San Luis:
  The Rosary is recited     the First Saturday
  at 10:00 AM with the
  Guadalupanas at the      Church.

  Holy Cross:
  The Chaplet of  
  Divine Mercy is
  recited on fridays at

  The Rosary is prayed before mass at 9:30 on Sunday and Wednesdays at  6:30 pm with the Religious Education students and catechists downstairs at the Activity Center.

May 13, 2017 marked the
100th anniversary of
Our Lady''s appearances to the children
in the tiny village of Fatima, Portugal
In her apparitions she appeals
to all of us to pray the rosary every
day for peace in the whole world. 

May the Creator of all and the head of all our families shower us with blessings. Grant us patience with each other as we go through our days. Help us to bear one another's mistakes, to forgive one another's wrongs, and to be gentle with those who are younger as they learn what it means to be family. Give us the gift of gratitude for our famiies. Help us to apprecieate the unique qualities that each member brings to make our family holy, whole and complete. Let the example of our family shine through so that all people will see your goodness through us. Let us be models of the Holy Family today and always.

 
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Feast day: December 14

Dec. 14 is the liturgical memorial of Saint John of the Cross, a 16th century Carmelite priest best known for reforming his order together with Saint Teresa of Avila, and for writing the classic spiritual treatise “The Dark Night of the Soul.”

Honored as a Doctor of the Church since 1926, he is sometimes called the “Mystical Doctor,” as a tribute to the depth of his teaching on the soul's union with God.

The youngest child of parents in the silk-weaving trade, John de Yepes was born during 1542 in Fontiveros near the Spanish city of Avila. His father Gonzalo died at a relatively young age, and his mother Catalina struggled to provide for the family. John found academic success from his early years, but failed in his effort to learn a trade as an apprentice. Instead he spent several years working in a hospital for the poor, and continuing his studies at a Jesuit college in the town of Medina del Campo.

After discerning a calling to monastic life, John entered the Carmlite Order in 1563. He had been practicing severe physical asceticism even before joining the Carmelites, and got permission to live according to their original rule of life – which stressed solitude, silence, poverty, work, and contemplative prayer. John received ordination as a priest in 1567 after studying in Salamanca, but considered transferring to the more austere Carthusian order rather than remaining with the Carmelites.

Before he could take such a step, however, he met the Carmelite nun later canonized as Saint Teresa of Avila. Born in 1515, Teresa had joined the order in 1535, regarding consecrated religious life as the most secure road to salvation. Since that time she had made remarkable spiritual progress, and during the 1560s she began a movement to return the Carmelites to the strict observance of their original way of life. She convinced John not to leave the order, but to work for its reform.

Changing his religious name from “John of St. Matthias” to “John of the Cross,” the priest began this work in November of 1568, accompanied by two other men of the order with whom he shared a small and austere house. For a time, John was in charge of the new recruits to the “Discalced Carmelites” – the name adopted by the reformed group, since they wore sandals rather than ordinary shoes as sign of poverty. He also spent five years as the confessor at a monastery in Avila led by St. Teresa.

Their reforming movement grew quickly, but also met with severe opposition that jeopardized its future during the 1570s. Early in December of 1577, during a dispute over John's assignment within the order, opponents of the strict observance seized and imprisoned him in a tiny cell. His ordeal lasted nine months and included regular public floggings along with other harsh punishments. Yet it was during this very period that he composed the poetry that would serve as the basis for his spiritual writings.

John managed to escape from prison in August of 1578, after which he resumed the work of founding and directing Discalced Carmelite communities. Over the course of a decade he set out his spiritual teachings in works such as “The Ascent of Mount Carmel,” “The Spiritual Canticle” and “The Living Flame of Love” as well as “The Dark Night of the Soul.” But intrigue within the order eventually cost him his leadership position, and his last years were marked by illness along with further mistreatment.

St. John of the Cross died in the early hours of Dec. 14, 1591, nine years after St. Teresa of Avila's death in October 1582. Suspicion, mistreatment, and humiliation had characterized much of his time in religious life, but these trials are understood as having brought him closer to God by breaking his dependence on the things of this world. Accordingly, his writings stress the need to love God above all things – being held back by nothing, and likewise holding nothing back.

Only near the end of his life had St. John's monastic superior recognized his wisdom and holiness. Though his reputation had suffered unjustly for years, this situation reversed soon after his death. He was beatified in 1675, canonized in 1726, and named a Doctor of the Church in the 20th century by Pope Pius XI. In a letter marking the 400th anniversary of St. John's death, Pope John Paul II – who had written a doctoral thesis on the saint's writings – recommended the study of the Spanish mystic, whom he called a “master in the faith and witness to the living God.”


St. Lucy
Feast day: December 13
St. Lucy is a virgin and martyr of Syracuse in Sicily, whose feast is celebrated on December 13th. According to tradition, Saint Lucy was born to rich and noble parents in the year 283. Her father was of Roman origin, but his early death left her dependent upon her mother, whose name, Eutychia, seems to indicate that she was of Greek heritage.

Like so many of the early martyrs, Lucy had consecrated her virginity to God, and she hoped to devote all her worldly goods to the service of the poor.

Her mother, Eutychia, arranged a marriage for her, but for three years she managed to postpone the marriage. Lucy prayed at the tomb of Saint Agatha to change her mother’s mind about her faith. As a result, her mother's long haemorrhagic illness was cured, and she consented to Lucy's desire to live for God.

Saint Lucy’s rejected bridegroom, Paschasius, denounced Lucy as a Christian. The governor planned to force her into prostitution, but when guards went to fetch her, they could not move her even when they hitched her to a team of oxen. The governor ordered her to be killed instead.

After a gruesome torture which included having her eyes torn out, she was surrounded by bundles of wood which were set afire, but the fire quickly died out. She prophesied against her persecutors, and was then executed by being stabbed to death with a dagger.

According to later accounts, Lucy warned Paschasius he would be punished. When the governor heard this he ordered the guards to gouge out her eyes; however, in another telling, it was Lucy who removed her eyes in an attempt to discourage a persistent suitor who greatly admired them. When her body was being prepared for burial, they discovered her eyes had been restored. This and the meaning of her name ("light" or "lucid") led to her patronage with eyes; the blind, eye trouble, and other eye ailments.


Our Lady of Guadalupe
Feast day: December 12

In 1531 a "Lady from Heaven" appeared to Saint Juan Diego, a poor Indian from Tepeyac, a hill northwest of Mexico City. She identified herself as the Mother of the True God and instructed him to have the bishop build a church on the site. As a sign for the bishop, she left an image of herself imprinted miraculously on his tilma, a poor quality cactus-cloth. The tilma should have deteriorated within 20 years but shows no sign of decay after over 470 years. To this day it defies all scientific explanations of its origin.

In the eyes of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the tilma, we can see reflected what was in front of her in 1531. Her message of love and compassion, and her universal promise of help and protection to all mankind, as well as the story of the apparitions, are described in the "Nican Mopohua," a 16th century document written in the native Nahuatl language.

There is reason to believe that at Tepeyac Mary came in her glorified body, and her actual physical hands rearranged the roses in Juan Diego’s tilma, which makes this apparition very special.

An incredible list of miracles, cures, and interventions are attributed to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Each year an estimated 10 million people visit her Basilica, making her Mexico City home the most popular Marian shrine in the world, and the most visited Catholic church in the world after Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.

Science cannot explain the tilma, to this day.

There is no under sketch, no sizing and no protective over-varnish on the image. Microscopic examination revealed that there were no brush strokes. The image seems to increase in size and change colors due to an unknown property of the surface and substance of which it is made. According to Kodak of Mexico, the image is smooth and feels like a modern day photograph. Produced 300 years before the invention of photography.) The image has consistently defied exact reproduction, whether by brush or camera. Several images can be seen reflected in the eyes of the Virgin. It is believed to be the images of Juan Diego, Bishop Juan de Zummaraga, Juan Gonzales-the interpreter and others.The distortion and place of the images are identical to what is produced in the normal eye, which is impossible to obtain on a flat surface. The stars on Our Lady's Mantle coincide with the constellation in the sky on December 12, 1531. All who have scientifically examined the image of Our Lady over the centuries confess that its properties are absolutely unique and so inexplicable in human terms that the image can only be supernatural.

Altogether 24 popes have officially honored Our Lady of Guadalupe. His Holiness Blessed John Paul II visited her Sanctuary four times: on his first apostolic trip outside Rome as Pope in 1979, and again in 1990, 1999 and 2002.

The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated on December 12th. In 1999, Blessed John Paul II, in his homily given during the Solemn Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, his third visit to the sanctuary, declared the date of December the 12th as a Liturgical Holy Day for the whole continent. During the same visit Pope John Paul II entrusted the cause of life to her loving protection, and placed under her motherly care the innocent lives of children, especially those who are in danger of not being born.

Patronage: Americas, Central America, diocese of Colorado Springs Colorado, diocese of Corpus Christi Texas, diocese of Dodge City, Kansas, Estremadura Spain, diocese of Gallup New Mexico, Mexico, diocese of Nashville Tennessee, New Mexico, New World, diocese of Orange California, diocese of Phoenix Arizona, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, diocese of Sacramento, California, diocese of Sioux City Iowa, Spain.



Honoring Our Lady of Loreto

Pope Francis has decreed that the celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Loreto be added to the General Roman Calendar as an optional memorial for December 10, the date on which this feast is observed in Loreto, Italy. The intent of expanding this observance is to “help all people, especially families, youth and religious to imitate the virtues of that perfect disciple of the Gospel, the Virgin Mother, who, in conceiving the Head of the Church also accepted us as her own.”

Find a short video about Our Lady of Loreto Basilica here.

The following is an English translation of information found on the official Holy House of Loreto website:
 

According to tradition, the Holy House of Loreto is part of the house of the Virgin, which was built from a cave carved into the rock and from a front room. According to tradition, the latter was transported from Nazareth in 1291 by “angelic mystery.” It was taken first to ancient Illyria and then to the Loretan hill on December 10, 1294.

When the crusaders were expelled from Palestine in 1291, the masonry house was transported to ancient Illyria, in the present city of Tersatto, where there is a Marian sanctuary today.

During the night between December 9 and 10 in 1294, the house was transported to Italy to the lands of the ancient municipality of Recanati and was placed on a public road where it is still kept. The devotional tradition says that this transposition was the work of the angels, but recent archaeological and philological research proposes the well-founded hypothesis that the Holy House had been transported by ship under protection from above. Some indications suggest that the people who arranged for the transport were not the angels of Heaven but a family called Angeli (Angels).

It was May 17, 1900, when Giuseppe Lapponi, pontifical physician of Pope Leo XIII, indicated that he had read some documents in the Vatican archives that claimed a noble Byzantine family named Angeli had saved the materials of the House of the Madonna from Muslim devastation and had them transported to Loreto.

The Holy House is kept inside a marble cladding that was designed by Bramante in 1509. It was built under the direction of Antonio Sansovino, Ranieri Nerucci, and Antonio da Sangallo the Younger.

Since the 16th century, pilgrims have constantly moved around the Holy House on their knees. This has dug two deep furrows in the floor that can still be seen today.

 

St. Juan Diego
Feast day: December 09

On Dec. 9, Roman Catholics celebrate St. Juan Diego, the indigenous Mexican Catholic convert whose encounter with the Virgin Mary began the Church's devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe.

In 1474, 50 years before receiving the name Juan Diego at his baptism, a boy named Cuauhtlatoatzin -- “singing eagle” -- was born in the Anahuac Valley of present-day Mexico. Though raised according to the Aztec pagan religion and culture, he showed an unusual and mystical sense of life even before hearing the Gospel from Franciscan missionaries.

In 1524, Cuauhtlatoatzin and his wife converted and entered the Catholic Church. The farmer now known as Juan Diego was committed to his faith, often walking long distances to receive religious instruction. In December of 1531, he would be the recipient of a world-changing miracle.

On Dec. 9, Juan Diego was hurrying to Mass to celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. But the woman he was heading to church to celebrate came to him instead.

In the native Aztec dialect, the radiant woman announced herself as the “ever-perfect holy Mary, who has the honor to be the mother of the true God.”

“I am your compassionate Mother, yours and that of all the people that live together in this land,” she continued, “and also of all the other various lineages of men.”

She asked Juan Diego to make a request of the local bishop. “I want very much that they build my sacred little house here” -- a house dedicated to her son Jesus Christ, on the site of a former pagan temple, that would “show him” to all Mexicans and “exalt him” throughout the world.

She was asking a great deal of a native farmer. Not surprisingly, his bold request met with skepticism from Bishop Juan de Zumárraga. But Juan Diego said he would produce proof of the apparition, after he finished tending to his uncle whose death seemed imminent.

Making his way to church on Dec. 12, to summon a priest for his uncle, Juan Diego again encountered the Blessed Virgin. She promised to cure his uncle and give him a sign to display for the bishop. On the hill where they had first met he would find roses and other flowers, though it was winter.

Doing as she asked, he found the flowers and brought them back to her. The Virgin Mary then placed the flowers inside his tilma, the traditional cloak-like garment he had been wearing. She told him not to unwrap the tilma containing the flowers until he had reached the bishop.

When he did, Bishop Zumárraga had his own encounter with Our Lady of Guadalupe – through the image of her that he found miraculously imprinted on the flower-filled tilma. The Mexico City basilica that now houses the tilma has become, by some estimates, the world's most-visited Catholic shrine.

The miracle that brought the Gospel to millions of Mexicans also served to deepen Juan Diego's own spiritual life. For many years after the experience, he lived a solitary life of prayer and work in a hermitage near the church where the image was first displayed. Pilgrims had already begun flocking to the site by the time he died on Dec. 9, 1548, the 17th anniversary of the first apparition.

Blessed John Paul II beatified St. Juan Diego in 1990, and canonized him in 2002.

Saint Ambrose

When Saint Ambrose became bishop of Milan, he had some catching up to do. In fact, at the time, Ambrose was not yet a priest, nor was he even baptized when the emperor decided that he would make an excellent bishop. Within a week, Ambrose was baptized, ordained, and consecrated as a bishop. Despite these gaps in his résumé, Ambrose worked hard to settle disputes, to convert people to the faith, and to defend the dual nature of Jesus Christ—both human and divine. The Church celebrates Saint Ambrose on December 7. https://www.pflaumweeklies.com/bonus-resources-files/2019-20/seasonal-resources/catholic-resources/

St. Martin of Tours
Feast day: November 11

On Nov. 11, the Catholic Church honors St. Martin of Tours, who left his post in the Roman army to become a “soldier of Christ” as a monk and later bishop.

Martin was born around the year 316 in modern-day Hungary. His family left that region for Italy when his father, a military official of the Roman Empire, had to transfer there. Martin's parents were pagans, but he felt an attraction to the Catholic faith which had become legal throughout the empire in 313. He received religious instruction at age 10, and even considered becoming a hermit in the desert.

Circumstances, however, forced him to join the Roman army at age 15, when he had not even received baptism. Martin strove to live a humble and upright life in the military, giving away much of his pay to the poor. His generosity led to a life-changing incident, when he encountered a man freezing without warm clothing near a gate at the city of Amiens in Gaul.

As his fellow soldiers passed by the man, Martin stopped and cut his own cloak into two halves with his sword, giving one half to the freezing beggar. That night, the unbaptized soldier saw Christ in a dream, wearing the half-cloak he had given to the poor man. Jesus declared: “Martin, a catechumen, has clothed me with this garment.”

Martin knew that the time for him to join the Church had arrived. He remained in the army for two years after his baptism, but desired to give his life to God more fully that the profession would allow. But when he finally asked for permission to leave the Roman army, during an invasion by the Germans, Martin was accused of cowardice.

He responded by offering to stand before the enemy forces unarmed. “In the name of the Lord Jesus, and protected not by a helmet and buckler, but by the sign of the cross, I will thrust myself into the thickest squadrons of the enemy without fear.” But this display of faith became unnecessary when the Germans sought peace instead, and Martin received his discharge.

After living as a Catholic for some time, Martin traveled to meet Bishop Hilary of Poitiers, a skilled theologian and later canonized saint. Martin's dedication to the faith impressed the bishop, who asked the former soldier to return to his diocese after he had undertaken a journey back to Hungary to visit his parents. While there, Martin persuaded his mother, though not his father, to join the Church.

In the meantime, however, Hilary had provoked the anger of the Arians, a group that denied Jesus was God. This resulted in the bishop's banishment, so that Martin could not return to his diocese as intended. Instead Martin spent some time living a life of severe asceticism, which almost resulted in his death. The two met up again in 360, when Hilary's banishment from Poitiers ended.

After their reunion Hilary granted Martin a piece of land to build what may have been the first monastery in the region of Gaul. During the resulting decade as a monk, Martin became renowned for raising two people from the dead through his prayers. This evidence of his holiness led to his appointment as the third Bishop of Tours in the middle of present-day France.

Martin had not wanted to become a bishop, and had actually been tricked into leaving his monastery in the first place by those who wanted him the lead the local church. Once appointed, he continued to live as a monk, dressing plainly and owning no personal possessions. In this same spirit of sacrifice, he traveled throughout his diocese, from which he is said to have driven out pagan practices.

Both the Church and the Roman Empire passed through a time of upheaval during Martin's time as bishop. Priscillianism, a heresy involving salvation through a system of secret knowledge, caused such serious problems in Spain and Gaul that civil authorities sentenced the heretics to death. But Martin, along with the Pope and St. Ambrose of Milan, opposed this death sentence for the Priscillianists.

Even in old age, Martin continued to live an austere life focused on the care of souls. His disciple and biographer, St. Sulpicius Severus, noted that the bishop helped all people with their moral, intellectual and spiritual problems. He also helped many laypersons discover their calling to the consecrated life of poverty, chastity and obedience.

Martin foresaw his own death and told his disciples of it. But when his last illness came upon him during a pastoral journey, the bishop felt uncertain about leaving his people.

“Lord, if I am still necessary to thy people, I refuse no labour. Thy holy will be done,” he prayed. He developed a fever, but did not sleep, passing his last several nights in the presence of God in prayer.

“Allow me, my brethren, to look rather towards heaven than upon the earth, that my soul may be directed to take its flight to the Lord to whom it is going,” he told his followers, shortly before he died in November of 397.

St. Martin of Tours has historically been among the most beloved saints in the history of Europe. In a 2007 Angelus address, Pope Benedict XVI expressed his hope “that all Christians may be like St Martin, generous witnesses of the Gospel of love and tireless builders of jointly responsible sharing.”

St. Josaphat
Feast day: November 12

Today, on the day of his martyrdom, Nov. 12, Roman Catholics and some Eastern Catholics remember St. Josaphat Kuntsevych, a bishop and monk whose example of faith inspired many Eastern Orthodox Christians to return to full communion with the Holy See.

Other Eastern Catholics, including the Ukrainian Catholic Church, celebrate St. Josaphat's feast day on Nov. 25.

Born in 1580 in the western Ukrainian region of Volhynia, John Kuntsevych did not become “Josaphat” until his later life as a monk. He also was not initially a full member of the Catholic Church, born to Orthodox Christian parents whose church had fallen out of communion with the Pope.

Although the Eastern churches began to separate from the Holy See in 1054, a union had existed for a period of time after the 15th century Ecumenical Council of Florence. But social, political and theological disputes caused the union to begin dissolving even before the Turkish conquest of Byzantium in 1453. By John’s time, many Slavic Orthodox Christians had become strongly anti-Catholic.

During this time, Latin missionaries attempted to achieve reunion with the individual eastern patriarchs. The approach was risky, sometimes politicizing the faith and leading to further divisions. But it did yield some notable successes, including the reunion of John’s own Ruthenian Church in the 1596 Union of Brest.

John was trained as a merchant’s apprentice and could have opted for marriage. But he felt drawn to the rigors and spiritual depth of traditional Byzantine monasticism. Taking the monastic name of Josaphat, he entered a Ukrainian monastery in 1604.

The young monk was taking on an ambitious task, striving to re-incorporate the Eastern Orthodox tradition with the authority of the Catholic Church in the era of its “Counter-reformation.” Soon, as a priest, subsequently an archbishop, and ultimately a martyr, he would live and die for the union of the churches.

While rejecting the anti-Western sentiments of many of his countrymen, Josaphat also resisted any attempt to compromise the Eastern Catholic churches’ own traditions. Recognizing the urgent pastoral needs of the people, he produced catechisms and works of apologetics, while implementing long overdue reforms of the clergy and attending to the needs of the poor.

Josaphat’s exemplary life and zeal for the care of souls won the trust of many Orthodox Christians, who saw the value of the churches’ union reflected in the archbishop‘s life and works. Nevertheless, his mission was essentially controversial, and others were led to believe lurid stories and malicious suggestions made about him. In 1620, opponents arranged for the consecration of a rival archbishop.

As tensions between supporters and opponents began to escalate, Josaphat lamented the onset of attacks that would lead to his death. “You people of Vitebsk want to put me to death,” he protested. “You make ambushes for me everywhere, in the streets, on the bridges, on the highways, and in the marketplace. I am here among you as a shepherd, and you ought to know that I would be happy to give my life for you.”

He finally did so, on a fall day in 1623. An Orthodox priest had been shouting insults outside the archbishop’s residence, and trying to force his way inside. Josaphat had him removed, but the man assembled a mob in the town. They arrived and demanded the archbishop’s life, threatening his companions and servants. Unable to escape, Josaphat died praying for the men who shot and then beheaded him before dumping his body in a river.

St. Josaphat’s body was discovered incorrupt, five years later. Remarkably, the saint’s onetime rival - the Orthodox Archbishop Meletius - was reconciled with the Catholic Church in later years. St. Josaphat was canonized in 1867.

Mother Cabrini

Who is Frances Cabrini?

The youngest of thirteen children, Frances Cabrini was born on July 15, 1850 in a small village called S’ant Angelo Lodigiano near the city of Milan, Italy. She grew up enthralled by the stories of missionaries and made up her mind to join a religious order. Because of her frail health, she was not permitted to join the Daughters of the Sacred Heart who had been her teachers and under whose guidance she obtained her teaching certificate.

However, in 1880, with seven young women, Frances founded the Institute of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She was as resourceful as she was prayerful, finding people who would donate what she needed in money, time, labor and support. She and her sisters wanted to be missionaries in China; she visited Rome to obtain an audience with Pope Leo XIII. The Pope told Frances to go “not to the East, but to the West” to New York rather than to China as she had expected. She was to help the thousands of Italian immigrants already in the United States.

In 1889, New York seemed to be filled with chaos and poverty, and into this new world stepped Mother Frances Cabrini and her sister companions. Cabrini organized catechism and education classes for the Italian immigrants and provided for the needs of the many orphans. She established schools and orphanages despite tremendous odds.

Soon, requests for her to open schools came to Frances Cabrini from all over the world. She traveled to Europe, Central and South America and throughout the United States. She made 23 trans-Atlantic crossings and established 67 institutions: schools, hospitals and orphanages.

Her activity was relentless until her death. On December 22, 1917, in Chicago, she died. In 1946, she was canonized a saint by Pope Pius XII in recognition of her holiness and service to mankind and was named Patroness of Immigrants in 1950.

Today the Missionary Sisters, their lay collaborators and volunteers work as teachers, nurses, social workers, administrators and members of institutional boards of trustees. They can be found on six continents and 15 countries throughout the world – wherever there is a need.

Learn more about Frances Cabrini and the history of the Institute of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

 

Saints and Feast Days

Five years ago, my husband and I were returning home heavy-hearted from a vacation out west. My younger brother had died in May after a short but rough battle with cancer. Early morning of the day before we were to return home, we learned that his widow had died of a massive heart attack overnight, leaving their two teenage children orphaned.

The shocking news we’d received changed both our energy and plan for the day. Instead of stopping at Arches National Park as we’d planned, we drove on toward Denver. Along our route, we saw a sign for the Mother Cabrini Shrine in Golden. We decided to stop there to pray. Learning about Mother Cabrini’s care for Italian immigrant families who were employed in dangerous railroad and mining work, especially her care for widows and orphans, convinced us that our stop there was no coincidence. She, too, had been orphaned in her teen years.

We celebrate the Memorial of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, on November 13. Other saints we memorialize this week are Saint Martin of Tours (November 11) and Saint Josaphat (November 12). The stories of saints help bring history and faith to life for us and the young people in our care. The saints are important members of the Communion of Saints. Their inspiring life stories and prayers for us can help us get to where they now reside: Heaven. 

Saint Jerome

Saint Jerome is proof that saints aren’t perfect. In fact, Saint Jerome was known as crabby, irritable, and sarcastic, and yet he still made it to sainthood—of course, by asking for God’s help to become a better person. Jerome made a lot of enemies in his life, but he is perhaps most known for his great kindnesses, especially for removing a thorn from the paw of a suffering lion. The Church honors Saint Jerome on September 30. 

Praying with Saint Francis of Assisi

The Church honors Saint Francis of Assisi on October 4. Pope Francis took his papal name after Saint Francis; the name recalls the saint’s commitment to the poor as well as to caring for the environment. The Church connects caring for the poor with caring for Creation, as climate change, pollution, and other damage to the environment has the biggest effect on people who live in poverty.

August 25, 2019 – 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

This week, we celebrate two feast days in memory of a mother and son—Saint Monica (8/27) and her son, Saint Augustine(8/28). Saint Monica prayed for years for Augustine’s conversion of heart and mind so that he would embrace the Catholic faith. During nine of those years, Augustine was practicing an occult religion called Manichaeism. With the influence of Saint Ambrose, Augustine eventually renounced the teaching of the Manichees and was baptized in 387. He went on “to become one of the most significant and influential thinkers in the history of the Catholic Church” (CatholicNewAgency.com). He served the Church as priest and bishop and was named a Doctor of the Church.

God heard and answered the prayers of Monica for her son. She prayed for Augustine’s conversion, and God had great things in store for him. God hears all of our prayers and answers them in ways that are ultimately for our good.

Let us pray… Loving God, you know a parent’s love for their children. Help us to entrust the children in our care—at home and in the classroom—to you. As we pray for them and strive to give them a good foundation of faith, help us to trust in your timing. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

Saint Bernard had no aspirations beyond a simple monastic life; however, he became a superstar of the twelfth-century Church. At twenty-two, Bernard joined an austere order of Benedictines called the Cistercians. Within three years, he was asked to start a monastery near his hometown of Clairvaux in northeastern France. Though he could be irritable and rude, he was also known for his kindness and care, and people went out of their way to be touched by his healing hands. Despite the fact that he rubbed shoulders with popes and princes, Saint Bernard maintained the simple lifestyle of a monk. The Church celebrates Saint Bernard on August 20.

Celebrate the Saints This Week (16th Week in Ordinary Time)

This week, the Church celebrates several of the earliest saints, including Saint Mary Magdalene (July 22), Saint James, the Apostle (July 25), and Saints Joachim and Anne (July 26). These prayers and reflections can help you include these saints in a special way in your daily prayers. Saint Mary Magdalene traveled with Jesus and witnessed his Crucifixion, Death, and Resurrection. She joyfully shares the Good News of Jesus’ Resurrection with Jesus’ Apostles. With his brother John, James the Apostle served Jesus during his ministry on Earth. James is well-known for asking Jesus whether he and John might sit at Jesus’ right and left when he rose in glory. He is the patron saint of Spain. Hundreds of people every year walk the paths of the Camino de Santiago, also known as the “Path of Saint James.” Saints Joachim and Anne prayed fervently for a child. Each November, Catholics recognize their promise to dedicate their child to God in the Temple during the memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Celebrate the Saints this Week (14th Week in Ordinary Time)

This week, the Church celebrates several saints, including Saint Augustine Zhao Rong (July 9), Saint Benedict (July 11), and Saint Henry (July 13). Catholic Digest offers prayers and reflections so that you might include these saints in a special way in your daily prayers. Saint August Zhao Rong was among the 120 martyrs murdered in China for their Christian faith between 1648 and 1930. His optional memorial not only reminds us of his bravery, but also encourages us to pray for Christians today who are persecuted for their faith. Saint Benedict was a fifth-century hermit who influenced the 1,500-year tradition of religious orders, in which members are unified under a particular rule or set of guidelines for living. Six centuries later, Saint Henry is credited with reforming ecclesiastical and monastic life.
 Image credit: St. Benedict delivering his rule to the monks of his order. France, Monastery of St. Gilles, Nimes, 1129, (public domain in the US) via Wikimedia Commons.

Celebrate the Saints This Week (13th Week in Ordinary Time)

The Church honors several saints this week, including Junípero Serra (July 1), Elizabeth of Portugal (July 4 feast day, observed July 5), and Maria Goretti (July 6). Canonized in 2015 by Pope Francis, Junípero Serra founded missions throughout California. As queen, Elizabeth of Portugal served her people, especially the sick and the poor. Maria Goretti, an eleven-year-old martyr, was violently attacked and died from her injuries. Share the stories of these saints with your children and families.

Prayers for Saints Peter and Paul

The Church celebrates the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul on Saturday, June 29. The editors of Catholic Digest, also a Bayard, Inc. publication, compiled a series of five prayers appropriate for this feast day. Summer Saints also highlights these early Church leaders. Share these prayers with your families and encourage them to incorporate them into their regular family prayer time.
 

Summer Saints

The Church celebrates the exemplary lives of saints throughout the year. During the summer months, remind your children and their families about some of these special people. Summer Saints includes Saint Thomas More (June 22), who lost his life for refusing to recognize King Henry VIII as the head of the Church. June 24 marks the feast day of Saint John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin and the one who baptized him in the River Jordan. Summer Saints also includes short biographies of Saints Peter and Paul, Saint Thomas the Apostle, Saint Maria Goretti, and Saints Joachim and Anne.

Saint Rita of Cascia

This 14th-century saint endured a great deal of violence and sadness in her life, including physical abuse and the death of her spouse and her twin sons. She expressed interest in a living religious vocation from early on, but was discouraged by her parents who thought that marriage would ensure her security. After the deaths of her family members, Saint Rita joined the nearby Augustinian convent. Saint Rita is the patron of impossible cases. She was recognized as a saint by Pope Leo XXIII and canonized on the Jubilee of 1900. Her feast day is May 22. 

Feasts of Spring

As class winds down for the year and the children head out for the summer, plan now to meet as a class for Mass during one of the Church’s many celebrations in June. Use the Feasts of Spring resource page to explain the significance of each of these feasts, including the Visitation, Ascension, Pentecost, Most Holy Trinity, the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, and the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Select a celebration that is most convenient for everyone in class and invite the children’s families to attend as well. Share this resource with your families. Encourage the children to attend Mass with their families and to point out the Liturgical colors in the vestments, banners, and altar cloths. Ask: Why do they think that Catholics traditionally wear red to Mass on Pentecost?

Saint Rita of Cascia

This 14th-century saint endured a great deal of violence and sadness in her life, including physical abuse and the death of her spouse and her twin sons. She expressed interest in a living religious vocation from early on, but was discouraged by her parents who thought that marriage would ensure her security. After the deaths of her family members, Saint Rita joined the nearby Augustinian convent. Saint Rita is the patron of impossible cases. She was recognized as a saint by Pope Leo XXIII and canonized on the Jubilee of 1900. Her feast day is May 22. Share this Catholic resource page about Saint Rita with your children and their families.

Saint Isidore the Farmer (1070–1130)

Two saints who lived in different times and came from different backgrounds share the name Isidore. One, Saint Isidore of Seville, lived around 560–636 and was a bishop credited with having such a vast store of knowledge that today he is considered the patron saint of computers and the internet. But there’s another Isidore, usually called “the farmer” to distinguish him from the bishop. This Saint Isidore—born in Madrid, Spain, about 500 years after the bishop—may in fact have been named for the bishop of Seville.

Isidore the Farmer was not an educated man or a person of high standing in society. Yet he was recognized as a holy man, and he influenced many with his life of charity and prayer. He believed that nothing in this life is more important than staying close to God.

As a young man, Isidore was hired by a rich landowner. He continued to work in this man’s fields his entire life. As he planted, plowed, and harvested the crops, Isidore prayed. He went to Mass every morning, and sometimes the other workers complained that he came late to work because he was at church. One day, the landowner came to see if this was true. When he looked out into the field, he saw an angel doing Isidore’s plowing.

Isidore was a humble man. He was married to María de la Cabeza, who has also been proclaimed a saint. In their community of poor farmers, Isidore and María were always there to feed someone who had less than they did. More than once, the food miraculously multiplied, so there was plenty for everyone to eat. After their only child died as a young boy, Isidore and María used their sorrow to offer comfort and sympathy to others. They showed others that hardship and hard work don’t destroy happiness if one’s heart is with God.

After Isidore’s death, miracles were attributed to him. It is said that when Spain was at war, Isidore appeared to King Alphonsus and showed him a route by which he was able to ambush and defeat the enemy. When King Philip III of Spain was dying, relics of Saint Isidore were brought to the king’s room, and he recovered immediately.

Saint Damien of Molokai

Saint Damien of Molokai was born Joseph de Veuster in a small town in Belgium. After years of working on his family’s farm, he began to study for the priesthood. He took the name of Damien after a fourth-century physician and martyr. While he was still in the seminary, he volunteered for missionary work. His order sent him to Honolulu, where has was ordained in 1864. Share the story of Saint Damien with the children and their families. The Church honors Saint Damien on May 10.

Saint Philip, the Apostle (1st Century)

Saint Philip was born in Bethsaida in Galilee, the hometown of Peter and Andrew. A disciple of John the Baptist, Philip was a quiet and humble man. He may have been with John the Baptist when John called Jesus “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

Jesus called Philip to follow him right after he called the two sets of brothers, Peter and Andrew and James and John. Philip did not hesitate to join Jesus. In fact, Philip urged his friend Nathaniel to join him in following Jesus. Nathaniel is thought to be the same man who is usually called Bartholomew when the Twelve Apostles are named. See Matthew 10:2–4.

It took a while for Philip to come to understand who Jesus was. Philip was with Jesus when he fed 5,000 people with just five loaves of bread and two fish. When Jesus asked Philip how the large crowd could be fed, Philip was sure that the little food they had would not be enough. Later, Philip was among the disciples who gathered up twelve baskets of leftovers after everyone had eaten. You can read the story in John 6:1–14.

John’s Gospel records another story in which Philip learns more about Jesus. Some people from Greece approached Philip and asked him to help them meet Jesus. Philip and Andrew went to Jesus with this request. Jesus answered by saying that the time for his glory was getting near. This indirect answer to the request of the Greeks is understood as Jesus’ announcement that he had come to save Jews and Gentiles alike. See John 12:20–26.

Philip was also present at the Last Supper. It was Philip who said to Jesus, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus seemed impatient with Philip’s question, but he took the opportunity to teach the Apostles about his relationship with the Father: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (see John 14:8–14).

Philip was with the Apostles and other followers of Jesus who were praying together before Pentecost. With the other Apostles, he received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and was empowered to spread the Good News of Jesus’ teaching. (See Acts 1:12–14 and 2:1–4.) Philip preached in Greece, Syria, and Asia Minor. He was crucified in Hieropolis, a city in what is Turkey today. It is said that Philip preached as he hung upside down on his cross. Saint Philip the Apostle is a model for all of us as we strive to spread the Good News of Jesus. His feast day is May 3.

Pope St. John Paul II’s Prayer to Notre-Dame of Paris

Please join us in praying for all those troubled by the devastating fire in the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. We raise our prayers to Our Lady (Notre Dame) for recovery of this treasure of a church that helps us raise our minds and hearts to God.

When Pope John Paul II came to Paris for the first time on May 30, 1980, he read this prayer at the foot of the statue of Notre-Dame de Paris (Our Lady):

Virgin Mary, at the heart of the Cité
We pray to you for this capital city.
You Intact, preserve the purity of its faith!

Virgin Mary, from the banks of the Seine,
We pray to you for the country of France.
O Mother, teach it to hope!

Virgin Mary, in this great Christian site,
We pray to you for all the earth’s people.
You, full of grace, may they be one in Love.

If you wish to make a donation to support the restoration effort of this most visited monument in Europe, you may safely do so through the official site for receiving donations.

Website: www.fondationavenirpatrimoineparis.fr

"The holy souls are eager for the prayers
of the faithful...Pray unceasingly. 
We must empty purgatory!" 
–St. Padre Pio 

"The prayer most pleasing to God is that
made for others and particularly for the
poor souls. Pray for them, if you want
your prayers to bring high interest."
–Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich

"Many stay a long time in purgatory
who, although not great sinners,
have lived tepidly."
–Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich

The prayers taught to the children at Fatima are simple in structure and profound in depth. To a world poor and needy in faith and charity, these prayers stress ancient truths of our Holy Catholic Church... especially concerning the Holy Eucharist and Mary, the Immaculate Mother of God.
 

1
"Sweet Heart of Mary, be the salvation of Russa, Spain, Portugal, Europe, (Brazil, Canada, the United States) and the whole world."

2
"By thy pure and Immaculate Conception, O Mary, obtain for me the conversion of Russia, Spain, Portugal, Europe and the whole world"

3 Pardon Prayer
"My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love Thee. I ask pardon for all those who do not believe in Thee, do not adore Thee, do not hope in Thee, do not love Thee!"

4 The Angel's Prayer
With the Blessed Sacrament suspended in the air,
the angel at Fatima prostrated himself, and recited the prayer...

"Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I adore Thee profoundly, and I offer Thee the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of the same Son Jesus Christ, present in the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for all thoe sacrileges, outrages and indifferences by which He is offended. And by the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart, and through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners."

5 Eucharistic Prayer
This prayer stresses that most beautiful truth.. that the all-powerful, all-loving God is upon the altar at every Catholic Mass.

"O Most Holy Trinity, I adore Thee; My God, My God, I love Thee in the Most Blessed Sacrament"

6 Decade Prayer
Our Lady asked that the following prayer be inserted
after each decade of the Rosary

"O My Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need."

7 Sacrifice Prayer
Our Lady taught the children a prayer to be said when they would have something to offer up to God... such as some suffering,
or an act contrary to what they wanted to do
but which was necessary in order to please God.....

"O My Jesus, it is for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer this sacrifice to Thee."

Sister Lucy of Fatima Speaks on the Rosary...

"The Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a
new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary to such an extent that there
is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all, spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families, of the families of the world, or of the religious communities, or even of the life
of peoples and nations, that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is
no problem I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve
by the prayer o fthe Holy Rosary. "With the Holy Rosary, we will save ourselves, we will sanctify ourselves, we will console Our Lord and
obtain the salvation of many souls."

BEGIN WITH A DAILY OFFERING

Father, here I am, I know you are always with me.

I place my heart in the Heart of your Son Jesus.
who gives himself to us in the Eucharist each day.
May your Holy Spirit strengthen me to live the Gospel
in everything I do and say.
For my part I give you this day - all my prayers, works,
joys, and sufferings - all I am and possess.
With Mary, Mother of the Church, I pray for the mission of the Church,
for all Apostles of Prayer, and for the intentions of the Pope this month.

OR

O Jesus, through the Immaulate Heart of Mary,
I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day
in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world.
I offer them for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart: the salvation
of souls, reparation for sin, and the reunion of all Christians. I offer them
for the intentions of our bishops and of all Apostles of Prayer, and in particular for those recommended by our Holy Father this month.

JANUARY
Young People and the Example of Mary
That young people, especially in Latin America, follow the example of Mary and respond to the call of the Lord to communicate the joy of the Gospel to the world.
 
FEBRUARY
Human Trafficking
For a generous welcome of the victims of human trafficking, of enforced prostitution, and of violence.
 
MARCH
Recognition of the Right of Christian Communities
That Christian communities, especially those who are persecuted, feel that they are close to Christ and have their rights respected.
 
APRIL
Doctors and their Collaborators in War Zones
For doctors and their humanitarian collaborators in war zones, who risk their lives to save the lives of others.
 
MAY
The Church in Africa, a Seed of Unity
That the Church in Africa, through the commitment of its members, may be the seed of unity among her peoples and a sign of hope for this continent.
 
JUNE
The Mode of Life of Priests
That priests, through the modesty and humility of their lives, commit themselves actively to a solidarity with those who are most poor.
 
JULY
The Integrity of Justice
That those who administer justice may work with integrity, and that the injustice which prevails in the world may not have the last word.
 
AUGUST
Families, Schools of Human Growth
That families, through their life of prayer and love, become ever more clearly "schools of true human growth."
 
SEPTEMBER
The Protection of the Oceans
That politicians, scientists and economists work together to protect the world's seas and oceans.
 
OCTOBER
A Missionary "Spring" in the Church
That the breath of the Holy Spirit engender a new missionary "spring" in the Church.
 
NOVEMBER
Dialogue and Reconciliation in the Near East
That a spirit of dialogue, encounter, and reconciliation emerge in the Near East, where diverse religious communities share their lives together.
 
DECEMBER
The Future of the Very Young
That every country take the measures necessary to prioritize the future of the very young, especially those who are suffering.