Saints – Page 41

Litany in honor of St Norbert

The Litany in honor of our holy father Saint Norbert

Lord, have mercy on us,
Christ, have mercy on us,
Lord, have mercy on us,
Christ, hear us,
Christ, graciously hear us,

God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us,
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world,
God, the Holy Spirit,
Holy Trinity, one God,

Holy Mary, pray for us,
Holy Mother of God,
Holy Virgin of virgins,
Queen of the White-robed Order,

Thou who had a great love for St. Norbert,
Holy Father Norbert, pray for us,

St. Norbert, whose birth was foretold from Heaven,
St. Norbert, who was marvellously converted by God,
St. Norbert, mirror of true penance,
St. Norbert, who did trample earthly pomps under foot,
St. Norbert, despiser of the world,
St. Norbert, who did conquer thy passions and affections,
St. Norbert, who did gain the victory over temptations,
St. Norbert, who did quell and cast down devils,
St. Norbert, restorer of peace and concord,
St. Norbert, who did walk barefoot,
St. Norbert, who did practise mortification,
St. Norbert, lover of the Cross,
St. Norbert, pattern of abstinence,
St. Norbert, most strict observer of fasting,
St. Norbert, who did yourself practice and teach silence,
St. Norbert, who did receive the white habit from the Mother of God,
St. Norbert, most constant in faith,
St. Norbert, most firm in hope,
St. Norbert, most fervent in charity,
St. Norbert, zealous lover of chastity,
St. Norbert, model of poverty,
St. Norbert, mirror of obedience,
St. Norbert, vigilant teacher of discipline,

St. Norbert, defender of the true faith,
St. Norbert, choice vindicator of the Blessed Sacrament,
St. Norbert, pillar of the Catholic Church,
St. Norbert, flower of sanctity and brightness of all virtue,
St. Norbert, light of prayer and contemplation,
St. Norbert, pattern of perfection,
St. Norbert, leader of the white-robed army,
St. Norbert, patriarch of the Premonstratensians,
St. Norbert, father and protector of thy Order,
St. Norbert, primate of Germany,
St. Norbert, worker of miracles,
St. Norbert, wonderful Discerner of spirits,
St. Norbert, imitator of Jesus Christ,
St. Norbert, follower of the Apostles,
St. Norbert, who was like to the Martyrs,
St. Norbert, gem of Pontiffs,
St. Norbert, Glory of Confessors,
St. Norbert, companion of virgins,
St. Norbert, colleague of all Saints,
St. Norbert, admirable in his translation,

Be merciful, spare us, O Lord,
Be merciful, graciously hear us, O Lord,

From the neglect of Thy commandments, deliver us, O Lord,
From the transgression of our vows,
From uncleanness of mind and body,
From the spirit of fornication,
From a proud and sad spirit,
From the snares of the devil,
From overwhelming temptation,
From the disorder of our passions,
From the blindness of self-love,
From the obstinacy of self-will,
From an evil and unprovided death,

Through the wonderful conversion of St. Norbert,
Through his austere penance,
Through his ardent zeal in preaching,
Through his exemplary life,
Through all his virtues,
Through his holy death,
Through his wonderful translation,
Through his glorious crown in Heaven,
Through his merits and intercession,
We sinners, beseech Thee, hear us,

That Thou would grant us true sorrow and contrition of heart, we beseech Thee, hear us,
That Thou would grant us a true conversion of life,
That Thou would grant us obedience to our Rule and preserve us in the same,
That Thou would make faith, hope and charity to grow in us,
That Thou would make us zealous observers of our three vows,
That Thou would grant us the gift of prayer,
That Thou would bestow upon us the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit,
That Thou would vouchsafe to govern and preserve Thy holy Church,
That Thou would vouchsafe to extend and preserve the Premonstratensian Order,
That Thou would vouchsafe to strengthen the Abbot General and all the Abbots of the Order with a perfect spirit,
That Thou would vouchsafe to grant us the crown of perseverance,
That Thou would give grace to the living and to the departed eternal rest,

Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord,
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Christ hear us,

Christ graciously hear us,
Lord have mercy on us,
Christ, have mercy on us,
Lord, have mercy on us,

(quietly) Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us …

V. And lead us not into temptation,
R. But deliver us from evil.

V. Pray for us, O Holy Father Norbert,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

V. O Lord, hear my prayer,
R. And let my cry come unto Thee.

V. The Lord be with you,
R. And also with you.

Let us pray.

O God, Who did make of Blessed Norbert, Thy Confessor and Bishop, an excellent preacher of the Word, and by his means did enrich Thy Church with new offspring, grant, we beseech Thee, that through his intercession we may put in practice by Thy grace what he taught us, both in word and work.

Awake, O Lord, in Thy Church the Spirit by Whom St. Norbert, Thy Confessor and Bishop was guided, in order that, filled with the same spirit, we may love what he loved and live as he taught us.

O Lord, grant to us Thy servant’s constancy in Thy faith and service, that, rooted in Divine charity, we may not be conquered by any temptation. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Praised be the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar and the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Praised be Jesus Christ. Amen

Blessed Mary Elizabeth Hesselblad

The Sisters of Saint Birgitta honor their second foundress, “Bridget the Second,” the woman who restored the Order of the Most Holy Savior, Blessed Mary Elizabeth Hesselblad. Her liturgical feast celebrated today.

Blessed Mary Elizabeth immigrated to the USA and converted to Catholicism through a Jesuit at Georgetown University. In time she felt called to refound the ancient order first founded by the Swedish saint Bridget, the Order of the Most Holy Saviour in the mid-14th century. The order is a semi-contemplative order of nuns officially approved by the Holy See on 7 July 1940, though it came together in 1911. The nuns run retreat houses and have some ecumenical work with the Protestant communities.

The Order of the Most Holy Saviour is a fascinating part of our Catholic ecclesial history in that the order of nuns and priests were part of a double monastery dedicated to the Lord’s passion. The chaplains were under the rule of the abbess. The nuns have foundations in different parts of the world while there is one priory of monks in Oregon and they don’t actively collaborate with the nuns.

Mother Mary Elizabeth taught, “We must nourish a great love for God and our neighbors; a strong love, an ardent love, a love that burns away imperfections, a love that gently bears an act of impatience, or a bitter word, a love that lets an inadvertence or act of neglect pass without comment, a love that lends itself readily to an act of charity.”

Video part I

Video part II

The Bridgettines have a convent and retreat house in Darien, CT (in the Diocese of Bridgeport).

In addition to Blessed Mary Elizabeth Hesselblad, the Church raised up and bestowed the title of blessed on Mother Mary Riccarda Beauchamp Hambrough, Mother Mary Catherine Flannagan and Sister Mary Magdalen Moccia on 21 October 2011.

Blessed Mary Elizabeth, pray for us.

Saint Charles Lwanga and companions

The Church honors Saint Charles Lwanga, and his companions, today, who were burned at the stake for belief in Jesus Christ. They were the embodiment of a real love for God and his people.

The Ugandan martyrs died because they refused to renounce his Christianity. Their death was also the result of the anger of a king who made sexual advances on Charles and others who refused. They were serious about the Christian faith. It was on this date in 1886, the solemnity of the Ascension that Charles and 21 others were killed.

The Church through the Servant of God Pope Paul VI canonized the Uganda Martyrs in 1964; they were beatified in 1920.

Here is a commentary by Father Barron on Saint Charles wherein he discusses the saint’s legacy, spiritual and societal.

Saint Charles is the patron saint of the African Catholic Youth Action. May he and his companions be our guide in living the Christian faith in times of difficulty.

Saint Justin Martyr

O God, who through the folly of the Cross wondrously taught Saint Justin the Martyr the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, grant us, through his intercession, that, having rejected deception and error, we may become steadfast in the faith.

We typically tell the narrative of Saint Justin Martyr, the second century orator, in these terms: Justin was among the first Christians to use his brain. Well, not really. But we do say that by the age of 30 Justin confessed faith in Jesus Christ as Messiah and began to use his philosophical training to explain what the Christian movement means to the believer, and why would want to be a Christian as opposed to being a pagan (i.e., an unbeliever) or an adherent to Judaism. His conversion was from paganism and not Judaism.

Justin was well-eduacted man who later worked as a teacher first in Ephesus and later in Rome. His school of debate in Rome was followed by many in Rome which led to his death by beheading. This great apologist (defender of the faith, that is, one who gave reasons for our hope) is what we need today. The extant works by or about him are the Apologies, Dialogues with Trypho and the Acts.

Continue reading Saint Justin Martyr

Connecticut retreat house has a saint’s severed arm

Saints in Connecticut. Relics point to Jesus Christ.

Litchfield County Times’ reporter Tom Breen published his “Catholic Retreat Near Mystic Features Severed Arm of Medieval Saint” on May 25, 2013. He writes on the first class relic of Saint Edmund of Canterbury, a renowned English archbishop, in a Mystic, CT, retreat house by the same name.

The infrastructure of holiness rests, in part, with the witness to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Saints, for those who are Catholic, are men and women who know they are sinners, who have been forgiven, and who know what it means to live the sacred Scriptures. Specifically, they point to Christ as Messiah and say that it is in fact possible for all of us to be saints.

The Church has venerated, not worshiped saints and their relics. As reliable witnesses, the saints to this day point to Jesus. By the second century Christians would pray in the places where the martyrs were buried and/or where they were killed. A human contact is necessary for all of us.

The practice of offering Mass upon the tombs of the saints became normal; when the Christian community expanded, the practice of praying with the saints followed. Devotion ensued and Connecticut has a verifiable saint to honor.

Saint Edmund of Canterbury’s feast day is November 16.

Continue reading Connecticut retreat house has a saint’s severed arm

Saint Joan of Arc

O God, you have chosen Saint Joan of Arc to defend her country against the invading enemy. Through her intercession, grant that we may work for justice and live in peace.

Saint Joan of Arc (1412 – 1431) was canonized in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV and made the patron saint of France and soldiers. She’s known to be from the peasant class but of a devoted family near to the province of Lorraine. Her own life of sanctity began with the awareness, it is said, of recognizing the voices of Saints Michael, Catherine and Margaret. The heavenly messengers told the young Joan to help the king reconquer his kingdom.

For some it was a precocious act, but Joan commanded her own army at the age of 17 winning several military battles. She faced bigoted political and churchmen and were all-too-willing to let Joan hang out to dry when she was captured by the Burgundians and who they sold her to the English enemies of France.

Continue reading Saint Joan of Arc

Saint Rita

Saint Rita of Cascia is the patroness of impossible causes. Most have in their minds Saint Jude, patron of difficult cases. I think I need all the help I can get, and Saint Rita does “heavenly” work for me. I was privileged to visit her shrine in Italy a few years back.

Her story is an interesting one, often well forgotten if you don’t known her. At twelve her parents engaged her marry Paolo Mancini, a man with anger issues, really, an abusive person. At 18 she married and gave birth to twin sons. Rita, though, had her eyes on the convent.

Rita’s sanity, indeed, her sanctity, is demonstrated by the fact that somehow she mustered the strength to suffer Paolo’s abuses for eighteen years before he was stabbed to death. Their sons wanted vengeance on their father’s killers, but realizing that they’d lose the beauty of heaven, Rita prayed that they receive from God the grace to forgive the killers. The twins died before they could lose their souls.

Continue reading Saint Rita

Where are the 12 Apostles buried?

Have you ever wondered about the details of the Apostles’ death and burial? It is a curious question for biblical studies and archeology, liturgical studies and piety in general. I caught this clever illustration the other day and it answers my question. I hope it is accurate. When in Rome I’ve been to some of the tombs; I guess I’ll have to wait to get to India, Spain and Germany.

Saint Matthias: listened to the community, and followed Jesus

Getting closer and closer to Pentecost Sunday that Church’s selections from the Acts of the Apostles gives a clearer sense of how grace works in the life of the Christian community. Today’s feast of Saint Matthias, one of the elected apostles (Acts 1:15-26) replacing Judas shows how discernment of spirit works to provide apostolic continuity in pastoral authority and power. Discernment is never one-sided; it is always a two-way street on the part of the man and on the part of the Church to choose who serves as an ordained minister of the Gospel. Matthias’ vocation to replace Judas as one of the bishops was given to him; neither he nor single one person had the power to make the selection; it was done with in the midst of the community because the community is a place to encounter the living, resurrected Christ. Moreover, one can’t say that Saint Matthias gained much: he preached the Truth of the Gospel, confirmed the faith and he lost his life: nothing greater than the love he had for Christ Jesus propelled him to serve with all his heart.

Note what the Collect of the Mass prays: God assigned Saint Matthias a place of service and pastoral responsibility and it is our hope to numbered among the elect, that is, among the saved. Key here is God’s action in each of our lives; it is not our own desires alone that makes salvation possible. We are meant to share the lot of the saints, but our freedom and God’s grace need to be operative for this gift to be realized.

Matthias met his Savior by crucifixion in Judea and his mortal remains are located at Saint Matthew’s Abbey, Trier, Germany.

As the Church prays,

O God, who assigned Saint Matthias a place in the college of Apostles, grant us, through his intercession, that, rejoicing at how your love has been allotted to us, we may merit to be numbered among the elect.

The following selection from a sermon of Saint John Chrysostom on Saint Matthias may be instructive on the early practice of ecclesiological need.

Continue reading Saint Matthias: listened to the community, and followed Jesus

802 new saints reflect the the glory of Love

Today the Church has 802 new saints, 800 of them are the martyrs of Otranto. This group of canonized were martyrs while you may say that Laura Montoya (aka, Lupita) and Maria Guadalupe García Zavala were “ordinary saints.” These are the first canonizations done by Pope Francis.

What catches our eyes that in one swoop 800 are recognized as martyr saints. Their history tells us that Ottoman soldiers invaded a Christian village town in 1480; the villagers were killed for refusing to convert to Islam, in fact, beheaded because they refused to renounce their Catholic faith.

The wall of skulls of the martyrs of Oltranto (note the picture) displayed prominently in Otranto Cathedral (Apulia region of Italy). These are the human remains, the relics of holy men and women; our new intercessors before the throne of Grace.

The year was 1480 and the fateful day when a fleet of 70 to 200 Ottoman Turks ships reached the city of Otranto, then part of the Kingdom of Naples. The Turkish forces were led by Gedik Ahmed Pasha.

July 28 marks the beginning of the Ottoman wars (1453-1683) in Europe; Mohammed II had invader and conquered Constantinople just 28 years earlier. On August 12, 800 people of Otranto, Antonio Primaldo and his companions were taken to the hill of Minerva, now called the Hill of the Martyrs, and slaughtered for being faithful to Jesus Christ and His Church.

The Church’s precess of investigating the circumstances and holiness of these people began in 1539 and end on 14 December 1771 with the beatification of the people of Oranto by Pope Clement XIV. Benedict XVI issued a decree on 6 July 2007, stating that out of hatred for the faith these Catholics were killed. Therefore, certifying that martyrdom happened and therefore saints.

The Pope homily is here:

In this seventh Sunday of Easter we are gathered to celebrate with joy a feast of holiness. Thanks be to God who has made His glory – the glory of Love – to shine on the Martyrs of Otranto, on Mother Laura Montoya and María Guadalupe García Zavala. I greet all of you who have come to this celebration – from Italy, Colombia, Mexico, from other countries – and I thank you! Let us look on the new saints in the light of the Word of God proclaimed: a Word that invited us to be faithful to Christ, even unto martyrdom; a word that recalled to us the urgency and the beauty of bringing Christ and his Gospel to everyone; a word that spoke to us about the witness of charity, without which even martyrdom and mission lose their Christian savor.

Continue reading 802 new saints reflect the the glory of Love