September 16--St. Cyprian of Carthange, Bishop and Martyr

 

Mosaic of Saint Cyprian of Carthage from Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, CC 4.0.

Galerius Maximus: "Are you Thascius Cyprianus?"
Cyprian: "I am."
Galerius: "The most sacred Emperors have commanded you to conform to the Roman rites."
Cyprian: "I refuse."
Galerius: "Take heed for yourself."
Cyprian: "Do as you are bid; in so clear a case I may not take heed."
Galerius: "You have long lived an irreligious life, and have drawn together a number of men bound by an unlawful association, and professed yourself an open enemy to the gods and the religion of Rome; and the pious, most sacred and august Emperors ... have endeavoured in vain to bring you back to conformity with their religious observances; whereas therefore you have been apprehended as principal and ringleader in these infamous crimes, you shall be made an example to those whom you have wickedly associated with you; the authority of law shall be ratified in your blood. It is the sentence of this court that Thascius Cyprianus be executed with the sword." 

Cyprian: "Thanks be to God."

Thus, the trial and sentencing of St. Cyprian of Carthage in A.D. 258 under Emperor Valerian. He had survived the Decian persecution eight years earlier by going into hiding. However, many had criticized him for that. He explained that he needed to be pastor for his flock, whereas in the latter persecution he explained that he needed to be an example. In between, when the persecution had been relaxed, many who had lapsed from the faith in fear of martyrdom desired to return to the fold. St. Cyprian approved, but only after an appropriate public penance. He was opposed by those who wanted no penance and those who wanted no readmission! Pope St. Cornelius, whose feast day Cyprian shares, agreed with him. Reconciliation is a necessary sacrament for us as well! St. Cyprian, pray for us.

September 7–Bl. Eugenia Picco, Virgin

 

Blessed Eugenia Picco

“As Jesus has chosen bread, which is very common, so must my life be, common ... approachable by all and, at the same time, humble and hidden, like bread.” “These words of Eugenia Picco flow from long contemplation of Jesus, Bread of life, broken for all. Eugenia arrived at this synthesis after a long and painful journey.”

Born in 1867 in Milan, Italy; “[a]fter the mysterious disappearance of her father, she remained with her mother and grew up in an irreligious and morally corrupt environment.” “‘Dangers and occasions at home and outside’, Eugenia said when recalling those troubled years and that ‘instinctive’ strength to pray….” In 1887 she fled from her home and joined the Ursuline Sisters. Thereafter, she took on some important offices, including Superior General. She died in 1921 of tuberculosis.

Pope St. John Paul II said: “The vital synthesis between contemplation and action, assimilated in the daily participation in the Eucharist, was the foundation of the spiritual experience and the burning charity of Bl. Eugenia Picco. In her life she made every effort to listen to the word of the Lord …, never drawing back from the service which love of neighbour required. At Parma she took upon herself the poverty of the people responding to the needs of the young and of needy families and assisting the victims of the war that in this period made Europe suffer. Even in the face of suffering, with the inevitable moments of difficulty and bewilderment that it entails, Bl. Eugenia Picco knew how to transform the experience of suffering into an occasion of purification and inner growth. From Bl. Eugenia we can learn the art of listening to the voice of the Lord in order to be credible witnesses of the Gospel of charity ....” Bl. Eugenia, pray for us.

September 6--St. Zechariah, Prophet

 

Zacharias by Michelangelo.

We don’t usually think of Old Testament prophets as saints, but they are! They proclaimed the Word of God. Zechariah is the eleventh of the twelve minor prophets. Minor does not mean lesser; their writings are shorter than the four major prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Zechariah lived and prophesied at the time of the return to Israel after the Babylonian Captivity in the late 6th century BC: “Say to them: Thus says the LORD of hosts, Return to me—oracle of the LORD* of hosts—and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts” (Zec.1:3). He was concerned with the rebuilding of the Second Temple in Jerusalem: “Therefore, thus says the LORD: I return to Jerusalem in mercy; my house will be rebuilt there—oracle of the LORD of hosts—and a measuring line will be stretched over Jerusalem” (Zec. 1:16). He relates a series of visions, in much the same way as the Book of Daniel. In Chapter 14 he also prophesies about the “Day of the Lord,” which “focuses on the restoration of Jerusalem and the return of the people of Zion so that the rest of the world will acknowledge God’s sovereignty.” We don’t know a lot about Zechariah’s life except his parentage and time of prophecy. The name Zechariah means “God remembers.”

Each of us are commissioned as priests, prophets, and servant-kings at our baptism. To be a priest means to be one in worship of God; a servant-king serves the people he rules; and a prophet is a person who evangelizes–bringing the Good News of God’s Kingdom to the world. Zechariah was a prophet and we also share in that great ministry when we evangelize about the love of God in the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ. St. Zechariah, pray for us.

August 30--St. Fiacre, Priest and Abbot

St. Fiacre, Stained glass window, Notre-Dame, Bar-le-Duc, France

The Catholic Church recognizes patron saints from Academics–St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Albert the Great to Zoology–St. Albert the Great again! Today’s saint is the patron saint of Gardeners. St. Fiacre was born in Ireland about A.D. 600 and died in A.D. 670 in France. He grew up in a monastery, was ordained a priest, and eventually became an abbot. As people came to him because of his reputation for holiness and healing he went to France to become a hermit. He built a hermitage for himself and a hospice for travelers about 50 miles northeast of Paris. There he planted a vegetable and herb garden and an oratory in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He lived a life of self-denial, prayer, fasting, vigils and healing by laying on of hands. Veneration towards him seems to be based on his healing abilities as well as his holiness. His patronage of gardeners is based on his gardening abilities.

Every good act we do can be an act of love for God and others. Gardening may bring joy through the beauty of flowers and health through the nourishment of fruits, and vegetables. Tilling the soil may allow us to focus our minds and hearts on prayer to God in praise and on behalf of others. Tending the yard may bring peace. Scripture envisioned earthly paradise as a garden: “The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it” (Gn. 2:15). Furthermore: “You make the grass grow for the cattle and plants for people’s work to bring forth food from the earth, wine to gladden their hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread to sustain the human heart” (Ps. 104:14-15). St. Fiacre, pray for us.

August 17--St. Joan of the Cross, Religious and Foundress

St. Joan of the Cross

 
“Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Mt. 19:24). The U.S. has the world’s largest economy by measurement of the nominal GDP. What does that say to us? Well, let’s see what possession of wealth said to today’s saint!

St. Jeanne Delanoue, aka St. Joan of the Cross, was born in France in 1666 (died 1736) as the youngest of twelve to parents who owned a business. After her parents died she took over the business and became successful, due in part to her shrewdness, but also due in part to greed, to the point of keeping the store open on Sundays, which was against the traditions of the time. However, a poor widowed pilgrim “converted” her during the days of Pentecost. In his canonization homily, St. John Paul II stated: “Known as a prudent and self-interested merchant, she suddenly became ‘very generous in charity,’ when the Holy Spirit, extinguishing ‘the fire of her avarice,’ made her understand that her ardent faith also required ‘the fire of charity,’ showing her the extent of poverty.” And so she changed her ways, founded a religious order, and started to serve “all those who on the Day of Judgment might say to her: I was hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, homeless.”

So what does her life say to us? Again St. John Paul II guides us: “Her example will certainly challenge our modern world.” Too true! We need to root out and address the causes of poverty. “But attention to the poor, and immediate and effective aid, remain essential to remedying the harshness of our world.” We can be benefactors! St. Joan of the Cross, pray for us.

July 29--Sts. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, Holy Family

Raising of Lazarus by Giotto Public domain

Although not common, it is not completely unusual for whole families to be saints. Before canonizations were under the direction of the papacy in the eleventh century, saints were often chosen by local churches and the people. Thus, whole families were known as saints, including Elizabeth, Zechariah, and John the Baptist; Basil the Elder, Emilia, Macrina the Elder, Macrina the Younger, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, and Peter of Sebaste; Augustine and Monica; Benedict and Scholastica; Louis, Zelie, Thérèse of Lisieux, and Leonie Martin; Clare and Agnes of Assisi; and today’s saints, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus of Bethany.

“Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus were added to the General Roman Calendar as a combined memorial on July 29th by Pope Francis on January 26, 2021. This replaced the previous celebration of Saint Martha alone on that date.” This is because the identity of Mary of Bethany was not definitively established until recently by scholarship.

“Martha, Mary, and Lazarus of Bethany were beloved by Jesus. We don’t know the full background, but it appears all three siblings were loved by the Lord and were close friends and disciples of his. Each had a different charism. We know that Martha had a servant’s heart and that Mary preferred to sit at the feet of her Lord and learn from him. We don’t know as much about Lazarus other than he is one for whom Jesus wept and who he rose from the grave. John’s Gospel also tells us that because Jesus rose Lazarus from the grave, the chief priests and elders also plotted to put Lazarus to death, but we don’t know if they succeeded. May we be more like Martha, Mary, and Lazarus and draw near to Christ to love and serve him.”

Sts. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, pray for us.

July 25--St. Christopher, Martyr

 

St. Christopher Memorial Card

Whatever happened to St. Christopher? We know that he was a martyr under the persecution of the Emperor Decius in the third century in Lycea in present-dayTurkey, but we do not know anything else about him. Because of that, the Church removed him from the liturgical calendar. However, that does not mean that the Church demoted him or denied his existence. He is still on the Roman Martyrology, the approved list of saints in the Catholic Church.

In the Middle Ages a story spread about St. Christopher. The legend states that he was a giant who wished to serve the strongest, most powerful king. He started out serving a Christian king who crossed himself whenever he heard the devil’s name. Thus St. Christopher went to serve the devil who shuddered at the sight of the cross of Christ. Thus St. Christopher went to serve Christ. He was told by a hermit he would find Christ by carrying people across a river. “After Christopher had performed this service for some time, a little child asked him to take him across the river. During the crossing, the river became swollen and the child seemed as heavy as lead, so much that Christopher could scarcely carry him and found himself in great difficulty. When he finally reached the other side, he said to the child: ‘You have put me in the greatest danger. I do not think the whole world could have been as heavy on my shoulders as you were.’ The child replied: ‘You had on your shoulders not only the whole world but Him who made it. I am Christ your king, whom you are serving by this work.’ The child then vanished.” Thus, he is the patron of travelers.

St. Christopher is still a saint! St. Christopher, pray for us.

July 15--Bl. Anne-Marie Javouhey, Religious and Foundress

 

Bl. Anne-Marie Javouhey

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” We have all heard this aphorism many times in our lives. It speaks to the virtue of perseverance, which “signifies the steadfast pursuit of a goal despite facing obstacles, delays, or difficulties” and is a strength in the virtue category of courage. This is perhaps the single most important characteristic of today’s saint, Bl. Anne-Marie Javouhey.

Born in France in 1779 just before the French Revolution, she dedicated her life to care for children of all races. In 1801 she and her three natural sisters ran a school for poor children and “during the next decade she ran two day schools and an orphanage.” For many, that would be enough, but not for her. In 1812 she founded the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny. From these beginnings she expanded her ministry to missionary work in the French Caribbean and African colonies, including Senegal, Gambia, Sierra Leone, and French Guiana. At the request of the French government she prepared six hundred slaves for emancipation in French Guiana. “As each family was ready to be freed, Mother Javouhey arranged for them to have money, some land, and a cottage." She also faced and overcame episcopal opposition, including prohibition of reception of the sacraments for two years.

The motto she gave her sisters illustrated her entire mission: The Holy Will of God. She said, “I am in God’s hands, ready to do God’s Will as soon as it is revealed to me.” Thus she can guide us according to Jesus’ own words for us as we pray to the Father: “Thy will be done.” To do God’s will is our bread, our life, and our calling to holiness. She died in 1851 and was beatified in 1950. Bl. Anne-Marie Javouhey, pray for us!

July 8--Sts. Priscilla and Aquila, Holy Married Couple

Sts. Aquila and Priscilla

Pope Benedict XVI gave a General Audience on Saints Priscilla and Aquila, spouses, in February of 2007:

“Based on the information in our possession, this married couple played a very active role in the post-Paschal origins of the Church.

“When Paul wrote the First Letter to the Corinthians from Ephesus, together with his own greeting he explicitly sent those of ‘Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house’ (16: 19).

“Hence, we come to know the most important role that this couple played in the environment of the primitive Church: that of welcoming in their own house the group of local Christians when they gathered to listen to the Word of God and to celebrate the Eucharist.

“In the house of Aquila and Priscilla, therefore, the Church gathered, the convocation of Christ, which celebrates here the Sacred Mysteries.

“This couple in particular demonstrates how important the action of Christian spouses is. When they are supported by the faith and by a strong spirituality, their courageous commitment for the Church and in the Church becomes natural. The daily sharing of their life prolongs and in some way is sublimated in the assuming of a common responsibility in favour of the Mystical Body of Christ, even if just a little part of it. Thus it was in the first generation and thus it will often be.

“A further lesson we cannot neglect to draw from their example: every home can transform itself into a little church. Not only in the sense that in them must reign the typical Christian love made of altruism and of reciprocal care, but still more in the sense that the whole of family life, based on faith, is called to revolve around the singular lordship of Jesus Christ.”

Sts. Priscilla and Aquila, pray for us!

July 4--Bl. Pier Giorgio Frasatti, Third Order Dominican

 

Pier Giorgio Frassati, in the mountains from the book A Life in Pictures by Luciana Frassati.

An ordinary man is going to be canonized! He wasn’t a cleric. He did no miracles in his lifetime. He wasn’t a visionary or a mystic. He went to school to become an engineer. He helped the poor. He was a mountain climber. He protested against injustice. He opposed Italian fascism. He is Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati. St. John Paul II said he was a “man of the Beatitudes,” “a young man filled with a joy that swept everything along with it, a joy that also overcame many difficulties in his life”. Pope Francis said: “Pier Giorgio said that he wanted to return the love of Jesus that he received in Holy Communion by visiting and helping the poor.”

Frassati (1901-1925) was the son of an agnostic newspaper publisher and an artist. He became a member of the Catholic Federation of University Students and Catholic Action in Italy as a college student and also a member of the Third Order Dominicans. “He often said: ‘Charity is not enough; we need social reform’. He helped establish a newspaper entitled Momento whose principles were based on Pope Leo XIII's Rerum novarum.” He died of polio in 1925. “His parents expected Turin's elite and political figures to come to offer their condolences and attend the funeral and expected to find many of his friends there as well. All were surprised to find the streets lined with thousands of mourners as the cortege passed out of the reverence felt for him among the people he had helped.”

Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati was an ordinary man with an extraordinary dedication to God, love, and holiness. This is the purpose of canonization, to show that God’s love can be exemplified in our normal, everyday lives by loving others extraordinarily. Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati, pray for us!

June 16--St. Lutgardis, Religious

St. Lugardis by Goya

“Catholic Christians traditionally recognize June as the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. During this time, we call to mind Christ’s love for us, which is visible in a special way in the image of His pierced heart, and we pray that our own hearts might be conformed to His, calling us to love and respect all His people” (USCCB). St. Lutgardis is considered one of the saints who had a devotion to the Sacred Heart long before it was recognized in the Church as hers was the first recorded mystical revelation about the Sacred Heart.

St. Lutgardis was born in Tongeren, Belgium, in 1182 and died in 1246. She was sent to the convent at the age of twelve because her father lost her dowry in a bad business deal and thus could not afford to have her married according to the customs of the time. It was only later, when she had a vision of Jesus with his wounds, that she actually became a Benedictine nun. Still later, she joined the Cistercians, which followed a stricter observance of the Rule of St. Benedict. One vision was specifically about the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Jesus asked her what gift she would like to receive instead of the one she previously asked for. “‘Lord,’ said Lutgarde, ‘I would exchange it for your Heart.’ Christ then reached into Lutgarde and, removing her heart, replaced it with his own, at the same time hiding her heart within his breast.”

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is a profound reminder of God’s love for us through Jesus’ sacrifice: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16). St. Lutgardis, pray for us!

June 8--St. Melania the Elder, Holy Woman

St. Melania the Elder

Many people ask what role women had in the early Church since they couldn’t be ordained. Luke tells us that Jesus was supported financially by women: “Afterward he journeyed from one town and village to another, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. Accompanying him were the Twelve and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their resources” (Lk. 8:1-3).

This is also true of today’s saint, St. Melania the Elder (born about 325, died about 410-417). She was from a high Roman family and became “one of the wealthiest citizens of the empire.” She was a convert and became known for her generosity and holiness. “She was one of the first Roman women to visit the Holy Land.” After her husband died she visited North Africa and presented a desert monastery with chests of silver. From there she went to Jerusalem and founded a convent and a monastery. She spent thirty-five years in the Holy Land. Her kinsman, St. Paulinus of Nola, wrote of her: “What a woman she is, if it is permissible to call such a manly Christian a woman! . . . she loftily cast herself down to a humble way of life, so that as a strong member of the weak sex she might censure indolent men.”

This may sound sexist. However, it is not a matter of sexism to insist that holiness can be attained by everyone, including women! The holiest person, after Jesus himself, is Mary, our beloved Mother. St. Melania expressed her holiness through humility and generosity, gifts God gave to her.

St. Melania the Elder, pray for us!

June 2–St. Marcellinus and Peter, Priest and Exorcist, Martyrs

 

© Catacombe Santi Marcellino e Pietro

“To us, also, your servants, who, though sinners, hope in your abundant mercies, graciously grant some share and fellowship with your holy apostles and martyrs: with John the Baptist, Stephen, Matthias, Barnabas, (Ignatius, Alexander, Marcellinus, Peter, Felicity, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, Anastasia) and all your saints; admit us, we beseech you, into their company, not weighing our merits, but granting us your pardon, through Christ our Lord.”

This is part of the First Eucharistic Prayer, the oldest eucharistic prayer in the Latin Rite. It contains the names of many saints, especially of martyrs, including Marcellinus and Peter. A catacomb outside Rome is named for them.

“The catacomb of Saints Marcellinus and Peter derives its name from the two martyrs buried within it. The story behind the life of these two martyrs goes back to the time of the Emperor Diocletian. St. Marcellinus and St. Peter were slain during the persecution of 304 AD - beheaded, in Rome. Before being killed, however, they were forced to dig their tomb with their own hands. The site of the terrible martyrdom of the two saints was known as ‘Selva Nera’ (meaning ‘Black Forest’), but after their death it was renamed ‘Selva Candida’, that is ‘White Forest’, along Via Cornelia.

“It was thanks to a Roman matron, who went with the name of Lucilla, that the bodies of the two martyrs were brought to Via Casilina, at the site called ad Duas Lauros. With the translocation of the saints’ bodies, the Christian cemetery, already in use, was dedicated in their memory.” (http://www.catacombeditalia.va)

Martyrs are the heroes of the faith, the men and women who gave their lives for their love of Christ. We honor them in our prayers and we ask for their prayers. Sts. Marcellinus and Peter, pray for us.

May 25--St. Mary Magdalene dé Pazzi, Virgin

 

Ecstasy of St. Mary Magdalene dé Pazzi by Allesandro Rossi

Mystics are a special breed of saint. They receive amazing visions and ecstasies that most people cannot even imagine. Some famous mystics are St. Catherine of Siena, St. Teresa of Avila, and in the 20th century, St. Faustina Kowalska and St. Pio of Pietralcina. Today’s saint, St. Mary Magdalene dé Pazzi, was blessed with ecstatic visions on a daily basis for numerous years. Her confessor required them to be transcribed and preserved as a safeguard against deception. For six years five volumes were transcribed. However, she not only experienced great love for God, but also great trials. One was five years long!

St. Mary Magdalene dé Pazzi was born to a noble and wealthy Florence family during the Italian Renaissance in 1566. She made her first communion at the early age of ten, vowed virginity that same year, and at the age of twelve experienced her first ecstasy. She was allowed to enter a Carmelite convent at seventeen. It was during her novitiate that she became critically ill and thus allowed to take religious vows, after which she went into ecstasy for about two hours and then the following 40 days after receiving communion. She died in 1607 at the age of 41 and canonized a saint in 1669.

“Intimate union, God’s gift to mystics, is a reminder to all of us of the eternal happiness of union he wishes to give us. The cause of mystical ecstasy in this life is the Holy Spirit, working through spiritual gifts.” We may not have the gift of ecstasy, but we can meet Jesus in every person as Jesus tells us: “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt. 25:40). St. Mary Magdalene dé Pazzi, pray for us!

May 18--St. John I, Pope and Martyr

 

St. John I

“Habemus Papam!”  At the time of this writing, May of 2025, the conclave of cardinals in Rome elected Robert Prevost, of Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A., Pope Leo XIV.  We pray for him and his successful tenure as 267th pope and shepherd of the Catholic Church.  Well and good!

We also honor St. John I, pope and martyr, who was elected in AD 523 and was martyred in AD 526 at the hands of a heretic king.  St. Martin I was the last pope to be martyred in AD 653.  Nonetheless, every pope is the successor to Peter, the Rock, who was told by Jesus:  “‘Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.’  He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, ‘Follow me.’”

Pope St. John I was martyred because he succeeded in accomplishing what Theodoric, the Arian King of Italy, requested of him:  accommodations with the Byzantine emperor to avoid persecution of the Arians in the East.  Such was St. John’s success that Theodoric suspected him of conspiracy with the emperor and thus imprisoned him upon his return to Italy with the favorable news!  St. John died in prison.  

Every pope is called to witness the faith.  Pope Leo XIV stated: “I also want to … walk together with you, as a united Church always seeking peace, justice, always trying to work as men and women faithful to Jesus Christ, without fear, to proclaim the Gospel, to be missionaries.”  St. John I, pray for us!

May 11--St. Ignatius of Laconi, Religious

 

St. Ignatius of Laconi

Which is it: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 5:3) or “Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours” (Lk. 6:20)? For our saint today, it is both! St. Ignatius of Laconi was born December 10, 1701 in Laconi on the island of Sardinia as the second of seven children to poor peasants. Thus, he truly was poor in the manner of Luke’s offering. He lived the peasant life until he joined the Franciscan Capuchin religious order in 1722. As a professed religious he dedicated himself to physical poverty, but also to poverty of spirit, whereby God calls us to depend wholly upon him. He died in 1781 on Sardinia.

He was the official beggar for his community. The people of his town appreciated his quiet and modest manner. They knew he gave to them more than he received! “He seldom spoke; when required he spoke with exceptional kindness and great affection. He would also instruct the children and the uneducated that he came across, and went out to comfort the sick and urge sinners to be converted and to perform penance.”

How about us? Are we called to voluntary poverty or are we called to total dependence on God? How about some of the first and all of the second! Almsgiving does not have to be done only during Lent. We can give of ourselves to others who need what we can give to them, whether it be our time, our treasure, or our talents. Nonetheless, we are all called to be poor in spirit, to absolute and total dependence on God, ALWAYS! One of St. Ignatius’s quotations is “Trust God.” How apt! And yet, how difficult! St. Ignatius of Laconi, pray for us!

May 4--St. Florian, Martyr

 

St. Florian

The Catholic Church has patron saints for just about everything under the sun: animals–St. Francis of Assisi; Catholic schools–St. Thomas Aquinas; actors–St. Genesius; soldiers–St. George; bakers–St. Elizabeth of Hungary; and today’s saint, St. Florian, patron of firefighters. St. Florian was born in AD 250 in present-day Austria. He joined the Roman army and was in charge of fire brigades as part of his duties. He became a Christian, was discovered, arrested, and sentenced to be burned at the stake in 304 under the persecution of Emperor Diocletian. “Standing on the funeral pyre, Florian is reputed to have challenged the Roman soldiers to light the fire, saying ‘If you wish to know that I am not afraid of your torture, light the fire, and in the name of the Lord I will climb onto it.’ Apprehensive of his words, the soldiers did not burn Florian, but executed him by drowning him in the Enns River with a millstone tied around his neck instead.”

The reason we have patron saints is because they are men, women, and children to whom we can relate, whether because of their lives, their jobs, their circumstances, their deaths or what have you! Patron saints are people who we appeal to for help because we can relate to their experiences and we know they can relate to ours. St. Florian was a firefighter and a martyr. He lived his faith through his life and through his death. People look to us as role models as well! We are husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, workers, victims of illness or accidents. We need to live our faith through our lives. We can guide others and pray for them as their patrons, just as the patron saints guide us and pray for us. St. Florian, patron of firefighters, pray for us!

April 13–St. Martin I, Pope and Martyr

 

Pope St. Martin I by Carlo Laurentis, CC-4.0.

What happens when one does the right thing for the right reason in the right way but then is arrested, convicted, and exiled? He, St. Martin I, becomes the last pope to be martyred. Pope St. Martin I became pope in AD 649. What he did that got him arrested and martyred in 653 by the emperor was to condemn the heresy of Monothelitism, which the emperor supported.

Monothelitism stated that Jesus had only one will, a divine will, but not a human will. This was over 200 years after the Council of Chalcedon adopted the Tome of Pope St. Leo the Great, which had declared that Jesus Christ was one divine person with two natures, one divine and one human. To say that Jesus had one divine will is to deny him a human will and thus any human freedom in what he did or said. To say that he had only a divine will means that he was not really human because humans have a human will. Another problem with Monothelitism is that if Jesus only had a divine will then our human will is not saved. “What is not assumed is not saved,” according to St. Athanasius. God not only became incarnate by assuming human nature, but also by assuming all that it means to be human, and that means having a human will!

St. Martin I taught the truth and suffered: “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me’” (Mt. 16:24). We are all called to love, to take up our crosses, and follow Jesus. This will lead to suffering, but we offer it up in turn to Jesus, who loves and strengthens us. Pope St. Martin I, pray for us.

April 6--St. Paul Le-Bao Tinh, Priest and Martyr

St. Paul Le-Bao Tinh

Vietnam was evangelized by Catholic missionaries from Portugal, Spain, and then later from France. St. Paul Le-Bao Tinh was born in Vietnam in 1793. He was sent to a Catholic seminary at the age of twelve, after which he lived as a hermit until the local bishop asked him to bring missionary priests to Laos. In 1841 persecution began. He was arrested and spent seven years in prison in Hanoi. His sentence of death was commuted in 1848. He returned to the seminary and was ordained a priest. In 1855 he was again arrested and sentenced to death. In 1857 he was decapitated, as was the original St. Paul of Tarsus. St. John Paul II canonized him in 1988.

In both persecutions we have his words describing his suffering and his readiness for death: “I, Paul, bound in chains for the sake of Christ, send to you from prison salutations which are many and final… The prison is truly a living example of hell: to chains, shackles and manacles, are added anger, vengeance, lies, obscene conversations, brawls, evil acts, swearing, slander, plus boredom, sadness, mosquitoes and flies… I write these things so that your hearts might burst with desire to be martyrs, and that your prayers might strengthen me, who lives in the arena of combat.”

"My body is in your hands, please torture it as you wish, I am very happy, without any complaint. It dies but will rise again in glory tomorrow. As for my soul, it belongs to God, nothing can make me sacrifice it, no one can shake my faith. Christianity is the right religion, the true religion. I have loved and kept that religion since I was a child, and even if I die, I cannot abandon it." St. Paul Le-Bao Tinh, pray for us.

March 31--St. Benjamin, Deacon and Martyr

 Saint Benjamin

Vatican II reestablished the order of the diaconate as a “proper and permanent rank of the hierarchy:” “It is the duty of the deacon... to administer baptism solemnly, to be custodian and dispenser of the Eucharist, to assist at and bless marriages in the name of the Church, to bring Viaticum to the dying, to read the Sacred Scripture to the faithful, to instruct and exhort the people, to preside over the worship and prayer of the faithful, to administer sacramentals, to officiate at funeral and burial services” (Lumen gentium, 29).

Today’s saint was a deacon in this same manner in Persia in the 4th and 5th centuries. St. Benjamin was martyred in AD 424 during a persecution through two kings of Persia and for about forty years. The Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II was able to obtain his release after being imprisoned but with the condition that he not preach. St. Benjamin “declared it was his duty to preach about Christ and that he could not be silent.” He was then subjected to brutal torture, which killed him.

Today’s deacons may not be called to martyrdom, but they are called to preach the Gospel, to witness, and to serve the People of God in the ways directed by Vatican II. According to a study commissioned by the USCCB in 2021-2022, there were over 20,000 permanent deacons, with more than half of them in active ministry. We have been blessed by this ministry. Thus, we need to continue to promote vocations to the diaconate as well as to the priestly and religious vocations. The People of God need men and women to dedicate themselves to serving others so we may come closer to God. Be open to God’s call. St. Benjamin, pray for us.

March 29–St. Berthold, Priest and Hermit

 

Berthold of Mount Carmel, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Mount Carmel was where Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18. But it is also the location of the foundation of the Carmelite religious order. However, even before the Carmelites were founded other hermits and religious men lived together on Mt. Carmel. That seems to be the case with today’s saint. St. Berthold was a priest who went with the Crusaders on the Third Crusade. He “found himself in Antioch when it was being besieged by the Saracens. Through his urgings, the Christians in Antioch turned to prayer and penance, and the city was delivered.”

It is said that he built “a monastery and church on Mount Carmel and dedicated the church in honor of the prophet [Elijah]... and lived out his days on Mount Carmel, ruling the community he had founded for forty-five years until his death about 1195. His example and way of life stamped the beginnings of the Carmelite Order,” which was formally founded later. The Carmelites have given us numerous saints, especially mystics, such as St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, and St. Thérèse of Lisieux, all Doctors of the Church.

There is much fruit that can grow from small seeds. This was true of St. Berthold and it can be true of us. Every moment is an opportunity to do the will of God. Whatever we are doing, we can offer it up in love to God. It can be a moment of suffering, and thus we can participate in Christ’s sufferings. It can be a moment of joy, and thus we can rejoice in the gifts God has given us. It can be a moment of silence, such as when Jesus prayed to his Father. We need to offer each moment to God! St. Berthold, pray for us.

March 16–St. Abbán, Abbot

 

Andreas F. Borchert, New Ross Church of St. Mary and St. Michael Nave West End Relief of Saint Abban 2012 09 04, CC 4.0.

When we think of March saints we usually think of St. Patrick, whose feast day is March 17. Nonetheless, the Martyrology of Donegal lists 1000 saints of Ireland. Today’s saint was also an Irish saint who founded a monastery in Ireland. Three versions of the Life of St. Abbán show a lot of variation and confusion about him. However, according to the Martyrology, St. Abbán had great devotion to God as a child and he worked saintly miracles, such as when his maternal uncle, a bishop, took him to Rome, he was said to have power over “men, monsters, and supernatural phenomena” and “special authority over rivers and seas.” He died about A.D 520.

This sounds like a lot of Irish exaggeration, except that scholars have studied and documented his life and impact throughout Ireland. So what makes a person a saint? As stated in this column before, men, women, and children are saints because of their holiness. They dedicate themselves to knowing, loving, and serving God so they may give greater glory to God and bring others closer to him. St. Abbán was thus such a man.

St. Abbán was one of the many abbots, abbesses, and monks that helped Christianize Ireland. Irish Christianity was primarily monastic with the spread of “networks of monastic ‘city-states’ throughout Ireland that served as centers of learning for religious men and women.” Irish monasticism was influential in re-Christianizing northern Europe after the fall of the Roman empire in the West.

The impact of Irish Catholicism is worthwhile. Many of us can remember the Irish priests who taught us as children and established parishes in our dioceses. We are grateful for the Irish Catholics like St. Abbán, who, by their holiness, spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. St. Abbán, pray for us.

February 27--St. Gregory of Narek, Monk, Priest, and Doctor of the Church

St. Gregory of Narek Statue, Vatican City

“Lex orandi, lex credendi.” “The law of what is prayed is the law of what is believed.” This Latin phrase summarizes the impact and relationship of prayer and faith. As the Catechism states: “The law of prayer is the law of faith: the Church believes as she prays.” (1124).

Thus: Saint Gregory of Narek was a mystic, monk, priest, and, as declared by Pope Francis, Doctor of the Church. Living in the Kingdom of Armenia, modern Turkey (born about 951, died about 1003), Gregory and his brother were raised by their uncle in a monastery, which he eventually entered. He then taught there and wrote commentaries and prayers. His most famous work is The Book of Lamentations, a collection of ninety-five prayers, each beginning: “Speaking with God from the Depths of the Heart.” The prayers were expressions of love and dependency on God’s mercy. “He believed his book was written not only for himself, his monks, or the Armenian people, but for all people, for the entire world.” In other words, St. Gregory proclaimed the Gospel in the prayers he composed.

Here is the conclusion of his final prayer: Prepare the earth for the day of light and let the soil bloom and bring forth fruit, heavenly cup of life-giving blood, ever sacrificed, never running dry, all for the salvation and life of the souls in eternal rest. And though my body die in sin, with Your grace and compassion, may I be strengthened in You, cleansed of sin through You, and renewed by You with life everlasting, and at the resurrection of the righteous be deemed worthy of Your Father’s blessing. To Him together with You, all glory, and with the Holy Spirit, praise and resounding thanks, now, always and forever, Amen. St. Gregory of Narek, pray for us!