Daily Saints

Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr

c. 231–c. 251; Patron Saint of breast cancer patients, martyrs, rape victims, bellfounders, and bakers Invoked against earthquakes, natural disasters, and fires; Pre-Congregation canonization, later confirmed by Pope Saint Gregory the Great, 7th century

As with many of the early and most revered martyrs in our Church, very little is known about the life and death of Saint Agatha. She was born in either Palermo or Catania, Sicily around the year 231 and died a martyr’s death in Catania around the year 251 during the persecution of Christians ordered by the Roman emperor Decius. Early devotion to her is attested to by the fact that she is one of the seven virgin martyrs listed in the Roman Canon (Eucharisitic Prayer I in today’s Missal). Since the fifth or sixth century, other details, hymns, art, and stories about her life and death have emerged. Much of what is written about her life, however, emerged centuries later, leaving its historical accuracy in question.

According to those later traditions, Agatha was born into a wealthy noble family. At the age of fifteen, she made a vow of virginity, choosing to devote herself and her wealth solely to Christ, her divine Spouse. Because she was very beautiful and wealthy, the local Roman Prefect Quintianus wanted to take her for his wife for impure reasons and to attain her wealth. She refused his every attempt.

When Emperor Decius issued a decree in 250, requiring all citizens to offer sacrifice to the Roman gods, Quintianus had an idea. He decided that if he arrested Agatha and threatened her with torture and death, she would renounce her Catholic faith and accept his offer of marriage. Instead, she deepened her devotion to Christ and once again refused him saying, “If you threaten me with wild beasts, know that at the Name of Christ they grow tame; if you use fire, from heaven angels will drop healing dew on me.”

Faced with another failure to steal her purity, Quintianus devised another plan. He imprisoned Agatha in the local brothel, thinking she would lose her virginity and then change her mind. However, she remained steadfast in her purity and faith in that ungodly environment.

After a monthlong stay in the brothel, Agatha was summoned before Quintianus again. Filled with rage, he threatened her with torture and death. She faced him with courage and remained at peace, exuding joy at the opportunity to suffer for Christ. Her peaceful and joyful disposition only angered Quintianus further, so he had her stretched on a rack, her flesh torn with iron hoods, burned with torches, and whipped. Finally, the sick and diabolical Quintianus ordered that her breasts be twisted and torn and then be cut off. To this, Agatha responded, “You cruel, impious, sacrilegious tyrant, do you feel no shame to torture a woman in her breasts, you, who from a mother’s breast drew your first nourishment? You may destroy my body, for it is but weak and perishable; yet my soul, consecrated from my childhood to its Saviour, you cannot reach nor destroy.” After being sent back to prison in this mutilated state, Agatha saw Saint Peter appear to her and miraculously heal her wounds with a father’s love. The prison cell then radiated with light, frightening and confusing the guards.

Four days later, Quintianus summoned Agatha again. When she appeared before him healed of her wounds, Quintianus was shocked but his heart remained obstinate. This time he stripped her of her clothing and made her roll over burning coals and sharp stones. The wrath of God, however, flared up and there was an earthquake. Part of the building they were in crumbled, killing two of Quintianus’ companions. The people of the town were outraged at what Quintianus had done to Agatha and blamed him for the earthquake. Again, Quintianus did not budge. After being sent back to prison, Agatha prayed and surrendered her spirit to the Lord, Who received her into her heavenly home.

It is shocking what people are capable of doing. Some are capable of the most hideous, diabolical, and self-serving acts. Others are capable of enduring those evils for the love of Christ with peace, strength, and joy. Regardless of the historical accuracy of the details of Saint Agatha’s life and death, her story, as it has been handed down, reveals the potential in every human heart. We have the potential to be great sinners, the potential to be great saints, or somewhere in-between. Allow the witness of Quintianus to fill your heart with a holy fear of sin and the witness of Saint Agatha to move you from that “in-between.” Her courage and unwavering fidelity to Christ have shone a light for countless people throughout the centuries. One day, in Heaven, we will meet the true Saint Agatha and rejoice as we gaze upon the beauty and purity of her soul. Seek to make your soul radiate with that same glory by the grace of God and your fidelity to His holy will.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/february-5-st-agatha-virgin-martyr/

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Saint Blaise, Bishop and Martyr

Daily Saints

Died c. 316; Patron Saint of illnesses of the throat and other illnesses, wool workers, animals, bricklayers, bakers, farm workers; Pre-Congregation canonization

From 1346 to 1353, a bubonic plague commonly referred to as “Black Death” ravaged Europe, Asia, and North Africa. It was the most deadly pandemic in human history, with conservative estimates of its deadly toll reaching higher than 25 million people. Almost half of the people in Europe died in this pandemic. During that plague, many Catholics prayed fervently. Out of that chaos, a new devotion to the “Fourteen Holy Helpers” emerged. Those holy helpers were fourteen saints who were believed to be powerful intercessors, especially to cure illness. Among those fourteen is today’s saint.

Very little is known about Saint Blaise. The earliest mention of his life was not written until about 200 years after his death, by the medical writer Aëtius Amidenus, who spoke of the intercessory power of Saint Blaise to help unlodge objects stuck in the throat. The slightly more detailed Acts of Saint Blaise was written about 400 years after his death. Whether or not the stories written of him are true, what is certain is that the faithful have devoutly sought his intercession for centuries, and that practice continues today in the form of the blessing of throats on his feast day.

Legend has it that Blaise was an excellent physician in his hometown of Sebaste, Armenia, modern-day Silvas, Turkey. As a youth, he studied many of the great philosophers. When the Bishop of Sebaste died, Blaise was chosen as the new bishop by the popular acclaim “of all the people.” He was said to be a man of great faith and virtue, caring for his people in both body and soul. Many came to him for physical healing as a physician but also received many miracles. Many others came to him for spiritual healing, which was imparted by his deep faith. According to that same legend, even animals would listen to him and obey his commands, and he would heal them of ailments.

In the year 313, the co-ruling Roman Emperors, Constantine I and Licinius, jointly issued the Edict of Milan which established religious toleration throughout the Roman Empire. However, the Acts of Saint Blaise states that in 316, the Governor of Cappadocia, acting on an order by Licinius, began to arrest and kill Christians. Bishop Blaise is reported to have been among those arrested.

While on Blaise’s way to jail, the legend continues that a boy was choking on a fishbone, and the boy’s mother sent her son to Blaise for his prayers. Bishop Blaise miraculously cured him on the spot. Another story relates that on that journey to jail, a woman begged him to save her pig who had been seized by a wolf. Bishop Blaise ordered the wolf to release the pig and the wolf obeyed. Out of gratitude, the woman brought Blaise two wax candles to give light to his prison cell.

Despite these miracles, the governor insisted that Bishop Blaise renounce his Christian faith, which Blaise refused to do. Therefore, at the governor’s order, Blaise was ripped apart by metal combs used to comb wool and then beheaded.

Today, Saint Blaise is the patron saint of wool combers because of the legend of his torture and death by the metal combs. He is patron saint of animals because of his alleged authority over them. He is the patron saint of diseases of the throat and other illnesses because of the story that he healed the boy with a fishbone stuck in his throat, was a physician, and miraculously healed many others of their ailments. Two wax candles are used to bless throats today because of the legend of the candles brought to him in jail by the grateful woman.

As we reflect upon these stories that have been passed down through the years, perhaps the most important story to reflect upon is the story of faith that so many people have had for many centuries in the intercession of Saint Blaise. From the people who might have sought his prayers at the time of his ministry, to those who sought his intercession during the Black Death centuries ago, to the priestly blessings today at Mass using candles to bless throats, God has used Saint Blaise in ways that he could have never foretold. This should reassure us that God wants us to turn to the intercession of the saints in our time of need. Though God is fully capable of directly answering our prayers, He often chooses to use the mediation of others to impart His grace. Reflect upon your own devotion to Saint Blaise and all the saints. Seek out your special patron. Entrust your prayers to him or her and know that when you do, your patron offers you and your needs to God.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/february-3-saint-blase-bishop-and-martyr/

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The Presentation of the Lord

Daily Saints

Mary and Joseph were faithful Jews who obeyed the Law of Moses. Jewish Law prescribed that two ritual acts needed to take place for a firstborn son. First, the mother of a newborn son was ritually unclean for seven days, and then she was to “spend thirty-three more days in a state of blood purity” (Leviticus 12:2–8). During these forty days she was not to “touch anything sacred nor enter the sanctuary till the days of her purification are fulfilled.” For this reason, today’s feast has at times been called the “Purification of Mary.” Second, the father of the firstborn son was to “redeem” the child by making an offering to the priest of five shekels so that the priest would then present the child to the Lord (see Numbers 18:16). Recall that the firstborn male of all the Egyptians, animals and children, was killed during the tenth plague, but the firstborn males of the Israelites were spared. Thus, this offering made for the firstborn son in the Temple was a way of ritually redeeming him in commemoration of protection during that plague. Since Jesus was presented in the Temple for this redemption, today’s feast is now referred to as the “Presentation in the Temple.”

“Candlemass” is also a traditional name given to today’s feast because as early as the fifth century, the custom of celebrating this feast with lighted candles had developed. The lit candles symbolized Simeon’s prophecy that Jesus would be “a light for revelation to the Gentiles.” Lastly, this Feast has been referred to as the “Feast of the Holy Encounter” because God, in the Person of Jesus, encountered Simeon and Anna in the Temple.

Today’s feast is celebrated in our Church forty days after Christmas, marking the day that Mary and Joseph would have brought Jesus into the Temple. Though Mary was pure and free from sin from the moment of her conception, and though the Son of God did not need to be redeemed, Mary and Joseph fulfilled these ritual obligations.

At the heart of this celebration is the encounter of Simeon and Anna with the Christ Child in the Temple. It is in that holy encounter that Jesus’ divinity is manifested by a human prophet for the first time. At His birth, the angels proclaimed His divinity to the shepherds, but in the Temple, Simeon was the first to understand and proclaim Jesus as the Savior of the World. He also prophesied that this salvation would be accomplished by a sword of sorrow that would pierce the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Anna, a prophetess, also came forward and “gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38). Thus, these ritual acts were also a moment in which Jesus’ divine mission was made manifest to the world.

As we celebrate Mary’s ritual purification and Jesus’ ritual redemption, we should see them as acts in which we are called to participate. First, each of us is unworthy of entering the true Temple of the Lord in Heaven. Yet we are invited to enter that Temple in union with Mary, our Blessed Mother. It was her consent to the will of God that opened the door of God’s grace to us all, enabling us to spiritually become Jesus’ “mother” by allowing Him to be born in our hearts by grace. With her, we are now able to appear before God, purified and holy in His sight.

We must also see Saint Joseph redeeming us as he presented Jesus in the Temple. In offering Christ Jesus to the priest to offer Him to the Father, Saint Joseph also presents all who strive to live in union with Jesus. The hope is that, like Simeon and Anna, others will see God alive within us and experience the Savior of the World through us.

Ponder, today, your soul being the new temple of the Lord, and acknowledge your need to be purified and offered to the Father in Heaven. As Christ continues to enter into the temple of your soul, pray that He will shine forth for others to see so that, like Simeon and Anna, they will encounter our Lord within you.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/february-2-presentation-of-the-lord-feast/

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Saints Timothy and Titus, Bishops

Daily Saints

Saint Timothy: 17–97; Invoked against intestinal disorders and stomach diseases; Saint Titus: First Century–96 Patron Saint of Crete

Yesterday the Church celebrated the Conversion of Saint Paul, the great Apostle to the Gentiles. Today the Church honors two of Paul’s co-workers. Saints Timothy and Titus were both chosen as bishops in the apostolic age of the early Church, and each received letters from Saint Paul that are included in the New Testament. One early tradition states that Timothy died a martyr’s death by stoning at about the age of eighty, after opposing a procession in honor of the pagan goddess Diana. No details are known about the death of Titus.

Timothy was born in either Lystra or Derbe, modern-day Turkey. He was the “son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek” (Acts 16:1). Since his father was a pagan, Timothy was most likely not raised in a strict Jewish home, even though his mother and grandmother were Jewish Christians. However, Saint Paul mentions that “from infancy” Timothy was versed in the Jewish Scriptures (see 2 Timothy 3:15). Saint Paul also suggests that Timothy was a bit timid in his personality (see 1 Corinthians 16:10).

Timothy began his conversion to the Christian faith after Paul and Barnabus visited his hometown of Lystra during their first missionary journey. Paul and Barnabus had recently been rejected by many of the Jews, so they began to turn their preaching toward the Gentiles. Timothy, being of both Jewish and Gentile origin, must have paid special attention. During that visit, Paul healed a man who was crippled from birth (see Acts 14:8–10) as a way of showing that the power of God worked through him. In subsequent years, a Christian community in Lystra emerged which held Timothy in high regard (see Acts 16:2). Therefore, when Saint Paul passed through Lystra during his second missionary journey a few years later, he met Timothy and invited him to join him in his travels. Timothy not only agreed but also allowed Paul to circumcise him so that when they preached to the Jews, the Jews would not hold his uncircumcision as a child against him.

Titus was a Greek, not a Jew, most likely born and raised on the island of Crete. Tradition states that he was educated in Greek philosophy and poetry as a youth. After Paul and Barnabas completed their first missionary journey, the same journey that sparked faith in the heart of Timothy, they traveled to Jerusalem to help resolve a dispute over whether or not Gentile converts to Christianity should undergo the Jewish rite of circumcision. Paul invited Titus to join him in Jerusalem, perhaps in part because Titus was a Gentile convert who did not undergo circumcision (see Galatians 2:3).

Details about Titus’ conversion are unknown. What is known is that he became a close companion of Paul during those early years of the Church. With Titus’ assistance, Paul prevailed at the Council of Jerusalem by convincing the others that circumcision for Gentile converts was unnecessary. This was a huge decision that opened the door widely to the Gentiles, inviting them to freely enter.

In the three to four decades to follow, both Timothy and Titus assisted Paul and the other leaders of the early Church by preaching and tending to administration. Timothy’s journeys led him to especially assist the Church in the Greek cities of Philippi, Athens, Thessalonica, and Corinth, eventually becoming the first bishop of Ephesus, in modern-day Turkey.

Titus was also sent far and wide by Paul. After Paul had difficulties with the new members of the Church in Corinth, he sent Titus to them to restore the peace (see 2 Corinthians 7:6–13). Titus was also sent to assist in Jerusalem, eventually becoming the first bishop of Crete (see Titus 1:5–9) and later assisting in Dalmatia, in modern-day Croatia.

Saint Paul was arguably the greatest evangelist in the history of the Church, but he could not have accomplished all that he did on his own. Trusted co-workers like Saints Timothy and Titus were essential to the mission. As we honor their lives, consider the ways that God wants you to act as a co-worker in the vineyard of this world. In the end, all that will matter is the salvation of souls. God wants to use you, as He used these great apostles, to continue the good work of bringing the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/january-26-saints-timothy-and-titus-bishops/

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Saint John Bosco, Priest

Daily Saints

1815–1888; Patron Saint of apprentices, boys, editors, laborers, magicians, students; Canonized by Pope Pius XI on April 1, 1934

The youngest of three sons, John Bosco was born into a poor family in northwest Italy in the rural hamlet of Becchi. His father, a farmhand for a neighboring family, died when John was only two. His mother continued to raise her sons with much love and affection.

Until the age of twelve, John spent most of his time trying to support the family by working as a shepherd and farmhand like his father. His family’s poverty made it difficult for him to obtain a good education. His learning came from his lived experience, homelife, and the sermons at church that he listened to attentively.

At the age of nine, John had the first of many dreams that would greatly influence him. In his dream, he came across a group of rough boys who were talking and cursing. John became angry with them and raised his fists to threaten them for their cursing. Suddenly, a man appeared in his dream who was radiant like the sun. The man said to John, “Conquer the hearts of these, your friends, not with violence but with charity. Begin at once. Teach them the evil of vice and the excellence of virtue.” When John asked the man who he was, the man replied, “I am the Son of the lady I will send to be your teacher.” With that, the Blessed Mother appeared in the dream and began to teach John about his future mission of caring for boys with kindness.

John began his “ministry” when he was only ten. He would attend the shows of entertainers who performed juggling, magic tricks, and acrobatics. John studied their shows and then attempted to imitate them for other boys, always including prayers within the show and lessons he learned from Sunday sermons.

As was typical with many boys, John and his brother were always fighting with each other. This was one of the reasons that John decided to leave home at age twelve to look for work. A few years later, John caught the attention of a newly ordained priest and future saint, Father Joseph Cafasso, who saw his intellectual gifts and assisted him with his education. By the time John was twenty, Father Cafasso, with the help of some money from John’s mother, helped him enroll in the seminary. After six years of study, at the age of twenty-six, John was ordained a priest.

After ordination, Father John joined his mentor, Father Cafasso, in Turin to continue his studies at the Institute of Saint Francis where Father Cafasso was in charge. The two also engaged in ministry to the poor and imprisoned, cared for girls at a boarding school, and assisted in country parishes. It was in the prisons that Father John became aware of the number of boys who needed help. Of this experience, he later wrote in his Memoirs, “I saw large numbers of young lads aged from 12 to 18, fine healthy youngsters, alert of mind, but seeing them idle there, infested with lice, lacking food for body and soul, horrified me. Public disgrace, family dishonor, and personal shame were personified in those unfortunates.” He thought to himself, “Who knows?…if these youngsters had a friend outside who would take care of them, help them, teach them religion…they could be steered away from ruin…” Many of them were repeat offenders, and Father John’s heart was drawn to help them. His dream from when he was nine years old began to come to fruition as he sought to teach them, encourage them, listen to them, and befriend them as a mentor and spiritual father.

Father John’s plan was to found an oratory to provide structure and purpose for these boys. He helped them get jobs by teaching trades. At the same time, he provided them with food and shelter, taught them catechism, and gave them moral guidance and hope. Within ten years, Father John was assisting as many as 800 boys in need.

Less than a decade later, in 1861, some of the boys Father John mentored wanted to follow in his footsteps and assist other boys. Therefore, Father John founded the Society of St. Francis de Sales with a priest, seminarians, and a high school boy. The Salesian Order was formally approved by the Vatican in 1869. In 1871 Father John expanded his mission by founding a Salesian religious order of women called the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians to care for girls. Finally, in 1874 he founded the Salesian Cooperators, a lay organization that worked with the male and female Salesian Orders.

Saint John Bosco saw a need as he encountered troubled, imprisoned, poor, orphaned, but good-hearted young boys. He followed his inspiration not to be harsh with them, but to offer them loving discipline, friendship, education, skills to support themselves, and a family within his oratory. This loving concern for these young boys overflowed into the hearts of many others, and God used this saintly man to save the souls of many by raising up an army of workers to care for them.

Ponder those in your life who are troubled, abandoned, disgraced, or struggling in other ways. Strive to imitate Saint John Bosco by seeing the good in them and helping to draw that goodness out so that they will find hope in the midst of their struggles with despair.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/january-31-saint-john-bosco-priest/

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Saint Bathilde

Daily Saints

Profile

Bathilde was kidnapped in her youth from her native England and sold into slavery in France to Erkenwald, the Mayor of the Palace of King Clovis II. When she grew up, she was placed in charge of the household. She married King Clovis II in 649 and became the Queen. She became the mother of three sons, all of whom became kings: Clotaire III, Childeric II and Thierry I. She used her royal position to protect the Church, and help the poor. She was widowed in 655. She served as regent. Upon taking her late husband’s power, she immediately forbade the enslavement of Christians. She endowed religious houses, including Chelles Abbey, and helped the work of Saint Eligius. In 665, when her son Clotaire was 15, she handed the throne over to him, and entered Chelles Abbey, spending the rest of her life in prayer and care of the sick. She was the godmother of Saint Radegonde of Celles whom she helped raise, and whose relics are interred with hers.

Born

c.630 in England

Died

30 January 680 of natural causes
buried in the Abbey of Chelles
relics enshrine in the abbey church of Our Lady of Chelles

Canonized

by Pope Nicholas I

Patronage

against bodily ills
against illness
against sickness
children
sick people
widows
Chelles, France

Representation

crowned nun often performing menial tasks or giving alms to the poor
ladder extending into heaven
standing before an altar of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Source: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-bathilde/

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Saint Marianne Cope, Virgin

Daily Saints

1838–1918; Patron Saint of lepers, outcasts, those with HIV/AIDS, Hawaii; Canonized on October 21, 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI

Born in Germany, Barbara Koob was brought to the United States by her parents before the age of one. The immigrant family settled in Utica, New York, and joined Saint Joseph Parish where Barbara later attended grade school. After grade school, Barbara began working in a textile factory to support the family after her father became too ill to work. Despite her longing to enter religious life, Barbara continued to financially support her family for the next nine years.

In 1862, at the age of twenty-four, Barbara finally realized her desire for religious life by entering the Sisters of Saint Francis in Syracuse, New York. Upon receiving the religious habit, she took the name Sister Marianne. For the next twenty-one years, she served as a teacher, principal, mother superior, provincial superior, hospital founder, and administrator. She was a trailblazer who specialized in caring for the outcasts of society with love and affection. Although this caused some to look down on her, Barbara’s care for society’s outcasts also won her much love and admiration from the German-speaking Catholics of central New York.

In 1883, now the Mother Provincial of her order, Mother Marianne’s life would change forever. She received a request from the government in Hawaii asking her to send sisters to care for those suffering from the dreaded disease of leprosy. With joy and enthusiasm that would have delighted Saint Francis, her order’s founder, she responded “Yes!” “I am hungry for the work…” Her heart was flooded with desire as she saw the great privilege of leaving home and family to care for these poor souls who suffered so greatly. At that time, more than fifty religious orders had already turned down the same request out of fear of their members contracting the disease. Mother Marianne responded in haste, going herself with six of her sisters. Though she did not realize it at the time, she would never return to New York. Instead, she spent the next thirty-five years exercising the great privilege of caring for the bodies, minds, and souls of God’s precious outcasts with Hansen’s Disease (leprosy).

Upon arriving in Hawaii, Mother Marianne and her sisters went right to work, cooperating with the Church and the government to better the lives of these poor ones of God. Mother Marianne and her sisters helped those with leprosy, despite their fatal condition, to live dignified lives—teaching them, having fun with them, praying with them, and caring for their physical needs. Mother Marianne’s administrative skills were of great use when she was called upon to open new homes, establish a residence and school for the children of those with leprosy, correct government abuses of her poor ones, and consolidate facilities as needed.

In 1884, Mother Marianne met the future Saint Damien de Veuster who devoted his life to the care of those with leprosy on the isolated island of Molokai. Two years after their meeting, Father Damien contracted leprosy himself. In 1888, Mother Marianne went to Molokai to care for him during his last year of life, since he was now an outcast too. She pledged to continue his good work, and with his passing, took over the home for boys he had established.

For twenty-seven more years after Father Damien’s death, Mother Marianne cared for the outcasts and their families. She often said to her sisters that it was their duty and privilege “to make life as pleasant and as comfortable as possible for those of our fellow creatures whom God has chosen to afflict with this terrible disease…” Mother Marianne died of natural causes at the age of eighty, never contracting the disease herself.

Two days after her death, one Honolulu newspaper wrote, “Throughout the Islands, the memory of Mother Marianne is revered, particularly among the Hawaiians in whose cause she has shown such martyr-like devotion…she was a woman of splendid accomplishments, and had fine executive ability. She impressed everyone as a real ‘mother’ to those who stood so sorely in need of ‘mothering.’”

As we honor Saint Marianne Cope, consider the quality of your affection and sincere concern toward society’s “outcasts.” The alcoholic, addict, criminal, impoverished, foreigner, and sinner are all images of Jesus waiting for your love. Allow this holy woman to inspire you to always see it as a privilege to love those most in need.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/january-23-saint-marianne-cope-virgin-usa-optional-memorial/

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Saint Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor

Daily Saints

1225–1274; Patron Saint of students, Catholic schools, apologists, booksellers, chastity, philosophers, publishers, scholars, theologians; Invoked against storms; Canonized by Pope John XXII on July 18, 1323; Proclaimed Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius V in 1567

Among the greatest intellectuals in the history of the Church, Saint Thomas rises far above the rest. He is not only a Doctor of the Church but is given the titles Angelic Doctor, Common Doctor, and Universal Doctor. It is difficult to understate the impact that Saint Thomas has had on the Church’s doctrine and intellectual understanding of the faith.

Thomas was born in a grand castle in central Italy near the town of Aquino. His father was a nobleman, a knight in the army of the Emperor Frederick II. Thomas began his studies when he was only five at the famous Benedictine monastery, Monte Cassino, where his uncle was abbot. Thomas’s parents hoped he would one day become the abbot himself. When he was fourteen, because of military conflicts, Thomas moved from Monte Cassino to the newly founded University of Naples to continue his studies. It was there that he came in contact with the Dominicans who influenced him greatly and who made plans for Thomas to join their newly founded order. Thomas’ intellect shone forth at that time as he openly engaged in discussions, and his reputation for brilliance became widely known.

At the age of nineteen, the year after his father died, Thomas joined the Dominicans. This news angered his family who were steeped in the social system of feudalism at that time, which valued ownership of land and military service. The Benedictines were among the honored orders within the feudal system, not the Dominicans who were poor mendicant preachers. Thomas’ family wanted him to become the Abbot of Monte Cassino since it was more fitting for the nobility. To remedy this, his mother had Thomas abducted and locked in a family castle where he remained imprisoned for about a year. During that time, his mother, siblings, and many others did all they could to try to convince Thomas to become a Benedictine, but Thomas refused. One day, his family even sent a prostitute to his cell to tempt him, but he chased her away with a burning log. Eventually, his mother permitted him to escape the castle at night as a way of saving the family from further disgrace.

Now twenty years old, Thomas rejoined the Dominicans and was sent to Paris where he became a student of the intellectual giant Brother Albert, who is now known as Saint Albert the Great. Brother Thomas especially became fond of Aristotle’s philosophy, which would become the foundation of much of his future writings, a first in the history of the Church. He continued to study under Brother Albert for several years. Thomas also became much more reserved in class as he grew in the virtue of humility, rarely speaking up, debating, or revealing his keen intellect. His quiet nature led many of the students to conclude that he was unintelligent, and they gave him the nickname “Dumb Ox.” One day, however, his teacher, Brother Albert, decided it was time for everyone to realize how brilliant Brother Thomas was, so he gave him a difficult question to answer and asked him to return the next day to present his answer to the class. After Thomas did so, his fellow students were in awe and Brother Albert said of him, “You call him the Dumb Ox, but in his teaching he will one day produce such a bellowing that it will be heard throughout the world.”

In 1252, at the age of twenty-six, Brother Thomas was given the title “Master in Theology” by the pope. For the next twenty-two years, Brother Thomas wrote numerous books, sermons, commentaries on Scripture, and even composed some of our Church’s most beautiful hymns, including Pange Lingua. He continued as a teacher, preacher, and papal theologian in Paris, Naples, Orvieto, and Rome.

Among his many works, Saint Thomas is best known for the Summa Theologica, or “Summary of Theology,” which he never completed. One tradition states that when he was celebrating Mass in 1273, he had a vision. He later told his scribe, Brother Reginald, that he could no longer write. When Brother Reginald asked him why, he responded, “Reginald, I cannot, because all that I have written seems like straw to me.” Brother Thomas died the next year after a series of illnesses.

Saint Thomas was not only brilliant, he was also a man of deep faith, who loved God, never stopped contemplating the truths of faith, and courageously introduced new methods by which God became better known and understood. His life of prayer produced a wellspring of supernatural truth that was then organized by his intellect and articulated in ways never seen before. Thomas’ humility and sincerity come through in a story told by one early biographer who relates that as Brother Thomas was praying one morning before the crucifix, he anxiously implored the Lord as to whether or not his writings were correct. Jesus spoke to him saying, “You have written well of Me, Thomas, what shall be your reward?” Thomas replied, “Nothing but You, Lord.”

Though you might not be called to a life of intellectual brilliance, know that God wants to speak to your mind, reveal many hidden truths, and help you apply those truths to your daily life. Ponder any ways that you can more fully engage your mind with the truths of faith so that those truths will become the foundation of your mission in life.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/january-28-saint-thomas-aquinas-priest-and-doctor/

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Saint Angela Merici, Virgin

Daily Saints

1474–1540; Patron Saint of sickness, death of parents, disabled, handicapped, or physically challenged people; Canonized on May 24, 1807 by Pope Pius VII

Angela was the youngest of five children born to her virtuous and faith-filled parents. She was born in the town of Desenzano in northern Italy. Shortly afterward, her family moved to a farm just outside of town where Angela was raised. Angela was well trained in the Catholic faith as a youth. Each day, her father would read to the family about the lives of the saints from “The Golden Legend,” flooding little Angela’s mind and heart with a desire to imitate them. As a teenager, however, tragedy struck her family not once, not twice, but three times. Angela’s father, mother, and sister all died within a short period of time, leaving Angela and her three brothers orphaned.

After the deaths of her parents and sister, Angela and her youngest brother moved to the town of Salò, about fifteen miles north of Desenzano, to live with their uncle, her mother’s brother. Her uncle was also a virtuous man, and Angela continued to grow in her faith under his loving care.

Around the age of twenty or twenty-two, Angela joined the Third Order Franciscans, the lay branch of the larger Franciscan Order. Third Order Franciscans did not take the same vows as consecrated men and women and lived out their vocations in the midst of the world. As a Third Order Franciscan, Angela then began her lifelong custom of wearing the simple Franciscan Tertiary habit. She also informed her uncle that she wanted to dedicate her whole life to Christ, rather than get married. Soon after, her uncle died and Angela decided to move back to her family home in Desenzano to begin a new life as a lay Franciscan. She remained there for about the next twenty years.

At some point it is believed that Angela had one or more visions that increased her trust in God and deepened her commitment to her vocation. Angela was deeply concerned about whether her sister was in Heaven, and her heart longed for reassurance. Her answer came in the form of a vision she had of her sister joining in a Heavenly procession with angels and other young girls. This put Angela’s heart at rest. In that same vision or in a subsequent one, she saw a ladder leading to Heaven and several young virgins climbing that ladder. This vision became the seed of her calling to teach young girls about God and to form them for holy living. Angela began to teach young girls who would gather in her home each day to help them become better Christians. Soon, other young single women began to imitate her, welcoming girls into their homes. These laywomen teachers formed a loose association among themselves, joining in a united mission and lay vocation. After twenty years in Desenzano, Angela was invited to start another house in the nearby city of Brescia.

In Brescia, Angela became well known and well loved by many, especially by young women in need. She counseled many, including former prostitutes, the upper class, the poor, and all who sought her guidance. In 1535, at the age of sixty-one, Angela finally fulfilled the final part of her mission when she gathered twenty-eight other virgins to form the lay organization of women known as the “Company of Saint Ursula.” Saint Ursula was a fitting patron for them, since she was the patron saint of schoolgirls. The Company of Saint Ursula was the first secular institute for laity in the history of the Church. For women at that time, the only two options they traditionally had were either to enter marriage or to join a cloistered convent. This new lay association was the first to offer young women a third option. A couple of years later, Angela was elected the mother of this new company and remained so until her death in 1540. At the time of her death, the Company had about 150 members. Four years after her death, in 1544, Pope Paul III issued a Papal Bull approving the Rule of the Company of Saint Ursula. Though the Company of Saint Ursula remains today, some of the Company’s first members formally branched off into a new religious order called the Ursulines under the leadership of Archbishop Saint Charles Borromeo of Milan in 1572. Both the “Ursulines” and the “Company of Saint Ursula,” which are distinct entities in the Church, point to Saint Angela as their founder.

God used Saint Angela for a unique mission. She fell in love with her God at an early age, dedicated herself solely to Him as her Spouse, and followed His will as it unfolded. At first, her mission was a personal mission of loving girls and guiding them to God in her home. Eventually, God expanded that mission and enfolded it into His Church.

God does not call every person to start a new movement within the Church or to spark the beginnings of a religious order, but He does call us all to see the needs of those around us and work to meet those needs with love and devotion. Saint Angela saw the need to care for and teach young girls. Ponder the needs that are present around you and in imitation of Saint Angela, offer yourself to God so that you may help meet those needs in accord with God’s divine will.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/january-27-saint-angela-merici-virgin/

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Saint Sebastian, Martyr

Daily Saints

c. 255–c. 288; Patron Saint of archers, pinmakers, athletes, against epidemics, and of a holy death; Pre-Congregation canonization

The glorious crown of martyrdom was placed on the head of Saint Sebastian not once but twice. He was born at Narbonne, Gaul (modern-day France), but was raised in Milan, Italy. During his childhood, the persecution of Christians was temporarily on hold, only to resume when Sebastian reached adolescence. Sebastian was a strong Christian who desired to assist those being persecuted for the faith. This holy desire led Sebastian to join the Roman army under the Emperor Carinus in 283, where he kept his Christian faith secret so he could have access to jailed Christians. In 284, Diocletian became Emperor and made Sebastian one of his bodyguards and intelligence officers, not knowing that Sebastian was a Christian. Shortly after this promotion, Sebastian discovered that Marcus and Marcellianus, brothers imprisoned for their faith, were being pressured by their pagan family and friends to save their lives by denying Christ. Their very own pagan parents pleaded, teary-eyed, with their twin sons to deny Christ.

Sebastian knew it was risky, but he openly revealed to all at the jail that he was a Christian. He exhorted the imprisoned brothers to stay strong in the faith, even if it meant their deaths. Sebastian preached so persuasively that eventually the brothers’ parents, the jailer, sixteen other prisoners, and more than sixty other family and friends were converted and baptized. Two of these received miraculous healings at the same time. When the ailing governor of Rome, Chromatius, heard about these healings, he sent for Sebastian. Sebastian then healed the governor himself and subsequently instructed him in the faith. After Chromatius and his son were baptized by the priest Polycarp, a future saint and martyr, Chromatius left his governorship and assisted in the conversion of many others to the Christian faith.

Sebastian and Polycarp decided that one of them should go with Chromatius and many of the new converts to the countryside for safety while the other would stay in Rome to help the persecuted Christians. After consulting the pope, it was decided that Sebastian would remain in Rome to be the “Defender of the Church,” since he enjoyed the favor of the emperor. During the following two years, despite his high status and access to the emperor, several of Sebastian’s converts were nonetheless martyred, including the twin brothers Marcus and Marcellianus.

In the year 286, the Emperor Diocletian found out that Sebastian was a Christian. Feeling betrayed, he ordered Sebastian’s death. The execution was to be public and brutal in an attempt to intimidate other Christians. Sebastian was bound, arrested, tied to a post, and blindfolded. The archers stretched their bows and were ordered to fill him with as many arrows “as an urchin is full of pricks” (The Golden Legend Vol. II). After penetrating his torso and limbs with arrows, they untied him and left his pierced body for dead. But Sebastian did not die! Instead, a holy woman named Irene came to bury his body and found him still alive! She was the wife of Saint Castulus, an officer in the Diocletian’s household, who had been martyred earlier that year. Irene carefully removed Sebastian’s arrows, took him to her home and nursed him back to health. Saint Irene would herself die a martyr just two years later.

After he had regained his health, many urged Sebastian to flee for his life. Instead, Sebastian presented himself before the emperor and firmly accosted him for his cruelty toward Christians. A nineteenth-century biographer placed these words on Sebastian’s lips as he confronted the most powerful man in the world: “Hearken to me O Prince! The priests of your temples deceive you by their wicked falsehoods against the Christians. They tell you, that we are enemies of the Empire; yet it is by our prayer that the Empire is made to prosper. Cease your unjust persecutions against us, and remember the day of reckoning is near at hand when you, too, shall be judged by an all-knowing Judge. (The Acts of the Early Martyrs, Fastré S.J.) The emperor, angered by Sebastian’s words and shocked that Sebastian was still alive, ordered again that he be executed. This time, Sebastian was beaten to death with clubs and thrown into a sewer.

After Sebastian’s death, he appeared in a vision to a holy woman named Lucina and asked her to remove his remains from the sewer and bury him in the catacombs of Callixtus. She did so that night. A basilica was later built there in his memory. This church and cemetery remain an important pilgrimage site today. In the centuries that followed his martyrdom, Saint Sebastian became well known for his intercessory power, especially in fighting off the bubonic plague in the fourteenth century. More recently, he has also been honored as the patron saint of athletes because of his dogged perseverance.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/january-20-saint-sebastian-martyr/

Saint Sebastian, Martyr Read More »

Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr

c. 231–c. 251; Patron Saint of breast cancer patients, martyrs, rape victims, bellfounders, and bakers Invoked against earthquakes, natural disasters, and fires; Pre-Congregation canonization, later confirmed by Pope Saint Gregory the Great, 7th century

Saint Blaise, Bishop and Martyr

Died c. 316; Patron Saint of illnesses of the throat and other illnesses, wool workers, animals, bricklayers, bakers, farm workers; Pre-Congregation canonization

The Presentation of the Lord

Saints Timothy and Titus, Bishops

Saint Timothy: 17–97; Invoked against intestinal disorders and stomach diseases; Saint Titus: First Century–96 Patron Saint of Crete

Saint John Bosco, Priest

1815–1888; Patron Saint of apprentices, boys, editors, laborers, magicians, students; Canonized by Pope Pius XI on April 1, 1934

Saint Bathilde

Saint Marianne Cope, Virgin

1838–1918; Patron Saint of lepers, outcasts, those with HIV/AIDS, Hawaii; Canonized on October 21, 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI

Saint Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor

1225–1274; Patron Saint of students, Catholic schools, apologists, booksellers, chastity, philosophers, publishers, scholars, theologians; Invoked against storms; Canonized by Pope John XXII on July 18, 1323; Proclaimed Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius V in 1567

Saint Angela Merici, Virgin

1474–1540; Patron Saint of sickness, death of parents, disabled, handicapped, or physically challenged people; Canonized on May 24, 1807 by Pope Pius VII

Saint Sebastian, Martyr

c. 255–c. 288; Patron Saint of archers, pinmakers, athletes, against epidemics, and of a holy death; Pre-Congregation canonization

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