Saints – Page 43

Saint Joseph, Husband of Mary

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

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.

Saint Katharine Drexel

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.

Saint Polycarp

St Polycarp2.jpg

Saint Polycarp‘s rich writings point to one thing: a sharp focus on Jesus Christ as the only thing we ought to be concerned with today. Nothing else really matters….

Polycarp (AD 69-155) was a bishop of Smyrna and martyr of the Church. He was a disciple of the Beloved Disciple John who ordained him a bishop. Polycarp’s life and work are attested to by Irenaeus, Tertullian and Jerome. He is called an Apostolic Father along with Saint Clement of Rome and Saint Ignatius of Antioch.

Saint Polycarp’s witness is key in knowing the early Church’s life and how we work in building up the Kingdom today. The saint was instrumental in bring others to Christ.

This excerpt tells us of his call to greater conversion in the Lord.

“… if we do His will and walk in His commandments and love the things which He loved, abstaining from all unrighteousness, covetousness, love of money, evil speaking, false witness; not rendering evil for evil or railing for railing or blow for blow or cursing for cursing; but remembering the words which the Lord spake as He taught; Judge not that ye be not judged. Forgive, and it shall be forgiven to you. Have mercy that ye may receive mercy. With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again; and again Blessed are the poor and they that are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of God.”

The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians

Chair of Saint Peter

With the Church we pray

Grant, we pray, almighty God, that no tempests may disturb us, for you have set us fast on the rock of the Apostle Peter’s confession of faith.

Has anyone promised you anything? As Catholics, we can say with certainty that we have been promised something. In fact, we are promised not only something, but Someone. We can identify that we have been promised the truth, happiness (in this life) and eternal life (happiness in the next life); we’ve also been promised a rich relationship with God, with Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Today’s feast of the Chair of Saint Peter is the Church’s way of reminding God and each other that we have been promised all these things: truth, happiness, and life eternal with God.

For a very, very long time, actually since the 4th century, the Church of Rome has had a special commemoration of the pastoral, spiritual authority of Saint Peter as the rock upon which the Lord built His Church. Historians estimate that Saint Peter was executed between the years 64 and 68. In fact, the Church in Antioch, founded by Saint Peter, has also had this feast on their liturgical calendar. The witnesses found in the Apostolic Fathers, the Roman See has always held a special place in the obedience of orthodox Christian believers because of the bishop of Rome “presides in love” and in service over all the Churches of God.

Today’s feast ought to remind each one of us that we don’t celebrate furniture but it calls us to see in Peter Jesus. Each feast of a saint, including the Blessed Mother, always points to Jesus. To do otherwise would be idolatry. The Chair of Saint Peter is fundamentally about work, the mission of bishop as overseer, teacher and pastor conferred by Jesus on Peter, and continued through the ages to Pope Benedict XVI (and soon on his successor). See the Gospel of Matthew 16:13-20. What we celebrate today is the communion of faith, the truth of the faith given to us by the Lord through the apostles to the bishop of Rome and to all bishops. You may even say the feast we celebrate today is the ministry of the Church’s Magisterium located in the Roman Pontiff in that he cannot teach error. That does not mean the pope is a saint; that the pope does not sin; on contrary, we believe the pope is a sinner and in need of redemption like each one of us: he has clay feet like you and me. But having clay feet doesn’t mean that teach that we believe in “Christ, the Son of the Living God.” His job is to help us see the face of Christ in this world, and to lead us to Him so that may enjoy eternity with Him.

In 2006, Benedict XVI gave the following address on this feast which is required reading,

Continue reading Chair of Saint Peter

Saint Maron

Holy are You O God,
Holy are You O Strong One,
Holy are You O Immortal One,
O Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on us; Lord teach us to pray!

Saint Maron, pray for us.

Saint Josephine Bakhita

With the Church we pray,

O God, who led Saint Josephine Bakhita from abject slavery to the dignity of being your daughter and a bride of Christ, grant, we pray, that by her example we may show constant love for the Lord Jesus crucified, remaining steadfast in charity and prompt to show compassion.

One of the most intriguing and beautiful faces of holiness in the 20th century is Saint Josephine Bahkita (c. 1869- 8 Feb 1947), the Sudanese woman once a slave, convert, and a religious sister. She’s gaining popularity and was mentioned by the Pope in Spe Salvi.

Not long ago I watched a most beautiful film, “Bakhita: From Slave to Saint.” It was exemplary in the way the directors brought out the beauty of conversion for Bakhita but also for others, including the Canossian sisters and the parish priest.

I can’t recommend the movie enough even with the subtitles.

In a 1993 homily Pope John Paul II said of Bakhita:

In the midst of so much hardship, Blessed Bakhita is your model and heavenly patron. In the terrible trials of her life Bakhita always listened to Christ’s word. She learned the mystery of his Cross and Resurrection: the saving truth about God who so loved each one of us that he gave his only Son (Cf. Jn. 3: 16), the saving truth about the Son who loves each one of us to the end (Cf. ibid. 13: 1).

Blessed Bakhita was faithful, she was strong. She confided in Christ without reserve. She showed herself a servant of God by patiently enduring troubles, hardships and difficulties, by purity, knowledge, forbearance and kindness (Cf. 2Cor. 6: 4-6) – like the first Christians who, in the midst of the persecutions of the Roman Empire, showed themselves to be “servants of God… in honour and dishonour, in ill repute and good repute” (Ibid. 6: 8). So writes the Apostle Paul in the Letter to the Corinthians. And so speaks the history of the Church in Africa, not excluding the countries which I have now visited: Benin, Uganda, the Sudan.

It was the power of God which made Bakhita – in the likeness of Christ – into the one who enriches many. The poor slave-girl who had nothing showed that she was in fact the one who had the greatest treasure (Cf. ibid. 6: 10). And even if, humanly speaking, she seemed condemned to death, she lives! (Cf. ibid. 6: 9). She lives just as Christ lives, though he was condemned to death and was crucified. She lives with his life!

Blessed Pius IX, pope

Pope Pius IX (13 May 1792-7 February 1878), in history known as Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning Roman Pontiff in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until death, nearly 32 years.

The future pope was the archbishop of his hometown of Spoleto and later of Imola. Personal attributes related show him to be known for his charitable work among the poor, care for educating his people and the formation of clergy; he had a keen intellect, prayerful, was friendly and engaging. He was an advocate of making administrative changes in the Papal States. He was a cardinal in pectore in 1839 and later revealed in 1840.

Following the death of Gregory XVI, Ferretti was elected pope in 1846 with neither diplomatic nor curial experience, a source of great tension for some.

Pope Pius convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and granted the Marian title of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, a famous Byzantine icon from Crete entrusted to the Redemptorist priests which now hangs in their church on the Via Merulana. He was the “Marian Pope.”

Pius IX was also the last pope to rule as the Sovereign of the Papal States, which fell to Italian nationalists by 1870 and were incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy.

Thereafter, Pius became the first “Prisoner of the Vatican.” Pius is also the origin of the collection taken annual called the “Peter’s Pence.”

Pope Pius IX was beatified in 2000.

Saint Agatha

May the Virgin Martyr Saint Agatha implore your compassion for us, O Lord, we pray, for she found favor with you by the courage of her martyrdom and the merit of her chastity.

A woman so brutally killed in the 3rd century is not that important for many people today. I should point out that the saints, especially the virgin martyrs so very much revered in the Church are important because they show us who Jesus Christ is by the stories of their lives.

I would recommend a marvelous book by Michael J.K. Fuller, The Virgin Martyrs: A Hagiographical and Mystagogical Interpretation (Chicago: Hillenbrand Books, 2011).

Our prayers are with the women and men who live with diseases of the breast, of whom Saint Agatha is their patron. Likewise, we ought to pray the intention of medical research for breast cancer and the medical professionals who work closely with those with the cancer.

I’d also like to pray for the cardinal titular of the Church of Saint Agatha of the Goths (in Rome), the American Raymond Cardinal Burke, the Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura.

The prayer to Saint Agatha for us to offer.

Saint John Bosco

O God, who raised up the Priest Saint John Bosco as a father and teacher of the young, grant we pray, that, aflame with the same fire of love, we may seek out souls and serve you alone.

The devotion to Saint John Bosco is not as known on these shores as it ought to be. He was a brilliant, loving and insightful man. Bosco’s confidence in God’s ways is a tremendous consolation: he helps me to recognize the signs God places in front of me with clarity.

The Salesian congregation of priests, brothers and sisters is better known in other parts of the world than in the USA. Some say that the popularity of the Jesuits here made covered over the charism of Bosco and the schools his order administered. Not completely sure that is the reason but what is clear to me that not to know about Bosco is an impoverishment. One thing I heard from a Benedictine friend who has taken a shining to Bosco tells me that Bosco’s “success” is that if you want to positively affect the lives of students then you have to be involved in the lives of the students. The ivory tower approach is not going to work.

May the Apostle of the Youth, pray for us.