Daily Saints

Saint Pius V, Pope

1504–1572; Patron Saint of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith; Invoked for the reform and defense of the Church; Canonized by Pope Clement XI on May 22, 1712

In 1517, when Martin Luther published his Ninety-five Theses in Germany, igniting the Protestant Reformation, European kingdoms faced many challenges, and the Church was greatly in need of reform. Relations between the Church and State were constantly strained. Some civil rulers fought to keep their territory Catholic, while others fought to eliminate the Catholic faith. Many of these kingdoms warred against each other, and they were all in constant threat of Muslim invaders. Within the Church, reform was needed to address financial abuses, nepotism, poorly formed clergy, poorly structured governance, theological debates, and a lack of uniform liturgical worship. It was into this historical situation that today’s saint was born.

Antonio Ghislieri was born in the town of Bosco Marengo in northwest Italy. As a child, Antonio was poor and worked to help support his family. At the age of fourteen, he took the name Michele when he joined the Dominican order and received his education from the friars in Vigevano, Bologna, and Genoa. Throughout his formation, he was an excellent and hardworking student who was especially drawn to the study of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of Saint Thomas Aquinas. At the age of twenty-four, he was ordained a priest, and over the next sixteen years he taught theology and philosophy, formed Dominican novices, and served as prior in various friaries. As a young priest, Father Michele continued to deepen his life of prayer, developed a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Rosary, made all-night vigils, embraced the Dominican charism, fasted, did penance, embraced poverty, and practiced interior silence by which he strove to remain continually recollected, refusing to engage in idle talk.

In 1542, as a way of addressing the ongoing threat posed by the errors introduced by the Protestant Reformation that was slowly finding its way into the Italian states, Pope Paul III reorganized the Italian Inquisition. Shortly afterwards, Father Michele was appointed to serve on several inquisitorial missions, which he did with unwavering determination. In 1556 Pope Paul IV made him Bishop of Sutri, a diocese just north of Rome, and one year later was made a cardinal. As a bishop and then cardinal, he continued to work with zeal, vigorously defending the true faith, weeding out heresy, correcting abuses, tightening Church structures, and personally living out the life of faith and morals to which he was called. He became so well respected, and his courage, clarity, and zeal were so beneficial to the Church, that the Holy Father made him the Grand Inquisitor to all of Christendom. In 1559, he was transferred further north to the Diocese of Mondovì but was regularly called to Rome to consult with the pope. In Mondovì, he vigorously sought to rebuild that diocese after it had been ravaged by wars, fueled by the theological confusion caused by the Protestant Reformation.

Bishop Michele was not a pushover, not even when it came to the pope. One of the ongoing abuses within the Church at that time was nepotism, the practice of bestowing ecclesiastical favors on one’s relatives. When Pope Paul IV announced to his court that he wanted to make his fourteen-year-old nephew a cardinal, Bishop Michele firmly opposed him and stopped that abuse. Though this led the pope to diminish some of Bishop Michele’s inquisitorial authority, it also led many of the cardinals to admire him. As a result, in 1566, Bishop Michele was elected as the new pope and took the name Pius V.

Just three years prior to Pius V’s papal election, the eighteen-year-long Council of Trent completed its final session. That council was the beginning of the Catholic Counter-Reformation that directly addressed theological and liturgical issues and sought to eliminate various abuses within the Church. All that was left to do was to implement the council’s decrees. That was no easy task, but Pope Pius V was unquestionably the man for the job.

From the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Pius V continued to be the holy, prayerful, conscientious, and determined man of God he had been since his youth. Rather than acting like royalty, he acted like a servant. He continued to wear his white Dominican habit (of which he kept only one), which is why the pope wears white today. He took the money set aside for extravagant papal banquets and distributed it to the poor. He visited the sick, built hospitals, prayed twice daily before the Blessed Sacrament, and resisted the entrapments that come with power and wealth. The Papal States, in particular, soon became more like a monastery rather than a kingdom.

To address the theological confusions dividing the Church, he promulgated a new catechism especially for parish priests, instituted catechetical classes for youth, introduced the teachings of Saint Thomas Aquinas in the universities, and continued the good work of the Holy Office of the Inquisition with pastoral zeal. To address ecclesiastical issues, he railed against immoralities within the clergy, more closely attached them to one diocese, mandated the seminary system, reaffirmed the practice of celibacy, exhorted bishops to remain in and serve their diocese as true shepherds, and renewed the weakening discipline within religious houses. To address the spiritual needs of the Church, he especially spread devotion to the holy Rosary, which he himself prayed in its entirety daily, and promulgated a new Breviary and Roman Missal. On a political level, he did not hesitate to chastise, or even penalize, wayward rulers. He defended Europe from Muslim invaders by working with various rulers to form the Holy League, a cooperative effort of Catholic kingdoms within Spain and Italy, that included the Order of Malta.

Throughout history, the Church has always been in need of internal reform. Though Christ never leaves His Church, those who are entrusted with its care are sinners. But among those sinners, God always raises up saints to redirect the Church and Her institutions down the correct path. In the sixteenth century, one of the most notable saints who God used for this purpose was Pope Saint Pius V.

As we honor this saintly pope, ponder your own calling to support the ongoing needs of reform within the Church. Those needs will always be there. Though you are not called to do so from the vantagepoint of the papacy, you are called to do so within the context of your own vocation. Ponder ways that you can reform your own life, your family, your local parish, and the community. Commit yourself to prayerful submission to the will of God, and seek the gift of courage so that God will use you in ways that are beyond your natural abilities.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/april-30-saint-pius-v-pope/

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Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Daily Saints

1347–1380; Patron Saint of Europe, Italy, nurses, the sick, and those ridiculed for their piety; Invoked against fires, miscarriages, temptations; Canonized by Pope Pius II on June 29, 1461; Proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI on October 4, 1970; Proclaimed Co-Patron of Europe by Pope John Paul II on October 1, 1999

Caterina di Jacopo di Benincasa (Catherine) was the twenty-third or twenty-fourth child born to loving parents in the thriving city of Siena, Italy. Her twin, as well as half of her twenty-four siblings, did not survive infancy. As a child, Catherine stood out. She was given the nickname “Euphrosyne,” which means “joy,” because of her joyful disposition and deep devotion to God from an early age. At the age of five, she would climb the stairs in her home on her knees as she prayed the Hail Mary on each step. At the age of six, while she was out walking with her brother, she had the first of many visions. She saw Jesus, sitting on a throne, crowned as King, surrounded by Saints Peter, Paul, and John. This supernatural experience drew Catherine even more deeply into a life of childhood prayer, penance, and devotion. Within a year, she had made a personal vow to give her whole life to God. Her prayer life was so evident that her parents gave her a bedroom in the basement so that she could use it as her own personal place of prayer. This “cell” in which she lived and prayed was also in her soul. She would later relate to her spiritual director that when she was troubled or tempted, she would build a cell inside her mind, from which she could never flee. Her prayer life also increased her virtues, and she treated her father as Jesus, her mother as Mary, and her siblings as the Apostles.

When Catherine was a teenager, she firmly opposed her parents’ desire that she marry. She wanted to be devoted to God alone, so she began fasting and praying. She even went so far as to cut her hair short so that she would be less attractive to young men. Eventually, her parents accepted her vocation.

In 1363, just three days after her sixteenth birthday, Catherine joined the Third Order of Saint Dominic. The Third Order was made up of lay people who wore a religious habit but lived at home and worked in the world rather than in a cloister. They served the poor and sick and performed charitable works. For the first several years as a Third Order Dominican, Catherine lived mostly a life of seclusion and prayer. Around the age of twenty-one, she entered into what would later be described as “mystical marriage” with our Lord. While praying, Jesus appeared to her, along with the Virgin Mary and King David as a harpist. Jesus placed a ring on her finger and departed. The ring remained for the rest of her life, although Catherine was the only one who could see it.

Two centuries later, the Spanish Mystic, Saint Teresa of Ávila, would describe mystical marriage this way in her spiritual classic, Interior Castle:

When our Lord is pleased to take pity on the sufferings, both past and present, endured through her longing for Him by this soul which He has spiritually taken for His bride, He, before consummating the celestial marriage, brings her into this His mansion or presence chamber. This is the seventh Mansion, for as He has a dwelling-place in heaven, so has He in the soul, where none but He may abide and which may be termed a second heaven.

Saint Teresa went on to explain that this celestial marriage, this second heaven, is a permanent gift bestowed upon a soul. By His divine foreknowledge, when He is aware of the permanent sanctity of a soul, He bestows this gift of divine union upon the soul. Catherine was one of those who received this rare gift.

After receiving the gift of spiritual marriage, Catherine began a more active ministry to the poor, sick, and imprisoned of Siena. When the bubonic plague—“Black Death”—struck Siena, Catherine and her companions remained hard at work, caring for those affected. Catherine also began to get involved in controversies that were plaguing the Church and State. She wrote hundreds of letters to kings, queens, nobility, religious, priests, and even to the pope himself. At that time, the divisions in the Church were so profound that Catherine engaged in severe penance and prayer. For example, she no longer ate or drank, living only on the Holy Eucharist which she received every day. While in Pisa in 1375, Catherine learned of rebellions within the Church. She fell into ecstasy and received the gift of an invisible stigmata, which appeared physically on her body only after her death. She saw a vision of our crucified Lord and rays of light extended from Jesus’ body to hers, piercing her through.

A dominant focus of her letters to the pope was to urge him to return to Rome. At that time, the papacy had moved to Avignon, France, which became the cause of much internal Church conflict. Anti-popes were elected and confusion was widespread. Catherine knew that the Holy Father, “daddy” as she called him, needed to return to the Eternal City to end the chaos. Her letters, and later her face-to-face conversations, were not only directed to the Holy Father with the affection and sincerity of a loving spiritual daughter, they were also firm, direct, and challenging. In one letter to Pope Gregory XI, she wrote urging him to return to Rome: “I tell you, father in Christ Jesus, come swiftly like a gentle lamb. Respond to the Holy Spirit Who calls you. I tell you, Come, come, come, and do not wait for time, since time does not wait for you.” The pope listened and returned to Rome in 1377. The last few years of Catherine’s life were spent writing letters, visiting towns that were warring against the papacy, and consulting two popes, first Pope Gregory XI and then his successor Pope Urban VI. She rallied the people, gained many followers, addressed political, cultural, and moral abuses, and gave an ongoing witness to Christ crucified through her penitential life.

Her last, and perhaps greatest, gift to the Church was her book entitled, The Dialogue of Divine Providence. It is believed that this book was dictated by Catherine while she remained in ecstasy. It is a conversation between a soul and the Father in Heaven. In addition to this great spiritual masterpiece, 382 of her letters and twenty-six of her prayers have survived.

Saint Catherine was one of the greatest and most influential saints in the history of the Church. In her lifetime she had a powerful impact upon those she encountered, including the pope. In her death, she continues to have a profound impact upon the Church as a Doctor of the Church. None of that would have been possible had she not engaged in fervent prayer and penance throughout her life. Ponder your own prayer life as we honor Saint Catherine, and strive to imitate her burning love for her Lord, her Divine Spouse. That love, fueled by a unquenchable desire for God, is beautifully seen in the following prayer that she herself wrote:

Prayer: Eternal God, eternal Trinity, You have made the Blood of Christ so precious through His sharing in Your Divine nature. You are a mystery as deep as the sea; the more I search, the more I find, and the more I find, the more I search for You. But I can never be satisfied; what I receive will ever leave me desiring more. When You fill my soul, I have an ever greater hunger, and I grow more famished for Your light. I desire above all to see You, the true Light, as You really are. Amen.

Saint Catherine of Siena, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/april-29-saint-catherine-of-siena-virgin-and-doctor-of-the-church/

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Saint Peter Chanel, Priest and Martyr

Daily Saints

1803–1841; Patron Saint of Oceania; Canonized by Pope Pius XII on June 12, 1954

Today’s saint, Saint Pierre Louis Marie Chanel (Peter), was the fifth of eight children. Peter’s father was later described as a good man, but also a man “more inclined to the bottle than to religion.” Peter’s uneducated mother was a strong Christian. As a youth, Peter worked as a shepherd on their sixty-five acre family farm. Their land had recently belonged to the Church but was confiscated by the state at the beginning of the French Revolution and sold to Peter’s father. Aware of this fact, Peter had a desire to make reparation for his family. By the end of his life he would do so, and more, by laying his life down as a priest-martyr on the tiny, remote, and barbaric island of Futuna, in the Pacific Ocean, Oceania.

In the neighboring village of Cras, the parish priest, Father Jean-Marie Trompier, ran a small school for boys that Peter entered. Father Trompier taught the boys throughout the day as he went about his own duties of visiting the sick, celebrating Mass, doing chores, and conversing at meals. Father Trompier had a profound effect upon Peter, instilling in him a desire for both the priesthood and the life of a foreign missionary. When Peter was about sixteen, he was sent to the diocesan minor seminary in Lyons and later to the major seminary in Brou. On July 15, 1827, Peter was ordained a diocesan priest at the age of twenty-four.

Father Peter was first assigned as an assistant parish priest in the town of Ambérieu. Only a few of his sermons from that assignment remain, but they show him to be a zealous and devoted preacher who carefully prepared his sermons. After a year, Father Peter approached the bishop about going on a foreign mission. Instead, the bishop assigned him to a remote parish as pastor, near the Swiss border, in the town of Crozet. The parish in Crozet was in need. Mass attendance was low, and the previous priest had left in frustration. Father Peter spent three years showing great devotion to the sick, preaching with zeal, and organizing Eucharistic processions. By the time of his departure, he had won the hearts of the people and revived the struggling parish.

Though Father Peter was an excellent parish priest, his heart was drawn to the missions. After serving in Crozet for three years, he sought and obtained permission to enter the Society of Mary (Marists). The Marists were a newly formed order whose mission was to live as Mary had—hidden, humble, and simple. Among their charisms was to be missionaries to remote and hidden lands, especially in Oceania.

Although he had hoped to be sent on mission, Father Peter spent the next five years in the minor seminary in Belley where he taught twelve-year-old boys before becoming the spiritual director and bursar. Two years later, he was made Vice-Superior and in 1833 traveled to Rome to assist the community’s founder in gaining final approval for the society. On February 10, 1836, the Marists were approved by Pope Gregory XVI as a Religious Congregation of the universal Church and given the responsibility of evangelizing the peoples of Western Oceania. At the age of thirty-three, Father Peter’s childhood desire came true when he was appointed as superior of a group of seven Marists (four priests and three brothers) and a newly ordained bishop who set out on a ten-month voyage by ship to Oceania. The journey was a brutal one, so much so that one of the priests died of illness along the way.

The group set sail from the port of La Havre, France, on December 24, 1836, and sailed to the Canary Islands; then south around Cape Horn to Valparaíso, Chile; west to the Gambier Islands; then to Fiji, Tongo; and eventually arrived at the small island of Futuna on November 12, 1837. Father Peter and Brother Marie-Nizier Delorme were chosen to disembark on that island.

Futuna and its neighboring island were small, being only about forty-five square miles between the two of them. The 1,000 inhabitants at the time were farmers and fishermen. The people were organized into smaller tribes who banded together into two larger kingdoms. These two kingdoms frequently went to war with each other, one emerging as the Victors and the others as the Vanquished. They were religious people, appeasing angry gods through pagan rituals and worshiping great spirits who often spoke through the chiefs and pagan priests. In earlier years, they had even practiced cannibalism.

King Niuliki, then of the Victor tribe, at first welcomed these visitors warmly. He fed them, invited them into his home, and kept them safe. The first year on the island bore the fruit of only about ten baptisms, mostly children who were dying. The missionaries worked tirelessly at learning the local language. Additionally, they offered Mass openly while intrigued islanders looked on, gave them farming tips, and simply showed them kindness, which was a language the Marists understood and appreciated. After a year and a half on the island, another ship carrying Marist missionaries arrived, to the delight of all.

Over the next year, the work of catechesis continued. When the king’s infant son became ill, Father Peter was given permission to baptize him. He hoped this would open the door to more converts, for he knew that if the king were to agree, everyone would be baptized and abandon their pagan rituals that Father Peter saw as demonic. However, by the end of 1840, the king began to turn on Father Peter because more islanders were becoming catechumens. The king feared the loss of his own power, especially his pagan spiritual authority, so he withdrew his kindnesses and started to become hostile toward the Marists and catechumens. When the king heard that all the inhabitants of the nearby island of Wallis were preparing for baptism, he decided something must be done to keep this from happening on his island. The final spark came when the king’s own son, Meitala, became a catechumen. On April 27, 1841, the king had a long talk with his son, trying to convince him to change his mind. His son refused, so King Niuliki called his son-in-law Musumusu and instructed him to kill both the catechumens and the missionaries. The next day, after unsuccessfully trying to kill the catechumens, Musumusu and some companions went to where Father Peter was staying. First they clubbed Father Peter; then Musumusu delivered a deadly blow to his head with a hatchet. But this brutal end was only the beginning of great things to come.

Soon after, the king regretted what he had done. Many of the islanders who had grown fond of Father Peter mourned his death. This mourning and regret was turned into joy when, over the next few years, all of the inhabitants were baptized. War between the two tribes eventually ceased and peace was established. Today, those islands live their Catholic faith well and rejoice in their martyr who did more for them in death than in life.

As we honor Saint Peter Chanel, ponder the mysterious fact that the Father uses suffering and death for His glory and the salvation of souls when that suffering and death are offered to Him, sacrificially, in union with the death of His divine Son. Ponder the incredible power of God who is able to bring good from evil, and salvation from death itself. Unite your own sufferings to Christ, and know that God wants the unyielding gift of the sacrifice of your life to be given to Him for His glory and for the salvation of souls.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/april-28-saint-peter-chanel-priest-and-martyr/

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Saint Adalbert, Bishop and Martyr

Daily Saints

c. 956–997; Patron Saint of Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic; Canonized by Pope Sylvester II in 999

Duke Slavník and his wife Střezislava, the parents of today’s saint, both came from noble ruling families in the Duchy of Bohemia, present-day Czech Republic. They had five sons, one of whom was Vojtěch. As a youth, Vojtěch became quite ill, so his faith-filled parents dedicated him to God as a priest if God would heal him. Vojtěch did recover and was sent to Magdeburg, Germany, to study under Bishop Adalbert, the first bishop of that diocese. During his ten years of study, Vojtěch grew in knowledge and holiness. He spent long hours in prayer and was very devoted to the care of the poor. Vojtěch had such a great respect for the Bishop of Magdeburg that he took his name when he received the Sacrament of Confirmation. Bishop Adalbert of Magdeburg was later canonized a saint, as was his student, Saint Adalbert of Prague, whose feast we celebrate today.

When the Bishop of Magdeburg died in 981, the young Adalbert returned home to Bohemia and was ordained a priest two years later by the Bishop of Prague. Soon after, the Bishop of Prague became quite ill and on his deathbed was filled with a fear of hell. He had lived a worldly life, seeking riches and comfort rather than holiness. The bishop’s dying witness had an effect upon Father Adalbert, causing him to deepen his commitment to the pursuit of holiness through penance, prayer, and simplicity of life. Shortly thereafter, Father Adalbert was chosen as the next bishop of Prague. Though resistant at first, he eventually accepted and was ordained a bishop in 983. It is said that once he became a bishop, Adalbert rarely smiled. He later remarked, “It is an easy thing to wear the mitre and a cross; but it is a most dreadful circumstance to have an account to give of a bishopric to the Judge of the living and the dead.” He truly felt the weight of his responsibility.

Bishop Adalbert was, at first, joyfully welcomed in Prague. From the beginning of his bishopric, he embraced a life of simplicity, prayed and fasted often, slept on the floor as penance, preached almost every day, and frequently visited the sick and imprisoned. Though the people in his diocese were Christian, they had not been Christian for long, and many of them held on to their former pagan ways. They commonly practiced polygamy, idolatry, slavery, and various other immoralities. Bishop Adalbert worked hard to address these evils but was met with such strong resistance that he had to flee to Rome. In Rome, the Holy Father permitted him to enter the Benedictine monastery of Saint Boniface. As a bishop-monk, he humbled himself, performing the most menial tasks in the monastery. During this time, he might have also visited Hungary to preach the Gospel, where he is believed to have baptized the soon-to-be king and future Saint Stephen of Hungary.

After about five years in the monastery, the pope sent Bishop Adalbert back to Prague with the instruction that, if the people remained hostile, he could once again leave. Bishop Adalbert arrived in Prague and was, at first, received with great joy. But after renewing the fight against the evils in his diocese, his life was again threatened. As a result, he returned to Rome and reentered the Benedictine monastery where he was made prior. Not long after, he traveled to Poland to assist his friend Duke Bolesław I and exercised his episcopacy in Gniezno, Poland.

After converting many in Poland, Bishop Adalbert obeyed Boleslaw’s wish that he travel north into Prussian territory along the Baltic Sea to convert the rough pagans of that land. Poland had just recently become a Christian nation, and Duke Bolesław wanted to convert the Prussians and bring them under his rule. The Prussians were a religious people who believed that everything in the created world had spirits. Animals, trees, and lands were revered and worshiped. Pagan priests practiced magic rituals, seeking favors from these countless spirits and also regularly sought to communicate with the dead. One fourteenth-century missionary described the Prussian people this way: “Because they did not know God, therefore, in their error, they worshiped every creature as divine, namely the sun, moon and stars, thunder, birds, even four-legged animals, even the toad. They also had forests, fields and bodies of water, which they held so sacred that they neither chopped wood nor dared to cultivate fields or fish in them” (Father Peter of Dusburg).

When Bishop Adalbert arrived in Prussia, his preaching was initially successful. However, his life was soon threatened, and he had to move on to other places. He continued to endure the wrath of the locals, including a pagan priest who saw him as a threat to their way of life. That pagan priest, together with a mob, killed the bishop one day, cut off his head, and placed it on a pole. Two years later, Bolesław I bought Adalbert’s body from the pagans at the cost of the weight of his body in gold. Once his body was back in Poland, Bishop Adalbert’s funeral was celebrated, and he was buried in the Cathedral of Gniezno. In 999, Pope Sylvester II canonized him a saint, and a year later, the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III came to the Cathedral of Gniezno and prayed at Saint Adalbert’s grave. Devotion to him rapidly grew, and his intercession for the newly converted lands in which he ministered was readily sought for centuries.

Though in some lights Saint Adalbert’s ministry as a bishop could be judged as unsuccessful, his courage, fidelity to the Gospel, and the shedding of his blood are credited for the ongoing conversion of many throughout Bohemia, Poland, and Hungary. In the late second century, the famous Christian writer Tertulian wrote, “The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians.” Though the preaching of God’s Word opens minds and hearts to the Truth, history shows that the joyful embrace of suffering, especially martyrdom for the Gospel, powerfully nourishes the seeds of the Word of God that has been preached. Saint Adalbert first sowed the seed of God’s Word and then watered those seeds with his blood. The result was that the lands in which he ministered began to grow abundantly in the faith of Christ, becoming Christian nations for the centuries that followed.

As you ponder Saint Adalbert’s life, consider whether you find any similarities in your life. Do you work to share the Gospel with family and friends, only to find your efforts bear little or no evident fruit? If so, take inspiration from today’s saint, and follow his example of courageous dedication to the end, laying down your life sacrificially so that the witness of your love will nourish the seed that God has sown through you.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/april-23-saint-adalbert-bishop-and-martyr/

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Saint Mark the Evangelist

Daily Saints

c. 12–c. 68; Patron Saint of attorneys, captives, shoemakers, lions, notaries, glass workers, Egypt, and Venice; Invoked against impenitence, insect bites, scrofulous & struma diseases; Pre-Congregation canonization

Though little is known for certain about Saint Mark’s life, the Gospel attributed to him is unquestionably one of the most important scripts ever written. In a nearly breathless way, Mark recounts Jesus’ public ministry in concise and vivid detail. The shortest of the four Gospels is packed with information. Mark’s Gospel was most likely written primarily for Roman Gentiles, rather than for Jews, which is why he often describes various Jewish customs to the reader.

The Acts of the Apostles and various Epistles speak of “Mark” as well as “John Mark.” Most scholars believe that Mark and John Mark are the same person and the Gospel writer. Saint Mark is believed to have been born in Cyrenaica, modern-day Libya, which was under Roman rule at the time. “John” is his Jewish name, and “Mark” his Roman name. His father might have died when he was young, and his mother, named Mary, most likely moved with Mark to Jerusalem. His mother’s home might have been the location of the Last Supper and also the place where Peter went after the angel released him from prison. “When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who is called Mark, where there were many people gathered in prayer” (Acts 12:12). As a teenager, Mark might have been nearby when Jesus was arrested. “Now a young man followed him wearing nothing but a linen cloth about his body. They seized him, but he left the cloth behind and ran off naked” (Mark 14:51–52). Many scholars believe that this young man is Mark. Saint Barnabas, the missionary companion of Saint Paul, was either Mark’s cousin or uncle (See Colossians 4:10).

Shortly after Peter escaped from prison and arrived at Mark’s home, Mark traveled north to Antioch in Syria with Barnabas and Paul. From Antioch, he accompanied Barnabas and Paul on a missionary journey to another Antioch in Pisidia, modern-day Turkey. Before completing their journey, Mark left Paul and Barnabas and returned to Jerusalem. It is unclear why Mark left, but Paul was not pleased and saw his departure as Mark abandoning them. Later, when Paul and Barnabas were going to set out on another missionary journey, Barnabas wanted to take Mark with them. Paul was so opposed to the idea that Barnabas and Paul went their separate ways (see Acts 15:37–40). Barnabas took Mark with him to Cyprus, and Paul took another companion with him through Syria and Cilicia.

Mark appears to have been close to the Apostle Peter, because Peter refers to him as “Mark, my son” (1 Peter 5:13) in a letter addressed to several Christian communities. Peter sent greetings to them all from Mark, indicating that Mark was also well known to those communities. That letter from Peter was most likely written from Rome where Peter would later be martyred. It might be that, while Mark was with Peter in Rome, he wrote his Gospel at Peter’s request, basing it on Peter’s preaching.

Though Saint Paul and Mark initially had a difficult relationship as a result of Mark’s early departure from Paul and Barnabas’ missionary journey, they became close toward the end of Paul’s life. Paul refers to him affectionately in a few letters he wrote from prison, calling him his co-worker and indicating that Mark had been very helpful to him (see Philemon 1:24; Colossians 4:10–11; 2 Timothy 4:11).

According to later traditions, Mark was ordained a bishop and sent to Alexandria, Egypt, to preach the Gospel (that he himself wrote) and establish the first Church in Africa. He is therefore considered the first bishop of Alexandria. In Alexandria, Mark encountered the wrath of the local Alexandrians and was martyred after almost twenty years of ministering to them. In the eighth century, Saint Bede describes Mark’s death in this way:

Afterwards, being arrested for the faith, he was bound, dragged over stones and endured great afflictions. Finally he was confined to prison, where, being comforted by the visit of an angel, and even by an apparition of our Lord himself, he was called to the heavenly kingdom in the eighth year of the reign of Nero.

As a child, Saint Mark could never have imagined what would become of his life. Not only did he come to know the Messiah as a youth, he later became a bishop and the first to bring the Gospel to the continent of Africa. Most importantly, he became one of God’s most powerful evangelists by faithfully writing down the life of Christ for others to read. Since that time, countless people have read his words, meditated on their meaning, been converted in the depths of their hearts, and given their lives over to Christ.

Ponder the significance of this one man. It appears he began his life fearful of his mission. He ran when Jesus was arrested, left Barnabas and Paul on their missionary journey, but he didn’t give up. He turned back to the mission and ultimately died a martyr, bestowing on us one of the greatest treasures ever given. If you feel regret at any failure, or even numerous failures in your life, take inspiration from Saint Mark. Failures can be remedied. Recommit yourself to God’s mission, and know that, if you do, God will use you in unimaginable ways.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/april-25—saint-mark-the-evangelist/

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Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Priest and Martyr

Daily Saints

c. 1577–1622; Patron Saint of lawyers and the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples; Canonized by Pope Benedict XIV in 1746

Isaac Newton, the English physicist and mathematician, famously stated that “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” In the year 1517, an Augustinian priest named Martin Luther issued his ninety-five theses in Wittenberg, Germany. It was this action that began what is known as the Protestant Reformation. That action brought about an equal and opposite reaction, commonly called the Catholic Counter-Reformation. Today’s saint was born into the period when this counterreaction was gaining momentum.

Mark Roy was born in the small town of Sigmaringen, modern-day Germany. His father was a wealthy businessman who later became the town’s mayor, and his mother was a Protestant who converted to Catholicism when she married Mark’s father. Mark had three older siblings and one younger. His loving parents saw to it that as a youth he was well educated in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic faith, as well as in etiquette, self-discipline, and reverence for God.

After completing his elementary studies, Mark was sent to study philosophy and law at the University of Freiburg, modern-day Germany. He was an excellent student and later a teacher who won the admiration of many. In 1603, at the age of twenty-five, he was invited to accompany a few young men from noble families on what would become a six-year journey through Europe, visiting many of the principal cities of France, Italy, and parts of Spain. Throughout this journey, Mark acted as a mentor-teacher to the young men, forming them in virtue and the Catholic faith. He remained very devout, visited churches regularly, attended Mass daily when possible, and was always attentive to the poor and sick.

After completing his journey, Mark returned to the University of Freiburg where he completed a doctorate in law and then began working as a lawyer in France. As a lawyer, Mark especially advocated for the poor. He chose to conduct his work with complete honesty rather than for selfish gain. After only a short time in the legal profession, Mark became disenchanted by the corruption common in his colleagues, many of whom were intent on making dishonest profit from lawsuits rather than act with honesty and integrity.

Disillusioned by the legal system, Mark decided to follow in the footsteps of his brother who had become a Capuchin friar. In 1612, at the age of thirty-four, Mark was ordained a priest, entered the Capuchins, and took the name “Fidelis,” which means “faithful.” Finally realizing his true vocation as a Capuchin priest, he initially struggled with temptations of despair over what seemed to be thirty-four “lost years” of his life. The move to religious life was initially challenging because the freedoms he enjoyed as a layman were no more, but he persevered through this period with prayer and resolute determination. During this first year, he wrote a book for his own personal use that would be published more than a century later called Exercitia spiritualia seraphicae devotionis, a compilation of prayers and meditations. After four years of continued theological studies and formation, he was sent to the friary in modern-day Switzerland where he quickly became known for his preaching and strong defense of the Catholic faith against the ongoing battles with Protestantism, especially Zwinglianism and Calvinism.

The year 1618 marked the beginning of what came to be one of the longest and deadliest wars in all of Europe, the Thirty Years’ War. The war primarily resulted from the ongoing tensions of the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation. During this period, Father Fidelis continued his life of deep prayer and penance and preached with zeal, winning many back to the Catholic faith. He also shared the Gospel by writing pamphlets on the faith that were secretly delivered to those who had abandoned the Church for Protestantism.

In 1621, Fidelis was sent to modern-day Austria where he continued to preach with great success. He won many people back to the Catholic faith, including nobility and rulers. When an epidemic broke out, he helped care for the sick, especially soldiers, and his compassion, genuine care, and sanctity did not go unnoticed. Among those who noticed him were many of the Calvinists who were outraged at his success at winning others back to the Catholic Church.

In 1622, the newly established Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith commissioned Father Fidelis as a missionary to what is today Eastern Switzerland. He was accompanied on this mission by eight of his fellow Capuchins. There, by the authority of his mandate from Rome, he published what was called “The Ten Articles of Religion.” This mandate enabled the civil rulers to halt Protestant worship and enforce Catholic worship. Many of those who had abandoned the Catholic faith were furious at this, but Father Fidelis pressed on with vigor, seeking only the salvation of souls. The hostility he faced, however, led him to joyfully predict his pending martyrdom.

On April 24, Father Fidelis was preaching in a Swiss church when an angry mob arrived. A shot was fired but missed him, and he quickly departed from the Church. As he journeyed to the next village where he was staying, the mob, which included a Zwinglian minister, caught up with him and demanded that he renounce the Catholic faith and embrace the teachings of Zwingli. To them he responded, “I am sent to you to confute, not to embrace your heresy. The Catholic religion is the faith of all ages, I fear not death.” With that, Father Fidelis was struck to the ground with a sword to his head. He then knelt and prayed, “Pardon my enemies, O Lord: blinded by passion they know not what they do. Lord Jesus, have mercy on me. Mary, Mother of God, assist me.” After that, he received many more blows, was stabbed repeatedly, and one of his legs was dismembered from his body in retaliation against him for the many missionary journeys he had made throughout their land. Father Fidelis was only forty-five, ten of those years being a religious.

The martyrdom of Father Fidelis had a profound effect upon many. The Zwinglian minister who participated in his martyrdom later repented and returned to the Catholic faith. The local authorities soon crushed the rebellion, and peace was restored. Six months later, Father Fidelis’ body was discovered to be incorrupt, so it was transferred to the Cathedral of Coire and buried under the main altar. Over the next century, as many as 305 miracles were attributed to his intercession by those who prayed at his tomb.

As you seek his intercession today, pray that you, too, will desire only the glory of God and the salvation of souls. The world is filled with false teachings, confusion about the faith, and ignorance of God. With Saint Fidelis, renew your own resolute determination to become an instrument of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic faith of Christ.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/april-24-saint-fidelis-of-sigmaringen-priest-and-martyr/

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Saint George, Martyr

Daily Saints

Died c. 303; Patron Saint of agricultural workers, soldiers, archers, equestrians, chivalry, peacekeeping missions, sheep, shepherds, scouting, England and many other countries, cities, and dioceses; Invoked against skin diseases and syphilis; Pre-Congregation canonization

Very little is known about Saint George, other than that he was martyred by the Roman Emperor Diocletian around the year 303 for refusing to renounce his Christian faith and offer sacrifice to the Roman gods. Eusebius, a fourth century bishop, stated that Constantine the Great, Roman Emperor from 306–337, dedicated a church to “a man of the highest distinction.” This unnamed man is believed to be Saint George. By the end of the fourth century, Saint George was revered throughout Palestine and the Eastern Byzantine Empire. By the fifth century, devotion to him spread to the Western Roman Empire. Over the centuries, he became the patron saint of more than a dozen countries, as well as cities and dioceses within many more. In the thirteenth century, Saint George appeared in the famous Golden Legend, a popular medieval devotional on the lives of the saints. In the fourteenth century, Saint George became known as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers whose intercession was readily sought, especially during the Black Death, a European plague that took the lives of countless millions. Though the details of his life have been lost to history, his influence has been great and his legends have been prayerfully pondered far and wide. Unquestionably, he is one of the most venerated saints in history.

According to the eleventh-century Greek monk Symeon of Metaphrastes, Saint George was born to noble Christian parents in Cappadocia, modern-day Turkey. When his father died, George and his mother moved to Lydda, Palestine, located near modern-day Tel Aviv, Israel, where his mother had been born and where she inherited a large estate. George eventually joined the army of the Roman Emperor Diocletian and advanced to the rank of colonel.

Around the year 299, Diocletian participated in a pagan Roman religious ceremony in which he sought to predict the future. When it failed, Diocletian believed that Christians were to blame, so he began a process of purifying the empire by forcing his subjects to honor the Roman gods. In 303, Diocletian issued an edict with the aim of eradicating Christians across the empire. Churches were to be destroyed, Scripture burned, public worship forbidden, and Christians, especially those in the military, were forced to offer sacrifice to the Roman gods. Those who refused faced imprisonment or death.

When George heard about this edict, he seized a copy and tore it up and then personally confronted the emperor and chastised him for his cruelty. George went on to profess to the emperor that he was a Christian. He was immediately arrested and jailed, and the emperor attempted to convert him back to the pagan Roman gods. George refused. As a result, he endured one torture after another. One legend says he first had heavy blocks of stone placed upon his chest. Then he was tied to a wheel that, when spun, sliced his flesh with knives. He miraculously endured it all. The emperor then tried to entice George with promises of favors if he returned to the Roman gods. To this, the legend goes on, George responded to his jailer, “I despise your promises and do not fear your threats. The emperor’s power is of short duration, and his reign will soon end. It is better for you, to acknowledge the true God and to seek His kingdom.” The next day, George was led through the city and then beheaded. His witness was so powerful that many Roman pagans are said to have converted. One account even states that Empress Alexandra of Rome, possibly Diocletian’s wife, also converted and died a martyr as a result.

Saint George is the patron saint of soldiers in part because he was in the military. However, devotion to him exploded during the first Crusade when, in 1098, during the Battle of Antioch, a priest had a vision of Saint George telling him where to find the spear that pierced Christ’s Heart on the Cross. Once the Crusaders discovered the spear, they were encouraged and were led into battle with another priest leading the way with the spear. During the battle, the Crusaders were said to have had visions of three saint martyrs riding with them into battle: Saint George, Saint Mercurius, and Saint Demetrius.

Saint George’s popularity in England began when King Richard the Lionheart visited a church dedicated to Saint George on his way to help with the first Crusade. It is believed that he and his men had a vision of the saint, which encouraged them in their battle. About 250 years later, King Edward III named Saint George as the patron saint of England, referring to him as “the most invincible athlete of Christ, whose name and protection the English nation invoke as that of their patron, especially in war.”

One legend about Saint George has left him with the nickname “Saint George the Dragonslayer.” The Golden Legend relates that a fierce dragon lived in the province of Libya, in the town of Silene. The villagers used to feed it two sheep every day, but when the sheep failed to suffice, they selected one villager each day, along with a sheep. One day, the lot fell on the king’s own daughter, and, as she went out to give herself to the dragon, Saint George rode in on horseback, slew the dragon, and converted the entire town to the Catholic faith, with about 15,000 men receiving baptism.

Though the story is clearly fictional, it has provided inspiration for generations, especially to soldiers in war. Some have interpreted the dragon in the story as the devil and have seen Saint George’s slaying of the dragon as an indication of the power of his intercession. The legend, then, can be seen as a parable, meant to encourage Saint George’s intercession when confronting the worst of evils.

As we honor Saint George, as so many others have done throughout history, don’t hesitate to call upon his intercession. If you struggle with any “dragon” in your life—any evil, or suffering that seems unbearable—then especially turn to this greatly venerated saint, and trust that he will intercede for you, just as he has throughout history.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/april-23-saint-george-martyr/

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Pope Saint Soter

Daily Saints

Profile

Nothing is known of Soter’s life before he was chosen 12th pope c.166, and not much is known of his pontificate. He forbade women to burn incense in services. He ratified that matrimony was a valid sacrament only if blessed by a priest. He inaugurated Easter as an annual festival in Rome.

Born

at Fondi, Italy

Papal Ascension

c.166

Died

tradition says he was martyred c.175, though no evidence has survived
buried in the Callistus cemetery in Rome, Italy

Canonized

Pre-Congregation

Source: https://catholicsaints.info/pope-saint-soter/

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Saint Anselm of Canterbury, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Daily Saints

c. 1033–1109; Especially invoked by scholastic philosophers and in Canterbury; Possibly canonized prior to 1170, canonization confirmed by Pope Alexander VI on October 4, 1494; Declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Clement XI in 1720

He was an Italian, Frenchman, and Englishman; a monk, prior, abbot, archbishop, philosopher, theologian, and spiritual writer; today he is a saint, a Doctor of the Church, and commonly referred to as the “Father of Scholasticism.” Anselm was born into a noble family in the town of Aosta, located in the Italian Alps. As a youth, his devout mother set a pious example which he readily followed. When Anselm was fifteen, he wanted to enter the monastic life, but his father would not give consent. So the abbot refused his entrance. His mother had since passed, so she could not intervene. Disillusioned, Anselm’s faith wavered for the next several years. Coming to his senses, he pursued studies in France and eventually arrived at the Benedictine Abbey of Bec around the age of twenty-six. Anselm quickly became close to and a devoted student of the prior, Lanfranc. When Anselm’s father died, Anselm was in a quandary about what to do. Should he return home to receive the inheritance of his father’s estate and put it to good use? Or should he abandon it and become a monk? Lanfranc directed him to a holy bishop for spiritual advice, and Anselm decided on religious life. He returned to the Abbey of Bec and became a monk at the age of twenty-seven.

After Anselm enjoyed three blessed years of monastic life, Lanfranc, the prior, was appointed abbot of another abbey. Anselm was chosen as the prior of Bec at the age of thirty under the elderly founding abbot, Herluin. Though some of the monks disapproved of this appointment due to Anselm’s youth, his wisdom, personality, heartfelt kindness, and holiness soon won them over. He remained the prior for the next fifteen years.

As prior, Anselm studied, prayed, taught, and administered the abbey remarkably well. He was such a success that the Abbey of Bec became one of the most respected institutions in all of Europe. At Bec, Anselm wrote seven of his thirteen works, including two of his most famous ones: Monologion and Proslogion. Anselm had a profound faith, fueled by a life of intense mystical prayer, and it was his prayer and faith that directed his thinking and writing. He believed that unless God first revealed Himself, our minds could never grasp Him, could never grasp Truth.

One of Anselm’s greatest philosophical contributions is his ontological argument for the existence of God. In his first great work, Monologion, Anselm argued that we can arrive at the existence of God using deductive reasoning. For example, if we consider the idea of “good,” we are aware of varying degrees of goodness. Therefore, there must be that which is supreme goodness itself. This supreme good must also be responsible for all else that is good. God is that Goodness. He does not simply have goodness, He is Goodness. In his great work, Proslogion, Anselm began with the concept of a being than which no greater can be conceived. From that concept, he goes through logical deductions that lead him to conclude that a being than which no greater can be conceived necessarily exists. This argument has been one of the most discussed and contested arguments in philosophy.

Philosophy was not Anselm’s only love. He was also a profound spiritual writer, theologian, and composer of many beautiful prayers. His spiritual writings are not only theoretical, they are also personal and intimate. His deep love for God and for our Blessed Mother shines through.

In 1078, Abbot Herluin died and Anselm was elected his successor by the unanimous consent of the monks, a role he would valiantly fulfill for the next fifteen years. As abbot, Anselm periodically traveled on various properties that had been donated to the abbey across the English Channel. His counsel was also regularly sought out by the English king and his good friend Lanfranc, who had since been made the Archbishop of Canterbury. Anselm’s visits to Canterbury, coupled with the domineering intellectual influence of the Abbey of Bec, made him the ideal successor to Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury. When Lanfranc died, Anselm became the next Archbishop of Canterbury at the age of sixty.

Anselm’s consecration as archbishop was at first delayed because of conflicts with King William II regarding the confiscation of church property and the king’s perceived right to appoint bishops independently of the pope. King William eventually became quite ill, and, for fear of hell, he repented, and Anselm was installed. Once installed as Archbishop of Canterbury, Anselm came into conflict with King William once again and was exiled from his see. After the death of King William, the new king, King Henry, welcomed Anselm back, but Anselm soon found himself engaged in yet another dispute about the appointment of new bishops. He was once again exiled. Even in exile, God used Archbishop Anselm in powerful ways. He continued writing beautiful and profound theology, defended the nature of the Trinity at a Church council in Rome, and acted as a counselor to the pope. His times in exile also gave a lasting witness to the truths for which he was exiled. That witness not only had an impact on those in his time but also for the generations to follow. Anselm’s final years were more peaceful after he and the king worked out a compromise, and he returned to his see in Canterbury.

Saint Anselm is considered a “confessor” because he suffered for his defense of the Church and the Gospel. He fiercely defended the autonomous spiritual authority of the Church and refused to participate in financial abuses between the state and church. In addition to being a confessor, Saint Anselm’s writings continue to have a profound impact upon the Church. He stands out as one of the greatest theologians between Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas Aquinas. His prayers inflame hearts with deep devotion. His love for our Blessed Mother is inspiring. His theological explanation of the Trinity, grace, truth, and the Incarnation have provided a firm foundation for a deeper understanding of our faith. Above all, we can ponder Saint Anselm’s deep conviction that when faith in God comes first, understanding follows. If you struggle in life in any way, follow this saint’s example by placing your trust in God first, and then wait upon Him to lead you.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/april-21-st-anselm-archbishop/

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Saint Sara of Antioch

Daily Saints

Profile

Sara was born to a wealthy Imperial Roman family. She was married to a Roman army officer. She was publicly exposed as a Christian when she baptized her children against the wishes of her non-Christian husband when the ship they was traveling on was in danger of wrecking in a storm. She was martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian.

Born

Antioch (modern Antakya, Turkey)

Died

burned at the stake c.305 in Antioch (modern Antakya, Turkey)

Representation

palm of martyrdom

Canonized

Pre-Congregation

Source: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-sara-of-antioch/

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Saint Pius V, Pope

1504–1572; Patron Saint of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith; Invoked for the reform and defense of the Church; Canonized by Pope Clement XI on May 22, 1712

Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Saint Peter Chanel, Priest and Martyr

1803–1841; Patron Saint of Oceania; Canonized by Pope Pius XII on June 12, 1954

Saint Adalbert, Bishop and Martyr

c. 956–997; Patron Saint of Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic; Canonized by Pope Sylvester II in 999

Saint Mark the Evangelist

c. 12–c. 68; Patron Saint of attorneys, captives, shoemakers, lions, notaries, glass workers, Egypt, and Venice; Invoked against impenitence, insect bites, scrofulous & struma diseases; Pre-Congregation canonization

Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Priest and Martyr

c. 1577–1622; Patron Saint of lawyers and the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples; Canonized by Pope Benedict XIV in 1746

Saint George, Martyr

Died c. 303; Patron Saint of agricultural workers, soldiers, archers, equestrians, chivalry, peacekeeping missions, sheep, shepherds, scouting, England and many other countries, cities, and dioceses; Invoked against skin diseases and syphilis; Pre-Congregation canonization

Pope Saint Soter

Saint Anselm of Canterbury, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

c. 1033–1109; Especially invoked by scholastic philosophers and in Canterbury; Possibly canonized prior to 1170, canonization confirmed by Pope Alexander VI on October 4, 1494; Declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Clement XI in 1720

Saint Sara of Antioch

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