Category Archives: Lives of the Saints
Lives of the Saints
The reason that the Church honors the saints is not just to give them glory, but to hold them up as exemplars for imitation. Many of the saints became saints themselves by reading the lives of saints. Saint Ignatius of Loyola’s by reading the Life of Christ and the Lives of the Saints. If these men can make such heroic sacrifices for God, then why can’t I, he wondered. Wonder turned into determination.
Some saints wrote biographies of other saints. Saint Athanasius wrote the Life of Saint Anthony of the Desert, a work that indirectly influenced Saint Augustine. Saint Gregory of Nyssa wrote the Life of Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus. Saint Bonaventure wrote the Life of Saint Francis of Assisi. Saint Bede wrote the Life of Saint Aidan. Some saints wrote autobiographies: Saints Augustine, Thérèse of Liseux, Antonio Maria Claret, and Margaret Mary Alacoque are among them.
In a letter to her aunt, Isidore Guerin, Saint Thérèse wrote: “I love to read the lives of the saints very much. The account of their heroic deeds inflames my courage and spurs me on to imitate them.”
Queen of Savoy to be Beatified
The Eponymous Flower: For the first time after many years the beatification of a queen is imminent. The Vatican Congregation for the causes of saints will recognize the testimony of a miracle worked by Maria Christina of Savoy (1812-1836) on Friday. Read more here.
Pope’s First Canonizations Will Be 800 Italian Martyrs, May 12
Catholic Herald: Pope Francis is preparing to canonise an estimated 800 Italian laymen killed by Ottoman soldiers in the 15th century. The canonisation service will be on May 12 in St Peter’s Square and it will be the first carried out by the Pontiff since he was elected in early March. Read more here.
Bishops of S Korea Ask Rome to Beatify Martyr Bishop and 80 Companions
AsiaNews: The bishops of South Korea have asked the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to open the beatification process for the bishop of Pyongyang Msgr. Francis Borgia Hong Yong-ho and his 80 companions, martyrs of the persecution carried out by the Stalinist regime of Kim Il-sung immediately after the division of the Korean peninsula in 1948. This is an important step towards the recognition of … More →
‘Come, We Go for Our People’
There are probably millions of stories of personal heroism and courage during the time of the Nazi regime in Europe. We recently wrote of one heroic German Franciscan, Father Karl Goldmann, and his exploits as a German SS soldier. The heart-wrenching story of Edith Stein, now known as Saint Benedicta of the Cross, is another to come out of this horrific time of the twentieth … More →
Saint Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin, the Humbled One
At Mass this morning, the chaplain for Saint Benedict Center gave an inspiring sketch of the major events in the life of the Passionist Saint Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin (1838-1862), whose feast day is today, February 27. What caught my attention most was the saint’s inordinate zeal for extreme penances. In this, he had to be disciplined by a prudent and fatherly spiritual director. … More →
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St. Margaret of Cortona, the Public Penitent
Today is the feast day of Saint Margaret of Cortona. Catholic Herald: Margaret of Cortona (c 1247-97) has been called the Second Magdalen – although there is nothing in the gospels to cast any aspersion on Mary Magdalen’s morals. Read more here.
Miraculous Cures of Pro-Life Patron Blessed Margaret of Costello
National Catholic Register: 2011 was a hard year for Marilyn Pinkerton of San Marino, Calif. The 57-year-old’s baby grandson, Nicholas, was diagnosed with nail-patella syndrome (NPS), a rare genetic disorder that adversely affects the nails and kneecaps and sometimes other parts of the body. Read more here.
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The Brother of the Lord
Just imagine this. The religious Jews were in expectation of the prophesied coming of the Messiah. The scepter had passed from Juda and the seventy weeks of Daniel were at an end, when “the Saint of saints” was to appear. Imagine discovering, as a middle-aged man, that your cousin, Jesus, son of your uncle Joseph, was He. That was the experience of James and his … More →
A Window Into Purgatory
There was no saint who received more revelations or had more visions of the souls in purgatory than Saint Catherine of Genoa (1447-1510). Catherine was extremely devout in her youth, but a terrible marriage at sixteen, arranged by her father, caused her ten years of grief. Unable to recover her earlier taste for holiness, her husband’s infidelities and sloth occasioned her to fall for a … More →
Pope Canonizes Seven on Sunday: Two Americans
Catholic Culture: Pope Benedict XVI presided at the canonization of 7 new saints—including St. Kateri Tekakwitha and St. Marianne Cope—at a Mass celebrated for a congregation of 80,000 people in St. Peter’s Square on October 21. Read more here.
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Pope Declares Two Saints Doctors of the Church
New Advent: With this Mass, the Pope officially named two new Doctors of the Catholic Church. The title is given to those whose theological teachings remain relevant regardless of time. Thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square, as St. Hildegard of Bingen, was officially given this title. Through her teachings, the German nun reflects human’s natural desire to connect with God. More here.
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Local NJ News Article Honors Bayonne’s Venerable Sister Miriam Theresa
Hudson Reporter.com: “I was saying my Rosary here at the window seat when suddenly the grounds outside appeared bathed in a dazzling light and the Blessed Mother was clearly seen by me,” said Sister Miriam Teresa to her fellow students at College of St. Elizabeth at Convent Station in New Jersey, prior to her graduation in 1923. She was describing one of those moments many … More →
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Saint Irenaeus: The Peacemaker Who Hated Heresy
Saint Irenaeus’ name comes from the Greek word for “peace”: εἰρήνη (eirēnē). Catholic authors often mention that he fulfilled his beautiful name when he made peace between the Christian East and Rome: “In 190 or 191 he interceded with Pope Victor to lift the sentence of excommunication laid by that pontiff upon the Christian communities of Asia Minor which persevered in the practice of the … More →
1000th Anniversary of the Founding of the Camaldolese Order by St. Romuald
Catholic Culture: The Holy Hermitage of Camaldoli commemorated the 1,000th anniversary of its foundation by St. Romuald on June 19, the saint’s feast day. Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Governatorate of Vatican City State and Pope Benedict’s special envoy for the commemoration, was the principal celebrant at the hermitage’s June 19 Mass. More here.
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