Blessed Bernard Scammacca

Merciful God, you led
Blessed Bernard along the path of conversion and evangelical perfection. With
the help of his prayers and by following his example may we have sorrow for our
offenses and turn to you with hearts cleansed of sin.


Saint Francis of Assisi is not the only one to have have sway over birds and animals, our blessed friend, Bernard is also known for the same. He had the gift of prophecy and was particularly kind to sinners in the confessional.

Blessed Bernard is the patron saint for those living with paralysis and confessors. He is also listed among those whose bodies have not decayed.

Raising up saints and intercessors: witnesses to Christ urgently needed

A Church that
no longer raises up holy men and women among her priests, laypeople and
religious is a sterile mother. In fact, what matters the most is not the
construction of huge buildings or realizing great projects. What the Church needs
most is the witness of saints. Holiness is the sign of the Church’s
credibility. They are her letters of reference.


His Beatitude Fouad Twal
the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
Beatification of Mother Maria Alfonsina Danil
Ghattas
November 22, 2009

Saint Gregory of Nyssa

St Gregory of Nyssa3.jpgYou have shown forth your watchfulness, and were a
fervent Preacher of godliness: by the wisdom of the teachings you have gladden
the Church’s faithful, Righteous Father Gregory, entreat Christ our God to
grant us his great mercy. (Troparion, tone 3)


God our Father, Saint Gregory, Your bishop, praised You by the splendor of his life and teaching. In your
kindness, as we forget what is past and reach out to what is before us, help us
to attain that vocation to which we are called.

Saint Gregory of Nyssa once said:

A greedy appetite for food is
terminated by satiety and the pleasure of drinking ends when our thirst is
quenched. And so it is with the other things… But the possession of virtue,
once it is solidly achieved, cannot be measured by time nor limited by satiety.
Rather, to those who are its disciples it always appears as something ever new
and fresh.

More on Saint Gregory of Nyssa may be read here.

Baptism of the Lord

Baptism of Christ 13th century.jpgIn the likeness of a dove, the Holy Ghost was seen: the Father’s voice was heard saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased: Hearken unto Him!

It is the Lord that commandeth the waters, it is the glorious God that maketh the thunder; it is the Lord that ruleth the sea. The Father’s voice was heard saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased: Hearken unto Him!

Richard Neuhaus is not here…

RJN ordination1.jpgLast evening a segment of the faithful gathered at St. Patrick’s Cathedral for the Sacrifice of the Mass, celebrated by Archbishop Celestino Migliore, on the first anniversary of the death of a friend, Father Richard John Neuhaus. It is hard to conceive with ease that a year has past since Father Richard passed from life to Life. He died a year ago as a result of complications to cancer at 72.

Father George Rutler’s terrific homily may be read here.
Also, there is Robert Louis Wilken’s article, “An Anniversary.”

Saints Philip of Moscow & Herman of Kazan, Saints Theodore Solovetsky & Cornelius Pskovsky

Into Your Hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. For the name of Jesus, and in defense of the Church, I am willing to lay down my life.

Father, we honor the martyrs Philip and Herman, Your bishops and Your monastic priests, Theodore and Cornelius. Through their struggles and by their intercession may we willingly accept any hardship while serving Your beloved people.

Blessed Angela of Foligno

Bl Angela of Foligno.jpgPraise to the holy woman whose home is built on faithful love and whose pathway leads to God.

Almighty God, You caused blessed Angela to excel in contemplating the mysteries of Your Son. Through he merits and prayers may we share in the same mysteries on earth and rejoice exultantly in the revelation of Your glory.
A 13th century third order Franciscan, Blessed Angela, gave her life to Christ based on a vision she had had of Saint Francis and after living a wild, and some would say sinful life. She was a wife, mother and a leader of other lay people who followed the Franciscan Rule for the laity.
Blessed Angela is the patron against sexual temptation, against the death of children, people ridiculed for their piety and widows. She is often depicted receiving Holy Communion from the Lord, or in the case of the image here, from an angel of the Lord (given her name, “Angela”).
The observance of the feast has had a number of changes: some calendars note her feast day as January 4th or March 30th, but the current Ordo has her liturgical memorial listed today.
An Italian website on Blessed Angela

Saint Raymond of Peñafort

St Raymond of Penafort.jpegThe whole law has found its fulfillment in this one
saying: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.


Almighty and compassionate Father, through the life
and teaching of our brother Raymond you show us that love is the fulfillment of
the law. Fill our hearts with love and so make us grow in freedom as your sons
and daughters.



Saint Raymond is the patron saint for attorneys, barristers,
canonists, lawyers, medical record librarians.

Jews to stop spitting on Christians, hopefully

NCR journalist John Allen posted a rather disturbing piece yesterday about Jewish youth who spit on Christian clergy in Jerusalem. Perhaps this is a good example of turning the other cheek or being despised for belief in Christ as Messiah. The public witness to belief in Christ and one’s consecration to the same is an extraordinary witness to the person of Christ who warned his disciples of acts of hatred. But whatever spiritualization of a disgusting insult you want to offer, the act is nonetheless a sign hate and I don’t think it ought to go un-addressed. Over-zealous youth is a problem whether you live in New Haven, CT, St. Louis, MO or Jerusalem. I wonder if the admonition of the tribunal there is strong enough to alter the behavior of Jewish petulant youth in question.

Read John Allen’s article, “Jews move to halt spitting at Christians in Jerusalem.”

Blessed André Bessette

Blessed André Bessette, your devotion to Saint Joseph is an inspiration to us. You gave your life selflessly to bring the message of his life to others. Pray that we may learn from Saint Joseph, and from you, what it is like to care for Jesus and do his work in the world. Amen.

St Andre Bessette.jpg

Pope John Paul II said this of Brother André:

A daily crowd of the sick, the afflicted, the poor of all kinds–those who were handicapped or wounded by life–came to him. They found in his presence a welcome ear, comfort and faith in God. Do not the poor of today have as much need of such love, of such hope, of such education in prayer?

One of Brother André’s friends said of him: “He spent his whole life speaking of others to God, and of God to others.”

More on Blessed –soon to be a saint– André is found here, including the liturgical prayer.

Info on Brother André’s canonization of will be announced here soon.