Daily Saints

Saint Margaret of Scotland

c. 1045–1093; Patron Saint of learning, parents of large families, parents who have lost a child, queens, and widows; Canonized by Pope Innocent IV in 1251

Margaret of Wessex was born into English royalty. Her grandfather was King Edmund the Ironside, who reigned as king for less than a year. After King Edmund’s death, Margaret’s father, Edward, might have been sent to the court of the King of Sweden for protection, and later to Kyiv when he was only an infant. For that reason, he is commonly referred to as Edward the Exile. In 1046, Prince Andrew of Hungary became King of Hungary, and Edward the Exile entered into his service, eventually marrying Agatha and having three children: Margaret, Christina, and Edgar Ætheling. Little is known about Agatha, but one theory is that she was the granddaughter of Saint Stephen, King of Hungary, and the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Henry II. Agatha and Edward the Exile were good parents to their three children, seeing to it that they were well educated and raised in a strong Catholic home.

In 1042, Edward the Confessor became King of England—and was later canonized, the only English king to become a saint. King Edward the Confessor did not have any heirs to whom he could pass on the crown, so he called Edward the Exile (Margaret’s father) and his family back to England where they entered the royal court. Edward the Exile died soon afterward, making Margaret’s brother, Edgar Ætheling, a potential heir to the throne.

In 1066, when King Edward the Confessor died, conflict arose as to who had the right of succession. During the confusion, the nobles quickly chose Harold II and had him crowned as king. However, a distant relative, William of Normandy (also known as William the Conqueror), made a claim to the throne. William offered many reasons, including a claim that Harold had sworn an oath to him to support him as King of England and had sworn the oath over the relics of a saint, making it binding. Even the pope agreed with William’s claim. Shortly after Harold II was crowned as king, William attacked England, and Harold II was killed in battle. The nobles supported Edgar Ætheling, Margaret’s brother, as the next king, but when William rode into London, the nobility surrendered and Edgar relinquished his claim to the throne, never having been crowned.

In 1068, the widowed Agatha decided to protect her children from the Norman conquerors and from potential chaos that might result from a rebellion against them. She boarded a ship with Edgar, Margaret, and Cristina, and set sail for her home, probably Hungary. Legend has it that the ship was tossed off course and wrecked on the shores of Scotland. In Scotland, King Malcolm III welcomed the exiled royal family and provided for their safety.

Since childhood, Margaret had grown in a profound love of God. She lived a very strict and ordered life, studied the Sacred Scriptures and other pious books, and grew in a keen understanding of the things of God. Her earliest biographer described her as another Mary of Bethany, who sat at the feet of Jesus, listening to His Word and pondering it in her heart.

When this royal family arrived in Scotland, the young King Malcom, a widower with two sons, immediately noticed Margaret’s beauty. Her physical beauty was greatly enhanced by the beauty of her soul, manifested in her piety, virtue, and intelligence. It didn’t take long before the two fell in love and were married, making Margaret Queen of Scotland.

Queen Margaret quickly realized that the power and influence she had received ought not be used for her own selfish purposes but for the betterment of Scotland and, especially, for the increase of the Kingdom of God. As queen, Margaret quickly won the love and admiration of the people. As her first biography stated, “Nothing was firmer than her fidelity, steadier than her favor, or juster than her decisions; nothing was more enduring than her patience, graver than her advice, or more pleasant than her conversation.”

Prior to Margaret’s arrival in Scotland, the Scottish Church followed the old Celtic traditions. When the Romans withdrew from Britain in the fifth century, the Scottish Church became isolated from the Roman Empire and the Church’s development. In Scotland, abbots of monasteries provided the main source of Church influence and governance, rather than bishops of dioceses. Liturgical practices differed, including the liturgical calendar and customs.

Queen Margaret had been raised within the Roman tradition through her mother’s influence. She was immediately aware of the differences between the Celtic practices of the Scots and the rest of the Roman Catholic world. Therefore, with loving reverence, strength, and virtue, she began to initiate change in the Church of Scotland. She was said to have had a great influence over her husband on account of her goodness and clarity of thought, so he supported her in the reforms. She was said to have regularly read to him from the Bible, since he was unable to read.

Queen Margaret convened synods to address the different practices of the Celts from the rest of the Roman Catholic Church, such as the time in which Lent and Easter were observed, the way Mass was celebrated, observance of the Lord’s Day, and the laws on marriage. In doing this, she strengthened ties to the pope in Rome, freeing the Scottish from their lengthy isolation. In addition to synods, Queen Margaret refurbished dilapidated churches, built new ones, and introduced Benedictine monks to Scotland by building the renowned Dunfermline Abbey, in which several Scottish monarchs were later buried. She is also known for her exceptional charity by which she fed the hungry, stooped down and washed the feet of the poor, cared for orphans, and organized religious education throughout the kingdom.

King Malcolm and Queen Margaret had eight children together, six sons and two daughters. Three of their sons went on to become kings of Scotland, one became an abbot, and a daughter became the Queen of England. In 1093, King Malcolm and Margaret’s oldest son, Edward, were killed in battle. When the forty-nine year old Margaret, bedridden in Edinburgh Castle due to ill health, heard the news, she died of grief three days later.

Jesus holds those with power and wealth to high standards: “Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24). Saint Margaret was as rich as one could be in her day, but she overcame the temptations of earthly wealth and power, and prayerfully devoted her life to the glory of God and the salvation of souls. She was a fitting representation on earth of the Queen of Heaven, the Mother of God, and she especially provides those of wealth and influence with an example they can follow.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/november-16–st-margaret-of-scotland/

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Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

Daily Saints

After Emperor Constantine the Great legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire in 313, he began to construct churches, particularly in Rome, Jerusalem, and Constantinople. In Rome, he constructed four basilicas: Saint John Lateran, Saint Peter’s on Vatican Hill, Holy Cross of Jerusalem, and Saint Paul Outside the Walls. Today, the Church celebrates the dedication of two of those basilicas: Saint Peter’s on Vatican Hill and Saint Paul Outside the Walls.

The foundation of these two churches goes back to the first century when Peter and Paul shed their blood and were buried where the basilicas stand today. In 64, a great fire destroyed much of the city of Rome. Many historians believe Emperor Nero set the fires himself so he could have an excuse to rebuild portions of the city as he desired. Nero blamed the fire on the Christians and implemented the first organized persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. Among the many who were arrested and martyred were Saints Peter and Paul.

Peter was the Prince of the Apostles and Bishop of Rome. He is believed to have been crucified upside-down in the Circus of Nero near the ancient Egyptian obelisk that now stands in the center of Saint Peter’s Square. He was buried in the nearby cemetery on Vatican Hill, and his grave became a place of pilgrimage for early Christians. After Constantine legalized Christianity, he became aware of the reverence with which this Prince of the Apostles’ grave was held, so he constructed what is now referred to as Old Saint Peter’s Basilica to help foster devotion and encourage pilgrimages to the site. The first basilica was dedicated by Pope Sylvester around the year 324 or 326 and remained for more than a millenia, with additions and reconstructions taking place during that time.

Until 1305, popes lived at the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, not at Saint Peter’s. When Pope Clement V was elected to the papacy, he moved the entire papal court to Avignon, France in 1309, where it remained until Pope Gregory XI returned to Rome from Avignon in 1377. At the time of the pope’s return to Rome, the Lateran Palace was in disrepair due to two fires, so the pope built a new papal palace next to Old Saint Peter’s on Vatican Hill, where every subsequent pope has resided. By the turn of the sixteenth century, Old Saint Peter’s was in serious disrepair, so in 1505, Pope Julius II ordered its demolition and began a process of reconstruction that spanned twenty-one subsequent papacies and was completed 120 years later. In 1626, the present-day Basilica of Saint Peter’s at the Vatican was dedicated by Pope Urban VIII.

Saint Paul was the tireless evangelist and the Church’s preeminent theologian, spreading the Gospel far and wide, and directly establishing and nourishing numerous Christian communities. He is also recognized as one of the earliest and most important converts to the faith. After an exceptional ministry of evangelization, Paul was arrested in Jerusalem. Because he was a Roman citizen, he appealed to the Roman emperor. He was subsequently imprisoned and two years later transported to Rome for his trial. When Nero’s persecutions were enacted shortly afterwards, Paul was beheaded on or around the same day that Saint Peter was crucified. Paul’s beheading is believed to have taken place just outside the walls of the city on the Ostian Way. He was buried near that spot.

Like the Old Saint Peter’s Basilica, the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls was built by Emperor Constantine over the grave of Saint Paul and dedicated by Pope Sylvester in 324. Over the next 1,500 years, successive popes added on to the basilica, renovated it, and decorated it. In 1823, almost the entire basilica was destroyed by a fire. Over the thirty years that followed, the church was redesigned and reconstructed into the church we have today. It was completed and dedicated in 1854 by Pope Pius IX.

As we honor the dedication of these two Roman basilicas, we honor much more than churches; we honor the apostles to whom they are dedicated. On June 29 each year, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, honoring their unique and foundational ministries. Today, on November 18, we honor these two saints once again as we commemorate the dedication of the basilicas dedicated to them, which were built upon their graves.

Symbolically, as their graves stand as a foundation for these two churches, so their lives and ministry stand as a foundation for the entire Church. Saint Peter was the first pope and source of unity who was given the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven and of whom Jesus said, “And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). Saint Paul was the great evangelist to the Gentiles and is a symbol of the Church missionary life and theological articulation of the faith, due to his extensive writings that make up most of the New Testament. Though we are centered and unified by Saint Peter the Rock, we must go forth to the ends of the earth, sharing the Gospel with all, like Saint Paul. Because of the significance of these apostles, every bishop throughout the world is obliged to make an “ad limina apostolorum” visit to Rome once every five years, during which time he gives a report to the pope about his diocese and visits the tombs of these two apostles.

As we honor these two great saints and revere their graves, ponder the fact that we are all called to become foundations on which the Church continues to be built. Our lives must become a source of unity for those who believe and a means by which God sends forth His Word to others. Renew today the dedication of your own life to the mission of Christ so that you more fully imitate the heroic and holy lives of these two men of God.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/november-18—dedication-of-the-basilicas-of-saints-peter-and-paul-apostles/

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Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious

Daily Saints

1207–1231; Patron Saint of Third Order Franciscans, bakers, beggars, brides, charitable societies and workers, exiles, falsely accused people, homeless people, hospitals, lacemakers, nursing homes, nursing services, people ridiculed for their piety, widows; Invoked against in-law problems, the death of children, and toothache; Canonized by Pope Gregory IX on May 27, 1235

Elizabeth was born to King Andrew II and Queen Gertrude of Hungary. Her aunt on her mother’s side was Saint Hedwig, Duchess of Silesia. As was the common practice at that time for nobility, marriages were arranged at an early age to secure alliances between powerful ruling families. When Elizabeth was only four, knights arrived to take her to Thuringia, about five hundred miles away, where she was brought up in the court of Hermann I, Landgrave (ruler) of Thuringia. Her upbringing was alongside Hermann I’s eleven-year-old son, Louis IV, to whom Elizabeth was betrothed in marriage, which took place ten years later. Elizabeth’s mother was from the powerful House of Andechs and had similarly married King Andrew for political reasons. Because Queen Gertrude was not from Hungary, she was queen consort, meaning she was queen by virtue of marriage, not enjoying direct authority in Hungary on account of her royal lineage. Nonetheless, Gertrude regularly exerted her influence within Hungary’s royal court, causing conflict among the nobles and royal family. As a result, Queen Gertrude was assassinated when her daughter, Elizabeth, was six years old.

Two years before, a large entourage and dowry from her father had accompanied Elizabeth to the court of the Landgrave of Thuringia. There, she received a Catholic upbringing, an excellent education, and was cared for by attendants (ladies-in-waiting). She learned culture, manners, and royal protocol; attended banquets; wore fine clothing; and witnessed the intrigue and power struggles common in the royal court. The Castle of Wartburg in which she lived was a magnificent castle, and the Landgrave of Thuringia one of the richest in the empire. Life was extravagant, with poets and musicians, fine meals and social gatherings, and the best of what the world at that time had to offer. Behind the scenes, many factions plotted and formed alliances, seeking power and favors. Despite the challenges and worldly temptations she was thrust into at such a young age, Elizabeth grew in faith. She prayed, practiced mortification, and fell deeply in love with her Lord.

During the first ten years in Wartburg Castle, Elizabeth and her future husband, Louis IV, were raised together and formed a deep personal and spiritual bond. Though the marriage was arranged, they put their minds, hearts, and wills into what would soon become their future together. Louis’ father died when he was sixteen years old, and Louis became the Landgrave of Thuringia. Four years later, Elizabeth and Louis were wed.

From the very beginning, Elizabeth did not fit in with the courtly life. She was sensitive to the poor, sought virtue, and preferred simplicity, which made her an object of gossip and slander among the more “refined” members of the court. In Louis, however, she found a strong support. He admired her virtues and goodness and dismissed any criticism that came to his ears, defending her before all.

About two years after their marriage, when Elizabeth was sixteen, Franciscan friars arrived at the castle to care for the spiritual needs of the royal court. The holy Friar Conrad of Marburg became Elizabeth’s spiritual director. Through him, she learned about the saintly life of Saint Francis who probed the highest heights of holiness, even being pierced with the stigmata at the end of his life by a Seraphim, the highest of the choirs of angels, earning him the revered title “the Seraphic Father.” Stories of Saint Francis, the influence of the friars, and her own devotional life drew her deeper into the mysteries of faith. One story relates that one time, while praying in the castle chapel, she took off her royal crown, placed it before the Crucifix, and then lay prostrate before her Lord in prayer. When her mother-in-law saw this, she chastised Elizabeth, telling her such a gesture was beneath her dignity. Elizabeth responded, “How can I, a wretched creature, continue to wear a crown of earthly dignity, when I see my King Jesus Christ crowned with thorns?”

Elizabeth’s heart was inflamed with a desire for charity and justice. If she saw an injustice, she quickly sought to remedy it. Rather than eat food that was unjustly obtained, she preferred to go hungry. If the poor were cheated, she paid the debt owed them out of her own money. She loved to go down to the villagers, especially the poor, and bring them food, clothing, and whatever else they needed. She distributed these goods personally, in the company of her maids. This humility and generosity won her the love and respect of the peasant class, despite the ongoing ridicule of the nobility. When the nobility complained to her husband, he continued to support her and her charitable works.

One day, when Elizabeth was secretly bringing bread from the castle to the poor, she encountered her husband in the street. He had been told that she was stealing from the castle, so he asked her what she was carrying in her apron. When she opened it, beautiful roses appeared, to the delight of Louis who saw that as a sign of divine favor that humbled her detractors. On another occasion, she brought a leper into her own bedroom and laid him on her bed to care for him. Later, when Louis was told what Elizabeth did by her indignant mother-in-law, Louis went to strip the infected sheets from their shared bed. When he did so, he either saw in a vision, or was given an infused spiritual intuition that it was Christ Himself Whom Elizabeth cared for in the person of the leper. This only deepened Louis’ admiration for his young wife.

In 1227, at the age of twenty-six, Louis joined the army of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II for the sixth crusade against the Muslims to take back the Holy Land which had been lost in 1187. On the way, disease spread through the troops and Louis fell ill, dying shortly afterwards. News of her husband’s death was devastating to the twenty-year-old Elizabeth. She and Louis had previously made vows to each other not to remarry if either of them died, so Elizabeth turned her eyes more fully to Chirst, devoting herself to His mission, no matter where He led.

Elizabeth and Louis had three children together. Their youngest, Gertrude, with whom Elizabeth was still pregnant when Louis died, grew up and became abbess of Altenburg Abbey. Their middle child, Sophie, married Henry II, Duke of Brabant. Their oldest, Hermann, initially succeeded his father as Landgrave of Thuringia when he was only four. Though Elizabeth acted on her son’s behalf in the governance of the Landgrave, Louis’ brother, Henry, seized control as regent for young Hermann and ran Elizabeth and her children out of the castle, causing many of the nobles to reject her. Hermann died unexpectedly several years later before he could make his claim as Landgrave, and Henry assumed full control.

Wandering for a while with two of her handmaids, Elizabeth entrusted her children to the care of some of Louis’ sympathetic family members. Eventually, the family members were able to secure Elizabeth refuge in the Castle of Marburg where, with the guidance of Friar Conrad, she fully dedicated herself to God’s service with private vows, took a gray habit, and formed a small community with other friends. Louis’ family secured for her the remainder of her dowry, which she used to build a hospital for the poor. She spent the next three years caring for the sick in the humblest of ways. In 1231, at the age of twenty-four, Elizabeth came down with a high fever and after days of suffering, offered herself to God. When the people heard of her illness, they flocked to her in prayer. Soon after her death, miracles were attributed to her intercession. People became so devoted to her that only four years after her death, Pope Gregoy IX canonized her and built a church in Marburg in her honor.

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary was given all the privileges and wealth this world had to offer her at a very young age, yet in her heart, none of that compared to the privilege of serving her Lord, especially as he was present to her in the sick and poor. She chose the better part and will forever rejoice with her God in Heaven.

As we honor this saintly noblewoman, ponder her choice to follow Christ in the midst of so many temptations and trials. As you do, follow her example by making the will of God the greatest treasure of your life.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/november-17st-elizabeth-of-hungary/

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Saint Gertrude the Great, Virgin

Daily Saints

1256–1302; Patron Saint of nuns; Invoked for poor souls in Purgatory; Equivalent canonization in 1606; Added to the Universal Roman Calendar by Pope Clement XII in 1677

Saint Gertrude the Great is the only female saint to be given the title “the Great,” which Pope Benedict XIV bestowed on her in the mid-eighteenth century as a way of highlighting her extraordinary contribution to mystical theology. Nothing is known about Gertrude’s early childhood or family origin, other than that she was born in Eisleben, Thuringia, in the Holy Roman Empire, modern-day Germany. At the age of five, she was entrusted to the Monastery of Saint Mary in the neighboring town of Helfta, which was later moved to Hackeborn property. Why she entered the convent at such a young age is not known. Most likely, either her parents offered their daughter to God in this then-customary way, or Gertrude might have been an orphan.

When little Gertrude entered the convent, the abbess was of the same name, Gertrude of Hackeborn (now Blessed Gertrude of Hackeborn). Abbess Gertrude was an outstanding woman who governed the monastery for forty-one years, helping it to flourish and produce much good fruit. It is often called “the crown of German convents.” She was exceptionally devout and saw to it that the sisters regularly contemplated the boundless love of Christ, were serious about their souls’ journey toward divine union, had a profound love for the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and manifested a deep devotion to the Most Holy Eucharist. Daily life at the monastery consisted of singing, praying the Divine Office, celebrating the Mass, and studying Scripture and the Church Fathers. In addition, the sisters engaged in ascetical practices, manual labor, community life, and menial daily duties. When little Gertrude entered the convent, Abbess Gertrude was around twenty-nine years old. Also in the convent was the abbess’s younger sister, Matilda of Hackeborn (now Saint Matilda), who was about twenty, and to whose care the five-year-old Gertrude was entrusted. Sister Matilda went on to become her dearest friend and spiritual mentor.

Sister Matilda had been at the convent since she was very young, and she quickly grew in sanctity and virtue, eventually probing the highest heights of holiness. This had a profound impact upon the community and drew the other sisters into deeper prayer. After young Gertrude had been at the convent for about ten or fifteen years, Sister Matilda began to have visions of Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary, angels, and saints in which she became intimately aware of the finest and most splendid details of their lives, especially the life and Passion of Christ and the life of the Blessed Mother. She also was infused with profound knowledge and insights into the mysteries of our faith, such as the Sacraments, virtues, and the end of time. Finally, she was the recipient of many beautiful prayers. Unbeknownst to her, her sisters, under the direction of Abbess Gertrude, began to write down everything Sister Matilda experienced and received.

Around the same time, another Matilda—of Magdeburg—moved into the convent in Hackeborn at the age of sixty-five. Matilda of Magdeburg had lived a solitary life of prayer and charity and was also a mystic. At the age of twelve she had her first vision, a vision of the Holy Spirit, and later began writing these visions down. By the time she moved into the convent in Hackeborn, she had written six volumes. At Hackeborn she completed her seventh book, The Flowing Light of Divinity.

This bigger picture of life at the Monastery of Saint Mary paints the background for Saint Gertrude the Great, whom we honor today. Sister Gertrude was blessed with a holy and disciplined mother abbess. Her mentor and dear friend, Sister Matilda of Hackeborn, was a mystic. When the aged Matilda of Magdeburg moved into the convent (most likely not taking formal vows), she was in the presence of another mystic. What could she do but become a mystic herself? The problem was that up until that point, Sister Gertrude had not yet fully given herself to Christ. She was an excellent student with a strong desire to study all the sciences and other subjects of that time. She excelled in literature, music, and art. She prayed and was also strong-willed and determined in all she did. However, as she aged, she began to see the futility of the things of this world and grieved over her lukewarmness.

In January 1281, when Sister Gertrude was twenty-five years old, she had her first mystical vision. Jesus, in the form of a most beautiful young man about sixteen years old, appeared to her saying, “Your salvation is at hand; why are you consumed with grief?…I will save you, I will deliver you; fear not.” After that, the youthful Jesus placed His hand on her to ratify His promise. Jesus then said to her, “You have licked the dust with My enemies, and you have sucked honey amidst thorns; but return now to Me—I will receive you, and inebriate you with the torrent of My celestial delights.” She then saw a thorny hedge that divided her and Jesus, representing her many sins, and she saw Jesus stretch out His hand, which bore the marks of the nails but communicated to her His promise to draw her to Himself. Of this encounter she later wrote:

By these and other illuminations, You did enlighten and soften my mind, detaching me powerfully, by an interior unction, from an inordinate love of literature and from all my vanities. I only despised those things which had formerly pleased me; and all that was not You, O God of my heart, appeared vile to me. You alone were pleasing to my soul. And I praise, bless, adore, and thank from my inmost soul, as far as I am able, but not as far as I ought, Your wise mercy and Your merciful wisdom. You, my Creator and Redeemer, did endeavor in so loving a manner to submit my unconquerable self-opinionatedness to the sweetness of Your yoke, composing a beverage suitable to my temperament.

For the next twenty-one years, Sister Gertrude lived a life of ongoing mystical prayer, especially during the Divine Office and the Holy Mass. She began to have regular visions and received spiritual knowledge, writing much of it down. She turned from interest in the vain things of this world to the exclusive contemplation of God and experience of mystical prayer, aided by her study of Scripture and the Fathers of the Church.

The legacy of Saint Gertrude the Great is one of the most important ones from the thirteenth-century mystics. During her final twenty-one years of life, she entered into deep union with God and shared those experiences in numerous writings, some of which have been lost. Her most important surviving work is The Herald of Divine Love, consisting of five chapters, the second of which she herself wrote and the rest which were written by other nuns, recording her life, spiritual experiences, and insights as she related them. Her book, Spiritual Exercises, a compilation of prayers, meditations, and spiritual practices, helps the reader grow in devotion, virtue, a love for the Eucharist, and devotion to the Sacred Heart, to which she was especially faithful. Saint Gertrude also learned from Jesus about the importance of praying for the poor souls in Purgatory. He gave her a prayer that we will use to conclude this reflection in honor of Jesus’ command to her.

Saint Gertrude was never formally canonized, and her writings were nearly lost until they were discovered centuries after her death. In the seventeenth century, she was honored by the Church and received an “equivalent” canonization. In the eighteenth century she was placed on the Universal Roman Calendar, and her prayers and revelations began to be more widely known. It might be that God especially wanted to use her to reveal His inner life to the Church today, many centuries after her death. Consider learning more about this mystic and her writings so that God can infuse you with some of the same insights and grace He gave to her.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/november-16—saint-gertrude-the-great-virgin/

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Saint Albert the Great, Bishop and Doctor

Daily Saints

c. 1200–1280; Patron Saint of scientists, medical technicians, natural sciences, philosophers, schoolchildren, and theology students; Canonized by Pope Pius XI on December 16, 1931; Declared a Doctor of the Church (Universal Doctor) during his canonization

One of the greatest minds in the history of the Church was born in the Holy Roman Empire around the turn of the thirteenth century in the town of Lauingen, modern-day Germany. Different sources date his birth in various years between 1193 and 1206. He was known as Albert of Lauingen when born, but even before his death he was often referred to as Albert the Great (Albertus Magnus).

Albert was born into a noble family, with some accounts identifying his father as a count. Because of his noble status, he enjoyed the blessing of an excellent education, either at home from private tutors or in a neighboring school. At some point after completing his elementary studies, he was sent to the University of Padua to study the liberal arts and was also introduced to the philosophy of Aristotle that would become foundational for his later writings. Around 1223, Albert joined the Dominican order, possibly as a result of an apparition in which the Blessed Virgin Mary instructed him to do so. He continued his studies in important schools in Padua, Paris, and Cologne to complete his education in philosophy and theology.

Around the time that Brother Albert finished his studies, he was ordained to the sacred priesthood and was assigned to various teaching posts throughout Europe, most notably in Cologne for several years. Around 1245, Father Albert earned the distinction of “Master of Theology” from the prestigious Saint-Jacques at the University of Paris, where he also was given the Chair of Theology.

It is difficult to know what was taking place within the mind and soul of Father Albert during these first twenty-two years as a Dominican, but it is clear from the abundant good fruit borne from his life that he was intimately united to God. Later biographers describe him as having a voracious appetite for sacred knowledge, with the heavens opening up upon him, filling his mind with divine light. Unique to his thought was the incorporation of Aristotle’s philosophical principles in logic and metaphysics with theology. Before Father Albert, no one had thoroughly incorporated the two strains of thought. This was partly due to the fact that all of Aristotle’s works had only recently been translated into Latin from ancient Greek.

Father Albert was not only a philosopher and theologian, he was a walking encyclopedia who seemed to have mastered all subjects. The compilation of his writings fills thirty-nine encyclopedic volumes and covers a multitude of topics, including logic, metaphysics, rhetoric, theology, botany, geography, astronomy, astrology, mineralogy, alchemy, zoology, physiology, phrenology, justice, law, politics, economics, friendship, and love. One might ask what most of these have to do with theology. Father Albert would reply that they all have to do with theology because they all come from God and are all in perfect harmony with each other. Today some suggest that science and faith contradict each other. Father Albert would be the first to challenge that belief and would thoroughly defend his position. The simple answer is that if God is the source of all the natural sciences, logic, revelation, law, and order, and all that is true, then God cannot contradict Himself. He cannot create the natural sciences with one truth and then reveal in theology another truth. What is true is that which is in the mind of God, no matter the subject, and that which is in the mind of God is perfectly harmonious. All creation reveals and glorifies God in its own perfect way!

Though Father Albert was one of the most prolific and profound writers in the Church, God also used him to help form a man who became the Church’s greatest theologian: Saint Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor. Father Thomas Aquinas was about twenty-five years younger than Father Albert but died five years before him. It was in Paris that the twenty-year-old Father Thomas became Father Albert’s student. Their teacher-student bond grew into a profound mutual respect and friendship. In many ways, Father Albert laid the foundation for Father Thomas by helping him embrace and “Christianize” Aristotelian logic and metaphysics. Father Albert was the first of the Church’s theologians to write upon every aspect of Aristotle, and Father Thomas soaked it all up, later building upon it to produce what is arguably the most important theological work ever written: the Summa Theologiae (“Summary of Theology” or “Compendium of Theology”).

Together, these men were among the greatest theologians to show that faith and reason are not exclusive of each other; rather, they are intimately interwoven and inseparable. When pure human reason is used to analyze the content of divine revelation (faith), the mind is able to extrapolate deeper truths and bring them to their logical conclusion, even to the highest degrees of abstraction. The bond and respect between Fathers Albert and Thomas was so deep that when Father Albert was transferred to Cologne in 1248, Father Thomas followed him.

In 1254, Father Albert was made the provincial superior of the Dominican Order, adding administrative duties to his academic pursuits. In 1260, Pope Alexander IV appointed him as the Bishop of Regensburg, where he remained for the next three years. During that time, though Bishop Albert was among the greatest minds in the Church, his humility won the hearts of his people, and he was able to bring healing to divisions that plagued that diocese. After Bishop Albert resigned his position, the pope employed him for diplomatic missions while Bishop Albert continued his academic pursuits.

Because Bishop Albert and Father Thomas Aquinas were groundbreakers in the use of Aristotelian logic and metaphysics, there were some who criticized them. In 1277, two years after Father Thomas died, the Bishop of Paris issued an edict condemning 219 theological propositions that were deduced from Aristotelian logic by various theologians, stating that God’s Almighty Power was so transcendent that the propositions violated God’s Omnipotence. Twenty of those 219 were from Father Thomas. Some stories state that despite his age (about seventy-seven), Bishop Albert traveled to Paris to personally defend his saintly student. In the end, both teacher and student became saints and Doctors of the Church, thus pointing to the true omnipotence of God.

Saint Albert the Great was a man with a mind on fire with the Holy Spirit. Mere human intellectual capacity could never achieve what he achieved. Some saints are filled with the fortitude necessary to die as martyrs, some are mystics whose lives reveal the the holiness of God, some are founders who build up the Church through new charisms and religious communities, and some, like Saints Albert and Thomas, receive the gift of intellect, infused with the highest degree of the virtues of wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and prudence, by which they are able to leave the Church a solid theological foundation upon which it can continue to be built.

As we honor the “Great” Saint Albert, Doctor of the Church, who was designated as Universal Doctor because he mastered every subject, ponder the simple fact that, despite his having one of the greatest minds in the history of thought, his proficiency is but a drop of water in the ocean compared to the mind of God. This humble truth is something Saint Albert would have readily professed, yet it never stopped him from striving to become that one drop, given that it was one small way of comprehending and articulating what God has revealed to us. And that which comes from God, no matter how small in comparison to the Reality, has infinite value. Seek to imitate Saint Albert by renewing your commitment to the study of your faith so that your mind will experience but a drop of the grace given to this greatest of men.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/november-15—saint-albert-the-great-bishop-and-doctor/

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Saint Lawrence O’Toole

Daily Saints

Profile

Lawrence was the son of the chief of Hy Murray. He was taken as a hostage by King Dermot McMurrogh Leinster in 1138 when he was ten years old; Dermot later married Lawrence’s sister, Mor. He was released in 1140 at age twelve to the Bishop of Glendalough, Ireland. and raised and educated at the monastic school there. He became a monk at Glendalough, and an abbot in 1153. He declined the bishopric of Glendalough in 1160, citing his unworthiness. He ordered to accept the archbishopric of Dublin, Ireland in 1161, and became the first native-born Irishman to hold the see.

Lawrence reformed much of the administration and clerical life in his diocese. He worked to restore and rebuild Christ Church cathedral. As archbishop, he accepted the imposition onto Ireland of the English form of liturgy in 1172. Noted for his personal austerity, he wore a hair shirt under his ecclesiastical robes, made an annual 40 day retreat in Saint Kevin‘s cave, never ate meat, fasted every Friday, and never drank wine – though he would color his water to make it look like wine and not bring attention to himself at table. He acted as peacemaker and mediator at the second seige of Dublin in 1170.

In 1171, Lawrence traveled to Canterbury, England on diocesan business. While preparing for Mass there, he was attacked by a lunatic who wanted to make Lawrence another Saint Thomas Beckett. Everyone in the church thought Lawrence had been killed by the severe blow to the head. Instead, he asked for water, blessed it, and washed the wound; the bleeding stopped, and the archbishop celebrated Mass.

Lawrence negotiated the 1175 Treaty of Windsor which made upstart Irish king Rory O’Connor and vassal of king Henry II of England, but ended in combat. He attended the General Lateran Council in Rome, Italy in 1179. He was the Papal legate to Ireland. He died while travelling with King Henry II, a trip taken as a peacemaker and on behalf of Rory O’Conner. It resulted in his imprisonment and ill-treatment by the king who decided he had had his fill of meddling priests.

Born

1128 at Castledermot, County Kildare, Ireland

Died

14 November 1180 at Eu, diocese of Rouen, Normandy, France of natural causes
buried at the abbey church at Eu
so many miracles were reported at his tomb that his relics were soon translated a place of honour before the altar
his heart was removed and returned to Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland

Canonized

1225 by Pope Honorius III

Patronage

archdiocese of Dublin, Ireland

Source: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-lawrence-otoole/

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Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin

Daily Saints

1850–1917; Patron Saint of immigrants, emigrants, hospital administrators, and orphans; Invoked against malaria; Canonized by Pope Pius XII on July 7, 1946

Maria Francesca Cabrini (Frances) was born in the small town of Sant’Angelo Lodigiano, Lombardy, modern-day Italy. At the time of her birth, this culturally Italian town was under the control of the Austrian Empire. She was the youngest of thirteen children, only four of whom survived to maturity. As a child, she listened attentively as her father inspired her with stories about foreign missionaries. Her parents were quite devout and formed their children well in the Catholic faith. Following the example of her mother and older sister Rosa, Frances learned to pray at an early age and grew in devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, especially after Pope Pius IX extended the Feast of the Sacred Heart to the Universal Church when she was six years old. Around the age of eight, Frances received the Sacrament of Confirmation and later remarked of that day, “from that moment I was no longer of the earth.” She sensed she was deeply united with the Holy Spirit.

At the age of thirteen, Frances attended school at the convent of the Daughters of the Sacred Heart in a neighboring town. While with them, her love for the Sacred Heart grew. She wanted to join the sisters and enter the convent, but the mother superior turned her down because she suffered from poor health. After five years of schooling, she graduated with honors, received a teaching certificate, and returned to her hometown to teach in the parish school. Shortly afterward, she transferred to the parish school in the neighboring town of Vidardo. After two years of teaching, when she was twenty, her parents died just months apart. Soon afterward, she suffered through smallpox. When Frances recovered, she took it as a sign that God wanted something more from her, so she applied for acceptance to the Canossian Sisters of Crema, about forty miles away, but was yet again turned away.

In 1874, when Frances was twenty-four years old, the bishop invited her to assist at the House of Providence orphanage for girls about twenty miles away in Codogno. The bishop wanted the orphanage to be run as religious sisters would run it, and he believed Frances could help the two older women who were poorly operating the facility. Frances soon found that some of the girls in the orphanage were also interested in religious life, so in 1877, at the age of twenty-seven, Frances and five of the girls made a religious profession of vows at the hands of the bishop. Frances added Xavier to her name in honor of the great Jesuit missionary Saint Francis Xavier, and the bishop named her as the mother superior. Within three years, Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini’s attempt at religious life in the House of Providence suffered, due to calumnies from the other two women. Mindful of this, in 1880, at the age of thirty, the bishop invited Mother Cabrini and the girls who professed with her to form a new missionary convent in Codogno, which eventually became the Institute of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Mother Cabrini remained mother superior for the next thirty-seven years until her death.

Mother Cabrini was humble and prayerful, but also determined, hardworking, well organized, and zealous. She quickly arranged the new convent, despite arriving with very little means. An altar was set up in the chapel with an image of the Sacred Heart, which became the source of meditation and prayer for the young sisters. During the first several years after the order’s founding, the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart experienced rapid growth, with many girls joining. Within a year, an orphanage and day school were established next to the convent. Within two years, another convent was established, and within five years there were seven convents. The sisters made needlework and embroidery to support their work.

In September 1887, with the permission of her bishop, Mother Cabrini set out for Rome with the hope of founding a convent in the Eternal City and to request the Holy Father’s final approval of her institute. Despite some difficulties in dealing with the Roman Curia, in March 1888, Pope Leo XIII approved her rule and constitutions, and the sisters were invited to establish houses in Rome. Now that they were an institute approved by the pope, they were free to travel wherever the pope would send them. While in Rome, Mother Cabrini met Bishop Scalabrini of the Diocese of Piacenza, who encouraged her to found a convent in the United States to care for the destitute Italian immigrants. Mother Cabrini, however, had her heart set on China, just as her patron saint, Saint Francis Xavier, had done. In the meantime, Bishop Scalabrini sent a letter to the Archbishop Corrigan of New York who replied that he would welcome the sisters. Mother Cabrini decided to ask the Holy Father himself. At an audience, she told the Holy Father of her desire to establish a mission in China. The Holy Father quickly said to her, “You will go not to the East, but to the West!” The matter was settled and almost immediately, Mother Cabrini and her sisters set out by ship to the United States. Though this was a new and unexpected challenge, contrary to her initial desire, she would often remind herself, “I can do all things in Christ Who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

Mother Cabrini and six sisters arrived in New York on March 31, 1889. Upon arrival, the archbishop was surprised they had arrived so soon. The convent wasn’t prepared for them, so he urged them to return to Italy for the time being. Mother Cabrini refused, stating that she was sent by the pope and had to obey him. Without a convent ready, the sisters found hospitality with the Sisters of Charity. Shortly afterward, Mother Cabrini lovingly persuaded the archbishop to permit her and her sisters to move into the convent. He agreed, and the sisters began their work in the poor Italian section of Manhattan. They established a free school, taught in the local parish, and founded an orphanage, which soon had hundreds of children for whom the sisters would beg for alms. Many young Italian girls also joined in the work with the sisters.

Once everything was in working order, Mother Cabrini returned to Italy with some of the postulants who had joined them in America so they could enter the novitiate at the mother house in Codogno. After visiting all of her houses in Italy and with Pope Leo XIII to update him and receive his encouraging blessing, Mother Cabrini returned to the United States in April 1890 with seven more sisters. After founding a new convent and orphanage in West Park, which a year later would also become a novitiate for North America, Mother Cabrini returned to Italy once again to visit all her convents.

Over the next twenty-seven years, Mother Cabrini sailed across the ocean about twenty-three more times, founding over sixty hospitals, orphanages, schools, and convents in New Orleans, Brooklyn, Denver, Newark, Philadelphia, Scranton, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, Argentina, Brazil, Nicaragua, England, France and Spain. During her time at sea, she became accustomed to writing letters to her sisters, amounting to thousands of letters that well document her travels and work. She was a tireless foundress who was directed and empowered by the Holy Spirit. She was compassionate and humble, learning from her continuous meditation on the Sacred Heart. She was an inspiration to all, drawing more than 1,000 young girls to join her mission in her lifetime. Nine years after her death, her sisters established their first home in China, no doubt due to her intercession. In 1946, she became the first United States citizen to be canonized.

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini knew from an early age that God was calling her to serve Him as a religious sister, but she had no idea what abundant fruit her life would produce. She worked one day at a time, fulfilling the will of God each moment, continually entering into the humility, suffering, compassion, and mercy of Jesus’ Sacred Heart. In His Heart she discovered His love for the poor, sick, abandoned, and destitute, and she ministered to them from His Heart, being His mercy for all.

Honor this holy foundress by honoring the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This devotion is especially relevant for those who suffer. Ponder Jesus’ wounded Heart and the love that pours forth from that wound, and you will become a recipient of the mercy Mother Cabrini discovered and shared.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/november-13—saint-frances-xavier-cabrini-virgin—usa-memorial/

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Saint Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr

Daily Saints

1580–1623; Patron Saint of Ukraine; Invoked for the reunification of Eastern and Western Christians; Canonized by Pope Pius IX on June 29, 1867

From the time of the Great Schism in 1054, many Christians in the Eastern (Byzantine) Empire have separated from the pope, creating what is generally called the Orthodox Church. The separation continues, although some of the Eastern Churches have reunited with Rome. In 1439, an attempt was made at the Council of Florence to reunite East and West. It was successful for a short time, but when the Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453, the reunion slowly disintegrated. In 1596, after years of discussions, under an agreement known as the Union of Brest, the majority of Ruthenian Orthodox bishops agreed to reunite with Rome under the pope. In that agreement the Ruthenians professed obedience to the pope as the supreme pontiff, but they were able to keep their Slavic liturgical traditions and celebrate the Byzantine Liturgy, retain married priests, maintain their own canon law and church governance, and hold onto certain theological distinctions within the Creed. Though many Orthodox supported this reunification, many others did not. It was into this time in history that Saint Josaphat, whom we honor today, lived and died for this unity within the Church.

At his birth in the town of Volodymyr, in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, modern-day Ukraine, our saint was given the name John Kuncevyc. He was baptized into the Orthodox Church, not the Catholic Church, and his parents were faith-filled Orthodox Christians. As a youth, he received a good education and learned the faith well. He was often more interested in praying than playing games. He served at church services, loved the Slavic religious traditions, embraced a life of penance and mortification from an early age, and loved the Divine Office, which he diligently prayed. As a young man, in order to assist his family financially, he worked as a merchant in a nearby city.

In 1604, eight years after his local diocese reunited with Rome, John entered religious life as a monk at the Monastery of Holy Trinity of the Order of Saint Basil the Great in Vilnius. Upon entering, he was given the religious name Josaphat. After five years in the monastery, Brother Josaphat was ordained a Catholic priest in the Eastern Rite and remained at the monastery for the next eight years, becoming prior of his and several other monasteries.

As a monk, he diligently studied the history of the Church, the liturgy, and other documents pertaining to the unity of the Church. He practiced extreme mortifications, and his prayer life grew deep. In addition to his love of the Divine Office and Liturgy, he continuously prayed the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” It was later reported by some of his brother monks that he prayed it so often that he could even be heard whispering it as he slept.

Father Josaphat’s prayer and study led him to become a firm supporter of the Union of Brest, and he did all he could to encourage his fellow monks and laypeople to embrace full union with Rome. His reputation as a wise and holy monk spread far and wide, and many came to seek his spiritual advice. He also attracted many young men to the monastery who became monks at his encouragement. He was a spiritual leader, a man of prayer, and a man on a mission of unification. He not only convinced many of the Orthodox holdouts to embrace the Catholic faith, he even drew some who had become Calvinists after the Protestant Reformation. He was so successful that he earned the nickname “Soul-snatcher.”

Father Josaphat’s ministry was so impactful that, in 1617, he was ordained as the Bishop of Vitebsk and, one year later, was elevated to the Archbishopric of Polotsk. This was an important see because tensions remained high, and the faithful, monks, and clergy remained divided about the reunification with Rome. Some feared that they would lose their liturgical traditions to more latinized ones, and others disagreed for theological reasons, but Archbishop Josaphat was convinced that full unification with Rome, while retaining their beloved religious traditions, was the will of God. He zealously devoted the next six years of his forty-three years of life to the cause.

As archbishop, he made the education of his clergy a high priority by issuing a catechism that he instructed them to memorize. He imposed discipline for priestly living, had large meetings to discuss pastoral initiatives, renewed the church buildings, and opposed everyone who opposed unification, including the Grand Chancellor of Lithuania who was overly sympathetic to those who opposed unification.

Within two years of Josaphat’s ordination as Archbishop of Polotsk, some Ruthenian Orthodox factions who refused to embrace unity with Rome secretly gathered and, with the help of the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, ordained new Ruthenian Orthodox bishops, including an archbishop, setting up a second hierarchical Church. The new Orthodox archbishop began to spread rumors that Josaphat was planning on making the Church fully Latin, throwing out their Slavic traditions. Violence ensued over the next few years, and even clergy battled clergy. Archbishop Josaphat predicted his own martyrdom but remained in the fight for unity.

In 1623, an Orthodox priest led a revolt against the archbishop’s house, which included Orthodox men, women, and children. With stones and sticks they attacked the archbishop’s house, broke in, cornered Josaphat in a room, beat him, slit his head with an ax, shot him, dragged his dead body through the town naked, and threw him into the Dvina River.

Though this might at first appear to be a horrible end to a holy life, God, Who is all-powerful, is able to bring good from evil. In many ways, Saint Josaphat’s martyrdom was a turning point for the Ruthenian Catholics. While divisions remained high, those embracing unity found in Saint Josaphat a martyr and an inspiration. A martyr’s blood is a powerful weapon in the hands of God, and God used his death to help solidify unification with Rome in the hearts and minds of those open to divine grace.

As we honor this saint of Christian unity, ponder the sad reality that so many Christians who profess their faith in Christ remain divided. This is even found within the Catholic Church itself. Use this memorial of Saint Josaphat as an opportunity not only to ponder the painful divisions in our churches and world but also as an occasion to pray for oneness in Christ. Seek Saint Josaphat’s intercession today, and, in imitation of his life, offer your own sacrifices, prayers, and mortification to God, begging for the grace of true and lasting Christian unity.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/november-12—st-josaphat-bishop-and-martyr/

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Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop

Daily Saints

316 or 336–397; Patron Saint of beggars, cavalry, equestrians, geese, horses, innkeepers, Pontifical Swiss Guards, quartermasters, reformed alcoholics, soldiers, tailors, and winemakers; Invoked against alcoholism and poverty; Pre-Congregation canonization

Saint Martin of Tours has been one of the most revered and loved saints in European history for two primary reasons: he lived a life of heroic sanctity, and someone wrote it all down. Sulpicius Severus is believed to have been a wealthy man who converted to Christianity through the ministry of Bishop Martin. He then became a priest, interviewed Bishop Martin before he died, and wrote a book about Martin’s incredible life. The book was copied over and over again and became one of the standard texts for religious and laity alike for many centuries. Numerous churches and monasteries bear Martin’s name as a result of his popularity.

Martin was born in Sabaria in Pannonia, within the Roman Empire, modern-day Szombathely, Hungary. Some early records state he was born in 316, others in 336. When Martin was young, his family moved to Ticinum, modern-day Pavia, northern Italy. He was born in the Roman Empire during an important period of change. In 313, Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, legalizing Christianity. Constantine then became a Christian himself, and it became known that he favored Christians over those who remained pagans. As a result, many people began converting, some for political and economic reasons.

Martin’s father was a soldier who advanced to the rank of military tribune. As a child, Martin became interested in Christianity, but his parents clung to Roman paganism, dismissing the newly legalized Christianity. Martin, however, was not satisfied with his parents’ choice. So, at the age of ten, he went to the local Catholic Church and asked to become a Christian. He was enrolled as a catechumen and began the lengthy process of preparing for Baptism, which would not take place until ten years later. When he was twelve years old, he asked his parents to permit him to become a hermit, but they refused. At the age of fifteen, in compliance with a state law requiring sons of military officers to enlist in the Roman military, Martin became a soldier. Despite being surrounded by many who lived immoral lives, Martin remained true to his faith and lived quite virtuously. His language was always respectful, he treated others with exceptional kindness, he often gave most of his money and belongings to the poor, he humbled himself by serving those who were supposed to serve him, and he continued his preparation for Baptism.

One day, while riding his horse through a town in the middle of winter, Martin came upon a poor man who was poorly dressed and shivering. The man begged people for help, but they ignored him. Martin knew he had to assist, but he had already given his money and other clothing away to the needy. All he had left was the military cloak he wore on his own back, so he dismounted his horse, took out his sword, cut the cloak in two, and gave half to the poor man. His fellow soldiers later laughed at his small funny-looking cloak. That night, Martin had a dream in which Jesus appeared to him wearing the half-cloak and said to a multitude of angels who surrounded them, “Martin, still only a catechumen, has clothed me.” When he awoke, he knew what he needed to do. He sought baptism, which he received at the age of twenty.

Martin remained in the military for two more years at the request of a friend. One day, the commanding officer was passing out bonuses to the soldiers as they prepared for battle the next day. When Martin was called forward, he stated, “I have been your soldier until now. Let me serve God henceforth. Give your bonus to someone who’ll fight for you. I am Christ’s soldier, and it’s not right for me to engage in battle.” Martin was accused of being a coward because they were going into battle the following day. To that accusation he replied, “If you believe I’m acting out of fear, I’ll stand unarmed in front of the enemy lines tomorrow. Shielded only by my faith in Jesus and the sign of the cross, I’ll face them without armor.” Martin was then thrown into prison to wait for the battle, which never happened because the opposing side sought peace. Martin was soon after released from the military.

Having heard of the renowned bishop and future Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Martin traveled to Poitiers in present-day France and stayed with the bishop for some time, learning from him the orthodox faith. He was also ordained a deacon and made an exorcist by Bishop Hilary. After Bishop Hilary was forced into exile for combating Arianism in the imperial court, and after Deacon Martin had a dream about converting his pagan parents, he decided to return to his hometown. On the way, he was attacked by robbers, but upon being asked who he was, he told one of the robbers that he was a Christian. Deacon Martin then shared the Gospel with the man, who repented, let Martin go, and later converted. When Deacon Martin arrived home, he converted his mother to the Christian faith but could not move his father. Others in his hometown also converted.

After encountering the wrath of some Arian priests whom he opposed, and even the Arian Archbishop of Milan, Deacon Martin and a priest spent time living as hermits on the Island of Gallinara. There they lived on herbs and wild roots. One day Martin ate a poisonous root by mistake, but through fervent prayer, God healed him.

Upon hearing that Bishop Hilary’s exile from Poitiers had ended, Deacon Martin moved to a town near the holy bishop and established a monastery. From there, he began preaching throughout the region and performing many miracles. He restored an unbaptized catechumen to life. When the catechumen returned to life, he stated that it was due to Martin’s prayers. On another occasion, Martin brought a slave back to life who had hung himself.

In 371, Martin was chosen by the consent of the people as the Bishop of Tours. Though he initially opposed it and tried to hide, he was tricked and led to the cathedral where his ordination awaited. Once ordained the Bishop of Tours, Bishop Martin moved outside the city and established hermitages with other clerics where he led a life of prayer. For the next twenty-six years, he lived both an eremitical life and also engaged in an active ministry. He traveled throughout Gaul (France), preaching, converting many, performing miracles, and casting out demons. He opposed heresies, worked with other orthodox bishops—such as the future Saint Ambrose of Milan—destroyed pagan temples, and gained the respect of all. His opponents feared him, and his supporters praised God every time they witnessed his ministry in action.

Though Saint Martin of Tours lived a life of heroic virtue and deep prayer, his life and veneration reveal the importance of sharing the stories of the saints with others. After his death, his life has continued to inspire many. As we honor Saint Martin, ponder any ways that God might want to use you as He used Sulpicius Severus, Saint Martin’s biographer. Though you might not be called to write a book about a saint you know, consider ways in which you can share the Gospel by learning more about the saints and sharing their stories with others.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/saint-martin-tours/

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Saint Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor

Daily Saints

c. 400–461; Pre-Congregation canonization; Declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XIV in 1754

When Cardinal Ratzinger was elected pope, taking the name Benedict XVI, the first words he spoke from the balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica referred to his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, whom he referred to as “the great pope.” Since then, many have referred to him as “John Paul the Great.” Prior to that, only three popes came to be universally called “the Great”—Saint Gregory the Great (590–604), Saint Nicholas the Great (858–867), and the pope we honor today, Saint Leo the Great (440–461), who was the first pope to receive that title.

Leo was born in Tuscany, within the Western Roman Empire, at a time when the empire was experiencing decline due to ongoing threats of barbarian invasions, internal administrative disputes, and a difficult economic situation. Leo considered himself a Roman, since he spent his early years in the city. While still young, he was ordained a deacon in Rome under Pope Celestine and served him and his successor, Pope Sixtus III, in this capacity from 430–439. Deacons in Rome served the Church in important ways—as organizers of charitable works, liturgical services, and diplomatic missions; as administrators; and often as papal advisors. Deacon Leo quickly became highly respected in Rome as a man of unmatched theological learning and pastoral wisdom, prudence, and courage.

In 439, a dispute broke out in the northern part of the Roman Empire between a Roman prefect named Albinus and a prominent Roman general named Aetius. Seeing the need for a resolution so as to avoid internal conflict and even war, the Western Roman emperor asked the pope to send Deacon Leo to broker peace. While on the diplomatic mission, Pope Sixtus III died and the Roman clergy quickly chose Deacon Leo as the new pontiff. Word was sent to him, and he returned to Rome, was ordained a bishop on September 29, 440, and took charge of the keys of Saint Peter.

As the newly elected pope, Pope Leo wasted no time. At the heart of his mission was unity in the true faith, under the Vicar of Christ. At that time, papal primacy was not as clear as it is today. Not all supported the idea that the pope was the universal pastor and teacher of the faith, holding universal authority.

One way Pope Leo taught about papal primacy was by exercising it. When he became aware of heresies, he exercised discipline. He discovered that some clerics in Aquileia were holding on to the heresy of Pelagianism and instructed the bishop that they could not be admitted to communion unless they fully and publicly renounced their error. In Rome, when he discovered a sect of Manichæism, he sought the members out, engaged them in public debate, burned their books with the support of the civil authorities, and did all he could to purge them from the Church. When he learned that the heresy of Priscillianism was growing in Spain, he wrote at length to the Spanish bishops, pointing out the heresy, and advising them on ways to root it out. In all of this, Pope Leo began to emerge as “the” pope, not just one spiritual father among many others. He saw himself as the Vicar of Christ and acted as the Vicar of Christ, helping to further solidify this teaching of papal primacy.

During the first few centuries of the Church, various problems and heresies emerged and were dealt with by local bishops, councils, and synods. In the fourth and fifth centuries, once Christianity was legalized and supported in the Roman Empire, four ecumenical (universal) councils took place that addressed the entire Church and clarified the universal teaching on various Christological beliefs, while also condemning heretical views. Nicea was the first of the ecumenical councils and took place in 325. The other councils were Constantinople (381), Ephesus (431), and Chalcedon (451). At each of these councils, the pope played a role, consenting with the decisions either in person or through papal legate. Such was the case with Pope Leo at the Council of Chalcedon.

The Council of Chalcedon was called by the Roman emperor in response to the Monophysite heresy, which taught that Christ had only a single nature that was either divine or a fusion of divine and human. Pope Leo exercised his authority over the Church by refusing to permit the council to move forward unless his papal legates presided over it. The emperor agreed. Of this council, Pope Benedict XVI said, “This Council, held in 451 and in which 350 Bishops took part, was the most important assembly ever to have been celebrated in the history of the Church.” He went on to explain that Chalcedon was the culmination and fulfillment of the previous three ecumenical councils, providing the Church with a definitive understanding of the nature of Christ, the Trinity, and the Mother of God.

Pope Leo sent a lengthy letter with his legates to the Council of Chalcedon, which was originally sent to the Archbishop of Constantinople, in which he articulated that Christ had two distinct natures coexisting in one person, not just one nature. His famous letter, referred to as the “Tome of Leo,” stated in part:

Without detriment, therefore, to the properties of either of the two natures and substances which are joined in the one person, majesty took on humility; strength, weakness; eternity, mortality; and, in order to pay off the debt which attached to our condition, inviolable nature was united with passible nature, so that, as suited the cure of our ills, one and the same Mediator between God and men, the Man Jesus Christ, could die with the one nature and not die with the other. Thus true God was born in the whole and perfect nature of true man; complete in what was His own, complete in what was ours.

Once the letter was read to all the gathered bishops, they jointly cried, “Peter has spoken through Leo!” A decree was then formulated, based on Pope Leo’s letter, that taught the orthodox position and declared the Monophysite position to be a heresy.

In 451, barbarians from the north arrived in northern Italy with the intention of conquering the Western Roman Empire. Before the invaders advanced to Rome, Pope Leo went out to meet them to broker peace. When he met up with their leader, Attila the Hun, legend has it that Saints Peter and Paul appeared behind the pope with swords and in a threatening position. The sight was so overwhelming to Attila that he and his army withdrew in fear for their lives.

Pope Leo’s final years in Rome were spent preaching and teaching. He left behind about 100 sermons and 150 letters, all of which present many clear teachings on Christ and the Church in a pastoral and convincing way. These letters and sermons have had a profound influence on later Catholic thought. Pope Leo also fostered personal devotions, fasting, and almsgiving. He enlivened the liturgy, helped the sick, built churches, and preached the Gospel to his people.

As we honor Saint Leo the Great, reflect upon the fact that this one man had an enormous impact on the life of the Church. Though he is widely unknown today, his impact is still felt by the faithful, given the direction in which he steered the Church during his papacy, and because of the influence his writings had on the ongoing formulation of Christian doctrine. Offer a prayer of gratitude to God for his life, and pray for the pope today and every pope to follow, that they will turn to Saint Leo the Great as an example for their own papal ministry.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/november-10–st-leo-the-great/

Saint Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor Read More »

Saint Margaret of Scotland

c. 1045–1093; Patron Saint of learning, parents of large families, parents who have lost a child, queens, and widows; Canonized by Pope Innocent IV in 1251

Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious

Saint Gertrude the Great, Virgin

1256–1302; Patron Saint of nuns; Invoked for poor souls in Purgatory; Equivalent canonization in 1606; Added to the Universal Roman Calendar by Pope Clement XII in 1677

Saint Albert the Great, Bishop and Doctor

c. 1200–1280; Patron Saint of scientists, medical technicians, natural sciences, philosophers, schoolchildren, and theology students; Canonized by Pope Pius XI on December 16, 1931; Declared a Doctor of the Church (Universal Doctor) during his canonization

Saint Lawrence O’Toole

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin

1850–1917; Patron Saint of immigrants, emigrants, hospital administrators, and orphans; Invoked against malaria; Canonized by Pope Pius XII on July 7, 1946

Saint Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr

1580–1623; Patron Saint of Ukraine; Invoked for the reunification of Eastern and Western Christians; Canonized by Pope Pius IX on June 29, 1867

Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop

316 or 336–397; Patron Saint of beggars, cavalry, equestrians, geese, horses, innkeepers, Pontifical Swiss Guards, quartermasters, reformed alcoholics, soldiers, tailors, and winemakers; Invoked against alcoholism and poverty; Pre-Congregation canonization

Saint Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor

c. 400–461; Pre-Congregation canonization; Declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XIV in 1754

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