Calendar of Saints

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Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Daily Bread #40, by Father Richard Waldo Sibthorp

Mary: The Perfect Woman, Rhythm XX - Dual-Unity

The Candle as a Symbol and Sacramental in the Catholic Church, by Father Heinrich Theiler

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

Also known as

• Francoise-Marie Therese Martin
• Teresa of the Infant Jesus
• the Little Flower of Jesus
• the Little Flower
• Thérèse of the Child Jesus

Profile

Born to a pious middle-class French family of tradesmen; daughter of Blessed Louis Martin and Blessed Marie-Azelie Guérin Martin, and all four of her sisters became nuns. Her mother died when Francoise-Marie was only four, and the family moved to Lisieux, Normandy, France to be closer to family. Cured from an illness at age eight when a statue of the Blessed Virgin smiled at her. Educated by the Benedictine nuns of Notre-Dame-du-Pre. Confirmed there at age eleven. Just before her 14th birthday she received a vision of the Child Jesus; she immediately understood the great sacrifice that had been made for her, and developed an unshakeable faith. Tried to join the Carmelites, but was turned down due to her age. Pilgrim to Rome, Italy at for the Jubilee of Pope Leo XIII whom she met and who knew of her desire to become a nun. Joined the Carmelites at Lisieux on 9 April 1888 at age 15, taking her final vow on 8 September 1890 at age 17. Known by all for her complete devotion to spiritual development and to the austerities of the Carmelite rule. Due to health problems resulting from her ongoing fight with tuberculosis, her superiors ordered her not to fast. Novice mistress at age 20. At age 22 she was ordered by her prioress to begin writing her memories and ideas, which material would turn into the book History of a Soul. Therese defined her path to God and holiness as The Little Way, which consisted of child-like love and trust in God. She had an on-going correspondence with Carmelite missionaries in China, often stating how much she wanted to come work with them. Many miracles attributed to her. Declared a Doctor of the Church in 1997 by Pope John Paul II.

Born

2 January 1873 at Alcon, Normandy, France as Francoise-Marie Therese Martin

Died

7pm Thursday 30 September 1897 at Lisieux, France of tuberculosis

Canonized

17 May 1925 by Pope Pius XI

Patronage

• African missions
• sick people; against bodily ills, illness or sickness
• AIDS patients
• air crews or pilots; aviators
• Australia
• black missions
• florists and flower growers
• foreign missions (proclaimed on 14 December 1927 by Pope Pius XI)
• loss of parents
• missionaries
• parish missions
• restoration of religious freedom in Russia
• tuberculosis
• World Youth Day 2013
• France (1944 by Pope Pius XII)
• Russia
• Anchorage, Alaska, archdiocese of
• Cheyenne, Wyoming, diocese of
• Churchill - Baie d'Hudson, Manitoba, diocese of
• Fairbanks, Alaska, diocese of
• Fresno, California, diocese of
• Hamilton, Bermuda, diocese of
• Juneau, Alaska, diocese of
• Kisumu, Kenya, diocese of
• Corner Brook and Labrador, Newfoundland, diocese of
• Pueblo, Colorado, diocese of
• Witbank, South Africa, diocese of
• Apostleship of Prayer

Representation

• roses
• Discalced Carmelite nun holding a bunch of roses
• nun with roses at her feet
• roses encircling a crucifix

Video

• YouTube PlayList
• The Story of a Soul (audio book)

Readings

For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy. - Saint Therese of Lisieux

What beauty? I don't see my beauty at all; I see only the graces I've received from God. You always misunderstand me; you don't know, then, that I'm only a little seedling, a little almond. - Saint Therese of Lisieux

You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them. - Saint Therese of Lisieux

Oh! no, you will see, it will be like a shower of roses. After my death, you will go to the mail box, and you will find many consolations. - Saint Therese on 9 June 1897 after Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart told her we would be very sorry after she died

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-therese-of-lisieux/

Blessed Luigi Maria Monti

Also known as

Aloisius, Aloysius

Profile

Eighth of eleven children. His father died when Luigi was twelve years old. To support the family he made wooden craft items. After hours he gathered other devout craftsmen and farmers at his shop to form the prayer group The Company of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; the locals called them The Company of Friars. The group expanded their ministry to work with the poor and sick, and in 1846 Luigi took private vows of chastity and obedience, dedicating his life to God.

However, Luigi lived in a time of political paranoia. He and the other members of his Company were charged with meeting to conspire against the Austrian forces occupying his village. In 1851 the they were jailed in Milan for ten weeks, finally released when it became obvious they were a religious, not political group.

Joined the Sons of Mary Immaculate, spending six years as a novice. Studied nursing. Worked with the sick in the cholera epidemic in Brescia, Italy in 1855. With the help of Father Luigi Dossi, he founded The Congregation of the Sons of the Immaculate Conception, dedicated to care for the sick. Initially worked with the Capuchin Fathers, who were forming a similar group. Certified as a phlebotomist by the La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy. In 1877, with the help of Pope Blessed Pius IX, Luigi finally founded his Congregation; he worked as its leader the rest of his life. The Sons willingly walked into the worst of epidemics, working in places that others were scared to go, giving their own beds to the sick. Luigi founded small communities throughout the region where men served in hospitals and as travelling nurses to the scattered, impoverished farmers. In 1882 they expanded their mission and founded orphanages with attached schools.

Though a layman all his life, Luigi was known as "Father" by the members of the Congregation and those he helped. He died at the age of 75, nearly blind, completely worn out, and working for the Congregation to the end.

Born

24 July 1825 at Bovisio Masciago, diocese of Milian, Italy

Died

1 October 1900 in Saronno, Varese, Italy of natural causes

Beatified

• 9 November 2003 by Pope John Paul II
• his beatification miracle involved the healing of Giovanni Luigi Iecle, a farmer from Bosa, Sardegna in 1961

Readings

I would spend hours before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, but they were all hours without a drop of heavenly dew; my heart remained arid, cold, and unmoved. I was on the verge of abandoning everything, when, alone in my room, I heard a clear and distinct inner voice saying to me:

"Luigi, go to the choir in church and present your tribulations once again to the Blessed Sacrament."

I heeded this inspiration and hastened to follow it. I knelt down and after a short time - what wonder! I saw two personages in human form. I recognized them. It was Jesus with His Most Holy Mother, who approached me and in a loud voice said to me:

"Luigi, much indeed will you still have to suffer; other varied and greater battles will you face. Be strong; you will emerge victorious from everything; never lacking to you will be our powerful help. Continue the way you began."

Thus did they speak and then disappeared. - Blessed Luigi, describing his vision

https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-luigi-maria-monti/

Blessed Juan de Palafox Mendoza

Profile

Born the illegitimate son of an Aragonese noble, Jaime de Palafox, the Marquis of Ariaza; his father would not recognize him, his mother became a Carmelite nun, and Juan was raised by a family of millers. When the boy was ten years old, his father finally acknowledged him and took over his upbringing. Juan was educated at Alcalá and Salamanca, and served as a political administrator in Monzón, Spain in 1626. Member of the Council of the Indies, the body that administered the overseas territory of the Spanish Empire.

Juan was ordained a priest in April 1629. He served as chaplain to the Holy Roman Empress, Maria of Austria, who was also the sister of King Philip IV of Spain, and travelled with her around Europe. Chosen bishop of Tlaxcala, México on 3 October 1639 by Pope Urban VIII, he served for nearly 14 years, including as interim Archbishop of Mexico from 10 June 1642 to 23 November 1642. Part of his time was served as viceroy to King Philip. He founded the Biblioteca Palafoxiana library on 5 September 1646 with 5,000 volumes, the College of San Pedro, the College of San Pablo, the Dominican convent of Santa Inez, the Purísima Concepción girl's school, and he completed construction of the cathedral for Tlexcala. While he supported missionary work among the natives of his diocese, he forbade any attempt to force or coerce conversion.

Bishop Juan became involved in struggle with the Jesuits in New Spain over church financing, and whether the Jesuits would submit to his authority. The Jesuits refused to do so, and had the support of the new viceroy. After much political wrangling, including appeals to the Vatican, Juan was recalled to Spain and chosen bishop of the Diocese of Osma in Old Castile, Spain from 16 August 1653 until his death six years later. His writings, part of which concerned what he perceived to be lax theological standards of Jesuit missionaries, ran to 15 published volumes.

Born

24 June 1600 in Fitero, Navarra, Spain

Died

1 October 1659 in Osma, Soria, Spain of natural causes

Beatified

• 5 June 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI
• recognition celebrated at the Cathedral of La Asunción, El Burgo de Osma, Spain by Cardinal Angelo Amato

https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-juan-de-palafox-mendoza/

Blessed Cecilia Eusepi

Also known as

Maria Angela

Profile

Youngest of eleven children, Cecilia was baptized at the age of 9 days, and her father died when she was 2 months old. On 6 January 1915 the family moved to a small farm near Nepi, Italy, and came under the care of a maternal uncle. Cecilia received Confirmation on 27 May 1917, and made her First Communion on 2 October 1917. She was educated in a Cistercian convent school. In 1922 she joined the ''Servants of Mary'' (''Servites'') as a secular tertiary, receiving the scapular at the San Tolomeo ai Servi church, and taking the name ''Maria Angela''. Member of ''Catholic Action''.

Cecilia was drawn to religious life, and against her family's wishes, she became a Servite postulant in 1923. She studied in Rome, Pistoia and Zara from 1923 to 1926, hoping to become a missionary, but contracted tuberculosis and on 23 October 1926 returned to the family farm. Though her health deteriorated, she became known for her spiritual insights, and was a counselor to seminarians and members of ''Catholic Action''; local priests would ask her opinion on homilies they were planning. Her spiritual director, the Servite priest Gabriele Roschini, instructed her to keep a journal of her life and relationship with Christ. It covered the period 29 May 1927 to 12 September 1928 and was published as "Storia di un Pagliaccio" ("Story of a Clown").

Born

17 February 1910 in Monte Romano, Viterbo, Italy

Died

• 1 October 1928 in Nepi, Viterbo, Italy of tuberculosis
• she predicted the date of her death following a dream about Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
• she died singing a hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary
• re-interred at the church of San Tolomeo ai Servi, Nepi on 16 March 1944

Beatified

• 17 June 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI
• beatification celebrated at the Piazza della Bottata in Nepi, Italy by Cardinal Angelo Amato
• the beatification miracle involved the healing of Tommaso Ricci on 4 August 1959 from injuries received in what should have been a fatal traffic accident

https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-cecilia-eusepi/

Saint Bavo of Ghent

Also known as

• Allowin
• Bavon of Ghent

Profile

Belgian nobleman who spent a wild youth, noted for selfishness; known to have sold his servants as slaves to local noble houses. Married. Widower. Converted after hearing a sermon by Saint Amand of Maastricht. Built an abbey on his estate, called Saint Peter's in his day and Saint Bavo's today. He turned it over to Saint Amand, and became a monk in the house. He finally gave his estate to the house, his belongings to the poor, and lived as a recluse in a hollow tree and later a cell in the forest near the abbey.

Born

589 at Brabant, Liege, Belgium as Allowin

Died

654 at Saint Bavo's abbey of natural causes

Patronage

• Ghent, Belgium
• Haarlem, Netherlands, city of
• Haalem-Amsterdam, Netherlands, diocese of
• Netherlands

Representation

• duke hunting with a falcon or hawk on his wrist
• prince giving alms in front of his palace
• hermit near hollow tree
• hermit with staff and a glove (which is probably related to falconry)
• man near a wagon
• man standing near a huge stone
• man with a purse or giving alms
• man with an angel holding a palm above him
• man with sword and scepter
• old king in armor near a book, broken tree trunk, ship, and Saint Bavo's monastery

https://catholicsaints.info/saint-bavo-of-ghent/

Saint Romanos the Melodist

Also known as

Beatified

13 June 1999 by Pope John Paul II at Warsaw, Poland

Readings

The most characteristic virtues of this priest: humility, truthfulness and great goodness, which were heroic in him, make him a candidate for altars. - Father Wincenty Granat

Under extreme and difficult conditions, he was able to agree with God’s will and see the salvific value in his sufferings. - Father Konrad Szweda

https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-antoni-rewera/