Daily Saints

Saint Hedwig, Religious

1174–1243; Patron Saint of brides, widows, duchesses, those whose children have died, and difficult marriages; Invoked against jealousy; Canonized by Pope Clement IV on March 26, 1267

Hedwig of Andechs, later known as Hedwig of Silesia, was born at Andechs Castle in the Duchy of Bavaria within the Holy Roman Empire, in what is modern-day Germany. She was the daughter of Berthold IV, Count of Andechs and later Duke of Merania and Margrave of Istria and Carniola, and his wife, Agnes. Hedwig had at least six siblings who led influential lives: Ekbert became the Bishop of Bamberg; Berthold became the Archbishop of Kalocsa and Patriarch of Aquileia; Otto I became Duke of Merania and Margrave of Istria and Carniola; Agnes became Queen of France; Matilda became the abbess of the Benedictine Abbey of Kitzingen; and Gertrude became Queen of Hungary. Gertrude’s daughter and Hedwig’s niece was Saint Elizabeth of Hungary.

Raised by noble and faith-filled parents, Hedwig received a cultured and pious upbringing, along with an excellent education. Her early education might have taken place at the Benedictine Abbey of Kitzingen, where her sister would later become abbess. The Catholic faith was central to her family’s life, making her devout from a young age. Around the age of twelve, Hedwig married Henry I the Bearded, Duke of Silesia, thereby becoming the Duchess of Silesia. Their marriage was a political arrangement to form an alliance between two powerful ruling families. Silesia, in modern-day Poland, was almost 500 miles from Hedwig’s hometown of Andechs, which is in modern-day Germany.

Duke Henry and Duchess Hedwig were both deeply faithful. They had at least seven children together, four of whom survived to adulthood. Understanding well that the Church and state needed to be united, they used their authority and wealth primarily for advancing the Gospel, particularly through charitable works. They not only governed their lands effectively but also built hospitals and monasteries, lived out their Catholic faith, cared for the poor, led a life of daily prayer, and centered their primary mission around sharing the love of Christ with everyone.

After their seventh child was born, Henry and Hedwig took mutual vows of chastity in the presence of the local bishop to more fully devote themselves to the service of the Church. Hedwig moved close to a convent they had founded in Trebnitz, in present-day Wrocław, Poland. Hedwig’s faith and charity continued to blossom. She engaged in severe penances, cared for the poor, visited prisoners, and even washed the feet of lepers on Holy Thursday. She attended Mass daily and took joy in supplying bread and wine for the Eucharist. One of her greatest joys was caring for monasteries, including supplying them with food and clothing.

In 1238, when Hedwig was sixty-four, her husband Henry died. Her son, Henry II the Pious, succeeded his father as Duke of Silesia. Hedwig chose to spend her later years in greater solitude at the monastery in Trebnitz where her daughter was abbess. She did not take formal vows but lived as a lay sister, giving her the freedom to continue her abundant charitable works.

Hedwig died five years after her husband and was buried next to him in the Cistercian monastery of Trzebnica. She was canonized twenty-four years after her death. During the canonization ceremony, it is said that Pope Clement IV called upon her intercession for the cure of a blind girl, and the cure was immediate.

As we honor this holy woman, we are reminded that earthly wealth and power do not have to be obstacles to a deep love of God. Saint Hedwig shows us that our greatest temptations can also be the things that draw us closer to God if used rightly. As Jesus said, “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 Hedwig is among those who were both rich and powerful, yet entered through that eye of the needle and achieved great holiness. Ponder your own temptations in life. You might not have power or wealth to tempt you, but whatever it is, God can use every good thing and every cross we carry as a means of greater holiness. Allow Saint Hedwig to inspire you by her example.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/october-17–st-hedwige/

Saint Hedwig, Religious Read More »

Saint John Henry Newman

Daily Saints

1801–1890; Patron Saint of Newman Centers; Canonized by Pope Francis on October 13, 2019

John Henry Newman, born in London, England, was the eldest of three sons and had three sisters. His father was a banker, and his mother’s family were engravers and papermakers. His early education was given by his Anglican mother who was descended from French Calvinist Huguenots. As a child, he became well versed in the Bible, although his religious convictions were not definitive. At the age of seven, he was sent to Great Ealing School, a boarding school considered to be the best private school in England at that time. John was a serious student who loved to read, devouring everything from Arabian tales to philosophical and theological works. He especially loved stories that sparked his imagination.

When John Henry was fifteen, during his final year at Ealing, he went through a profound conversion. Of that conversion, he later wrote, “I fell under the influences of a definite creed, and received into my intellect impressions of dogma, which, through God’s mercy, have never been effaced or obscured” (Apologia #3). His conversion came through reading Evangelical books in which he came to a personal conviction about eternal glory. That year he continued to read and was introduced to Saint Augustine and other Church Fathers, though most of his reading was in Evangelical theology. His reading even led him to conclude that the “Pope was the Antichrist predicted by Daniel, St. Paul, and St. John.” Finally, he sensed that his life mission would require him to remain celibate, perhaps so he could be a missionary or for some other reason.

After his personal conversion, John Henry continued his studies at Trinity College, Oxford. Because he struggled, he graduated without distinctions. Desiring to continue with his intellectual pursuits, he began working as a private tutor and preparing for a fellowship at Oriel College, Oxford, which he received in 1822 at the age of twenty-one. In 1824, he was ordained an Anglican deacon and became a priest in 1825. After his Anglican ordination, he became curate of Saint Clement’s Church, Oxford. As curate, he assisted the parish priest with various pastoral duties, which gave him time to reflect upon his theological concepts within the context of real life with real people. His time as a curate won him much respect, and in 1828, he was appointed Vicar of the University Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, Oxford. He remained in this position until 1843.

In the early 1830s, some leaders within the Church of England were growing increasingly concerned about what appeared to be a laxity of faith among the Anglican community, as well as state interference in the Anglican Church. On July 14, 1833, an Anglican priest named John Keble preached a sermon at the University of Oxford that caught the interest of a number of Anglican leaders, including John Henry Newman. This sermon sparked what became known as the Oxford Movement. Over the next several years, John Henry and others began to write and publish “Tracts for the Times.” These tracts were a series of pamphlets that defended Anglican apostolic succession and argued for a return to the liturgical traditions with a renewed interest in the Church Fathers. Little by little, however, his writings appeared to sound more like Catholic teaching than Anglican. Though this caused controversy, John Henry continued to develop his doctrinal convictions.

It was Newman’s study and articulation of the teachings of the Church Fathers that had the biggest impact upon him. In 1842, he retired from his positions at Oxford and retreated to Littlemore, where he spent the next few years living a quasi-monastic life of prayer, study, and writing. After a thorough study of the Church Fathers and the development of the doctrines he deeply believed in, he was convinced that the Roman Catholic Church was the Church instituted by Christ. Despite the shock and disapproval of those close to him, on October 9, 1845, he was received into the Catholic Church in a small ceremony at Littlemore by Blessed Dominic Barberi. He then traveled to Rome for further studies, was ordained a Catholic priest in 1847, and returned to Birmingham, England, to form the Birmingham Oratory of St. Philip Neri in 1848.

In the years that followed, Father Newman helped found the Catholic University of Ireland and published the Apologia Pro Vita Sua, a theological defense of his personal conversion. He also published several other works, including The Idea of a University, in which he especially articulates the purpose of a university. He argued that a university was not just to teach useful knowledge but to cultivate the mind in its pursuit of knowledge, ultimately arriving at “a great and firm belief in the sovereignty of Truth.” It is for this reason that Catholic chaplaincies at colleges are called Newman Centers.

Before his death, Father Newman received two important honors. In 1877, he was given an honorary fellowship at Trinity College as a way of reconciling him with Oxford and his former colleagues. An even greater honor came in 1879 when Pope Leo XIII made him a cardinal, despite the fact that he was not a bishop.

Saint John Henry Newman could have lived a comfortable life as an Anglican priest and scholar. However, he chose to follow the convictions of faith that God planted in his mind and heart.

As we honor Saint John Henry Newman, ponder his process of personal discovery and conversion. We all need ongoing conversion and transformation. Allow Saint John Henry Newman’s courage to inspire you to always seek out the fullness of the truth and go wherever it leads you.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/saint-john-henry-newman/

Saint John Henry Newman Read More »

Saint John XXIII, Pope

Daily Saints

1881–1963; Patron Saint of papal delegates; Canonized by Pope Francis on April 27, 2014

Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was born in Sotto il Monte, a small village in the province of Bergamo, Italy. He came from a materially poor but spiritually rich family of tenant farmers who worked in vineyards and cornfields and who tended cattle. He was the fourth of thirteen children. As a child, he received an excellent education from his parish priest. He was confirmed at the age of eight and received his First Holy Communion a month and a half later. At the age of eleven, he began his eight years at a high school seminary in Bergamo. During this time, he also became a member of the Secular Franciscans. When he was fourteen, he began keeping a journal that he kept throughout his life and which was published after his death. One journal entry at the age of eighteen reflected, “And you, O God…opened my eyes to this light which sheds its radiance around me, you created me. So you are my Master and I am your creature. I am nothing without you, and through you I am all that I am. I can do nothing without you; indeed, if at every moment you did not support me I should slip back whence I came, into nothingness.”

At the age of nineteen, given Angelo’s strong potential for higher studies and priestly ordination, he received a scholarship to study at the Apollinaris Seminary in Rome. Shortly after Angelo arrived in Rome, his brother was drafted into military service. Because his brother was needed at home, Angelo volunteered to take his place and served for one year. After returning to Rome, he completed his studies for the priesthood, earning a doctorate in theology. He was ordained a priest on August 10, 1904, and completed studies in canon law the following year.

In 1905, Father Roncalli was appointed as the secretary to the Bishop of Bergamo and assigned to teach history and patrology in the Bergamo seminary. He served in these roles for the next ten years, assisting the bishop in numerous ways. He participated in a diocesan synod, helped edit the diocesan journal, La Vita Diocesana, assisted with pilgrimages, and engaged in various social works, about which his bishop was passionate. In 1910, he received the additional assignment of the pastoral care of the Catholic Action movement that sought to involve the laity in timely social needs within the Church and wider community. After ten years as a priest, he wrote in his journal, “My dominant thought, in my joy of having accomplished ten years as a priest, is this: I do not belong to myself, or to others; I belong to my Lord, for life and death. The dignity of the priesthood, the ten years full of graces which he has heaped upon me, such a poor, humble creature—all this convinces me that I must crush the self and devote all my energies to nothing else but work for the Kingdom of Jesus in the minds and hearts of men.”

In 1915, the year after the start of World War I, Father Roncalli was drafted into the Italian army, first as a medic, then as a chaplain for soldiers. Upon completing his service in 1918, he returned to Bergamo where he opened a hostel for students, taught in the seminary, and became a chaplain and spiritual director.

In 1921, Father Roncalli’s life moved from service of his local church to the universal church. Pope Benedict XV called him to Rome and appointed him as the President for Italy of the central council of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. In that role, he made many pastoral visits to the Italian dioceses, where he helped to organize missionary activity. In 1925, he was named a bishop by Pope Pius XI and assigned as the Apostolic Visitor to Bulgaria. He chose as his episcopal motto, Oboedientia et Pax (Obedience and Peace), which summarized his ministry for the rest of his life.

After nine years of service in Bulgaria, Bishop Roncalli was appointed as Apostolic Delegate in Turkey and Greece, where he not only cared for the Catholics but also entered into ongoing dialogue with Muslims and Eastern Orthodox. During World War II, he became especially concerned for the welfare of Jews and, according to some estimates, personally assisted several thousand Jews in escaping the Holocaust by providing them with forged baptismal certificates and visas in order to help get them to Palestine. Years later, his actions were honored by the State of Israel when, in 2011, he was posthumously awarded the honor “Righteous Among the Nations.”

In 1944, several months after France was liberated from Nazi Germany, Bishop Roncalli was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to France by Pope Pius XII, where he assisted with the liberated prisoners of war and helped France rebuild after four years of occupation. His love of priestly ministry shone forth during this time as he worked to inspire the faithful and help them renew their faith after an excruciating period of national suffering. He remained in France for nine years, was named a cardinal in 1953, and subsequently made Patriarch of Venice, a traditionally prestigious position in the Church. At the age of seventy-one, Cardinal Roncalli threw himself into the pastoral ministry in Venice, where he planned to spend the rest of his life.

When Pope Pius XII died in 1958, Cardinal Roncalli was among the cardinal-electors. To his surprise and that of many, the seventy-seven-year-old Cardinal Roncalli was elected pope and took the name of his father, Giovanni, making him Pope Giovanni (John) XXIII. He soon became known as the “good pope” because of his humble, kind, and active papacy. His pastoral heart led him to visit the sick and imprisoned, his diplomatic background enabled him to see the world as his family, and his courage led him to make profound changes within the Church and world.

During the four and a half years he served as pope, John XXIII issued eight encyclicals. Among them, two stand out. Mater et magistra (Mother and Teacher) addressed the Church’s role in social progress amidst a time of rapid technological change and increasing social and economic inequality. Pacem in terris (Peace on Earth) dealt with human dignity, rights, and responsibilities of all peoples and nations to seek peace and harmony. He also convened the first Synod of the Diocese of Rome and began a revision of the Code of Canon Law.

The greatest surprise during his papacy came just three months after he was elected when, on January 25, 1959, while making a pastoral visit to the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, he announced the twenty-third Ecumenical Council, which came to be known as Vatican II. In 1962, he wrote in his journal, “After three years of preparation, certainly laborious but also joyful and serene, we are now on the slopes of the sacred mountain. May the Lord give us strength to bring everything to a successful conclusion!” Though Pope John XXIII died before the conclusion of the Council, his courageous and pastoral heart is to be credited for the inspiration and instigation of the process that changed the Church in ways never seen before. Though some have criticized some aspects of the aftermath of Vatican II, this pastoral council, initiated by a pastoral pope, has transformed the Church in profound ways. Pope John XXIII was canonized in 2014 by Pope Francis, on the same day that Pope John Paul II was canonized. Many have suggested that their shared canonization prophetically illustrates that Saint John XXIII initiated the Council and Saint John Paul II definitively implemented it.

As we honor this holy pastor of the universal Church, ponder the amazing fact that God could use a poor, humble, and simple man in such a profound way. As a divine institution, God always has and always will guide the Church through the Vicar of Christ. Sinful and weak though even popes are, God’s grace suffices where human weakness is present. Pray for the pope today, and know that he is God’s gift to the Church in our day and age.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/october-11—st-john-xxiii-pope/

Saint John XXIII, Pope Read More »

Saint John Leonardi, Priest

Daily Saints

1541–1609; Patron Saint of pharmacists; Canonized by Pope Pius XI on April 17, 1938

The early sixteenth century saw the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, which resulted in religious and political chaos in northern Europe. Following the revolt of Martin Luther and others, the Catholic Church took a good look at itself and began a thorough process of internal reform. The foundation for this reform was laid by the Council of Trent during the years 1545–1563. Additionally, the Holy Spirit sparked a spiritual renewal of piety and personal devotion among the faithful, as well as the formation of several new religious orders, such as the Jesuits, Oratorians, Ursulines, Theatines, Barnabites, Somaschi Fathers, and the Discalced Carmelites. Among the newly formed religious orders was the Clerks Regular of the Mother of God, founded by today’s saint, Saint John Leonardi.

Giovanni (John) Leonardi was born into a middle-class family in the small town of Diecimo, Republic of Lucca, modern-day Italy. When John was four, the Council of Trent held its first session, and when he turned twenty-two, it held its last. Around the age of seventeen, John began studying to become a pharmacist, a well-respected occupation at that time. After ten years of study, he became certified and worked as a pharmacist’s assistant for the next few years. However, the work of providing medicine for the body soon deepened a desire he had held for years—the mission of providing spiritual medicine for the soul as a priest. After a few years of theological preparation, John was ordained a priest in 1572 at the age of thirty-one.

At the heart of Father Leonardi’s personal convictions was a desire to enter into a personal relationship with Christ. He not only lived this conviction, he also promoted it within his priestly ministry. After he was ordained, he served in his local parish in Lucca where he worked with youth and visited the sick and imprisoned. His devotion to Christ and desire for personal and ecclesiastical reform drew a group of young men whom he spiritually directed and formed in the faith. By 1574, the community of young men led to the formation of a group that would later evolve into a new diocesan congregation called the Clerks Regular of the Mother of God of Lucca. They rented the church of Santa Maria della Rosa, where a community life took shape.

Because the Council of Trent had recently concluded, mandating various reforms, a newly inspired religious order might seem like a good way to help implement those reforms. Indeed, it was! However, Father Leonardi and his companions soon discovered that not everyone in Lucca was ready for reform, and some saw the formation of this new congregation as a threat. Therefore, other religious and even civil authorities began to oppose it. Opposition became so fierce that Father John spent much of the rest of his life in exile from Lucca, by mandate of the local government. Change and internal Church reform are difficult. Father John pressed on, however, and eventually gained wider support, including support from the local bishop and the pope.

In 1583, the new congregation was canonically established by the Bishop of Lucca with the approval of Pope Gregory XIII. They were not yet a formal religious order, so they only took simple vows. They were, however, encouraged in their mission and worked to implement the reforms of the Council of Trent, including forming the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine within Lucca, just as many other saintly reformers had been doing in other dioceses.

Over the next two and a half decades, bishops, cardinals, and popes called upon Father Leonardi to assist with the reform of the Church, including other religious orders. Most of his later years were spent in Rome, due to ongoing opposition in Lucca. In Rome, he worked with the future Saint Philip Neri, founded a seminary for the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, and promoted Forty Hours Devotion and frequent Communion. In 1606, a serious plague ravaged Rome, and Father John contracted it while ministering to the sick. He remained sickly for the next few years, dying in 1609. In 1621, Pope Gregory XV elevated the Clerks Regular of the Mother of God of Lucca to the status of a religious order, enabling them to take formal vows. The congregation continues its good work today.

Saint John Leonardi was inspired by the Holy Spirit to assist in the reform of the Church and to foster a deeply personal relationship with Christ, especially through adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, frequent Communion, and good catechesis. It often happens that the work the Holy Spirit inspires in one person is then opposed by those who do not listen to the promptings of that same Spirit. The life of Saint John Leonardi displays a prime example of this conflict. His perseverance throughout lends more credence to his holiness and divine mission.

As we honor this religious founder and confessor, ponder the fact that God’s will is not always embraced by the world with open arms. Therefore, when we act as instruments of God’s will and Truth, others will not always embrace us. This opposition can, at times, lead to discouragement. As you ponder Saint John’s life today, allow his fidelity and perseverance in the face of persecution to inspire you to press on with the mission God has given to you. Reject discouragement, pray for courage, and seek to implement God’s will in your life.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/october-9—saint-john-leonardi/

Saint John Leonardi, Priest Read More »

Saint Denis, Bishop and Companions, Martyrs

Daily Saints

Third Century; Patron Saint of France, Paris, and possessed people; Invoked against frenzy, headaches, hydrophobia, rabies, and strife; Pre-Congregation canonization

Saint Denis, whose Latin name is Dionysius, was most likely a Roman citizen who was born within the Roman Empire, possibly modern-day Italy. Nothing certain is known about his early life, and the mixture of fact and legend about his later life and martyrdom comes from at least the sixth century. He is believed to have been martyred sometime in the middle- to late-third century. Most sources suggest that he was martyred during the reign of Emperor Decius, who ruled from 249 to 251 and initiated a widespread persecution of Christians. Others suggest that his martyrdom might have been during the reign of Valerian, who ruled from 253 to 260 and also persecuted Christians. Still others suggest a later date.

Pope Fabian served as pope from 236–250. As a layman and a farmer, he was an unlikely candidate for the papacy. However, he had traveled to Rome to attend the election of the new pope in 236, and, during the debate, a dove miraculously landed upon him. Everyone present believed this to be a divine sign, and he was immediately chosen by popular consent to be the new Vicar of Christ.

During his pontificate, Pope Fabian was deeply committed to evangelization. The sixth-century historian, Gregory of Tours, writes that Pope Fabian sent out seven bishops to evangelize seven cities in modern-day France: Tours, Arles, Narbonne, Toulouse, Paris, Clermont, and Limoges. Bishop Denis was sent to Lutetia (modern-day Paris) and made bishop of that territory. He brought with him two companions: a priest named Rusticus and a deacon named Eleutherius. Upon arrival, they took up residence in the heart of Lutetia on an island in the Seine River.

On that island, Bishop Denis and his companions built a church and began to celebrate the Sacred Liturgy. They preached the Gospel to the inhabitants and won over many converts to the faith. Not all approved of their success. The pagan priests, or druids, became envious and began to revolt. The druids practiced a mixture of Celtic and Roman polytheistic religions that promoted the worship of various gods and goddesses in natural settings, such as forests, rivers, and hilltops. Rituals often involved offerings of food, drink, or valuable objects to appease the gods and to seek favors. As a result of the druids’ envy, they stirred up the people who feared that if they did not put an end to this new religion, their gods and goddesses would be angered.

The uproar led to the arrest and imprisonment of Bishop Denis, the priest Rusticus, and the deacon Eleutherius. While in prison, the men suffered many tortures in an attempt to get them to renounce their faith, but they remained strong. Finally, all three were beheaded on the highest hill in Lutetia, which would have been a druid holy place. Gregory of Tours writes it this way, “Blessed Dionysius, the bishop of the Parisians, after suffering various punishments for the name of Christ, ended his present life by the imminent sword.”

Two stories have emerged regarding the aftermath of Denis’ death. One pious legend states that after he was beheaded, he remained alive, picked up his head, and walked several miles to the cemetery in which he wanted to be buried. Along the way, as he walked carrying his head, he preached the Gospel and expressed his unwavering forgiveness of his persecutors.

Another story relates that after the three were beheaded, their bodies were thrown into the Seine River, but a pious woman named Catalla found their bodies and buried them in a nearby cemetery. A chapel was later built over their tombs. Regardless of which story is true, the spot quickly became a place of pilgrimage as Christianity spread in the fourth and fifth centuries. In 469, through the efforts of Saint Geneviève, a larger chapel was erected on the spot, and, over the centuries to come, the church was rebuilt and expanded. Today, the spot is marked by the Basilica of Saint-Denis, located in the northern suburbs of Paris. It became such an important place of pilgrimage and devotion over the centuries that kings, queens, and other royalty chose it as their burial place. For that reason, it is known as the “royal necropolis of France” because almost every French king and queen from the sixth to the nineteenth centuries is buried there, as well as other members of the royal family.

Saint Denis and his companions were early clerics, missionaries, and martyrs. Though they had a powerful effect upon the people of their time, their more profound effect came afterwards as faithful Christians were inspired by their witness and enthralled by their stories. Regardless of whether some details of their martyrdom are more legend than fact, their stories are inspirational. Though most historians deny the historicity of Saint Denis carrying his head, God is All-Powerful and could easily perform such a miracle. The greater miracle, however, is the witness they gave and the forgiveness this legend conveys.

As we honor Saint Denis and his companions, ponder the depth of your own faith and how willing you are to go, so as to embrace martyrdom rather than sin. Ponder, also, whether you are willing to forgive anyone and everyone who has sinned against you. These are the central messages of Saint Denis’ legend. Allow those messages to penetrate your own soul.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/october-9—st-denis-and-companions/

Saint Denis, Bishop and Companions, Martyrs Read More »

Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, Priest

Daily Saints

1819–1867; Invoked against cancer; Beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 9, 2000

Francis Xavier Seelos was born in the town of Füssen, in the Kingdom of Bavaria, modern-day Germany, into a family of twelve children, nine of whom survived into adulthood. His parents were deeply devout and had him baptized the same day he was born. His father later became the sacristan of the local parish church, and Francis assisted him as an altar boy. From an early age, Francis manifested a strong faith and devotion to God, often playing priest with his friends. At the age of five, he began his education in a one-room schoolhouse for boys. At the age of twelve, he completed his primary school, receiving marks of excellence for diligence, conduct, religion, reading, and handwriting. It was then that he expressed a sincere interest in becoming a priest. When the local pastor learned of this, he helped arrange for him to attend secondary school at the Institute of Saint Stephen in Augsburg, about eighty miles north of their hometown. Around the age of twenty, Francis went to the Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich where he studied philosophy and theology for three years. During this time, he became acquainted with the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists) and was admitted to that order at age twenty-two.

The Redemptorists were founded in 1732 by Saint Alphonsus Liguori for the purpose of evangelization and pastoral care. Their ministry was especially devoted to the poor and abandoned, and all who were materially or spiritually marginalized. They also preached parish missions, preaching in down-to-earth and practical ways, helping people to encounter a personal relationship with Christ their Redeemer, through catechesis, preaching, confession, and spiritual direction.

Francis especially felt drawn to minister to the spiritual needs of the German-speaking people of the United States. At that time, there were many first-generation German-speaking Catholics in the U. S. who formed close bonds among themselves, centered around German-speaking churches. These newly established communities were quite different from the well-established communities the immigrants had known in Europe. After reading about the needs of these immigrants, Francis requested and received permission to travel to the United States to complete his studies. After a month-long journey by ship, he arrived in the port of New York in 1843, completed his studies, and was ordained a priest in Baltimore on December 22, 1844, at the age of twenty-five. He celebrated his first Mass on Christmas Day.

As a newly ordained priest, Father Seelos was assigned to the Redemptorist Church of Saint Philomena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as an assistant. The pastor of that parish was none other than Father John Neumann, who was also the superior of the Redemptorists. Eight years after Father Seelos arrived, Father Neumann became the Bishop of Philadelphia, and later the first American bishop to be canonized a saint. Father Seelos’ time with Father Neumann taught him much about pastoral ministry and filled him with an active zeal for souls, helping him to become a good spiritual director and confessor.

In 1851, Father Seelos became pastor of Saint Philomena and Rector of the local Redemptorist community. A year later, he was assigned as pastor of the massive parish of Saint Alphonsus in Baltimore, Maryland, where he served for a few years before illness led to a transfer to a smaller parish. For the next nine years, Father Seelos served in a variety of parishes in Maryland and also was appointed as the Redemptorist novice master to oversee the seminarians.

Throughout the first nineteen years of ministry, Father Seelos became well known and well loved as a good pastor and compassionate confessor. While he drew his own parishioners to Christ, many people from neighboring parishes also flocked to him. His homilies were rich in biblical themes, practical, and understandable by all. He was manifestly sincere, always showed a deep concern for the poor, sick, and marginalized, and formed those same pastoral virtues in his seminarians. He was generous with his time, always more concerned with the needs of his people than his own. He was an excellent shepherd to the youth, whom he saw as the future of the Church, making their formation the highest priority.

Around the age of forty-one, the bishop of Pittsburgh recommended Father Seelos for the episcopacy. Father Seelos, however, wrote to the Holy Father and stated that it would be a “calamity” if he were to be made a bishop. The Holy Father respected his wishes and passed him over.

In 1863, two years after the start of the Civil War, the United States Congress passed the Enrollment Act, a law that required every able-bodied man between the ages of twenty and forty-five to register for military service. Being far more concerned about the spiritual welfare of the people than the demands of warfare, Father Seelos personally met with President Abraham Lincoln to request an exemption for Redemptorist seminarians, which was warmly granted.

In that same year, a fellow Redemptorist accused Father Seelos of not being firm enough with the seminarians, as was the custom in Europe. As a result, Father Seelos saw an opportunity to serve God in a new way. Between the years of 1863 to 1866, he dedicated himself to the parish missions, a central ministry of the Redemptorists. He preached at both English- and German-speaking parishes across Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.

After two years as an itinerant preacher of parish missions, and after a year as a simple priest in a parish in Detroit, Father Seelos was assigned to Saint Mary of the Assumption Church in New Orleans. As a parish priest once again, Father Seelos threw himself into his ministry. His smile, joyful and welcoming demeanor, and pastoral zeal made a powerful impact. He especially showed deep concern for the poor and marginalized, and many sought out his spiritual guidance and prayers. A year later, when yellow fever broke out in the city, Father Seelos selflessly ministered to the sick, without concern for himself. As a result, he contracted the disease and died on October 4, 1867, at the age of forty-eight.

In many ways, Father Seelos’ life was not extraordinary. He did not become a bishop, found a new order, write profound theological treatises, or die a martyr. What made him extraordinary was that he lived as an ordinary shepherd of souls with extraordinary diligence and love. He was a pastor at heart, and the people of God were profoundly affected by his priestly ministry. One hundred and thirty-three years after his death, he was beatified by Pope John Paul II during the jubilee year of 2000, leaving many in hopeful anticipation of a future canonization.

As we honor this holy priest who was extraordinary in his ministry, ponder the fact that we are all capable of living extraordinary lives within the ordinary rhythm of life. Sanctity is not about doing great things; it’s about doing our daily duty with great love, one moment at a time, loving one soul at a time. If you see your life as one that reflects the ordinary, allow Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos to inspire you to live that ordinary life with extraordinary love and virtue, touching lives in every way God inspires you to do so.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/usaoctober-5—blessed-francis-xavier-seelos-priest/

Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, Priest Read More »

Our Lady of the Rosary

Daily Saints

In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the Albigensian heresy was flourishing in southern France. The Albigensians were Christian dualists who believed the Old Testament God was the source of the material world, which was evil, and the New Testament God was the source of the spiritual realm that was good. They rejected the sacraments and promoted extreme asceticism as a way of rejecting the material world.

In 1203, Saint Dominic was traveling through southern France on a diplomatic mission when he encountered this grave heresy. In the two decades to follow, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to rooting out this heresy through preaching and debates. Legend has it that at some point, frustrated with the difficulties he was facing in that mission, he retreated for a few days of prayer and fasting to beseech Our Lady for guidance. Our Lady appeared to him, giving him the Rosary, revealing the mysteries to be meditated upon during the fifteen decades, and exhorting him to preach the mysteries and to pray the decades as a spiritual weapon. The word “Rosary” comes from the Latin rosarium, which means “rose garden.” Each Hail Mary is a spiritual rose; together, they make up the garden of roses. Saint Dominic did as Our Lady instructed him and became quite successful in converting the heretics.

Today’s feast of Our Lady of the Rosary has its roots in a feast named Our Lady of Victory. In the late sixteenth century, the Muslims of the Ottoman Empire were expanding into southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean region. In 1571, Pope Pius V, who was a Dominican, formed an alliance between the Papal States, Spain, Venice, and several other smaller Christian states, called the Holy League, in order to stop Ottoman aggression. On October 7 of that year, the Holy League confronted the Ottoman navy in the Mediterranean, and the pope called upon all of Europe to pray the Rosary for victory. Victory was achieved. In gratitude, Pope Pius V instituted the Feast of Our Lady of Victory to be celebrated on the first Sunday of October every year. Two years later, Pope Gregory XIII changed the name to the Feast of the Holy Rosary. In 1671, the feast was extended to all of Spain, and in 1716, after another important victory against the Muslims, the feast was extended to the entire Church. In 1913, Pius X changed the date from the first Sunday in October to October 7 to preserve the Sunday celebration. Today, this feast is celebrated under the title of Our Lady of the Rosary as a mandatory memorial on the Roman Calendar.

Though war is always gravely unfortunate and should be avoided if at all possible, defense of one’s family and nation is a moral duty when an unjust aggressor attacks. In this case, prayer is the greatest weapon of war, and after the Mass, the Rosary is the greatest prayer to be prayed.

In addition to physical war to protect one’s nation, the Rosary is among the greatest spiritual weapons to fight against every form of evil. Often, even during times of national peace, spiritual chaos ensues. Today, due to instant worldwide communication technologies, we are well aware of the many spiritual evils that plague societies and peoples everywhere: wars, corruption, immoral living, flamboyant sins of the flesh, murders, thefts, crimes of hate, moral decay, poverty, and so much more. Rather than just criticizing and condemning such evils, praying the Rosary for those intentions is the best way to combat them.

As we celebrate this feast in honor of the holy Rosary and Our Lady, seek to renew your trust in her intercession, using this powerful spiritual weapon. Every crime, abuse, cruelty, hatred, and evil of any kind is first and foremost a spiritual defect. It is a sin. The greatest remedy for sin is repentance. The greatest method of winning over sinful hearts to repentance is through prayer, and one of the greatest forms of prayer is the Rosary. The Church, in its popes, bishops, and saints, has held up the Rosary throughout the centuries. Countless saints prayed its beads every day, offering a spiritual bouquet to Our Lady so she could, in turn, lavish the spiritual roses of that bouquet upon the world.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/october-7—our-lady-of-the-rosary/

Our Lady of the Rosary Read More »

Saint Bruno, Priest

Daily Saints

1030–1101; Patron Saint of possessed people; Equivalent canonization by Pope Leo X in 1514

Saint Bruno is believed to have been born into the wealthy and influential Hardebüst family in the city of Cologne, in modern-day Germany. His family’s status would have ensured him a good education and a successful career. As a teenager, he was sent to the prestigious Cathedral School of Rheims, in the Kingdom of France, about 200 miles from his hometown. After completing his studies, he returned to Cologne where he was made a canon at Saint Cunibert Church. It is most likely at that time that he was ordained a priest. In 1056, when Canon Bruno was about twenty-six years old, he was called back to Rheims by the bishop, given a canonry at the Cathedral, taught at the School of Rheims, and was later made rector of the school. These distinctions speak to his character, holiness, and intelligence. Canon Bruno spent the next twenty-plus years in this capacity, after which time he was made chancellor of the Archdiocese of Rheims.

While he was chancellor, a corrupt and worldly man named Manassès of Gournay was made Archbishop of Rheims. The honest canons firmly opposed the archbishop’s ways, and Canon Bruno led the way. The archbishop was deposed by a local council, but he appealed to the pope and became violent toward his opposition. Around this time, Bruno left Rheims, probably for Rome, until the matter was resolved. Finally in 1080, the pope deposed the archbishop, and there was a cry from the clergy and laity to appoint Bruno as the next archbishop. Bruno, however, had other plans. He resigned from his prestigious positions in Rheims and set out to answer God’s call to a new life.

Bruno is believed to have first traveled about 100 miles south to Molesme where he met with a monk and future founder of the Cistercian order, Saint Robert. After a short stay, he decided to travel farther south with six companions to found a new order under the authority of Bishop Hugh of Châteauneuf, Bishop of Grenoble. Bishop Hugh welcomed Bruno and his companions and told them about a dream he had in which he saw God build a house in the desert for His glory with seven stars showing the way. The bishop believed the seven men were the stars in his dream, so he enthusiastically supported their new mission. With the bishop’s support, Bruno and his companions traveled into the mountain country called Chartreuse, where they built hermitages and embraced a radical life of prayer, study, and manual labor. Peter the Venerable, an abbot of Cluny, later described their early life this way: “There, they continue to dwell in silence, reading, praying, and also undertaking manual work, especially in the copying of books. Within their cells, at the signal given by the church bell, they perform part of the canonical prayer. For Vespers and Matins, they all gather in church. On certain days of celebration they depart from this pace of life…They then have two meals, they sing in church all the regular hours and all, without exception, take their meal in the refectory.”

Bruno enjoyed about six years of solitude in Chartreuse when, in 1090, he was called to Rome by the pope. Pope Urban II, who was elected pope in 1088, found himself in serious conflict with the Holy Roman Emperor and Antipope Clement III. Pope Urban was Bruno’s former student and called on him to become a counselor to assist with the chaos. Bruno obediently went to the aid of Pope Urban, serving him quietly and personally within the Lateran Palace in Rome. Shortly after his arrival, however, the Holy Roman Emperor took Rome by force, and Bruno and Pope Urban had to flee.

Around the year 1091, Pope Urban wanted to make Bruno the Archbishop of Reggio, but Bruno once again opposed the idea, and the pope chose another. After pleading to return to his hermitage in Chartreuse, the pope agreed to allow him to found a new hermitage in Italy so he was closer and could be called upon if needed. He and some companions settled in the wilderness of Calabria where they built a hermitage named Sainte-Marie-de-la-Tour. Of this new life, Bruno wrote in a letter, “I am living in the wilderness of Calabria far removed from habitation. There are some brethren with me, some of whom are very well educated and they are keeping an assiduous watch for their Lord, so as to open to him at once when he knocks.” Bruno died in this hermitage a decade later.

Though Bruno never formally wrote a rule for his newly founded order, he did leave them a way of life. Twenty-six years after his death, statutes were written down that guided their monastic-hermitical vocation. Bruno was quickly considered a saint, but in keeping with their hidden vocation, the order never formally petitioned the pope to canonize him. Over the next five hundred years, the Carthusians grew to 198 monasteries with about 5,600 members. In 1514, during a general chapter of the order, a request was made to Pope Leo X to confirm Bruno’s merits and authorize a liturgical feast for the order. The pope approved and granted an equipollent (equivalent) canonization, which required no lengthy process, but was done solely on the pope’s authority. In 1623, that Carthusian feast was extended to the entire Church and placed on the Roman Calendar.

It is often said that the Carthusian Order is the only order that has never needed to be reformed. The hermit-monks have stayed true to their statutes from the beginning, and remain so today. They live the most radical form of religious life in the Church. They accept no visitors, exist in absolute solitude together, live contemplative lives, embrace penances, intercede for the Church and world, and seek perfect union with God.

“Our principal endeavor and our vocation is to devote ourselves to the silence and solitude of the cell. It is holy ground, the place where God and his servant frequently converse, as between friends. There, the faithful soul is often united to the Word of God, the bride with her Spouse, earth is joined to heaven and the human to the divine” (Statutes 4.1). Furthermore, they live solitude in community: “The grace of the Holy Spirit gathers solitaries together to form a communion in love, as an image of the Church, which is one, though spread throughout the world” (Statutes 21.1). They gather several times a day in their chapel for communal prayer, in addition to long periods of private prayer in their hermitages. Though the monks refrain from talking during the week, they go for a two-hour walk on Sunday during which they freely converse. Though separated from the world, their lives are dedicated to ongoing prayer for the Church and world, and they give a silent witness to the world of that which is most important: union with God.

As we honor Saint Bruno today, we also call to mind the radical life of solitude and prayer that he and so many Carthusians have lived after him. Allow their witness to call you to a life of deeper prayer and solitude. Ponder the ways that the busyness of life and the anxieties of the world need to be purged from your life. Consider spending more time alone, in prayer, detached from all that distracts you. Many hermits have discovered the infinite joy of union with God in prayer and solitude. Once this union is discovered, it sheds light on the foolishness of a worldly life and the shallowness it presents. Allow Saint Bruno to speak to you by the witness of his life so that you will be among those who discover what he discovered.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/october-6–st-bruno/

Saint Bruno, Priest Read More »

Saint Faustina Kowalska

Daily Saints

1905–1938; Patron Saint of The Divine Mercy devotion; Canonized by Pope John Paul II on April 30, 2000

Helen Kowalska was born the third of ten children in the village of Glogowiec, Poland, which was then under the control of the Russian Empire. Poland regained its independence thirteen years later, in 1918, after World War I. The Kowalskas were quite poor, but they had a rich Catholic faith and held onto their vibrant Polish culture in the face of Russian attempts to eliminate it. As a child, Helen received only three years of schooling but loved to pray, was pious, obeyed her parents, and was sensitive to human suffering. She would later write in her Diary, “From the age of seven, I experienced the definite call of God, the grace of a vocation to the religious life.” At that time, she relates that she first heard God speak to her in her soul and sensed “an invitation to a more perfect life.” When she asked her parents about becoming a nun, they repeatedly refused. At the age of fourteen, Helen left her family home and became a housemaid in the nearby city to help financially support her family. After her parents refused her permission to enter religious life again when she was eighteen, she relates “I turned myself over to the vain things of life, paying no attention to the call of grace, although my soul found no satisfaction in any of these things.” Despite her refusals of grace, Jesus was persistent.

One day, in her eighteenth year, she was at a dance with her sisters. Everyone was having fun at the dance, but Helen was experiencing “deep torments.” As she started to dance, she suddenly had a vision of Jesus at her side—bloodied, beaten, racked with pain, and stripped of His clothing. Jesus said to her, “How long shall I put up with you and how long will you keep putting Me off?” Soon after, Helen sneaked away to the Cathedral of Saint Stanislaus Kostka where she fell prostrate before the Blessed Sacrament and begged God for direction. As she prayed, she heard these words, “Go at once to Warsaw; you will enter a convent there.” She went home, told her sister to say goodbye to her parents, and took the train seventy-five miles to Warsaw with only the dress on her back.

Once Helen got off the train, she prayed to the Mother of God who directed her to a small town where she was given lodging for the night. The next day, while praying in a nearby church, she heard Jesus tell her, “Go to that priest and tell him everything; he will tell you what to do next.” The priest arranged for Helen to stay with a holy woman of the parish for the time. During her brief stay, Helen began knocking on the door of every convent she could find, but they all turned her down. Finally, she knocked on the door of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy where the mother superior sent her to the chapel to pray and ask Jesus if He accepted her. Helen then went to the chapel to pose the question to Jesus, and He responded, “I do accept; you are in My Heart.” When Mother Michael asked Helen what Jesus’ response was, Helen told her Jesus accepted her. Mother Michael then responded, “If the Lord has accepted, then I also will accept.” To test Helen’s vocation, Mother Michael sent her away for a year to make some money for her wardrobe. Mother Michael later wrote about this encounter in her diary, stating that Helen “was no one special.” After a year of working as a housemaid near Warsaw, Helen returned to the convent on August 1, 1925, and at the age of twenty was accepted into the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. Of that day, she later wrote, “I felt immensely happy; it seemed to me that I had stepped into the life of Paradise. A single prayer was bursting forth from my heart, one of thanksgiving.”

Within a few weeks, however, Helen was frustrated with the convent’s busy schedule and lack of prayer time, so she decided to leave. The night before she was going to tell Mother Michael of her decision, Jesus appeared to her in her cell, beaten and bloody. When she asked Jesus who did this to Him, He responded, “It is you who will cause Me this pain if you leave this convent. It is to this place that I called you and nowhere else; and I have prepared many graces for you.” With that, she changed her mind, went to Krakow to finish her novitiate, and on April 30, 1926, she received the habit and was given the name Sister Maria Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament.

Sister Faustina spent the next twelve years of her life in various convents of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Warsaw, Vilnius, Płock, and Kraków. It was in Kraków where she died on October 5, 1938, at the age of 33. Throughout her time as a religious sister, Sister Faustina worked primarily as a cook, gardener, and doorkeeper. Her daily duties were intertwined with incredible mystical experiences, in which Jesus regularly appeared to her to deliver to her His message of The Divine Mercy. Under obedience to her superiors, beginning in 1934, she diligently wrote down these visions and private revelations in six notebooks. These private revelations are now contained in a single book called The Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul. The book and the devotions contained within it are among the most prominent devotions within the Church today.

In her diary, Saint Faustina articulates several ways that Jesus wants devotion to His Mercy to spread. The first way is by meditating upon the image of Divine Mercy. This image is of Jesus, with two rays of light shining from His Heart, one blue and one red, signifying the Sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist. Jesus ordered that this image be painted and honored throughout the world, with the inscription “Jesus, I Trust in You” on the bottom. The second way is by instituting the Solemnity of Divine Mercy on the eighth day of Easter. Pope John Paul II added this solemnity to the universal calendar of the Church in the year 2000, when he canonized Saint Faustina. The third way is by praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, which Jesus Himself taught to Saint Faustina. The goal of this chaplet is to obtain mercy, trust in Christ’s mercy, and show mercy to others. The fourth way is by honoring the three o’clock hour every day, the hour in which our Lord died and poured forth His Mercy. Finally, Jesus wanted to raise up many apostles of Mercy, who both live mercifully toward others and help spread devotion to His Mercy.

Within two decades after Sister Faustina’s death, the messages of Divine Mercy spread far and wide. Her spiritual director, Father Michael Sopoćko, played a significant role in the initial spread. New religious congregations were founded to spread devotion to Divine Mercy, the image and prayers in the diary extended to other continents, and her diary became exceptionally popular across Poland. Today, the official biography of Saint Faustina, released by the Vatican at the time of her canonization, states, “The years she had spent at the convent were filled with extraordinary gifts, such as: revelations, visions, hidden stigmata, participation in the Passion of the Lord, the gift of bilocation, the reading of human souls, the gift of prophecy, or the rare gift of mystical engagement and marriage.” However, the Vatican actually banned her diary and every devotion attached to it in 1959, stating it had “serious theological reservations” because the diary had “an excessive focus on Faustina herself.” In 1965, then-Cardinal Karol Wojtyła received permission from the Vatican to open an initial informative process into Kowalska’s life and virtues, and submitted his positive findings two years later. However, it wasn’t until 1978, the year that Cardinal Wojtyła was elected Pope John Paul II, that the Vatican lifted its ban on Saint Faustina’s writings, and the process of her canonization was initiated, culminating in her canonization on the eighth day of Easter, 2000, the first universal Church celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday.

For reasons we will only understand in Heaven, God chose this poor, simple, devout, and humble young woman to deliver a message to the world that would become one of the most central and important messages ever delivered. The Divine Mercy of God must be accepted, pondered, lived, and given to others. Mercy is God’s love; it is everything and all things.

As we honor this great saint, ponder the fact that the message God gave to us through her was not for some previous generation; it is for today. Reflect upon your own devotion to The Divine Mercy. Do you pray the Chaplet, venerate the image, honor the three o’clock hour, participate in Divine Mercy Sunday, and seek to spread this sacred devotion as an apostle of Divine Mercy? Know that this is a universal invitation from God; it is an invitation and exhortation given to you. Commit yourself to the truths of Divine Mercy and allow that abundant Mercy to flood your soul.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/saint-faustina-kowalska/

Saint Faustina Kowalska Read More »

Saint Francis of Assisi

Daily Saints

1182–1226; Patron Saint of animals, ecologists, families, lacemakers, merchants, needleworkers, peace, and zoos; Invoked against dying alone and fire; Canonized by Pope Gregory IX on July 16, 1228

Saint Francis of Assisi is perhaps the most known and loved saint within the Catholic Church. Though many flock to him because of his portrayal as one who loved animals and nature, he became one of the greatest saints in history for one simple reason: he was a true servant of the Most High God.

Francis of Assisi was most likely born in the year 1181 in the small town of Assisi, Italy, about 100 miles north of Rome. He was born into the merchant class, his father being a seller of fine silk. As a youth, Francis was known to be quite lively, often the center of attention among friends. As a teenager, he enjoyed parties and singing and was quite worldly.

His father wanted Francis to join him in the family business, which Francis did with disinterest. He was far more interested in his friends and in having a good time than he was in work. This caused tensions at home on a regular basis.

As a young adult, Francis had dreams of doing great things. However, the “great things” he dreamt of had much more to do with obtaining worldly honors than with honoring God. One of his chief desires was to become a great knight. His family also desired he become a knight so that their societal status would be elevated.

Around the year 1202, Francis’s dream of becoming a great knight began to move forward. He was fitted with fine armor, a sword, and a horse and sent into battle against the neighboring town of Perugia. Success in that battle would prepare him to one day become a Crusader in the pope’s army, hopefully earning him the dignity of a knight. But the battle of Perugia was short and ended in Francis’ capture and imprisonment. As Francis waited a year for his father to pay the ransom for his release, he suffered greatly with the other men who were imprisoned.

After his release, Francis spent months with a serious illness. Both his imprisonment and illness affected him greatly, and he began to reevaluate his life. Despite that, in 1205 he set off for another battle in the army of the Count of Brienne, once again well fitted with a horse, sword, and armor. Before he arrived, however, Francis had a vision that would change his life. In that vision, Francis heard a voice say to him, “Who can do more for you? The master or the servant? The rich man or poor man?” Francis quickly answered, “The rich master!” The voice then asked, “Then why do you leave the Lord for the servant and the God of infinite riches for the poor mortal?” This vision was enough for Francis to turn around and return to Assisi in search of God’s will.

Over the next year, Francis and his father regularly were at odds. Francis began to pray and seek God’s will for his life, while his father continued to insist that Francis become a knight or work in the family business. During that year, Francis grew in his love for the poor and even served the lepers at a nearby hospital. While praying one day in the dilapidated Church of San Damiano, Francis heard a voice from Heaven say to him, “Go, repair my house which, as you see, is falling completely to ruin.” With that, he began to physically repair that church, live in solitude, and pray continually.

The family conflict between Francis and his father came to a head in 1206 when Francis was twenty-five years old. He and his father formally parted ways in the presence of the Bishop of Assisi when Francis renounced his inheritance, choosing only God as his Father. Over the next three years, Francis began to live his new life of poverty, prayer, and service of God.

At first, most of the townspeople thought Francis was out of his mind, and they ridiculed him. But as time passed, Francis began to attract some followers. He and his followers spent much time praying, listening to the voice of God, serving the poor and lepers, and working with their hands to repair abandoned churches.

By the year 1209, Francis and his followers numbered twelve. They decided to write a new Rule for their common life and made a pilgrimage to Rome to get papal approval for their Rule. Once the pope verbally approved their Rule, Francis and his companions returned to Assisi and took up residence in a small church called the Portiuncula. From there, Brother Francis and his Friars Minor began their life of prayer and missionary preaching. Now, instead of rebuilding physical churches, they began to rebuild God’s Church, the spiritual Body of Christ.

Over the next ten years, the Order of Friars Minor grew from only twelve to about five thousand. They took up residence across Europe and began to have a powerful effect upon many people. Francis continued to preach and was also the instrument of countless miracles. In 1223, the pope approved the final and definitive Rule of the Friars Minor in writing, and Francis entered into the final years of his life.

In 1224, while on a forty-day retreat, Francis was gifted with the stigmata, the visible wounds of Christ in his hands, feet, and side. Those final two years were also marked with much suffering from various illnesses and the loss of his sight.

On October 4, 1226, after being unable to find a cure for his many illnesses, Saint Francis died surrounded by his brothers in Assisi at the Portiuncula where his life as a Friar Minor began. Just two years later, Pope Gregory IX canonized him as a saint, and his legacy continued to grow.

Saint Francis was unquestionably one of the greatest saints to ever live. The way he accomplished this greatness is worth studying and imitating. Though it is hard to imagine ourselves ever reaching the heights of sanctity that Saint Francis achieved, know that it is possible for us all. Saint Francis embraced the will of God with a radical abandonment and ongoing zeal. This resulted in his becoming one with Christ and doing great things for God and His Church in a very short period of time.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/october-4–st-francis-of-assisi/

Saint Francis of Assisi Read More »

Saint Hedwig, Religious

1174–1243; Patron Saint of brides, widows, duchesses, those whose children have died, and difficult marriages; Invoked against jealousy; Canonized by Pope Clement IV on March 26, 1267

Saint John Henry Newman

1801–1890; Patron Saint of Newman Centers; Canonized by Pope Francis on October 13, 2019

Saint John XXIII, Pope

1881–1963; Patron Saint of papal delegates; Canonized by Pope Francis on April 27, 2014

Saint John Leonardi, Priest

1541–1609; Patron Saint of pharmacists; Canonized by Pope Pius XI on April 17, 1938

Saint Denis, Bishop and Companions, Martyrs

Third Century; Patron Saint of France, Paris, and possessed people; Invoked against frenzy, headaches, hydrophobia, rabies, and strife; Pre-Congregation canonization

Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, Priest

1819–1867; Invoked against cancer; Beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 9, 2000

Our Lady of the Rosary

Saint Bruno, Priest

1030–1101; Patron Saint of possessed people; Equivalent canonization by Pope Leo X in 1514

Saint Faustina Kowalska

1905–1938; Patron Saint of The Divine Mercy devotion; Canonized by Pope John Paul II on April 30, 2000

Saint Francis of Assisi

1182–1226; Patron Saint of animals, ecologists, families, lacemakers, merchants, needleworkers, peace, and zoos; Invoked against dying alone and fire; Canonized by Pope Gregory IX on July 16, 1228

Ways to Donate

Paypal

Using Zelle

Mail a Check

Quick Links

Contact us

Location:

Contact #

Email:

Quick Links

Contact us

Location:

Contact #

Email:

Ways to Donate

Using Zelle

Mail a Check

Paypal