Quote of the Day – 31 December – The Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas and the Memorial of Blessed Alain de Solminihac (1593-1659) Bishop of Cahors, France
“You must follow the good pleasure of God
as soon as you know it and accomplish it
by immediately turning your eyes to God,
remaining in a simple expectation,
to receive another sign or command,
without wasting time,
delight in the satisfaction of having accomplished
this adorable Will of God.”
Saint of the Day – 31 December – Blessed Alain de Solminihac OSA (1593-1659) Bishop of Cahors from 1636 until his death, religious of the Order of the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine of Chancelade in Périgueux (now the Confederation of St Augustine). Blessed Alain was Abbot, Reformer, Marian devotee most especially to Our Lady of Rocamadour, Apostle of the Holy Eucharist especially by his promotion of Adoration, he was also a member of the Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement. Born on 25 November 1593 in the family castle at Belet, Dordogne, France and died on 31 December 1659, aged 66, at Mercues, Lot, France of natural causes. Patronage – the Diocese of Cahors.
Alain was born into an aristocratic family in castle Belet near Perigueux in France.
He wanted to become a member of the Knights of Malta in order to serve God but felt a strong call to the Priesthood and to the religious life so joined the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine of Chancelade in 1613 as a postulant. The completion of his theological studies soon saw him Ordained to the Priesthood on 22 September 1618. While still a young man he became the Abbot of Chancelade, which had fallen into disrepair as a result of the turmoil of the times. He strove with great effort and effect to reform his brothers in the Congregation of the Canons Regular of Chancelade.
In 1636 he became Bishop of Cahors. He was as a zealous shepherd of the flock with which he was entrusted. As Bishop he visited each of his 800 parishes at least nine times during the course of his episcopate and he held an episcopal consecration on one occasion.
His great devotion to the Holy Eucharist prompted him to promote Eucharistic Adoration as well as restoring a many pastoral devotions within his Diocese.
He attended the Council of Trent and followed the lead of Saint Charles Borromeo in enforcing it’s decrees in his diocese. During this time, he met Saint Francis de Sales during Lent in 1619 and the two became friends and had many more meetings following this. Another friendship was his close relationship with Saint Vincent de Paul.
His reform work not only blessed his Diocese but influenced other parts of France.
Moreover, he remained always faithful to the Holy See. Misconceptions, which surrounded him, were resolved in his favour. His convincing love of neighbour made him a brilliant light of faith in 17th Century France. After a long, zealous, faithful and strenuous life he died on 31 December 1659.
He was declared a Servant of God after Pope Pius VI opened his cause for sainthood on 6 August 1783 and Pope Pius XI declared him to be Venerable on 19 June 1927. St Pope John Paul II Beatified him on 4 October 1981. The miracle required for his Beatification involved the cure of Marie Ledoux on 29 June 1661 in France.
St Pope Sylvester I (Died 335) (Optional Memorial)
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/12/31/saint-of-the-day-st-pope-sylvester-i-died-335/
Blessed Alain de Solminihac OSA (1593-1659)
St Anton Zogaj
St Barbatian of Ravenna
St Columba of Sens
Bl Dominic de Cubells
St Festus of Valencia
St Gelasius of Palestine
Bl Giuseppina Nicoli
St Hermes the Exorcist
St Marius Aventicus
St Melania the Younger
St Offa of Benevento
Bl Peter of Subiaco
St Pinian
St Potentian of Sens
St Sabinian of Sens
St Theophylact of Ohrid
Bl Walembert of Cambrai
Bl Wisinto of Kremsmünster
St Zoticus of Constantinople
—
Martyrs of Catania – 10 saints: A group of early Christians martyred together, date unknown. The only other information to survive are ten of their names – Attalus, Cornelius, Fabian, Flos, Minervinus, Pontian, Quintian, Sextus, Simplician and Stephen. They were martyred in Catania, Sicily, Italy.
Martyrs of Rome – 10 saints: A group of Roman women martyred in an early persecution, date unknown. We known the names of ten of them – Dominanda, Donata, Hilaria, Nominanda, Paolina, Paulina, Rogata, Rustica, Saturnina and Serotina.
Their relics were enshrined in the catacombs of Via Salaria, Rome, Italy.
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Leandro Gómez Gil
• Blessed Luis Vidaurrázaga González
Quote/s of the Day – 30 December – The Sixth Day in the Christmas Octave and the Memorial of Blessed Giovanni Maria Boccardo (1848-1913) “Father of the Poor”
“Do you want to become a saint?
Imitate Jesus Christ,
walk in His footsteps,
think like Jesus,
speak like Jesus,
love like Jesus,
make your life,
a reproduction of His Life.”
“How many things Jesus tells us in our heart,
when we stand at His feet,
if we are careful to listen to His Voice!”
“In silence, in listening to His Word,
the Lord waits for us
to make His Voice heard.
To take it with us
as we walk the streets …”
“When you want to pass judgement
on your neighbour,
act as if it were you,
and you were next!”
Saint of the Day – 30 December – Blessed Giovanni Maria Boccardo (1848-1913) he is remembered as “Father of the Poor” – Priest, Founder of the Poor Daughters of Saint Cajetan. Born on 20 November 1848 in Ca’Bianca, Moncalieri, Turin, Italy and died on 30 December 1913, aged 65 in Moncalieri, Turin, Italy of natural causes. Patronages – the Poor Daughters of St Cajetan and against cancer. Blessed Giovanni is the elder brother of Blessed Luigi Boccardo (1861-1936), whose memorial is on 9 June and who founded a contemplative branch of his brother’s order.
Giovanni Maria Boccardo was born in Turin, Italy, in 1848 as the eldest of ten children born to Gaspare Boccardo and Giuseppina Malebra. He was baptised on 21 November. Three brothers – including Luigi Boccardo – became priests and another three died as infants.
Giovanni was generous to the plight of the poor as a child and adolescent and on one occasion cared for a blind beggar. He studied with the Barnabites in 1861 and graduated from their school in 1864 and thereafter, commenced his studies for the priesthood. He was Ordained in Turin in 1871.
After his Ordination, he was appointed assistant and then spiritual director of the Seminaries in Chieri and Turin. In this office he was a guide and father to his seminarians and gave them the best of his heart and his priestly knowledge. He became a friend of St John Bosco, whilst at the Seminaries and also met and forged longstanding friendships with Blessed Leonardo Murialdo and Blessed Giuseppe Allamano. He received a doctorate in his theological studies on 1 February 1877.
Fr Giovanni was named as a Canon of the Church of Santa Maria della Scala in Chieri and in 1882 was appointed Parish Priest of Pancalieri. He obediently accepted this post, which was to be his last on earth. The separation from his Seminarians must have deeply pained his sensitive heart. For Fr Boccardo, who maintained and increased his early apostolic enthusiasm despite the stress of daily life, his Parish was a true “mission land.” On the day set for his solemn entry into the parish, at the sight of the church’s bell tower in the distance, Fr Boccardo offered himself as a victim for the good of his parishioners, so that the Lord would not allow a single one of the souls entrusted to his pastoral care to stray.
He was present for his brother Luigi’s first Mass as a priest on 8 June 1884.
After serving as parish priest in Pancalieri for two years, the village was stricken with cholera. Bl Boccardo threw himself into caring for the sick, even at the risk of his own life, spending on them all his physical and moral energies and means. When the epidemic was over, the village was left with abandoned elderly, orphaned children and poor people who no longer had a roof over their heads or any resources. This situation made a deep impression on his fatherly heart. He prayed, sought advice and, when he was certain of God’s will, he laid the foundations of the Hospice of Charity and later, of a Congregation of Sisters called the Poor Daughters of St Cajetan, who in a few years spread throughout Piedmont and Italy.
He believed that a Parish Priest’s first duty was the saving of souls, via Catechesis and evangelisation. He preached Jesus Christ and His Gospel in its entirety. He celebrated the Sacraments with zeal and love, he preached to teach and help his parishioners grow in sanctity, he was committed to the ministry of Confession and of visiting the prisons of Saluzzo to provide spiritual comfort to prisoners. He was the “good father”, the father of all, especially of the sick and the poor. His life was filled with arduous penances hidden beneath a constant smile. When it was a question helping others, he never refused.
As a faithful shepherd, he served his Parish with paternal affection until his death on 30 December 1913. His secret? He did not seek himself but sacrificed himself to strengthen, in his faithful, the life of the spirit. And, he never failed to serve the body too of the poor, the sick, the needy.
His spiritual writings runs to a total of 44 volumes.
As of 2005 there were 132 religious in a total of 20 houses in Europe and Argentina, India, various countries in Africa and Togo.
He was Beatified on 24 May 1998 by St Pope John Paul II. The beatification miracle involved the complete healing from cancer of 80-year-old Lina Alvez De Oliveira of Sao Paolo, Brazil on 12 February 1968, hence his patronage against cancer.
St Anysia of Thessalonica
St Anysius of Thessalonica
St Egwin of Worcester
St Elias of Conques
St Eugene of Milan
St Pope Felix I
St Geremarus
Blessed Giovanni Maria Boccardo (1848-1913)
St Hermes of Moesia
St Jucundus of Aosta
St Liberius of Ravenna
Bl Margaret Colonna
St Perpetuus of Tours
Bl Raoul of Vaucelles
St Raynerius of Aquila
Bl Richard of Wedinghausen
St Ruggero of Canne
St Sebastian of Esztergom
—
Martyrs of Alexandria – (5 saints): A group of Christians martyred in the unrest caused by Monophysite heretics. We know the names for five of them – Appian, Donatus, Honorius, Mansuetus and Severus. They were martyred in c 483 at Alexandria, Egypt.
Martyrs of Oia – (6 saints): A group of Christians martyred together, date unknown. The only details to have survived are the names – Cletus, Florentius, Papinianus, Paul, Serenusa and Stephen. They were martyred in Oia, Greece.
Martyrs of Spoleto – (4 saints): A group of Christians martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian – Exuperantius, Marcellus, Sabinus and Venustian. They were martyred in 303 in Spoleto, Italy
Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Fifth Day of the Christmas Octave +2019
Scripture tells us practically nothing about the first years and the boyhood of the Child Jesus. All we know are the facts of the sojourn in Egypt, the return to Nazareth and the incidents that occurred when the twelve-year-old boy accompanied His parents to Jerusalem. In her liturgy the Church hurries over this period of Christ’s life with equal brevity. The general breakdown of the family, however, at the end of the past century and at the beginning of our own, prompted the Popes, especially the far-sighted Leo XIII, to promote the observance of this feast with the hope that it might instil into Christian families something of the faithful love and the devoted attachment that characterise the family of Nazareth. The primary purpose of the Church in instituting and promoting this feast is to present the Holy Family as the model and exemplar of all Christian families. … (Excerpted from With Christ Through the Year, Rev. Bernard Strasser, O.S.B.)
The feast of St Thomas Becket, which is ordinarily celebrated today, is superseded by the Sunday liturgy.
2018:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/12/30/feast-of-the-holy-family-of-jesus-mary-and-joseph-30-decembe/
St Thomas a Becket (1118-1170) Martyr (Optional Memorial)
Biography:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/12/29/saint-of-the-day-29-december-st-thomas-a-becket-1118-1170/
AND:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/12/29/saint-of-the-day-29-december-st-thomas-a-becket-1118-1170-martyr-archbishop-of-canterbury/
St Aileran of Clonard
St Albert of Gambron
St Aproniano de Felipe González
St David the King
St Ebrulf of Ouche
St Enrique Juan Requena
St Florent of Bourges
Bl Francis Ruiz
St Girald of Fontenelle
St Jacinto Gutiérrez Terciado
Bl José Aparicio Sanz
Bl José Perpiñá Nácher
St Juan Bautista Ferreres Boluda
St Libosus of Vaga
St Marcellus the Righteous
St Martinian of Milan
Bl Paul Mary
Bl Peter the Venerable
St Quartillosa of Carthage
St Thaddeus of Scythia
St Trophimus of Arles
St Trophimus of Ephesus
Bl William Howard (1614–1680) Martyr
—
Martyrs of North Africa – (8 saints): A group of Christians executed together for their faith. The only details to survive are eight names – Crescentius, Dominic, Honoratus, Lybosus, Primian, Saturninus, Secundus and Victor.
Martyrs of Rome – (3 saints): A group of Christians executed together for their faith. The only details to survive are three names – Boniface, Callistus and Felix.
Martyrs of Seoul – (7 saints): Additional Memorial – 20 September as part of the Martyrs of Korea.
A group of seven lay woman in the apostolic vicariate of Korea who were martyred together.
• Barbara Cho Chung-I
• Barbara Ko Sun-I
• Benedicta Hyong Kyong-Nyon
• Elisabeth Chong Chong-Hye
• Magdalena Han Yong-I
• Magdalena Yi Yong-Dok
• Petrus Ch’oe Ch’ang-Hub
They were born in South Korea and were martyred by beheading on 29 December 1839 at the Small West Gate, Seoul, South Korea. They were Canonised on 6 May 1984 by St Pope John Paul II.
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
Thousands of people were murdered in the anti-Catholic persecutions of the Spanish Civil War from 1934 to 1939.
• Blessed Aproniano de Felipe González
• Blessed Enrique Juan Requena
• Blessed Jacinto Gutiérrez Terciado
• Blessed Juan Bautista Ferreres Boluda
Thought for the Day – 28 December – The Feast of the Holy Innocents – The Fourth Day of the Christmas Octave
Herod “the Great,” king of Judea, was unpopular with his people because of his connections with the Romans and his religious indifference. Hence he was insecure and fearful of any threat to his throne. He was a master politician and a tyrant capable of extreme brutality. He killed his wife, his brother and his sister’s two husbands, to name only a few.
Matthew 2:1-18 tells this story: Herod was “greatly troubled” when astrologers from the east came asking the whereabouts of “the newborn king of the Jews,” whose star they had seen. They were told that the Jewish Scriptures named Bethlehem as the place where the Messiah would be born. Herod cunningly told them to report back to him so that he could also “do him homage.” They found Jesus, offered him their gifts, and warned by an angel, avoided Herod on their way home. Jesus escaped to Egypt.
Herod became furious and “ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under.” The horror of the massacre and the devastation of the mothers and fathers led Matthew to quote Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children…” (Matthew 2:18). Rachel was the wife of Jacob (Israel). She is pictured as weeping at the place where the Israelites were herded together by the conquering Assyrians for their march into captivity.
The Holy Innocents are few in comparison to the genocide and abortion of our day. But even if there had been only one, we recognise the greatest treasure God put on the earth—a human person, destined for eternity and graced by Jesus’ death and resurrection.
The 15th Century English Carol commemorates the slaughter of the Holy Innocents.
Lully, Lullay, thou little tiny child.
Bye, bye, lully, lullay.
Lullay thou little tiny child
Bye, bye, lully, lullay
O sisters, too, how may we do,
For to preserve this day,
This poor Youngling for whom we sing
Bye, bye lully, lullay
Herod the King, in his raging,
Charged he hath this day,
His men of might, in his own sight,
All young children to slay.
Then woe is me, poor child, for thee,
And ever mourn and say;
For thy parting neither say nor sing,
Bye, bye lully, lullay.
Quote/s of the Day – 28 December – The Feast of the Holy Innocents – The Fourth Day of the Christmas Octave
“These then, whom Herod’s cruelty
tore as sucklings from their mothers’ bosom,
are justly hailed as “infant martyr flowers”;
they were the Church’s first blossoms,
matured by the frost of persecution
during the cold winter of unbelief.”
“The star of Bethlehem
shines forth in the dark night of sin.
Upon the radiance
that goes forth from the manger,
there falls the shadow of the cross.
In the dark of Good Friday, the light is extinguished
but it rises more brightly, as the sun of grace.
on the morning of the resurrection.
The road of the incarnate Son of God,
is through the cross and suffering.
to the splendour of the resurrection.
To arrive with the Son of Man,
through suffering and death,
at this splendour of the resurrection,
is the road for each one of us,
for all mankind.”
One Minute Reflection – 28 December – The Feast of the Holy Innocents – The Fourth Day of the Christmas Octave, Readings: 1 John 1:5-2:2, Psalm 124:2-5, 7-8, Matthew 2:13-18
“A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children and she would not be consoled, since they were no more.” … Matthew 2:18
REFLECTION – “Where does this jealousy lead?… The crime committed today shows us. Fear of a rival to his earthly kingdom fills Herod with anxiety, he plots to suppress “the newborn King” (Mt 2:2), the eternal Kin, he fights against his Creator and puts innocent children to death… As for those children, what fault had they committed? Their tongues were dumb, their eyes had seen nothing, their ears heard nothing, their hands done nothing. They accepted death who had not known life. ( … ) Christ reads the future and knows the secrets of the heart, He weighs our thoughts and probes our intentions (cf. Ps 138[139]), why did He forsake them? ( … ) Why did the newborn heavenly King abandon these companions in innocence, forget the sentinels watching around His crib to such an extent, that the foe who wanted to get at the King, ravaged His whole army?
My brethren, Christ did not forsake His soldiers but covered them with honour by allowing them to conquer, before they had lived and to carry away the prize, without a fight. ( … ) He wanted them to possess heaven rather than earth. ( … ) He sent them before Him as His heralds. He did not abandon them but saved those who went on ahead. He did not forget them. ( … )
Blessed are they who have exchanged their travail for repose, their pains for ease, their suffering for joy. They are alive! Yes, they are alive, they live indeed, who have undergone death for Christ’s sake. ( … ) Happy the tears their mothers shed for these infants, they have won them the grace of baptism. ( … ) May He who deigned to rest in a stable be pleased to lead us also, to the heavenly pastures.” … St Peter Chrysologus (400-450) Bishop of Ravenna, Father and Doctor of the Church
PRAYER – We praise you, O God, we acclaim you as Lord, the white-robed army of martyrs praise you. (from the Te Deum).
Saint of the Day – 28 December – Saint Caterina Volpicelli (1839-1894) Religious and Foundress of the Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of which Order she is the Patron., Apostle of the the Holy Eucharist and of Prayer, of the poor and need. Born on 21 January 1839 in Naples, Italy and died on 28 December 1894 in Naples, Italy of natural causes. 
Caterina Volpicelli was born into an upper middle-class Neapolitan family on 21 January 1839 from which she received a sound human and religious formation. She was taught literature, languages and music at the Royal Educational Institute of St Marcellino by Margherita Salatino (the future foundress, with Bl Ludovico da Casoria OFM (1814-1885), of the Franciscan Grey Sisters of St Elizabeth). Both belong to that array of “apostles of the poor and marginalised” who in 19th-century Naples were a sign of the presence of Christ, the Good Samaritan, who comes close to all who are injured in body and spirit.
Caterina had been trying to outshine her sister in society, frequently going to the theatre and the ballet but prompted by the Lord’s Spirit, who revealed God’s plan to her through the voice of wise and holy spiritual directors, she soon gave up the transient pleasures of an elegant and carefree life, to adhere with generous decision to a vocation of perfection and holiness.
Her chance meeting with Bl Ludovico da Casoria on 19 September 1854 at La Palma, Naples, as she herself says, was “a rare stroke of preventive grace, charity and favour from the Sacred Heart, delighted by the poverty of his servant”. Bl Ludovico led her to join the Third Order Franciscans and indicated to her the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus as the one goal of her life, inviting her to remain in society to be a “fisher of souls.” Guided by her confessor, the Barnabite Fr Leonardo Matera, on 28 May 1859 Caterina entered the Perpetual Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament but she soon left, for serious health reasons. Caterina’s confessor showed her the monthly leaflet of the Apostleship of Prayer in France; from him she received detailed information about this new association with the diploma of Messenger, the first in Naples In July 1867, Fr Ramière visited the palace of Largo Petrone in Naples, where Caterina was considering establishing her apostolic activities “to revive love for Jesus Christ in hearts, in families and in society.” The Apostleship of Prayer would be the cornerstone of Caterina’s whole spiritual edifice and would permit her to cultivate her ardent love of the Eucharist and her outreach to others.
With the first messengers, on 1 July 1874, Caterina founded the new institute of “Servants of the Sacred Heart”, at first approved by the Cardinal Archbishop of Naples, the Servant of God Sisto Riario Sforza and later, on 13 June 1890, by Pope Leo XIII who granted the new religious family the “Decree of praise”.
Concerned about the lot of the young, she then opened the orphanage of the Margherites, founded a lending library and set up the Association of the Daughters of Mary, with the wise guidance of Venerable Mother Rosa Carafa Traetto (d. 1890). 
She soon opened other houses, in Naples, in the Sansevero Palace and then at the La Sapienza Church in Ponticelli, where the Servants distinguished themselves in nursing cholera victims in 1884 and in Minturno, Meta di Sorrento and Rome. On 14 May 1884, the new Archbishop of Naples, Cardinal Guglielmo Sanfelice, OSB, consecrated the Shrine dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus which she had had built, next to the Mother House of her institutions. She built it specifically for adoration in reparation, as requested by the Pope, to support the Church in difficult times for religious freedom and Gospel proclamation.
Caterina’s participation in the first National Eucharistic Congress celebrated in Naples in 1891 (19-22 November), crowned the Apostolate of the Foundress of the Servants of the Sacred Heart. Caterina Volpicelli died in Naples on 28 December 1894, offering her life for the Church and for the Holy Father.
She was Beatified on 29 April 2001 at Saint Peter’s Square by St Pope John Paul II and Canonised 26 April 2009 also in Rome by Pope Benedict XVI.
At her Canonisation, Pope Benedict said:
“St Caterina Volpicelli was also a witness of divine love. She strove “to belong to Christ in order to bring to Christ” those whom she met in Naples at the end of the 19th century, in a period of spiritual and social crisis. For her too the secret was the Eucharist. She recommended that her first collaborators cultivate an intense spiritual life in prayer and, especially, in vital contact with Jesus in the Eucharist. Today this is still the condition for continuing the work and mission which she began and which she bequeathed as a legacy to the “Servants of the Sacred Heart”. In order to be authentic teachers of faith, desirous of passing on to the new generations the values of Christian culture, it is indispensable, as she liked to repeat, to release God from the prisons in which human beings have confined Him. In fact, only in the Heart of Christ can humanity find its “permanent dwelling place.” St Caterina shows to her spiritual daughters and to all of us, the demanding journey of a conversion, that radically changes the heart and is expressed in actions consistent with the Gospel. It is thus possible to lay the foundations for building a society open to justice and solidarity, overcoming that economic and cultural imbalance which continues to exist in a large part of our planet.”
Holy Innocents (Feast)
About:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/12/28/saints-of-the-day-feast-of-the-holy-innocents-28-december-4th-day-of-the-christmas-octave/
AND:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/12/28/saints-of-the-day-feast-of-the-holy-innocents-martyrs-28-december-4th-day-of-the-christmas-octave/
St Anthony of Lérins
St Caesarius of Armenia
Saint Caterina Volpicelli (1839-1894)
BL Claudia Weinhardt
St Conindrus
St Domitian the Deacon
St Domnio of Rome
St Eutychius
St Gowan of Wales
Bl Gregory of Cahors
Bl Hryhorii Khomyshyn
St Iolande of Rome
Bl Johannes Riedgasser
Bl Nicolas Mello
Bl Otto of Heidelberg
St Romulus
St Simon the Myroblite
St Theonas of Alexandria
St Theodore of Tabenna
St Troadius of Pontus
—
20,000 Martyrs of Nicomedia: 20,000 Christians who were murdered during in 303 in Nicomedia, Bithynia (modern Izmit, Turkey) during the persecutions of Diocletian. Many of them were killed en masse when they were ordered, during Christmas Mass, to sacrifice to idols; when they refused, they were locked in the churches and the buildings burned around them. We know some details of a few of them, but most are known only to God. The names we have are – Agape, Anthimos, Domna, Domna, Dorotheus, Esmaragdus, Eugene, Euthymius, Glykerios, Gorgonius, Hilary, Indes, Mardonius, Mardonius, Maximus, Migdonius, Migdonus, Peter, Peter, Theophila, Theophilus and Zeno. 303 in Nicomedia, Bithynia (modern Izmit, Turkey).
Martyrs of Africa – (3 saints): Three Christians murdered together in Africa for their faith. The only details to survive are their names – Castor, Rogatian and Victor.
Thought for the Day – 27 December – Feast of St John the Evangelist and the Third Day of the Christmas Octave
“There are [Saints] … who are so absorbed in the divine life, that they seem, even while they are in the flesh, to have no part in earth or in human nature but, to think, speak and act under views, affections and motives, simply supernatural.
If they love others, it is simply because they love God and because man is the object, either of His compassion , or of His praise.
If they rejoice, it is in what is unseen, if they feel interest, it is in what is unearthly, if they speak, it is almost with the voice of Angels, if they eat or drink, it is almost of Angels’ food alone – for it is recorded in their histories, that for weeks, they have fed on nothing else but that Heavenly Bread, which is the proper sustenance of the soul.
Such we may suppose, to have been St John!”
St John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
“The love of Jesus is noble and generous, it spurs us onto do great things and excites us to desire always, that which is most perfect. Love will tend upwards and is not to be detained by things beneath. Love will be at liberty and free from all worldly affections… for love proceeds from God and cannot rest but in God above all things created. The lover flies, runs and rejoices, he is free and not held. He gives all for all and has all in all, because he rests in one sovereign Good above all, from Whom all good flows and proceeds”
Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Book III, Chapter V, 3-4
Quote/s of the Day – 27 December – Feast of St John the Evangelist and the Third Day of the Christmas Octave
“John’s God-illumined mind,
conceived the incomparable height of divine wisdom,
when he reclined on the Redeemer’s breast,
during the holy Last Supper meal (Jn 13:25).
And because “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:3)
are within the heart of Jesus, it is from there, that he drew
and from there, that he greatly enriched our wretchedness,
as people who are poor and generously distributed these goods,
taken from their source, for the salvation of the whole world.
And because this blessed John speaks about God
in a marvellous way, that cannot be compared to that of anyone else,
it is only right that the Greeks as well as the Latins
have given him the name of “Theologian”.
Mary is “Theotokos” because she has truly given birth to God;
John is “Theologos” because he saw in an indescribable way,
that the Word of God, was with the Father
before the beginning of time and was God (Jn 1:1)
and because, too, he spoke about this, with extraordinary depth.”
“If Moses, after having conversed
with God in the cloud,
came from the Divine interview
with rays of miraculous light encircling his head,
how radiant must have been the face of St John,
which had rested on the very Heart of Jesus,
in Whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge [Col. ii 3]
how sublime his writings!
how Divine his teaching!”
“Then too, as Son and Guardian of Mary,
thou hast to present us to thine own and our Mother.
Ask her to give us, somewhat of the tender love,
wherewith she watches over the Crib of her Divine Son,
to see in us, the Brothers of that Child she bore
and to admit us, to a share of the maternal affection,
she had for thee, the favoured confidant
of the secrets of her Jesus.”
One Minute Reflection – 27 December – Feast of St John the Evangelist the Memorial of Blessed Sára Salkaházi (1899–1944) Martyr and the Third Day of the Christmas Octave, Readings: 1 John 1:1-4, Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6, 11-12, John 20:2-8
Beloved:
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life (for the life was made visible; we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us.… 1 John 1:1-2
REFLECTION – ““Life itself was therefore revealed in the flesh.
In this way what was visible to the heart alone, could become visible also to the eye and so heal men’s hearts. For the Word is visible to the heart alone, while flesh is visible to bodily eyes as well. We already possessed the means to see the flesh but we had no means of seeing the Word. The Word was made flesh so that we could see it, to heal the part of us, by which we could see the Word…” … St Augustine (354-430) – Father & Doctor of the Church
PRAYER – “I am grateful to You for the love You have given me. My dear Jesus, I place this love into Your hands: keep it chaste and bless it, so that it may always be rooted in You. And increase in me my love for You. I know that if I love You, I can never get lost. If I want to be Yours with all my heart, You will never let me stray from You. Amen. May St John the Evangelist, beloved of the Lord and Blessed Sára Salkaházi, intercede for us that we may love You Lord with all our hearts, minds and souls!
Our Morning Offering – 27 December – Feast of St John the Evangelist and the Third Day of the Christmas Octave
Oh Teach Me then, Dear Saint!
An Invocation of St John, Evangelist
Saint of the Sacred Heart,
Sweet teacher of the Word,
Partner of Mary’s woes
And favourite of thy Lord!
Refrain
Oh teach me then, dear Saint!
The secrets Christ taught thee;
The beatings of His Heart,
And how it beat for me!
We know not all thy gifts
But this Christ bids us see,
That He who so loved all,
Found more to love in thee.
Refrain
When the last evening came,
Thy head was on His breast,
Pillowed on earth, where now
In heaven the Saints find rest.
Refrain
Dear Saint! I stand far off,
With vilest sins opprest,
Oh may I dare, like thee,
To lean upon His breast?
Refrain
His touch could heal the sick,
His voice could raise the dead,
Oh that my soul might be
Where He allows thy head.
Refrain
The gifts He gave to thee
He gave thee to impart
And I, too, claim with thee
His Mother and His Heart!
Refrain
Saint of the Day – 27 December – St Fabiola (Died 399) Physician, divorced and then widowed in her second marriage, apostle of the poor and the sick, Foundress of the first known hospital and hospice, disciple of St Jerome, benefactress of the Church – born during the 4th century in Rome, Italy and died in 399 in Rome, Italy of natural causes. Patronages – Divorced people, difficult marriages, victims of abuse, adultery; unfaithfulness, widow, Hospice Movement.
As Isaiah had prophesied, Christ came to preach the gospel to “the poor.” His church has always given a special option to the penniless. But sometimes rich people are even poorer than paupers because they are subject to greater temptations.
Fabiola was a member (as her name indicates) of the Fabii, one of ancient Rome’s most aristocratic and wealthy families. She was a Christian but a socialite and rather headstrong, probably because she had been raised to have her own way.
When Fabiola married, it was also to a man of social prominence. But, through no fault of hers, he proved to be so dissolute that she was unwilling to continue living with him. She therefore obtained a civil divorce. This was understandable. As so often happens today, Fabiola, still young, vigorous and companionable, took another spouse while her separated husband was still alive. Then as now, this was adultery. Fabiola remained strong in faith perhaps but proved weak in morals.
Providentially, Fabiola’s second mate did not live long. His death gave her the long-desired opportunity to seek reconciliation with the Church. Having performed the long public penance that was demanded in those days of public sinners, this Roman divorcee was re-admitted to the Sacraments by Pope St Siricius. Thenceforth, she sought to make amends for her waywardness by expending her great wealth on worthy causes. To churches and congregations in Rome and elsewhere she gave large sums. She also founded a Roman hospital for the sick poor, whom she gathered in from the streets and alleys and took care of personally, she treated citizens rejected from society due to their “loathsome diseases.” As far as is known, this was the first great Christian public hospital to be opened in western Europe.
In those days, St Jerome, the famous monk and scripture scholar, was exercising an influential apostolate among Roman Christian women of high position. Some of these had become nuns and gone to live near the saint in his chosen locale, Bethlehem. In 395 Fabiola herself went to the Holy Land to visit and learn from him. She stayed with two of his spiritual advisees, the nuns Sts Paula and Eustochium, both also Romans by origin. She applied herself, under the St Jerome’s direction, with the greatest zeal to the study and contemplation of the Scriptures and to ascetic exercises. Fabiola revered St Jerome and would have liked to join his community but the silent monastic life did not appeal to this gregarious and sociable woman.
Eventually, the rumour reached St Jerome’s little community that the Asiatic Huns were about to swarm into the area of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Jerome and all his associates quickly fled for safety to the seacoast. The alarm proved to be false, however, so they moved back to Bethlehem – all except Fabiola, who had decided to return to Rome. She remained, however, in correspondence with St Jerome, who at her request wrote a treatise on the priesthood of Aaron and the priestly dress.
There is some indication that Fabiola was tempted once more to remarry. At least she did not yield to that temptation. Once back in Rome she renewed her program of good works. Co-operating with another prominent Roman Christian, the former senator Saint Pammachius, she set up a large hospice at Porto, the Roman port of entry on the Mediterranean coast. Intended to serve travellers and paupers arriving by sea, this guest-house, like her hospital in Rome, was both novel and welcome. As St Jerome tells us, within a year of its foundation, the good news of Fabiola’s hospice had spread across the Roman Empire from Britain to Persia. Even after the hospice, St Fabiola started to plan still another institution of charity but death now spoiled her plans.
All Rome, it is said, attended the funeral of its benefactress, who had shared her wealth with the needy. It was a wonderful manifestation of the gratitude and veneration with which she was regarded by the Roman populace.
St Jerome wrote a eulogistic memoir of Fabiola in a letter to her relative Oceanus.
The story of Fabiola has a curiously modern quality. This socially gifted woman can serve as a good example to today’s women whose marriages break up. Woman is endowed by God with talents both as a wife and a mother. Even when she loses her status as wife, she can still live out her status as mother, not only to her own children but to all who need a mother’s touch and a mother’s love.
The English Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman (1802-1865), wrote a fictional book, called Fabiola of the Church of the Catacombs and includes many saints and martyrs.
Third Day of the Christmas Octave
St John the Apostle and Evangelist (Feast)
St John the Beloved:
Bl Adelheidis of Tennenbach
Bl Alejo Pan López
Bl Alfredo Parte-Saiz
Bl Christina Ebner
St Fabiola (Died 399)
Bl Francesco Spoto
Bl Hesso of Beinwil
St José María Corbin-Ferrer
St Maximus of Alexandria
St Nicarete of Constantinople
Bl Odoardo Focherini
Bl Raymond de Barellis
Bl Roger of Verdun
Blessed Sára Schalkház S.S.S. (1899–1944) Martyr
Biography of Blessed Sára:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/12/27/saint-of-the-day-27-december-blessed-sara-salkahazi-s-s-s-1899-1944-martyr-a-catholic-gem/
St Theodore of Apamea
St Theophanes of Nicaea
Bl Walto of Wessobrünn
Thought for the Day – 26 December – Feast of St Stephen the ProtoMartyr and The Second Day in the Christmas Octave
An excerpt from his Sermon 3
Yesterday, we celebrated the birth in time of our eternal King. Today, we celebrate the triumphant suffering of His soldier. Yesterday, our king, clothed in His robe of flesh, left His place in the virgin’s womb and graciously visited the world. Today, His soldier, leaves the tabernacle of His body and goes triumphantly to heaven.
Our king, despite His exalted majesty, came in humility for our sake, yet, He did not come empty-handed. He brought His soldiers a great gift, that not only enriched them but also made them unconquerable in battle, for it was the gift of love, which was to bring men to share in His divinity. He gave of His bounty, yet without any loss to Himself. In a marvellous way He changed into wealth, the poverty of His faithful follower,s while remaining in full possession of His own inexhaustible riches.
And so, the love that brought Christ from heaven to earth, raised Stephen from earth to heaven – shown first in the king, it later shone forth in His soldier. Love was Stephen’s weapon by which he gained every battle and so won the crown signified by his name. His love of God kept him from yielding to the ferocious mob, his love for his neighbour made him pray for those who were stoning him. Love inspired him to reprove those who erred, to make them amend, love led him to pray for those who stoned him, to save them from punishment. Strengthened by the power of his love, he overcame the raging cruelty of Saul and won his persecutor on earth as his companion in heaven. In his holy and tireless love, he longed to gain by prayer, those whom he could not convert by admonition.
Now at last, Paul rejoices with Stephen, with Stephen he delights in the glory of Christ, with Stephen he exalts, with Stephen he reigns. Stephen went first, slain by the stones thrown by Paul but Paul followed after, helped by the prayer of Stephen. This, surely, is the true life, my brothers, a life in which Paul feels no shame because of Stephen’s death and Stephen delights in Paul’s companionship, for love fills them both with joy. It was Stephen’s love that prevailed over the cruelty of the mob and it was Paul’s love, that covered the multitude of his sins, it was love that won for both of them the kingdom of heaven.
Love, indeed, is the source of all good things, it is an impregnable defence and the way that leads to heaven. He who walks in love can neither go astray, nor be afraid, love guides him, protects him and brings him to his journey’s end.
My brothers, Christ made love the stairway that would enable all Christians to climb to heaven. Hold fast to it, therefore, in all sincerity, give one another practical proof of it and by your progress in it, make your ascent together.
Quote/s of the Day – 26 December – Feast of St Stephen the ProtoMartyr and The Second Day in the Christmas Octave
“Love, indeed, is the source
of all good things,
it is an impregnable defence
and the way that leads to heaven.
He who walks in love
can neither go astray,
nor be afraid,
love guides him,
protects him
and brings him
to his journey’s end.”
“He [St Stephen],
followed the Lord in what may be,
by nature, the most difficult and even,
apparently, impossible for the human heart.
He fulfilled the command to love one’s enemies,
as did the Saviour Himself.
The Child in the manger,
who has come to fulfill His Father’s will,
even to death on the Cross,
sees before Him in spirit,
all who will follow Him on this way.
His heart goes out to the youth
whom He will one day await with a palm
as the first to reach the Father’s throne.
His little hand points him out to us,
as an example, as if to say,
“See the gold that I expect of you.”
“For believers, the day of death
and even more so,
the day of martyrdom,
is not the end of everything
but rather, the “passage”
to immortal life,
it is the day of the final birth,
the “dies natalis.”
Thus is understood,
the link that exists between
the “dies natalis” of Christ
and the “dies natalis”
of St Stephen.
If Jesus had not been
born on earth,
men would not have been able
to be born for heaven.
Precisely because
Christ was born,
we are able
to be “reborn.”
26 December 2006
One Minute Reflection – 26 December – Feast of St Stephen the ProtoMartyr and The Second Day in the Christmas Octave, Readings: Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59, Psalm31:3-4, 6, 8, 16-17, Matthew 10:17-22
“… You will be hated by all for my name’s sake.” … Matthew 10:22
REFLECTION – “When the blood of Stephen was shed, Saul, then a young man, was standing by “consenting unto his death” and “kept the raiment of them that slew him” (Acts 22:20). Two speeches are recorded of the Martyr in his last moments one, in which he prayed that God would pardon his murderers – the other, his witness, that he saw the heavens opened and Jesus on God’s right hand. His prayer was wonderfully answered. Stephen saw his Saviour, the next vision of that Saviour to mortal man was vouchsafed to that very young man, even Saul, who share in his murder and his intercession.
Strange indeed it was and what would have been St Stephen’s thoughts could he have known it! The prayers of righteous men avail much. The first Martyr had power with God to raise up the greatest Apostle. Such was the honour put upon the first-fruits of those sufferings, upon which the Church was entering. Thus, from the beginning, the blood of the Martyrs was the seed of the Church.” … St John Henry Newman (1801-1890) Cardinal, Theologian, Apologist – Parochial and Plain Sermons II #9
PRAYER –
C. By the merits and prayers of blessed Stephen
R. Be merciful, O God, to Your people
Almighty and everlasting God, who consecrated the first-fruits of Your martyrs in the blood of blessed Stephen the deacon, grant, we beg You, that he may pray for us, even as he prayed for his persecutors, to our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son, who lives and reigns, world without end. Amen
Our Morning Offering – 26 December – Feast of St Stephen the ProtoMartyr and The Second Day in the Christmas Octave
Help us, Holy Stephen
Breviary Prayer/Hymn
for the Feast of St Stephen
Jesus the Christ-Child brought new life to all men
And in His Manhood, conquered death and evil,
Risen, resplendent, in the Father’s glory
He reigns forever.
Stephen the Deacon was the first to follow
Christ’s great example, done to death by sinners,
Though all his actions and his words were prompted
By the Lord’s Spirit.
Enemies’ anger destined him to perish,
Stoned by his hearers, victim of their fury,
Yet like his Saviour, in his dying moments
Pleading their pardon.
Witness to Jesus, help us, holy Stephen,
Mourning and contrite to attain the Kingdom,
Gain us the graces which we need to bring us
Safely to heaven.
Of the same nature as the blessed martyrs,
Let us sing praises to our God Almighty,
Who honoured Stephen with a martyr’s glory,
First among thousands.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 26 December – Saint Vincenza Maria Lopez (1847- 1890) professed religious and the founder of the Daughters of Mary Immaculate. Born as Vincenza Maria Lopez y Vicuña on 24 March 1847 in Cascante, Navarra, Spaind and died on 26 December 1890 (aged 43) in Madrid, Spain of natural causes. She is the Patron of the Order she founded.
Her order was dedicated to administering to “working girls”, or young women in domestic employment and she took the view that these housemaids and other domestic servants needed care, with a particular emphasis on girls who suffered abuse.
Young working women, especially those who earn their living in today’s large cities, are subject to many temptations regarding faith and morals. Saint Vincenza Maria Lopez dedicated her life to mothering such working girls. In fact, she found the work a complete delight and declared herself ready to suffer anything, even death, rather than abandon this apostolate.
Vincenza was thus a social activist on behalf of women workers, even as her contemporary, Blessed Adolf Kolping (1813-1865), was a social activist on behalf of working men. Both dealt with people exposed to those trials of the marketplace that became acute during the Industrial Revolution.
This “foster mother” was a Spaniard, born at Cascante, in Navarre, to devout middle-class parents. In 1854 the Lopezes sent their daughter to Madrid for schooling, and from that time on she became a Madrilena. She lived with her aunt, Eulalia y Vicuna and this admirable women set her an example that shaped her whole adult life and her growth in holiness.
Eulalia had already established a hospice for jobless young servant girls. Vincenza was attracted by this sort of charity. Realising its necessity, she worried what would become of the hospice if anything happened to her aunt. At 19, increasingly convinced that she herself was called to the religious life in its “active” rather than contemplative form, she took a private vow not to marry.
Senor and Senora Lopez, despite their piety, were not pleased with their daughter’s decision. They wanted her either to marry or to join the Visitation nuns, a cloistered order. When Vincenza refused their proposal, they ordered her to come back to Cascante. Apparently they thought that the only remaining alternative was for her to live at home as a spinster.
She did return home. When she fell ill, however, her parents became concerned and rather ashamed of themselves, so they eventually allowed her to go back to Madrid. Now Vincenza’s plans began to mature. In 1871 she and her aunt and a few other women on the hospice staff began to lead a community religious life. Then in 1876, with the assistance of a Jesuit, Father Hidalgo y Soba, they drew up a rule of life that would commit them to conduct homes for working girls and teach them domestic arts. Thus was founded the Daughters of Mary Immaculate for Domestic Service. Vincenza and three others received the veil from the bishop of Seville that year. They pronounced their vows as sisters two years later.
Since the hospice was already flourishing, the Daughters had merely to continue and expand their efforts. Further homes, hostels, technical schools, canteens and other institutes were established as needed and the work spread throughout Spain and to other European countries and even into South America. After her death, Africa would welcome the Sisters. Aunt Eulalia continued to contribute her whole time and fortune. But Mother Vincentia’s general plan of financing, positively excluded her sisters’ operating regular schools, in order to earn support for their charitable work. She chose the harder way – begging.
Vincenza’s Daughters had a motto: “Steady employment is the safeguard of virtue.” What was true of their working girls is equally true of the thousands of youths who run away each year to the large cities for want of occupations and then fall into vice. Let us not forget to help such idle youth by helping the good people, who try to do for them today, what Saint Vincenza tried to do in her time.
The task she undertook was not easy. Not only were finances a problem, her own health was always poor and she was only 43 when she died. But she would not, for all the world, have chosen any other role. “I count myself happier in the service of these my sisters, than the great ones of this world, in the service of their lords and kings.”
Venerable Pope Pius XII presided over her Beatification on 19 February 1950 and St Pope Paul VI Canonised this modern woman in 1975. She is an exemplar of social charity for our times and a wonderful icon of Catholic Social Teaching.
St Stephen the ProtoMartyr (c 05-c 34) (Feast) The Second Day in the Christmas Octave
St Stephen’s Story:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/12/26/saint-of-the-day-st-stephen-the-first-martyr-26-december-the-second-day-in-the-octave-of-christmas/
St Abadiu of Antinoë
Bl Agata Phutta Bi
Bl Agnès Phila
St Amaethlu of Anglesey
St Archelaus of Mesopotamia
Bl Bibiana Khamphai
Bl Cecilia Butsi
Bl Daniel of Villiers
St Dionysius, Pope
St Euthymius of Sardis
St Evaristo of Constantinople
Bl Giovanni Orsini
Bl Jean of Hainaut
Bl Lucie Khambang
St Margaret of Hohenfels
Bl Maria Phon
Bl Marinus of Rome
Bl Paganus of Lecco
Bl Pierre Boffet
St Tathai of Wales
St Theodore the Sacristan
St Vincenza Maria Lopez (1847- 1890)
St Zeno of Gaza
St Pope Zosimus
The Nativity of the Lord, Jesus Christ (Solemnity)
Celebration of the anniversary of the birth of Our Lord. In the earliest days of the Church there was no such feast, the Saviour’s birth was commemorated with the Epiphany by the Greek and other Eastern Churches. First mention of the feast, then kept on 20 May, was made by Clement of Alexandria c 200. The Latin Church began c 300 to observe it on 25 December, though there is no certainty that Our Lord was born on that day. Priests have the privilege of saying three Masses, at midnight, daybreak and morning. This was originally reserved to the Holy Father alone – beginning about the 4th century he celebrated a midnight Mass in the Lateran Basilica (in which according to tradition, the manger of Bethlehem is preserved), a second in the church of Saint Anastasia, whose feast comes on 25 December and a third at the Vatican Basilica. Many peculiar customs of the day are the outcome of the pagan celebrations of the January calender. The Christmas tree, of which the first known mention was made in 1605 at Strasbourg, was introduced into France and England in 1840. The feast is a holy day of obligation, preceded by the preparatory season of Advent and by a special vigil – should it fall on a Friday it abrogates the law of abstinence. Today’s Gospel is the prologue of John (2019/20 Year A).
https://anastpaul.com/2018/12/25/the-solemnity-of-the-nativity-of-our-lord-jesus-christ-25-december/
St Adalsindis of Hamay
St Alburga of Wilton
St Anastasia of Sirmium
Bl Artale
St Basilée of the Via Latina
Bl Bentivoglio de Bonis
Bl Diego de Aro
St Eugenia of Rome
St Fulk of Toulouse
Bl Jacopone da Todi
St Jovin of the Via Latina
Bl Maria Therese von Wüllenweber
Bl Matthew of Albano
Bl Michael Nakashima Saburoemon
Bl Nera
St Romulus of Berry
—
Martyrs of Nicomedia: 20,000 Christians martyred by order of Diocletian. They were reported to have all been in the single basilica to celebrate Christmas. While there unquestionably was an endless series of martyrs under Diocletian, it’s likely the ancient sources exaggerated the numbers of this incident. And as the Christmas holy day was not celebrated in the East in 303, they were probably gathered for another feast. They were burned alive in 303 in the basilica of Nicomedia.
Saint of the Day – 24 December – Saint Paola Elisabetta Cerioli (1816-1865) Widow, Founder of the Institute of the Sisters of the Holy Family, the male branch – the Religious of the Holy Family, of which orders she is the Patron, Apostle of Charity – born Costanza Cerioli on 28 January 1816 at Soncino, Cremona, Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, Italy and died on 24 December 1865 aged 49, at Bergamo, Italy.
Costanza Cerioli was born on 28 January 1816 in Soncino, Italy, the last of 16 children born into the noble family of Francesco Cerioli and Francesca Corniani. She was a frail child plagued by a heart condition throughout her life.
Comfort found in God alone:
Costanza lived at home until she was 11 years old, when she was sent off to school in Bergamo; here she remained for five years, suffering terribly from the loneliness of being away from home. But this experience helped her grow to depend on God, finding her comfort in Him alone.
At age 19, Costanza returned to Soncino where a planned marriage awaited her to the 59-year-old Gaetano Busecchi, widower of a countess, was set to be her husband. Seeing it as God’s will, she accepted this proposal and was married on 30 April 1835.
Her marriage lasted 19 years and was marked by suffering on all sides, her husband’s difficult character and poor health weighed on her and three of the four children that Costanza gave birth to, died prematurely; Carlo, her greatest “consolation”, lived to be 16.
Before his death due to serious illness in January 1854, Carlo spoke these prophetic words to his mother: “Mama, do not cry… the Lord will give you other children”. At the end of that same year, on 25 December, Gaetano also died.
This marked a dark period for Costanza, causing a profound existential crisis. Never had she found herself so alone and abandoned, her life so seemingly senseless. It was during this time that the words spoken by her son became a constant echo in her soul and sustained her, becoming her “guiding light”.
She sought spiritual direction and entrusted her tragedies and entire life into the hands of God, asking constantly for the grace to live her life with eyes of faith.
Spiritual maternity:
Costanza continued to feel the need to express her “maternity” and to “give of herself” to others, as she had done with Carlo. She was now 38 years old and, inspired by the Gospel, understood that charity was the only truly meaningful road.
She thus began to visit and assist the sick and share her belongings with the poor and orphans. Looking into the searching and frightened eyes of the orphaned children who begged along the streets inspired her to make even more courageous decisions.
She began to give all her wealth and belongings to the poor and opened her home to welcome orphans. Her family and neighbours would remark: “The anguish that this devout woman passed through must have driven her crazy… she does not realise what she is doing”.
The money she received once she sold her jewellery was used to purchase materials for the orphanage. Even before giving away all her goods, she had made the most important decision – to give her entire self to God, making a perpetual vow of chastity on 25 December 1856. And with her confessor’s approval, she made vows of poverty and obedience on 8 February 1857.
It was not long before other young women desired to join Costanza and “follow” in her works of charity. God’s plan was unfolding before her eyes with greater clarity;,in silence, prayer and recollection she began to draw up the Rule for her “work.”
Sisters of the Holy Family:
On 8 December 1857, Costanza, “mother of many orphans”, founded the Institute of the Sisters of the Holy Family in Comonte, Italy. She took the name “Sr Paola Elisabetta”, and summarised the charism of the Congregation in this way:
“The humility, simplicity, poverty and love of work found in the Holy Family of Nazareth is what makes up the specific spirituality of this Institute. The Sisters that belong to it must strive to model themselves on this life, full of the recollection, hiddeness and with the same spirit of humble labour that Jesus, Mary and Joseph lived in this blessed home”.
From that day, Mother Paola dedicated herself to the growth and development of the religious community. On 4 November 1863, in Villacampagna, a male branch was also founded by her, the Religious of the Holy Family.
Under the protection of St Joseph:
With the House of Nazareth as the model of both branches, Mother Paola entrusted her “work” to the special protection of St Joseph and willed that the orphans under their care be known as the “sons and daughters of St Joseph”.
She was very attentive to the education of these parentless children and to the problem of poverty. Her motherly spirit was limitless and she understood the importance of carefully and properly forming her religious sons and daughters, so that they would be able to love and educate well the children God placed under their care, these “neglected and lost ones”.
Mother Paola Elisabetta died unexpectedly in her home in Comonte on 24 December 1865. She was 49 years old.
She was Beatified by Pope Pius XII on 19 March 1950, the Solemnity of St Joseph…. Vatican.va
Saint Paola was Canonised by St Pope John Paul II on 16 May 2004.
24 December – Vigil of the Nativity of the Lord/Mass at Midnight
In many Western Christian traditions Midnight Mass is the first liturgy of Christmastide that is celebrated on the night of Christmas Eve, traditionally beginning at midnight when Christmas Eve gives way to Christmas Day. This popular Christmas custom is a jubilant celebration of the Mass in honour of the Nativity of Jesus, even many of those Christian denominations that do not regularly employ the word “Mass” uniquely use the term “Midnight Mass” for their Christmas Eve liturgy.
Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote a commentary on these words and explained in his Summa Theologiae, “And from this the Mass derives its name … the deacon on festival days ‘dismisses’ the people at the end of the Mass, by saying: ‘Ite, missa est,’ that is, the victim [Jesus] has been sent to God through the angel, so that it may be accepted by God.”
St Adam the Patriarch
St Adela of Pfalzel
Bl Alberic of Gladbach
Bl Brocard of Strasbourg
St Bruno of Ottobeuren
St Caran of Scotland
St Delphinus of Bordeaux
St Emiliana and St Trasilla (died sixth Century)
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/12/24/saints-of-the-day-24-december-saints-tarsilla-and-emiliana-died-sixth-century-virgins/
St Euthymius of Nicomedia
St Eve the Matriarch
Bl Francesco dei Maleficii
St Gregory of Spoleto
St Hanno of Worms
Bl Ignacio Caselles García
St Irmina of Oehren
St Mochua of Timahoe
Bl Pablo Meléndez Gonzalo
St Paola Elisabetta Cerioli (1816-1865)
Bl Peter de Solanes
Bl Venerandus of Clermont
—
All the Holy Ancestors of Jesus: A commemoration of all the holy ancestors of Jesus Christ.
• Blessed Dionysius Roneo
• Blessed Philip Claro
• Blessed Giulio Pons
• Blessed Peter of Valladolid
Blessed Mercedarian Sisters – (6 beati): Six cloistered Mercedarian nuns at the convent of Vera Cruz in Berriz, Spain. Noted for their devotion to the rules of the Order and for their deep prayer lives.
• Blessed Anna Maria Prieto
• Blessed Anna de Arrano
• Blessed Orsola de Larisgoizia
• Blessed Maguna Mary
• Blessed Margaret
• Blessed Mary of the Assumption Sarria
Martyred Maidens of Antioch – (40 saints): A group of forty virgins martyred in the persecutions of Decius. None of their names have come down to us. They were martyred in 250 in Antioch, Syria.
Martyrs of Tripoli – (6 saints): A group of Christians martyred together, date unknown. The only details that have surived are six of the names – Drusus, Lucian, Metrobius, Paul, Theotimus and Zenobius. They were martyred in Tripoli, Libya.
Thought for the Day – 23 December – The Memorial of St John of Kanty (1390-1473)
John was a country lad who made good in the big city and the big university of Kraków, Poland. After brilliant studies he was ordained a Priest and became a Professor of Theology. The inevitable opposition which saints encounter, led to his being ousted by rivals and sent to be a parish priest at Olkusz. An extremely humble man, he did his best but his best was not to the liking of his parishioners. Besides, he was afraid of the responsibilities of his position. But, in the end, he won his people’s hearts. After some time he returned to Kraków and taught Scripture for the remainder of his life.
John was a serious man and humble but known to all the poor of Kraków for his kindness. His goods and his money were always at their disposal and time and again, they took advantage of him. He kept only the money and clothes absolutely needed to support himself. He slept little, ate sparingly and took no meat. He made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, hoping to be martyred by the Turks. Later, John made four subsequent pilgrimages to Rome, carrying his luggage on his back. When he was warned to look after his health, he was quick to point out that, for all their austerity, the fathers of the desert lived remarkably long lives.
The Roman Breviary distinguishes him with three hymns, he is the only confessor, not a bishop, who has been given this honour in the Roman Catholic liturgy.
John of Kanty is a typical saint. He was kind, humble and generous, he suffered opposition and led an austere, penitential life. Most Christians in an affluent society can understand all the ingredients except the last – for anything more than mild self-discipline seems reserved for athletes and ballet dancers. Christmas, at least, is a good time to reject self-indulgence.
Saint of the Day – 23 December – Blessed Nicolás Factor-Estaña OFM (1520-1583) commonly known as Nicolas Factor – Franciscan Priest, Painter, Preacher, Ascestic, Spiritual Director – born in 1520 in Valencia, Spain and died in 1583 of natural causes. His body is incorrupt.
Nicolás Factor was born in Valencia in Spain on 29 June 1520 as one of five children to a poor tailor.
In his childhood he fasted three times a week and donated all of his untouched food to the poor and also tended to the ill, including lepers. His Moorish maid was so affected by this love that she learnt about the faith and converted to Roman Catholicism.
His father wanted him to follow his career as a tailor but Nicolas wanted to become a priest and a religious.
He entered the Order of Friars Minor on 30 November 1537 and was sometime later ordained as a priest, where he developed his talents as a painter via a range of devotional images.
Although Nicolas wanted be sent to missionary lands, he was instead sent to preach across his own region and became much sought-after, his homilies teaching and converting many. He was known for undergoing rather severe self-mortifications before he gave each sermon.
He also served as the spiritual director of the Santa Clara convent in Madrid at the request of the Princess of Portugal, Joan of Habsburg. In April 1582 he relocated to the Santa Caterina convent in Onda and that November moved to another convent in Barcelona.
Blessed Nicolas died after a period of illness on 23 December 1583 after having just returned to Valencia. 
In 1586 his remains were exhumed for King Philip II – who wished to view them and his body was found to be incorrupt.
Pope Pius VI Beatified Blessed Nicolas on 27 August 1786. The Beatification process saw three friends of Blessed Nicolas summoned to provide witness testimonies and the tribunal called upon Saint Pascal Baylon OFM, Saint Louis Betrand OP and Saint Juan de Ribera (whom Factor served as his Archbishop).
St John of Kanty/Cantius (1390-1473) (Optional Memorial)
Full Biography:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/12/23/saint-of-the-day-23-december-st-john-of-kanty-cantius-1390-1473/
St Besa of Egypt
Bl Bincema
St Dagobert II of Austrasia
Bl Epifanio Gómez Alvaro
St Frithbert of Hexham
Bl Hartmann of Brixen
Bl Herman of Scheda
Bl James Aymerich
St John Cirita
St John Stone
St Joseph Cho Yun-ho
St Mardonius of Rome
St Mazota of Abernethy
St Migdonius of Rome
Blessed Nicolás Factor-Estaña OFM (1520-1583)
St Servulus of Rome
St Thorlac Thorhallsson
St Victoria
St Vintila of Orensee
—
Martyred Dominicans of Santander – (9 beati) – Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Bernardino Irurzun Otermín
• Blessed Eleuterio Marne Mansilla
• Blessed Eliseo Miguel Lagro
• Blessed Enrique Cañal Gómez
• Blessed Enrique Izquierdo Palacios
• Blessed Epifanio Gómez Alvaro
• Blessed José María García Tabar
• Blessed Manuel Gutiérrez Ceballos
• Blessed Miguel Rodríguez González
• Blessed Pedro Luís y Luís
Martyrs of Crete – (10 saints): A group of ten Christians who died in the persecutions of Decius. They were –
• Agathopus
• Basilides
• Cleomenes
• Eunician
• Euporus
• Evaristus
• Gelasius
• Saturninus
• Theodulus
• Zeticus
They were martyred in 250 on the island of Crete
AnaStpaul 
You must be logged in to post a comment.