Saints: March 2013 Archives

Holy Family Murillo.jpg

O Glorious Patriarch Saint Joseph, protector of the Holy Family and its consoler in adversity, I recommend to your pastoral care the Universal Church, and in a more especial manner the sons and daughters of Saint Benedict.

Obtain for the spiritual family of Saint Benedict
his virtues of obedience, humility and self-denial.
Infuse into their hearts his spirit of prayer and of holy joy, his love of solitude and of labor, his zeal for the salvation of souls, his tender and childlike devotion to the Queen of the Rosary.


Obtain for them O Great Saint Joseph, the gift above all gifts, a true knowledge and love of Jesus Christ, so that like you they may merit the happiness of bearing him in their arms by their labors for his glory. 
Obtain for them the grace to resign in their hearts unreservedly to his keeping, and to strive earnestly and prudently to make him known to the world as its merciful and loving Savior.

Saint Leander of Seville

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Leander of Seville
The Church honors a Spanish saint that many I am sure have not heard about, or know very little of today, Saint Leander of Seville (c. 534-c.600). His parents were known to be pious, his brothers were the famous Saint Isidore of Seville and Saint Fulgentius of Ecija and his sister was Saint Florentina of Cartegena. Leander was both a Benedictine monk and bishop in Seville. 

Holy people encourage others to be holy. Leander was a friend Saint Gregory the Great whom he met when Gregory was a papal legate. Apparently, Leander encouraged to Gregory to write his famous treatise on Job known as the Moralia.

Saint Leander's central pastoral and intellectual work was to work against the Arian heresy and in 589 called and presided over the Third Council of Toledo. His theological acumen and the priority he gave to worship inspired Leander to teach with clarity which resulted in keeping the Christian faith, at least in Spain, orthodox. The Creed aided in the catechetical work of contradicting the Arian belief that Jesus was not the Son of God; the Creed also clarified the teaching on the Holy Spirit. Saint Leander was defended by Saint Maximus the Confessor for his insertion of the filioque clause into the Creed (a theological datum that was catechetical and later politicized, even today). For historical purposes, the filioque clause was not the straw that caused the Church to split in two (East and West). 

All this catechetical work led the Visigothic kings, therefore, the rest of kingdom, to owe their salvation to Saint Leander.

Liturgical historians credit him with bring together various elements of liturgical practice into a unified whole. It was Leander who added the recitation of the Nicene Creed in the sacred Liturgy.

Spain honors Saint Leander as a Doctor of the Faith. 
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Saint Katharine Drexel

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Katharine Drexel with children.jpg

God of love, you called Saint Katharine Drexel to teach the message of the Gospel and to bring the life of the Eucharist to the Native American and African American peoples; by her prayers and example, enable us to work for justice among the poor and the oppressed, and keep us undivided in love in the eucharistic community of your Church.


His Eminence, Francis Cardinal George, OMI, said in his book, The Difference God Makes, "It is is precisely as a disciple of Christ that Katharine taught Americans how to be true to themselves as Americans." Look at pages 55-58.


George is right, she is one of the greatest women of the Church in the United States, Saint Katharine Drexel. May God raise up more like her! May Saint Katharine beg the Holy Spirit for His grace.

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About the author

Paul A. Zalonski is from New Haven, CT. He is a member of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation, a Catholic ecclesial movement and an Oblate of Saint Benedict. Contact Paul at paulzalonski[at]yahoo.com.

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This page is a archive of entries in the Saints category from March 2013.

Saints: February 2013 is the previous archive.

Saints: April 2013 is the next archive.

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