December 22--"Bl." Jacopone da Todi, Religious

Bl. Jacopone da Todi by Paolo Uccello licensed under public domain.

There are quotation marks around this “blessed” because he has never been beatified by the Church. However, there have been efforts to bring his cause to the Church by the Franciscans. So who was this “blessed” man? Jacopo dei Benedetti was a lawyer from a minor noble family in Italy during the 13th century. He was married and when his wife was killed in an accident he discovered she was wearing clothing as penance for his sins. He was so mortified that he quit law, gave away his possessions and became a Third Order Franciscan. He acted the fool as a way of sharing his spiritual vision, and was nicknamed Jacopone, or “Crazy Jim”. He once wore a saddle and crawled on all fours. Another time, he appeared at his brother’s wedding tarred and feathered.

But wait, there’s more. He eventually was accepted into the Franciscan Order, despite his previous antics. Instead, his poetry showed the depth of his spirituality. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, his writings became a fount for penance. Jacopone became connected to the Spiritual Franciscans, who were suppressed by the pope. Jacopone wrote satirical verses against those who opposed the Spirituals, including the pope. He was eventually captured, imprisoned, and excommunicated. He accepted prison as penance for his sins, during which time he wrote Stabat Mater:


“At the Cross her station keeping,
Stood the mournful Mother weeping,
Close to Jesus to the last:


“Through her heart, his sorrow sharing,
All his bitter anguish bearing,
now at length the sword has pass'd.


“Oh, how sad and sore distress'd
Was that Mother highly blest
Of the sole-begotten One!”

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon him.
May the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
~Amen~
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January 27--St. Angela Merici, Religious

St. Angela Merici by GFreihalter licensed under CC by-3.0.

For those who grew up in the second half of the 20th century, women religious in the Catholic schools were a common sight.  They seemed to be everywhere!  They were dedicated to their faith and to sharing and living their faith in the Catholic schools as teachers and administrators, as well as sponsors of extra-curricular activities.  The first woman to begin this kind of vocation was today's saint, St. Angela Merici.  Born in 1474 in northern Italy, she was a third-order lay Franciscan and devoted herself to good works throughout her life, organizing unmarried women in various cities to live at home, but serve their neighbors.  In 1535 she organized these groups into the Company of St. Ursula, a popular medieval saint.  She structured the society in a military manner by dividing the towns they served into separate areas run by more mature members.  The Ursulines served in prisons, hospitals, and the poorest neighborhoods.  Eventually, they became the first female teaching order and the first Catholic sisters in the United States.  There are 15 Ursuline schools in the U.S. today.

St. Angela wrote the rule for the community, which included this advice:  "'Do not lose heart, . . . even if you should discover that you lack qualities necessary for the work to which you are called.  He who called you will not desert you, but the moment you are in need he will stretch out his saving hand.'"  This is truly wise for we are beset by our own sins and failings, as well as adversities God allows to challenge us.  We are called to persevere despite our weaknesses.  She also wrote:  "I ask you, Lord, to receive all my self-will that by the infection of sin is unable to distinguish good from evil.  St. Angela, pray for us!

November 17—St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Holy Woman

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For someone to be canonized within five years of death is amazing! That means the person not only lived a life of great holiness but was also an example of God’s love to a great multitude of faithful Catholics. St. Teresa of Calcutta was canonized nineteen years after her death; St. John Paul II, nine years after his. Today’s saint, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, was canonized in 1235, less than four years after her death in 1231. She is the patron of Catholic Charities and the Third Order of St. Francis. 

So who was she and why was she so beloved? St. Elizabeth was born in 1207, the daughter of the king of Hungary. She was married to the ruler of the Thuringia, in present-day Germany, at the age of fourteen, and had three children. In 1223, the Franciscans arrived, and she learned and lived by the ideals of St. Francis of Assisi, distributing alms to the poor. Her husband died on his way to the Sixth Crusade, when she was only 20. After this, her life became very difficult on account of her brother-in-law, who was regent for her five-year-old son. She took vows like those of a nun, which made her a political liability for her family, being unwilling to marry again. Her dowry was returned to her, and she built a hospital for the poor and the sick, where she and her companions cared for them. She died at the age of twenty-four. Soon after her death miracles were reported at her grave, which helped her cause for canonization in 1235. 

St. Elizabeth of Hungary is esteemed for her holiness and charity and dedication to serving others. Hers was the life of a saint in the world doing the will of God. St. Elizabeth, pray for us.

*https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Marianne_Stokes_St_Elizabeth_of_Hungary_Spinning_for_the_Poor.jpg

July 5--St. Elizabeth of Portugal, Holy Woman

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Do you have a peacemaker in your family; someone who can patch things up when one relative insults another, or when family members get into a dispute? Well, the Iberian peninsula and all its royalty had a saint to help them out, Elizabeth of Portugal. She was born to the future King of Aragon in 1271, betrothed to the King of Portugal in 1282, and married in 1288. Her brothers were kings of Aragon and Sicily; her son-in-law, King of Castile. So her whole family tended to want their way, being kings! She, on the other hand, was devout, even as a child. She is quoted as far as understanding her role in life: “God made me queen so that I may serve others.” And she served in many ways, but most notably as a peacemaker by stopping a civil war between her husband and son and as well as stopping a war between her son and son-in-law. Legend has it that in the civil war she rode on a mule between the two sides to prevent combat. She even negotiated a peace treaty with the Queen of Castile. After her husband died in 1325, she became a Third Order Franciscan, retired to a convent, and died in 1336.

Kings often have huge egos. We also tend to have huge egos, inflated by pride and self-righteousness. When we perceive a comment as an insult or even a disagreement with a cherished belief, we tend to lash out, causing pain and suffering. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Mt. 5:9). Many times he gives us those peacemakers to calm the waters and, even sometimes, to deflate our egos. If we have egos the size of royalty, may God send us peacemakers, such as St. Elizabeth!

*https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saint_Elizabeth_of_Portugal_(1271%E2%80%931336),_by_Spanish_(Madrilenian)_School.png

**https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Rainha_Santa_em_Alvalade_(Roque_Gameiro,_Quadros_da_Hist%C3%B3ria_de_Portugal,_1917).png

January 27--St. Angela Merici, Virgin

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There are many ways to follow God’s baptismal call to holiness: single life, married life, consecrated life, and the ordained life. Of these, consecrated life has the most variations, including religious orders as well as hermits, consecrated virgins and widows, secular institutes, and societies of apostolic life. Today’s saint was one of the women who pioneered a new form of consecrated life, akin to modern-day secular institutes.

St. Angela Merici founded the Company of St. Ursula in 1535 in Brescia, Italy. They were meant to be in the world, but not of it. Their members consecrated themselves to God and promised celibacy, but they lived at home with their own families and served in their communities, primarily as teachers of girls in order to re-Christianize family life through being holy wives and mothers. Later they gathered in communities with one another and served throughout the world.

St. Angela started early in life as a Third Order Franciscan, maintaining a life in the secular world with a holy intent. She converted her home into a school where she taught the girls of the town in the basics of Christianity. Later, she started a school in Brescia, where, with her companions, they established the first women’s teaching order. She died in 1540 and was canonized in 1807.

Most of us are called to be in the world, not of it. That means we are called to transform the world, to help bring about the Kingdom of Heaven. We are all called to holiness through single life or married life or consecrated life or ordained life. We are called to listen to how God wants us to respond. Are we called to teach, serve, love, pray, and live as disciples? Absolutely! We are freed by our calling! St. Angela Merici, pray for us.

*Image: Benedetto Pietrogrande, “Angèle Merici”; Peter Kostner, sculptor, 1990. Church of St. Angela, Desenzano https://www.osucentral.org/who-we-are/

August 25--St. Louis IX, Holy Man

To be a holy man or holy woman; isn’t that what we all should try to be? Holiness is the attribute that Isaiah hears the angels proclaim of God: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts! All the earth is filled with his glory!” (Is. 6:3) The Psalmist declares: “Holy is the Lord our God”. (Ps. 99:9) And so when we hear of a king, a secular ruler, declared to be a holy man and a saint, it may take us aback. How can a king, who wages war and passes judgment on others, be considered holy?

St. Louis IX, King of France, was such a man. He dedicated his life to justice, which is especially desired in a king. As supreme judge of France he would hear appeals by anyone of his subjects. He abolished trial by ordeal and introduced the presumption of innocence in criminal proceedings. He created provosts and bailiffs to enforce application of his new legal system. Even in war he maintained the need for justice. When in war against his brother-in-law, Henry III of England, he negotiated a settlement for peace rather that fight for a total victory. He led the seventh and eighth crusades, both of which failed. His purpose in both was to bring aid to Christians suffering under the Muslim Saracens.

Justice was a hallmark of his reign, as was service to the poor. Every day he would invite thirteen guests from among the poor to eat with him. He would often serve the poor who came for a meal during Advent and Lent. He established three monasteries and sponsored the construction of great Gothic cathedrals. St. Louis died of typhoid fever at Tunis during the eighth crusade in 1270 and was canonized in 1297. We ask for his intercession on our behalf for justice and service in our day.

July 23--St. Bridget of Sweden, Religious

Europe has six patrons, three men and three women. Today’s saint is one of them. St. Bridget of Sweden was born in 1303 and had a vision of the crucified Jesus at an early age, which guided her throughout her life. She married at 14 and had eight children; her daughter Catherine is a saint. When her husband died after 28 years of marriage she became a Third Order Franciscan. Later, she founded a religious order for men and women, the Order of the Most Holy Savior, called the Bridgettines. She traveled to Rome in 1349 seeking approval of her order from the pope, who was in Avignon, France. It wasn’t until 1370 when the pope moved back to Rome that her order was approved. During that time, she remained in Rome praying, prophesying, and writing about her mystical experiences. She died in 1373 and was canonized in 1391. 

The Order of the Most Holy Savior was reestablished, due to its dissolution during the Reformation, in 1911 by St. Elizabeth Hesselblad, who was born in Sweden. The charisms of the order include living the lives of the crucified Jesus and the Blessed Virgin at the foot of the cross as well as having special concern for the reunification of all Christians in ecumenism.

The motto of the Bridgettines is Amor meus crucifixus est, “My love has been crucified.” Jesus is our love and he was crucified for our sins, so that we may achieve salvation. St. Bridget lived these words in her life. We are also called to reflect upon, pray, and live these words. We are blessed by the words, lives, and examples of the saints, the cloud of witnesses praying for us. St. Bridget of Sweden, pray for us.

June 17—St. Albert Chmielowski, Religious

Saints come from many ways of life; soldiers, such as St. Martin of Tours and St. Sebastian; aristocratic families and wealth, such as St. Francis Borgia and St. Katherine Drexel; artists, such as St. Catherine of Bologna and St. Luke; or even celebrities, such as St. Bernadette of Lourdes and St. Catherine of Siena. Today’s saint had all those characteristics: St. Albert Chmielowski. St. Albert was born into an aristocratic family near Krakow, Poland in 1845. As Poland had been partitioned three times in the 18th century, many Poles rebelled, including St. Albert. He was part of the January Insurrection of 1863-1864 and lost his leg during a battle. After the uprising, he became a painter and was celebrated as one of the premier artists of Poland.

However, he wanted more from life, namely, to grow closer to God. He became a Third Order Franciscan and was allowed to run Krakow’s homeless shelter. He sold his paintings to pay for improvements. He banned alcohol from the shelter, asked residents to work, taught them working skills, and taught them the Catechism. He set up two religious orders, the Albertine Brothers and Sisters, who were dedicated to serving the poor. St. Albert died in 1916. Pope St. John Paul II was deeply impacted by St. Albert, writing a play about him in 1949, Our God’s Brother, which is about a legendary meeting between St. Albert and Vladimir Lenin.

God calls us wherever we are and in whatever state we are. He calls us to be holy and to come closer to him through our brothers and sisters who are dependent on our efforts. God saves us through others and he calls us to save others through our service to them and our love of them. 

March 12--Bl. Angela Salawa, Virgin and Third Order Franciscan

When we are scrubbing the kitchen floor or cleaning the toilet or making the beds or preparing food or vacuuming the living room, do we pray? Bl. Angela Salawa did. She was a domestic servant from the time she was fifteen till her death in 1922 at the age of 41 in Cracow, Poland. She helped other women who sought domestic work to live authentic Christian lives through their work and prayer. She said: “I love my work because it enables me to endure suffering, work harder and pray often; other than that I have no other desire in the world.” In 1900 she became a member of the Association of St. Zita, who is the patron of domestic workers. She joined the Third Order Franciscans in 1912 and during World War I assisted in the hospitals of Cracow and shared her rations with others. She was fired in 1916 from her job because of false accusations. She was often in poor health and, after being fired, homeless. She was discharged from the hospital and lived the last five years of her life in a basement room, abandoned by family, friends, and neighbors.

God allows us to suffer to bring us closer to him. Bl. Angela Salawa accepted her sufferings, her loneliness, her state in life, and her opportunities to strive for holiness. She had a great devotion to the Eucharist and prayed before the Blessed Sacrament. Her occupation as a maid allowed her to serve similar to how Jesus served the apostles when he washed their feet at the Last Supper. We are all called to know, love, and serve God in this life. But even the menial tasks we are called to do can be opportunities to love, as Bl. Angela Salawa knew.

March 9--St. Frances of Rome, Religious

Rome has two heavy hitters as patrons in Sts. Peter and Paul, who were both martyred there during the reign of the emperor Nero. But the eternal city also has a mother as a patron, St. Frances of Rome. St. Frances was born into a noble Roman family and married at the age of 12 to another Roman noble. Her marriage lasted for 40 years and she bore three children. While she was married she became a Third Order Franciscan. During an invasion of Rome people came to her farm, where she would give food and care for the sick, the starving, and the dying assisted by other Roman ladies. In 1425 she and six other women became oblates under the rule of St. Benedict. They eventually became a religious order in 1433. Their ministry was to serve the poor and work and pray for the pope and the peace of Rome.

As a mother, St. Frances of Rome suffered the death of two of her children to the plague. She opened part of her house as a hospital and bought what was necessary to help the sick. Her community of women helped others as mothers help their children.

Our mothers sacrifice themselves for us so that we may have what we need: food, clothing, comfort, medicine, and more. In times of sorrow our mothers console us. They do what must be done so that their children and their families are secure and safe. They, with our fathers, provide us with homes and love. But they do not do so alone. They have God to guide them. They have the Blessed Mother to watch over them. No family is perfect, but all families strive for happiness in their lives, which is only provided through God’s grace.

June 19—Venerable Matt Talbot, Holy Man and Third Order Franciscan

“Hi, my name is Matt and I am an alcoholic.” That may be the greeting today’s saint would give if he were to go to a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. Ven. Matt Talbot was an Irishman born in 1856 and died in 1925. He was a laborer and a man of modest means. He started drinking at about the age of 15 when he was a messenger for liquor merchants and, for almost 15 years he was an active alcoholic. Finally, he decided to “take the pledge” to give up drinking for three months, and then six months, and then for his whole life, which he did, albeit with great difficulty at times. He went to daily Mass, read religious books, and repaid debts incurred when he was drinking. He became a Third Order Franciscan, which means that he followed the example of St. Francis of Assisi as a layman, and modeled himself on the sixth century Irish monks. He died of heart failure on his way to Mass on Trinity Sunday.

Venerable Matt Talbot is the patron of alcoholics and those seeking sobriety. Alcoholism can ensnare anyone and render life miserable to the point of poverty, homelessness, abandonment by family, and despair of God. Talbot received God’s grace to overcome his alcoholism. We all need God’s grace to overcome our own “addictions”, those habits that pull us away from God and into our own selfishness. Sin itself is the ultimate addiction, whereby we turn in on ourselves in self-hatred and reject God’s love and mercy. Mercy requires repentance so we may turn back to God, who receives us as a forgiving prodigal father.

March 24--St. Catherine of Genoa, Holy Woman

Confession is good for the soul!  This is absolutely true and today's saint demonstrates even more the benefits and power of the confessional.  St. Catherine of Genoa married at the age of 16 and spent ten years in a difficult marriage.  One day she went to confession and experience God's love for her.  This led her to receiving communion daily, which was extremely rare in those days, and service in a hospital.  Her husband, being changed from his ways, joined her in serving in the hospital.  Because his spending had left them without money, they lived and served together in the hospital for another 24 years until he died.  He had become a third order Franciscan.  She continued to serve there until her death in 1510.

It was confession that turned St. Catherine's life around.  During Lent it is good for us to remember that Jesus is calling us to repentance.  We may not need to turn 180 degrees to come back to Jesus, but we are always in need of metanoia, which means to change one's life.  Priests love to help penitents to amend their lives so that they may experience God's mercy.  Sometimes people are afraid of confession because it has been a long time.  Sometimes they are afraid because of what the "priest might think."  Confessors want us to be reconciled to God, others, and even ourselves.  We hear in the song "Hosea" that God is calling to us:  "Come back to me, with all your heart.  Don't let fear keep us apart.  Long have I waited for your coming home to me and living deeply our new life."  Have a soul-changing experience as St. Catherine did.