Category: Saints

St Gemma Galgani

For years I have been intrigued by today’s saint, Gemma Galgani. Several of my friends have a devotion to Galgani, yet she has basically remained a name for me until now. It is an interesting event that her feast day this is not on Holy Saturday as when she died, but it is during the week we call great and holy. One striking thing is that St. Gemma was not a professed member of the Passionist Order yet she intimately linked to its spiritual patrimony.

A biographer writes, “St. Gemma Galgani (1878-1903) was born in Italy, the fifth of eight children of a prosperous pharmacist. Her mother and three siblings died of tuberculous when she was young, and when she was 18 her father died as well, leaving Gemma to help care for her younger siblings. She rejected two marriage proposals and became a housekeeper while trying to enter the religious life as a Passionist. She was rejected due to her poor heath, and later became a Tertiary member of the Order. Gemma developed spinal meningitis but was miraculously healed, which she attributed to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the intercession of St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. Throughout her life she united herself with the Passion of Christ and experienced great suffering as a result, but not without receiving many remarkable graces as well. She experienced many visions and was often visited by her guardian angel, Jesus, and the Virgin Mary. For this she was known as a great mystic, and, according to her spiritual director, developed the stigmata at age 21. After a selfless life of love given to God for the conversion of sinners, she died on the Vigil of Easter at the age of 25.

She is the patron saint of pharmacists, loss of parents, back illnesses, temptations, and those seeking purity of heart.

Gemma Galgani was beatified in 1933, and canonized in 1940.

St Amos

14 Bible Historiale, The Call of Amos Artwork: Amos as shepherd Artist: UNKNOWN; Illustrator of Petrus Comestor’s ‘Bible Historiale’, France, 1372 Date: 1372 Technique: Miniature Location: Museum Meermanno Westreenianum, The Hague Notes: From Petrus Comestor’s “Bible Historiale” (manuscript “Den Haag, MMW, 10 B 23”). According to Museum Meermanno’s database, the picture depicts Joel. We do not know about Joel’s earlier profession, and it seems more probable that the picture depicts Amos. Subject: The Call of Amos Hosts: Museum Meermanno and Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague: Interactive Presentation of Handwritings [IMAGE]
The Novus Ordo Liturgy does not liturgically commemorate OT prophets but the older form of the Mass does, as well as the Byzantine Liturgy. The Roman Martyrology lists Amos as the first saint of the list for March 31: “At Thecua, in Palestine, the holy prophet Amos, whom the priest Amasias frequently scourged, and whose temples Ozias, that priest’s son, pierced with an iron spike. Being carried half dead to his native place, he expired there and was buried with his forefathers” (Roman Martyrology).

As you know, the Book of Amos is one of the twelve minor prophets. The name Amos means “Burden” in Hebrew. Amos’ biography says that he lived in the 700s B.C. during the reigns of King Uzziah of Judah and King Jeroboam II of Israel, that he was a contemporary of the holy prophet Jonah, and he exercised his prophetic ministry prior to God’s call of Isaiah.

The prophetic book reveals that Amos was a herdsman and dresser of sycamore trees. The Holy Prophet Amos calls for the restoration of Israel under the Messianic Dynasty of King David rejecting Israel’s grievous immorality and the warning of God’s wrath.

St Amos, pray for us as we make our way through Lent shedding sin and asking for God’s grace.

St Joseph guided St Teresa of Avila

“I took for my patron and lord the glorious St. Joseph, and recommended myself earnestly to him. I saw clearly that both out of this my present trouble, and out of others of greater importance, relating to my honor and the loss of my soul, this my father and lord delivered me, and rendered me greater services than I knew how to ask for. I cannot call to mind that I have ever asked him at any time for anything which he has not granted; and I am filled with amazement when I consider the great favors which God has given me through this blessed Saint; the dangers from which he has delivered me, both of body and of soul.”

Saint Teresa of Avila
Autobiography, VI, 9

Blessed Basil Moreau

Basil MoreauToday, in some places, Blessed Basil Moreau, C.S.C., is liturgically remembered. He is the founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross, the same congregation that administers institutions like my alma Mater, the great University of Notre Dame but also Stonehill College and the University of Portland. I am indebted to the Moreau’s Congregation. He  died on this date in 1873, and was beatified in September 2006.

The Holy Cross Fathers write: “Ordained in 1821, Blessed Basil Moreau, prior to sending Holy Cross Religious to the United States, dedicated himself to the teaching and spiritual accompaniment of seminarians who were entrusted to him, while also serving as a preacher and organizer. Though present circumstances differ much from Blessed Moreau’s time, Holy Cross Religious carry on the same activities and mission he began so long ago.”

Blessed Basil Moreau, pray for us.

St Thomas Becket

becketLet the trumpet resound, Thomas the martyr,
so that the vine of Christ may be free.

Out of the chaff was sifted this corn
And else the church had been forlorn;
To God’s grange now wert thou borne, [i.e. carried]
O martyr Thomas, O martyr Thomas, O martyr Thomas.

In London was born this martyr, truly;
He held the primacy of Canterbury,
To whom we sing devoutly:
O martyr Thomas, O martyr Thomas, O martyr Thomas.

(image of the icon from St Louis Abbey)

St Ambrose

st-ambroseWe come today to the feast of the greatest Archbishop of Milan, Saint Ambrose. He served at a time when Milan was the center of the Empire. We know historically that Ambrose was elected bishop when he was still a catechumen (not yet baptized). The faithful had a suspicion that the excellent civil servant would prove to be most competent churchman: in theology and sacred Liturgy, in administration, and a holy and sincere Christian. Saint Benedict recommends his hymns in the Rule and traditionally think that the “Te Deum” hymn is ascribed to him.

Born of a noble Roman family in Gaul around the year 340, Ambrose studied in Rome and served the imperial government at Sirmium. In 374, elected bishop of Milan, and ordained on this date. Saint Ambrose died April 4, 397. The Pope proclaimed Saint Ambrose a Doctor of the Church in 1298; he is honored as the patron saint of beekeepers and candle makers, because of the honeyed words of his preaching.

The image here of the saint hangs at Newark Abbey (Newark, NJ).

Ambrose’s civil experience as governor allowed him the skill of knowing how “to talk to power.” When the Emperor Theodosius had 7,000 Thessalonians slaughtered over the assassination of their governor, he excommunicated him for his horrendous crime – and made it stick, bringing Theodosius to repentance.

As a theologian, Bishop Ambrose wrote about the incarnation of the Son of God:

“And the Word was with God . This that he said is to be understood thus: The Word was just as was the Father; since He was together with the Father, He was also in the Father, and He was always with the Father. […] It is of the Word to be with the Father; it is of the Father to be with the Word, for we read that the Word was with God. So if, according to your opinion, there was a time when He was not, then, according to your opinion, He too was not in the beginning with whom was the Word. For through the Word I hear, through the Word I understand that God was. For, if I shall believe that the Word was eternal, which I do believe, I cannot doubt about the eternity of the Father, whose Son is eternal.” (The Sacrament of the Incarnation of our Lord (III, 15-18, from the Vatican web site)

Blessed Charles Eugène de Foucauld

foucauld-french-stamp-1959From a biographic note:

Born to an aristocratic family; orphaned by age six, he and his sister Mary were raised by their grandfather. Studied at Jesuit schools in Nancy and Paris, France from 1872 to 1875. Entered the Saint-Cyr Military Academy in 1876. Joined the 4th Hussar regiment; in 1880 his unit was sent to Setif, Algeria. He was discharged from the service in March 1881 for misconduct, and moved to Evian, France. During the Revolt of Bon Mama in South Oran two months later, Charles re-enlisted, and fought for the eight months of the rebellion. He became so fascinated with the Arabs that he met that when he could not obtain a leave of absence to study them, he resigned his commission.

He spent 15 months learning Arabic and Hebrew, and then travelled into Morocco. In May 1885 he received the Gold Medal of the French Geographic Society for his work. He explored Algeria and Tunisia from September 1885 through January 1886, returning to Paris in February to work on his book Reconnaissance au Maroc, which was published in 1888. He lived very simply, sleeping on the floor, spending hours each day in prayer at home and in church. Pilgrim to the Holy Lands from November 1888 to February 1889, and spent much of the rest of 1889 in spiritual retreats.

On 16 January 1890 he joined the Trappist monks at the monastery of Notre Dames-des-Neiges, taking the name Brother Marie-Alberic; he moved to the monastery of Akbes, Syria in June. Sent to study in Rome in October 1896, but after three months it became obvious that his heart, head and spirit were elsewhere, and he was released from his vows.

He made multiple pilgrimages through the Holy Lands on foot before returning to France to study for the priesthood. Ordained on 9 June 1901 at Viviers. He moved to the Oran region near Morocco in late 1901 to establish a base and found an order to evangelize Morocco. In 1902 he began a program of buying slaves in order to free them. In 1904 he began evangelizing nomadic Tauregs in the area of south and central Sahara. Translated the Gospels into the language of the Tauregs. In November 1908 he translated Tauareg poetry to French, and he spent years compiling a Taureg lexicon. In March 1909 he succeeded in founding the Union of Brothers and Sisters of the Sacred Heart to evangelize the French colonies in Africa. Killed when caught in the middle of combat between French forces and Arab insurrectionists.

Blesseds Luigi and Maria (Corsini) Beltrame Quattrocchi

luigi-and-maria-corsini-beltrame-quattrocchiThe Quattrocchis are the first married couple to be beatified together (in 2011). We have few married couples among the saints and blesseds in comparison to those in religious life and priesthood. It was Pope John Paul II who held up for us the Quattrocchis  who lived an ordinary life in an extraordinary way.

Luigi, a lawyer and civil servant, died in 1951 at the age of 71; Maria, who dedicated herself to her family and to several charitable and social Catholic movements, died in 1965 at the age of 81.

The cause for Beatification for Maria and Luigi Beltrame Quattrocchi was opened on 25 November 1994 and, on 21 October 2001, the Holy Father John Paul II raised the married couple to the honour of the altars. On 28 October 2001, the relics of Luigi and Maria were transferred to their crypt in the Shrine of Divino Amore (Divine Love) at Rome.

Homily of Pope Saint John Paul II for the first beatification of a married couple together: Luigi Beltrame Quattroccchi and Maria Corsini, (11/25):

“… they could accompany their children in vocational discernment, training them to appreciate everything “from the roof up”…”

1. “And when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Lk 18,8).

The question with which Jesus ends the parabable on the need “always to pray and not lose heart” frightens our soul. It is a question that is not immediately followed by an answer: indeed, it is intended as a challenge to each person, each ecclesial community, each human generation. Each one of us must give an answer. Christ wants to remind us that human life is directed to the final meeting with God; but in this perspective he asks himself whether, on his return, he will find souls ready, waiting for him, to enter the Father’s house with him. This is why he says to everyone “Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour” (Mt 25,13).

Dear brothers and sisters! Dear famlies! Today we have gathered for the beatification of a married couple: Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi. With this solemn ecclesial act, we intend to highlight an example of a positive reply to Christ’s question. The husband and wife lived in Rome in the first half of the 20th century, a century in which faith in Christ was harshly tried, and gave a positive reply. Even in those difficult years, the husband and wife, Luigi and Maria, kept the lamp of the faith burning – lumen Christi – and passed it on to their four children, three of whom are here today in this basilica. Dear friends, this is what your mother wrote about you: “We brought them up in the faith, so that they might know and love God” (L’Ordito e la trama, p. 9).

But your parents also handed on the burning lamp to their friends, acquaintances, colleagues…. And now, from heaven, they are giving it to the whole Church.

Together with the relatives and friends of the new Blesseds, I greet the religious authorities participating in this celebration, starting with Cardinal Camillo Ruini and the other Cardinals, Archbishops and Bishops present. I also greet the civil authorities, and, in a special way, the President of Italy and the Queen of Belgium.

2. There could be no happier nor more momentous an occasion than today to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Apostolic Exhortation “Familiaris consortio”. This document, which even today remains a guiding light in the field, while highlighting the centrality of marriage and the mission of the family, particularly asks spouses to follow the path of holiness by virtue of the sacramental grace, which “is not exhausted in the actual celebration of the sacrament of marriage, but rather accompanies the married couple throughout their lives” (Familiaris consortio, n. 56). The beauty of this path shines out in the witness of the Blessed couple Luigi and Maria, an exemplary expression of the Italian people, who demonstrated the great importance of marriage and the family that it brings forth.

This couple lived married love and service to life in the light of the Gospel and with great human intensity. With full responsibility they assumed the task of collaborating with God in procreation, dedicating themselves generously to their children, to teach them, guide them and direct them to discovering his plan of love. From this fertile spiritual terrain sprang vocations to the priesthood and the consecrated life, which shows how, with their common roots in the spousal love of the Lord, marriage and virginity may be closely connected and reciprocally enlightening.

Drawing on the word of God and the witness of the saints, the blessed couple lived an ordinary life in an extraordinary way. Among the joys and anxieties of a normal family, they knew how to live an extraordinarily rich spiritual life. At the centre of their life was the daily Eucharist as well as devotion to the Virgin Mary, to whom they prayed every evening with the Rosary, and consultation with wise spiritual directors. In this way they could accompany their children in vocational discernment, training them to appreciate everything “from the roof up”, as they often, charmingly, liked to say.

3. The riches of faith and love of the husband and wife Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi, are a living proof of what the Second Vatican Council said about the call of all the faithful to holiness, indicating that spouses should pursue this goal, “propriam viam sequentes”, “following their own way” (Lumen gentium, n. 41). Today the aspiration of the Council is fulfilled with the first beatification of a married couple: their fidelity to the Gospel and their heroic virtues were verified in their life as spouses and parents.

In their life, as in the lives of many other married couples who day after day earnestly fulfil their mission as parents, one can contemplate the sacramental revelation of Christ’s love for the Church. Indeed, “fulfilling their conjugal and family role by virtue of this sacrament, spouses are penetrated with the spirit of Christ and their whole life is permeated by faith, hope, and charity; thus they increasingly further their own perfection and their mutual sanctification, and together they render glory to God” (Gaudium et spes, n. 48).

Dear families, today we have distinctive confirmation that the path of holiness lived together as a couple is possible, beautiful, extraordinarily fruitful, and fundamental for the good of the family, the Church and society.

This prompts us to pray the Lord that there be many more married couples who can reveal in the holiness of their lives, the “great mystery” of spousal love, which originates in creation and is fulfilled in the union of Christ with his Church (cf. Eph 5,22-33).

4. Like every path of holiness, yours too, dear married couples, is not easy. Every day you face difficulties and trials, in order to be faithful to your vocation, to foster harmony between yourselves and between your children, to carry out your mission as parents and participate in social life.

May you be able to find in God’s word the answer to the questions which arise in everyday life. St Paul, in the Second Reading, reminded us that “all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness” (II Tm 3,16). Sustained by the force of these words and acting together, you will be able to insist with your children “in season and out of season”, convincing, rebuking, and exhorting them, “unfailing in patience and in teaching” (II Tm 4,2).

Married and family life can also experience moments of bewilderment. We know how many families in these cases are tempted to discouragement. I am particularly referring to those who are going through the sad event of separation; I am thinking of those who must face illness and those who are suffering the premature death of their spouse or of a child. In these situations, one can bear a great witness to fidelity in love, which is purified by having to pass through the crucible of suffering.

5. I entrust struggling families to the providence of God and to the loving care of Mary, the outstanding model of wife and mother who knew the suffering and the exhaustion of following Christ to the foot of the Cross. Dear married couples, do not be overcome by hardship: the grace of the Sacrament supports you and helps you constantly to raise your arms to heaven, like Moses, mentioned in the First Reading (cf. Ex 17,11-12). The Church is close to you and helps you with her prayer, above all, in hard times.

At the same time, I ask all families to hold up the arms of the Church, so that she may never fail in her mission of interceding, consoling, guiding and encouraging. I thank you, dear families, for the support that you give to me in my service to the Church and to humanity. Every day I beg the Lord to help all the families suffering from poverty and injustice, and to advance the civilization of love.

6. Dear friends, the Church has confidence in you to confront the challenges that await her in the new millennium. Among the paths of her mission, “the family is the first and the most important” (Letter to Families, n. 2); the Church is counting on it and calling it to be “a true subject of evangelization and the apostolate” (ibid., n. 16).

I am certain that you will be equal to the task that awaits you in every place and on every occasion. Dear husbands and wives, I encourage you to embrace your role and your responsibilities.

Renew your missionary zeal, making your homes privileged places for announcing and accepting the Gospel in an atmosphere of prayer and in the concrete exercise of Christian solidarity.

May the Holy Spirit, who filled Mary’s heart so that, in the fullness of time, she might conceive the Word of life and welcome him, together with her husband Joseph, support you and confirm you. May he fill your hearts with joy and peace so that every day you may know how to praise the heavenly Father, from whom come every grace and blessing.

Amen!