Saints of the Day & More

Pope St. Pius V established this feast in 1573. The purpose was to thank God for the victory of Christians over the Turks at Lepanto—a victory attributed to the praying of the rosary. Clement XI extended the feast to the universal Church in 1716. The development of the rosary has a long history. First, a practice developed of praying 150 Our Fathers in imitation of the 150 Psalms. Then there was a parallel practice of praying 150 Hail Marys. Soon a mystery of Jesus' life was attached to each Hail Mary. Though Mary's giving the rosary to St. Dominic is recognized as a legend, the development of this prayer form owes much to the followers of St. Dominic. One of them, Alan de la Roche, was known as "the apostle of the rosary." He founded the first Confraternity of the Rosary in the 15th century. In the 16th century the rosary was developed to its present form—with the 15 mysteries (joyful, sorrowful and glorious). In 2002, Pope John Paul II added the Mysteries of Light t...

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...

On Sunday, 13 May 1917, ten year old Lúcia Santos and her younger cousins, siblings Jacinta and Francisco Marto, were tending sheep at a location known as the Cova da Iria near their home village of Fátima in Portugal. Lúcia described seeing a woman "brighter than the sun, shedding rays of light clearer and stronger than a crystal ball filled with the most sparkling water and pierced by the burning rays of the sun." Further appearances are reported to have taken place on the thirteenth day of the month in June and July. In these, the woman exhorted the children to do penance and to make sacrifices to save sinners. The children subsequently wore tight cords around their waists to cause pain, abstained from drinking water on hot days, and performed other works of penance. Most importantly, Lúcia said that the lady had asked them to pray the rosary every day, repeating many times that the rosary was the key to personal and world peace. This had particular resonance since many Po...