Saints – Page 46

Two saints arrived

Two saints arrived today. Actually, their relics arrived and with their papers. A friend sent me the relics of Saint Casimir and Saint Pius X.

What is a relic? The word “relic” comes from the Latin “relinquo” meaning “I leave” or “I abandon.” Typically a relic of a saint is a bone or piece of hair if it is a first class relic. Something owned by the saint, like clothing or a piece of a desk, is a second class relic and something touched by the relic is a third class relic.

We only adore Jesus Christ. We honor, that is, venerate, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints. There is a difference. The distinction is shown in the fact that we don’t pray to a crucifix or a statue or a relic. Our prayer is directed to the one whom the crucifix, statue or relic indicates. The power to do miracles rests with God alone, Mary and the saints intercede on our behalf.

Continue reading Two saints arrived

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini

Mother Frances Cabrini, the first US citizen to be canonized by the Church spent a night with the
Benedictine sisters at Mount Saint Scholastica in Atchison, Kansas.

Recorded: “In the
winter of 1902 the new convent and the new chapel had a special visitor. Mother
Frances Xavier Cabrini, traveling west, stopped over night. Sister Barbara
loved to recall: ‘She was a very nice ordinary Sister. She liked coffee.'”

from The Meaning of the Mountain, by Sr. M. Faith Schuster, O.S.B.

(Mother Cabrini was on
her way to Denver to care for the Italian immigrants.)

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini once said, “We must pray
without tiring, for the salvation of mankind does not depend on material
success; nor on sciences that cloud the intellect. Neither does it depend on
arms and human industries, but on Jesus alone.”

Saint Josaphat Kuncevyc

Today, with the feast of Saint Josaphat (c. 1580-1623), we ought to mourn the sad division of the Church that exists between East and West.

The Church prays,

Stir up in your Church, we pray, O Lord, the Spirit that filled Saint Josaphat as he laid down his life for the sheep, so that through his intercession we, too, may be strengthened by the same Spirit and not be afraid to lay down our life for others.

Notice that the prayer calls to our attention that we too, are called to be witnesses to the work of unity, even to the point of laying down our lives for others. Here the use of the word ‘witness’ is used in two ways: giving testimony by word and deed and dying, if need be, with our own lives. Here’s the dual meaning of the martyr (witness).

Continue reading Saint Josaphat Kuncevyc

Saint Martin of Tours

Sundays are not
days on which the Church observes the liturgical memorial of saints. It happens
periodically, but today’s feast of Saint Martin of Tours (AD 316-397) is not
one them, at least not in the USA. Perhaps in Tours where the saint lived there
is a festive celebration of Martin, I am uncertain of such. But that today is
Veterans’ Day here and that the liturgical calendar recalls Martin, it seems
silly not to think of this most famous saint as we pray for Veterans.

The Church prays,

O God, who are glorified in the Bishop Saint Martin both by his life and death, make new, we pray, the wonders of your grace in our hearts, that neither death nor life may separate us from your love.

Martin
was widely honored for his holiness and witness to Jesus Christ; through his
intercession God performed many miracles and many came to Christian faith. It
is said that saints beget saints. Martin was a disciple of the famed Saint Hilary of Poitiers
and Saint Lidorius desired that Martin succeed him as bishop of Tours and his
successors were Saint Britius and Saint Perpetuus; and Saint Benedict had a significant
devotion to Martin.

One of the famous stories of Martin is the one of the
cloak. As the narrative goes, Martin was approaching Amiens meeting a
poorly attired beggar who was obviously in need: cold, hungry and homeless. That he was a virtuous man, Martin cut his cloak in half and
gave half to the beggar. That night, in a dream, Jesus appeared to Martin wearing the cloak given to the
“beggar.” As Martin recounted, he heard Jesus say to the angels: “Here is
Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptized [a catechumen] and has clad me” (Sulpicius
Severus, ch 2). One version of the story tells of the cloak being restored in
full to Martin.

A friend of Saint Martin, Sulpicius Severus wrote in his Vita of Martin that,

The body being laid out in public was being honored by the last sad offices on the part of the mourning brethren, when Martin hurries up to them with tears and lamentations. But then laying hold; as it were, of the Holy Spirit, with the whole powers of his mind, he orders the others to quit the cell in which the body was lying; and bolting the door, he stretches himself at full length on the dead limbs of the departed brother. Having given himself for some time to earnest prayer, and perceiving by means of the Spirit of God that power was present, he then rose up for a little, and gazing on the countenance of the deceased, he waited without misgiving for the result of his prayer and of the mercy of the Lord. And scarcely had the space of two hours elapsed, when he saw the dead man begin to move a little in all his members, and to tremble with his eyes opened for the practice of sight. Then indeed, turning to the Lord with a loud voice and giving thanks, he filled the cell with his ejaculations.

Saint Martin is not only the patron saint for the military but he’s also asked to intercede for those battling alcoholism.

All Saints

Let us all rejoice in the Lord, as we celebrate the feast day in honor of all the Saints, at whose festival the Angels rejoice and praise the Son of God. (Entrance Antiphon for Mass)

With the Church we pray,

Almighty ever-living God, by whose gift we venerate in one celebration the merits of all the Saints, bestow on us, we pray, through the prayers of so many intercessors, an abundance of the reconciliation with you for which we earnestly long.

The history of living the Gospel is filled with saints known and unknown: you might say anonymous saints who lend their witness to the symphony of those we have known to live and die for Christ. It is this feast of All Saints that the Church acknowledges the presence of those who are not venerated at the altar but nonetheless are making intercession before the throne of Grace. All the saints, known and unknown are those who lived a life of faith, hope and charity and therefore give us hope that in following the path given by Jesus is reasonable and worthy. These people who struggled and strove to live the gifts given by the Holy Spirit.

Blessed John Paul II

The Holy See has approved today as the liturgical memorial for Blessed Pope John Paul II. The opening collect, below, is the only prayer for the memorial and it does not appear in the Roman Missal.

O God, who are rich in mercy and who willed that the
blessed John Paul the Second should preside as Pope over your universal Church,
grant, we pray, that instructed by his teaching, we may open our hearts to the
saving grace of Christ, the sole Redeemer of mankind.

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

The Church, through the ministry of Pope Benedict XVI, canonized the first Native American woman today. The Church made an infallible statement in proclaiming before the world that Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1677), from the Mohawk Indian tribe,

Kateri Tekakwitha (Photo: razzumitos)

is in fact with God, a saint. Also canonized was Marianne Cope.

Hers was a common Catholic spirituality. Her way of living the Christian life is what is expected of all the baptized is the clearest link to Christ for us today. Saint Kateri was known to be a contemplative; a woman concerned to live the virtuous life; faithful to the Truth she received through Baptism and nourished by the reception of Confession and Holy Communion. Saint Kateri was recognized to be close to Jesus, a fact that was only possible because she spent time with the Eucharistic Lord in Adoration of the Blessed. Further, she was never without the Rosary. And she fasted for her own sins and the sins of her people. Penance was not uncommon to Saint Kateri.

At her intercession, God healed a boy from Washington state who had acquired a flesh eating bacteria. This was the miracle that allowed the Church to discern Kateri’s sanctity. On December 19, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI accepted the validity of the Congregation for Saints’ findings. Curious to note, Pope John Paul II didn’t require a miracle for Kateri to be beatified.

As a subtle point of clarification, in the Americas, Saint Juan Diego is the first Native person to be canonized and Kateri is the second. The current thinking is that in the USA, Kateri is the first Native person raised to the altars.

The National Shrine is in Fonda, NY.

Two new Doctors of the Church

Today, the Holy Father proclaimed two new Doctors of the Church, the highest honor for saints because of their exemplary lives and insightful doctrine.

Saint Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) is the fourth woman Doctor of the Church. Saint Hildegard was a 12th century German Benedictine nun, writer, composer, philosopher, polymath, and mystic. The sainted abbess was also the founder of several monasteries. On 10 May 2012, Pope Benedict formally proclaimed her a saint by an equivalent of canonization, and therefore added her to the Church’s roster of saints (Roman Martyrology) extending her liturgical feast throughout the world.

Pope Benedict also proclaimed Saint John of Avila (1500-1569), a Doctor of the Church. He’s known as the Apostle of Andalusia, priest, reformer, educator, mystic, author, and patron of the early Carmelite Reform and the Jesuits.

May Saints Hildegard and John of Avila bless the work of the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization.

Saint Bruno

O God, who called Saint Bruno to serve you in
solitude, grant, through his intercession that amid the changes of this world
we may constantly look to you alone.

In the USA, there is only one monastery for men that lives under the Rule of Saint Bruno. The Charterhouse of the Holy Transfiguration (Arlington, VT). A friend recently began his novitiate there, so let’s pray for Father Ignatius as he transitions into his new vocation.

But there is another group in the USA, of women, who follow the Rule of Saint Bruno but are not aggregated to the Carthusian Order, called The Monastic Family of Bethlehem and of the Assumption of the Virgin (Livingston Manor, NY). Founded in 1950, the Order has had tremendous growth.

Guardian Angels

Come, let us worship the Lord, whom the angels serve.

(Inv. antiphon)

Last evening at Vespers at the Monastery of the Glorious Cross, a monastery of the Benedictines of Jesus Crucified (where I attend the prayer and Mass regularly with the nuns) the Office book had the hymn noted below that made me think of what we believe as Catholics and why we believe that the Guardian Angels exist. From the Liturgy we hear prayed that God sent the “holy Angels to guard us” and to accompany us in earthly journey and in praise of God.

We know what Saint Basil the Great taught about the guardian angels: that “each and every member of the faithful has a Guardian Angel to protect, guard, and guide them through life.” Our spiritual tradition however, delves deep into the Jewish spiritual tradition with Moses, David, Ezekiel, Daniel, Eusebius but we have Saints Matthew, Jerome, Benedict, Bernard of Clairvaux, Francis of Assisi, Thomas, Josemaria who are clear voices that verify the place and and role of the Guardian Angels. Angels, though, aren’t a Catholic belief; it is a deeply Jewish belief. Check your bible. You can also read Mike Aquilina’s Angels of God: The Bible, the Church and the Heavenly Hosts for more information.

The detail of the picture above by Andrea da Firenze, “Way of Salvation,” shows Saint Peter leading with the help of the angels. Do we in our humility of being rely on the angels to do help us on our way toward salvation?

We thank you Father for your guardian angels,
Sent as protectors for weak human nature.
Our foes are many, ev’rywhere in ambush.
Angels defend us.

Satan has fallen from his place of honor.
He and his angels burn with jealous envy.
They try to tempt us souls whom God has chosen,
Rob us of heaven.

Come, guardian angel of our own dear country,
Land God once gave you to be our defender.
Keep from it evils both of soul and body,
Peace reign within it!

Praise to you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
One God for ever ruling all creation,
Things seen and unseen governing in glory,
Thru all the ages. Amen.

Translation: Kenneth Tomkins, OSB
1992 Quarr Abbey, Ryde, Island of Wight, England

A previous post on the Guardian Angels is here.