Daily Saints

Saints Jean de Brébeuf, Isaac Jogues, Priests and Martyrs; and their Companions, Martyrs

Saint René Goupil (1606–1642); Saint Isaac Jogues (1607–1646); Saint Jean de la Lande (Unknown–1646); Saint Antoine Daniel (1601–1648); Saint Gabriel Lalemant (1610–1649); Saint Jean de Brébeuf (1593–1649); Saint Charles Garnier (1606–1649); Saint Noël Chabanel (1613–1649) Patron Saints of North America; Canonized by Pope Pius XI on June 29, 1930

In the early seventeenth century, Dutch explorers made first contact with the Iroquois Confederacy in modern-day Albany, New York. The Confederacy was a political and military alliance of six Iroquoian-speaking native tribes located primarily in modern-day New York State. It was formed for inter-tribal security, diplomacy, and governance based on the tribes’ Great Law of Peace. The participating tribes were the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora. The Dutch, and later British, engaged in fur trading in exchange for European items, such as metal tools, firearms, and alcohol.

Around the same time, French explorers came into contact with the Huron-Wendat Confederacy, who were continually at war with the Iroquois. Tensions between the two native confederacies centered around disputes over hunting grounds and trade routes associated with their new European alliances. The French were unique among the European settlers in that—in addition to establishing trade, political, and military alliances—they also sought to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the natives. The Jesuits were the driving force behind that work of evangelization. Though the French did establish some relations with the Iroquois Confederacy, their alliance with the Huron-Wendat Confederacy led the Iroquois to distrust the French and remain at war with the Huron-Wendat tribes.

When French Jesuits began arriving in North America, their first mission was at Port-Royal, Acadia, modern-day Nova Scotia. In 1613, a mission was established on the Mount Desert Island of modern-day Maine. In 1625, Notre-Dame-des-Anges was established near modern-day Quebec City, and in the same year, a mission was established at the mouth of the Saguenay River in Quebec. Among the first Jesuits to arrive was Father Jean de Brébeuf, one of more than 100 Jesuits who would arrive in the seventeenth century, eight of whom would die as martyrs.

In 1642, a layman named René Goupil was working as a medic for the Jesuit Missionaries near Quebec and was invited to accompany Father Isaac Jogues and a group of forty others, including Huron-Wendat chiefs, on a missionary expedition. While traveling, the group was attacked by Mohawk members of the Iroquois Confederation and taken to the village of Ossernenon near modern-day Auriesville, New York. Upon being seized by the Mohawks, René cried out to Father Jogues, “O my father, God be blessed; He has permitted it, He has willed it—His holy will be done. I love it, I desire it, I cherish it, I embrace it with all the strength of my heart.” Once captured, they were cruelly tortured, their fingers crushed and fingernails torn out. Father Jogues continually encouraged his companions, baptizing an elder Huron, hearing René’s confession, and preparing them for death. Years earlier, René had entered the Jesuit novitiate but had to leave because he suffered from deafness. Once captured, however, René made the Jesuit profession and was received into the order as a lay brother by Father Jogues on the spot.

Over the next six weeks, the tortures continued with beatings to the point of disfigurement. The captives’ fingers were cut off, and they were abused every day by numerous Mohawks within the camp. On September 29, Father Jogues and Brother René were walking in the village when two young Iroquois men told them to follow them. They did so, sensing this was the end. Suddenly, one of the Iroquois men turned and tomahawked Brother René in the head. He was the first Jesuit to be martyred. Father Jogues later learned that Brother René was killed because an Iroquois elder witnessed Brother René making the sign of the Cross on the forehead of an Iroquois child, and ordered his execution.

After more than a year in captivity, Father Jogues was able to escape and make his way back to France with the help of a sympathetic Mohawk and Dutch settlers. He was given a hero’s welcome in France, and Pope Urban VIII gave him permission to celebrate Mass, despite losing his fingers. At that time, the Blessed Sacrament could only be touched by the thumb and forefinger. In 1644, after being back in France for a year and a half, Father Jogues returned to the missions, desiring to continue the work and to accept martyrdom if God willed it. In 1646, he returned to the place of his previous captivity with Jesuit lay brother Jean de Lalande. Father Jogues’ desire was to establish peace with the Iroquois so that the Jesuits could continue their work of evangelization. He believed he was in a unique position to establish that peace. As they journeyed, they were captured and brought back to the same village of Ossernenon. This time, the Iroquois only kept them captive for a short period of time before Father Jogues was tomahawked in the head and beheaded on October 18, 1646. The next day, when Brother Jean de Lalande went to tend to his body, he was also martyred.

The other martyrs we honor today are Saints Antoine Daniel, Gabriel Lalemant, Jean de Brébeuf, Charles Garnier, and Noël Chabanel. Father Jean de Brébeuf arrived in New France and settled near Quebec in 1625 where he learned the Huron language and wrote a catechism in Huron, as well as a French–Huron dictionary for use by other Jesuits. In 1639, Father de Brébeuf, along with other French Jesuits, settlers, and soldiers, traveled farther west, down the Saint Lawrence River, deeper into Huron-Wendat territory and settled on the eastern side of Lake Huron, near the town of Midland, Ontario, Canada, to establish a Jesuit mission named Sainte-Marie among the Hurons. It was the first European settlement in modern-day Ontario. Sainte-Marie served as a central Jesuit mission to the Huron-Wendat Confederacy and as a headquarters for Jesuit activities in the area. From it, smaller missions were established in the area.

Each of the five remaining Jesuits was martyred in 1648–1649 at the missions served by Sainte-Marie. Father Antoine Daniel was captured at the Saint-Joseph mission on July 4, 1648, just after celebrating the Holy Mass. He was still in his vestments when he was shot with arrows and then burned in the chapel. Fathers Gabriel Lalemant and Jean de Brébeuf were serving at the Huron-Wendat village of Saint-Louis when it was attacked by the Iroquois on March 16, 1649. After several hours of extreme torture, including having hot coals placed on their bodies and being scalped, they died. On June 14, the remaining Jesuits and settlers abandoned and burned the Sainte-Marie Mission, to keep it from being desecrated by the Iroquois, and so they could flee to smaller and safer locations to continue their work. Fathers Charles Garnier and Noël Chabanel fled to Saint-Jean mission, and, despite the deaths of their fellow Jesuits, they continued their work. On December 7, 1649, their mission was attacked, and Father Garnier was shot with arrows and tomahawked to death. Father Chabanel was tracked down and killed; his body was never recovered.

These heroic saints helped lay the foundation of faith not only for the native peoples but also for the European settlers who arrived and populated North America. They epitomize a selfless desire to lay down their lives for others, even those who acted in excessively brutal ways. The torture they received did not lead to bitterness but to praise and thanksgiving to God that they were found worthy to imitate Christ’s death.

As we honor the North American Martyrs, ponder your own depth of sacrifice you are willing to make for the good of those around you. Family, friends, community, or workplace, we must continually look out for the good of others in a selfless way. Seek inspiration from today’s saints and strive to follow in their footsteps, through the unique form of martyrdom God asks of you.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/october-19—saints-jean-de-brbeuf-isaac-jogues-and-companions/

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Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr

Early- to Mid-First Century–c. 107; Patron Saint of the Church in Northern Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean; Invoked against throat diseases; Pre-Congregation canonization

As soon as the Apostles received the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, they went forth from Jerusalem to preach the Gospel and establish the Church. Saint John the Apostle is said to have preached in Jerusalem and then in Asia Minor. Two of his early disciples were Saint Polycarp, whom Saint John appointed Bishop of Smyrna, and Polycarp’s dear friend, Saint Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, whom we honor today.

Nothing is known for certain about the early life of Ignatius of Antioch, also known as Ignatius Theophorus (which means “God-Bearer”), but in the centuries that followed his life, much was written about him, most likely based on oral tradition. Some traditions state he was born in Syria and might have been the child whom Jesus placed in the midst of the Twelve, saying, “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me” (Mark 9:37). Other traditions state he was born more than a decade after Jesus’ death and resurrection.

One of the earliest Christian communities to be established by the Apostles was in Antioch, one of the three largest cities in the Roman Empire, along with Alexandria (North Africa) and Rome. Antioch was the capital of the Roman province of Syria and a center for trade, culture, and administration. The Acts of the Apostles states that “it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians” (Acts 11:26). Saints Paul and Barnabas preached there. Tradition holds that Saint Peter was the first Bishop of Antioch before moving to Rome. Around the year A.D. 66, obedient to instructions left behind by Saint Peter, Ignatius became the third Bishop of Antioch and served in that capacity for approximately forty years.

The first major persecution of Christians within the Roman Empire took place under Emperor Nero after the Great Fire in 64. That persecution primarily centered in the city of Rome and is believed to have taken the lives of Saints Peter and Paul, as well as many other Roman martyrs. The second major persecution took place under Roman Emperor Domitian during the years 81–96. Bishop Ignatius was shepherding the Church of Antioch at that time, and it is said that he kept his people safe from persecution through his deep prayer and extreme penances. The third major persecution took place under Emperor Trajan from 98–117. If Christians refused to offer sacrifice to the Roman gods, they were to be executed.

Around the year 107, Trajan was traveling through Antioch and came upon Bishop Ignatius, a man of prominence, known by all as the leader of the Christians. Trajan questioned Ignatius about his faith and ordered him to offer sacrifice to the Roman gods. Ignatius refused and confidently professed his faith in Christ, after which the emperor condemned Ignatius to death. The account of his martyrdom records the emperor’s sentence this way, “We command that Ignatius, who affirms that he carries about within him Him that was crucified, be bound by soldiers, and carried to the great [city] Rome, there to be devoured by the beasts, for the gratification of the people.”

Ignatius was bound in chains and taken more than 1,500 miles by land and sea, from Antioch through modern-day Turkey, across the Aegean Sea, through Greece, across the Ionian Sea to Italy, and by foot to Rome. Along the way, the fourth-century Church historian, Eusebius, tells us, “as he made the journey through Asia under the strictest military surveillance, he fortified the parishes in the various cities where he stopped by oral homilies and exhortations, and warned them above all to be especially on their guard against the heresies that were then beginning to prevail, and exhorted them to hold fast to the tradition of the apostles” (3.36). Of his journey, Ignatius said, “From Syria even unto Rome I fight with wild beasts, by land and by sea, by night and by day, being bound amidst ten leopards? that is, a company of soldiers who only become worse when they are well treated.”

Upon Ignatius’ arrival in Smyrna, the halfway point to Rome, his dear friend, Bishop Polycarp, came out to meet him and kissed the chains that bound him. While in Smyrna, and then at other stops along the way, Bishop Ignatius wrote seven marvelous letters that still exist. They were written to the Churches in Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, Rome, Philadelphia, Smyrna, and a personal letter to Bishop Polycarp. Though these letters are not part of the New Testament, in many ways they could be. They mirror the profound faith and personal concern for the newly established Churches that Saint Paul expressed in his New Testament epistles. Pope Benedict XVI called these letters a “precious treasure” and stated, “In reading these texts one feels the freshness of the faith of the generation which had still known the Apostles. In these letters, the ardent love of a saint can also be felt” (General Audience 3/14/2007).

One of the most touching sentiments found in these letters was Ignatius’ burning desire to become “a sacrificial victim for God.” He beautifully expresses his interior longing to become a martyr for Christ and pleads with the Christians in Rome not to stand in the way of his martyrdom but to permit him to be “food for the wild beasts.” His desire was fulfilled when he was mauled to death by lions in the Flavian Amphitheater, Rome.

Ignatius also continually exhorted the Christian communities to reject every heresy attacking the infant Church and to do all they could to preserve the unity they enjoyed in Christ. With the Christian faith being so new, the communities were experiencing growing pains that could tear them apart. Ignatius spoke in a very fatherly way, expressing with heartfelt love that every Christian remains deeply united with each other in Christ. He is thought to be the first to refer to the Church as “Catholic,” meaning universal and full. He offers one of the earliest references to the celebration of the Eucharist in his letter to the Church in Smyrna, stating, “the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which that Father, in his goodness, raised up again.”

Saint Ignatius of Antioch is one of three Apostolic Fathers, meaning one of three saints who had direct ties to the Apostles and who left behind some writing. Saint Polycarp of Smyrna and Saint Clement of Rome (the fourth pope) are the others. Today, we not only honor Saint Ignatius, we also honor and give thanks to God for all those early evangelists, bishops, martyrs, confessors, and every member of those early Christian communities who helped lay the foundation of the Church.

Reflect, today, upon the burning desire in Saint Ignatius’ heart to die for Christ. Such a desire could only come from a soul that had a profound experience of the transforming love of Christ. Death and suffering became the door through which Saint Ignatius entered the glories of Heaven, and once he knew what awaited him on the other side, he longed for it with his whole being. If you have not arrived at such an interior conviction in your life, seek to discover that which this Apostolic Father discovered.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/october-17—st-ignatius-bishop-martyr/

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Saint Hedwig, Religious

Daily Saints

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/

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Saint Teresa of Jesus, Virgin and Doctor

Daily Saints

1515–1582; Patron Saint of Spain, lacemakers, and those in need of grace, in religious orders, and ridiculed for their piety; Invoked against bodily ills, headaches, and sickness; Canonized by Pope Gregory XV on March 12, 1622; Declared a Doctor of the Church on September 27, 1970

Saint Teresa of Ávila, also known as Saint Teresa of Jesus, was born Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada in Ávila, Spain, to very faithful Catholic parents. Her father, Sánchez, had been married previously. He and his first wife, Catalina, had three children together, one daughter and two sons. After Catalina died, Sánchez married Beatriz with whom he had nine children, seven boys and two girls. Teresa was the third child of her father’s second marriage. By age six or seven, Teresa began to think seriously about her life of faith, desiring to become a saint and even a martyr. When Teresa was only twelve, her mother died, leaving her heartbroken.

For the first three years after their mother died, Teresa’s older sister cared for her at home. During that time, in addition to Teresa’s growing interest in her reading, she became very close to one of her cousins. That particular cousin was very worldly and loved to tell stories that were far from virtuous. At one point, over a period of a few months, Teresa and her cousin spent much time together, gossiping and speaking about many worldly matters. Though Teresa worked hard to keep her virtue strong, the influence of her cousin slowly did her much damage. In 1531 she revealed these struggles to her older brother and father, and they sent her to the nearby convent boarding school, Our Lady of Grace, where she could have the good influence of the nuns.

Teresa moved into the boarding school when she was sixteen years old. The first eight days at the monastery were very difficult for her as she slowly turned her mind back to God and away from worldly ideas. She greatly feared that the sisters would discover how worldly she had become over the previous three years, which caused her much distress. After the first eight days, she began to return to her pursuit of virtue, her peace of heart returned, and she once again began to desire to be a saint. The nuns were a great blessing to her, and she was most grateful for their holy influence. She began to think about being a nun but fought that desire out of fear.

In 1532, Teresa departed the monastery because of a serious illness and went to her sister’s house to be cared for. She was now more prepared to remain firmly grounded in her life of faith, understood how important good friendships were, and had discovered how dangerous worldly ones were.

After returning home, Teresa spent about three months struggling with the idea of becoming a nun. She knew it was the safest road for her to travel but was fearful of the decision, and the devil did all he could to convince her she could never be a good nun. This interior battle she endured ended with her firm resolve to become a nun. However, when she told her father about this desire, he strongly opposed it. He was not going to allow his most beloved daughter to depart from him.

At the age of twenty, despite opposition from her father, Teresa and her brother Rodrigo decided to enter religious life. They left in the early morning without anyone else knowing. Teresa entered the Carmelite Monastery of the Incarnation at Ávila on November 2, 1535. She recalls that the decision was quite painful for her as she left her father and family behind. Once she entered the convent, she realized that persevering through that painful decision was exactly what God wanted, and her resolve brought peace to her heart.

After making her first profession of vows a year later, Sister Teresa became quite ill and remained so for a few years. At one point, she lay in a coma for four days and was thought to be dead. During her illness, she spent time recovering at her sister’s home, stopping also at her uncle’s. Her uncle gave her a book on a particular method of prayer called “the prayer of recollection,” and this book became one of her greatest treasures. After returning to the Convent of the Incarnation, she consumed that book and began practicing the prayer of recollection, which was a method of seeking God’s presence within her own soul. Sister Teresa grew deep in prayer, experiencing what mystics have called “the prayer of quiet” and even “the prayer of union” at times. Her continuous physical pain became a foundation for her prayer, and during those many months of solitude and suffering, her daily practice of prayer brought forth great fruit. In 1542, she miraculously recovered from her illness and attributed her recovery to the intercession of Saint Joseph.

For the next ten years of her religious life, Sister Teresa lived a very ordinary life, not advancing much in prayer. However, in her late thirties, Sister Teresa experienced what might be called her “second conversion.” In 1554, she was passing by a statue of Christ crucified and suddenly was overwhelmed by this image. She was so moved by grace that she encountered the gift of tears. Soon afterward, she read a copy of The Confessions of Saint Augustine, which had a profound impact on her. Augustine helped her to understand that God was within her and that she was avoiding the mystical journey to Him within. Over the next few years, Sister Teresa’s life began to change dramatically. Her prayer deepened, and she experienced many ecstasies and visions. At times, the sisters would see her caught up in ecstasy for lengthy periods of time. They would even see instances when she elevated off the ground in the chapel.

As Sister Teresa began to enter more deeply into her second conversion, she became increasingly aware of the lukewarmness of her own convent, as well as the many other Carmelite convents throughout Spain. Instead of being places of deep prayer, mortification, and recollection, the convents had slipped into worldliness, comforts, and a lack of prayer. As a result, God began to direct her to engage in a reform of the Carmelite Order.

In 1562, Sister Teresa founded the convent of Saint Joseph in Ávila. After gaining episcopal approval and then papal approval, she moved into her new convent in 1563, taking on the role of mother superior and the title of Mother Teresa. For the next five years, she spent most of her time in prayer and writing. She wrote not only new constitutions that governed the reformed Carmelite convent, but she also wrote her book The Way of Perfection, in which she offered clear lessons to her sisters about the journey to holiness on which they were to embark. In her constitutions, she returned the order to practices that included severe penances, prayer, solitude, strict poverty, and separation from the world. Among their penances was the practice of going without shoes, which is why they are called the “Discalced” Carmelites, meaning “without shoes.”

In 1567, Mother Teresa received permission from the Carmelite general to begin founding more convents according to the rule she and her sisters had adopted at Saint Joseph. Over the next several years, she traveled often, founding convents throughout Spain that eventually numbered seventeen. Mother Teresa also received permission to found two monasteries for men with the help of her new spiritual director, Saint John of the Cross.

Mother Teresa’s work was not, however, well received by everyone. In 1576, members of the unreformed Carmelites had a general chapter meeting and voted that Mother Teresa should stop all reforms and retreat into “retirement.” Tensions remained high, and the unreformed Carmelites continued to oppose Mother Teresa’s reforms until the pope decreed the two to be separate provinces, eliminating the power struggles between them.

Mother Teresa authored four major books, several minor works, at least thirty-one poems, and 458 letters that still exist. Her writings are among the most profound spiritual writings in the history of the Church, earning her the title Doctor of the Church.

As we honor this great saint and mystic, ponder the fact that she needed to enter into a second conversion. Though she was a nun with an established life of prayer, she was not entering into the depth of prayer to which she was called. When she discovered this fact, God took her into her own soul and she met Him there. Through her, God left a profound and lasting spiritual legacy for the Church.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/october-15st-teresa-of-vila/

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Saint Callistus I, Pope and Martyr

Daily Saints

Late Second Century–c. 223; Patron Saint of cemetery workers; Pre-Congregation canonization

Saint Callistus (also spelled Callixtus) is known to us primarily through his detractors, both of whom are considered heretics. One was a priest named Hippolytus of Rome, who later set himself up as an antipope in opposition to Pope Callistus. The other detractor was Tertullian, an early Christian writer and theologian who was initially orthodox and is even credited with first using the word “Trinity,” but who later followed the heresy of Montanism.

Based on their writings and on other later sources, Callistus was a slave in Rome, perhaps born of a slave mother. At that time, slavery was common. Criminals, captives of war, victims of piracy, and children born into slavery made up the slave population. The Roman Empire of the third century permitted slavery but also had laws forbidding harsh treatment and offered slaves ways of buying their freedom. As Christianity emerged, it often advocated for fair treatment of slaves and for their personal dignity, which is found even in the writings of Saint Paul.

Late in the second century, a Christian named Carpophorus is said to have collected money from other Christians to be used to care for widows and orphans. His slave, Callistus, was put in charge of the money, but he lost it and fled the city in fear. He was found due west of Rome on a ship waiting to set sail in the Mediterranean Sea. When he learned that he was found, he jumped overboard but was captured and returned to his master. He was later released, perhaps because his captors thought he would lead them to the money he lost. However, after his release, Callistus stirred up a controversy in a synagogue and was arrested and sent to work in the mines of Sardinia. Eventually, he was released at the request of the empress who was sympathetic to Christians.

After Callistus was released, the Christians entrusted him to the care of Pope Victor while he recovered from ill health. Pope Victor died around c. 199, and Callistus remained in the service of the pope’s successor, Pope Zephyrinus, who ordained him a deacon. At that time, deacons had great responsibility, and Deacon Callistus was no exception. He was appointed by the pope as the caretaker of an underground Christian cemetery on the Appian Way.

The Catacombs of Saint Callistus, as they are called today, were a massive multi-level underground cemetery used primarily for Christians from the second to fourth centuries. The tunnels span several miles and remain a popular place of pilgrimage. It is estimated that as many as a half million people are buried there. Burials included several early popes and beloved Roman martyrs, making the catacombs an important place of prayer.

Around the year 217, Pope Zephyrinus died and Deacon Callistus was chosen as his successor. By God’s grace, he had gone from slavery, to prisoner, to freeman, to deacon, to pope! Pope Callistus was a man of great compassion. Perhaps the sufferings, and even sins, that marked his early life inspired him to have a merciful heart. One question that had emerged at that time was what to do with those who had engaged in public sins but later repented. Some of these sinners had joined a heretical sect, engaged in adultery, or had succumbed to imperial decrees mandating emperor worship and the worship of Roman gods. Some priests, such as Hippolytus, revolted at the idea of leniency, especially for sexual sins. As a result, Hippolytus set himself up as a rival, or antipope, the first antipope in the history of the Church. Tertullian also opposed Pope Callistus, arguing that the power to bind and loose from sins was a power given only to Saint Peter by Jesus, but not to his successors.

Among his other pastoral achievements, Pope Callistus reinvigorated the practice of Ember Days, which were days of fasting at the beginning of the four seasons as a way of beseeching God for blessings in each of those seasons. He is said to have been a diligent evangelist, converting and baptizing many people of prominence, such as soldiers and senators, most of whom later died as martyrs.

During the reign of Roman Emperor Alexander Severus, a persecution of Christians broke out in the empire, especially in Rome. A Roman priest named Calepodius was tortured and thrown into the Tiber River with a millstone tied around his neck. Pope Callistus found his body and buried it in a catacomb. Afterwards, one tradition states that Calepodius appeared to the pope and prophesied the pope would soon die by martyrdom. Shortly afterwards, Pope Callistus was arrested, starved for a week, tortured, and then thrown into a deep well with a stone around his neck. Pope Callistus’ body was later recovered and buried next to Calepodius. In the ninth century, both of their bodies were transferred to the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere.

It has been said of Saint Callistus that if we knew more about his life from Christian sources, he might have gone down as one of our greatest popes. He suffered greatly in his early life but entered the service of the Church where he became a deacon and then pope. He taught about the importance of penance, evangelized, faced calumny and persecution with courage, and died for his faith. What little we know of his life remains an inspiration today, and his merciful commitment to repentant sinners shines forth as the law of Christ and the ongoing practice of the Church.

As we honor this ancient pope, ponder your own approach to mercy. Mercy is two-sided. We need to be convinced of God’s mercy toward us, and we need to show that same depth of mercy toward others. Pray to Saint Callistus today for a merciful and courageous heart so that you will follow in his footsteps.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/october-14–st-callistus-pope-martyr/

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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/

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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/

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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/

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Saint Faustina Kowalska, Virgin

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/

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St. John Henry Newman, Priest and Doctor of the Church

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/

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Saints Jean de Brébeuf, Isaac Jogues, Priests and Martyrs; and their Companions, Martyrs

Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr

Early- to Mid-First Century–c. 107; Patron Saint of the Church in Northern Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean; Invoked against throat diseases; Pre-Congregation canonization

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 Teresa of Jesus, Virgin and Doctor

1515–1582; Patron Saint of Spain, lacemakers, and those in need of grace, in religious orders, and ridiculed for their piety; Invoked against bodily ills, headaches, and sickness; Canonized by Pope Gregory XV on March 12, 1622; Declared a Doctor of the Church on September 27, 1970

Saint Callistus I, Pope and Martyr

Late Second Century–c. 223; Patron Saint of cemetery workers; Pre-Congregation canonization

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

Saint John XXIII, Pope

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

Saint Faustina Kowalska, Virgin

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

St. John Henry Newman, Priest and Doctor of the Church

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

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Contact us

Location:

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Ways to Donate

Using Zelle

Mail a Check

Paypal