Not only among members of the Carmelite Order but also among increasing numbers of the laity is today’s Feast held in great honor. According to old records, it commemorates an incident in the life of St. Simon Stock. In 1251 at Aylesford in England, the holy friar was privileged to witness an apparition of Our […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Jeremiah 23:1-6 2nd Reading: Ephesians 2:13-18 Responsorial: Psalm 23:1-6 Gospel: Mark 6:30-34 Being Open to the Promptings of the Holy Spirit His heart was moved. (Mark 6:34) In today’s Gospel, we see Jesus both encouraged and discouraged. He was encouraged because the apostles […]
SANCTITY and learning raised Bonaventure to the Church’s highest honors, and from a child he was the companion of Saints. Yet at heart he was ever the poor Franciscan friar, and practised and taught humility and mortification. St. Francis gave him his name; for, having miraculously cured him of a mortal sickness, he prophetically exclaimed […]
HENRY, Duke of Bavaria (972-1024), saw in a vision his guardian, St. Wolfgang, pointing to the words “after six.” This moved him to prepare for death, and for six years he continued to watch and pray, when, at the end of the sixth year, he found the warning verified in his election as Holy Roman […]
Statue of St. Kateri Tekakwitha on the outside of the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, near Quebec City. Born in 1656 at Ossernenon, Iroquois Confederacy. Died April 17, 1680, at Kahnawake (near Montreal) Canada. Beatified June 22, 1980, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II Canonized October 21, 2012, Vatican City by Pope Benedict XVI
SANCTITY and learning raised Bonaventure to the Church’s highest honors, and from a child he was the companion of Saints. Yet at heart he was ever the poor Franciscan friar, and practised and taught humility and mortification. St. Francis gave him his name; for, having miraculously cured him of a mortal sickness, he prophetically exclaimed […]
HENRY, Duke of Bavaria, saw in a vision his guardian, St. Wolfgang, pointing to the words “after six.” This moved him to prepare for death, and for six years he continued to watch and pray, when, at the end of the sixth year, he found the warning verified in his election as emperor. Thus trained […]
THE episcopal see of Carthage had remained vacant twenty-four years, when, in 481, Huneric permitted the Catholics on certain conditions to choose one who should fill it. The people, impatient to enjoy the comfort of a pastor, pitched upon Eugenius, a citizen of Carthage, eminent for his learning, zeal, piety, and prudence. His charities to […]
ST. JOHN GUALBERT was born at Florence, A. D. 999. Following the profession of arms at that troubled period, he became involved in a blood-feud with a near relative. One Good Friday, as he was riding into Florence accompanied by armed men, he encountered his enemy in a place where neither could avoid the other. […]
THIS eminent Saint and glorious Doctor of the Syriac Church was a native of Nisibis, in Mesopotamia. In his youth, entering the world, he trembled at the sight of its vices and the slippery path of its pleasures, and he thought it the safer part to strengthen himself in retirement, that he might afterward be […]
The prophet hears what God proclaims ) and is called to speak in God’s name. The Twelve hear the message of Jesus and are sent forth to preach the gospel. In him we have been chosen to be full of love. The Scriptures often illustrate how God calls ordinary people and empowers them to accomplish great things. The prophet Amos […]
THE illustrious martyrdom of these Saints happened at Rome, under the Emperor Antoninus Pius (reigned AD 138 to 161), one of the so-called good emperors. His son, Marcus Aurelius, is likewise listed among the good emperors by secular historians, notwithstanding that he too was a persecutor of Christians. The seven brothers were the sons of […]
The 120 martyrs honored on this day died in China between 1648 and 1930; they were canonized in Rome on Oct. 1, 2000. Augustine Zhao Rong was a Chinese solider ordained as a diocesan priest and martyred in 1815. He was associated with Bishop John Gabriel Taurin Dufresse (Paris Foreign Mission Society) who was martyred […]
Thomas More was born in London, 1478. Upon the completion of humanistic studies at Oxford, he studied law in London and became a renowned attorney. He was for a time very seriously perturbed about his vocation in life, having felt and attraction toward both the Carthusians and Franciscans. He had no assurance of a calling […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Amos 7:12-15 2nd Reading: Ephesians 1:3-14 Responsorial: Psalm 85:9-14 Gospel: Mark 6:7-13 Coming to Know and Understand God’s Eternal Plan … A plan for the fullness of times. (Ephesians 1:10) Today, Paul takes us behind the scenes into the mind of God. Unlike […]
ELIZABETH [or Isabel] was born in 1271. She was daughter of Pedro III. of Arragon, being named after her aunt, St. Elizabeth of Hungary. At twelve years of age she was given in marriage to Denis, King of Portugal, and from a holy child became a saintly wife. She heard Mass and recited the Divine […]
THIS learned father and apostolic man flourished in the second century. He was by birth a Sicilian, by profession a Stoic philosopher. His esteem for virtue led him into an acquaintance with the Christians, and being charmed with the innocence and sanctity of their conversation, he opened his eyes to the truth. He studied the […]
Maria Goretti (October 16, 1890 – July 6, 1902) is an Italian virgin-martyr of the Roman Catholic Church, and is one of its youngest canonized saints. She died from multiple stab wounds inflicted by her attempted rapist after she refused him because of love of Jesus and her loyalty to the Ten Commandments. Early life […]
PETER OF LUXEMBURG, descended both by his father and mother from the noblest families in Europe, was born in Lorraine, in the year 1369. When but a schoolboy, twelve years of age, he went to London as a hostage for his brother, the Count of St. Pol, who had been taken prisoner. The English were […]
BERTHA was the daughter of Count Rigobert and Umana, related to one of the kings of Kent in England. In the twentieth year of her age she was married to Sigefroi, by whom she had five daughters, two of whom, Gertrude and Deotila, are Saints. After her husband’s death she put on the veil in […]
THIS Saint was born at Dalmatia, St. Jerome’s native country, and soon sought out that great Doctor, in order not only to follow his advice in matters relating to Christian perfection, but also to profit by his deep learning. The life of a recluse possessed peculiar attractions for him, but to enter a monastery it […]
THE angel Gabriel, in the mystery of the Annunciation, informed the Mother of God that her cousin Elizabeth had miraculously conceived, and was then pregnant with a son who was to be the precursor of the Messias. The Blessed Virgin out of humility concealed the wonderful dignity to which she was raised by the incarnation […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading Ezekiel 2:2-5 2nd Reading: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 Responsorial: Psalm 123:1-4 Gospel: Mark 6:1-6 Trusting in God’s Desire to Speak His Word and Message to Us Rebellious, stiff-necked, obstinate. Why would God go to the trouble of sending Ezekiel to speak his message to […]
