Saint of the Day – 25 June – Saint Adalbert of Egmond (Died c 740) Deacon, Confessor, Missionary, disciple of St Willibrord. Born in Northumbria, England and died in c 740 in Egmond, Holland of natural causes. Also known as – Adelbert, Aedelbert, Aedelbertus.
The Roman Martyrology states of him today: “In Holland, St Adalbert, Confessor, disciple of the sainted Bishop, Willibrord.”
Painting of Saints Boniface, Gregory the Great, Adalbert and a Priest, Jeroen van Noordwijk [nl], by Jan Joesten van Hillegom, 1530
According to our earliest source about Adalbert of Egmond, the tenth-century Vita Sancti Adelberti, Adalbert was born in Northumbria and came to Frisia as one of the companions of the Missionary, St Willibrord (d. 739).
Adalbert concentrated his efforts in preaching the Gospel to the area around present-day Egmond, North-Holland. He was beloved by the locals, who erected a little wooden Chapel in his honour at the site of his grave.
A prayer Shrine to St Adalbert in Egmond
Soon after his death in c 740, miracles started to take place: a widow who had prayed to the saint received her daily bread with the incoming tide; marauding Vikings who had their eyes set on Egmond were deceived by miraculously appearing mists.
In the tenth century, Adalbert visited the Nun, Wilfsit three times in a dream and told her that his bones should be exhumed and translated to her nunnery in Hallem (present-day Egmond-Binnen). Wilfsit contacted Count Dirk I of Holland (d. 939), who had the Church demolished and Adalbert’s bones dug up. As they did so, water welled up along with the saintly bones and a well was established on the site. Ever since, this well has been a holy place and has been visited by various pilgrims, among whom the blind Anglo-Saxon Folmar, whose sight was restored by drinking water from the well of Adalbert. A thousand years later, water can still be drunk from the well and for those of faith, miracles still occur.
The foundations of the original Church and St Adalbert’s Well
In the 18th century, in particular, water from the well was used to heal cows and other livestock. Interestingly, a nearby Abbey, named after Saint Adalbert, uses water from the well to brew its own beer. The beer is entitled ‘Sancti Adalberti Miraculum Novum’ – the latest miracle of Saint Adalbert!
St Adalbert of Egmond (Died c 740) Deacon, Missionary_ St Amand of Coly Bl Burchard of Mallersdorf St Cyneburga of Gloucester St Domingo Henares de Zafra Cubero Bl Dorothy of Montau St Eurosia of Jaca St Febronia of Nisibis Bl Fulgentius de Lara St Gallicanus of Embrun St Gallicanus of Ostia St Gohard of Nantes Bl Guy Maramaldi Bl Henry Zdick Bl John the Spaniard St Luceias and Companions
One Minute Reflection – 24 June – The Solemnity of the Nativity of St John the Baptist – Readings: Isaiah 49:1-6, Psalm 139:1-3, 13-15, Acts 13:22-26, Luke 1:57-66, 80
“The Lord called me from birth, from my mother’s womb he pronounced my name.” – Isaias 49:1
REFLECTION – “The birth of John the Baptist is full of miracles. An Archangel announced the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus; similarly, an Archangel announced the birth of John (Lk 1:13) and said: “He will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb.” The Jewish people did not see that our Lord did “signs and wonders” and healed their illnesses but John leapt for joy when he was still in his mother’s womb. It was impossible to hold him back and when the mother of Jesus arrived, the child already tried to come out of Elizabeth’s womb. “The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby leapt in my womb for joy.” (Lk 1:44) Still in his mother’s womb, John had already received the Holy Spirit …
Scripture then says: “Many of the sons of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God.” (Lk 1:16) John brought back “a large number,” the Lord brought back not a large number but everyone. For it is his task to bring all men back to God the Father …
I, for my part, think that the mystery of John is being fulfilled in the world until the present. The spirit and the power of John, must first fill the soul of whoever is destined to believe in Christ Jesus, “to prepare for the Lord a people well-disposed” (Lk 1:17) and to “make ready the way of the Lord, [to] clear him a straight path” (Lk 3:5) in the roughness of their hearts. Not only at that time were “the winding paths … made straight and the rough ways smooth;” rather, the spirit and the power of John still go before the Lord and Saviour’s coming today. Oh greatness of the Lord’s mystery and of his plan for the world! ” – Origen Adamantius (c 185-253) Priest, Theologian, Exegist, Writer, Apologist, Father – Homilies on St Luke, no. 4, 4-6
PRAYER – Almighty God and Father, You sent St John the Baptist, to the people of Israel to make them ready for Christ the Lord. Give us the grace of joy in the Spirit and guide the hearts of all the faithful, in the way of salvation and peace, as they harken to the voice of John, the Lord’s herald and bring them safely to Jesus, whom John foretold. St John the Baptist, may your intercession for the Church, bring us to the Light and the Way. We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God with You, forever amen.
Saint of the Day – 23 June – St John Theristus (c 1049-1129) Italian Basilian Monk and Hermit, called Theristus or “Harvester,” miracle-worker. Born in c 1049 im Palermo, Sicily and died on 24 June 1129 at Calabria, Sicily.
John’s father, Arconte di Cursano, a farmer near Botterio Signore in the territory of Stylus, was killed in a Saracen raid on the coasts of Calabria. His Calabrian mother was captured Saracens and brought to Palermo, where she gave birth. He grew up in the Christian faith in a Muslim environment. At the age of 14, he was encouraged by his mother to flee to his native country. He crossed the Strait of Messina in a boat without oars or sail and reached Monasterace. The inhabitants, seeing him dressed as a Moor, took him to the Bishop, who interrogated him. The boy answered that he was seeking Baptism but the bishop subjected him to harsh trials before giving him his name, being ‘John” after St John the Baptist, whose feast day it was, telling little John to spend his life in imitation of the great Precursor of Christ.
Once he grew up, he felt more and more attracted to the life of the Monks who lived in the caves around Stylus, fascinated by the example of two Basilian ascetics, Ambrose and Nicholas. After much insistence, despite his young age, he was admitted into the community. He distinguished himself by virtue, so such an extent, that he was later elected Abbot. He found in Cursano a treasure that belonged to his family and following the rule of Saint Basil. he distributed it to the poor.
St John’s cell
Once in June, at harvest time, he went to visit a knight who had provided food for the Monastery. He took with him a flask of wine and some bread. When he arrived at two fields, called Marone and Maturavolo, he offered the farmers the bread and wine. A furious storm arose, risking destruction of the harvest but through John’s prayer the storm retreated until the wheat had been harvested and gathered in sheaves. Thus he helped to miraculously harvest a large crop ahead of destructive weather, saving the locals from starvation. This and other miracles testifying to the help given to the farmers, earned him the nickname of Therìstis, that is “harvester” or “reaper.” The owner of the fields, struck by the incident, donated much of his harvest to the Monastery.
According to tradition, King Roger, suffering from an incurable wound on his face, was healed upon contact with John’s tunic and many others were healed: crippled, blind, deaf and demonic. Roger II then founded the Monastery of St. John in Nemore and named it after John Theristus.
The memory of John Theristus is found in all Greek traditions. It also entered the Roman Martyrology on 24 June. In 1660 Pope Alexander VIII had his body transferred to Stylus to avoid the raids of brigands and earthquakes. On 12 March 1662, together with the relics of Saints Ambrose and Nicholas, the remains were placed in a Church built by the Minims Fathers and later purchased by the Basilians who dedicated it to our Saint In 1791 it passed to the Redemptorists, who embellished the Church and Convent with marble works. In the left aisle, under the Altar, are venerated the relics of St John and his fellow Monks and mentors, Ambrose and Nicholas. The Convent is accessed through a marble portal. In the centre of the Cloister stands an ancient well in pink granite with four columns, covered by a canopy surmounted by a tin ship, with a praying child holding a Cross, in memory of the young John’s miraculous journey by sea.
Madonna della Navicella / Our Lady of the Ship , Chioggia, Venezia, Veneto, Italy (1508) – 24 June:
On 24 June 1508, in the afternoon, a strong storm, with disastrous effects, hit the inhabited area of Chioggia and Sottomarina. Rain, wind and storm had lashed the coast for a few hours. In the evening, fortunately, the storm abated and the weather improved. A greengrocer, Baldissera Zalon, went to the vegetable gardens, where the Sanctuary now stands , to see for himself the damage that the powerful storm had caused. Baldissera was a simple man, a peasant, who lived near his fields and lived on his work in the vegetable gardens. As soon as he left the house, after scanning the clouds of the sky that were moving away and the setting sun was peeping, he heard himself called by name. After the first moments of amazement, Baldissera turned and saw a majestic Lady, all dressed in black, who sat on a treetrunk thrown on the beach by the waves of the stormy sea. The greengrocer was stunned, so much so, that he was about to pass out, when the Lady revealed to him that she was the Mother of God, giving him courage and inviting him to go to the Bishop to warn him that the sins of the Chioggia challenged the justice of God and that penance had to be preached tenaciously, to avoid worse punishment. Then the Lady got on a craft that was near the shore but before leaving and disappearing, she opened her cloak showing the wounded and bleeding body of Jesus, making it clear that it had also been reduced by the sins of the Chioggiotti.
Baldiserra wasted no time and went to the Bishop, who organised a pilgrimage to the place of the apparition and the turnout of the faithful became more and more consistent day after day. In a short time, a Chapel was built on the spot and then, in 1515, a Sanctuary which was, however, destroyed in 1814. The current Church was built between 1952 and 1958 and was Consecrated on 24-25 June 1958 by Bishop Piasentini. The miraculous image was found, according to popular belief, a few days after the apparition, together with the log on which the Madonna sat when she appeared to Baldissera. The image and the LOG are preserved and are visible in the Basilica of San Giacomo.
St Aglibert of Créteil St Agoard of Créteil St Alena of Brussels St Amphibalus of Verulam
Bl Christopher de Albarran St Erembert I of Kremsmünster St Faustus of Rome and Companions St Festus of Rome St Germoc St Gohardus of Nantes Bl Henry of Auxerre/the Hagiographer St Ivan of Bohemia St John of Rome St John Theristus (c 1049-1129) Monk St John of Tuy St Joseph Yuan Zaide Bl Maksymilian Binkiewicz
St Rumold St Simplicio of Autun Bl Theodgar of Vestervig St Theodulphus of Lobbes — Martyrs of Satala: Seven Christian brothers who were soldiers in the imperial Roman army. They were kicked out of the military, exiled and eventually martyred in the persecutions of Maximian. We know little more about them than their names – Cyriacus, Firminus, Firmus, Longinus, Pharnacius, Heros and Orentius. The martyrdoms occurred in c 311 at assorted locations around the Black Sea.
Quote/s of the Day – 23 June – The Memorial of St Joseph Cafasso (1811-1860)
“A single word from him – a look, a smile, his very presence – sufficed to dispel melancholy, drive away temptation and produce holy resolution in the soul.”
St John Bosco, writing about St Joseph
“All a person’s holiness, perfection and profit lies in doing God’s will perfectly…. Happy are we, if we succeed in pouring out our heart into God’s, in uniting our desires and our will to His, to the point, that one heart and one will are formed, wanting, what God wants, wanting, in the way, in the time and in the circumstances, what He desires and willing it all, for no other reason, than that God wills it.”
“We are born to love, we live to love and we will die, to love still more.”
“Never do anything that your heart tells you, is displeasing to Mary and, in addition, never deny her anything that you know she would welcome and desire from you.”
“Heaven is filled with converted sinners , of all kinds and there is room for more!”
Saint of the Day – 23 June – Blessed Marie of Oignies (1167-1213) Recluse, Mystic, Ascetic, chastely married in continence, spiritual advisor., gifted with supernatural insight and prophesy. Marie had a deep devotion to the Passion, the Blessed Virgin and for the Souls in Purgatory, for whom she offered many prayers and penances. Born in 1167 at Nivelles, Diocese of Liege, Belgium and died n 23 June 1213 of natural causes. Patronages – against fever, of women in labour . Also known as Mary, Maria, Mariam. Miriam.
Marie of Oignies was born of very wealthy parents. But while still very young, she rejected everything childish or vain — games, beautiful clothing, ornaments. At the age of fourteen, despite her desire to be a nun, she was obliged to marry a virtuous young lord. Her holy life caused admiration in her spouse and decided him to follow her examples and together they resolved to practice continence for life, to distribute their wealth to the poor and consecrate themselves to works of piety. The demon tried every artifice to make them relent in their holy resolution but failed. They drew down on themselves the most abundant blessings, as well as sarcasms and insults from the worldly.
Marie had the gift of tears and could not look at a Crucifix without breaking into a torrent of tears or being ravished in ecstasy. When a Priest told her to cease these exhibitions, she asked God to make him understand that it was not possible for a creature to arrest tears which the Holy Spirit obliges to well up. And the Priest, that same day while saying his Mass, began to shed so many tears that the Altar cloths and his vestments, were wet with them.
She had a great devotion to Saint John the Evangelist and conversed with him, as well as with her Guardian Angel. By vision and revelation, she often knew the temptations and secrets of the hearts of the persons who consulted her. She converted many, obtained graces by her prayers for the living and especially for the dead, for whom she offered prayers and sacrifices and suffered various illnesses with invincible patience. Her many visitors made her life of contemplation difficult and she decided to change her residence; her husband permitted her to go to Oignies, where she lived in retreat amidst her heavenly favours and conversations.
She saw the place destined for her in heaven and gave up her holy soul surrounded by angelic songs of bliss. The faithful who had addressed her, were so impressed with the value of her intercession, that her relics became the object of great respect. Buried at Oignies, her remains in 1609 were placed in a silver reliquary in its Parish Church of Our Lady; in 1817 they were transferred to the Church of Saint Nicolas at Nivelle, near her birthplace.
Saint John‘s Eve Vigil of the Feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
Madonna del Sasso, Bibbiena, Arezzo, Toscana, Italy (1347) – 23 June:
The little seer , Caterina, 7 years old, while her mother was washing clothes in the Vessa stream, moved away a little, placing herself near a stone . Here she saw a beautiful lady dressed all in white who, having entered the nearby field of beans, collected several and placed them in the bosom of the girl. Meanwhile, the mother was busy and the little girl ran to tell her of the lady and showed her the beans she had received but the mother paid no attention to her daughter’s meeting.
Returning to the village, Caterina complained to her mother because the beans had grown so much that their weight was difficult for her to bear but her mother told her to be patient as they would soon be home. In the evening, the mother wanted to cook some of those beans but she noticed that they were full of blood. The whole country ran to see the prodigy. The following morning, everyone went in procession to the stone and here they decided to build a Chapel in honour of the Madonna. The apparition of the Madonna del Sasso was preceded and followed by two further miraculous events.
Also in 1347, shortly before the vision, a white dove appeared on the top of the stone and was approached only by children and an old hermit , Beato Martino da Poppi, a Camaldolese Monk, who had his hermitage nearby . When the children approached it, the dove pecked at their fingers and hands but if adults approached, it flew away. In 1444, several people saw golden-blue light globes inside and outside the C hurch these appeared for about three months The podestà, together with some family and friends, returning from a hunting party, about 300 meters away from the sacred stone, saw a crowd of white-dressed young men heading in procession to the Church. A small Chapel was immediately built next to the boulder, later enlarged to include the entire boulder. It now host sthe beautiful image of the Madonna del Sasso, painted by Bicci di Lorenzo in 1435 . This image miraculously remained intact in the fire that completely destroyed the Church in 1486.
The Dominican Fathers were custodians of the Sanctuary since 1468,. They immediately worked on the construction of the current Sanctuary, in pure Renaissance style, based on a design by Giuliano da Maiano. A great amount of funds for the construction of the Sanctuary and Convent, came from Savonarola in 1495, who solicited help from noble families of Florence and from the Medici in particular.
Bl Félix of Cîteaux St Felix of Sutri Bl Frances Martel Bl Francis O’Sullivan St Hidulphus of Hainault St James of Toul St John of Rome
St Joseph Cafasso (1811-1860) “Priest of the Gallows”, Priest, Theology Lecturer, Social Reformer, Confessor, Spiritual Director (of St John Bosco and quite a few other Saints), Rector of a post-Ordination Theological College, member of the Third Order of St Francis. His will bequeathed everything to aid the Little House of Divine Providence which was the religious order founded by St Joseph Benedict Cottolengo (1786-1842). St John Bosco (1815-1888) preached the funeral Mass homily. Patronages – Italian prisons, Prison chaplains, Prisoners, those condemned to death. St Joseph Cafasso’s Biography: https://anastpaul.com/2018/06/23/saint-of-the-day-23-june-st-joseph-cafasso-1811-1860-priest-of-the-gallows/
Bl Lupo de Paredes Blessed Marie of Oignies (1167-1213) Recluse, Mystic, Ascetic St Moeliai of Nendrum Bl Peter of Juilly Bl Thomas Corsini of Orvieto St Thomas Garnet Bl Walhere of Dinant St Zenas of Philadelphia St Zeno of Philadelphia — Martyrs of Ancyra: A family of converts who were arrested, tortured and sent in chains to Ancyra, Galatia (modern Ankara, Turkey) where he was tortured more by order of governor Agrippinus during the persecutions of Diocletian. Martyr. They were – Eustochius, Gaius, Lollia, Probus, Urban. They were roasted over a fire and finally beheaded c 300 in Ancyra, Galatia (modern Ankara, Turkey).
Martyrs of Nicomedia: During the persecutions of Diocletian, many Christians fled their homes to live in caves in the area of Nicomedia. In 303 troops descended on the area, systematically hunted them down and murdered all they could find.
Quote/s of the Day – 22 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” – The Memorial of St Paulinus of Nola (c 354-431)
“He is the Light of Truth, the Path of life, the Power and Mind, Hand and Strength of the Father. He is the Sun of Justice, Source of Blessings, Flower of God, God’s Son, Creator of the world, Life of our mortality and Death to our death. He is the Master of the virtues. He is God to us …!”
“By His rights as Lord, He demands wholly our hearts, tongues and heads. He wishes to be the object of our thought and understanding, our belief and reading, our fear and love. . . ”
Above Poem 10, from The Poems of St. Paulinus of Nola,
“With all my heart I pray, for the hope of heaven because hope and faith, are of much more value, than all the riches of this world.”
“The man without Christ is dust and shadow.”
St Paulinus of Nola (c 354-431) Bishop, Confessor, Father of the Church
Saint of the Day – 22 June – Blessed Pope Innocent V OP (c 1225-1275) Bishop of Rome and Ruler of the Papal States from 21 January to 22 June 1276 (the date of his death), Friar of the Order of Preachers, Theologian, renowned Preacher, Scholar, Writer, Dominican Office bearer, disciple of St Albert the Great and collaborator and friend of St Thomas Aquinas.and St Bonaventure. He acquired a reputation as an effective preacher. He held one of the two “Dominican Chairs” at the University of Paris, the other being held by St Albert the Great and was instrumental in helping with the compilation of the “program of studies” for the Order. In 1269, Peter of Tarentaise was Provincial of the French Province of Dominicans. He was a close collaborator of Blessed Pope Gregory X, who named him Bishop of Ostia and raised him to Cardinal in 1273. Upon the death of Gregory in 1276, Peter was elected Pope, taking the name Innocent V. He died about five months later but during his brief tenure facilitated a peace between Genoa and King Charles I of Sicily. Innocent V was Beatified on 9 March 1898 by Pope Leo XIII. Born in c 1225 at Tarentaise, Burgundy, France as Petrus a Tarentasia and died on 22 June 1276 at Rome, Italy of natural causes. Also known as – Doctor famosissimus, Petrus a Tarentasia, Peter of Tarentaise.
The Roman Martyrology states of him today: “At Rome, Blessed Innocent V, Pope who laboured with mildness and prudence, to maintain liberty for the Church and harmony among Christians. The veneration paid to him. Pope Leo XIII approved and confirmed.”
Petrus a Tarentasia, was barely 10 years old when he was admitted to the Dominican Order by Blessed Jordan of Saxony as a boy-novice and sent to Paris to study. Like Saint Thomas Aquinas, Blessed Ambrose of Siena and other luminaries of the 13th century, he fell under the masterly tutelage of Saint Albert the Great. He received his Master’s Degree in theology in 1259, then he taught for some years in Paris, where he contributed a great deal to the Order’s reputation for learning. He wrote a number of commentaries on Scripture and the Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard but he devoted most of his time to the classroom. He soon became famous as a preacher and theologian, and in 1259, with a committee including his friend Thomas Aquinas, composed a plan of study that is still the basis of Dominican teaching.
At age 37, Peter began the long years of responsibility in the various offices he was to hold in his lifetime as Prior Provincial of France. He visited ,on foot, all Dominican houses under his care and was then sent to Paris to replace Thomas Aquinas at the University of Paris. Twice Provincial, he was chosen Archbishop of Lyons in 1272 and administered the affairs of the Diocese for some time, though he was never actually Consecrated for that See.
The next year Peter was appointed Cardinal-Archbishop of Ostia, Italy, while still administering the See of Lyons. With the great Franciscan, Saint Bonaventure, he assumed much of the labour of the Council of Lyons, to which Saint Thomas was hastening at the time of his death. To the problems of clerical reform and the healing of the Greek schism the two gifted Friars devoted their finest talents. Before the Council was over, Bonaventure died, and Peter of Tarentaise preached the funeral panegyric.
In January 1276, Peter was with Blessed Pope Gregory X when the latter died at Arezzo. The conclave was held in the following month. On 21 January, 1276, Peter of Tarentaise received every vote except his own. With a sad heart, he left the seclusion of his religious home to ascend the Fisherman’s Throne as Pope Innocent V.
The reign of the new Pope, which promised so much to a harassed people, was to be very brief. But, imbued with the spirit of the Apostles, he crowded a lifetime into the short space given him.
He instigated a new crusade against the Saracens and began reforms in the matter of regular observance. He actually succeeded in solving many of the questions of the Greek schism and in establishing a short-lived truce. He struggled to reconcile the Guelphs and Ghibellines, restored peace between Pisa and Lucca and acted as mediator between Rudolph of Hapsburg and Charles of Anjou. He restored the custom of personally assisting at choral functions with the canons of the Lateran and he inspired all, with the love that animated his heart.
Had the measures begun by Innocent V had time to be fully realised, he might have accomplished great good for the Church; he did at least open the way for those who were to follow him.
Death stopped the hand of the zealous Pope when he had reigned only five months. Like his friends Saint Thomas and Saint Bonaventure, he was untouched by the honours and dignity with which he had been favoured and death found him exactly what he had been for more than 40 years–a simple, humble Friar.
Madonna Ta’ Pinu, Gharb, Gozo, Malta ( 1883) – 22 June and 15 Augus,the Feast of the Assumpton:
“Ta’ Pinu” means “Philip’s,” a reference to Pinu (Philip) Gauchi, who financed restoration of the country Chapel and in 1619, commissioned its Altarpiece, a painting of the Assumption by Amadeo Perugino. The Chapel was again in disrepair by 22 June 1883, when Karmela Grima, a 40, year old woman, heard a female voice coming from the Chapel on her way home from the nearby fields: “Come, because it will be another year before you will be able to return.” After Karmela knelt to pray in the Chapel, the voice said, “Recite three Hail Marys in honour of the three days my body remained in the tomb” (before being assumed into heaven). Very soon the pious woman fell ill, remaining bedridden over a year without telling anyone about the voice. In 1885, she told a friend, Francesco Pinelli, who revealed that about the same time, he also had heard a woman’s voice, asking for devotion to the “hidden wound” of her Son from carrying the Cross. When Francesco’s mother was miraculously healed after praying to Our Lady of Ta Pinu, the isolated Chapel began attracting pilgrims. Soon a better building was needed. A new Church, begun in 1920, was finally Consecrated in 1932. Still a place of pilgrimage, its major festival is the Assumption, on 15 August.
Basilica of the Blessed Virgin Of Ta’ Pinu.
Ta’ Pinu Sanctuary holds an annual ceremony of the presentation of babies to Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu, during which. Baptised babies are presented to The Blessed Mother of Ta’ Pinu, while the parents pray to the Mother of God that she may keep her maternal protection over their children and families. The Virgin of Ta’ Pinu has often been connected to several miraculous cures and graces, of both Maltese and foreigners, who have been saved, cured or helped through the intercession of the Virgin. The Sanctuary is adorned with many ex-votos which have been left by those who have either been cured, saved or received favours and graces through the intercession of Our Lady Of Ta’ Pinu. Today, these can still be seen by the many people who everyday visit the Basilica.
A mosaic of the Altarpiece image, one of 6 mosaics. There are also 76 stained glass windows in the Basilica.
Some of the ex-voto in the Ta’ Pinu Sanctuary.
St Paulinus of Nola (c 354-431) Bishop, Confessor, Poet, Writer, Apostle of Charity, Preacher, Orator, Senator and Governor. St Paulinus was an inspiration to many—including six great Saints of the Church, who referenced him in letters of encouragement to others: St Augustine, St Jerome, Melania, St Martin of Tours, St Gregory and St Ambrose. St Augustine wrote, “Go to Campania– there study Paulinus, that choice servant of God. With what generosity, with what still greater humility, he has flung from himself the burden of this world’s grandeurs to take on him the yoke of Christ and in His service how serene and unobtrusive his life!” About St Paulinus: https://anastpaul.com/2018/06/22/saint-of-the-day-22-june-st-paulinus-of-nola-c-354-431/
St Aaron of Brettany St Aaron of Pais-de-Laon St Alban of Britain Bl Altrude of Rome St Consortia St Cronan of Ferns St Eberhard of Salzburg St Eusebius of Samosata St Exuperantius of Como St Flavius Clemens St Gregory of Agrigento St Heraclius the Soldier St Hespérius of Metz Blessed Pope Innocent V OP (c 1225-1275) Papal Ascesion 21 January 1276 St John IV of Naples St Julius of Pais-de-Laon Bl Kristina Hamm Bl Marie Lhuilier St Nicetas of Remesiana St Precia of Epinal St Rotrudis of Saint-Omer St Rufinus of Alexandria — Martyrs of Samaria – 1480 saints: 1480 Christians massacred in and near Samaria during the war between the Greek Emperor Heraclius and the pagan Chosroas of Persia. c 614 in the vicinity of Samaria, Palestine.
Thought for the Day – 21 June – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
St Aloysius Gonzaga
“St Aloysius Gonzaga is one of the outstanding models of holy purity, for young and old alike. We are told, that when he was nine years of age and went to the City of Florence, he went to the Church of the Annunziata, to pray before the picture of our Blessed Lady. It was then, that he experienced the ardent desire to consecrate himself to God. He was the eldest son of Prince Ferdinand de Gonzaga and, therefore, heir to his father’s title. But, from this moment, he was determined to spend his life in the service of God. He made a vow of perpetual chastity and placed himself under the protection of the Blessed Virgin.
Now, his life became a continual ascent towards perfection. Hs chastity, which he had offered to Our Lady, remained spotless until his death. The spirit of evil could make no headway against his angelic virtue. This was a grace which he merited as a result of his prayers and penances. He often spent three or four hours, kneeling in prayer and contemplation. Even at night, he rose from his bed, in order to pray. His mind and heart where in Heaven, rather than upon earth. His prayer was an intimate conversation with Jesus, Mary and the Saints. Innocent though he was, he practised servere mortifications. Believing himself to be a great sinner, he scourged his body until his blood flowed freely and deprived himself of food and sleep.
Do we wish to preserve our purity and to become saints? If so, let us remember that without prayer and mortification, this is impossible. Jesus said to His disciples “that they must always pray and not lose heart” (Lk 18:1) “Pray” He said again, “that you may not enter into temptation” (Lk 22:40) and further, “Unless you repent, you will all perish” (Lk 13:5).”
Quote/s of the Day – 21 June – The Memorial of St Aloysius de Gonzaga SJ (1568-1591)
“There is no more evident sign that anyone is a saint and of the number of the elect, than to see him leading a good life and, at the same time, a prey to desolation, suffering and trials.”
O Holy Mary, my mistress, into your blessed trust and special custody and into the grasp of your mercy I this day, everyday and in the hour of my death, commend my soul and my body. To you, I commit, all my anxieties and miseries, my life and the end of my life, that by your most holy intercession and by your merits all my actions may be directed and disposed according to your will and that of your Son. Amen
Saint of the Day – 21 June – Saint Alban of Mainz (Died c 400) Martyr, Priest, Missionary, Confessor Born in Greece or Albania (sources vary) and died in c 400 by pagan Vandals at Hanum, Germany. His body was beheaded post-mortem. Patronages – against epilepsy, of epileptics, against kidney stones, against hernia; hernia victims. Also known as – Albano di Magonza, Albinus of Mainz.
The Roman Martyrology states of him today: “St Alban. Martyr, who was made worthy of the crown of life, after long laours and severe combats.”
The oldest surviving substantial source about Alban of Mainz is the Martyrologium (c 845) of Blessed Rabanus Maurus (776-856), who had two separate entries for the Mainzer Alban and the English Alban. Concerning Alban of Mainz, he wrote:
21 June: The Martyr Alban from native Moguntia [Mainz], who during the reign of Emperor Theodosius went forward from the island of Namsia with the Saint Theonestus and Ursus and reached Mediolanum [Milan] and from there he went out and, with the help of the Lord, he arrived in the provinces of Gaul, and stayed there in the Saviour’s name, willing to suffer Martyrdom in the service of God. But after Martyrdom took the blessed Ursus in the City of Augusta, Theonestus arrived with Alban in Moguntiacum [Mainz]; while preaching the word of God there, his pupil Alban fulfilled Martyrdom and was buried there, near the City.
— Rabanus Maurus, Martyrologium. Iunius (c. 845)
The second substantial source is the Passio sancti Albani, an incomplete hagiography written in the 1060s or 1070s by schoolmaster Gozwin, who lamented that very little evidence about Alban had survived to his day. Gozwin’s account is much longer and adds many elements not found in Rabanus’ Martyrologium, including a prologue about the First Council of Nicaea (325) which condemned Arianism, that, nevertheless, persisted until Honorius and Arcadius succeeded Theodosius (395). In that time, Alban is mentioned as one of four disciples of St Theonestus, the others being Sts Ursus, Tabraha and Tabratha. These five Catholic clerics are forced to flee from North Africa to Italy after being persecuted by Huneric, the fiercely Arian King of the Vandals, travelling to St Ambrose, Bishop of Milan. The most wise Ambrose teaches Theonestus and his disciples refined theology and sends them out to convert the ‘Arian beasts’ in Gaul and Germany. They pass a City called Augusta, where Ursus is killed by Arians, and Alban is eventually beheaded in Mainz by local Arians to whom he was preaching the Catholic doctrine of the Trinity. The legend finishes by narrating, that Alban carried his head in his hands to the place where he wanted to be buried.
A Church and Monastery were built in Mainz in 804 to honour Alban. A map of Fulda from 786 seems to have already mentioned a chapel in Mainz dedicated to Alban. It became the centre of Saint Alban’s Abbey, a large Benedictine Monastery, which was renovated by Charlemagne in 806. The Monastery was devastated in 1557 and never restored.
Albert II, Count of Namur founded the collegiate Church of St Alban at Namur in 1047. When the Diocese of Namur was created in 1559, it was expanded as St Aubin’s Cathedral, which claims to possess relics of Alban of Mainz.
Madonna dei Miracoli / Our Lady of the Miracles, Alcamo, Sicily (1547) – 21 June:
The Processional Statue
The cult of Our Lady of the Miracles in Alcamo dates to 21 June 1547, the day people remember the Madonna’s apparition to some women near a stream running north of Alcamo. According to tradition while washing their clothes in the stream, the women, with a blind and a deaf one among them, saw the apparition of a woman with a child and were hit by a gust of pebbles, during the apparition but without receiving any injury or pain; on the contrary, after being hit by the pebbles, they strangely felt a certain sense of wellbeing and recovered their health. After learning the news, the women’s husbands, thinking that it was a joke, went to investigate, thinking that someone was hidden among the bushes but they didn’t find anybody. Then the local authorities inquired on the spot, cut down the near grove and found the ruins of a “cuba,” an old arc of a mill that nobody remembered any longer and insidem there was a fresco on a stone made by an anonymous painter of the 13th century representing Our Lady with the Child Jesus, which at first. the believers called “Madonna Fons Misericordiae” (that is Our Lady Source of Mercy).
A representation of the discovery of Our Lady of Miracles’ image (inside its Chapel in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption in Alcamo).
After this discovery, all the people started praying before the rediscovered image and in the following days there were several miracles. Our Lady of Miracles became the Patron of Alcamo, in substitution of the Holy Crucified, who was the Patron Saint of Alcamo and other near small towns (among which Calatafimi and Salemi). The old Patron Saint’s memory however, remains: in fact, they call St Francesco of Paola “santu patri” (whose translation means “Patron Saint”) as the Church named after him was called the Holy Crucified Church. The Madonna’s discovered image was first called “Our Lady Source of Mercy” but thanks to the high number of subsequent miracles, in 1583 the name was changed into “Our Lady of Miracles”. Further to these events, Don Fernando Vega, Alcamo’s governor, ordered the construction of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Miracles, which hosts the Madonna’s image. Inside the Church there is a white marble sarcophagus containing the mortal remains of the governor Don Fernando Vega, according to his will.
The Crowned Painting of the Madonna of Miracles in the Sanctuary at Alcamo
Every year in Alcamo there are the celebrations in honour of Our Lady of Miracles from 19 June until 21 of June. This is the most important religious festivity in Alcamo. The real celebrations are often anticipated by other events, so extending the feast to about two weeks, in this way the beginning of the celebrations changes every year, while the last day is always the 21 June. The celebrations include: The pealing of church bells” which opens the celebrations together with the burst of fireworks and the passing of the band through the town streets; in the past Alcamo’s band also joined the musical band of Partinico (a neighbouring small town). The Holy Mass in honour of Our Lady of Miracles in the Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta (also called “Mother Church”), in which all confraternities and laity groups in Alcamo take part. The procession to the Sanctuary of Madonna of Miracles (called “calata”), in which all civil and religious authorities of the town (together with the Mayor) take part; they are preceded by the band of the town. In old times people took also the animals that had recovered from an illness. Inside the Sanctuary they sing Vespers and then there is the Eucharistic Blessing/Benediction.
St Raymond of Barbastro St Rufinus of Syracuse St Suibhne the Sage St Terence St Ursicenus of Pavia — Martyrs of Taw – 3+ saints: Three Christians of different backgrounds who were martyred together – Moses, Paphnutius, Thomas. They were beheaded in Taw, Egypt, date unknown.
Saint of the Day – 20 June – Blessed Francisco Pacheco SJ (1566-1626) Martyr, Priest of the Society of Jesus, Missionary to India, China and Japan, Provincial Superior. Born in 1566 in Ponte de Lima, Braga, Portugal and died by being burned at the stake on 20 June 1626 in Nagasaki, Japan. Also known as – Francesco, Francis.
Francisco Pacheco was the most experienced Jesuit who died a Martyr during the Great Persecution in Japan between 1617 and 1632. At the time of his arrest, he was Provincial Superior of the Jesuits and Apostolate Administrator of the Diocese and his imprisonment was a serious loss to the Christian community struggling to survive the persecution.
Fr Pacheco was born in Ponte di Lima, near Braga, Portugal, of noble parents. As a youth he heard of the exploits of Missionaries in Japan and dreamed of imitating them. While at the Jesuit school in Lisbon, he also watched the annual departure of the Jesuit Nissionaries and this further strengthened his resolve and thus he decided to join the Society in 1585. His request to go to the missions was only granted seven years later and his first stop was Goa, India where he continued his studies. He then went on to Macau to further continue his studies before being Ordained.
Fr Pacheco finally set forth for Japan in 1604 and spent four years in the capital of Osaka, Miyako (today’s Kyoto) before taking up his next appointment as Head of the Jesuit college in Macau. In 1614, he returned to Japan and became Vicar General to Bishop Luis de Cerqueira and was based in Nagasaki until the promulgation of the shogun’s decree in 1614 banishing all foreign Missionaries and forbidding Japanese Christians to practice their religion.
Fr Pacheco’s exile in Macau was a short one as he returned secretly to Japan the following year, disguised as a merchant and took up Missionary work at Takaku and the islands of Amakusa and Kani. During those years of fierce persecution he sadly saw thousands of Christians give up their religion under governmental pressure and fear of torture. He also witnessed the terrible deaths of his brother Jesuits and hundreds of Christians who remained steadfast in their faith, though it meant beheading or death by slow fire. Fr Pacheco knew that the longer he remained in Japan the closer was his Martyrdom.
Following his appointment as the Jesuits’ Provincial Superior, Fr Pacheco moved his residence from Nagasaki to the seaport of Kuchinotsu in Arima which had better security and better contact with the Jesuits in Japan. The search for Jesuit Missionaries was intensified when more spies were recruited by Shogun Iyemitsu. Fr Pacheco was betrayed by his former host, an apostate who because of the reward money and hoping to gain favour with the district governor, revealed where he was With 200 soldiers surrounding the house, Fr Pacheco and two of his Catechists, Paul Kinsuke and Peter Kinsei were arrested with two others living in the next house. The Jesuits, the Catechists, their hosts and families were all arrested and placed in a dungeon in Shimabara where they had to endure the damp and cold winter. Within a few days, Fr John Baptist Zola and his Catechist, Vincent Kaun, were added to their number.
While in prison, Fr Pacheco admitted the four Catechists into the Society and transformed his group of prisoners, including the lay persons into a quasi-religious community with set times for rising, prayer, meditation, fasting and doing penance to prepare and strengthen them for the Martyrdom to come. Their greatest sorrow was their inability to celebrate Mass, recite the Breviary and recite the Rosary as all these had been taken away from them, although, of course, they could still count on their fingers and added their own meditations. Finally, on 20 June 1626, the prisoners were brought to Nagasaki where two other prisoners, Fr Balthazar de Torres SJ and his Catechist, Michael Too, were included. The final number was nine Jesuits and nine lay Christians and all were escorted to the Martyrs’ Hill where the executions were to take place.
The Jesuits rejoiced in seeing each other and embraced for the last time. They were the first to die. The government kept the Christians aside hoping that some would apostatize but watching the Martyrs die only strengthened their faith. They were kept in a prison in Nagasaki, determined to die for Christ. They were Martyred on 12 July 1626.
Fr Pacheco and his eight Jesuit companions, together with the nine lay Christians, were included among the 205 M,artyrs Beatified by Blessed Pope Pius IX on 7 May1867. Their ashes thrown into the sea and no relics remain.
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Traditional Calendar) +2021 Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time +2021
Notre-Dame-de-Grace / Our Lady of Grace in Equemauville, Honfleur, France – also known as Our Lady of Consolation (1524) 20 June (The Crowning) and 23 October:
The Abbot Orsini wrote: “Our Lady of Consolation, near Honfleur. This Chapel is much frequented; two children have been raised to life there, in memory of which ,their figures are there in silver.”
Also known as Our Lady of Grace, or Notre-Dame-de-Grace, the first thing that can be seen among the trees upon the height is a large Crucifix that seems to bless the sea, although the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Grace is still invisible, hidden under the old trees that surround it. The present Chapel is a small one, located a short distance from that Crucifix and the tall trees and lawns that surround the Church are in stark contrast to the Church’s humble dimensions.
Once inside, everything is modest but exudes an atmosphere of holiness. There is a low arch, and passing beneath it, the view from the windows inside, is obscured by the thick foliage of the surrounding trees. On the Gospel side is the Statue of the Blessed Virgin on a short pillar. A fabric canopy frames the Statue which depicts the Mother of God holding her Divine Child. At the feet of Our Lady are placed small anchors and hearts of silver gilt that shine on the dais and we see a small amount of flowers that are the humble obeisance’s of children and the poor. There are votive offerings hundreds of years old, and paintings of ships battered by storms, or broken upon the rocks, beneath which are brief accounts of the perils and the salvation sent after prayer to Notre-Dame-de Grace. Crutches lean against the wall as trophies demonstrating the victorious prayers of the healed cripples who now walk, and burning candles, are constantly renewed beneath the holy image, exhibiting the persevering ardoUr of the faithful. It is a collective testimony of piety and edification from the servants of Mary.
The origin of the pilgrimage to Notre-Dame de Grace goes back to the eleventh century. According to tradition, in the year 1034, Robert the Magnificent, Duke of Normandy, was sailing to England. He was suddenly assailed by a violent storm and at the height of the danger he promised to build three Chapelsdevoted to the Blessed Virgin if he returned safely to his lands. The storm ended at once and the Prince immediately returned home to take care of his vow. He built one of the Chapels promised near his Castle, and dedicated it to Our Lady of Mercy. Another he built near Caen, which he called Notre-Dame de la Deliverance,and the third he built on the plateau in Equemauville overlooking Honfleur, which was named Notre Dame de Grace. This Chapel near Honfleur, soon became a busy place of pilgrimage. There is an authentic document at the Church from King Louis XI dated 28 January 1478 and letters showing that the Chapel was endowed with a certain tract of land containing a house, a barn, etc.
The Chapel partially collapsed and the sea swallowed part of the cliff near the Church during a violent earthquake that occurred on 29 September 1538. Only a section of one wall, the Altar, and the Statue of the Virgin Mary remained standing but such was the devotion of the people to this special place that many pilgrims continued to come and pray kneeling amid the debris. Unfortunately the landslides did not cease, so finally, in 1602, the last vestiges of the Sanctuary were removed to prevent the faithful from exposing their lives to the unremitting danger. The faithful regretted the loss of their Chapel, and one of them, Mr. Gonnyer, undertook to raise a new one. He dug the foundations one hundred paces from the old Church to the south-west but he was forced to stop at that point for lack of money. Offerings from the inhabitants of Honfleur did the rest and in 1613 the Chapel was acquired. It was a small building three times as long as it was wide;,thatched, isolated among the heather and looked more like a barn than a chapel. The Capuchins took possession on 16 March 1621, and they planted a large wooden Crucifix amid the ruins of the old chapel. They eventually replaced it with a stone Crucifix that they placed closer to the chapel than the old one had been. In the Middle Ages people understood that the Church provided for the moral and physical welfare of the people, as well as, the state. They knew that the apostolate of the monastic orders was necessary to form and maintain the ties of charity between the rich and poor, adjust the opulent life of one to soften the sufferings of others and to communicate to all, through preaching and by the Sacraments and example, the secret of living and dying well. When the Revolution erupted there was wide-spread desecration throughout France and all religious communities were dissolved. In vain the faithful recipients of so many graces endeavoured to protect their Sanctuary and the religious who served there. At one time it was hoped Honfleur could keep the Capuchins and so, a petition was drafted for that purpose in 1790. “Through the removal of religious communities,” said the petitioners, “we fear being deprived of the significant relief that we receive from the Capuchins. These men are religious at all times, labour for the good of the City and the neighbouring countryside and through the uprightness of their intentions and the justice of their actions, they have earned public esteem and confidence. They have a small Chapel, located on the coast under the invocation of the Blessed Virgin, which is held in great reverence throughout the Country and we urge its conservation.” The petition was sent to the National Assembly, who refused it. The Chapel was plundered and converted into a tavern. The old Statue was destroyed and sadly “those who were but lately to pray and ask for graces forgot themselves to commit orgies in a place where everything, even the walls, reproached them for their apostasy.” That was so long ago and now the tides of commercial prosperity have come to caress the people and promote the development of the City and the Port of La Havre. Hanfleur possesses all the signs of a prosperous City that is increasing in wealth and population, regardless of the attendant demoralisation and miseries of every kind, that accompany the seeming prosperity. La Havre is the seat of business where speculators contest in the commercial sphere where they work without ceasing to earn their fortune and contribute to each other’s ruin. Without the aid of the Blessed Virgin, there was no longer any hope for relief. After the atrocities had subsided the Chapel was restored and a copy of the original Statue created from Church records.
It was on 15 February 1912 that the Chapter of Saint Peter in Rome awarded the Golden Crown to the sSatue of Our Lady of Grace. The solemn Feasts of her Coronation were celebrated on 20 June 1913. Many people from Honfleur think that it is thanks to the intercession of Notre Dame de Grâce that Honfleur is the only Norman city not to have been bombed during the Second World War. The Chapel was classified as a historical monument in 1938.
Still, it was here, at this remote Chapel about 5 kilometers from Honfleur, that Marie-Francoise-Therese Martin came with her father and sister Celine in July of the year 1887 to pray to Notre-Dame-de Grace that she might be able to enter Carmel. That woman is better known today as Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, or simply Therese of Lisieux, the “Little Flower.”
Irish Martyrs – 17 beati – This is the collective title given to the 260 or more persons who are credited with dying for the faith in Ireland between 1537 and 1714. Seventeen of them were beatified together on 27 September 1992 by St Pope John Paul II. • Blessed Conn O’Rourke• Blessed Conor O’Devany• Blessed Dermot O’Hurley• Blessed Dominic Collins• Blessed Edward Cheevers• Blessed Francis Taylor• Blessed George Halley• Blessed John Kearney• Blessed Matthew Lambert• Blessed Maurice Eustace• Blessed Patrick Cavanagh• Blessed Patrick O’Healy• Blessed Patrick O’Loughran• Blessed Peter Higgins• Blessed Robert Meyler• Blessed Terrence Albert O’Brien• Blessed William Tirry
Martyrs of Lower Moesia: Martyred on the Black Sea at Lower Moesia (in modern Bulgaria), date unknown. St Cyriacus St Paul
Martyred in Nagasaki: 9 Beati : burned alive on 20 June 1626 in Nagasaki, Japan. Their ashes were thrown into the sea and no relics remain. They were Beatified on 7 May 1867 by Pope Pius IX. • Blessed Baltasar de Torres Arias • Blessed Francisco Pacheco • Blessed Gaspar Sadamatsu • Blessed Giovanni Battista Zola • Blessed Ioannes Kisaku • Blessed Michaël Tozo • Blessed Paulus Shinsuke • Blessed Petrus Rinsei • Blessed Vincentius Kaun
Saints of the Day – 19 June – Saints Gervase and Protase (Died c 165) Martyrs, Twin Brothers of Martyr Parents, Laymen Died c 165. Patronages – for the discovery of thieves, haymakers, Archdiocese of Perugia-Città della Pieve, Italy, City of Milan and 4 Cities. Also known as – Gervasius and Protasius
The Roman Martyrology states of them today: “In Milan, Saints Gervase and Protase. The Judge Astasius ordered that Gervase be beaten to death with leaded scourges and Protase beaten with sticks and beheaded. By divine revelation blessed Ambrose discovered their bodies, flecked with blood and incorrupt as if they had just died that day. During the translation of their bodies, a blind man gained his sight by touching the bier and many were set free who had been possessed by demons.”
Gervase and Protase were the twin sons of Martyrs. Their Father, Saint Vitalis of Milan, a man of consular dignity, suffered Martyrdom at Ravenna, possibly under Nero. Their Mother, Saint Valeria, died for her faith at Milan. When their parents died, the two brothers sold the family assets, distributed the proceeds to the poor and retired to a small house where they spent ten years in prayer and meditation. Denounced as Christians in Astasio, they were imprisoned and refusing to sacrifice to pagan gods, they were, therefore, sentenced to death. Gervase died under the blows of the scourges, Protase was instead beheaded.
The Martyrdom
The legend around our Martyrs was enriched with further clarifications: the Datiana historia eccle siae Mediolanensis states that the two saints were converted to Christianity, together with their parents, noble citizens of Milan, by the Bishop St Gaius who would have ruled the Church of the City from 63 to 85 and their Martyrdom would have occurred in the time of Nero (54-68), therefoe. a discrepancy exists as to the date of their death.
Saint Ambrose, in 386, had built a magnificent Basilica at Milan, now called the Basilica Sant’Ambrogio. Asked by the people to consecrate it in the same solemn manner as was done in Rome, he promised to do so if he could obtain the necessary relics. In a dream, he was shown the place where such relics could be found. He ordered excavations to be made outside the City, in the cemetery Church of Saints Nabor and Felix, who were at the time the primary patrons of Milan and there found the relics of Saints Gervasius and Protasius. In a letter, St Ambrose wrote: “I found the fitting signs and on bringing in some, on whom hands were to be laid, the power of the holy Martyrs became so manifest, that even whilst I was still silent, one was seized and thrown prostrate at the holy burial-place. We found two men of marvellous stature, such as those of ancient days. All the bones were perfect, and there was much blood.”
St Ambrose had their relics removed to the Basilica of Fausta (now the Church of Saints Vitalis and Agricola) and on the next day, moved into the Basilica, accompanied by many miracles, emblematic of divine favour in the context of the great struggle then taking place between St Ambrose and the Arian Empress Justina. Of the vision, the subsequent discovery of the relics and the accompanying miracles, St Ambrose wrote to his sister Marcellina describing thee events..
Saint Augustine, not yet baptised, witnessed these events and relates them in his “Confessions” (IX, vii), and in “De Civitate Dei” (XXII, viii) as well as in his “Sermon 286 in natal. “.
They are also referred to by Saint Paulinus in his life of Saint Ambrose. The latter died in 397 and by his own wish was buried in his Basilica by the side of these Twin Brpther Martyrs. The Brescia Casket was made for or used to hold the relics of all three – St Ambrose, St Gervase and St Protase.
The Crypt in Sant’Ambrogio Basilica. Embossed silver urn, (the Brescia Casket) displaying the skeletons of Saints Ambrose, Gervase and Protase.
The two Saints immediately enjoyed considerable popularity, especially in the West – they were particularly venerated in Italy, in Miam. Ravenna, in Brescia and in Rome, where, under the Pontificate of Pope Innocent I (402-417), the matron Vestina erected a dedicated Church in their honour, the current St Vitale in via Nazionale; in Gaul, in Vienne and in Rouen; in Spain, in Carmona; in Africa, in Carthage. The anniversary of the invention of their bodies soon entered the most important Calendars and Sacramentaries, such as the Carthaginian Calendar, the Gregorian Sacramentary and the Geronymian Martyrology which all remember them, unanimously, on 19 June. The Geronymian, then, also remembers them other times – 20 May (apparently due to a reading and transcription error); 28 July, the day of Saints Nazario and Celso, in whose Acts. our twin Martyrs are also remembered.
Nostra Signora d Montesenario / Our Lady of Monte Senario, Florence, Italy – Ordo Servorum Beatae Mariae Virginis (OSM) (1240) – 19 June:
The cradle of the Order of the Servants of Mary began at Monte Senario in the year 1233 in the City of Florence, Italy, by a group of Hermits now known as the Seven Holy Founders Saints of the Servite Order – Ordo Servorum Beatae Mariae Virginis (OSM). They were sons of wealthy families and they retired from the world for a life of prayer and devotion to the praises of Mary. Leaving La Camarzia, a Suburb of Florence, the seven went to Monte Senario in the region of Tuscany. Uncertain of what way of life to follow, they turned to Our Lady in prayer and supplication and she appeared to them on the Feast of the Assumption in the year 1240.
Monte Senario
The Blessed Virgin, Our Lady of Monte Senario, presented the Seven Holy Founders with the Habit of their new Order and an Angel stood nearby bearing a scroll that was marked, “Servants of Mary.” He read to the Seven Holy Founders the following words: “You will found a new order, and you will be my witnesses throughout the world. This is your name: Servants of Mary. This is your rule: that of Saint Augustine. And here is your distinctive sign: the black scapular, in memory of my sufferings.”
From that day in 1240, the seven were known as the Servants of Mary, the Order of Servants of Mary, or the Servites. under her title of Mother of Sorrows (Italian: Madonna Addolorata) Members of the Order take solemn vows to especially honour the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The sorrows are, in order, the prophecy of Simeon, the flight into Egypt, the loss of the Holy Child at Jerusalem, meeting Jesus on His Way to Calvary, standing at te foot of the Cross, Jesus taken down from the Cross, and the burial of Christ. According to an ancient document called the “Legenda de Origin ordini,” “Our Lady wanted to begin her Order with seven men to show everyone, with absolute clarity, that she wanted to adorn her Order, endowing it with the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.”
The Order gained official recognition in 1249 but was not officially approved until Pope Benedict IX issued a Bull in 1304. Their Church on Monte Senario, rebuilt in 1700, is a favourite resort of pilgrims from Florence especially. Mary here, as Our Lady of Monte Senario, as well as elsewhere, proves herself the miraculous Mother of God. The names of the Seven Holy Founders are Saint Alexis Falconieri, Saint Bartholomew degli Amidei, Saint Benedict dell’Antella, Saint Buonfiglio Monaldi, Saint Gherardino Sostegni, Saint Hugh dei Lippi-Uguccioni, and Saint John Buonagiunta Monetti.
St Adleida of Bergamo Bl Arnaldo of Liniberio St Culmatius of Arezzo St Deodatus of Jointures St Deodatus of Nevers St Gaudentius of Arezzo St Gervase and St Protase (Died c 165) Martyrs, Twin Brothers of Martyr Parents, Laymen St Hildegrin of Châlons-sur-Marne Bl Humphrey Middlemore St Innocent of Le Mans
St Modeste Andlauer St Nazario of Koper Bl Odo of Cambrai St Rémi Isoré Bl Sebastian Newdigate Bl Thomas Woodhouse Bl William Exmew St Zosimus of Umbria
Saints of the Day – 18 June – Saints Marcus and Marcellian (Died c 286) Martyrs, Twin Brothers, Laymen, Confessors. Sons of Saint Tranquillinus of Rome who raised them as pagans before his own conversion. They may have been Deacons. Imprisoned for their faith during the persecutions of Diocletian. They were visited in prison by Saint Sebastian who encouraged them in perseverance in the footsteps of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Also known as Mark and Marcellianus, respectively.
The Roman Martyrology states of them today: “At Rome, on the Ardeatine Road, in the persecution of Diocletian, the birthday of the saintly brothers, Marcus and Marcellian, Martyrs, who were arrested by the Judge Fabian, tied to a stake and had sharp nails driven into their fet. As they ceased not, to praise the name of Christ, they were pierced through the sides with lances and thus went to the Kingdom of Heaven, with the glory of Martyrdom.”
Saint Marcus and Saint Marcellian were twin brothers of an illustrious family in Rome, who had been converted to the Faith in their youth and were honourably married.
When Diocletian ascended the imperial throne in 284, the pagans raised persecutions; the brothers were then thrown into prison and condemned to be beheaded. Their friends obtained a delay of the execution for thirty days, that they might prevail on them to worship the false gods. Tranquillinus and Martia, their afflicted pagan parents, accompanied by their sons’ wives and their little babes, endeavoured to move them by the most tender entreaties and tears. But Saint Sebastian, an officer of the Emperor’s household, arriving in Rome soon after their confinement, daily visited and encouraged them.
The issue of the conferences was the happy conversion of the father, mother and wives, also of Nicostratus, the public stenographer and soon afterwards, of Chromatius, the Judge, who set the Saints at liberty and abdicating the magistracy, retired into the country. Marcus and Marcellian were concealed by a Christian officer of the imperial household, in his apartments in the palace but they were betrayed by an apostate and re-imprisoned. Fabian, a Judge who had succeeded Chromatius, condemned them to be bound to two pillars, their feet nailed to them. In this posture they remained a day and a night and on the following day were stabbed with lances. Their Martyrdom occurred in the year 286.
Saints Mark and Marcellinus being led to Martyrdom by Paolo Veronese (1528–1588)
The bodies of Marcus and Marcellianus and that of their father, Saint Tranquillinus, were moved, probably during the ninth century, to the Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian. They were re-discovered there in 1583 during the reign of Pope Gregory XIII. The bodies now remain there in a tomb, next to the Martyred Pope, Saint Felix II. Nearby is an ancient painting of the two Martyrs with a third person, who appears to be the Virgin Mary. In 1902, their basilica in the catacombs of Saint Balbina was rediscovered.
They are honoured particularly in Spain, where the City of Badajoz escaped destruction by their intercession.
Saints Marcus and Marcellianus (to the right) with Saint Sebastian. From a medieval French manuscript.
Notre-Dame-des-Oliviers / Our Lady of Olives (Murat, Cantal, France) (1881 – 18 June:
In a pleasant valley of France there lies a little Town where, by the favour of God, lightning never strikes. This favour, unique in the world, dates to the time when the Church of Murat (Cantal) was burned by lightning, except for a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary. In 1493, and ever since, the Town has been named Our Lady of Olives. The Virgin Mary is the Olive recalled in the scriptures (Sirach 24:14) by whose intercession the Town was protected.
By virtue of the Medallion of Our Lady of Olives, the persons who carry it are preserved from lightning, wherever they may be during a storm. It is a privilege attached to the medallion which bears the unique name in the annals of the Church, “Our Lady of Olives.” This marvellous way of being protected against lightning, deserves to be known throughout the world and ought to be extended to the four corners of the universe. The second privilege of the Medallion is to protect, in an unmistakable manner, women who are about to become mothers and to assist them in the hour of deliverance. Those who are afflicted with sickness and who pray to the Divine Mother, are promptly relieved. The Virgin was Crowned on 18 June1881, by an Apostolic Brief given by Leo XIII on the tenth day of May 1878.
Prayer to Our Lady of Olives
Kneeling at thy feet, we pray thee Virgin Mary, that through thine intercession, there may be borne a new generation who will unite all hearts and souls in the same faith and the same charity. We pray thee “Divine Olive of Peace,” to implore God, that harmony may reign between nations, that true liberty be given to all people, that heresies and all bad doctrines condemned by the Pope may disappear. We pray that all the treasures of the Divine Heart be showered upon all men and that we be preserved from all harm. Pray for us, help us and save us. Amen.
St Abraham of Clermont St Alena of Dilbeek St Amandus of Bordeaux St Arcontius of Brioude St Athenogenes of Pontus St Calogero of Sicily St Calogerus of Fragalata St Calogerus the Anchorite St Colman mac Mici St Cyriacus of Malaga St Demetrius of Fragalata St Edith of Aylesbury
St Elpidius of Brioude St Equizio of Telese St Erasmo St Etherius of Nicomedia Bl Euphemia of Altenmünster St Fortunatus the Philosopher St Gerland of Caltagirone
St Gregory of Fragalata St Guy of Baume St Jerome of Vallumbrosa Sts Marcus and Marcellianu (Died c 286) Martyrs, Twin Brothers St Marina of Alexandria St Marina of Bithynia Bl Marina of Spoleto
St Osanna of Northumberland St Osmanna of Jouarre St Paula of Malaga Bl Peter Sanchez — Hermits of Karden: A father (Felicio) and his two sons (Simplicio and Potentino)who became pilgrim to various European holy places and then hermits at Karden (modern Treis-Karden, Germany). (Born in Aquitaine (in modern France. ) Their relics transferred to places in the Eifel region of western Germany at some point prior to 930. They were canonised on 12 August 1908 by Pope Pius X (cultus confirmation).
Martyrs of Ravenna – 4 saints: A group of four Christians martyred together. We have no details but their names – Crispin, Cruciatus, Emilius and Felix. They were martyred in Ravenna, Italy, date unknown.
Martyrs of Rome – 3 saints: Three Christians martyred together . We have no details but their names – Cyriacus, Paul and Thomas. In Rome, Italy, date unknown.
Martyrs of Tripoli – 3 saints: Three imperial Roman soldiers, at last two of them recent converts, who were imprisoned, tortured and executed for their faith. Martyrs – Hypatius, Leontius and Theodulus. They were Greek born and they died c135 at Tripoli, Phoenicia (in modern Lebanon).
Saint of the Day – 17 June – St Botolph of Ikanhoe (Died 680) Abbot, Missionary, Founder of the Monastery of Ikanhoe, Spiritual Director. Born in c 610 in East Anglia, England and died on 17 June 680 of natural causes following a lengthy illness. Also known as – Botolph, Botulf, Botwulf. , Patronages – agricultural workers, farm workers, farmers, sailors, mariners, watermen, travellers. 7 cities. Additional Memorial – 1 December – translation of his relics.
Little is known about Botolphf’s life, other than details in an account written four hundred years after his death by the 11th-century Monk Folcard. Botulph, a seventh century Saxon from an aristocratic Christian family is the brother of Saint Adolph of Utrecht. He was educated with his brother, at the Monastery of Cnobersburg (Burgh Castle), Suffolk under the direction of its Founder, Saint Fursey. When Mercian forces under King Penda invaded the region, the boys were sent to study at the Monastery at Bosanham, Sussex.
He became a Benedictine Monk at Farmoutiere-en-Brie, Gaul (modern northeastern France) and was sent back to the British Isles in 647 to establish the Benedictine Order there.
With the support of Saint Syre, Saint Aubierge and their brother, King Anna of East Anglia, Botulph founded the Monastery of Ikanhoe in East Anglia, declining the offer of a part of the Royal estate and settling for a wild, barren site that was removed from people, reported to be haunted by demons and which would require endless work to sustain the Monks.
For many years it was believed that the area that grew up around it came to be called Botulph’s Town, contracted to Botulphston and later contracted to Boston in Lincolnshire but recent research has shown, that the original site is another location. The Saxon Chronicle indicates, that by 654, Botulph had attracted enough brother Monks and hermits that work began on the Monastery. Through hard work and faith, the Monastery grew in population; the Monks built several structures, turned large areas of marsh and scrub into productive farming and grazing lands and dispelled the people’s fears of demons.
Botulph served as Spiritual Director for Saint Ceolfrith and worked as a travelling missionary through rough, bandit-plagued areas of East Anglia, Kent and Sussex.
His legacy continued for centuries in the strength of the Benedictine movement in the Isles and in the dozens of Churches named for him, many of them built at City gates to serve as safe-haven for travellers in times when robbers roamed the roads and many in port or river towns.
He died while being carried to Chapel for compline services and was buried at Ikanhoe. His relics were moved in 870 to keep them from being destroyed by invading Danes and then transferred to Grundisburgh in 983. They were later distributed to Monasteries at Thornery, Westminster, and Edmundsburg, Suffolk. Tradition says that for safety, the cask of relics destined for Edmundsburg were taken there in the middle of the night but the travellers were guided by a light that hovered above the relics’ new Shrine. In our times too, processions of the relics through Edmundsburgh has ended droughts there by the intercession of St Botolph.
Heilige Maria im Walde / Holy Maria in the Forest, Dolina, Grafenstein, Carinthia, Austria (1849) – 17 June:
The Apparitions occurred, as the Immaculate Conception, in a wooded area near Dolina, Grafenstein, Carinthia, Austria on the 17, 18 and 19 June 1849 to three young shepherdesses, prior to the public proclamation of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception ion 1854. Thus began the influx of pilgrims and in the woods, just where she had appeared as the Immaculate Conception, a wooden Chapel was erected. The Church, begun in 1861 but was never fully completed. A local artist painted an image called the Madonna del Bosco, inspired by the descriptions of the three shepherdesses. This painting was a picture of grace that inspired faith and devotion of many.
St Antidius of Besançon Bl Arnold of Foligno St Avitus of Perche St Blasto of Rome St Botolph of Ikanhoe (Died 680) Abbot St Briavel of Gloucestershire St David of Bourges St Dignamerita of Brescia St Diogenes of Rome St Emily de Vialar St Gundulphus of Bourges
St Himerius of Amelia St Hypatius of Chalcedon St Molling of Wexford St Montanus of Gaeta St Nectan of Hartland Bl Paul Burali d’Arezzo Bl Peter Gambacorta St Phêrô Ða Bl Philippe Papon
St Prior St Rambold of Ratisbon Bl Ranieri Scaccero St Theresa of Portugal — Martyrs of Apollonia – 7 saints: A group of Christians who fled to a cave near Apollonia, Macedonia to escape persecution for his faith, but were caught and executed. The names we know are – Basil, Ermia, Felix, Innocent, Isaurus, Jeremias and Peregrinus. They were beheaded at Apollonia, Macedonia.
Martyrs of Aquileia – 4 saints: Four Christian martyrs memorialised together. No details about them have survived, not even if they died together – Ciria, Maria, Musca and Valerian. c.100 in Aquileia, Italy.
Martyrs of Chalcedon – 3 saints: Three well-educated Christian men who were sent as ambassadors from King Baltan of Persia to the court of emperor Julian the Apostate to negotiate peace between the two states, and an end of Julian’s persecutions of Christians. Instead of negotiating, Julian imprisoned them, ordered them to make a sacrifice to pagan idols and when they refused, had them executed. Their names were Manuel, Sabel and Ismael. They were beheaded in 362 in Chalcedon (part of modern Istanbul, Turkey) and their bodies burned and no relics survive.
Martyrs of Fez – 4 beati: A group of Mercedarians sent to Fez, Morocco to ransom Christians imprisoned and enslaved by Muslims. For being openly Christian they were imprisoned, tortured, mutilated and executed. Martyrs – Egidio, John, Louis and Paul. They were martyred in Fez, Morocco.
Martyrs of Rome – 262 saints: A group of 262 Christians martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian. In c303 in Rome, Italy. They were buried on the old Via Salaria in Rome.
Martyrs of Venafro – 3 saints: Three Christian lay people, two of them imperial Roman soldiers, who were converts to Christianity and were martyred together in the persecutions of Maximian and Diocletian – Daria, Marcian and Nicander. They were beheaded c.303 in Venafro, Italy. By 313 a basilica had been built over their graves which were re-discovered in 1930. They are patrons of Venafro, Italy.
Quote/s of the Day – 16 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” and The Memorial of St John Francis Régis SJ (1597-1640)
“The Catholic religion was the religion of your forefathers and the only one Jesus Christ founded; – the one which He promised would endure till the end of time. It is in the Catholic religion alone that you can save your soul.”
“How long are you going to be deaf to His call? Or are you going to lose your soul, which Jesus Christ bought at the price of His Precious Blood?”
“My child, it is indeed the Voice of God you have heard. He has given you a great grace in thus calling you into His one true Church. While you live, never cease to thank Him and bless Him for it.”
(All the above from – Rev Fr D. Chisholm, The Catechism in Examples (London: R & T Washbourne, Ltd
“Brother, I see our Lord and our Lady opening the gates of Paradise for me. Into Your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.” St John Francis Regis on his deathbed
Saint of the Day – 16 June – St John Francis Régis SJ (1597-1640) Priest, Confessor., renowned Preacher, Missionary., miracle-worker. Born as Jean-François Régis on 31 January 1597 at Fontcouverte, Aude, France and died on 31 December 1640 (aged 43) at La Louvesc, Ardèche, France of natural causes. Patronages – lacemakers, medical social workers, illegitimate children, Regis University, Regis High School (New York City), Regis Jesuit High School (Aurora, Colorado).
The Roman Martyrology states of him today: “In the village of La Louvese, formerly of the Diocese of Vienne in Dauphiny, the decease of St Jean-Francois Régis, Confessor, of the Society of Jesus, distinguished by his zeal for the salvation of souls and by his patience. He was placed on the list of Saints by Pope Clement XII.”
John Francis ministered to Catholics suffering neglect after civil conflict between Calvinists and Catholics devastated France. Much of southern France had fallen under control of the Huguenots who destroyed Catholic Churches and killed the Priests. Home missioners such as Régis had the task of rekindling a once-strong faith.
John Francis was born on 31 January 1597 in Fontcouverte, in southern France. His father, Jean Régis, had recently been ennobled as a result of service rendered during the Wars of the League. His mother, Marguerite de Cugunhan, was of a noble family. John Francis was remarkably holy from childhood. He was disinterested in children’s games, preferring instead, to contemplate the things of God. Sensitive and devout as he was, he managed not to be insufferable and was well-liked by his peers. He was educated at the Jesuit College of Béziers.
In 1616, at the age of 19, he entered the Jesuit Novitiate in Toulouse and began to prepare for a priestly ministry that would save thousands of souls. He studied humanities, philosophy and then theology. After finishing his course in rhetoric at Cahors, Regis was sent to teach grammar at several colleges: Billom (1619–22), Puy-en-Velay (1625–27), and Auch (1627–28). While he was teaching, he also pursued his studies in philosophy at the scholasticate at Tournon. Noted for an intense love of preaching and teaching the Faith, as well as a great desire to save souls, John Francis began his study of theology at Toulouse in 1628. Less than two years later, in 1630, he was Ordained a Priest at 31. The following year, having completed his studies, John Francis made his tertianship.
He was now fully prepared for his vocation and life’s work and entered upon his apostolic career in the summer of 1631. He was a tireless worker who spent most of his life serving the marginalised. As a newly ordained Priest, he worked with bubonic plague victims in Toulouse. From May 1632 until September 1634, his headquarters was at the Jesuit College of Montpellier. Here he laboured for the conversion of the Huguenots, visited hospitals, assisted the poor and the needy, withdrew from vice wayward women and girls and preached Catholic doctrine with tireless zeal to children and the poor. John Francis is best known for his work with at-risk women and orphans. He established safe houses and found jobs for them. He established the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, which organised charitable collections of money and food from the wealthy. He also established several hostels for prostitutes and helped many become trained lace makers, which provided them with a stable income and an opportunity to avoid the threat of exploitation.
In 1633, he went to the Diocese of Viviers at the invitation of the local Bishop,, Monsignor Louis II de la Baume de Suze, giving missions throughout the Diocese. From 1633 to 1640 he evangelised more than fifty districts in le Vivarais, le Forez, and le Velay. John Francis laboured diligently on behalf of both Priests and laypersons. His preaching style was said to have been simple and direct. He appealed to the uneducated peasantry and immense numbers of conversions resulted.
Others it seems, were jealous of his success in reaping a harvest of conversions.His boldness – perceived as arrogance in some cases – led to a conflict with certain other Priests, a period of tension with the local Bishop and even threats of violence from those whose vices he condemned. Although he longed to devote himself to the conversion of the indigenous inhabitants of Canada, he remained in France all his not very long life. The influence of the best people on the one hand and on the other the patience and humility of the Saint, soon succeeded in confounding the calumny and caused the discreet and enlightened ardour of Father John Francis to shine forth with renewed splendour.
Less moderate indeed was his love of mortification, which he practiced with extreme rigour on all occasions, without ruffling, in the least, his evenness of temper. As he returned to the house one evening after a hard day’s toil, one of his confrères laughingly asked: “Well, Father Regis, speaking candidly, are you not very tired?”“No”, he replied, “I am as fresh as a rose.” He then took only a bowl of milk and a little fruit, which usually constituted both his dinner and supper and finally, after long hours of prayer, lay down on the floor of his room, the only bed he knew.
John Francis walked from town to town, in rough mountainous areas where travel was difficult, especially in the winter. On one particularly treacherous journey, Fr John Francis slipped and broke his leg. Leaning on his companion, he managed to make it to town, where he refused the help of the doctor in favour of spending a few hours in the Confessional. When he emerged several hours later, his badly broken leg had been healed.
In mid-December 1640 the Jesuit Missioner was giving a Mission at Montregard; – he interrupted his work there to return to his home at Le Puy because he had an intimation that he would soon die. He wanted to prepare for his death so he spent three days in retreat before making a general confession. Then he and his companion, Brother Claude Bideau, went back to Montregard to finish the Mission there.
Brother Claude Bideau with St John Francis
On 23 December the two set out for La Louvesc, the site of the next Mission but a winter storm blew in and they lost their way in the snow and had to spend the night in a battered shack. The next day they were able to reach La Louvesc where they found people waiting for them. Rather than taking a few minutes to eat and rest, John Francis immediately began preaching, then heard Confessions and celebrated Mass. So many people came for Confession that hedid not stop until it was time for Midnight Mass. Both Christmas day and the following day were also spent in the Confessional. Because of the crush of people, John Francis had to hear Confessions in the Sacristy where a broken window let in cold air directly onto him. By late afternoon he felt weak and suddenly collapsed. He was put in the Parish Priest’s bed but people followed him even there, seeking to confess. He lapsed into unconsciousness and the physician who attended him, confirmed that pneumonia had set in. Nothing could be done. John Francis lingered on until 31 December, praying constantly. He died as he had lived:,entirely poured out for souls.
But immediately after his death Regis was venerated as a saint. Pilgrims came in crowds to his tomb and since then, the concourse has only grown. Mention must be made of the fact that a visit made in 1804 to the blessed remains of the Apostle of Vivarais, was the beginning of the vocation of the Blessed Curé of Ars, Jean-Baptiste Vianney, whom the Church has raised in his turn to her altars.“Everything good that I have done”, he said when dying, “I owe to [John Francis] him.” The place where John Francis died has been transformed into a mortuary Chapel. Nearby is a spring of fresh water to which those who are devoted to Saint John Francis attribute miraculous cures through his intercession.
The fresh water spring in the village of La Louvesc, to which devotees of Saint John Francis Regis attribute miraculous cures through his intercession.
Today, Régis’ name lives on across the world. There are Churches, lakes, mountains, Schools. hotels, apartment complexes, swimming pools and Streets with his name. The Jesuit mission at Conewago, PA was named after him.
John Francis Régis was Beatified om 18 May 1716 by Pope Clement XI and Canonised on 5 April 1737 by Pope Clement XII.
Beata Vergine Addolorata / The Blessed Virgin of Sorrows, Campocavallo, Osimo, Ancona, Marche, Italy (1892) – 16 June, The first Sunday of August., 15 September (Feast o Our Lady of Sorrows), The last Sunday of September AND special Devotions thrughout May: 16 June
In the 1870s, a small country Chapel was built three miles from Osimo, a Town just inland from the Adriatic near the world-famous Shrine of Loreto. Don Giovanni Sorbellini, appointed in 1883 to say holy day Masses at the Campocavallo Chapel, hung in it an oleograph of the Pietà he had bought from a travelling salesman.
The Miraculous image is an oleograph, a particular type of print that imitates oil painting, measures 38cm x 52cm and portrays the Virgin holding the lifeless body of Jesus in her arms, just taken down from the Cross. On the ground some instruments of the passion are depicted and in the background the City of Jerusalem. Our Lady has her gaze turned to heaven in action, not of resigned pain, but of complete uniformity of her will to that of God.
On 16 June 1892, a few families who stayed to pray after Mass saw the eyes of the Sorrowful Virgin move and blink and tears dropped onto her cheeks. Everyone then shouted: “Our Lady is crying!”. News of theMiracle travelled rapidly and widely.
On 7 July a blind woman regained her sight whilst at prayer before the image. The same year, Don Sorbellini began building the present magnificent Sanctuary, consecrated in 1905. For at least 10 years, in truth, there are many miracles and testimonies of those who saw the movement and tears and even today!
It’s the focus of the Festa del Covo, a Nativity-themed harvest festival the first Sunday of August, and the Festa dell’Addolorata the third Sunday of September, the date of the Consecration of the Church and Crowning of Mary. The Feast of the first Miracle is celebrated today, 16 June and of course, the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows is celebrated o 15 September.
St Actinea of Volterra St Aitheachan of Colpe St Amandus of Beaumont Bl Antoine Auriel St Aurelian of Arles St Aureus of Mainz
St Berthaldus St Ceccardus of Luni St Cettin of Oran St Colman McRhoi St Crescentius of Antioch St Cunigunde of Rapperswil St Curig of Wales St Cyriacus of Iconium
Blessed Donizetti Tavares de Lima (1882-1961) Priest, Apostle of the poor, the elderly and the sick, miracle-worker, known to bilocate. A prophecy related to Vatican II: “No, no, Archbishop! We won’t see this disgrace (prophesying that they both would die soon) but it will come! This was not just a dream, nor a nightmare! The darkness will fall over this world! I beg you: don’t let them destroy the Altars!” An amazing life: https://anastpaul.com/2020/06/16/saint-of-the-day-16-june-blessed-donizetti-tavares-de-lima-1882-1961/
St Elidan St Felix of San Felice St Ferreolus of Besançon St Ferrutio of Besançon Bl Gaspare Burgherre St Graecina of Volterra St Ismael of Wales St John Francis Régis SJ (1597-1640) Priest, Confessor
St Maurus of San Felice St Palerio of Telese St Similian of Nantes Bl Thomas Redyng St Tycho of Amathus — Martyrs of Africa: A group of five Christians martyred together. We know nothing else but the names – Cyriacus, Diogenes, Marcia, Mica, Valeria. They were martyred in an unknown location in Africa, date unknown.
Martyrs of Làng Cóc: A group of five Christian laymen, four farmers and a doctor, from the same village in the apostolic vicariate of Central Tonkin (in modern Vietnam). During the persecutions of emperor Tu Duc, they were each ordered to stomp on a cross to show their contempt for Christianity; they each refused. Imprisoned, tortured and martyred. • Anrê Tuong • Ðaminh Nguyen • Ðaminh Nguyen Ðuc Mao • Ðaminh Nhi • Vinh Son Tuong The were beheaded on 16 June 1862 in Làng Cóc, Nam Ðinh, Vietnam and canonised on 19 June 1988 by St Pope John Paul II.
Saint of the Day – 15 June – Blessed Pietro Nolasco Perra OdeM (1574-1606) Priest of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy (the Mercedarian Friars), Missionary. Born in Gergei, Sardinia, Sicily in 1574 as Pietro Giovanni Perra and died in Valencia, Spain on 15 June 1606 of natural causes aged 32.
The Order of Mercedaries was founded in Spain by St Peter Nolasco (1180-1245), with the main purpose of the ‘redemption’ of the Christians enslaved by the Arab Moors and brought to the Muslim countries of North Africa. After the era of Arab domination, the Order continued its apostolic work and evangelisation, spreading to all the countriess of Europe, but also to America (with Christopher Columbus there were also some Mercedarian Chaplains); -by now the ‘redemption’ was intended, above all, as liberation from the sin of the misled souls. As for Italy, the first Convent was founded in Cagliari in Sardinia, at that time subject to the Aragonese dominion and it was King Alfonso IV of Aragon in 1335 who made it a gift to the Order. Then in 1442 Naples followed and in 1463 Palermo and little by little foundations followed in other cities of Italy, including, in 1569 that of St Rufina in Rome, followed by the convent of St Adrian. And from the ancient Convent of the Blessed Virgin Mother of Bonaria in Cagliari, the Order received the gift of a holy figure of a Mercedarian Friar, Pietro Nolasco Perra.
He was sent to Valencia to continue his studies and in this City in 1603, he was Ordained a Priest. Documents of the time attest his presence in Valencia on 6 July 1604 and in the following years, in the Chapter meetings for the admission of other religious to the Order.
He was an example of the interior life, of obedience and humility in brotherly love. During the celebration of his Mass, the faithful who participated, were moved by the great devotion with which he prayed. He had words of comfort and encouragement for anyone who approached him, especially during Confession.
He died in Valencia at the age of only 32, on 15 June 1606, leaving behind the fame of a saint;. One of his companions, Fra ‘Machin, an eminent scholar, narrated that Fra’ Pietro Nolasco Perra on the verge of death, asked his superiors to command him to die, so that his death would be the daughter of obedience and thus have greater merits before God. Two years after his departure, collections of documentation and testimonies of those who had known him were opened, by order of the Archbishop of Cagliari, Msgr. Francesco Desquivel.
Two years after his death, the Archbishop of Cagliari, Francisco Desquivel began to collect information in order to start the Beatification process – from these data it is clear, that even in his native country, in contact with objects that belonged to him, there were numerous and miraculous occurences. The process of Beatification was thus initiated.
In 1652 a delegation was sent to Valencia to obtain some relics of “santu Impera” (Sician dialect) – fragments of his clothes and an arm were thus brought to the island. At the same time, a Church began to be built in his hometown, so that, as soon as Pietro Nolasco Perra was declared a saint, the saint and his relics could be publicly venerated in a suitable place. However, at the beginning of the 18th century, the Beatification process ran aground due to the mysterious disappearance of the file and, for the same reason, has not resumed.
The search for that dossier is currently underway, also because the Sardinian Catholic world, led by Bishop Antioco Piseddu , is asking for the investigation to be reopened. According to some sources, Pietro is currently only a Servant of God and Venerable but he is remembered by the Mercedarian Order as Blessed and celebrates him today.
Our Lady of the Taper of Cardigan (1100s)– 15 June:
During the middle ages there was a notable pilgrimage in honour of Our Lady in Cardigan. A beautiful legend describes how a Statue of Mary was found by the side of the river Teifi, “and her sonne upon her lappe and the taper bernynge in her hande.” It was taken to the Parish Church but would not remain there, returning three or four times to “the place where now is buyIded the Church of our Lady,” the present St.Mary’s Church. A chantry Priest sang Mass daily in honour of Our Lady for pilgrims who came to pray and leave gifts. They lodged with the Knights Hospitallers of S. John, where the Angel Hotel now stands.
St Mary’s dates from 1158, built to hold the Statue. It resembles an earlier Shrine in the city of Arras, which was then in Flanders. Did Flemish merchants, who settled in Cardigan and traded in Welsh wool out of the port, bring the Statue back with them?
Devotion to Mary was once universal in Wales. Many places are called Llanfair or Capel Mair (Mary’s Church, Chapel) and dozens of flowers and plants bear her name. No girl was given the name Mair (Mary), as it was reserved for Our Lady.
We do not know how the devotion transferred to Barcelona and Cagliari. In the 1320’s and 1330’s Catalonian sailors had thronged British waters. Did they come to Cardigan, see the Shrine and copy it? In 1904 Breton Monks, in exile near Cardigan, revived the devotion, giving the title Our Lady of Cardigan to their Abbey Church and also to the little Church they opened in Town in 1912. They left in 1916 and another generation passed before the name was heard again.
In 1952 Martin Gillett, who later was to found the Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary, told Bishop Petit that Cardigan had once possessed a famous Shrine. The Bishop instantly decided to restore it. In 1956 a new Statue was blessed by Cardinal Griffin in Westminster Cathedral and then taken to every Parish in the Diocese of Menevia before arriving in Cardigan. On 27 May 1956, a great concourse from all parts of Britain bore it to the little Church of Our Lady of Sorrows. On 23 July 1970 Bishops Petit and Fox consecrated the new church of Our Lady of the Taper, named after the Shrine. Three days later pilgrims transferred the Statue there.
The original Statue was taken to London and destroyed at Chelsea in 1538 along with other Marian images on the orders of Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, Chief Minister of King Henry VIII. Mother Concordia, OSB, was asked to make another in bronze. Designated as a Welsh National Shrine of Our Lady, it was blessed in Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral and brought all over Wales before, on Pentecost Sunday, 18 May 1986, it was solemnly installed in the presence of 4,500 pilgrims. Its beauty catches the imagination and arouses devotion. Pope John Paul II wrote a special message for the occasion, and a taper he blessed in Rome was placed in the hand of the statue and lit.
Its symbolism is that Mary presents her Son to us, as she did to the Wise Men, to be adored. The taper testifies that He is Light of the World. Pilgrims come to pray individually and in groups. May they learn to treasure the word of God in their hearts, as Mary did, and live by the light of her Son, who is her Saviour and ours.
St Abraham of Saint-Cyriacus St Achaicus of Corinth St Barbara Cui Lianshi St Benildis of Córdoba
St Bernard of Montjoux/Menthon CRSA (c 1020-1081) “Apostle of the Alps” Priest, Founder of a patrol that cleared robbers from the mountains and he established hospices for travellers and pilgrims. The large dogs, trained to search for lost victims in the mountains, are named for him. Patronages – Alpinists, Alps (proclaimed by Pope Pius XI on 20 August 1923), Campiglia Cervo, Italy, mountain climbers (proclaimed by Pope Pius XI on 20 August 1923), mountaineers, skiers, travellers in the mountains (proclaimed by Pope Pius XI on 20 August 1923). Biography: https://anastpaul.com/2018/06/15/saint-of-the-day-15-june-st-bernard-of-menthon-c-r-s-a-c-1020-1081-apostle-of-the-alps/
St Constantine of Beauvais St Domitian of Lobbes St Edburgh of Winchester St Eigil St Eutropia of Palmyra St Fortunatus of Corinth
St Hadelinus of Lobbes St Hesychius of Durostorum St Hilarion of Espalion Bl Juan Rodriguez St Julius of Durostorum St Landelin of Crespin St Leonides of Palmyra St Libya of Palmyra St Lotharius of Séez St Melan of Viviers St Orsisius Bl Pedro da Teruel Bl Peter Snow St Pierre de Cervis Blessed Pietro Nolasco Perra OdeM (1574-1606) Bl Ralph Grimston St Tatian of Cilicia Bl Thomas Scryven St Trillo of Wales St Vaughen of Ireland
St Vitus (c 290-c 303) – Martyr, One of the Seven Holy Helpers. Died aged 12-13 years of age. Patronages – against animal attacks, against dog bites, against epilepsy; epileptics, against lightning, against over-sleeping, against rheumatic chorea or Saint Vitus Dance, against snake bites, against storms, against wild beasts, of actors, comedians, dancers, dogs, Bohemia, Czech Republic, Serbia, 17 cities. His very short life: https://anastpaul.com/2017/06/15/saint-of-the-day-15-june-st-vitus/
St Vouga of Lesneven — Martyr of Lucania – 11 saints: Eleven Christians martyred together. We known nothing else about them but the names – Anteon, Candidus, Cantianilla, Cantianus, Chrysogonus, Jocundus, Nivitus, Protus, Quintianus, Silvius, Theodolus in Lucania (modern Basilicata), Italy, date unknown.
Saint of the Day – 14 June – St Marcian of Syracuse (Died c 68) Martyr, Bishop of Syracuse, Sicily, Italy, Disciple of and Consecrated by St Peter, Missionary, Evangelist. Born in the first century in Antioch and died in c 68 in Syracuse, Italy by murder. Patronages – Cities of Gaeta and Syracuse, Italy. Also known as Marcellus.
St Erasmus (Elmo) left and St Marcian on the right
The Roman Martyrology states of him today: “At Syracuse, St Marcian, Bishop, who was Consecrated Bishop by the blessed St Peter and killed by the Jews after he had preached the Gospel.”
Marcian is considered the first evangeliser of Christianity in that Italian City, where he arrived in the year 39, sent by Saint Peter, of whom he was a disciple. He is considered the first Bishop of Syracuse .
His preaching was completed with that of Saint Paul.
He made many conversions,for which he suffered persecution by the local Jewish community and in the year 68 he was Martyred.
The life of St Marcian
His body is venerated in the Cathedral of Gaeta, the City of which he is a Co-patron but the oldest representation is found in the Catacomb of Santa Lucia in Syracuse.
Notre-Dame de la Treille / Our Lady of the Trellis, Lille, Nord, Flandres, France, 1234 – 14 June:
Three series of miraculous events are associated with the Statue, occurring in 1234, from 1519 to 1527 and from 1634 to 1638. The miracle of 1234 was the healing of the 53 disabled patients who resorted to her intercession and were cured upon praying before the Statue of Our Lady of the Trellis, installed behind a latticework fence in St Peter’s Collegiate Church in Lille, France. The miracles in the 16th century were varied and included deliverance from demonic possession, hernias, blindness, paralysis and plague. In 1254, a Confraternity of Our Lady of the Treille was canonically established by Pope Alexander IV and since 1259, an annual procession in honour of Our Lady of the Treille was held – a practice which continued until the French Revolution and since then resumed and is continued today. In 1634, Jean Le Vasseur, Mayor of Lille, Consecrated the City to Our Lady of the Treille. In 1667, Louis XIV, who had just taken Flanders, took an oath to respect the freedoms of Lille before the Statue. A procession held annually on the second Sunday after Pentecost commemorates the miracles. Saved during the destruction of St Peter’s Church in the French Revolution, the Statue moved afterwards to St Catherine’s Church. Devotion to Our Lady of the Trellis revived in the mid-1800s and a grand neo-Gothic Church arose in her honour, where the Statue was installed in 1872 and canonically crowned in 1874. After the theft of the original in 1959, sculptor Marie Madeleine Weerts carved the image now displayed in Lille’s Catholic Cathedral, the Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Treille.
The statue is described by Father Charles Bernard, Parish Priest of the Church of St Catherine, as a sSatue of stone “a little more than two and a half feet high; she has a scepter in her right hand and from her left. she supports the Baby Jesus on her knees.” He mentions the trellis of gilded wood surrounding the Statue and its pedestal, and specifies that the old trellis made of gilded iron was lost in 1792 during the destruction of the Collegiate Church of St. Peter. He speculates that this trellis is what gave the Statue its name, although it is more likely that the name came from Treola, a place existing in the 9th century in what is now Lille.
St Anastasius of Córdoba St Burchard of Meissen St Caomhán of Inisheer St Castora Gabrielli St Cearan the Devout Bl Constance de Castro St Cyprien St Cyriacus of Zeganea St Davnet St Digna of Córdoba St Dogmael of Wales St Elgar of Bardsey
St Etherius of Vienne St Felix of Córdoba Bl Fortunatus of Napoli Bl Francisca de Paula de Jesus Isabel St Gerold of Evreux Bl Hartwig of Salzburg St Joseph the Hymnographer St Marcian of Syracuse (Died c 68) Bishop Martyr, Consecrated by St Peter St Mark of Lucera
St Nennus of Arran Bl Peter de Bustamante St Protus of Aquileia St Quintian St Richard of Saint Vannes St Rufinus of Soissons St Thecla St Theopista St Valerius of Soissons Bl Walter Eustace
AnaStpaul 
You must be logged in to post a comment.