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Showing posts with the label Saints

St. Dominic -- A Saint After My Own Heart

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My husband, Bill, tells me that there was a tradition in his hometown, which was composed primarily of devoted Catholics who immigrated to this country from the northwestern part of Germany and Holland to southwestern Illinois, for families to name their children the saint whose feast day it was on the day of the child's birth. For example, if you gave birth on the feast day of St. John Vianney, your child would be named after him -- John if the child was a boy and Jean, if a girl. I have confirmation from several senior citizens in Bill’s hometown that this story is indeed true. The parents of my brother - in - law, Felix, wanted to name him Ralph, but their parish priest denied their request and insisted that he be named Felix, as he was born on that saint's feast day. Can you imagine that happening today with people so demanding of all their rights and "freedoms"? Today is the feast of St. Dominic and my birthday, and I have to admit that I am happy that tra

And The Heavens Opened..

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So much happens at one Holy Mass, that it would take more words than exist to explain it. There is only one place on the earth where the heavens are opened and a human has direct access to the very throne of God for his or her petition.....this is the Holy Mass. The Saints are in attendance, looking down from heaven, so happy that the Holy Mass is being offered for us. I have seen the saints looking down from heaven, smiling, so happy for us.    I have seen.. .CLICK HERE!

The Fourteen Holy Helpers

August 8th is the Feast Day for The Fourteen Holy Helpers. It is a great time to call upon this powerhouse of heavenly help! You may know some of the line-up but some may be new to you. Together they work wonders! Read more about these saints.

Sanctity: Giving God His Job Back

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Listen to this astounding quote on the definition of a saint: “In fact, a saint is  not one who carries out great feats  based on the excellence of his human qualities, but one who  allows   Christ to penetrate their soul, to act through their person,  He  being the  real protagonist of all their actions and desires, who inspires every initiative and sustains every silence.   To  let  oneself be led by Christ in this way is possible only for one who has an intense life of prayer. “  Pope Benedict XV                                                                                                           St.Thérèse’s   thoughts on prayer help clarify;   intense  prayer does not mean OUR efforts are intense. No, it is God’s efforts in us that are intense. In fact, sometimes the most intense prayer times are when we are SLEEPING because then we do not get in the way while God works in us.   read more>

Now it's Official: St. John XXIII; and St. John Paul II

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(From Reuters, via BBC News, used w/o permission.) (Early arrivals at St. Peter's, Rome.) About 1/1000th of the world's living Catholics were in Rome today, to be on hand for the canonization of two Popes: John XXIII and John Paul II. We don't have an exact count, since they didn't all fit in St. Peter's Square, but it looks like about a million Catholics came to be near, if not at, the ceremony. (From BBC News, used w/o permission.) (Several thousand of the folks who came to Rome, in St. Peter's Square.) Most of us couldn't make it to Rome: and never will. That won't stop us from celebrating on our home turf, in culturally-appropriate ways: like these folks in the Philippines: (From Reuters, via BBC News, used w/o permission.) ('Mini-popes' and Filipino 'Swiss Guards' in the Philippines.)Two Millennia and Counting More at   A Catholic Citizen in America

Keeping watch with Jesus--unexpectedly

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Memorial to the Japanese martyrs of Unzen. (Photo by Connie Rossini.) This is the week for keeping watch with Jesus in a special way. Although God calls us to spend time with Him in prayer daily, we rightly feel that we should spend extra time with Him during Holy Week. But how should we go about it? When I was a teenager, my family started a tradition of an all-night prayer vigil on Holy Thursday. Beginning at 10 p.m., my parents, siblings, and I took turns praying in one or two one-hour slots for the next eight hours. I loved offering this extra sacrifice to Jesus, this extra sign of love. Jesus would not be alone in the Garden of Gethsemane if I could help it. After I graduated from college, I spent two years as a lay missionary in Japan, teaching English to support the evangelization work of an American priest. During spring break of the first year, my roommate Mary Beth and I traveled to the island of Kyushu. We planned to be in Nagasaki for Easter. Read th

New "Definitive" Biography of St. Elizabeth Seton Just Released

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Calling itself "the definitive biography of Elizabeth Seton,"  American Saint , by  New York Times  best-selling author Joan Barthel, was just released on March 4, 2014.  American Saint  is the first full-length biography of St. Elizabeth Seton to be written in nearly fifty years. Published by St. Martin's Press, the book includes a foreword by Pulitzer Prize-nominated poet Maya Angelou and has garnered advance praise from well-known novelist Mary Higgins Clark. Drawing heavily from the saint's own collected writings,  American Saint  traces Elizabeth's life from her childhood as a wealthy Episcopalian to her death as an impoverished Catholic who founded the first order of American nuns and became the first American-born canonized saint. The book does not shy away from the darkness of Elizabeth's earlier years. Her mother died when Elizabeth was just three years old, and her father remarried one scant year later. Elizabeth's father and stepmother the

Do you know these Carmelite saints and blesseds?

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November 13 is the first anniversary of Contemplative Homeschool. The 14th is the Feast of All Carmelite Saints. To celebrate, I’d like to introduce you to a few Carmelite saints and blesseds  you may not know. In the future, I hope to delve deeper into the spiritual insights of more Carmelite saints on my blog. Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity   Elizabeth Catez was born in 1880 in France. Her father was in the army. He died when Elizabeth was seven. She, her mother, and sister moved to a home in Dijon that overlooked a Carmelite monastery. When Elizabeth made her first Communion, the mother superior told her that Elizabeth meant “House of God.” That impressed the young girl. It became the central idea of her spirituality–the realization that the Holy Trinity lived in her soul. She made a private promise of virginity at age 14 and entered Carmel at 20. She spent only five years in the cloister before her death from a prolonged illness in 1906. Read the res

Becoming a Saint One Day at a Time

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God calls us each to holiness, to sainthood. Every day, each experience we have helps us grow in our faith and in our purpose: To achieve holiness; to become saints; to fully become the person God intends us to be. Each experience, then, has the potential to be “purgative.” Purgation is a process that gets us ready for God. Just as God’s grace was given to the martyrs, so it is given to us to grow in holiness and towards sainthood. In this process, it is imperative to see God as the Potter and know that we are the clay. Each experience, then, is given over to God for His guidance and our growth. Sainthood means allowing God to mold us just as a Potter molds clay. ( Isaiah 64:7) Everything we experience is an opportunity to grow in our holiness. God can “make us worthy and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose” by giving us circumstances that cause us to depend on Him, to trust in Him, and to respond according to His will In other words, through ou

Save our country. Be a saint.

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  This can be a frustrating and anxious time for Christians in America. The final version of the HHS mandate was issued on Friday. The Supreme Court overturned DOMA and refused to rule on California’s Proposition 8. Here in Minnesota, wedding vendors are starting to advertise to same-sex couples as the date for the legalization of same-sex “marriage” approaches. Last year, I prayed and fasted and wrote letters to the editor supporting a marriage amendment. I voted for pro-family candidates. I have discussed these issues on others’ blogs and on Facebook. It seems to have made no difference. I sometimes feel helpless. There is one thing we can all do to celebrate this Independence Day, one thing that will make an eternal difference for true freedom. We can give ourselves completely to God. We have had it easy in the USA for a long time. That era is past. We can cave, we can cry in self-pity, or we can change the world. America doesn’t need more politicians.

National Shrine of the North American Martyrs: Blessings Amid Brutality

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I'm a half-century old and have been a practicing Catholic most of those years. And yet, until yesterday, I had never visited a shrine.  I never really understood the point. As a Christian, I believe that Mystery entered human history and settled among us. As a result, Christ is our constant companion. He is with us in every moment, in the circumstances of every person we encounter. So what's the point, my thinking went, of traveling many miles to a shrine of people who lived out their destinies with an eye on the One who made them? Keep Reading...

Win a free book for a first communicant or other child!

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CatholicFamilyGifts.com offered me a free first-Communion gift to review and give away to one of my readers. Since my boys are currently interested in hidden picture books, I chose C an You Find Saints? : Introducing Your Child to Holy Men and Women. After the review, I will tell you how can enter to win this book. Can You Find Saints? is one in a series of four  books by Philip D. Gallery. The series also includes Can You Find Jesus?, Can You Find the Followers of Jesus?, and Can You Find Bible Heroes? Janet L. Harlow illustrated all four books. They combine hide-and-seek fun with learning about the faith. Given the cover and the genre, I was prepared for cartoon illustrations similar to the Where's Waldo? series. Harlow provides more than that. The inside front and back covers contain a parchment-like timeline of saints, beginning with Abraham. "Search 1: Mary Lives a Life of Perfect Virtue" delighted me with its depiction of the mysteries of the R

Lenten Talk: St. Rita of Cascia

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My friend Melissa drove me to Staten Island tonight so we could attend an inspiring talk about St. Rita of Cascia at a parish called Saint Rita Church.  Call it food for our Lenten journeys. The speaker was Father Michael Di Gregorio, O.S.A., who grew up in the parish and graduated from its grammar school. He is an Augustinian priest who now serves as vicar general of the Augustinian order in Rome. He also is the author of a biography of Saint Rita called The Precious Pearl: The Story of Saint Rita of Cascia.  "We think of a saint as someone who is out of this world." he told the audience of about 70 in the church sanctuary. "But a saint is someone who is attuned to the Voice that speaks within and who tries to respond openly and honestly. " Saint Rita, he said. "had her feet on the ground." Keep Reading...

Saint Lucy's Day - The Year's Midnight

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reposted from: Costing Not Less Than Everything . The Last Communion of Saint Lucy – Tiepolo A Nocturnal Upon Saint Lucy’s Day, Being the Shortest Day –  John Donne ‘TIS the year’s midnight, and it is the day’s, Lucy’s, who scarce seven hours herself unmasks;     The sun is spent, and now his flasks     Send forth light squibs, no constant rays;             The world’s whole sap is sunk; The general balm th’ hydroptic earth hath drunk, Whither, as to the bed’s-feet, life is shrunk, Dead and interr’d; yet all these seem to laugh, Compared with me, who am their epitaph. Study me then, you who shall lovers be At the next world, that is, at the next spring;     For I am every dead thing,     In whom Love wrought new alchemy.             For his art did express A quintessence even from nothingness, From dull privations, and lean emptiness; He ruin’d me, and I am re-begot Of absence, darkness, death—things which are not. All others, from all things,

He Shall Be Peace

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Before my feet touched the floor on January 1 st , 2012, I offered a simple prayer: Please Lord, before the year is over, find me where you want me to be . Up to that point, I had been suffering from a decades-long chronic condition and although imagined health in my future, that morning I offered every cell in my body to the Lord. I just wanted to serve Him and His kingdom. If He wanted me to be healthy, so be it. If He had other plans, so be it. From that point on, all hell broke loose. The first Friday in January, I was on-air when I had an “episode” and was forced to hang up quite abruptly and was immediately taken to the emergency room by my husband. I’ve got to admit, there is nothing quite as humbling as having to hang up during an interview on a national radio show because the room is spinning and the floor seems to be at a 45 degree angle and you are crawling for help. I suffered more physical problems over the next few months than I had in the previous years

Saint of the Day - Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

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A princess of Hungary, Countess of Thuringia, her feastday is celebrated today in the Catholic Church, although it is kept on 19th November under the General Roman Calendar.  Married at 14, widowed at 20, she died at the age of 24. Despite many trials and afflictions, she persevered in her devotion to God and  became revered for her charity and piety, building hospitals and tending the sick and the poor. Once, under suspicion of stealing from the castle, she was questioned whilst on her way to feed the poor.  When her cloak was opened, a bouquet of roses was revealed, instead of the food she was taking. She is, therefore, often portrayed with the miraculous roses. The Charity of Saint Elizabeth - Edmund Blair Leighton St Elizabeth of Hungary - Pietro Nelli

Saint Winifred - Saint of the Day

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A repost from Costing Not Less Than Everything Seventh-century Abbess of Gwytherin in Denbighshire, miraculously restored to life by Saint Bueno after being beheaded by an angry rejected suitor. Her miraculous healing well is still busy today at Holywell, known as the Lourdes of Wales, and remains a place of pilgrimage. There is also a healing well named after the saint at Woolston in Shropshire. For fans of Brother Cadfael, the monk detective, her relics feature in A Morbid Taste for Bones , by Ellis Peters. Here is an ancient hymn to St Winifred: Virgo Venans Velut Rosa – Virgin Blossoming as the Rose More fair than all the vernal flowers  Embosom’d in the dales,  St. Winifred in beauty bloom’d  The rose of ancient Wales.  With every loveliest grace adorn’d,  The Lamb’s unsullied Bride,  Apart from all the world she dwelt  Upon this mountain side.  Till Caradoc, with impious love,  Her fleeing steps pursued,  And in her sacred maiden blood  H

Pedro Calungsod: Missionary... Martyr... Saint

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I have been living the missionary life for the past 12 years.  Many times, I need to "die" to myself, face persecutions with humility of heart, and submit completely to the will of God.  Being a missionary is not a perfect life.    But no matter what, it is a life worth living.  Today, World Mission Sunday, I honor all the missionaries around the world, who have selflessly devoted their life to spread the Good News about God, transform lives and inspire more people to strive to be living witnesses of God's unconditional love.  Significantly, it is also an honor for me to witness a fellow Filipino and Missionary canonized to sainthood - Saint Pedro Calungsod.  Reading more about his life, I am deeply inspired by his courage, loyalty, humility, and faith.  A young boy, with so much of life ahead, committed to serve God in a foreign land.  A choice, which not many young people his age would dare to make.  But it was a choice that will change many lives forever. 

Saint Pelagia - 'A Fragrant Rose Growing From Thorns'

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Another repost from Costing Not Less Than Everything Saint Nonnos preaching From ‘The Life of St Pelagia the Harlot’  by Jacob the Deacon: “Pelagia was the name given to me by my parents, but the Antiochenes call me Margarita (Pearl), because of the masses of jewellery I had earned through my sins. I used to be the devil’s jewel , and reckoned to be part of his work force.”… On the second day, the devil appeared by night to Pelagia, the handmaid of the Lord, as she was asleep in the cell of her holy mother Romana, and woke her up. “Just answer me this, my lady Margarita,” he said. “Weren’t you plentifully supplied with god and silver? Wasn’t it I who decorated you with gold and precious stones? Tell me, what have I done to upset you? Tell me, so that I can put things right. Don’t make me a laughing stock for these Christians.” Pelagia, the handmaid of the Lord, crossed herself and breathed at the demon. “My God has snatched me out of your very jaws,” she said, “a

A Felt Icon for a First Communion

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You know what I love about the internet? You can discover all kinds of information with your fingertips AND you can buy all kinds of obscure stuff from all over the world. Quirky things that can actually help build a child's faith and prayer life. Alec, a family friends' middle child, celebrated his First Communion today. That's him at his home next to his dad after the Mass after he changed into a plaid shirt and striped shorts. His patron saint is Alexander of Comana, the charcoal burner. Seriously? I had never heard of the guy. Read more here...