Bl Laurentinus Sossius
St Maro of Rome
St Maximus of Persia
St Mundus
St Nidger of Augsburg
St Olympiades of Persia
St Ortario of Landelles St Paternus/Padarn of Wales (c 482-c 568)
St Pausilopo of Thrace St Ruadhan of Lorrha (died 584) About St Ruadhan: https://anastpaul.com/2019/04/15/saint-of-the-day-15-april-st-ruadan-died-584/
St Sylvester of Réome
St Theodore of Thrace
St Victorinus of Rome
St Waltmann of Cambrai
Mercedarian Martyrs of Africa: A group of Mercedarian monks sailing to Africa as on a mission to redeem capture Christians. Captured by Moors, they were tortured and executed for their faith. Martyrs. 1393
Saint of the Day – 14 April – St Benezet the Bridge Builder (c 1163-1184) Shepherd, Mystic, miracle-worker, Founder of the Fratres Pontifices – the Bridge-Building Brotherhood. St Benezet is also known as Benezet of Hermillon, Benedict, Bennet, Benet, Benoit, Little Benedict the Bridge Builder. Born in c 1163 at Hermillon, Savoy, France and died in 1184. Patronages – Avignon, bachelors, bridge-builders and construction workers. His body is incorrupt.
St Benezet, also known as Little Benedict the Bridge Builder, was born somewhere in the countryside of eastern or northeastern France. As he grew up he tended his mother’s sheep. Though uneducated and unskilled, gentle Benedict was a quiet, devout youth, thoughtful of others.
One day in 1177, while the sun was in eclipse, Benezet heard a voice, he believed was Jesus, commanding him three times to go to Avignon, where the Rhone current was especially swift and to build a bridge there. He was also told that angels would watch over his flocks in his absence.
He obeyed the Divine order, without delay and reported immediately to the Bishop of Avignon. Naturally, the Bishop was hesitant about accepting the word of the frail teenager. But little Benezet lifted a massive stone to begin the work and announced that it would be the start of the foundation. This would become the Pont Saint-Bénézet. Thus he succeeded in convincing the Bishop that the construction of the bridge would be an act of true Christian charity. Permission was granted and the youth set about his task. According to the legend, there were shouts of “Miracle! Miracle!” when Bénézet had lifted and laid that first huge stone. Eighteen miracles occurred in total during the project – the blind had their vision restored, the deaf could hear again, cripples could walk and hunchbacks had their backs straightened.
For the next seven years Benedict worked hard on the project and around 1181 he won support for his project from wealthy sponsors who formed themselves into a Bridge Brotherhood to fund its construction. This was a religious association active during the 12th and 13th centuries and begun in Avignon but by it’s inspiration, it spread across Europe and whose purpose was building bridges, especially to assist pilgrims. It was customary for a bishop to grant indulgences to those who, by money or labour, contributed to the construction of a bridge. They also maintained and/or built hospices at the chief fords of the principal rivers, besides building bridges and looking after ferries. The Brotherhood consisted of three branches– knights, clergy and artisans, where the knights usually had contributed most of the funds and were sometimes called donati, the clergy were usually monks who represented the church and the artisans were the workers who actually built the bridges. Sisters are sometimes mentioned as belonging to the same association. In addition to the construction of bridges, the brotherhood often attended to the lodging and care of pilgrims and travellers and the collection of alms, in this area, the sisters were most active.
In 1184, sadly, young Benezet died, some four years before the great stone bridge at Avignon was completed. The wonders that occurred during the bridge’s erection and the miracles wrought at the Bridge Builder’s tomb convinced the people of Avignon that the young man was a Saint and he was referred to as such as early at 1237. They, therefore, built a Chapel on the “Bridge of St Benezet” to enshrine his relics . There the body was venerated until 1669, when floodwaters carried away a large segment of the bridge. His remains were rescued from the flood and on examination, were found to be incorrupt. Now they repose in the local church of St Didier.
Understandably, bridge builders adopted little Benedict as their Patron Saint. The remains of the bridge still remain a pilgrimage site. Below are artworks and images showing the bride through the ages. The last shows it as it is today, only about half is left and that half if filled with pilgrims.
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St Benezet’s bridge has another claim to fame – it achieved worldwide fame through its commemoration by the song “Sur le Pont d’Avignon” (“On the Bridge of Avignon”).
One can build in a figurative as well as a literal sense. Bishops, the pope in particular, are often called “pontiffs”, a title derived from the Latin word for “builder of bridges”. Building bridges between God and mankind is their special calling. Our Lord Himself was a “pontiff” in the sense that He made his Cross a bridge, on which souls could enter heaven. The beatitude “Blessed are the peacemakers” promises heaven to those who work for reconciliation, that is, “build bridges”.
Some persons labour to raise walls, or “iron curtains” to divide mankind. Others labour to tear down the walls that divide, straighten the paths that connect, bridge the crevices that separate people. Surely they come close to fulfilling the great commandment to love our neighbour as oneself. St Benezet was one such. He promoted the unity of God’s children. Little St Benezet, Pray for us!
Saint of the Day – 13 April – St Jose Sabás Reyes Salazar (1883-1927) Priest and Martyr of the Cristero War, Teacher, Catechist, Protector of children and the youth of Mexico, he had a special devotion to the Holy Trinity and the Souls in Purgatory – born on 5 December 1883 in Cocula, Jalisco, Mexico and died by being shot at 9pm on 13 April 1927 in a cemetery outside Tototlan, Jalisco, Mexico.He was 44 years old.
He was born in Cocula, Jalisco, the son of Norberto Reyes López and Francisca Salazar Castillo. He was Baptised on 8 December. Due to the poverty of the time, his family was moved to Guadalajara for work prospects, where he had an extremely poor childhood. To mitigate hunger and poverty, he was a newspaper seller and was unable to complete primary school.
He entered the Conciliar Seminary of Guadalajara, where according to the criteria of the time, his lack of education disqualified him to become a clergyman for Guadalajara Diocese, however, taking into account his noble and devout nature, the superiors themselves, recommended that he join a diocese in need. St Sabás was humble and constant in his vocation and was received in the Diocese of Tamaulipas, where he was Ordained to the sacred orders, on 24 December 1911. He celebrated his first Mass in Guadalajara in 1912 in the company of his family and friends.
For two years he exercised the priestly ministry in Tantoyuca, Veracruz. In 1914 religious persecution was unleashed in the State of Tamaulipas, Father Sabás asked permission to move to the diocese of Guadalajara.
In the year 1919 he went to the parish of Tototlán, Jalisco, to collaborate with the priest Francisco Vizcarra Ruiz, first as chaplain of the San Antonio de Gómez farm and sanctuary and later in 1921, he was transferred to the main Parish Church.
When the worship had to be suspended in the Churches of the Republic, the Parish Priest of Tototlán left the town and Father Sabás was left in charge, administering the sacraments. Father Sabás then gave the orphaned children asylum in his own home.
When the federal troops arrived, they murdered the innocent and desecrated the closed Church by using it as stables and destroying all the holy images, then they set it on fire. When the soldiers left, Father Sabás and the faithful came to extinguish the flames. His parishioners begged him to leave the area but he said: “My superiors sent me here and my parish priest entrusted me with the care of the parish. If it is God’s will, I will gladly accept martyrdom”
At Easter in 1927, warned that the federal troops would attack Tototlán, he went into hiding at the home of Mrs María Ontiveros, along with three companions – the young José Beltrán and the orphan children Octavio Cárdenas and Salvador Botello From that moment until his capture, he kept praying the rosary and although, when the soldiers reached his hiding place, the owner of the house denied that he was there, to protect her, her family and the orphans, Father Sabás came out from his hiding and said: “Here I am, what is do you wish with me? “ In response, they tied his arms tightly and dragged him away.
He was dragged to the parish church, which was now a stable and headquarters for federal soldiers and was tied to a column in the harsh rays of the sun. For several hours he was denied drinking water and finally, a woman was allowed to provide him with food. She asked the parishioners to pray to God for him. For three days through hunger and thirst and with unspeakable sadism they burned his hands because they were consecrated. On the night of 12 April, tied by the hands and tied to the neck by a rope he was taken before the General who interrogated him, seeking the whereabouts of other priests. To continue tormenting him, two bonfires were lit, one next to his face and another next to hiss feet. The latter, meanwhile, muttered over and over again: “Lord of Heaven, my Mother of Guadalupe, grant me strength.” The brutal torment lasted until the first hours of dawn. Occasionally, one of the soldiers would stab him with a burning stick and scoff: “You who say God comes down into your hands, let Him come down now to free you from mine.”
At dusk on Holy Wednesday, he was dragged to the cemetary where he was riddled with bullets. One of his executioners later commented: “I am very sorry to have killed that Father, he died unfairly. We had already given him three or four shots and he still got up and shouted “Viva Cristo Rey!” “Long live Christ the King !”
The next day, 14 April, at seven in the morning, two men who were going to prepare a grave for Don Aurelio de la Torre who was murdered for hiding Father José Dolores Guzmán, saw the body of Father Reyes which was lying outside the cemetery, already rigid, with four bullet wounds – two in the chest, one in the right arm and one in the forehead. The neck, ribs and ankles bore the marked signs of the ropes, his hands were burned and virtually all his bones were broken . They requested the necessary permission to bury him in Don Aurelio’s own grave.
They placed the body in a box and buried it on Maundy Thursday afternoon. Later, his remains were transferred to the parish church of San Agustín, in Tototlán. All the people considered Father Sabás Reyes Salazar as a martyr of Jesus Christ and as such, venerated his relics.
The process and cause for his Canonisation along with other priests and laymen murdered during that period began in 1954. The Decree recognising his martyrdom and that of his fellow martyrs was promulgated on 7 March 1992. He was Beatified on 22 November 1992 in Rome and Canonised on 21 May 2000, the Jubilee Holy Year, by St John Paul II.
People who knew him and dealt with him during the interrogations of the Cause of Canonisation, related that he was simple, humble and selfless in his care of others.
Saint Sabás Reyes, you dedicated your life to teaching and educating children, assisting your parishioners and spilling your Blood for Christ the King, pray for us!
St Ursus of Ravenna
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Martyrs of Dorostorum – 3 saints: A lector and two students martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian – Dadas, Maximus and Quinctillianus. Beheaded c303 in Dorostorum, Lower Mysia (modern Sillistria, Bulgaria.
Saint of the Day – 12 April – Saint David Uribe Velasco (1889-1927) Priest and Martyr of the Cristero War – born on 29 December 1888 at Buenavista de Cuellar, Guerrero, Mexico and died by being shot in the back of the neck on 12 April 1927 near San Jose Videl, Morelia, Mexico.
He was born in Buenavista de Cuéllar, (Diocese of Chilapa), on 29 December 1889 as the son of Juan Uribe and Victoria Velasco, a humble couple of few material resources but of many exemlary virtues. He was the seventh of eleven children.
In 1903 he began his ecclesiastical preparation at the Seminary of Chilapa and was Ordained as a Priest on 2 March 1913. After his Ordination he left for his hometown and there he celebrated his first Holy Mass on 12 March 1913. A while later he became the personal secretary to His Excellency, Antonio Hernandez Rodriguez, the Bishop of Tabasco.
After the persecution of the Church was unleashed and his Bishop was exiled, he became the Parish Priest of Iguala, Gro. (Diocese of Chilapa), where he exercised his ministry with exemplary pastoral zeal and prudence, especially in a region which was suffering under the virulent attacks by Freemasonry, Protestantism and a group of schismatics.
Fr David had a great and profound love for the Holy Eucharist and the Virgin of Guadalupe – in his sermons he continually extolled the necessity of constantly crying out for the protection of the Mexican people.
On 7 April 1927, the soldier who arrested him proposed all kinds of guarantees and freedom if he accepted the laws including being made a bishop of the schismatic Church created by the Government of the Republic but Father David reaffirmed what he had written a month earlier and which reveals all the strength of his faith and his fidelity –
“If I was anointed with the holy oil that makes me a minister of the Most High, why not be anointed with my blood in defence of souls redeemed with the blood of Christ? What happiness to die defending the rights of God! I would die rather than ignore the Vicar of Christ!”
Already, whilst he was in prison he wrote his last words:
“I declare that I am innocent of the crimes that I am accused of. I am in the hands of God and the Virgin of Guadalupe. I ask God for forgiveness and I forgive my enemies; I apologise to those who I might have offended.”
The last Will and Testament of St David
He was taken to a place near the San José Vistahermosa station, called Morelos (Diocese of Cuernavaca). As he exited the car, he fell on his knees and from the depths of his soul he begged God for the forgiveness of his sins and for the salvation of Mexico and it’s Church. He got up slowly and addressing the soldiers with a fatherly tone, said to them:
“Brothers, kneel down so that I may bless you. With all my heart I forgive you and I only ask that you pray to God for my soul. As for me, I will not forget you when I am before Him.”
He firmly raised his right hand and in the air, traced the Sign of the Cross. He then divided his possessions between the soldiers, his watch, his Crucifix, his Rosary.
He was then sacrificed with a shot to the neck on 12 April 1927. … Vatican.va
His relics rest in the Church of St Anthony of Padua in his native town of Buenavista de Cuellar.
A Shrine and Chapel dedicated to St David resides in the Church of St Francis of Assisi in Iguala.
Saint David was Beatified on 22 November 1992 and Canonised on 21 May 2000 by St Pope John Paul II .
Saint of the Day – 11 April – Saint Barsanuphius the Hermit (Died c 563) Hermit, Spiritual guide gifted with the charism of Prophecy, miracle-worker – also known as St Barsanuphius of Gaza, of Palestine and of Oria and Barsanofio (Italian). Patronage – Oria, City and Diocese.
Saint Barsanuphius was born in Egypt (the year of his birth is unknown). From his youth, he began to lead an ascetic life. Later he built a cell near the monastery of Saint Seridon of Gaza in Palestine. Locked in his cell, the ascetic led a life of silence. He lived in absolute seclusion for fifty years. ‘United to all and separated from all’. St Barsanuphius devoted himself entirely to prayer and he attained a high degree of spiritual perfection.
After spending a long time in seclusion, Saint Barsanuphius, thereafter and until the death of Saint John the Prophet, began to serve others by instructing them on the path to salvation, as St Dorotheus testifies. Saint Barsanuphius replied to those seeking his spiritual direction through Saint John, sometimes instructing him to give the answers.
It is these letters, of varying length, that constitute the “Correspondence” of Barsanuphius, published with that of St John the Prophet in a Collection . The more than 800 documents preserved, contain, in addition to their spiritual interest, a wealth of information on the situation of the Palestine Church in the sixth century and on the relations of Abbot Seridos’ monastery with the outside world.
The precepts of Saints Barsanuphius and John clearly show the degree of their moral perfection and their love for people but contain scant facts about their lives. Saint Barsanuphius survived his disciple and friend but after St John’s death, embraced complete silence and refused to give answers to anyone. We do not know exactly when Saint Barsanuphius died, some sources say around 563.
His relics arrived in Oria, in Italy, with a Palestinian monk in 850 and were placed in the present-day church of San Francesco da Paola by Bishop Theodosius. During a Moorish siege and taking of the city, the relics were lost but then later rediscovered and placed in the city’s Cathedral Basilica where his feast is celebrated with great devotion, on 20 February each year. The Statue above is in the Basilica and the one at the end is also somewhere in Oria – see the note from the local news there: “Oria: everything is ready for the Feast of the Patron Saint San Barsanofio – At the end of the Mass, after the ritual of the symbolic handover of the keys by the Mayor of Oria to the Statue of San Barsanofio, … a procession will proceed through the City with a stop at the Church of San Francesco di Paola and the crypt of San Barsanofio…”
At Oria he is considered to have saved the city from destruction wrought by foreign invaders. A legend states that he repelled a Spanish invasion by appearing before the Spanish commander armed with a sword. During World War II, he is said to have spread his blue cape across the sky, thus causing a rainstorm and preventing an air bombing by Allied Forces.
From the tenth century onwards, his cult is attested to in Constantinople, where his memory is celebrated in August.
On Holy Saturday the Church waits at the Lord’s tomb, meditating on His suffering and death.
The altar is left bare and the sacrifice of the Mass is not celebrated.
Only after the solemn vigil during the night, held in anticipation of the Resurrection, does the Easter celebration begin, with a spirit of joy that overflows into the following period of fifty days.
St Hildebrand of Saint-Gilles
St Isaac of Monteluco
Bl James of Africa
Bl John of Cupramontana
Bl Lanunio
St Machai
St Maedhog of Clonmore
Bl Mechthild of Lappion
Bl Paul of Africa
St Philip of Gortyna
St Raynerius Inclusus
St Sancha of Portugal
St Stephen of Saint-Gilles
Bl Symforian Ducki
Saint of the Day – 10 April – St Miguel de Sanctis O.SS.T (1591-1625) Priest of the Order of the Most Holy Trinity and of the Captives also known as the Trinitarian Order or the Trinitarians, Mystic, Penitent, Ecstatic, Apostle of prayer, mortification, of the poor and the sick, he had a special devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and would fall into ecstatic prayer during the Consecration at Holy Mass, so much so, that he became known as “El Extático”, “The Ecstatic.”
Born as Miguel Argemir on 29 September 1591 at Vich, Catalonia, Spain and died on 10 April 1625 at Valladolid, Spain of natural causes, aged 33. He is also known as Michael of the Saints. Patronages – Cancer patients, Vich – his hometown. His brief life of thirty three years was one of great love for Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. His generous service to the poor, the unfortunate and the sick made him a compassionate Priest and a faithful friend.
At the age of six, he announced to his parents that he would become a monk when he grew up. His mother told him about the great St Francis and Michael went about imitating the man from Assisi. He was so zealous in his imitation of Francis that his parents had to prevent him from doing too much for his young age . Still, his enthusiasm for a life of prayer and poverty and holiness endured.
His parents died while he was still young and he was apprenticed to a merchant. He did his work well and whenever he had free time, he gave it to prayerful devotions. Then, at the age of twelve, he went to Madrid and asked to be received into the Monastery of the Trinitarians there. After his Novitiate in 1607, he took his vows at the Order’s Monastery of St Lambert, at Zaragoza when he took the name of Miguel de Sanctis.
After meeting a Discalced Trinitarian Priest, when he was just 17, he felt an overwhelming desire to become a Priest with their Order . He felt drawn to that Congregations more austere lifestyle and after much deliberation and with the permission of his superior, he entered the Congregation of the Discalced Trinitarians at Madrid. After being ordained a Priest, he was elected as Superior of the Monastery at Valladolid, for two tenures. He led the Monastery as Superior by example, living in holiness, often displaying heroic virtues of humility and prayer.
St Miguel died on 10 April 1625 at the age of 33. Miracles were reported through his intercession both before and after his death. He was Beatified by Pope Pius VI on 24 May 1779.
After eleven days of prayer, Frances Sanz was cured through his intercession. The cancerous tumours on her lip and tongue disappeared. No scars were left. Hers was one of many such cures and was presented as one of many miracles when Pope Pius IX Canonised Miguel on 8 June 1862. The feast of St Miguel de Sanctis is celebrated on 8 June in the Trinatarian Order and today, 10 April, with great joy in his hometown of Vich.
The Municipality of Saint-Michel-des-Saints, Quebec, Canada, is named in his honour.
St Michael de Sanctis,18th century Statue in the Church of Vich
Bl Antonio Vallesio
St Apollonius of Alexandria
Bl Archangelus Piacentini
St Bademus
St Bede the Younger
St Beocca of Chertsey
Bl Boniface Zukowski
Bl Eberwin of Helfenstein
St Ethor of Chertsey
St Ezekiel the Prophet St Fulbert of Chartres (c 960-1029) Bishop About St Fulbert: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/04/10/saint-of-the-day-10-april-st-fulbert-of-chartres/
St Malchus of Waterford
Bl Marco Mattia
Bl Mark Fantucci St Miguel de Sanctis O.SS.T (1591-1625)
St Palladius of Auxerre
St Paternus the Scot
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Martyrs of Carthage – 50 saints: A group of 50 Christians who were imprisoned in a pen of snakes and scorpions, and then martyred, all during the persecutions of Decius. Only six of their names have come down to us – Africanus, Alessandro, Massimo, Pompeius, Terence and Teodoro. Beheaded in 250 at Carthage.
Martyrs of Georgia: Approximately 6,000 Christian monks and lay people martyred in Georgia in 1616 for their faith by a Muslim army led by Shah Abbas I of Persia.
Martyrs of Ostia: A group of criminals who were brought to the faith by Pope Saint Alexander I while he was in prison with them. Drowned by being taken off shore from Ostia, Italy, in a boat which was then scuttled, c 115.
Saint of the Day – 9 April – Blessed Celestyna Faron IHM (1913 – 1942) Virgin Martyr, Religious Sister of the Congregation of the Sisters Servants of the Immaculate Conception, Teacher, Catechist – Born as Katarzyna Stanisława Faron on 24 April 1913 in Zabrzez, Malopolskie, Poland and died on Easter morning, 9 April 1944 in Auschwitz concentration camp, Oswiecim, Malopolskie, Nazi-occupied Poland. Patronage – Podhale, Poland.
Katarzyna Faron’s early life was filled with sadness and loss as she lost her mother, Maria (née Madoń) when she was five. Her father, Jozef, sent her to childless relatives living in the town of Kamienica to be educated. The new carers loved her like their own child and, like her parents, taught to love God and all his children … As a teenage girl she developed a vocation to the religious life.
It was in 1930 that she entered the Congregation of the Sister Servants of Mary Immaculate, taking the Name Sr Celestyna Faron and made her final profession eight years later. She was encouraged to train as a teacher and developed a particular love for the younger children. Because of her own difficult and traumatic experiences in early life, Katarzyna cared greatly for those who had lost her parents. During the occupation of Poland she was the local superior of a religious house and oversaw the running of an orphanage.
As with Blessed Bronislaw Koskowski (the Founder of her Order), the Gestapo arrived one day and searched the orphanage. Katarzyna was arrested and charged with conspiracy. After imprisonment in two camps she was transported to Auschwitz where she received camp number 27989, with which she was tattooed, using a metal stamp dipped in ink, into which interchangeable plates with needles were inserted, forming separate numbers. She also received a camp outfit – called a striped uniform – with a red triangle sewn in, with the letter ” P ” ( Ger. ” polnisch ‘) to designate a political prisoner, a Pole …
The Germans drove her to work immediately – she was digging in trenches, standing – almost always hungry, cold – ankle-deep in icy water …. Weakened by this physical labour, she developed tuberculosis and typhoid.
Already in April 1943, with typhus, dulled hearing and pressure sores, the opened wound of a previous appendectomy operation, Sr Celestyna was moved to block 24 – the so-called ” Camp hospita, ” a separate barrack, where the sick were detained, without providing them with medical assistance (although doctors-prisoners did what they could). Terrible hygiene conditions ( fleas , bed bugs , rat plague), hunger, fever, lack of water caused additional pain. Despite this, she modestly shared the contents of the parcels received from the superiors of the Congregation with her companions. Before Christmas 1943, on the patronal feast of the Congregation, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Sr Celestyna received her last Communion. – smuggled in by one of the priests who came with the transport of prisoners to Auschwitz …
Only prayer remained. She prayed intensely for various intentions on her inseparable rosary made of bread. The Germans could not take away the internal badges of belonging to the Church and the Congregation …
Despite suffering and pain, she did not complain about her fate. She was at peace with everything that happened to her. Co-sister and fellow prisoner, Sister Cyprian Michalina Babiak (born in 1907, Brandwica), camp number 50184, recalled: “Although she wanted the end of the war and freedom, she never showed regret that she got there.” She said: ” Jesus sent us here to compensate for the sins of the whole world .” “We prayed for our homeland, for our monastery, for priests, for the conversion of sinners, for persecutors – also for Hitler – for his repentance “…
Another fellow inmate, a teacher from Kielce, Janina Komenda (1889, Kazan – 1968) , camp number: 27233, author of memories from Auschwitz: ” Lager Brzezinka “ last published in 1986, testified: ” Sr Celestyna was the epitome of gentleness, patience and kindness, extremely … (unknown word) content with everything that happened to her. Despite great suffering, she even managed to humour and cheerfulness. Initially unknown to anyone, she soon became widely liked. […] Despite her state of health, she was constantly interested in her surroundings, coming to the aid of those in need of food or words of encouragement . “
She did not leave the Camp Hospital until her death on Easter Sunday in 1944. Her fellow inmates, dressed Sr Celestyna in a white silk shirt and covered her with a sheet. A rosary and a cross were placed next to it and two candles obtained from somewhere were lit. Because the Germans took a break – in connection with Easter – the body of Sr Celestyna stayed in the barrack. The prisoners prayed alongside her corpse all day. Even prisoners from other blocks gathered there, taking advantage of the absence of the Germans … Already then, her fellow inmates called her, this ordinary Polish handmaid, this little immaculate lamb: ” Saint Sister “ …
Blessed Celestyna provides a wonderful model for those who have experienced a traumatic childhood. Despite a difficult start in life she achieved a great deal and cared for the most vulnerable. Her invincible faith brought her through her early life and sustained her throughout her final suffering.
Sister Celestyna Faron was Beatified by St Pope John Paul II in Warsaw on 13 June 1999 in the group of 108 Polish martyrs who are celebrated on 12 June.
Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of courage and perseverance in love which You granted to Blessed Katherine Celestyna, who amidst tortures, hunger and debasement in the concentration camp, persevered under the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, remaining faithful to the Christian and religious vocation unto martyrdom.
Through her intercession, grant me the grace of ………..… which I humbly implore, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
St Acacius of Amida
St Aedesius of Alexandria Bl Antony of Pavoni OP (1326-1374) Priest and Martyr Biography: https://wordpress.com/post/anastpaul.wordpress.com/9688
St Brogan
St Casilda of Toledo
St Concessus the Martyr
St Demetrius the Martyr
St Dotto
St Eupsychius of Cappadocia
St Gaucherius
St Hedda the Abbot
St Heliodorus of Mesopotamia
St Hilary the Martyr
St Hugh of Rouen
Bl James of Padua
Bl John of Vespignano Blessed Celestyna (Katarzyna) Faron IHM (1913 – 1942) Virgin Martyr (Today’s Saint) St Liborius of Le Mans (early 4th century – 397) St Liborius’ story: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/04/09/saint-of-the-day-9-april-st-liborius-of-le-mans-early-4th-century-397/
St Madrun of Wales
St Marcellus of Die
Bl Marguerite Rutan
St Maximus of Alexandria
Bl Pierre Camino
St Prochorus Bl Thomas of Tolentino OFM (c 1255–1321) Martyr Blessed Thomas’ Life:
Bl Ubaldo Adimari
St Waltrude of Mons
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Martyrs of Croyland – 9 saints: A group of Benedictine monks martyred by pagan Danes – Agamund, Askega, Egdred, Elfgete, Grimkeld, Sabinus, Swethin, Theodore and Ulric. Croyland Abbey, England.
Martyrs of Masyla: Massylitan Martyrs Group of Christians martyred in Masyla in northwest Africa.
Martyrs of Pannonia: Seven virgin-martyrs in Sirmium, Pannonia (modern Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia).
Martyrs of Thorney Abbey – 3+ saints: A group of Hermits, hermitesses and monks who lived in or around Thorney Abbey who were martyred together during raids by pagan Danes. We know little more than the names of three – Tancred, Torthred and Tova. 869 by raiders at Thorney Abbey, Cambridgeshire, England.
Saint of the Day – 4 April – St Isidore of Seville (c 560-636) Father & Doctor of the Church, Creator of the first encyclopedia – often called “The Last Scholar of the Ancient World” and “The Schoolmaster of the Middle Ages.” His most well known Patronage is of Computers and the Internet (although not officially so_ – his full story with Patronages is here: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/04/04/saint-of-the-day-4-april-st-isidore-of-seville-father-and-doctor-of-the-church/ but today we will follow his life with Pope Benedict XVI during his Catechetical audiences on the Doctors of the Church. This was given at St Peter’s on Wednesday, 18 June 2008.
He was a younger brother of St Leander (c 534-c 600) memorial 13 March, Archbishop of Seville and a great friend of St Pope Gregory the Great. Pointing this out is important, because it enables us, to bear in mind, a cultural and spiritual approach, that is indispensable for understanding Isidore’s personality. Indeed, he owed much to Leander, an exacting, studious and austere person who created around his younger brother a family context, marked by the ascetic requirements proper to a monk and from the work pace demanded, by a serious dedication to study. Furthermore, Leander was concerned to have the wherewithal to confront the political and social situation of that time – in those decades in fact, the Visigoths, barbarians and Arians, had invaded the Iberian Peninsula and taken possession of territories that belonged to the Roman Empire. It was essential to regain them for the Roman world and for Catholicism. Leander and Isidore’s home was furnished with a library richly endowed with classical, pagan and Christian works. Isidore, who felt simultaneously attracted to both, was, therefore, taught under the responsibility of his elder brother, to develop a very strong discipline, in devoting himself to study with discretion and discernment.
Thus, a calm and open atmosphere prevailed in the episcopal residence in Seville. We can deduce this from Isidore’s cultural and spiritual interests, as they emerge from his works themselves, which include an encyclopaedic knowledge of pagan classical culture and a thorough knowledge of Christian culture. This explains the eclecticism characteristic of Isidore’s literary opus, who glided with the greatest of ease from Martial to Augustine, or from Cicero to Gregory the Great. The inner strife that the young Isidore had to contend with, having succeeded his brother Leander on the episcopal throne of Seville in 599, was by no means unimportant. The impression of excessive voluntarism that strikes one, on reading the works of this great author, considered to be the last of the Christian Fathers of antiquity, may, perhaps, actually be due to this constant struggle with himself. A few years after his death in 636, the Council of Toledo in 653 described him as “an illustrious teacher of our time and the glory of the Catholic Church.”
Isidore was, without a doubt, a man of accentuated dialectic antitheses. Moreover, he experienced a permanent inner conflict in his personal life, similar to that which Gregory the Great and St Augustine had experienced earlier, between a desire for solitud, to dedicate himself solely to meditation on the word of God and, the demands of charity to his brethren, for whose salvation, as Bishop, he felt responsible. He wrote, for example, with regard to Church leaders: “The man responsible for a Church (vir ecclesiasticus) must on the one hand allow himself to be crucified to the world, with the mortification of his flesh and, on the other, accept the decision of the ecclesiastical order – when it comes from God’s will – to devote himself humbly to government, even if he does not wish to”(Sententiarum liber III, 33, 1: PL 83, col 705 B). Just a paragraph later he adds: “Men of God, (sancti viri), do not in fact desire to dedicate themselves to things of the world and groan when by some mysterious design of God they are charged with certain responsibilities…. They do their utmost to avoid them bu,t accept what they would like to shun and do what they would have preferred to avoid. Indeed, they enter into the secrecy of the heart and seek there to understand what God’s mysterious will is asking of them. And when they realise that they must submit to God’s plans, they bend their hearts to the yoke of the divine decision” (Sententiarum liber III, 33, 3: PL 83, coll. 705-706).
To understand Isidore better, it is first of all, necessary, to recall the complexity of the political situations in his time to which I have already referred – during the years of his boyhood he was obliged to experience the bitterness of exile. He was, nevertheless, pervaded with apostolic enthusiasm. He experienced the rapture of contributing to the formation of a people, that was at last, rediscovering its unity, both political and religious, with the providential conversion of Hermenegild, the heir to the Visigoth throne, from Arianism to the Catholic faith. Yet we must not underestimate the enormous difficulty of coming to grips with such very serious problems as were the relations with heretics and with the Jews. There was a whole series of problems which appear very concrete to us today too, especially if we consider what is happening in certain region, in which we seem almost to be witnessing the recurrence of situations, very similar to those, that existed on the Iberian Peninsular, in that sixth century. The wealth of cultural knowledge that Isidore had assimilated, enabled him to constantly compare the Christian newness with the Greco-Roman cultural heritage, however, rather than the precious gift of synthesis, it would seem that he possessed the gift of collatio, that is, of collecting, which he expressed in an extraordinary personal erudition, although it was not always ordered as might have been desired.
In any case, his nagging worry not to overlook anything, that human experience had produced, in the history of his homeland and of the whole world, is admirable. Isidore did not want to lose anything that man had acquired, in the epochs of antiquity, regardless of whether they had been pagan, Jewish or Christian. Hence, it should not come as a surprise if, in pursuing this goal, he did not always manage to filter the knowledge he possessed sufficiently, in the purifying waters of the Christian faith as he would have wished. The point is, however, that in Isidore’s intentions, the proposals he made, were always in tune with the Catholic faith, which he staunchly upheld. In the discussion of the various theological problems, he showed, that he perceived their complexity and often astutely suggested solutions, that summarise and express, the complete Christian truth. This has enabled believers through the ages and to our times, to profit, with gratitude, from his definitions. A significant example of this is offered by Isidore’s teaching on the relations between active and contemplative life. He wrote: “Those who seek to attain repose in contemplation must first train in the stadium of active life and then, free from the dross of sin, they will be able to display that pure heart which alone makes the vision of God possible”(Differentiarum Lib. II, 34, 133: PL 83, col 91A). Nonetheless, the realism of a true pastor, convinced him of the risk the faithful run, of reducing themselves to one dimension. He therefore added: “The middle way, consisting of both of these forms of life, normally turns out to be more useful in resolving those tensions, which are often aggravated, by the choice of a single way of life and are instead better tempered, by an alternation of the two forms” (op. cit. 134; ibid., col 91B).
Isidore sought in Christ’s example the definitive confirmation of a just orientation of life and said: “The Saviour Jesus offers us the example of active life, when during the day He devoted Himself to working signs and miracles in the town but, He showed the contemplative life, when He withdrew to the mountain and spent the night in prayer”(op. cit. 134: ibid.). In the light of this example of the divine Teacher, Isidore can conclude with this precise moral teaching: “Therefore let the servant of God, imitating Christ, dedicate himself to contemplation without denying himself active life. Behaving otherwise, would not be right. Indeed, just as we must love God in contemplation, so we must love our neighbour with action. It is therefore impossible to live without the presence of both the one and the other form of life, nor can we live without experiencing both the one and the other”(op. cit., 135; ibid. col 91C). I consider that this is the synthesis of a life that seeks contemplation of God, dialogue with God in prayer and in the reading of Sacred Scripture, as well as action at the service of the human community and of our neighbour. This synthesis, is the lesson that the great Bishop of Seville has bequeathed to us, Christians of today, called to witness to Christ at the beginning of a new millennium. Amen … Vatican.va
St Isidore at Seville CathedralSt Isidore on the Facade of Seville Cathedral
Prayer for the Intercession of St Isidore before accessing the Internet
Almighty and eternal God,
who created us in Thy image
and bade us to seek after all that is good,
true and beautiful,
especially in the divine person
of Thy only-begotten Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ,
grant we beseech Thee that,
through the intercession of Saint Isidore,
Bishop and Doctor,
during our journeys through the internet,
we will direct our hands and eyes
only to that which is pleasing to Thee
and treat with charity and patience,
all those souls whom we encounter.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen
Orátio ante colligatiónem in interrete:
*Omnípotens aetérne Deus,
qui secúndum imáginem Tuam nos plasmásti
et omnia bona, vera, et pulchra,
praesértim in divína persóna Unigéniti Fílii Tui
Dómini nostri Iesu Chrísti, quaérere iussísti,
praesta, quaésumus,
ut, per intercessiónem Sancti Isidóri, Epíscopi et Doctóris,
in peregrinatiónibus per interrete,
et manus oculísque ad quae Tibi sunt plácita intendámus
et omnes quos convenímus cum caritáte ac patiéntia accipiámus.
Per Christum Dóminum nostrum.
Amen
Quote of the Day – 3 April – The Memorial of St Richard of Chichester (1197-1253)
May I Love You More Dearly St Richard of Chichester (1197-1253)
Thanks be to You, my Lord Jesus Christ For all the benefits You have given me, For all the pains and insults You have borne for me. O most merciful Redeemer, friend and brother, May I know You more clearly, Love You more dearly, Follow You more nearly. Amen
St Richard recited this prayer on his deathbed, surrounded by the clergy of the diocese. The words were transcribed, in Latin, by his confessor Ralph Bocking, a Dominican friar and were eventually published in the Acta Sanctorum, an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints. The British Library copy, contains what is believed to be Bockings transcription of the prayer:
Gratias tibi ago, Domine Jesu Christe,
de omnibus beneficiis quae mihi praestitisti,
pro poenis et opprobriis, quae pro me pertulisti,
propter quae planctus ille lamentabilis vere tibi competebat.
Non est dolor similis sicut dolor meus.
Saint of the Day – 3 April – Blessed John of Jesus and Mary O.SS.T (1895-1937) Priest Martyr, Religious Priest of the The Order of the Holy Trinity and of the Captives, more commonly known as the Trinitarians, Musician – born as Juan Otazua y Madariaga on 8 February 1895 in Rigoitia, Vizcaya, Spain and died by being shot at dawn on 3 April 1937 in the cemetery of Mancha Real, Jaén, Spain. He was 42 years old.
Juan Otazua was born on 8 February 1895 in the small town of Rigoitia, in the province of Vizcaya Spain.
On 30 September 1913, he began his Novitiate with the Trinitarian Religious Order in the Sanctuary of Bien Aparecida (Cantabria). He made his simple profession in said sanctuary, on 11 October 1914, then taking the name of John of Jesus and Mary. He studied philosophy at the Bien Aparecida and Córdoba and theology at La Rambla. He professed his solemn vows at the Trinidad house in Córdoba on 17 May 1918. He was Ordained a Priest on 23 October 1921 in Madrid .
For many years he was a Priest of the house of the Trinity in Madrid and exercised his pastoral work in the Church of the Basques of San Ignacio de Loyola, in the now known Las Letras neighbourhood. He was known for his excellent command of music , especially the cello.
In March 1936 the church of San Ignacio was burned down by the mobs, in the atmosphere of civil war, which led to the disintegration of the Trinitarian community and the distribution of the Religious to various convents in Spain. However some of them were arrested and executed days later. Fr John was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Despite the sentence, on the night of 2 April 1937, militiamen took him out of prison and took him to the La Mancha Real cemetery, where they shot him the following morning. Fr John was 42 years old. His body was buried in a grave to avoid recognition.
Fr John of Jesus and Mary was Beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on 28 October 2007. His Memorial is also celebrated with his fellow Trinatarian Martyrs on 6 November.
Bl Alexandrina di Letto
St Attala of Taormina
St Benatius of Kilcooley
St Benignus of Tomi
St Burgundofara
St Chrestus
St Comman
St Evagrius of Tomi
Bl Francisco Solís Pedrajas Saint or Blessed (conflicting reports?) Gandulphus of Binasco OFM (c 1200-1260)
Bl Iacobus Won Si-bo
St John I of Naples
Bl John of Penna
St Joseph the Hymnographer Blessed John of Jesus and Mary/Juan Otazua Madariaga O.SS.T (1895-1937) Priest Martyr
Bl Lawrence Pak Chwi-deuk St Luigi Scrosoppi Cong. Orat. (1804-1884) About St Luigi:
Quote/s of the Day – 2 April – The Memorial of St Francis of Paola OM (1416-1507)
“Fix your minds on the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Inflamed with love for us, He came down from heaven to redeem us. For our sake He endured every torment of body and soul and shrank from no bodily pain. He Himself gave us an example of perfect patience and love. We, then, are to be patient in adversity.”
“See to it that you refrain from harsh words. But if you do speak them, do not be ashamed to apply the remedy from the same lips, that inflicted the wounds.”
Saint of the Day – 2 April – Blessed Vilmos Apor (1892–1945) Bishop Martyr, Chaplain of the Order of Malta – born as Baron Vilmos Apor de Altorja on 29 February 1892 at Segesvár, Transylvania, Hungary and died by shooting on 2 April 1945 at Gyõr, Hungary. (Also known as – Vilhelm, Gulielmus, William). Patronages – Abuse victims, Sexual abuse victims, Activists, Virgins, Military chaplains.
He became famous for protesting against the persecution of the Hungarian Jewish population and for his steadfast commitment to the poor. His outreach also extended to abuse victims with a particular emphasis on the protection of women – it would be this latter point that saw him sustain fatal injuries leading to his death. The Bishop dedicated himself to being an opponent of both communism and Nazism and used his sermons as a chance to condemn them, at a great personal risk to himself. He was a beloved figure in his Diocese where people hailed him as a great saint upon learning of his death which came as a profound shock and loss to the Diocese he had served during the course of most of the war.
Vilmos Apor de Altorja was born in 1892 as the sixth of eight children to the nobles Baron Gábor Apor (1851–98) and Countess Fidelia Pálffy ab Erdöd (1863–1934); one was stillborn and three died in their childhoods. One sister was Gizella and another was Henrietta who was his junior and an elder brother was Gábor. His elder brother served in World War I but later became a Hungarian delegate to the Vatican until his resignation in 1944 in protest of the German occupation of his homeland. His father died in his childhood due to complications from diabetes. His mother was strict but caring and imparted sage religious instruction to her children. He served as an altar server during his childhood and his love for the Priesthood intensified to the stage where he harboured an interest in becoming a Priest himself. Bishop Miklós Széchnyi was his uncle.
Year one of his initial education saw him teach Henrietta how to read and she often got him to instruct her in catechism. He even asked his mother once for a chalice and missal for Christmas. He attended high school at a Jesuit-run school in Kalksburg where his desires to become a Priest intensified further, despite his initial homesickness. Apor liked Latin as well as historical studies and received outstanding marks in these subjects, while a treatise on the historical Church, earned him a prize. He also liked tennis and swimming. He then transferred to another Jesuit school at Kalocsa.
He decided to begin his studies for the Priesthood despite his mother’s wish that he wait a little while longer – she consented at Christmas in 1909 – and the local Bishop was delighted to receive him in 1910. The Bishop sent him to Innsbruck for further studies with the Jesuits in 1910, where he later received a doctorate in theological studies, the rector there was a relative of his. He was made a subdeacon on 22 August 1915 and was elevated to the diaconate on 23 August.
He received his Ordination to the Priesthood on 24 August 1915 and he celebrated his first Mass on 25 August, with his mother and sisters, Henrietta and Gizella, in attendance. Gabor could not be there because he was on the battlefront and was unable to obtain leave. Vilmos was first sent to Gyula on 31 August 1915 and he preached his first sermon on the following 8 September. On 27 March 1916 he opened an office for the protection of women that became a predominant focus for him on his pastoral mission while on 4 January 1917 he was sent as a chaplain to the Italian front before being transferred as such to Austria and then back to Gyula at the start of 1919 at the end of the war.
Pope Pius XII appointed him as a Bishop in 1941 and he received his Episcopal Consecration a month later. His brother, Gabor, paid for his new Episcopal vestments. He took formal possession of his new Episcopal See on 2 March 1941. On 25 February 1941 – in a unanimous decision – the town council of Gyula made him an honorary citizen, due to his commitment to it’s people and his strong and tireless activism. He became noted for his strong dedication to the poor and his tireless commitment to a range of social justice issues.
In summer 1944 he wrote to the Hungarian Primate Jusztinian Serédi to persuade him to take a strong stance against the government. He also appealed to the Gestapo headquarters in Berlin in an attempt to free the Jews of his Diocese from the ghetto and negotiated with the Nazi command to spare the town from a siege. The introduction of racial laws sought to further make matters worse and so the bishop spoke out for those affected from racial slurs and other forms of persecution. He provided supplies to those Jews being deported through his Diocese and also sheltered those made homeless after air raids in the Episcopal palace while he himself withdrew to a small room for himself.
On the afternoon of 28 March 1945 – Good Friday – as Soviet troops reached his Diocese he offered safe haven to numerous women and children in his residence and also protected women who feared being raped. Four or five drunken Soviet soldiers arrived with the intention of bringing 100 women to their barracks but Apor had them well-hidden in the cellar. He refused to give them up and a long altercation saw an officer making threats with his gun and soon gave chase to a girl who came out of her hiding place, the girl screamed “Uncle Vilmos! Help!” and he ran to her defense and shouted at them: “Out! Get out of here!” The officers turned to leave but one officer turned around and opened fire with a machine gun that shot him three times. Apor suffered a first shot that grazed his forehead as well as a second in the right sleeve of his cassock and the third that perforated his abdomen. Meanwhile the soldiers became frightened and fled the scene.
He lent on the arms of two of his aides and walked towards the cellar with blood coming from his forehead. A doctor administered first aid and his sister, Gizella, aided the doctor in placing her brother on a stretcher. But getting to the hospital took longer due to checkpoints and had to stop several times, since the Russians wanted to inspect the ambulance, the blanket had to be taken off him on these occasions so the Russians could see there was no hidden treasure. Professors Jung and Petz – who had known Apor – performed the operation which seemed to be successful and saw a slight improvement on Holy Saturday when he received the Eucharist, with his sister at his side. He thanked God for having accepted his sacrifice and for the fact that the women he protected were still safe. On Easter his condition deteriorated due to an infection – he made his confession and was given the Anointing of the Sick. He remained lucid with his sister and Doctor Jung at his side, in addition to the nurses and the parish priest.
He died from his injuries not long after, in the afternoon of 2 April 1945, Easter Monday. István Sándor witnessed a stretcher on 3 April being carried from the hospital and saw the bishop’s remains as it was being transported. The funeral was put on hold due to conflict in the area but was carried out within a week of his death. His remains were buried in a Carmelite church as his confessor was the Carmelite priest Erno Szeghy. His remains were later relocated to the Diocesan Cathedral. St Pope John Paul II visited his tomb in 1996.
Blessed Vilmos Apor’s tomb carved by the Hungarian sculptor Sándor Boldogfai Farkas (1907–1970)
The theologian and cardinal-elect Hans Urs von Balthasar was his nephew. St Pope John Paul II had named him as Cardinal in 1988 . He died, however, in his home in Basel on 26 June 1988, two days before the ceremony which would have granted him that position, therefore, he is often called “Cardinal” and is also a Servant of God.
St John Paul II confirmed on 7 July 1997 that Blessed Vilmos was killed “in odium fidei” (in hatred of the faith) and thus approved his Beatification. The pope presided over his Beatification on 9 November 1997 in Saint Peter’s Square.
Today, there stands a statue in District XII of Budapest in Hungary in his honour and the place itself has been named Apor Vilmos tér according to the Hungarian standard of name order.
The Collect of the Mass of the Order of Malta on the Memorial of Blessed Vilmos
Almighty and Eternal God, through your grace, Bishop Vilmos, by courageously shedding his blood for his flock, earned a martyr’s crown. Grant that we, despite the difficulties of our daily lives, may do Your will and offer our good works for the salvation of our brothers and sisters. We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen
St Abundius of Como
St Agnofleda of Maine
St Appian of Caesarea
St Bronach of Glen-Seichis
St Constantine of Scotland
St Ðaminh Tuoc
Bl Diego Luis de San Vitores-Alonso
St Ebbe the Younger
St Eustace of Luxeuil
St Francis Coll Guitart
St Gregory of Nicomedia
St John Payne
Bl Leopold of Gaiche
St Lonochilus of Maine
St Musa of Rome
Bl Mykolai Charnetsky
St Nicetius of Lyon St Pedro Calungsod (1654–1672) Martyr His Life and death:st gregory of nicomedia
St Rufus of Glendalough
St Theodora of Tiria
St Urban of Langres
St Victor of Capua Blessed Vilmos Apor (1892–1945) Bishop Martyr
One Minute Reflection – 1 April – Wednesday of the Fifth week of Lent, Readings: Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95, Responsorial psalm Daniel 3:52-56, John 8:31-42 and the Memorial of St Lodovico Pavoni FMI (1784-1849)
“If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.”...John 8:31-32
REFLECTION – “By faith we adhere to Christ and the edifice of our spiritual life becomes thereby firm and stable. Christ makes us share in the stability of the divine rock against which even hell’s fury cannot prevail (Mt 16:18).
Thus divinely sustained, we are conquerors over the assaults and temptations of the world and of the devil, the prince of this world (1 Jn 5:4). The devil and the world, which the devil uses as an accomplice, offer violence to us or solicit us; by faith in the word of Jesus we come out victorious from these attacks. …Now, the devil is “the father of lies and the prince of darkness” (cf. Eph 6:12) while God is ” the Truth” and “in Him is no darkness” (cf. Jn 14:6; 1 Jn 1:5). If we always listen to God, we shall always be victorious. When our Lord, who is our model in all things, was tempted, He repulsed temptation by placing the authority of God’s Word in opposition to each solicitation of the Evil One. We ought to do the same and repulse hell’s attacks by faith in Jesus’ word. (…)
What is true of the devil is true of the world – it is by faith that we overcome it. When people have a living faith in Christ, they fear neither difficulties nor opposition, nor the world’s judgement,s because they know that Christ abides in us, by faith and because they rely on Him.” … Blessed Columba Marmion (1858-1923) Abbot – Our faith, the victory over the world (Christ, the Ideal of the Monk, rev.)
PRAYER – God of mercy, shed Your light on our hearts that are being purified by penance and in Your goodness, give us a favourable hearing. Teach us to work with You and for You and thus fill the world with Your Spirit. In Christ our Saviour, we become a new creation and Your adopted children, therefore, all things are renewed. May the prayers of St Lodovico Pavoni, who gave himself completely to You and Your little ones, assist us to do the same. Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.
Saint of the Day – 1 April – Saint Lodovico Pavoni FMI (1784-1849) Priest, Founder of the Sons of Mary Immaculate which came to be known also as the “Pavoniani, “ Pioneer in vocational schools, known as the “Forerunner of St John Bosco” – born on 11 September 1784 at Brescia, Italy and died on Palm Sunday, 1 April 1849 at Saianco, Italy of natural causes. The figure of Pavoni is of a Saint who made a great impact by his work on behalf of youth and persons most in need of support (deaf, disabled, orphans and the poor) while also contributing to the renewal of contemplative life. Patronages – Sons of Mary Immaculate, Vocational and Trade schools.
Blessed Lodovico Pavoni was born in Brescia on 11 September 1784 and, after 30 years of service to young people, died in Saiano, outside Brescia, on 1 April 1849. For 30 years he followed his inspiration to serve the needs of the young boys on the streets with positive methods of education. He began by opening his own oratory (catechetical and recreation centre) that in 1821 he expanded it into a hostel for their shelter and a school to teach them a trade. In 1825 he founded a religious congregation of priests and brothers to run the educational and industrial activities that grew out of his intuition.
Lodovico was a lively and bright child, interested in the world around him and quick to grasp the social problems of his day. He prepared for the priesthood by receiving his theological formation at the home of the Dominican, Fr Carlo Domenico Ferrari, future Bishop of Brescia. During the Napoleonic era in Italy (1799-1814), the French Emperor closed seminaries. In Brescia, in 1807, he was Ordained a Priest and first launched the oratory. A book by Pietro Schedoni, Moral Influences, listed the reasons for the “rebellion” of young boys – leaving inadequate schooling for a job, bad influences of adult workers, poverty and peer pressure. The author confirmed Lodovico in his personalist approach – to concentrate on the personal and social formation of the young, with a positive and preventative approach.
In 1812 when appointed secretary to Bishop Gabrio Nava, he received permission to continue with his “oratory”. In 1818, he was named rector of the Church of St Barnabas with permission to found an orphanage and a vocational school that in 1821 became the “Institute of St Barnabas.” Lodovico decided that the first trade would be book publishin, to this end, in 1823 he set up “The Publishing House of the Institute of St Barnabas,” the precursor of today’s Ancora press. The boys could also choose to be carpenters, silversmiths, blacksmiths, shoemakers, experts in tool and dye making. In 1823, Fr Pavoni welcomed the first deaf mutes to the school. He purchased a farm to set up an Agricultural School.
In 1825 he established a religious institute to continue his work. In 1843 Pope Gregory XVI authorised it for Brescia. On 11 August 1847, the Brescia Vicar Capitular, Msgr Luchi, established the Congregation of the Sons of Mary Immaculate or “Pavoniani.” On 8 December 1847, Lodovico and the first members made their religious profession.
On 24 March 1849, during the “Ten-Days” when Brescia rebelled against the Austrians and both sides were ready to pillage the city, Bl Lodovico, who had taken care of citizens during a cholera epidemic, performed his last heroic act of charity when he led his boys to safety, to the novitiate on the hill of Saiano, 12 kilometres away. A week later he died at the dawn of Palm Sunday, 1 April 1849 as Brescia was in flames. Lodovico’s ideal of education was a broad one, to dispose a person in his wholeness to be good. Fifty years before “Rerum novarum”, he grasped the religious significance of social justice and set an example by his own dealings with his employees.
Like St John Bosco after him, Pavoni’s used encouraging and preventative methods – he preferred gentleness to severity. He used to say, “Rigorism keeps Heaven empty”.
His Congregation numbers 210 members in six nations: Brazil, Colombia, Eritrea, Germany, Italy and Spain. They still publish books . In Rome they run the Ancora bookstore outside St Peter’s Square. As of 2008 there were 34 houses and out of the 210 religious there were 107 of them being Priests…. Vatican.va
There are many reasons why Pavoni can be considered a precursor. Long before Don Bosco or Don Murialdo, Pavoni saw in the phenomenon of juvenile neglect, one of the great dramas that characterised the age of transition, between the old regime and industrialised society. He understood, that the only way of redemption, was through holistic education of the person. Religious education was his fundamental objective but Pavoni saw professional training, as the way that best covers all aspects of the person.
Pavoni was not an teacher but he had a real educational method, which is characterised by an emphasis on prevention. There are many modern congregations that consider it a point of reference.
The centrality of the Christian faith, love for each person, the importance of work as an instrument of human and social development, clear rules within an organisation but implemented as in a family, attention to personal relationship and recourse to reason, rather than imposition, – these are the components of a plan that aims to equip young people with the necessary tools to develop a balanced personality and to recognise their social role, before the impact of the social situation drives them, inexorably to the margins.
In the decree of 5 June 1947 Pope Pius XII described Pavoni as “another Philip Neri, the precursor of St John Bosco and the perfect emulator of St Joseph Cottolengo.” This authoritative judgement has now received the most solemn approval and recognition of a second miracle with the Canonisation of St Lodovico Pavoni on 16 October 2016 by Pope Francis.
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“This Jesus,God has raised Him up and of that we are all witnesses” (Acts 2:32). The interior consciousness, that became a burning and invincible faith, guided the spiritual and Priestly experience of Lodovico Pavoni, Priest, Founder of the Congregation of the Sons of Mary Immaculate. Gifted with a particularly sensitive spirit, he was totally comitted to the care of poor and abandoned youngsters and even deaf-mutes. His activity branched out in many directions, from that of education to the publishing sector, with original apostolic intuitions and courageous innovations. At the basis of everything, there was a solid spirituality. By his example, he exhorts us to place our confidence in Jesus and to be, ever more immersed, in the mystery of His love. “– from the Beatification homily by St Pope John Paul II on Sunday, 14 April 2002.
Blessed Abraham of Bulgaria
Blessed Alexander of Sicily
Saint Anastasio
Blessed Antonius of Noto
Saint Berhard of Amiens
Blessed Bernhardin of Noto
Saint Celsus of Armagh
Saint Dodolinus of Vienne
Blessed Gerard of Sassoferrato
Saint Gilbert de Moray
Blessed Giuseppe Girotti
Blessed Hugh of Bonnevaux
Saint Hugh of Grenoble
Saint Jacoba of Rome
Blessed John Bretton
Saint Leucone of Troyes Saint Lodovico Pavoni FMI (1784-1849)
Blessed Marcelle
Saint Mary of Egypt Saint Melito Bishop of Sardis (Died c 180) Early Church Father Biography: https://anastpaul.com/2019/04/01/saint-of-the-day-1-april-st-melito-died-c-180/
Blessed Nicolò of Noto
Saint Prudentius of Atina
Saint Tewdrig ap Teithfallt
Saint Theodora of Rome
Saint Valery of Leucone
Saint Venantius of Spalato
Blessed Vinebault
Blessed Zofia Czeska-Maciejowska
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Apostles of Picardy:
Saint Caidoc
Saint Fricor
Martyrs of Dalmatia and Istria – 9 saints: A group of Christians martyrs who died at various locations in Dalamtia and Istria (in modern Croatia, whose relics were later taken to Rome, Italy, and who are remembered together. We know the names Anastasio, Antiochiano, Asterius, Gaiano, Mauro, Paoliniano, Septimius, Telio and Venantius.
Died
• on the Adriatic coast of modern Croatia
• relics translated to Rome, Italy
Martyrs of Thessalonica – 6 saints: A group of Christians martyred. We know nothing about them but the names Alexander, Dionysius, Ingenianus, Panterus, Parthenius and Saturninus.
Died
Thessalonica, Greece, date unknown
Martyred Sisters of Thessalonica:
Saint Agape
Saint Chionia
Martyred in Alexandria:
Saint Stephen
Saint Victor
Martyred in Armenia:
Saint Irenaeus
Saint Quintian
Martyred in Heraclea:
Saint Castus
Saint Victor
Martyred in the Mexican Revolution
Blessed Anacleto González Flores
Blessed Jorge Vargas González
Blessed Luis Padilla Gómez
Blessed Ramón Vargas González
Saint of the Day – 31 March – Blessed Bonaventure Tornielli OSM (1411-1491) Priest of the Servite Order, called the “Apostolic Preacher”, Confessor, Biblical expert, Missionary Preacher – born in 1411 in Forli, Italy and died on 31 March 1491 of natural causes, aged 80 years old. Patronages – Missionaries, Catechists.
The Roman Martyrology says of him: “In Udine, in the territory of Venice, Blessed Bonaventure Tornielli, Priest of the Order of the Servants of Mary, who moved the villages to penance with his preaching in various regions of Italy. He died as an octogenarian, while preaching a Lenten sermon.”
Bonaventura Tornielli was born in 1411 in Forlì to the nobleman Giacomo Tornielli and he received a devout family education.
He enlisted into the Servite Order in 1448, where he became noted as a Biblical expert and was later Ordained as a Priest. He completed his studies in Venice in 1454 and earned his Master’s Degree in his Theological studies. After he was Ordained to the Priesthood, he made preparation for a life of apostolic work, by a year in solitude. After this period of retirement, he began to preach eloquently and successfully.
He became noted for his love of contemplative silence in which to meditate on the Gospel, while also preaching sermons and missions in the Papal States and in other Italian cities, all on the subject of repentance.
His fame for personal holiness spread at a rapid pace even to the ears of Pope Sixtus IV who named him as the “Apostolic Preacher.” Fr Bonaventura served for an unknown duration as his order’s Vicar-General. In this office, he gave proof of wonderful administrative ability and charity.
In 1468 he led a sermon before the Senate of the Republic of Venice (also to them in 1482) and in 1488 at the San Marco Basilica. He also led sermons in Florence at the Cathedral at the request of their Senate and also at the Cathedral of the Annunciation in 1481 . He preached during a period of plague in 1476 in both Bologna and Perugia . In 1483 he served as Prior of the San Marcello convent in Rome and there decided to retire, with six others, to a hermitage after receiving papal permission to do so. This was short lived, for Pope Sixtus IV on 31 May 1483, requested that he preach in the Papal States.
Fr Bonaventure participated in the General Chapter of his Order in 1485 in Vetralla and again in 1488 at Bologna where he preached.
It was said that he walked barefoot regardless of the weather conditions and also refrained from consuming both meat and wine. Fra Filippo Albrizzi wrote: “He was a priest of great holiness. His beard was unkempt, his feet were bare, suffering the heat of summer and the freezing cold of winter. He never wore shoes and his feet were often seen to be bleeding.” Fr Bonaventure also slept either on the floor or on a bed of wooden planks.
Fr Bonaventure died on 31 March 1491 – on Holy Thursday – in Udine where he was preaching during the Lenten season.
In 1507 the Lieutenant Andrea Loredan was on a trip from Venice to Udine when he fell ill and was cured, after turning to the late Fr Bonaventure for intercession. His remains were moved in 1509 to Venice to the Church of Saint Mary of the Servants that Loredan himself oversaw. His remains were relocated to the private home of a Servite priest – due to the Napoleonic invasion. In 1971 his remains were moved to Udine. In both Udine and the City of Venice, a cultus grew up around him, it was marked by many miraculous cures. This cultus was confirmed in 1911 when he was Beatified by St Pope Pius X.
Oh God, who didst impart to Blessed Bonaventure, the Confessor, the grace of recalling sinners to repentance, grant we beseech Thee, through his merits and intercession, that we may also weep over our sins, so that, renewed in heart and will, we may serve Thee faithfully, until death. Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen
St Abda
St Acacius Agathangelos of Melitene
St Agigulf
St Aldo of Hasnon
St Balbina of Rome
St Benjamin the Deacon Blessed Bonaventure Tornielli OSM (1411-1491)
Bl Christopher Robinson
St Daniel of Venice St Guy of Pomposa (Died 1046) Biography: https://anastpaul.com/2019/03/31/saint-of-the-day-31-march-st-guy-of-pomposa-died-1046/
Bl Guy of Vicogne
Bl Jane of Toulouse
St Machabeo of Armagh
Bl Mary Mamala
St Mella of Doire-Melle
Bl Natalia Tulasiewicz
St Renovatus of Merida
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Martyrs of Africa – 4 saints: A group of Christians martyred together for their faith. No details have survived except for of their names – Anesius, Cornelia, Felix and Theodulus. They were martyred in Roman pro-consular Africa.
Quote/s of the Day – 30 March – The Memorial of St John Climacus (c 525-606) Father of the Church
“Humility is the only virtue that no devil can imitate. If pride made demons out of angels, there is no doubt, that humility could make angels out of demons.”
“Obedience is the burial of the will and the resurrection of humility.”
“Repentance lifts a man up. Mourning knocks at heaven’s gate. Holy humility opens it.”
“… A proud soul is the slave of fear, hoping in itself, in comes to such a state, that it is startled by a small noise and is afraid of the dark.”
One Minute Reflection – 30 March – Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent, Readings: Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62, Psalm 23, John 8:1-11 and the Memorial of St Antoine Daveluy MEP (1818-1866) Martyr
“Neither do I condemn you; go and do not sin again.” … John 8:11
REFLECTION – “The scene is full with drama – the life of that person and also His own life depend on Jesus. Indeed, the hypocritical accusers pretend to entrust the judgement to Him whereas it is actually He, Himself, whom they wish to accuse and judge. Jesus, on the other hand, is “full of grace and truth” (Jn 1: 14) – He can read every human heart, He wants to condemn the sin but save the sinner and unmask hypocrisy. St John the Evangelist highlights one detail – while His accusers are insistently interrogating Him, Jesus bends down and starts writing with His finger on the ground. St Augustine notes that this gesture portrays Christ as the divine legislator, in fact, God wrote the law with His finger on tablets of stone (cf. Commentary on John’s Gospel, 33,5). Thus Jesus is the Legislator, He is Justice in person. And what is His sentence? “Let him who is without sin among you, be the first to throw a stone at her.” These words are full of the disarming power of truth that pulls down the wall of hypocrisy and opens consciences to a greater justice, that of love, in which consists the fulfilment of every precept (cf. Rom 13: 8-10). This is the justice that also saved Saul of Tarsus, transforming him into St Paul (cf. Phil 3: 8-14).
When His accusers “went away, one by one, beginning with the eldest,” Jesus, absolving the woman of her sin, ushers her into a new life oriented to good. “Neither do I condemn you; go and do not sin again.” … Pope Benedict XVI – 21 March 2010
PRAYER – Lord God, Your abounding grace has enriched us with every blessing. Transform us from our sinful condition to newness of life and prepare us for the glory of Your kingdom. Open our eyes to see by the light of Your Son, who always walks with us. Let us lift our eyes to Him, for even now He is preparing for us a place, in His Father’s house. Listen, we pray, to the prayers of all the angels and saints, St Antoine Daveluy a Martyr for Christ, who petition on our behalf and may our Mother Mary, keep ever close to our path. Through Christ, our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for always and forever, amen.
Saint of the Day – 30 March – Saint Marie-Nicolas-Antoine Daveluy MEP (1818-1866) Bishop Martyr, Missionary of the Paris Foreign Missionary Society, Apostolic Vicar to Korea – commonly known as St Antoine Daveluy – born on 16 March 1818 in the parish of Saint-Leu, Amiens, Somme, France and died by beheading on Good Friday, 30 March 1866 at the Galmaemot naval base, Boryeong, Chungcheong-do, South Korea, he was 48, along with two French priests, Pierre Aumaître and Martin-Luc Huin and two lay catechists, Lucas Hwang Sŏk-tu (Bishop Daveluy’s personal assistant) and Joseph Chang Chu-gi. Additional Memorial – 20 September as one of the Martyrs of Korea.
Antoine Daveluy was born 16 March 1818 in Amiens, France. His father was a factory owner, town councilman and government official. The members of his family were devout Catholics and two of his brothers became priests. He entered the St Sulpice Seminary in Issy-les-Moulineaux himself, in October 1834 and was Ordained a Priest on 18 December 1841.
His first assignment was as an assistant Priest in Roye. Despite poor health, he joined the Paris Foreign Missions Society on 4 October 1843. He departed for East Asia on 6 February 1844, intending to serve as a Missionary in the Ryukyu Islands of Japan. He arrived in Macau, where he was persuaded by the newly appointed Apostolic Vicar of Korea, Jean-Joseph-Jean-Baptiste Ferréol, to accompany him there instead. The two were joined by St Andrew Kim Taegŏn, a Korean Seminarian who had been studying for the Priesthood in Macau. They first traveled to Shanghai, where Bishop Ferréol ordained Father Kim on 17 August 1845. The three priests then made a stormy crossing by sea to Korea, arriving in Chungcheong Province in October.
Father Daveluy began work as a Missionary in Korea. Two years later, he was in charge of the Seminary. He then took over the administration of a district, while doing it, he scrupulously prepared a Chinese-Korean-French dictionary, translated several Korean works of history and chronology and revised the books of the Faith.
On 13 November 1855, Pope Pius IX appointed him titular Bishop of Akka and coadjutor to Bishop Siméon-François Berneux, who had been appointed Apostolic Vicar in 1854 after the death of Bishop Ferréol in 1853. He was Consecrated by Bishop Berneux on 25 March 1857.
In 1859 he completed various works for the instruction of Christians, as well as, the the annals of the country’s first Martyrs and wrote biographical notes on most Korean confessors. In the same year, he embarked on a three-month trip to search for and interview, the living witnesses to the persecution of 1801. In October 1802, he sent his work on the history of the mission to the Motherhouse of the Missionary Society in Paris. It is thanks to these documents, often literally reproduced, that Mr Dallet wrote the History of the Church of Korea which, must very largely, be attributed to Bishop Daveluy.
Residence of Bishop Antoine Daveluy between 1845 and 1866 in the village Sin-ri (rural part of Dangjin)
After Bishop Berneux was executed during a campaign by the Korean government against Christians, Bishop Daveluy became Apostolic Vicar on 8 March 1866.
He was promptly arrested on 11 March. Imprisoned and tortured, he staunchly defended his Catholic faith. When he appeared before his judges, he was able, thanks to his in-depth knowledge of the Korean language, to make several long apologetic explanations for Christianity. Perhaps for this reason but above all, because of his dignity as grand master of the Faith in their eyes, he had to suffer more frequently and more severely than his companions – whipping the legs, blows with wooden batons and puncturing with the sharpened rods.
Finally, the court imposed a death sentence against the three prisoners. St Antoine asked to be executed on Good Friday, 30 March. But the king was then sick and numerous sorcerers, assembled in the palace, made to cure him by superstitious ceremonies; moreover, he was soon to celebrate his marriage. It was feared that the torture of the Europeans would harm the effect of the spells and that an outpouring of human blood in the capital, would be an unfortunate omen for the royal wedding. This is why, the regent prescribed that the beheading of the condemned be committed on the peninsula of Syou-yeng, twenty-five miles south of Seoul.
The Bishop and his Priests were led on horseback to the designated place. Their hearts overflowed with joy and, to the astonishment of the officials and the curious, they addressed fervent thanksgiving to God, singing psalms and hymns. On Maundy Thursday, 29 March they had arrived fairly close to Syou-yeng. Archbishop Daveluy heard the officials chatting among themselves, deciding to delay the immolation of the confessors and first to parade them through the neighbouring town. Touched by a strong desire to die on the anniversary of the Saviour’s death, he interrupted them: “No, he cried, what you are saying is impossible. You will go tomorrow, right to the place of execution, because it is tomorrow that we must die.” The prisoner was obeyed and the next day, Good Friday, 30 March 1866, was the day of their Martyrdom.
The mandarin who presided over their torture enjoined the martyrs to bow down to him. It is the custom in Korea for convicts to salute those who kill them. Daveluy replied that he would greet in the French manner and he refused to kneel. A brutal push threw him face down. Another horrific incident marked the death of the holy Bishop, who was beheaded first. The executioner had not set the price for his bloody work. After striking the condemned man with the first blow of his saber, which cut his neck deeply, he stopped and refused to continue, unless he was promised a large sum. The avarice of the mandarin resisted these pretensions. Employees of the prefecture had to be brought together to make a decision. The discussion lasted a long time, the victim struggled on the ground in convulsions of agony, finally the deal was concluded and two new saber strokes delivered the soul of the witness of Jesus Christ.
The bodies of the Martyrs, buried in the sand at the very place of execution by pagans in the neighbourhood, were collected by Christians the following June and buried in the district of Hong-san, 3 miles from the coast. Transferred elsewhere as a result of various circumstances, they were exhumed in March 1882 by order of the preacher, Fr Blanc and in the following November they were sent to Nagasaki (Japan), in order to be protected from any profanation. They were brought back to Korea when there was no longer any fear of persecution and since 1900 they have been buried in the Seoul Cathedral.
Reliquary of saint Anthony Daveluy in Amiens Cathedral
Bishop Daveluy was a stubborn zealous worker. He was also distinguished by his spirit of renunciation and mortification, as much as by his perseverance and humility. Unfortunately, due to this humility, his important dictionary and most of his writings had not been sent to the Motherhouse and they were destroyed during the persecution.
All five were Canonised on 6 May 1984 by St Pope John Paul II, along with Father Kim, Bishop Berneux and 96 other Korean martyrs.
St Julio Álvarez Mendoza
St Leonard Murialdo
St Ludovico of Casoria
St Mamertinus of Auxerre St Marie-Nicolas-Antoine Daveluy MEP (1818-1866) Bishop Martyr
Bl Maria Restituta Kafka
St Osburga of Coventry
St Pastor of Orléans
St Patto of Werden
St Peter Regulatus
St Quirinus the Jailer
St Regulus of Scotland
St Regulus of Senlis
St Secundus of Asti
St Tola
St Zozimus of Syracuse
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Martyrs of Constantinople: ourth-century Christians who were exiled, branded on the forehead, imprisoned, tortured, impoverished and murdered during the multi-year persecutions of the Arian Emperor Constantius. They were martyred between 351 and 359 in Constantinople.
Martyrs of Korea:
Marie-Nicolas-Antoine Daveluy
Iosephus Chang Chu-gi
Lucas Hwang Sok-tu
Martin-Luc Huin
Pierre Aumaître
The two were joined by St Andrew Kim Taegŏn, a Korean Seminarian who had been studying for the Priesthood in Macau. They first traveled to Shanghai, where Bishop Ferréol ordained Father Kim on 17 August 1845. The three priests then made a stormy crossing by sea to Korea, arriving in Chungcheong Province in October.
AnaStpaul 
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