Daily Saints

Saint Constantine II

Profile

Born a Scottish prince, the son of King Kenneth II of Strathclyde, Constantine led a life of vice until his conversion, possibly after hearing the evangelizing preaching of Saint Columba and Saint Kentigern.

Constantine was married and the father of at least one son. He became briefly the king of Stathclyde. Widowed, he abdicated his position, founded a monastery at Govan on the river Clyde, became a monk there, and evangelized the region. He became a priest and an abbot of a monastery in Govan, Scotland. He was a martyr.

Older martyrologies have entries for Constantines of Strathclyde, of Cornwall, and of Rahan, Ireland; they run the details of their lives together, and they could have been one, two or three people.

Died

bled to death in 874 in a cave near Crail after his right arm was cut off by Danish pirates
considered a martyr in Scotland for defending his Christian land against pagan invaders

Canonized

Pre-Congregation

Source: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-constantine-ii/

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Saint Marie-Eugénie de Jésus

Daily Saints

Profile

Eugenie was raised in an educated and intellectual family with no faith, but who apparently went through some of the motions since she received her first Communion on Christmas 1829 at age twelve. She had a conversion experience, came to the faith, and felt a call to religious life by hearing the Lenten sermons of the Dominican Henri Lacordaire at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, France. She made a short novitiate with the Sisters of the Visitation at Cote Saint-Andre, but did not take vows.

During a pilgrimage to the shrine of Sainte-Anne d’Auray in 1825, Eugenie felt called to found a teaching institute that would work in the world, but kept monastic observances. In 1839, she founded the group later named the Congregation of the Assumption (Religious of the Assumption, Sisters of the Assumption) to perform this mission. The Assumptionists received papal approval in 1888, and continue their good work in 34 countries around the world today.

Born

26 August 1817 at Metz, Moselle, France as Eugenie Milleret de Brou (de Bron)

Died

10 March 1898 at Auteuil, Hauts-de-Seine, France of natural causes

Venerated

21 June 1961

Beatified

9 February 1975 by Pope Paul VI

Canonized

3 June 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI

Source: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-marie-eugenie-de-jesus/

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Saint Frances of Rome

Daily Saints

1384–1440; Patron Saint of motorists and widows; Invoked against the death of children; Canonized by Pope Paul V on May 29, 1608

Frances was born into an aristocratic family in the Eternal City of Rome near the famed Piazza Navona. From an early age, she was drawn to God and responded with much generosity. At the age of eleven, she told her father that she wanted to become a nun, but her father had other plans for her life. He informed her that he was giving her hand in marriage to Lorenzo Ponziani, a wealthy aristocrat who was a commander in the papal army. Frances struggled with her father’s decision and brought her concern to a local priest. After listening to her, the priest said to her, “Are you crying because you want to do God’s will or because you want God to do your will?” She quickly responded that she wanted God’s will, and the matter was settled. At the age of twelve, Frances was married.

Soon after her marriage, Frances was expected to assist her mother-in-law with the family’s social calendar. She was to help plan and host parties, engage in frivolities, and attend numerous public meetings. Since all she longed for was a life of solitude and prayer, the social expectations placed on her wore her out and she became gravely ill. The illness lasted for months and left her on her deathbed at a tender age. As she lay dying, she had a vision of Saint Alexis, a holy monk who fled an arranged marriage to pursue his vocation, who told her that she could choose one of two options, to recover or not. She deferred to the will of God and was immediately healed.

For the next forty years, Frances embraced her marriage with her whole heart. She loved her husband and he loved her. Her humble affection and devotion to him were so great that it has been said that during those forty years they never once had an argument. Though drawn to a life of prayer, Frances often said, “A married woman must, when called upon, leave her devotions to God at the altar to find Him in her household affairs.” One story relates that, while praying the psalms, Frances was called away four times to tend to family affairs before even being able to finish the prayer. Upon returning to begin a fifth time, she found the words of the psalm written in gold as a sign that her fidelity to the duties of her vocation was pleasing to God.

Though Frances was wealthy and of the noble class, she embraced a personal life of simplicity, bodily penance, fasting, and prayer. She abstained from meat except for rare occasions. She would often exchange the delectable food of the nobility for the food of poor beggars, usually receiving from them dry and moldy bread. She dressed in coarse garments, never fine linen, and often wore a hairshirt that irritated her flesh.

Frances and her husband had three children, two boys, and one girl. When a plague afflicted the city of Rome, one of her sons and her only daughter died at an early age. This personal suffering led her to join her sister-in-law to begin an informal outreach to the sick and poor. The women regularly visited hospitals, nursed the sick back to health, distributed food to the hungry, and were ministers of the compassion of Christ. Frances exhausted all of her own money and possessions to care for those who were suffering. When her money ran out, she began to beg other wealthy families for more. Eventually, some holy noblewomen in Rome were inspired to join Frances and her sister-in-law in their work.

In the year 1413, when Frances was twenty-nine years old, her husband was exiled from Rome by invaders, his property was seized, their home destroyed, and their only living son was detained as a hostage. Through it all, Frances called to mind the sufferings of Job and prayed with him, “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD!” (Job 1:21). Within a few years, the situation was resolved, and her husband was able to move back to Rome and regain his possessions. But the chaos led Frances to turn the ruined family home into a hospital to care for the sick. One of those whom she cared for was her husband, who had suffered greatly during his exile. He was broken more in mind than in body, but her loving devotion helped him heal. During this time, it is said that she began having visions of her guardian angel, who frequently spoke to her and gave her advice. These visions continued for the rest of her life.

By 1425, Frances and other holy women in Rome were working hard to care for the poor and infirm. To help this work flourish, Frances organized a lay association of Benedictine Oblates for single and widowed women. The women who joined did not take formal religious vows nor enter a cloister, but lived together, embraced the Benedictine spirituality under the direction of a local monastery, and gave loving service to the poor and ill. Though still married and unable to join the oblates, Frances did receive the consent of her loving husband to live the rest of their marriage in abstinence from intimacy. They lived this way until Lorenzo’s death in 1436.

The next year, now widowed at the age of fifty-two, Francis walked barefoot through the city to the monastery of oblates she had founded and prostrated herself on the ground before the oblates, begging for admission. She was admitted and soon after was named the superior. The desire for religious life that she felt at the young age of eleven was now realized. For the next three years, she devoted herself to the holy work of her community. When her guardian angel informed her that her mission was complete on earth, she joyfully surrendered herself to death. In 1925, Pope Pius XI declared her to be the patron saint of automobile drivers because it was said that her angel always went before her, lighting the way, as headlights illuminate the way for a car.

Saint Frances loved and served God as a wife, mother, and religious. She learned to embrace God’s will over her own. Her selfless living enabled her to discover God’s will in each evolution of her vocation and to serve Him in the way in which she was called. As we honor this holy woman, ponder your own vocation and commit yourself to serving the will of God in the way that gives Him the greatest glory here and now.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/march-9-saint-frances-of-rome-religious/

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Saint John of God, Religious

Daily Saints

1495–1550; Patron Saint of hospitals, nurses, firefighters, booksellers, alcoholics, and the sick; Canonized on October 16, 1690 by Pope Alexander VIII

Saint John of God was born in the village of Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal to middle-class, faith-filled parents. According to his early biographer, John was abducted from his home when he was only eight years old and taken to the town of Oropesa, Spain, more than 200 miles away. In Oropesa, John found himself homeless and alone. He met a good man named El Mayoral who gave him a job as a shepherd and a place to live. John worked hard until he was twenty-two years old, never returning to his parents’ home. El Mayoral wanted John to marry his daughter, but John wanted to see the world. He joined the army of the Holy Roman Emperor and battled the French. During his service, he was assigned to guard some captured clothing that went missing. John was accused of theft and condemned to death, but others intervened and he was released. Frustrated with military life, John returned to El Mayoral’s farm where he worked for another four years before entering the army once again to fight the Turks for the next eighteen years.

Upon the completion of his military service, John decided to return to his home country in Montemor-o-Novo to learn what became of his parents. After much searching, he found one of his elderly uncles who informed him that his mother died of heartbreak after his abduction and that his father joined the Franciscans and advanced in holiness. John said to his uncle, “I no longer wish to stay in this country; but rather to go in search of a way to serve Our Lord beyond my native place, just as my father did. He gave me a good example by doing that. I have been so wicked and sinful and since the Lord has given me life, it is fitting that I should use it to serve him and do penance.”

John began an interior search for the best way he could serve God and decided to journey to Africa, to ransom himself to the Muslims in exchange for their prisoners. On the journey, he met a knight and his family who were destitute and unable to care for themselves. The knight begged for John’s help that John gladly gave by working and giving them his earnings. When one of John’s fellow workers fled to Muslim territory and converted to Islam, John began to despair, thinking he should have done more for his friend. After seeking counsel from a Franciscan monastery, he decided to return to the mainland of Spain for the good of his soul.

Upon his arrival, John threw himself into a life of prayer, made a general confession, and tearfully went from church to church begging God for the forgiveness of his sins. To support himself, he began to buy and sell religious pictures and books as a traveling salesman. He found this to be spiritually rewarding and fruitful for the salvation of souls. Eventually, at the age of forty-six, he set up a small shop of religious items at Granada’s city gate.

Soon after, the great preacher Saint John of Ávila came to town to preach a mission. John was in attendance and was so moved by John of Ávila’s sermons, and so keenly aware of his own sins, that he started running through the streets like a madman, shouting for mercy. He returned to his shop and destroyed every book that was not religious, gave every other religious book and picture away to those passing by, gave away the rest of his possessions, and continued crying out in the streets that he was a sinner. “Mercy! Mercy, Lord God, on this tremendous sinner who has so offended you!” Many thought John was a lunatic. Some good men brought him to Saint John of Ávila who heard his confession, counseled him, consoled him, and offered his continued guidance. But John was so deeply touched by the priest’s holy help that he wanted everyone in the town to know how sinful he was, so he ran through the streets crying out again and rolled in mud as a sign of his sinfulness. Eventually, two compassionate men took John to the local insane asylum for treatment.

The theory of the day was that those who were insane were best cured by locking them in a dungeon and torturing them continuously until they chose to abandon their insanity, and this is what happened to John. Saint John of Ávila heard of this and began communicating with John, encouraging him, and guiding him. He received every beating in the asylum with joy as penance and offered each sacrificially to God. Throughout, John exhorted the warden and other officers to treat the patients better. When John began to exude a peaceful disposition, the warden was pleased and permitted him to be freed of his shackles. John showed mercy and compassion to others, performing menial charitable tasks and spreading God’s love. He thought to himself, “May Jesus Christ eventually give me the grace to run a hospice where the abandoned poor and those suffering from mental disorders might have refuge and that I may be able to serve them as I wish.”

After receiving permission to leave the asylum, John made a pilgrimage and had a vision of the Blessed Mother who encouraged him to work for the poor and infirm. Upon his return to Granada, he moved forward with his desire to open a hospital. Through begging, he was able to rent a building, furnish it, and begin seeking out the sick. He worked tirelessly to care for them, begged for food, brought priests to hear their confessions, and nursed them back to health. In the years following, John extended his mission of mercy to the poor, the abandoned, widows, orphans, the unemployed, prostitutes, and all who suffered. Soon, others were so inspired by the work John was doing that they joined him. His companions in the work made up what would eventually become the Order of Hospitallers. In John’s life, the group would be only an organized group of companions, but twenty-two years after John’s death, the pope would approve this group of men as a new religious order. Among the many miracles that have been reported, the most notable was when John ran in and out of a burning hospital to rescue patients without being burned himself.

Saint John of God is a shining example of God’s power. He was a sinner and was thought to be mentally ill, but God did incredible things through him. If you ever feel as though you have nothing to offer God, think of Saint John and know that the weaker you may feel, the more God can use you.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/march-8-saint-john-of-god-religious/

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Saints Perpetua and Felicity, Martyrs

Daily Saints

Saint Perpetua: c. 182–203; Patron Saint of cattle and martyrs; Invoked against the death of children

Saint Felicity: Unknown–203; Patron Saint of martyrs, help to have male children, and widows; Invoked against sterility and the death of children; Pre-Congregation canonizations

The first records of martyrdom in North Africa took place in 180 when twelve Christians were tried and put to death for their faith. After those first martyrs, the Christian faith in North Africa grew stronger and new converts became commonplace. In an attempt to slow the growth of Christianity, Roman Emperor Septimius Severus issued a decree forbidding subjects of the Roman Empire to convert. If they did, they were given the opportunity to renounce their faith and honor the Roman gods. If they refused, they were put to death. In 203, five catechumens preparing for baptism were arrested in the Roman city of Carthage (modern-day Tunisia). Among those catechumens were the two martyrs we honor today.

Vibia Perpetua was a twenty-two-year-old married noblewoman at the time of her arrest. She was also a mother, having recently given birth to a son whom she was still nursing. Her father was a pagan, but her mother and a brother were baptized Christians. A second brother was preparing for baptism alongside Perpetua, and a third brother had already died as a pagan. Perpetua had been touched by Christ and decided to become a Christian, but she was arrested before her baptism. Her pagan father came to her in prison and pleaded with her to renounce the Christian faith and refuse baptism to save her life so she could raise her son. Perpetua records that conversation as follows: “‘Father, do you see this vessel lying here to be a little pitcher, or something else? Can it be called by any other name than what it is?’ And he said, ‘No.’ ‘Neither can I call myself anything else than what I am, a Christian’” (Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity). A few days later, Perpetua was secretly baptized in prison.

While in prison, Perpetua’s heart yearned for her baby. To her joy, the infant was brought to her so she could nurse him. When that happened, she said, “My prison suddenly became a palace to me and I would rather have been there than anywhere else.”

Felicity, a slave, was also a young woman and pregnant at the time of her arrest. One eyewitness stated, “Felicity had feared that she might not be allowed to suffer with the rest, because pregnant women were not sent into the arena. However, she gave birth in the prison to a daughter whom one of their fellow Christians at once adopted.”

When these brave women stood before their judge, Perpetua’s father showed up with her baby, pleading with her to renounce Christ, save her life, and be there for her son. The judge also encouraged her: “Spare your father’s white hairs. Spare the tender years of your child. Offer sacrifice for the prosperity of the emperors.” Perpetua refused. When asked directly if she were a Christian, she responded, “Yes, I am.” At that, her father violently inserted himself into the situation but was struck by the guard. When Perpetua saw this, her heart broke. She later recounted, “I felt this as if I myself had been struck, so deeply did I grieve to see my father treated thus in his old age.” The judge passed sentence and all were condemned to death by wild beasts. Still, they were filled with great joy as they returned to their prison. After the sentencing, Perpetua was no longer allowed to see her baby boy.

On the day of their martyrdom, Perpetua and Felicity walked to the arena with heads high and joyful spirits. With them were Revocatus, a fellow slave with Felicity, and two freemen, Saturninus and Secundulus. The men were sent into the arena first to be devoured by a leopard, a wild boar, and a bear. Saturnius was the last standing. When a second leopard attacked and blood poured out, the crowd cried out, “He is well baptized now!”

Perpetua and Felicity were then placed in the arena, and a wild cow was let loose as a way of mocking them as nursing mothers. The beast gravely wounded them but did not kill them, so an executioner was dispatched. Perpetua cried out to her brother, “Stand fast in the faith, and love one another. Do not let our sufferings be a stumbling block to you.” She then noticed the fear in the eyes of the executioner so she guided his sword to her neck and the young women received their eternal reward.

Perpetua and Felicity were both new young mothers at the time of their martyrdom. They loved their newborn babies with tender love. But they also loved their God Whom they had both recently come to know. They were forced to choose. Either reject Christ and be there to raise their babies or remain Christian and leave their babies. With heroic courage and faith, they remained true to both. They remained faithful to Christ, dying as martyrs, and they fulfilled their greatest motherly duty by giving heroic witnesses of faith to their babies. We can only hope that as their children grew and were told the stories of their mothers’ love of God, those children were inspired and sought to imitate their mothers’ Christian faith.

Place yourself in that same situation. Would you have had the courage to face death? Would you be able to stay true to your profession of faith under such extreme emotional and familial pressures? Pray to these saintly mothers and be reminded that the greatest gift we can pass onto others is the witness of our faith in Christ. Life is empty unless Christ is loved and professed, and death loses its sting when our lives are Christ’s.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/march-7-saints-perpetua-and-felicity-martyrs/

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Saint Colette

Daily Saints

Profile

Colette was a carpenter‘s daughter whose parents were near 60 at her birth. She was orphaned at age 17, and left in the care of a Benedictine abbot. Her guardian wanted her to marry, but Colette was drawn to religious life. She initially tried to join the Beguines and Benedictines, but failed in her vocation. She was a Franciscan tertiary and a hermitess. On 17 September 1402, at age 21, she became an anchoress – walled into a cell whose only opening was a grilled window into a church.

Colette had visions in which Saint Francis of Assisi ordered her to restore the Rule of Saint Clare to its original severity. When she hesitated, she was struck blind for three days and mute for three more; she saw this as a sign to take action.

Colette tried to follow her mission by explaining it, but had no success. Realizing she needed more authority behind her words, she walked to Nice, France, barefoot and clothed in a habit of patches, to meet Peter de Luna, acknowledged by the French as the schismatic Pope Benedict XIII. He professed her a Poor Clare, and was so impressed that he made her superioress of all convents of Minoresses that she might reform or found, and a missioner to Franciscan friars and tertiaries.

She traveled from convent to convent, meeting opposition, abuse, slander, and was even accused of sorcery. Eventually, she made some progress, especially in Savoy, where her reform gained sympathizers and recruits. This reform passed to Burgundy in France, Flanders in Belgium and Spain.

Colette helped Saint Vincent Ferrer heal the papal schism. She founded seventeen convents; one branch of the Poor Clares is still known as the Colettines.

Colette was known for a deep devotion to Christ’s Passion with an appreciation and care for animals. She fasted every Friday, meditating on the Passion. After receiving Holy Communion, she would fall into ecstasies for hours. She foretold the date of her own death.

Born

13 January 1381 at Corbie, Picardy, France as Nicolette Boilet, named in honor of Saint Nicholas of Myra

Died

6 March 1447 at Ghent, Belgium of natural causes
relics at the Monastère Sainte-Claire, Poligny, France

Beatified

1604 by Pope Clement VIII (grant of liturgical office)
23 January 1740 by Pope Clement XII (beatification)

Canonized

24 May 1807 by Pope Pius VII

Patronage

against eye disorders
against fever
against headaches
against infertility
against the death of parents
carpenters
craftsmen
Poor Clares
servants
Corbie, France
Ghent, Belgium

Representation

birds
lamb
woman being carried to heaven by an angel
woman delivering a soul from purgatory
Poor Clare nun holding a crucifix and a hook
Poor Clare nun visited by Saint Anne, Saint Francis of Assisi, and/or Saint Clare of Assisi in a vision
Poor Clare nun walking on a stream

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

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Ash Wednesday

Catholic Special Day, Daily Saints

It was a common practice within the early Church that those who were found guilty of grave public sin needed to do public penance before they were admitted back into communion with the Church and admitted to the Most Holy Eucharist. The public sinners came forward in sackcloth forty days before Easter and were sprinkled with ashes, in keeping with many Old Testament examples of public penance. They fasted and prayed for forty days and then, on Easter, were readmitted into full communion with the Church. Eventually, prior to the end of the first millennium, this practice was extended to the entire Church as a way of highlighting everyone’s need for penance. One of the earliest mentions of this practice becoming universal comes from an English Benedictine monk who wrote:

We read in the books both in the Old Law and in the New that the men who repented of their sins bestrewed themselves with ashes and clothed their bodies with sackcloth. Now let us do this little at the beginning of our Lent that we strew ashes upon our heads to signify that we ought to repent of our sins during the Lenten fast.

Today, as a sign of our ongoing need to repent of our sins and do penance, the faithful are invited to come forward to be marked with ashes as a sign of their commitment to the penitential season of Lent, so as to celebrate with great joy the Solemnity of Easter. Lent is forty-six days long. Forty of those days are penitential days, and six of them are Sundays. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and concludes with the Easter Vigil. The forty penitential days are an imitation of Jesus’ forty days in the desert.

As we come forward to receive ashes, the minister traditionally says, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” This line is taken from the Book of Genesis when God expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. He told Eve that she would suffer the pains of childbirth and be subjected to her husband. God told Adam that he would labor for his food through sweat and toil. To both of them, God said this curse would last “Until you return to the ground, from which you were taken; For you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). Thus, the final curse of original sin is death: “…to dust you shall return.”

As we come forward to receive ashes, we should hear God saying to us, as He said to Adam and Eve, that we also suffer the consequences of original sin and will die. But that curse must be seen in the light of God’s final plan of salvation. Today, we acknowledge that the curse of death will endure but also hold onto the hope of resurrection made possible through Christ. Lent is a time of repentance for our sin and hope in redemption. Ash Wednesday is our liturgical and public statement that we have chosen both repentance and redemption.

As you come forward to receive the ashes today, don’t just go through the motions. Make this act a prayer and one of deep interior devotion. Call to mind your sins and the sins of your whole life, as best you can. Acknowledge the just punishment of eternal death that you deserve for your sins. But then call to mind the infinite and unmerited mercy of God. Remember that even though you are an undeserving sinner, God has reached down from Heaven to offer you the gift of eternal salvation. He has invited you to receive this gift through your repentance and humility. Humble yourself today in “sackcloth and ashes,” and as with those public sinners of old, God will use this Lent to more fully unite your soul with His through His glorious death and resurrection.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/ash-wednesday/

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Saint Casimir

Daily Saints

1458–1484; Patron Saint of Poland, Lithuania, and Lithuanian youth; Believed to have been canonized by Pope Leo X in 1521 or Pope Adrian VI in 1522; Canonization confirmed by Pope Clement VIII in 1602

King Casimir IV was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. His wife, Queen Elizabeth, was the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Albert II. Their marriage was arranged primarily for political reasons, giving King Casimir IV greater influence in Bohemia and Hungary, but their marriage also bore great spiritual fruit. They had thirteen children, the third being the saint we honor today, Saint Casimir, named after his father.

Saint Casimir was born on October 3, 1458, the second son and third child in the Polish royal family. King Casimir IV’s father had converted to Catholicism from paganism and introduced Christianity to Lithuania. King Casimir IV was, therefore, raised in a good Catholic home which he also provided to his children. A faithful Catholic herself, Queen Elizabeth was the loving mother of her thirteen children.

As children born into royalty, Casimir and his siblings were well educated. From the age of nine until sixteen, Casimir and his older brother were tutored by a Polish priest named Father Jan Długosz. This good priest taught the boys Latin, German, law, history, rhetoric, and classical literature.

Casimir had no desire for power, war, riches, or nobility. Father Długosz had taught him well, and Casimir had fallen in love with his God and the Blessed Virgin. He prayed frequently, often slept on the floor, engaged in other penitential practices, spent entire nights meditating on the Passion of our Lord, dressed simply, and desired to live a life of chastity. He was charitable to the poor, manifested the virtues, and edified all who encountered him. He especially had a deep devotion to our Blessed Mother and each day sang an ancient hymn called, “Daily, Daily Sing to Mary.”

When Casimir was only thirteen, the King of Bohemia and Hungary died and King Casimir IV asserted his right to name a successor. The Bohemians agreed and accepted Vladislaus, the King’s firstborn son, as their king, but some of the Hungarians did not, preferring a godless tyrant named Matthias Corvinus. With the support of some of the Hungarian nobles, King Casimir IV decided to name his son Casimir to the Hungarian throne by force. Casimir was sent to lead the Polish army in battle against the Hungarians and take the throne. Casimir agreed out of obedience to his father, but his heart was not in it. He opposed the war, and in time the effort failed and Casimir returned to Poland. His opposition grew even stronger when he heard that Pope Sixtus IV had asked his father not to go to war. Upon Casimir’s arrival home, his father was furious and imprisoned him in a tower for three months. Those three months, however, were just what Casimir longed for.

In the solitude of imprisonment, Casimir was able to return to his life of prayer and deepen his union with God. Afterward, he continued his studies and life of devotion, vowing to remain celibate for the Kingdom of God. His father was not pleased and attempted to arrange a marriage for him, but he refused. After completing his studies at the age of sixteen, Casimir worked closely with his father, but his heart remained with God and the Blessed Mother. When Casimir was twenty, his father had to be absent from Poland for about five years, tending to matters in Lithuania. During those years, Casimir was put in charge of ruling Poland, which he did with thoughtfulness, justice, and charity. When Casimir was twenty-five, he became ill with a lung disease. His father rushed back to Poland to be with his son, and on March 4, 1484, at the age of twenty-five, Casimir died.

After his death, devotion to Casimir quickly exploded. Many people prayed to him, and many attributed miracles to his intercession. One notable miracle took place in 1519 when the Lithuanian army was engaged in battle with the Russians. It is said that Saint Casimir appeared to the Lithuanian soldiers in a vision and directed them to a place where they could best defend their city, which they successfully did. This might be the reason that Saint Casimir is the patron saint of both Poland and Lithuania.

Shortly after that miracle, it is believed that Pope Leo X carefully examined Casimir’s life and miracles and was prepared to canonize him, but might have died before he was able to do so. Therefore, his successor, Pope Adrian VI, might have been the one to canonize him. Because those questions remained for some time, Pope Clement VIII officially confirmed Casimir’s canonization in 1602, adding him to the Roman liturgical calendar for Poland and Lithuania. In 1620, Saint Casimir was added to the Roman Calendar of the universal Church.

Worldly power, riches, and honors were all within the grasp of this young prince, yet he chose the power, riches, and honors bestowed by the heavenly King instead. His heart was filled with faith from a very early age that only grew as he got older. Even after Casimir’s death, God used him to inspire many. Ponder your own ambitions in life, and seek to imitate this young prince who rejected the lies of this world, preferring only the eternal truths of the Kingdom of God.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/march-4-saint-casimir/

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Saint Katharine Drexel, Virgin

Daily Saints

1858–1955; Patron Saint of racial justice and philanthropists; Canonized on October 1, 2000 by Pope John Paul II

On November 26, 1858, Catherine Marie Drexel was born in Philadelphia to Hannah Langstroth Drexel and her husband, Francis Drexel, an international banker and one of the wealthiest men in the United States. Her mother died when Catherine was only five weeks old, so Catherine and her older sister Elizabeth were cared for by their aunt and uncle until their father remarried in 1860. Three years later, Francis and his new wife, Emma, had a daughter, Louisa.

The three girls had what many would describe as an ideal childhood. They were lovingly cared for, lived in a large home in Philadelphia, received an excellent education from private tutors, frequently traveled with their father and stepmother throughout the United States and Europe, and were taught the Catholic faith in both word and deed. Francis and Emma Drexel were devout Catholics who regularly prayed and performed charitable works. They taught the girls that their wealth was a gift to be used for the good of others. One way they put this conviction into practice was by opening their large home to the community a few times each week, distributing food, clothing, and money for rent assistance to the poor. When widows or single women were embarrassed to come, Emma would quietly seek the women out to assist them. She often taught the girls that “Kindness may be unkind if it leaves a sting behind.” The girls also learned about prayer by witnessing their father and stepmother praying daily before an altar in their home.

When Catherine was only fourteen years old, she formulated a spiritual plan for her life with the help of her spiritual director, Father James O’Connor, who later was named the first bishop of Omaha. Catherine’s parents’ witness greatly influenced her, and she began to understand that spiritual riches were worth more than all the material wealth in the world.

After completing her formal education at the age of twenty, Catherine made her social debut and was presented to Philadelphia high society, as was the custom for young wealthy women. Her heart, however, was not drawn to the life of a social elite, but to God and care for the poor. Over the next few years, Catherine’s stepmother suffered from cancer and died on January 29, 1883, at the age of forty-nine, which helped Catherine to realize that money cannot buy health or happiness. The following year, Catherine and her sisters traveled to the Western United States with their father where they saw firsthand the poverty of the Native American community on reservations. In 1885 their father died, leaving his fortune to his three girls. Francis’ will set up trust funds that stipulated that each daughter would equally receive the income produced by his remaining $14 million estate, which translated into about $1,000 every day for each daughter. By comparison, in the year 2023, the $14 million estate would be equivalent to almost $500 million, and each daughter would receive about $35,000 per day.

Despite receiving this fortune, Catherine’s heart remained with the poor, especially the Native Americans out West, and impoverished Black communities. Over the next two years, with the help of two priests, she made substantial donations to reservations and visited them herself. In 1887, she was struggling with what she would do with her life. She felt drawn to the contemplative religious life but knew that this would make it impossible for her to use her inheritance for charitable work. During a visit to Rome, she had a private audience with Pope Leo XIII during which she begged the Holy Father to send an order of missionaries to the Native Americans. The pope lovingly said to her, “But why not be a missionary yourself, my child?” The pope’s words resonated deeply within her heart, and she soon found herself in tears outside Saint Peter’s Basilica, knowing what she must do.

In 1889, Catherine entered the novitiate of the Sisters of Mercy in Pittsburgh, taking the name Sister Mary Katharine. The news traveled quickly among the social elite. Philadelphia’s Public Ledger printed an article with the headline: “Miss Drexel Enters a Catholic Convent—Gives Up Seven Million.” She made her final vows in 1891, and with thirteen companions founded the “Blessed Sacrament Sisters for Indians and Colored People.” Sister Katharine was chosen as the first superior general.

Mother Katharine quickly went to work, using her inheritance to found a boarding school for Pueblo Indians in New Mexico and a school for African American girls in Virginia. Over the next sixty-four years, Mother Katharine and her sisters established forty-nine elementary schools, twelve high schools, Xavier University in New Orleans for Black students, and fifty-one convents. At the time of her death, her order had grown to more than 500 women religious.

In 1935, following a heart attack at the age of seventy-seven, Mother Katharine retreated to a life of prayer. Her original longing for a contemplative life was realized and lasted for the next twenty years. Her father’s will was set up in such a way that the income she received from the trust fund could only be passed on to her children. If she had no children, the money was to be distributed to religious organizations that her father had specified. Of course, Mother Katharine’s order was not one of them, being founded after her father’s death. Some believe that God allowed her to live until the age of ninety-six so that her annual earnings from her trust fund could be used for the ongoing charitable work of her order. She lived her last years in prayer, in personal poverty, simplicity, and charity, giving all she had and all she was to the poor. She was canonized in the year 2000, only the second person born in the United States to be canonized up to that time (after Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton).

Many people dream of being rich. Saint Katharine Drexel teaches us that money is not the source of fulfillment in life. Love is. Whether you are rich or poor, your happiness comes from lovingly serving the will of God. Be inspired by this holy woman and learn from her example by choosing the poverty of Christ over the riches of the world, and you will discover the true riches of Heaven.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/march-3-saint-katharine-drexel-virgin-usa-optional-memorial/

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Saint Luke Casali

Daily Saints

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Lucas was educated by the abbot of the monastery of Saint Philip at Agira, Sicily, Italy. Monk at Agira. He was a priest and a reluctant abbot of his house.

Lucas eventually, for unknown reasons, went blind. One day while they were travelling to Nicosia, one of his monks tried to play a trick on the blind abbot by telling him that some townspeople were following them in hope of hearing him preach. Lucas stopped, turned to where he was told the people were standing, and began to preach to the empty field. When he finished, the stones along the road all shouted “Amen”, confounding the practical joker. A church dedicated to Lucas was later built on the spot.

Born

Nicosia, Sicily, Italy

Died

c.800 at the monastery of Saint Philip in Agira, Sicily, Italy of natural causes
most relics still in Agira
some relics in Nicosia, Sicily, Italy

Canonized

Pre-Congregation

Patronage

Nicosia, Sicily, Italy (his intervention ended a plague in 1575

Source: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-luke-casali/

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Saint Constantine II

Saint Marie-Eugénie de Jésus

Saint Frances of Rome

1384–1440; Patron Saint of motorists and widows; Invoked against the death of children; Canonized by Pope Paul V on May 29, 1608

Saint John of God, Religious

1495–1550; Patron Saint of hospitals, nurses, firefighters, booksellers, alcoholics, and the sick; Canonized on October 16, 1690 by Pope Alexander VIII

Saints Perpetua and Felicity, Martyrs

Saint Perpetua: c. 182–203; Patron Saint of cattle and martyrs; Invoked against the death of children

Saint Felicity: Unknown–203; Patron Saint of martyrs, help to have male children, and widows; Invoked against sterility and the death of children; Pre-Congregation canonizations

Saint Colette

Ash Wednesday

Saint Casimir

1458–1484; Patron Saint of Poland, Lithuania, and Lithuanian youth; Believed to have been canonized by Pope Leo X in 1521 or Pope Adrian VI in 1522; Canonization confirmed by Pope Clement VIII in 1602

Saint Katharine Drexel, Virgin

1858–1955; Patron Saint of racial justice and philanthropists; Canonized on October 1, 2000 by Pope John Paul II

Saint Luke Casali

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