August 31—St. Raymond Nonnatus, Priest and Religious

*

Jesus sacrificed his life for the redemption of all humanity. That is the heart of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus’ suffering, death, Resurrection, and Ascension. As Christian disciples we also suffer each day and offer up the difficulties and trials as part of our participation in the Paschal Mystery so we may help others to come to Jesus and ourselves to heaven. But imagine a person ransoming someone with his own life, releasing another from slavery and thus becoming a slave. That happened to today’s saint. 

St. Raymond Nonnatus was born in Spain around 1203. The nickname Nonnatus is from the Latin meaning “not born” because he was delivered by caesarian section. He joined the Mercedarians, the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy, and was ordained a priest in 1222. The purpose of the order was to ransom Christians from Muslims who were held captive because they were Christian. St. Raymond ransomed 140 Christians from slavery in Valencia and then 250 captives in Algiers, North Africa by buying their freedom. He then went to Tunis and offered himself as hostage to free 28 Christians when his money ran out as fulfillment of the orders fourth vow, which was taken from Matthew’s Gospel to free the prisoner. However, according to legend, he was prevented from preaching the Good News by having his lips pierced and then closed with a padlock, only to be opened when he ate. He suffered this torment for eight months until other Mercedarians brought the original ransom. He died in 1240 at the age of 37. 

St. Raymond lived the corporal work of mercy at that time, ransom the captive. Let us help free others from the torment that imprisons them, whether it be physical, psychological, emotional, social, or whatever. St. Raymond, pray for us.

*https://static.wixstatic.com/media/61f7a5_6b30669f682c4b0282413ca2a9f7b575~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_667,h_1004,al_c,q_85/Vicente_Carducho%2C__Martirio_de_san_Ram%C3%B3n.webp

August 25--St. Joseph Calasanz, Priest and Religious

*

Jesus taught, “Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours” (Lk. 6:20). He also taught, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me” (Mt. 25:34-36). So, what happens when someone tries to live Jesus’ teaching? Sometimes they are praised, sometimes persecuted, sometimes both.

Today’s saint is one who experienced both praise and persecution for serving the poor. St. Joseph Calasanz was born to a minor Spanish noble family in 1557. He received the benefits of wealth, but rather than enjoying those benefits for himself, he became a priest and in Rome started the “first popular and free school in Europe” for the poor and abandoned children. He founded a school system he called the “Pious Schools” in 1616. He founded an order to run the schools called the Piarists, Latin for pious, in 1617. His order took the three standard vows, plus a fourth vow “to dedicate their lives to the education of youth.” 

 However, his work caused opposition. “Many rich were threatened by the thought of underprivileged people learning new ideas.” He was a friend of Galileo and helped him when it was unpopular. His own order suffered internal strife due to the sins and power of some of its members to the point St. Joseph was pushed out as superior general. The order was suppressed in 1646. He died in 1648, “convinced that his Order and his dream would not die.” The Order was restored twenty years later, and he was canonized in 1767 and declared the “Heavenly Patron of all Christian popular schools” by Pope Pius XII in 1948.

* The Last Communion of St Joseph of Calasanz by Francisco Goya 1819 Oil on canvas, 250 x 180 cm Escuelas Pías de San Antón, Madrid

August 19--Servant of God Nicholas Black Elk, Holy Man

*

John G. Neihardt wrote Black Elk Speaks as an account of the destruction of the Native American culture with the Massacre of Wounded Knee as the final battle of the Indian Wars. But there is more to his life than the ending of a time and culture. Black Elk was a boy of nine when he had a vision where he was visited by spirits, shown the sacred tree, and called to save his people. His vision became the core of Neihardt’s book, as well as his life up to Wounded Knee.

He came from a long line of medicine men. He participated in the Battle of the Little Bighorn and traveled to England with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show. He also fought at and survived Wounded Knee. That is where Black Elk Speaks ends with a later postscript showing Black Elk on top of Harney Peak, now named Black Elk Peak. There is no mention of how Black Elk became Nicholas Black Elk, a Catholic catechist.

Black Elk was baptized Nicholas in 1904 and was appointed a catechist on the Pine Ridge Reservation. As a catechist, he taught his people how Catholicism connects with the Lakota traditions and beliefs. He converted 400 people. At the end of his life, he wrote a book called The Sacred Pipe, whose purpose was stated: “It is my prayer that, through our sacred pipe, and through this book in which I shall explain what our pipe really is, peace may come to those peoples who can understand, and understanding which must be of the heart and not of the head alone. Then they will realize that we Indians know the One true God, and that we pray to Him continually.” His cause for canonization was opened in the Rapid City Diocese in 2017.

*https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Black_Elk.jpg

Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

August 13—Bl. Michael McGivney, Priest

*

“A priest walks into a bar and says to an Irishman, ‘Do you want to serve the Church and also buy some insurance to protect your family when you die?’”  Not necessarily a funny joke, but perhaps a quick and accurate assessment of what today’s saint did for the working Catholic immigrant in the late 19th century America.  Fr. Michael J. McGivney was the eldest of 13 children born to Irish immigrant parents in 1852.  His father worked in a brass mill and was joined by Michael when he was 13.  However, he entered the seminary at 16 in Quebec, leaving at one point to help his mother raise his siblings when his father died in 1873.  He eventually was ordained in 1877 and served in New Haven, Connecticut.  While there he realized how the impact of the deaths of immigrants in grueling working conditions devastated families.    

In response, he founded the Knights of Columbus, which is the world’s largest men’s charitable fraternal organization with 2 million members worldwide.  Its four degrees, or levels, of membership are based on four watchwords:  Charity, Unity, Fraternity, and Patriotism.  In 2019, the order donated $187 million and 77 million man-hours to charity.  It has over $100 billion of life insurance in force and $24 billion of assets under management.  The order has thousands of councils throughout the world and men who have been recognized for their holiness:  five Servants of God, including Fr. Flanagan of Boys Town; two Venerables, including Archbishop Sheen; six Blesseds, including Carlos Manuel Rodríguez of Puerto Rico; and seven Saints, including six Mexican priests martyred for their faith during persecutions in the early 20th century.  Bl. Michael McGivney was a man of vision, holiness, and concern for others.  He embodied the essence of priestly life through his ministry and service. 

*https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Michael_J_McGivney.jpg

Richard Whitney, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons

August 7—St. Cajetan, Priest

*

What does it mean to be “most earnest in prayer”? St. Cajetan is described as such a man. He is also described “in love of neighbor”. That is impressive! It meets the requirements Jesus set forth, when he was asked in Matthew’s Gospel (22:36-40), “‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.’” 

 Gaetano dei Conti di Thiene was born in 1480 near Venice to an Italian nobleman. He received degrees in both civil and canon law and worked as a diplomat for Pope Julius II. He was ordained a priest in 1516 after Pope Julius died and went back to his hometown of Vicenza, establishing a hospital in 1522. He established another hospital in Venice in 1523, but moved back to Rome to form a congregation dedicated to the spirit of monasticism and active ministry, where he and three others began Theatine order. In Naples he founded a bank to help the poor against those who charged extremely high interest rates. He died in 1547 in Naples. He is the patron saint of the unemployed and gamblers. 

 So, how was St. Cajetan most “most earnest in prayer” as well as “in love of neighbor”? For someone to be able to do the charitable acts he did, one needs to be grounded in Jesus. A strong prayer life is essential to developing that relationship of love. St. Cajetan’s life of prayer and charity was based on his love of Jesus and thus his service to others.

*https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Francesco_Solimena_-_Estasi_di_San_Gaetano_da_Thiene.jpg

Francesco Solimena, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

July 28—Bl. Stanley Rother, Priest and Martyr

*

There are fourteen saints, eight blesseds, 25 venerables, and 184 Servants of God with American connections. They founded religious orders, became martyrs, taught, healed, led, and served. They ministered in America and around the world. They were all holy! 

Today’s blessed is one such man, Blessed Stanley Rother, a priest and missionary from Oklahoma, martyred in Guatemala in 1981 during its civil war. He was born in 1935 near Oklahoma City and graduated from the seminary in 1963. In 1968 he was assigned, at his request, to a mission in Guatemala. He served in Santiago Atitlán until his death. Along with his regular duties, he translated the New Testament into the native language of the people and founded a small hospital. 

The civil war eventually came to his parish. “His catechists and parishioners would disappear and later be found dead, with their bodies showing signs of being beaten and tortured.” He wrote to the people of Oklahoma in December 1980 before returning to Guatemala: “This is one of the reasons I have for staying in the face of physical harm. The shepherd cannot run at the first sign of danger.” He was told his name was on a death list but received permission to return to Santiago Atitlán. On July 28, 1981, shooters broke into the rectory and shot him twice in the head. He was one of ten priests murdered in Guatemala that year. He is buried in Oklahoma, but his heart is buried under the altar in Santiago Atitlán. 

On December 1, 2016, Pope Francis decreed that he had been killed in odium fidei, in hatred of the faith. He was beatified on September 23, 2017, the first US-born priest and martyr. Martyrdom is still a part of being Catholic. Bl. Stanley Rother, pray for us.

*http://www.catharchdioceseokc.org/history/rotherindex.htm

July 24--St. Sharbel Maklūf, Priest

*

The Catholic Church has 24 particular churches and six major rites of worship.  The largest particular church is the Latin Church.  There are 23 Eastern Catholic Churches united under the authority and leadership of the Pope.

Today’s saint is from the Maronite Catholic Church, which belongs to the West Syriac Rite.  St. Sharbel Maklūf was a priest, monk, and hermit who lived in Lebanon from 1828-1898.  He is known as the “Miracle Monk of Lebanon” due to the many miraculous healings and wonders attributed to him during his life and after, as well for his ability to unite Christians and Muslims.  He became a monk in 1853 and was ordained a priest for the Monastery of St. Maron.  He served the monastery for 19 years and then was granted permission to live as a hermit near the monastery.  He lived as a hermit for another 23 years in deep prayer with God and a life devoted to deprivation of material pleasures.

His wisdom comes through his life of holiness and his words:  “A man who prays lives out the mystery of existence, and a man who does not pray scarcely exists.”  “Success in life consists of standing without shame before God.”  “Persevere in prayer without ceasing… to understand and live according to his will, not to change it.”  “One does not have to look far to see evidence of Satan’s plan in our world today, as the family is further fragmented and divided in modern culture.”  “The family is the basis of the Lord’s plan; and all forces of evil are focusing all their evil on destroying the family because they know that by destroying the family, the foundations of the plan of God will be shaken.”  How prophetic for us, as we seek to strengthen the family against new “definitions.”

*By FOSS-the-world - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63027121