saint – Page 12

Saint Ambrose

O God, who made the Bishop Saint Ambrose a teacher of the Catholic faith and a model of apostolic courage, raise up in your Church men after your own heart to govern her with courage and wisdom.

Let’s pray for Cardinal Angelo Scola and the Church in the great Archdiocese of Milan.

Saint Andrew: brought Peter to the Lord

Let us pray that Saint Andrew, first-called, will bring us to the Lord as he brought Saint Peter and countless others to the Lord to experience salvation.

Let us pray for concrete unity among Christians, particularly Orthodox Christians with the See of Rome.

The Church prays~

We humbly implore your majesty, O Lord, that, just as the blessed Apostle Andrew was for your Church a preacher and pastor, so he may be for us a constant intercessor before you.

2 new Blesseds added US liturgical calendar

At their annual
meeting, the US bishops voted to have add to the US liturgical calendar Blessed
John Paul II and Blessed Marianne Cope, both are optional liturgical memorials
in the proper of saints. October 22 is designated to honor Blessed John Paul and January 23
for Mother Marianne.

The Church sets dates for liturgical “memorials are typically set for the
date of the person’s death, which in Mother Marianne’s case was Aug. 9, 1918.
However, that date is the feast of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith
Stein), who died Aug. 9, 1942. Jan. 23 is the optional memorial in the United
States for St. Vincent de Paul. That date was transferred from Jan. 22 so that
the U.S. church can observe the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of
Unborn Children — which itself shifts to Jan. 23 when Jan. 22 falls on a
Sunday.”

Saint Leo the Great

Pope Saint Leo the
Great stated: “The faith of those who live their faith is a serene faith. What
you long for will be given you; what you love will be yours for ever. Since it
is by giving alms that everything is pure for you, you will also receive that
blessing which is promised next by the Lord: the Godhead that no man has been
able to see. In the inexpressible joy of this eternal vision, human nature will
possess what eye has not seen or ear heard, what man’s heart has never
conceived.”

Saint Charles Borromeo

Preserve in the midst of your people, we ask, O
Lord, the spirit with which you filled the Bishop Saint Charles Borromeo, that
your Church may be constantly renewed and, by conforming herself to the
likeness of Christ, may show his face to the world.

The humanity of today’s saint is brought out in an
address celebrating 400 years since he was raised to the altars. Here are three
paragraphs of the Pope 2010 talk (the rest may be read at the link below):

The
love of St Charles Borromeo was first and foremost the love of the Good
Shepherd who is ready to give his whole life for the flock entrusted to his
care, putting the demands and duties of his ministry before any form of
personal interest, amenity or advantage. Thus the Archbishop of Milan, faithful
to the Tridentine directives, visited several times his immense Diocese even
the most remote localities, and took care of his people, nourishing them ceaselessly
with the Sacraments and with the word of God through his rich and effective
preaching; he was never afraid to face adversities and dangers to defend the
faith of the simple and the rights of the poor.

However it is impossible to
understand the charity of St Charles Borromeo without knowing his relationship
of passionate love with the Lord Jesus. He contemplated this love in the holy
mysteries of the Eucharist and of the Cross, venerated in very close union with
the mystery of the Church. The Eucharist and the Crucified One immersed St
Charles in Christ’s love and this transfigured and kindled fervor in his entire
life, filled his nights spent in prayer, motivated his every action, inspired
the solemn Liturgies he celebrated with the people and touched his heart so
deeply that he was often moved to tears.

His contemplative gaze at the holy
Mystery of the Altar and at the Crucified one stirred within him feelings of
compassion for the miseries of humankind and kindled in his heart the apostolic
yearning to proclaim the Gospel to all. On the other hand we know well that
there is no mission in the Church which does not stem from “abiding” in the
love of the Lord Jesus, made present within us in the Eucharistic Sacrifice.
Let us learn from this great Mystery! Let us make the Eucharist the true centre
of our communities and allow ourselves to be educated and moulded by this abyss
of love! Every apostolic and charitable deed will draw strength and fruitfulness
from this source!

Pope Benedict XVI

400th anniversary of Borromeo’s canonization

Saints Simon and Jude

O God, who by the blessed Apostles have brought us to
acknowledge your Name, grant graciously, through the intercession of Saints
Simon and Jude, that the Church may constantly grow by increase of the people
who believe in you.

Today, the Dominican community and the assembled laity –about 150 people– honored Saint Jude by the Sacrifice of the Mass and the re-dedication ceremony of the Shrine to St Jude located at the Church of Saint Catherine of Siena (NYC). The Shrine of Saint Jude had been recently renovated, thus honoring the memory of this great intercessor. These last nine days the annual Novena to Saint Jude led by Dominican Fathers Walter and Bruno, pastor and curate respectively at Saint Vincent Ferrer Church.

The St Jude Shrine assists the Priory and Church of Saint Catherine of Siena by their prayers and the financial support given to the Dominican Friars Healthcare Ministry of NY (the Catholic chaplaincy and professional bioethics center for the 4 area hospitals).

The website of the Dominican Shrine of Saint Jude can be visited here.

Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos

O God, who made your priest, Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, outstanding in love, that he might proclaim the mysteries of redemption, and comfort those in affliction, grant, by his intercession, that we may work zealously for your glory and for the salvation of mankind,

Saint Francis of Assisi

Francis, the man of God, left his home behind, abandoned his inheritance and became poor and penniless, but the Lord raised him up.

O God, by whose gift Saint Francis was conformed to Christ in poverty and humility, grant that, by walking in Francis’ footsteps, we may follow your Son, and, through joyful charity, come to be united with you.

The mystery of the Cross is likely never made more evident in Christianity than through the life of Saint Francis of Assisi. The above prayer, in fact, the new collect for the Roman Missal brings this to bear on us. Francis’ life of charity and apostolic zeal effected God’s love for all.

The Pope offers a glimpse into the Poor Man of Assisi:

Continue reading Saint Francis of Assisi

Saint Vincent de Paul

Among the Scripture passages that Saint Vincent de Paul (1580-1660) most identified with and recalled for his followers was Matthew 25. He was convinced by the revealed word that God was close to the poor, to those who live on the margins of society, civil or ecclesial. The charism of Saint Vincent, understood most clearly in the Congregation of the Mission, was to make known God’s mercy to all people but most especially to the poor. In this way he was akin to the Prophets and to the life of Jesus. Saint Vincent de Paul once said, “The Church teaches us that mercy belongs to God. Let us implore Him to bestow on us the spirit of mercy and compassion, so that we are filled with it and may never lose it. Only consider how much we ourselves are in need of mercy.”

Saint Vincent de Paul, pray for us.

Saint Pio of Pietrelcina

The question I am asking myself: is it possible to follow this man? Alternately, Can I even think that it is possible to be a man like Padre Pio, and seek after God without reservation? What Padre Pio has left us is a clear model of holiness and a path to walk. Holiness here is not meant to be an artificial , showy display of piety (beating the breast, hours of Adoration of Eucharistic adoration, days of fasting, no bathing, etc) but it is a way of life where we shed everything that is not ourselves, living in the manner that is coresponds to the way God the Father has educated us through His Son, Jesus (read the NT). Padre Pio’s ministerial life as a priest and as a professed Franciscan Capuchin focussed on the sanctification of souls. No greater work needed his attention and energy. The path given us to walk by Padre Pio is one that leads us back to God hearing the words of Jesus: I love you, I have mercy on you no matter what. Three tools to use on this path: prayer, confession and charity. Beauty and joy will shine through our conversation with God and by our love. If you really want to know more about the path Pio gives us, read what the Pope spoke in 2009 when he made a pilgrimage to the relics of Saint Pio:

Some saints have lived intensely and personally this experience of Jesus. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina is one of them. A simple man of humble origins, “seized by Christ” (Phil. 3:12) — as the Apostle Paul writes of himself — to make of him an instrument chosen by the perennial power of his cross: power of love for souls, of forgiveness and of reconciliation, of spiritual paternity, of effective solidarity with those who suffer. The stigmata, which marked his body, united him closely to the Crucified and Risen One. A true follower of St. Francis of Assisi, he made his own, like the Poverello, the experience of the Apostle Paul which he describes in his letters: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20), or: “in us death is at work, but in you life” (2 Cor 5, 12). This does not mean alienation, loss of personality: God never annuls that which is human, but he transforms it with his Spirit and he ordains it to the service of his plan of salvation. Padre Pio kept his natural gifts, and even his own temperament, but he offered everything to God, who has been able to freely use them to extend the work of Christ: to proclaim the Gospel, forgive sins and heal the sick in body and spirit.

As it was for Jesus, the real struggle, the radical combat Padre Pio had to sustain, was not against earthly enemies, but against the spirit of evil (cf. Ephesians 6, 12). The biggest “storms” that threatened him were the assaults of the devil, against which he defended himself with “the armor of God” with “the shield of faith” and “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:11,16,17). Remaining united to Jesus, he always kept in mind the depths of the human drama, and because of this he offered himself and offered his many sufferings, and he knew how to spend himself in the care and relief of the sick, a privileged sign of God’s mercy, of his kingdom which is coming, indeed, which is already in the world, of the victory of love and life over sin and death. Guide souls and relieve suffering: thus we can sum up the mission of St. Pio of Pietrelcina, as the servant of God, Pope Paul VI said about him: “He was a man of prayer and suffering” (To the Capuchin Chapter Fathers, 20 February 1971).

Pope Benedict XVI

Homily during the 2009 visit to the Shrine of Saint Pio