descent from David, the greatest king of Israel (Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38). Indeed the angel who first tells Joseph about Jesus greets him as "son of David," a royal title used also for Jesus. We know Joseph was a compassionate, caring man. When he discovered Mary ...

Edward the Martyr was founded in 962, being the eldest son of Edgar the Pacific, King of England, and his first wife Ethelfleda, Ordmaer gentleman's daughter. On the death of his father (July 8, 975) succeeded to the throne despite the opposition of his stepmother Elfrida, which defended the rights of her son Ethelred the grounds that he was born of a queen anointed, while the mother Edward was never crowned. But thanks to the support of Dunstan, finally manages to be proclaimed king by the Witenagemot. Its policy is guided, supported by Dunstan, in defending the rights of the Church, diminished in previous reigns. Therefore, many nobles wanted to put in place the young Edward. On 18 March 978, was hunting with his dogs and some gentlemen in Wareham, Dorset, when he decides to visit his half-brother in Corfe Castle, near Wareham, where he lived with his mother. Separated from the group that accompanied him, arrived alone at the castle. While riding his horse, his stepmother Elfrida...

Casimir was born in 1458 in Krakow. It was the third of nine children of Casimir, King of Poland. Many saints have come from large families, and such families come to the great Catholic Church vocations. His mother Elizabeth, daughter of the Emperor of Austria, was a fervent Catholic and was careful with all my heart because his children were also enthusiastic practitioners of religion. She in a letter to a friend makes a formidable list of qualities that should be a good mother, and no doubt that these qualities were what he practiced with his own children. And besides education that gave her parents, Casimir had the great luck that the king got two teachers who were great educators. Father John and Professor Callimachus. Father John was Polish and left a reputation for being very wise and very holy, but his greatest honor comes from having been the one who went to St. Casimir to a very high sanctity. The Professor was a great scholar Callimachus who had been secretary of Pope Pius II...

In 1858 the Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette Soubirous near Lourdes in France within a cave of Massabielle. Through this humble girl, Mary called sinners to conversion enkindled within the Church a great zeal for prayer and charity, especially service to the sick and poor. here is a full story of OurLady of Lourdes... follow this link. http://www.medjugorjeusa.org/lourdes.htm Pray the rosary today

John son of Zebedee and Salome, brother of James, was able to capture images with exquisite literary sublime thoughts of God. Man of spiritual elevation, is considered the eagle that rises to the dizzy heights of the Trinitarian mystery, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." It's the closest to Jesus and he is near at the most solemn of his life. It is with him at the Last Supper, during the process and, alone among the apostles, witnesses his death at the hand of the Virgin. At the foot of the cross John represented us when Jesus told him Mary was his mother. Making Mary our mother . But contrary to what may suggest the representations of art, John was not a fanciful and delicate man, and it would put the nickname Master him and his brother James - "sons of thunder" - to show us a lively temperament and impulsive, outside commitments and doubts, to seem intolerant. In the Gospel he presents himself as "the discipl...