saint – Page 30

Saint Elijah (Elias) the Prophet

An angel in the flesh, the foundation of the prophets, and the second forerunner of Christ, the glorious Elijah from on high sent grace to
Elisha, to cure sicknesses & cleanse lepers. He likewise overflows with
healing for those who honor him.

(Troparion of the feast, Tone 4)

Let all Christ’s Church assemble here

And, gathered in His holy Name,

Keep solemn, joyful festival

To sing of great Elijah’s fame.

Of all the prophets who foretold

God’s hidden plan of saving grace,

He is the chief: to him we give,

The Tishbite, now the choicest place.

He called the folk of Israel

Back to their covenant with God;

Through kingly wrath and violence

God’s narrow way of truth he trod.

When earthly tasks for him were done,

You called him in a special way:

A fiery chariot came for him,

Foretelling Christ’s ascension day.

For all the graces You have giv’n

Through what Elijah did for You,

Your Church on earth gives endless praise,

O Father, Son, and Spirit true.

L.M. (88.88)

James Michael Thompson (2009)

Saint Camillus de Lellis

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my
love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have
kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken
to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

Father, you
gave Saint Camillus a special love for the sick. Through his prayers inspire us
with your grace, so that by serving you in our brothers and sisters we may come
safely to you at the end of our lives.

A bio on Saint Camillus

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha

Lord
God, you called the virgin, blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, to shine among the
Indian people as an example of innocence of life. Through her intercession, may
all peoples of every tribe, tongue, and nation, having been gathered into your
Church, proclaim your greatness in one song of praise.

The National Shrine of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha staffed by the Conventual Franciscans.

Saint Henry: emperor, husband and Benedictine Oblate

God of might and power, you bestowed many gifts upon Saint Henry and turned him from the cares of an earthly kingdom to a concern for heavenly things. Hear his prayer and grant that amid the changes and uncertainties of this life we may hasten to you with undivided hearts.

Today’s saint, Henry II, is one of the few monarchs admitted to the canon of saints. Emperors along with civil and canon lawyers don’t seem to be too plentiful among the communion of saints. Henry was in fact an emperor, a husband and a Benedictine oblate. Throughout his life Henry devoted himself to the evangelization of peoples, the support of the Church (materially and spiritually), and is known to have attended to his spiritual life by being faithful to lectio divina, praying the Divine Office and the sacred Liturgy, and doing works of mercy and charity for the poor and marginalized. He is reported to have lived very chastely with his wife. Also important for us here is the fact that as king, Henry followed the Rule of Saint Benedict with a degree of seriousness that was rather unheard of, even among the monks and nuns. As Saint Benedict lived his earthly life and enjoined on his followers a sense of attentiveness to the reality of the final judgment, Henry conformed his life to the same: as Benedict had a concern for the welfare of brothers, he also instilled in them a heightened sense of Christ’s final judgment, and so did Henry. Do we?

Saint Augustine Zhao Rong & companions

Father, we celebrate the memory of Saint Augustine Zhao Rong
and his companions who died for their faithful witnessing to Christ. Give us
the strength to follow their example, loyal and faithful to the end.

Saint Augustine Zhao Rong, a Chinese diocesan priest who was
martyred with 119 companions in 1815. Among their number was an
eighteen-year-old boy, Chi Zhuzi, who cried out to those who had just cut off
his right arm and were preparing to flay him alive: “Every piece of my
flesh, every drop of my blood will tell you that I am Christian.”

Saint Thomas

Because thou has seen Me, Thomas, thou has believed. Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed, alleluia.

Grant us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, to glory in the solemn festival of Thy blessed Apostle Thomas; may his patronage ever help us, and may we at all times imitate his faith with suitable devotion.

Pope Benedict’s 2006 catechesis on Saint Thomas is quite illustrative of true faith through the example of the Apostle.

Are we free enough to follow Christ in the same manner as the Apostle Thomas? Do we adhere closely to Christ in all ways –holding nothing back–so has to truly say that Christ is the way, the truth and the life? What makes us insecure in our following Christ? Does uncertainty paralyze us in being a true Christian? Why?

Blessed are those who do not see and yet believe.

First Holy Martyrs of the Roman Church

Father, You sanctified the Church of Rome with the blood of her first martyrs. May we find strength from their triumph.

The Church commemorates those who gave their lives for Christ and the Church under the persecution of Nero around the year of A.D. 64.

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul

Peter, blest Shepherd! hearken to our cry,

And with a word unloose our guilty chain;

Thou who hast power to open the gates on high

To men below, and power to shut them fast again.

O thou great Doctor, Paul, we here beseech of thee

Lead thou our spirits up to heavenly mystery,

Tills ends the partial knowledge that to us is given

While here below, and we receive the fuller light in heaven.

May everlasting honor, power, and glory be

And jubilation, to the Holy Trinity,

The One God, ever ruling all things mightily,

Throughout all endless ages of eternity. Amen.

O
God, Who has made holy this day with the martyrdom of Thine Apostles Peter and
Paul, grant that Thy Church may in all things follow the precepts of those from
whom it first received the faith.

Saint Cyril of Alexandria

O God, Who did make blessed Cyril, Thy Confessor and
Bishop, the invincible champion of the divine motherhood of he most Blessed
Virgin Mary; grant through his intercession, that we who believe her to be
truly the Mother of God, may be saved through her maternal intercession.

Saint Cyril’s (of the 5th cent.) importance for us even today deals with matter of Christology: Who is Jesus Christ and why is He important? As patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt, he was known as a competent theologian and orator. At the Council of Ephesus he defended the humanity and divinity as a unity of Jesus Christ against those who taught otherwise. What today’s opening prayer emphasizes more is Cyril’s defense of Mary being the mother of Word made flesh, contradicting the infamous heretic Nestorius.

Two essential facts of orthodox Christian faith taught by Saint Cyril: that Jesus was begotten by God the Father before all ages; and that Jesus was also begotten in the flesh of the Virgin Mary.

Saint Josemaría Escrivá

God our Father, you chose Saint Josemaría to proclaim the universal call sanctity and apostolate in the Church. By his example and prayers grant that in faithfully carrying out our daily work in the Spirit of Christ, we may be formed in the likeness of your Son, and together with the most Blessed Virgin Mary, serve the work of redemption with an ardent love.