Saint Olaf Haraldsson (995 – 29 July 1030), also called Saint Olaf, Olaf the Holy, Olaf II, and Olaf the Stout, was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. A viking and convert to Christianity, he was baptised in Rouen, Normandy, in 1010. The son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway. Olaf was a great-great-grandson in the male line of the founder of the Norwegian kingdom. His father died when his mother was pregnant with him. She later married Sigurd Syr, with whom she had other children, including Harald Hardrada, who later reigned as king of Norway, and who claimed the English throne.
He helped King Ethelred of England (‘The Unready’) against pagan Danish invaders and brought missionaries, including Blessed Theodgar of Vestervig, to Norway to evangelize his people. He tried to force Christianity on them, so they revolted in 1029, and drove him first to Sweden and then to Kiev, in Russia. There he gathered his forces, and in 1030 attempted to re-take his throne. He was killed in battle, and regarded by Norwegians as the great champion of national independence. Many miracles were attributed to him. One such is that on the day of his death, a blind man regained his sight after rubbing his eyes with hands stained with Olaf’s blood. His cult spread extremely quickly, including across the sea to England.
St. Olaf in Orkney Cathedral, Kirkwall, Scotland
His remains were enshrined in Nidaros Cathedral, built over his burial site. His sainthood encouraged the widespread adoption of Christianity by Scandinavia’s Norsemen. Pope Alexander III confirmed Olaf’s local canonisation in 1164. He was posthumously given the title Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae (Eternal King of Norway). Olaf is symbolised by the axe in Norway’s coat of arms, and many Christian institutions with Scandinavian links, as well as Norway’s Order of St. Olav, are named after him.
St. Olaf in stained-glass window at St Olave’s Church, in London
Madonna dei Miracoli / Holy Mary of Miracles, Morbio Inferiore, Ticino, Switzerland (1594) – 29 July:
Where the Sanctuary of Morbio now stands, a castle stood centuries ago, attested in 1198 and destroyed in the first half of the sixteenth century. Only the ruins of a Chapel, dedicated to St Bernardino of Siena, transformed over time into a pile of rubble, buried by weeds, brambles and thorns., remained. Surrounded by ivy and fortunately well preserved, remained the Fresco in the Chapel, depicting the Virgin with the Child.
The history of the Sanctuary of Holy Mary of Miracles began on 29 July 1594. It was a Friday when the two mothers with their daughters, Catherine and Angela , respectively ten and seven years old, travelled to Morbio to entreat the assistance of Fr Gaspare Basbetrini. They were sick girls, tormented by the devil and had travelled to Morbio, to ask for the blessing of Don Gaspare Barberini, the assistant Priest at Morbio, who was well-known as an Exorcist. However, sadly for the pilgrims, Fr Basbetrini was absent.
To the tiredness of the journey and the sadness of illness, the bitterness of disappointment was added. Among the ruins of the ancient castle the little group of supplicants waited and discovered on the crumbling and crumbling walls, the faded remains of a fresco depicting the Virgin in a deeply maternal position nursing Baby Jesus.
The two mothers knelt before the Virgin with their daughters and prayed in deep sadness and devotion for the intercession of the Holy Mother to come to the aid of the sick children.
And then the miracle happened. Those two poor simple and innocent creatures were cured. This is Morbio’s miracle – the Madonna appeared to the two little girls and cureds them of all their illnesses, dispelling any demonic presence within them.
Our Lady spoke to the elder girl, Catherine and instructed her to tell the Bishop that the Church should be rebuilt and that the Holy Rosary must be said everyday.
Eight days after the event, on 5 August 1594, the episcopal curia of Como, whose ecclesiastical jurisdiction also extended to the southern regions of Ticino, instructed the regular canonical process, which recognized, upon the sworn deposition of the main eyewitnesses, the truth of what happened and their prodigious and supernatural nature.
A stained-glass window, located at the top of the apse and placed at the beginning of this century, illustrates and reminds those who enter the Sanctuary of this miracle. Catherine is depicted on a ladder, with her arms outstretched, listening in front of the image of the Madonna dei Miracoli. At the foot of the ladder, Angela, the other sick girl, is lying asleep.
In a short while an Oratory was built on the site to recite the Rosary and celebrate Mass there, as the Madonna had said to Catherine, while on 29 July 1595, the Anniversary of the apparition and the miracle, the first stone was blessed and laid for the construction of the Sanctuary, Consecrated on 16 May 1631 by the Bishop of Como, Msgr Filippo Archinti.
St Antony St Beatrix of Rome Bl Beatrix of Valfleury St Callinicus of Paphlagonia Bl Charles-Antoine-Nicolas Ancel St Faustinus of Rome St Faustinus of Spello St Felix of Rome St John Baptist Luo Tingyin St John the Soldier Bl José Calasanz Marqués St Joseph Zhang St Kilian of Inishcaltra St Lek Sirdani Bl Luis Bertran St Lupus of Troyes Bl Mancius of the Cross St Martha Wang St Olaf II St Olaus of Sweden St Paulus Chen Changpin Bl Petrus of Saint Mary St Pjetër Çuni St Prosper of Orleans St Rufo of Rome St Seraphina St Serapia of Syria St Simplicius of Rome St Sulian
Blessed Pope Urban II (c 1035-1099) Bishop of Rome from 1088 until his death, Carthusian Abbot, Confessor
Martyrs of Calanda – 8 beati: A group of Dominican priests and friars who were martyred over the course of a day in the same town by the same group of anti-Christian forces in the Spanish Civil War. • Antonio Manuel López Couceiro • Felicísimo Díez González • Gumersindo Soto Barros • Lamberto María de Navascués de Juan • Lucio Martínez Mancebo • Matías Manuel Albert Ginés • Saturio Rey Robles • Tirso Manrique Melero They were martyred on 29 July 1936 in Calanda, Teruel, Spain I.
Martyrs of Lleida – 12 beati: Carmelites of the Ancient Observance novices, friars and priests who were all martyred together in the Spanish Civil War. • Àngel Prat Hostench • Eliseo Maneus Besalduch • Gabriel Escoto Ruiz • Ginés Garre Egea • Joan Maria Puigmitjà Rubió • Joan Prat Colldecarrera • Josep Solé Rovira • Lluis Fontdecava Quiroga • Manuel Serrano Buj • Miquel Soler Sala • Pere Dorca Coromina • Pere Ferrer Marín They were martyred on 29 July 1936 in Clot dels Aubens, Cervera, Lleida, Spain.
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War: Thousands of people were murdered in the anti-Catholic persecutions of the Spanish Civil War from 1934 to 1939. • Blessed Bartolomé Rodríguez Soria
Martyrs of Rome – 23 saints Eugene Flora the Martyr Lucilla Theodore
Our Morning Offering – 29 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood”
Now that the Daylight Fills the Sky, We Lift our Hearts to God on High By St Ambrose (340-397) Great Latin Father and Doctor of the Church Trans J M Neale (1818-1866)
Now that the daylight fills the sky, We lift our hearts to God on high That He, in all we do or say, Would keep us free from harm today,
Would guard our hearts and tongues from strife, From angry words, would shield our life, From evil sights, would turn our eyes And close our ears to vanities.
So we, when this new day is gone And night in turn is drawing on, With conscience by the world unstained, Shall praise His name for vict’ry gained.
“All praise to You, Creator Lord! All praise to You, eternal Word! All praise to You, O Spirit wise!” We sing as daylight fills the skies. Amen
One Minute Reflection – 29 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Memorial of St Martha – Readings: Ps 44:8, Ps 44:2, 2 Cor 10:17-18; 11:1-2, Luke 10:38-42
At that time, Jesus entered a certain village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him to her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also seated herself at the Lord’s feet, and listened to His word.
Luke 10:38-42
REFLECTION – O ineffable Fire, O eternal Father, I no longer want my desire to tire of wanting your honor and the salvation of souls nor my eyes to dry up. I beg of you by your grace that they might become two rivers flowing out from you, a peaceful sea. Praise, praise to you, o Father, for you have responded to my request, and even to what I did not know, and even to what I had not asked of you. By giving me the gift of tears, you have invited me to offer you all my gentle, loving, anguished desires and my humble and constant prayers.
Now I ask you to have mercy on the world and on your holy Church. I beg you to do what you cause me to ask of you. Do not delay in having mercy on the world, agree to realizing your servants’ desire. You are the one who causes them to cry out, so hear their voice. Your truth said that if we call, we shall be answered, if we knock, it shall be opened to us, if we ask, it shall be given us. O eternal Father, your servants cry out to you for mercy. So answer them.
PRAYER – Almighty ever-living God, Your Son graciously came as a guest to the home of St Martha and was the friend of her family. Martha in her sorrow was moved to declare her total faith in Him, grant we pray, that in our trials and sorrows, we too may prove our love for You. By her prayers give us grace to serve Christ faithfully in our brethren and bring us to Your home in heaven. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord, in union with the Holy Spirit, amen.
Quote/s of the Day – 29 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Memorial of St Martha
Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; and yet only one thing is needful.
Luke 10:38-42
Another sign of (St Vincent Ferrer’s) unbounded hope in God’s providence was the little solicitude he evinced in the course of his great apostolate, either for his own personal maintenance, or that of the numerous company who followed him. His confidence in his heavenly Father never failed him. Neither he nor his companions were ever in want, and on one occasion, our Lord came miraculously to their aid.
Fr Andre Pradel (St Vincent Ferrer: His life, Spiritual Teaching and Practical Devotion)
Do not fear what may happen tomorrow. The same loving Father who cares for you today will care for you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering, or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace, then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginings.
Saint Francis de Sales
Hold your eyes on God and leave the doing to Him. That is all the doing you have to worry about.
Saint Jeanne de Chantal
The greater and more persistent your confidence in God, the more abundantly you will receive all that you ask.
Saint Albert the Great
Those whose hearts are enlarged by confidence in God run swiftly on the path of perfection. They not only run, they fly; because, having placed all their hope in the Lord, they are no longer weak as they once were. They become strong with the strength of God, which is given to all who put their trust in Him.
29th Day – The Precious Blood in the Sacrament of Penance
The task of the Precious Blood in Baptism is a comparatively light one side by side with that which it performs in the sacrament of penance. In Baptism original sin is washed way, in penance, actual sin. The former cleaves to us through no fault of our own, the latter is the result of our own deliberate deed. It makes us the enemies of God in quite a different sense from that which is the result of original sin. It places us, or, rather, we place ourselves of our own free will, under the power of Satan, voluntarily we forfeit our inheritance, and proclaim ourselves rebels. The task of reconciliation is a far more difficult one, and is only possible with our own co-operation.
Yet the Precious Blood restores the sinner to his allegiance, and frees him from the power of Satan, which he becomes anxious to be delivered. As soon as it touches the soul of the sinner, it washes it clean and pure as if he had never sinned, and restores him to peace and friendship with God. Who has not witnessed its transforming power, and seen the sinner before hardened, depressed, almost in despair, now become full of peace and consolation and joy under its divine influence?
We cannot wonder at Our Lord’s cry of agony in Gethsemani, or at His sweat of blood, when we think what it was that the Precious Blood had to efface from our souls. What an accumulated horror of pride and selfishness and impurity and covetousness! Such a cleansing could only be gained at the cost of a sacrifice infinite in value. O Jesus! make me appreciate more Thy divine love.
AnaStpaul 
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