Our Lady of Kazan: This miraculous icon, also known as the Theotokos of Kazan, is thought to have originated in Constantinople in the 13th century before it was taken to Russia. When the Turks took Kazan in 1438, the icon may have been hidden. Ivan the Terrible liberated Kazan in 1552 and the town was destroyed by fire in 1579.
The icon was eventually found in the ruins of a burnt-out house at Kazan on the River Volga on 8 July in 1579. According to tradition, the location of the icon was revealed during a dream by the Blessed Virgin Mary to a ten year old girl named Matrona. Matrona told the local bishop of her dream, but he did not believe her. There were two more similar dreams, after which Matrona and her mother went to the place indicated by the Blessed Virgin and dug in the ruins what had been a house until the uncovered the icon. It appeared untouched by the flames, with the colours as vivid and brilliant as if it were new. The bishop took the icon to the Church of Saint Nicholas and immediately there was a miracle of a blind man’s sight being restored to him. A monastery was built over the place where the icon had been found.
Known as the Holy Protectress of Russia, the icon was stolen on 29 June 1904. The thieves were later caught and claimed that they had destroyed the icon after taking the gold frame and jewels attached to the image. In any event, the original has never been found, though there are many copies in existence, thanks to the popularity of the icon. Many of the copies are known to be miracle working.
In 1993 a copy of the icon was given to Pope John Paul II, who kept it in his personal study before it was given to representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church in 2004.
Bl Agrícola Rodríguez García de Los Huertos
St Alberic Crescitelli
St Arbogast of Strasbourg
St Barhadbescialas
St Benignus of Moyenmoutier
Bl Claudius of Avignon
St Claudius of Troyes
St Corona of Marceille
Bl Cristóbal López de Valladolid Orea
Bl Daniel Molini
St Daniel the Prophet
St Eleutherius of Marseille
St Eternus of Evreaux
Bl Gabriel Pergaud
St Iosephus Wang Yumei
St John of Edessa
St John of Moyenmoutier
Bl Juan de Las Varillas
Bl Juan de Zambrana
St Jucundinus of Troyes
St Julia of Troyes
St Justus of Troyes
Bl Parthenius of Thessaly
St Praxides of Rome
St Simeon Salus
St Victor of Marseilles
St Wastrada
St Zoticus of Comana
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Martyrs of Africa – 6 saints: Six Christians who were martyred together. We know no other details about them but the names – Emilian, Hugal, Motanus, Saphus, Stercorius and Victor. They were martyred in an unknown location in Africa, date unknown.
Thought for the Day – 20 July – The Memorial of Bl Gregory Lopez (1542-1596)
There are no patterns for sainthood and the Saints break all moulds.
God is interested in us, right where we are. He has placed us there and our own particular circumstances are as good a place as any other to become a saint . Holiness is within our reach! Only He knows where our pathways will lead. As Blessed Gregory and all our Saints show, it is about abandoning ourselves to Him and living our lives, where we are, in and for Him alone, keeping our eyes ever fixed on Christ . Over the course of time, our prayer evolves from acceptance of God’s will to a conscious act of love of God, to a devotion to and imitation of the person of Jesus, the Logos.
His Biographer, Fr Francisco de Losa said: “His soul appeared to be disengaged from all things else by a pure union with God.”
And as López said to him: “It is much better to treat with God than with man….The eyes of the true man are always fixed on Christ, who is his head and the soul that is touched with love of God is like a needle that is touched with the lodestone always pointing to the North.”…Blessed Gregory
An old print of this servant of God states in a few lines:
“The miser runs o’er sea and land His riches to increase, But Lopez, on the other hand, For poverty and peace.”
Many miracles were ascribed to him in life and after death. In February, 1620, the King of Spain ordered his Treatise on the Apocalypse published, adding, “I do not wish to lose a single moment in procuring the canonisation of this holy man, who,” as he says elsewhere, “passed thirty-three years in solitude in a marvellous penance, humility and love of God and his neighbour and had an admirable gift of prayer and understanding of the Holy Scriptures and the supernatural and human sciences, with the general approbation of the prelates and people of Mexico.” In fact, in the examinations that took place, bishops and theologians of all the religious orders, bore unanimous testimony to his extraordinary virtue and progress in the science of the saints.
One Minute Reflection – 20 July – Friday of the Fifteenth week in Ordinary Time, B – Today’s First Reading: Isaiah 38:1-6.,1-22,7-8 and the Memorial of Bl Gregory Lopez (1542-1596)
“O LORD, remember how faithfully and wholeheartedly I conducted myself in your presence, doing what was pleasing to you!” ….Isaiah 38:3
REFLECTION – “Thus, in whatever place a truly spiritual man is and in whatever, he is employed, his eyes and his heart are always fixed on Jesus Christ.”…Blessed Gregory Lopez
PRAYER – Almighty Father, let Your light so penetrate our minds, that walking by Your commandments, we may always follow You, our leader and our guide. Turn our hearts to see Your Son who “goes before us” and help us to never lose sight of His saving way. May the prayers of all Your holy ones in heaven, who are our examples and those of Blessed Gregory, be of assistance to us as we walk our earthly journey. We make our prayer through Christ, our Lord, amen.
Saint of the Day – 20 July – Blessed Gregory Lopez (1542-1596) – Hermit, Spiritual Advisor, Writer. Born on 4 July 1542 at Madrid, Spain and died on 20 July 1596 of natural causes near Mexico City.
Around 1585, word of a “Mystery Man” began to leak into Mexico City, a strange hermit who lived out in the lonely valley of Guesteca, who walked miles to go to Mass, lived totally subject to “Lady Poverty” and had travelled from the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Spain (which dates from 712), to her Shrine in Mexico (which dates from 1531). Disturbed by the wagging tongues of the day and the stories becoming exaggerated with the telling, the Archbishop of Mexico, set up an investigating commission to examine the matter. What they discovered was quite remarkable and Blessed Gregory had to find a new place to hide.
He had been a Page in the Court of Philip II of Spain and while visiting the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Estremadura, had heard of the Shrine of the same name in Mexico. He sold all his possessions and gave the money to the poor and then went to Mexico convinced that God would show him what to do. In Mexico, he went in search of a place to live as a hermit. He found a suitable place in Guesteca, walked 24 miles to Mass on Sundays and Feast days and caused a lot of gossip by his unusual way of life. To quiet the tongues, he lived on a plantation for a while to attend daily Mass regularly but after the earthquake of 1566, he returned to his hermitage.
Our Lady of Guadalupe in Estremadura
He thought he should perhaps become a Dominican Friar but he found that community life was not for him and returned to his solitude. When the Archbishop approved his way of life and Blessed Gregory became too popular, he went to work in a hospital and wrote a book on pharmacy for the nursing brothers.
In 1589, a priest friend, Fr Francisco de Losa (1536-1634) helped him to set up a Hermitage near his Parish. At this point, Fr Losa could more carefully observe the piety of his charge and the biography focuses on this aspect. Fr Losa was so edified that he retires from his pastoral duties to accompany and observe his friend.
“I then observed both day and night all his actions and words with all possible attention, to see if I could discover anything contrary to the high opinion which I had of his virtue. But far from this, his behaviour appeared everyday more admirable than before, his virtue more sublime and his whole conversation rather divine than human.”
They spent time in scriptural study, long hours in prayer and became Spiritual advisors to many. Fr Losa notes a typical day. Gregory would rise, wash, read a little, then fall into a “recollection”: “All one could conjecture from the tranquility and devotion which appeared in his countenance was that he was in the continual presence of God.” They would dine at one o’clock, afterwards engage in conversation or one might read aloud as a recreation. Then Gregory would return to his room until the next day, though sometimes he received visitors; in his last years the visitors were often ecclesiastics, the learned, or the nobility, going away much edified. Gregory’s routine remained not to use a candle and he retired by about 9:30 in the evening. Towards his last years he had reluctantly accepted the sheepskin quilt offered by Fr Losa and a bed rather than the floor. In any case, he seldom slept more than a few hours.
Among the virtues of Gregory was his mildness, patience, and humility — though he must have suffered greatly from his physical pain (a bad intestinal illness which caused bleeding). He never judged others: “For many years I have judged no man but believed all to be wiser and better than me. I have not pretended to set myself up above others or to assume any authority over others.”
He never complained, and Fr Losa says, “I never heard him speak one single word that could be reproved.” His conversation was never but “useful and spiritual,” though he preferred silence. Gregory used to say that “My silence will edify more than my words” and “I see that many talk well, but let us live well.” Ultimately, however, Gregory no longer identified with this world: “Ever since I came to New Spain I have never desired to see anything in this world, not even my relations, friends or country.”
Fr Losa attests to the vast knowledge of López, of ecclesiastical and profane history, ancient to contemporary, of astronomy, cosmography, geography, botany, zoology, anatomy, medicine and botanicals. These topics did not distract López from his spirituality, however, for he told Losa, “I find God alike in little things and in great.”
But his spiritual discernment was keen and Fr Losa says that Gregory “saw spiritual things with the eyes of his soul as clearly as outward things with those of his body and had an amazing accuracy in distinguishing what was of grace and what of nature.” For this Blessed Gregory was often consulted by visitors as if he was an “oracle from heaven, as a prodigy of holiness.” One can imagine how this edified Fr Losa, for in 1579 he began writing about López, even while yet a rector of a large parish in Mexico City.
Blessed Gregory remained a hermit all his life, wishing always to be alone with God. When he died in 1596 at the age of 54, miracles were attributed to him almost immediately. He was a most unusual man, who took his own path to holiness and remained convinced that it was the will of God for him. His fame reached as far as England, France and Germany. The sickness that had dogged him returned one last time in 1596. He lost all appetite and could swallow only liquids. The bloody flux would not stop and he grew progressively weaker. He told Fr Losa that he had entered “God’s time” and his comportment would consist in doing and not in talking. Fr Losa records that “I never perceived in him during his whole illness any repugnance to the order of God but an admirable peace and tranquillity, with an entire conformity to His will. All his virtue shone marvellously in his sickness, particularly his humility.” López died in July 1595 at 54 years of age, 34 of them spent in the New World. Due to the unflagging efforts of Losa, Gregory López was eventually named “Blessed” but was never formally beatified though he is regarded as having received equipollent Beatification and is highly revered most especially in Mexico and Spain. Interestingly, many Protestants including John Wesley, revered him as a man of wonderful holiness.
St Apollinaris of Ravenna Disciple of St Peter – Martyr (Optional Memorial)
Bl Anne Cartier
St Ansegisus
St Aurelius of Carthage
St Bernward of Hildesheim
St Cassian of Saint Saba
St Chi Zhuze
St Elijah the Prophet
St Elswith
Bl Gregory Lopez (1542-1596)
St José María Díaz Sanjurjo
St Joseph Barsabas
Bl Luigi Novarese
St Margaret of Antioch
St Maria Fu Guilin
St Mère
St Paul of Saint Zoilus
St Rorice of Limoges
St Severa of Oehren
St Severa of Saint Gemma
St Wulmar
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Martyrs of Corinth – 22 saints: 22 Christians who were martyred together. We know nothing else about them but the names – • Appia • Calorus • Cassius • Celsus • Cyriacus • Donatus • Emilis • Felix • Fructus • Magnus • Maximus • Nestita • Partinus • Pasterus • Paul • Romanus • Spretus • Tertius • Theodolus • Ueratia • Valerian • Victor. They were martyred in Corinth, Greece.
Martyrs of Damascus – 16 saints: 16 Christians who were martyred together. We know the names of six of then, but no details about any of them – Cassia, Julian, Macrobius, Maximus, Paul and Sabinus. They were martyred in Damascus, Syria, date unknown.
Martyrs of Seoul – 8 saints: Eight lay native Koreans in various states of life who were murdered together for their faith.
• Anna Kim Chang-gum
• Ioannes Baptista Yi Kwang-nyol
• Lucia Kim Nusia
• Magdalena Yi Yong-hui
• Maria Won Kwi-im
• Martha Kim Song-im
• Rosa Kim No-sa
• Theresia Yi Mae-im
They were martyred on 20 July 1839 at the Small West Gate, Seoul, South Korea and Canonised on 6 May 1984 by St Pope John Paul.
Martyrs of Zhaojia – 3 saints: Married lay woman and her two daughters in the apostolic vicariate of Southeastern Zhili, China. During the persecutions of the Boxer Rebellion, the three of them hid in a well to avoid being raped. They were found, dragged out, and killed for being Christian. Martyrs. They were – Maria Zhao Guoshi (mother), Maria Zhao and Rosa Zhao (sisters). They were martyred in late July 1900 in Zhaojia, Wuqiao, Hebei, China.
Martyrs of Zhujiahe – 4 saints: Two Jesuit missionary priests and two local lay people who supported their work who were martyred together in the Boxer Rebellion during and immediately after Mass.
• Léon-Ignace Mangin
• Maria Zhu Wushi
• Paul Denn
• Petrus Zhu Rixin
They were martyred on 20 July 1900 in church in Zhujiahe, Jingxian, Hebei, China and Canonised on 1 October 2000 by St Pope John Paul.
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Abraham Furones y Furones
• Blessed Antoni Bosch Verdura
• Blessed Francisca Aldea y Araujo
• Blessed Jacinto García Riesco
• Blessed Joan Páfila Monllaó
• Blessed Josep Tristany Pujol
• Blessed Matías Cardona-Meseguer
• Blessed Rita Josefa Pujalte y Sánchez
• Blessed Vicente López y López
Quote/s of the Day – 19 July – The Memorial of St John Plessington (c 1637-1679) Martyr of England
“But I know it will be said that a Priest, ordained by authority derived from the See of Rome, is by the Law of Nation, to die as a Traitor but if that be so, what must become of all the Clergymen or England, for the first Protestant Bishops had their Ordination from those of the Church of Rome….?”
“Bear witness, good hearers, that I profess, that I undoubtedly and firmly believe, all the Articles of the Roman Catholic Faith and for the truth of any of them, (by the assistance of God), I am willing to die and I had rather die, than doubt of any Point of Faith, taught by our Holy Mother the Roman Catholic Church.”
St John Plessington (c 1637-1679)
Martyred because he was a Catholic Priest
by Elizabeth I of England
John Plessington was born at Dimples Hall, near Garstang, Lancashire in 1637, the son of Robert Plessington and Alice Rawstone, into a family at odds with the authorities, for both their religious and political beliefs. Educated by Jesuits at Scarisbrick Hall, at Saint Omer’s in France and then at the College of Saint Alban at Valladolid, Spain, he was ordained in Segovia on 25 March 1662. He returned to England in 1663 ministering to Catholics in the areas of Holywell and Cheshire, often hiding under the name William Scarisbrick. He was also tutor at Puddington Hall near Chester. Upon arrest in Chester during the Popish Plot scare caused by Titus Oates, he was imprisoned for two months, and then hanged, drawn and quartered for the crime of being a Catholic priest. His speech from the scaffold at Gallow’s Hill in Boughton, Cheshire was printed and distributed:
He said: “I know it will be said that a priest ordayned by authority derived from the See of Rome is, by the Law of the Nation, to die as a Traytor but if that be so what must become of all the Clergymen of the Church of England, for the first Church of England Bishops had their Ordination from those of the Church of Rome, or not at all, as appears by their own writers so that Ordination comes derivatively from those now living.”
He was martyred in 1679. He was beatified in 1929 by Pope Pius XI, and canonised as one of the Forty Martyrs on 25 October 1970 by Blessed Pope Paul VI.
A lot more detail about St John here: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/07/19/saint-of-the-day-19-july-st-john-plessington/
and his scaffold speech here: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/07/19/thought-for-the-day-19-july/
One Minute Reflection – 19 July – Thursday of the Fifteenth week in Ordinary Time, Year B – Today’s Gospel: Matthew 11:28-30.
“Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”…Matthew 11:28-30
REFLECTION – “Jesus asks us to go to Him, for He is true Wisdom, to Him who is “gentle and lowly in heart”. He offers us “his yoke”, the way of the wisdom of the Gospel which is neither a doctrine to be learned, nor an ethical system but rather a Person to follow: He Himself, the Only Begotten Son, in perfect communion with the Father.”…Pope Benedict, XVI, General Audience, 7 December 2011
PRAYER – “Holy God, our Father, we turn to You in confidence as children and pray, give us meekness of heart, make us “poor in spirit” that we may recognise that we are not self-sufficient, that we are unable to build our lives on our own but need You, we need to encounter You, to listen to You, to speak to You. Help us to understand that we need Your gift, Your wisdom, which is Jesus Himself, in order to do the Your will in our lives and thus to find rest in the hardships of our journey.” Blessed Jozef Puchala, Holy Martyr for Christ, Pray for us, amen. (Adapted from the same homily above.)
NOTE: The Image used for the Reflection above is called “Christ the Consolator” by Carl Heinrich Bloch (1834-1890). You would be mistaken in believing that this great Artist was a Mormon but of course, he was a Danish Artist of a Christian leaning (Mormons are NOT Christians and were begun by Joseph Smith in the 1820s in New York), studied and was inspired and drawn to Catholicism (but did not convert) in Rome and was vastly influenced by Rembrandt (a protestant) in Holland. The Mormons have used his artworks endlessly – in their temples, advertising and media, he would be highly indignant I believe, without a doubt!
Saint of the Day – 19 July – Blessed Józef Achilles Puchala OFM Conv (1911-1943) Martyr – Priest and Franciscan Friar. Also known as – Achilles Puchala, Brother Achilles, Father Achilles. Born on 18 March 1911 in Kosina, Podkarpackie, Poland and died on 19 July 1943 in a barn outside Borovikovshchina, Minskaya voblasts’, (now) in Belarus. Additional Memorial on 12 June as one of the 108 Martyrs of World War II.
Blessed Jozef was born on 18 March 1911 and baptised on the day of his birth, which is the way Catholics lived and should still live!
He entered the minor seminary in Lviv (in modern Ukraine) in 1924 and once ordained a Deacon, he entered the Monastery of the Franciscan as a Friar Minor Conventual, taking the name Achilles and making his solemn vows on 22 May 1932.
He was ordained as a Priest on 5 July 1936. Before the total devastation of Poland by the Nazis, he served in the Franciscan convents in Grodno and Iwieniec in Poland.
In early 1940 he moved into parish service in Pierszaje, Poland to help with a shortage of priests who had been arrested, murdered or fled ahead of arrest, by the Gestapo during the Nazi occupation and persecutions of World War II.
Finally, Blessed Jozef too was arrested, tortured and eventually murdered by the Gestapo on 19 July 1943. The barn in which he was martyred was set alight but his remains were later retrieved by local Catholics. They were buried in the Parish Church, in which Blessed Jozef had served in in Pierszaje, Poland.
Blessed Jozef was Beatified on 13 June 1999 by St Pope John Paul along with the other 107 (known) Martyrs of World War II. Their liturgical feast day is 12 June. The 108 were Beatified by St Pope John Paul II in Warsaw, Poland. The group comprises 3 bishops, 52 priests, 26 members of male religious, 3 seminarians, 8 female religious and 9 lay people. There are two parishes named for the 108 Martyrs of World War II in Powiercie in Koło County and in Malbork, Poland.
St Ambrose Autpertus
Bl Antonio of Valladolid
St Arsenius the Great
St Aurea of Cordoba
Bl Bernhard of Rodez
St Daria of Constantinople
St Epaphras of Colosse
St Felix of Verona
St John Plessington (c 1637-1679) Martyr – About St John Plessington: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/07/19/saint-of-the-day-19-july-st-john-plessington/
Bl Józef Puchala OFM Conv (1911-1943) Martyr
St Macrina the Younger
St Martin of Trier
St Michael the Sabaitè
Bl Pascasio of Lyon
St Romain of Ryazan
St Pope Symachus
St Vicente Cecilia Gallardo
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Martyrs of Meros – 3 saints: Three Christians tortured and martyred together in the persecutions of emperor Julian the Apostate and governor Almachio. We know nothing else about them but the names – Macedoniuis, Tatian and Theodule.
They were burned to death on an iron grill in Meros, Phrygia (in modern Turkey).
Martyrs of China: 3 Beati
Elisabeth Qin Bianshi Elisabeth
Ioannes Baptista Zhu Wurui
Simon Qin Chunfu
One Minute Reflection – 18 July – Wednesday of the Fifteenth week in Ordinary Time, B – Today’s Gospel Matthew 11:25-27.
“You have hidden these things from the wise and the learned, you have revealed them, to the childlike”…Matthew 11:25
REFLECTION – “O my Saviour and my God! This ought to astonish us. We run after knowledge as if all our happiness depended on it. Woe to us if we don’t have it! We certainly need it but in its fullness, we ought to study but in moderation. Other people claim understanding of business and pass for people of substance and negotiation in the world. These are the ones from whom God takes away perception of Christian truths, from the learned and knowing of this world. Who does He give it to, then? To simple, ordinary people… Gentlemen, true religion is to be found among the poor. God enriches them with living faith, they believe, touch, taste the words of life… For the most part they preserve their peace in the midst of trouble and distress. What is the reason for this? Faith. Why? Because they are simple, God causes those graces to abound in them, that He refuses to the rich and learned of this world.”…St Vincent de Paul (1581-1660)
PRAYER – Lord God, in Your wisdom You created us, by Your Providence, You rule us. Penetrate our inmost being with Your holy light so that our way of life may always be one of faithful service and childlike trust in You. Grant that by the intercession of St Frederick, we may always follow behind Your Son and grasp His hand, to lead us to You, Through Jesus Christ our Lord with the Holy Spirit, one God, forever, amen.
Saint of the Day – 18 July – St Frederick (c 815 – c 838) Martyr, Bishop – died on 18 July 8383 by being stabbed to death just after saying Mass.
Frederick was born around 780 in Friesland and was a grandson of the Frisian King Radboud. At a young age he was taught at Utrecht by the clergy, including Bishop Ricfried. He was trained in piety and sacred learning among the clergy of the Church of Utrecht. Being ordained priest, he was charged by Bishop Ricfried with the care of instructing converts and about 825 he was chosen to succeed him as Bishop of Utrecht. The new bishop at once began to establish order everywhere and sent St Odulf and other zealous and virtuous labourers, into the northern parts, to dispel the paganism which still subsisted there.
Given his reach and reputation, Saint Frederick was soon embroiled in the political matters of the times. Saint Frederick found himself in the position to admonish the Empress Judith, after her sons raised charges against her, citing immorality. While Frederick spoke to her with patience, prudence and charity, she became irate and worked to undermine him. Similarly, he raised the ire of many of those throughout the land who did not ascribe to the Christian faith, enforcing marriages and spreading the Gospel. Through his labours, he found himself greatly disliked by many dangerous and powerful individuals. Saint Frederick refused to be intimidated, however, certain in the power of the Lord.
On 18 July 838, following celebration of the Mass, Saint Frederick was stabbed by two assassins. He died only minutes later, reciting Psalm 144, “I will praise the Lord in the land of the living.” It is unclear as to who had ordered the assassination but historians agree it was due to his preaching and enforcing of the tenets of the faith. As such, the Church considers Saint Frederick a holy Martyr, having given his life to the faith and suffered death as a consequence.
St Frederick composed a prayer to the Blessed Trinity which for many ages was used in the Netherlands. The reputation of his sanctity appears from a poem of Rabanus Maurus, his contemporary, in praise of his virtues.
Our Lady of Good Deliverance: Since the 1000s, the Church of Saint-Etienne-des-Grès in the old Latin Quarter of Paris had a chapel to Our Lady of Good Deliverance, where, across the centuries, pilgrims sought the Virgin’s help with all kinds of sufferings. During the Wars of Religion and counter-Reformation, her confraternity had 12,000 members, including the King and Queen of France. In 1587, young St Francis de Sales, feeling himself damned, recovered confidence and joy after saying the prayer that had been pasted to a tablet before her statue, the Memorare.
In 1790, the revolutionary government closed the Church of Saint-Etienne-des-Grès. In 1791, when the church’s furnishings were advertised for sale, a devoted countess, Madame de Carignan Saint Maurice, bought the statue of the Black Virgin and moved it to her lodgings in Paris. The following year, St-Etienne’s was destroyed. In 1793, the countess was sent to prison, where she met the Sisters of St Thomas of Villanova. They all got out the next year but when the government threatened to disband the Sisters, Mme de Carignan vowed to give them the statue if they were spared. In 1806, she fulfilled the vow. The image was installed in the Sisters’ chapel in Paris, moving with them in 1908 to their present motherhouse in the suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine.
On a pedestal above the altar, the life-size polychrome limestone statue dates from the 1300s: a classic Gothic standing mother and child, but both coal-black. The Black Virgin wears a white veil and dark blue mantle ornamented with fleurs-de-lys over a red robe. Every day, the Sisters gather in the chapel to pray on behalf of families, the sick, religious vocations, those who have entrusted themselves to the Virgin and peace in the world.
The feast of Our Lady of Good Deliverance, is set for 18 July, the date when the Vatican officially approved the congregation of Soeurs de Saint Thomas de Villenueve in 1873. The 1 May procession formerly held by her confraternity has been revived in recent years by the Chapter of Our Lady of Good Deliverance, Neuilly’s branch of Notre-Dame de Chrétienté.
St Aemilian of Dorostorium
St Alanus of Sassovivo
St Alfons Tracki
Bl Arnold of Amiens
St Arnoul the Martyr
St Arnulf of Metz
St Athanasius of Clysma
Bl Bernard de Arenis
Bl Bertha de Marbais
St Bruno of Segni O.S.B. (1049-1123)
St Ðaminh Ðinh Ðat
St Edburgh of Bicester
St Elio of Koper
St Frederick of Utrecht (c 815 – c 838)
St Goneri of Treguier
St Gundenis of Carthage
Bl Herveus
Bl Jean-Baptiste de Bruxelles
St Marina of Ourense
St Maternus of Milan
St Minnborinus
St Pambo of the Nitrian Desert
St Philastrius of Brescia
St Rufillus of Forlimpopoli
St Scariberga of Yvelines
St Szymon of Lipnicza
St Theneva
St Theodosia of Constantinople
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Martyrs of Silistria – 7 saints: Seven Christians who were martyred together. No details about them have survived but the names – Bassus, Donata, Justus, Marinus, Maximus, Paulus and Secunda. They were martyred in Silistria (Durostorum), Moesia (in modern Bulgaria), date unknown.
Martyrs of Tivoli – 8 saints: A widow, Symphorosa and her seven sons ( Crescens, Eugene, Julian, Justin, Nemesius, Primitivus and Stracteus) martyred in Tivoli, Italy in the 2nd-century persecutions of Hadrian.
Saint of the Day – 17 July – Blessed Pavol Peter Gojdic “The Man with a Heart of Gold”(pronunciation Goydich) O.S.B.M. (1888-1960) Martyr, Monk, Teacher, Basilian Bishop, Apostle of Charity, Eucharistic and Marian devotee. Born on 17 July 1888 at Ruské Peklany, PreSov, Slovak Republic as Peter Gojdic and died on 17 July 1960 in the prison hospital at Leopoldov, Hlohovec, Slovak Republic of illness and maltreatment received in prison. (O.S.B.M. The Order of Saint Basil the Great (Latin: Ordo Sancti Basilii Magni) also known as the Basilian Order of Saint Josaphat is a monastic religious order of the Greek Catholic Churches that is present in many countries and that has its Mother House in Rome (Santi Sergio e Bacco degli Ucraini). The order received approbation on 20 August 1631 and was based at the Holy Trinity monastery in Vilnius. Its monks, brothers and priests work primarily with Ukrainian Catholics and are also present in other Greek-Catholic churches in central and eastern Europe.
Pavol Gojdič was born on 17 July 1888 at Ruské Pekľany near Prešov, into the family of the Greek-Catholic priest Štefan Gojdič; his mother’s name was Anna Gerberyová. He received the name of Peter in baptism. Obeying God’s call to the priesthood he began his study of theology at Prešov, immediately after school. Since he obtained excellent results, he was sent a year later to continue his studies in Budapest. Here too he tried to lead a profoundly spiritual life. While still a seminarian, he was directed by his spiritual director on these lines: “Life is not difficult, but it is a serious matter”– words that were to guide him throughout his life. Having finished his studies on 27 August 1911 he was ordained priest at Prešov by Bishop Dr Ján Valyi. After his ordination he worked for a short period as assistant parish priest with his father. After a year he was appointed prefect of the eparchial seminary and at the same time taught religion in a higher secondary school. Later he was put in charge of protocol and the archives in the diocesan curia. He was also entrusted with the spiritual care of the faithful in Sabinov as assistant parish priest. In 1919 he became director of the episcopal office.
To everyone’s surprise on 20 July 1922 he joined the Order of St Basil the Great at Černecia Hora near Mukačevo, where, taking the habit on 27 January 1923 he took the name Pavol. He took this decision as a sign of modesty, humility and a desire to lead an ascetic life in order to better serve God. But God willed otherwise and had ordered him to a higher office as bishop. On 14 September 1926 he was nominated Apostolic administrator of the eparchy of Prešov. During his installation as Apostolic Administrator he announced the programme of his apostolate: “With the help of God I want to be a father to orphans, a support for the poor and consoler to the afflicted”.
The first official act of Pavol Gojdič in his office as newly appointed administrator of the eparchy of Prešov was to address a pastoral letter on the occasion of the 1100st anniversary of the birth of St Cyril, apostle of the Slavs. Thus he began his activity in the spirit of the apostle of the Slavs, always faithful to Rome, as they were. He was a Slav and was very fond of his oriental rite.
A short time later, on 7 March 1927 he was nominated bishop with the title of Harpaš (Church of Harpaš – in Asia Minor). The episcopal consecration took place in the basilica of San Clemente, Rome, on 25 March 1927, the feast of the Annunciation of Our Lady. After his episcopal ordination he visited the basilica of St Peter in Rome, where he prayed on the tomb of the Apostle. On 29 March 1927, together with Bishop Nyaradi, he was received in a private audience by the Holy Father Pius XI. The pope gave Bishop Pavol a gold cross saying: “This cross is only a faint symbol of the heavy crosses that God will send you, my son, in your work as bishop”.
For his episcopal programme he chose as a motto the following words: “God is love, let us love Him!”As bishop he was engaged in the promotion of spiritual life of both clergy and faithful. He insisted on the proper celebration of the liturgy and of church feasts. He erected new parishes, for instance, in Prague, Bratislava, Levoča and elsewhere. Thanks to his hard work the orphanage at Prešov was built and entrusted to the local sisters. His activity in the scholastic field was outstanding, as is proved by the foundation of the Greek-Catholic school in Prešov in the year 1936. He supported also the teaching academy, the seminary, colleges etc. He was interested in every aspect of spiritual reading, which resulted in the launching of the review Blahovistnik (Messenger of the Gospel), Da prijdet carstvije Tvoje (Thy Kingdom Come) and various prayers etc., published by the PETRA publishing house. For his kindness, caring and charitable relationship with the people he was described as “the man with a heart of gold”.
An important characteristic of the bishop was also his strong affection for the Eucharistic Saviour, which he continually strengthened through his visits to the Blessed Eucharist in the chapel at his residence. Another characteristic, not less evident, of his spiritual life, was his devotion to the Sacred Heart. Already as a Seminarian in Budapest he had consecrated himself to the Sacred Heart and this he confirmed every morning with the words “All the prayers, sacrifices and crosses, I offer, in reparation for the sins of the whole world!”. One must not forget that the bishop had great devotion to the Mother of God and as as a Marian devotee held in his residential chapel a picture of the Virgin of Klokočov, in front of which he prayed every day and to whose protection he entrusted himself and the whole eparchy.
On 13 April 1939 he was appointed apostolic administrator in Slovakia of the Apostolic Administration of Mukačevo. In the difficult situation of the Slovak State he became a “thorn in the flesh” for the representatives of the government of the time and so offered his resignation from the post – in fact the Holy Father refused his resignation but also made him residential bishop of Prešov. And so on 8 August 1940 he was solemnly enthroned at Prešov and then on 15 January 1946 confirmed in his jurisdiction over the Greek-Catholics in the whole of Czecho-Slovakia.
The progress in religious and spiritual life in the eparchy that followed the personal example and fervour of Bishop Pavol was interrupted by the events of war and especially with the coming to power of the communists in 1948. Their ideological programme made itself felt above all against the Greek-Catholic Church. Bishop Gojdič resisted any initiative to submit the Greek-Catholics to Russian orthodoxy assisted by the communist party and the power of the State, even though he knew he was risking persecution and arrest, maybe even death. Gradually he was isolated from the clergy and the faithful.
Even though put under severe pressure to renounce the Catholic faith and break unity with the Pope, he refused every attractive offer and exclaimed: “I am already 62 and sacrifice all my goods and residence but I will not deny my faith in any way because I want to save my soul. Do not even speak to me.”
During the sad event of Sobor of Prešov, 28 April 1950, when the State outlawed the Greek-Catholic Church and forbade her activity, Bishop Pavol Gojdič was arrested and interned. Thus began his via crucis in many prisons of what was Czecho-Slovakia, which ended with his death. In the days from the 11 to the 15 of January 1951 in a trial set up against the so called high treason Bishops (Vojtaššák, Buzalka, and Gojdič) he was given a life sentence; fined two hundred thousand crowns and deprived of all his civic rights. Transfers from one prison to another followed. Blessed Pavol suffered physical and psychological punishments, humiliations; he was forced to do the most difficult and degrading jobs. However, he never complained and never asked to be relieved. He made use of every available time to pray and celebrated the sacred liturgy in secret. Following the amnesty in 1953, given by State President A. Zapotocký, his life sentence was changed to 25 years detention. He was then 66 and his state of health deteriorated continuously. Yet all further requests for amnesty were refused.
Bishop Pavol Gojdič could only leave prison at the cost of his faithfulness to the Church and to the Holy Father. Various offers were made to him, as is proved by an event that he himself recounts: In the prison of Ruzyň he was received in an office, where he had been brought from his cell, by a high official in uniform. They informed him that from that office he could go straight to Prešov, on condition that he was willing to become patriarch of the Ortodox church in Czecho-Slovakia. The bishop refused this offer excusing himself and explaining that this would be a very grave sin against God, a betrayal of the Holy Father, of his conscience and of his faithful, most of whom were then suffering persecution.
Even in the most difficult situation he abandoned himself to the will of God, as can be seen from these words of his: “I do not really know whether it is a gain to exchange the crown of martyrdom with two or three years of life in freedom. But I leave the good Lord to decide”.On the occasion of his 70° birthday even the Holy Father Pius XII sent him a telegram in prison. In it he assured him he would not forget his heroic son. For the bishop this was one of his best days of his life.
A great desire of Blessed Pavol was to die comforted by the sacraments on his birthday. Both desires were fulfilled.
Father Alojz Vrána was transferred to the room of the prison hospital of Leopoldov (Slovakia), where the Bishop passed his last days and could hear his confession. The chalice of suffering of Blessed Pavol was about to overflow. An eye-witness of the last moments of his life was his fellow prisoner – the nurse František Ondruška, who has given a unique testimony. He confirmed that the desire of the bishop had been fulfilled – he died on 17 July 1960 that is on the day of his 72nd birthday. He died in the hospital of the prison of Leopoldov as a result of illness resulting from the ill treatment he had suffered. He was buried without ceremony in the prison cemetery in a nameless tomb, with the prison number 681.
As a result of the easing of the political situation in Czecho-Slovakia in 1968, the state autorities after many delays gave permission for exhuming the mortal remains of Blessed Pavol. This happened in the cemetery of Leopoldov on 29 October 1968 and was followed by the transfer of the remains to Prešov. By a decision of the authorities set up after the soviet occupation, these were transferred to the crypt of Greek-Catholic Cathedral of St John the Baptist in Prešov. From 15 May 1990 they are to be found in a sarcofagus in the chapel of the cathedral.
Cathedral of St John the Baptist
Bishop Pavol Gojdič was legally rehabilitated on 27 September 1990. Subsequently he was decorated posthumously with the Order of T G Masaryk – II class, and with the Cross of Pribina – 1st class.
The Holy Father, St John Paul II during his historic visit in Slovakia, while visiting Prešov, prayed at the tomb of this bishop-martyr in the chapel of the cathedral. He Beatified him on 4 November 2001.
St Alexius of Rome
St Andrew Zorard
Bl Arnold of Himmerod
Bl Bénigne
Bl Biagio of the Incarnation
St Clement of Ohrid
St Cynllo
St Ennodius of Pavia
St Fredegand of Kerkelodor
St Generosus
St Gorazd
St Hedwig, Queen of Poland
St Hyacinth of Amastris
St Kenelm
St Pope Leo IV
St Marcellina
St Nerses Lambronazi
Bl Pavol Gojdic (1888-1960) Martyr
St Petrus Liu Zeyu
Bl Sebastian of the Holy Spirit
Bl Tarsykia Matskiv
St Theodosius of Auxerre
St Theodota of Constantinople
St Turninus
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Martyrs of Compiegne (16 beati): Sixteen Blessed Teresian Martyrs of Compiègne.
Eleven Discalced Carmelite nuns, three lay sisters and two lay women servants who were martyred together in the French Revolution. They were the earliest martyrs of the French Revolution that have been recognized.
• Angelique Roussel • Anne Pelras • Anne-Marie-Madeleine Thouret • Catherine Soiron • élisabeth-Julitte Vérolot • Marie Dufour • Marie Hanniset • Marie-Anne Piedcourt • Marie-Anne-Françoise Brideau • Marie-Claude-Cyprienne Brard • Marie-Françoise de Croissy • Marie-Gabrielle Trezel • Marie-Geneviève Meunier • Marie-Madeleine-Claudine Lidoine • Rose-Chretien de Neuville • Thérèse Soiron •
They were guillotined on 17 July 1794 at the Place du Trône Renversé (modern Place de la Nation) in Paris, France.
Martyrs of Scillium (12 saints): A group of twelve Christians martyred together, the final deaths in the persecutions of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Upon their conviction for the crime of being Christians, the group was offered 30 days to reconsider their allegiance to the faith; they all declined. Their official Acta still exist. Their names –
• Acyllinus • Cythinus • Donata • Felix • Generosa • Januaria • Laetantius • Narzales • Secunda • Speratus • Vestina • Veturius
They were beheaded on 17 July 180 in Scillium, Numidia (in North Africa).
Thought for the Day – 16 July – The Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
A 1996 doctrinal statement approved by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments states that:
“Devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel is bound to the history and spiritual values of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and is expressed through the scapular. Thus, whoever receives the scapular becomes a member of the order and pledges him/herself to live according to its spirituality in accordance with the characteristics of his/her state in life.”
According to the Church on the Brown Scapular:
“The scapular is a Marian habit or garment. It is both a sign and pledge. A sign of belonging to Mary, a pledge of her motherly protection, not only in this life but after death.
As a sign, it is a conventional sign signifying three elements strictly joined:
first, belonging to a religious family particularly devoted to Mary, especially dear to Mary, the Carmelite Order;
second, consecration to Mary, devotion to and trust in her Immaculate Heart;
third, an urge to become like Mary by imitating her virtues, above all her humility, chastity and spirit of prayer.”
The Shorter Form of Blessing and Bestowing the Scapular of Our Lady of Mt Carmel.
The Postulant kneels before the Priest, who is vested in surplice and white stole and the Priest says:
V. Show us Your mercy, O Lord.
R. And grant us Your salvation.
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto You.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with Your spirit. Let us pray:
O Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of men, bless † with Your right hand this habit which, for Your love and for the love of Your holy Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, this Your Servant (Handmaid) shall wear devoutly, so that, through the intercession of the same Blessed Virgin, Your Mother, he (she) may be guarded against the wicked one and remain until death in Your grace. Who lives and reigns, world without end.
R. Amen.
The Priest sprinkles the Scapular with holy water and, placing it upon the shoulders of the postulant, says:
Receive this blessed habit and pray the most Holy Virgin
that by her merits you may bear it without stain
and that she may guard you from all adversity
and bring thee unto life everlasting.
R. Amen.
By the power that has been granted to me, I admit you to share in all the spiritual blessings which, through the cooperation of our merciful Saviour, Jesus Christ, are obtained by the Religious of Mount Carmel.
In the name of the Father and of the Son, † and of the Holy Ghost.
R. Amen
Almighty God, the Creator of heaven and earth, bless † you, He Who has vouchsafed to join you unto the Society and Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel; let us beseech her, therefore, that in the our of your death she may bruise the head of the old serpent and that you may obtain the palm of victory and the crown of inheritance everlasting. Through Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.
Then the Priest sprinkles the Recipient with holy water.
Notice--Scapulars of Our Lady of Mount Carmel can now be replaced by a MEDAL, having on one side the image of Our Lord showing His Sacred Heart and on the other, the image of the Blessed Virgin; even, ONE such medal can replace SEVERAL scapulars: but, then, it must receive just as many blessings as there are scapulars to be replaced, one sign of the Cross, however, suffices for each blessing.
Our Morning Offering – 16 July – The Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Prayer to Our Lady of Mount Carmel
O all-blessed, immaculate Virgin,
ornament and glory of Mount Carmel,
you, who looks with most gracious countenance,
on those who have been clothed
with your venerable livery,
look kindly also on me
and take me under the mantle
of your maternal protection.
Strengthen my weakness with your might;
enlighten the darkness of my heart
with your wisdom;
increase in me faith, hope and charity.
So adorn my souls with graces and virtues
that it may always be dear to your divine Son and to you.
Assist me during life,
comfort me in death with your most sweet presence
and present me as your child and faithful servant
to the most Holy Trinity,
that I may be enabled
to praise and extol you in heaven forever.
Amen (Say 3xHail Mary’s and 3xGlory Be’s)
Saint of the Day – 16 July – Blessed Bartholomew of the Martyrs or St Bartholomew of Braga O.P. ArchBishop of Braga (1514-1590) – Portuguese Dominican Friar and Priest, Writer, Theologian, Advisor, Teacher and Catechetical writer, Apostle of Charity founding a series of hospitals and hospices in Braga and surrounds – born as Bartolomeu Fernandes on 3 May 1514 in Lisbon, Portugal and died on 16 July 1590 in the monastery of Viana do Castelo, Minho, Portugal of natural causes. Patronage – Archdiocese of Braga.
Blessed Bartholomew was born near Lisbon on 3 May 1514 to Domingos Fernandes and Maria Correia. He was baptised mere hours after, in the local parish church of Nossa Senhora dos Mártires.
He entered the Order of Preachers on 11 November 1527 and later made his solemn profession into the order on 20 November 1529. On the completion of his own studies in 1538 he taught philosophical studies in the Convent of the Order at Lisbon and then for about two decades taught theological studies in the various houses of the Dominicans. In 1551 he received his Master’s degree at the provincial chapter of Salamanca in Spain. He also served as the prior of the Benfica Convent from 1557 to 1558 and was in Évora as a teacher from 1538 until 1557.
During the course of teaching theological studies at the Batalha Convent, he was summoned to Évora at the request of Luis of Portugal, Duke of Beja to undertake the religious education of his son who was entering the ecclesiastical life himself. He dedicated a great deal of his time to this task.
In 1558 – against his own desires – and out of obedience to his provincial superior (the Venerable Louis of Granada (1505-1588) he accepted the appointment to the Archepiscopal see of Braga for which Queen Catherine had chosen him and in 1559 received his episcopal consecration at the Convent of Saint Dominic on 3 September 1559 from the Bishop of Coimbra João Soares. In actual fact it was Luis of Grenada who was initially nominated to become the Archbishop though Luis urged the queen to select Fernandes instead. Pope Paul IV confirmed this appointment in the papal bull “Gratiae divinae praemium” on 27 January 1559. He devoted himself to the duties of his new office with his installation in his Archdiocese on 4 October 1559.
On the resumption of the Council of Trent in 1561, the Archbishop repaired to the Council and took part in the last sessions. He made a total of 268 suggestions at the council and collaborated with Saint Charles Borromeo. There was also one instance in which he pushed for the defense of a certain topic and opposed view of the Archbishop of Toledo Bartolomé Carranza. He was esteemed and held in high regard among the Council Fathers both on the account of his theological learning and the holiness of his life. Bartholomew exercised great influence in the discussions and more so with regard to the decrees on the reform of ecclesiastical life and development. The conclusion of that council saw him return to Braga in February 1564 and in 1566 he held an important provincial gathering of the diocese, in which decrees were passed for the restoration of ecclesiastical discipline and the elevation of the moral life of priests and people (“Concilium provinciale Bracarense quartum” in 1567). As Archbishop, Bartholomew now devoted himself to the task of enacting the reforms of the Council of Trent in addition to the decrees of his own provincial synod.
A great famine and a visitation of the plague, revealed the depths of his charitable and merciful nature, in addition to his willingness to aid his flock in their time of need; he also constructed a series of hospitals and hospices.
He made repeated requests to resign from his episcopal see and received papal permission from Pope Gregory XIII on 20 February 1582 to resign and withdraw to the Dominican Convent at Viana do Castelo where he lived in solitude for the remainder of his life but also serving as a teacher for some time.
Blessed Bartholomew died at Viana do Castelo on 16 July 1590.
The sainthood process commenced under Pope Benedict XIV on 11 September 1754 and he was titled as a Servant of God while Pope Gregory XVI later named him as Venerable on 23 May 1845. St Pope John Paul II Beatified Bartholomew in Saint Peter’s Square on 4 November 2001. Pope Francis – on 20 January 2016 – authorised the C.C.S. to work towards the Equipollent Canonization of the late archbishop and authorised that the second miracle required for his Canonization be waived as a result. It is probable that Blessed Bartholomew will be Canonised soon.
Blessed Bartholomew’s writings have been republished on numerous occasions and have also been translated into several languages. A collective edition is: “Opera omnia cura et studio Malachiae d’Inguinbert, archiepisc. Theodos.” (1 vol. Fol. In 2 parts, Rome, 1734–35).
Bl André de Soveral
St Andrew the Hermit
St Antiochus of Sebaste
Bl Arnold of Clairvaux
Bl Arnold of Hildesheim
St Athenogenes of Sebaste
Bl Bartholomew of Braga O.P. ArchBishop of Braga also known as Bl Bartholomew of the Martyrs (Bartolomeu Fernandez dei Martiri Fernandes) (1514-1590)
St Benedict the Hermit
Bl Claude Beguignot
Bl Domingos Carvalho
St Domnin
St Domnio of Bergamo
Bl Dorothée-Madeleine-Julie de Justamond
St Elvira of Ohren
St Eugenius of Noli
St Faustus
St Faustus of Rome and Milan
St Fulrad of Saint Denis
St Generosus of Poitou
St Gobbán Beg
St Gondolf of Saintes
St Grimoald of Saintes
St Helier of Jersey
Bl Irmengard
Bl John Sugar
St Landericus of Séez
Bl Madeleine-Françoise de Justamond
Bl Marguerite-Rose de Gordon
Bl Marguerite-Thérèse Charensol
Bl Marie-Anne Béguin-Royal
Bl Marie-Anne Doux
St Marie Madeline Postel
Bl Marie-Rose Laye
Bl Milon of Thérouanne
Bl Nicolas Savouret
Bl Ornandus of Vicogne
St Paulus Lang Fu
St Reinildis of Saintes
Bl Robert Grissold
Bl Simão da Costa
St Sisenando of Cordoba
St Tenenan of Léon
St Teresia Zhang Heshi
St Valentine of Trier
St Vitalian of Capua
St Vitaliano of Osimo
St Yangzhi Lang
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Martyrs of Antioch – 5 saints: Five Christians who were martyred together. No details about them have survived by the names – Dionysius, Eustasius, Maximus, Theodosius and Theodulus. They were martyred in Antioch, Syria, date unknown.
Thought for the Day – 15 July – Fifteenth Sunday of the Year – the Memorial of St Bonaventure (1221-1274) – Seraphic Doctor
Perhaps not a household name for most people, Saint Bonaventure, nevertheless, played an important role in both the medieval Church and the history of the Franciscan Order. A senior faculty member at the University of Paris, Saint Bonaventure certainly captured the hearts of his students through his academic skills and insights. But more importantly, he captured their hearts through his Franciscan love for Jesus and the Church. Like his model, Saint Francis, Jesus was the centre of everything—his teaching, his administration, his writing, and his life . So much so, that he was given the title “Seraphic Doctor.”
Bonaventure so united holiness and theological knowledge that he rose to the heights of mysticism while remaining a very active preacher and teacher, one beloved by all who met him. To know him was to love him; to read him is still for us today to meet a true Franciscan and a gentleman.
In his bull of Canonisation, Pope Sixtus IV wrote:
Bonaventure was great in learning but no less great in humility and holiness. His innocence and dove-like simplicity were such that Alexander of Hales, the renowned doctor whose disciple Saint Bonaventure became, used to say of him that it seemed as though Adam had never sinned in him.
A man of eminent learning and eloquence and of outstanding holiness, he was known for his kindness, approachableness, gentleness and compassion. – Pope Gregory X on hearing of the death of Bonaventure.
Let us learn from the great Saint himself, to grow in the fruits he possessed in such abundance – humility, kindness, gentleness, charity, chastity, generosity, joy, peace, patience, faithfulness, modesty and self-control. (Matthew 7: 15-20)
“We must beg the Holy Spirit, with ardent longing, to give us these fruits. The Holy Spirit alone, knows how to bring to light, the sweetness hidden away under the rugged exterior of the words of the Law. We must go to the Holy Spirit for interior guidance.”
St Bonaventure from Holiness of Life
St Bonaventure, Pray for us!
Prayer To Obtain the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit By St Bonaventure (1221-1274) – Seraphic Doctor
We, therefore, pray to the most kind Father through You, His only-begotten Son, who for us became man, was crucified and glorified, that He send us out of His treasures the Spirit of sevenfold grace who rested upon You in all fullness: the Spirit, I say, of WISDOM, that we may taste the life-giving flavours of the fruit of the tree of life, which You truly are; the gift also of UNDERSTANDING, by which the intentions of our mind are illumined; the gift of COUNSEL, by which we may follow in Your footsteps on the right paths; the gift of FORTITUDE, by which we may be able to weaken the violence of our enemies’ attacks; the gift of KNOWLEDGE, by which we may be filled with the brilliant light of Your sacred teaching to distinguish good and evil; the gift of PIETY, by which we may acquire a merciful heart; the gift of FEAR, by which we may draw away from all evil and be set at peace by submitting in awe to Your eternal majesty. for You have wished that we ask for these things in that sacred prayer which You have taught us; and now we ask to obtain them, through Your cross, for the praise of Your most Holy Name. to You, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be honour and glory, thanksgiving, beauty and power, forever and ever. Amen
-From Prayer “To Obtain the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit” included at the closing The Tree of Life” ― Bonaventure, Bonaventure: The Soul’s Journey into God, the Tree of Life, the Life of St. Francis
Quote/s of the Day – 15 July – Fifteenth Sunday of the Year – the Memorial of St Bonaventure (1221-1274) – Seraphic Doctor
“God might have created a more beautiful world; He might have made heaven more glorious; but it was impossible for Him to exalt a creature higher than Mary in making her His Mother.”
“When we pray, the voice of the heart must be heard, more than that, proceeding from the mouth.”
“Although you feel tepid, approach with confidence, for the greater your infirmity, the more you stand in need of a physician.”
“Every creature is a divine word because it proclaims God.”
“Christ has something in common with all creatures. With the stone He shares existence, with the plants He shares life, with the animals He shares sensation and with the angels He shares intelligence. Thus all things are transformed in Christ since in the fullness of His nature, He embraces some part of every creature.”
One Minute Reflection – 15 July – Fifteenth Sunday of the Year – the Memorial of St Bonaventure (1221-1274) – Seraphic Doctor – 2nd Reading Ephesians 1:3-14.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him.” … Ephesians 1:3-4.
REFLECTION – “Christ is both the way and the door. Christ is the staircase and the vehicle, like the “throne of mercy over the Ark of the Covenant” and “the mystery hidden from the ages.” A man should turn his full attention to this throne of mercy and should gaze at Him hanging on the cross, full of faith, hope and charity, devoted, full of wonder and joy, marked by gratitude and open to praise and jubilation. Then such a man will make with Christ a “pasch,” that is, a passing-over. Through the branches of the cross he will pass over the Red Sea, leaving Egypt and entering the desert. There he will taste the hidden manna and rest with Christ in the sepulcher, as if he were dead to things outside. He will experience, as much as is possible for one who is still living, what was promised to the thief who hung beside Christ: “Today you will be with me in paradise.” – from Journey of the Mind to God by Saint Bonaventure
PRAYER – God our Father, we are Your children and You have set us aside to come home to You by the light of the way of Your divine Son. Grant we pray, that we may grow in faith and love daily, by the intercession of Saint Bonaventure and may be a light of love, to all around us. We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.
Saint of the Day – 15 July – St Bonaventure O.F.M. (1221-1274) – Doctor of the Church – known as the “Seraphic Doctor” – Friar, Bishop, Theologian, Philosopher, Writer, Mystic, Preacher, Teacher.
Sanctity and learning raised Bonaventure to the Church’s highest honours and from a child he was the companion of Saints. Yet at heart he was ever the poor Franciscan friar and practised and taught humility and mortification.
Francisco de Herrera the Elder 1576 – 1656 St Bonaventure Enters the Franciscan Order 1628
St Francis gave him his name, for, having miraculously cured him of a mortal sickness, he prophetically exclaimed of the child, “O bona ventura!”-good luck.
Francisco de Herrera the Elder 1576 – 1656 The Cure of Saint Bonaventure as a Child by St Francis 1628
He is known also as the “Seraphic Doctor,” from the fervour of divine love which breathes in his writings. He was the friend of S. Thomas Aquinas, who asked him one day whence he drew his great learning. He replied by pointing to his crucifix. At another time St Thomas found him in ecstasy while writing the life of St Francis and exclaimed, “Let us leave a Saint to write of a Saint.” They received the Doctor’s cap together.
Francisco de Zurbarán 1598 -1664 Saint Bonaventure and St Thomas Aquinas before the Crucifix 1629 (lost in 1945)
He was the guest and adviser of St Louis and the spiritual director of St Isabella, the king’s sister. At the age of thirty-five in 1257 he was made general of his Order and only escaped another dignity, the Archbishopric of York, by dint of tears and entreaties. Gregory X appointed him Cardinal Bishop of Albano.
When the Saint heard of the Pope’s resolve to create him a Cardinal, he quietly made his escape from Italy. But Gregory sent him a summons to return to Rome. On his way, he stopped to rest himself at a convent of his Order near Florence and there two Papal messengers, sent to meet him with the Cardinal’s hat, found him washing the dishes. The Saint desired them to hang the hat on a bush that was near and take a walk in the garden until he had finished what he was about. Then taking up the hat with unfeigned sorrow, he joined the messengers and paid them the respect due to their character.
He sat at the Pontiff’s right hand and spoke first at the Council of Lyons. His piety and eloquence won over the Greeks to Catholic union and then his strength failed.
Francisco de Zurbarán 1598 -1664 Saint Bonaventure at the Council of Lyon (1274) (c.1630)
He died while the Council was sitting and was buried by the assembled bishops, on 15 July 1274.
Francisco de Zurbarán 1598 -1664 The Exposition of the Body of St Bonaventure (c.1630)
For more details on St Bonaventure’s life here: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/07/15/saint-of-the-day-15-july-st-bonaventure-seraphic-doctor/
St Bonaventure of Bagnoregio O.F.M. (1221-1274) – Seraphic Doctor of the Church -(Memorial)
Dispersion of the Apostles: Commemorates the missionary work of the Twelve Apostles. It was first mentioned in the 11th century and was celebrated in the northern countries of Europe during the Middle Ages. It is now observed in Germany, Poland and some dioceses of England, France and the United States.
St Abundantia of Spoleto
St Abudemius of Bozcaada
St Adalard the Younger
St Anrê Nguyen Kim Thông
Bl Anne Mary Javhouhey
Bl Antoni Beszta-Borowski
St Apronia
St Athanasius of Naples
St Antiochus of Sebaste
St Benedict of Angers
Bl Bernard of Baden
Bl Ceslas Odrowaz
St David of Sweden
St Donivald
St Eberhard of Luzy
St Edith of Tamworth
St Eternus
St Felix of Pavia
St Gumbert of Ansbach
St Haruch of Werden
St Jacob of Nisibis
St Joseph Studita of Thessalonica
Bl Michel-Bernard Marchand
Bl Peter Aymillo
St Phêrô Nguyen Bá Tuan
St Plechelm of Guelderland
Bl Roland of Chézery
St Valentina of Nevers
St Vladimir I of Kiev
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Martyred Jesuit Missionaries of Brazil – 40 beati: A band of forty Spanish, Portugese and French Jesuit missionaries martyred by the Huguenot pirate Jacques Sourie while en route to Brazil. They are –
• Aleixo Delgado • Alonso de Baena • álvaro Borralho Mendes • Amaro Vaz • André Gonçalves • António Correia • Antônio Fernandes • António Soares • Bento de Castro • Brás Ribeiro • Diogo de Andrade • Diogo Pires Mimoso • Domingos Fernandes • Esteban Zuraire • Fernando Sánchez • Francisco Alvares • Francisco de Magalhães • Francisco Pérez Godoy • Gaspar Alvares • Gonçalo Henriques • Gregorio Escribano • Ignatius de Azevedo • Iõao • João Fernandes • João Fernandes • Juan de Mayorga • Juan de San Martín • Juan de Zafra • Luís Correia • Luís Rodrigues • Manuel Alvares • Manuel Fernandes • Manuel Pacheco • Manuel Rodrigues • Marcos Caldeira • Nicolau Dinis • Pedro de Fontoura • Pedro Nunes • Simão da Costa • Simão Lopes •
They were martyed on 15 and 16 July 1570 on the ship Santiago near Palma, Canary Islands. They were beatified on 11 May 1854 by Pope Pius IX.
Martyrs of Alexandria – 13 saints: Thirteen Christians who were martyred together. We know the names of three, no details about them and the other ten were all children. – Narseus, Philip and Zeno. Martyred in the early 4th-century in Alexandria, Egypt.
Martyrs of Carthage – 9 saints: A group of nine Christians who were martyred together. We know nothing else but their names – Adautto, Catulinus, Felice, Florentius, Fortunanziano, Januarius, Julia, Justa and Settimino. They were martyred in Carthaginian and their relics at the basilica of Fausta at Carthage.
Martyrs of Pannonia – 5 saints: Five 4th-century martyrs killed together. No information about them has survived except the names – Agrippinus, Fortunatus, Martialis, Maximus and Secundinus.
Thought for the Day – 14 July – The Memorial of St Camillus de Lellis (1550-1614) “The Giant of Charity”
Every day in the wards of hospitals or in the streets, wherever Camillus was in contact with the sick, he encountered Christ on the crucifix who became for him a daily partner. Not only did he think about Him and pray to Him but he also housed Him, fed Him, gave Him water to drink and clothed Him. He gave himself and in his self-giving he felt that he was the beneficiary. ‘This crucified Christ’, he exclaimed, ‘has helped me and comforted me a great deal and certainly, I do not merit all the graces, He has done me’. He attributed to Him the merit of founding the Institute: ‘In the foundation of this little plant a lion heart could have lost himself, as well as a miserable man such as I am, if the crucified Christ had not helped and comforted me’. The signs of the cross were also impressed on his afflicted body: – his leg with its sore, the corns on his feet, his kidney stones, the hernia in his groin and the tumour in his stomach. In his testament he declared his self-abandonment to the crucified Christ, to whom he commended himself like the prodigal son who went back to his father and the good thief who called for mercy.
The crucified Christ entered his life and was never to leave him. Camillus wanted to have on his habit the Sign of the Cross in order ‘to demonstrate that this is a religion of the Cross…so that those who want to follow our way of life will get ready…to follow Jesus Christ unto death’. He wanted it to be dark red ‘because more like the true wood of the most holy Cross on which the Redeemer of the World died and was appended’.
In the exercise of this very demanding and radical service to the sick, Camillus was guided by the Holy Spirit along the two fundamental lines of evangelical love: 1) recognising that we are serving Christ in the person of the sick and 2) being an expression of the merciful Christ who is serving the sick. Camillus really identified the suffering Christ in the sick to the point of calling them ‘my Lords and Masters’. Camillus brought about the complete service to the sick by concentrating on their spiritual and corporeal needs.
For the Order of the Ministers of the Infirm, the Fourth Vow, that is the vow along with the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, to serve the sick with total commitment at the risk of one’s life, represents the special feature of their particular style of consecrated religious life. For Camillians serving the sick is the ‘locus theologicus’ where it fulfils and expresses its identity as a community of men, consecrated to God and entrusted with mission of establishing the Kingdom as a means of salvation for all the sick.
One Minute Reflection – 14 July – The Memorial of St Camillus de Lellis (1550-1614)
Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it so much as dawned on man what God has prepared for those who love him………1 Cor 2:9
REFLECTION – “The happiness to which I aspire is greater than anything on earth. Therefore, I regard with extreme joy, whatever pains and sufferings may befall me here.”………St Camillus de Lellis
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, keep our minds fixed on the surpassing joys stored up for us in heaven. And let us be willing to put up with all sufferings and pains that may come upon us for the reparation of sin. Grant that by the intercession of St Camillus de Lellis, we may grow in holiness, amen.
Saint of the Day – 14 July – St Camillus de Lellis M.I. (1550-1614) Priest and Founder, known as “The Giant of Charity”.
St Camillus assisting during the flooding of the Tiber
The early years of Camillus gave no sign of sanctity. At the age of nineteen he took service with his father, an Italian noble, against the Turks and after four years hard campaigning found himself, through his violent temper, reckless habits and inveterate passion for gambling, a discharged soldier and in such straitened circumstances that he was obliged to work as a labourer on a Capuchin convent which was then being built. A few words from a Capuchin friar brought about his conversion and he resolved to become a religious.
Thrice he entered the Capuchin novitiate but each time an obstinate wound in his leg forced him to leave. He repaired to Rome for medical treatment and there took St Philip as his confessor and entered the hospital of St Giacomo, of which he became in time the superintendent. The carelessness of the paid chaplains and nurses towards the suffering patients now inspired him, with the thought of founding a congregation to minister to patients. Members of his order worked in hospitals, prisons and in the homes of those afflicted by disease. The order’s original name, the “Fathers of a Good Death,” reflected the desire to aid in their spiritual salvation and prepare the dying to receive their last rites. Later known as the Order of the Ministers of the Sick, or simply as the “Camillians,” the group received papal approval in 1586 and was confirmed as a religious order in 1591. In addition to the traditional vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, they took a vow of unfailing service to the sick.
Summoned at every hour of the day and night, the devotion of Camillus never grew cold. With a woman’s tenderness he attended to the needs of his patients. He wept with them, consoled them and prayed with them. He knew miraculously, the state of their souls and St Philip saw angels whispering to two Servants of the Sick who were consoling a dying person. One day a sick man said to the Saint, “Father, may I beg you to make up my bed? it is very hard.” Camillus replied, “God forgive you, brother! You beg me! Don’t you know yet that you are to command me, for I am your servant and slave.”“Would to God,” he would cry, “that in the hour of my death one sigh or one blessing of these poor creatures might fall upon me!”
Camillus himself suffered physical ailments throughout his life. His leg wound failed to heal over the course of almost five decades, in addition to which he suffered from sores and severe kidney trouble. But he is said to have spent time with the sick even while unable to walk, by crawling from bed to bed.
The founder of the Ministers of the Sick lived to assist at a general chapter of his order in Rome during 1613 and to make a last visitation of many of their hospitals. Learning that he himself was incurably ill, Camillus responded: “I rejoice in what has been told me. We shall go into the house of the Lord.”
Receiving the Eucharist for the last time, he declared: “O Lord, I confess I am the most wretched of sinners, most undeserving of your favour but save me by your infinite goodness. My hope is placed in your divine mercy through your precious blood.”
After giving his last instructions to his fellow Ministers of the Sick, St Camillus de Lellis died on 14 July 1614. He was Canonised by Benedict XIV in 1746 and later named – along with Saint John of God – as one of the two main co-patrons of nurses and nursing associations in 1930.
Our Lady of Dromon: Saint-Geniez, Alpes de Haute-Provence, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France
In 1656, about 2.5 miles from the alpine village of Saint-Geniez, as 12-year-old herder Honoré was praying before a wooden cross on a stone mound, he heard the voice of the Blessed Virgin asking him to dig there to uncover chapels dedicated to her long ago. Excavations on the mountain located a crypt chapel dating back to around 1000, on the site of the ancient city of Theopolis. The upper chapel holds an alabaster statue of the Virgin and Child from the 1600s. The annual pilgrimage takes place on Bastille Day, 14 July.
Bl Angelina di Marsciano
Bl Boniface of Canterbury
St Colman of Killeroran
St Cyrus of Carthage
St Deusdedit of Canterbury
St Donatus of Africa
Bl Dorotea Llamanzares Fernández
St Francis Solano
Bl Giorgio of Lauria
Bl Hroznata of Bohemia
Bl Humbert of Romans
St Idus of Ath Fadha
St Ioannes Wang Kuixin
St Just
St Justus of Rome
St Kateri Tekakwitha (Optional Memorial USA)
St Liebert
St Marchelm
Bl Michael Ghebre
St Optatian of Brescia
St Papias of Africa
Bl Toscana of Verona
St Ulric of Zell
One Minute Reflection – 13 July – The Memorial of St Henry (972-1024) Holy Roman Emperor
Not on bread alone is man to live but on every utterance that comes from the mouth of God………….Matthew 4:4
REFLECTION – “These are fountains of salvation, that they who thirst, may be satisfied, with the living words they contain. In these is proclaimed the doctrine of godliness. Let no man add to these, neither let him take out from these.”…….St Athanasius of Alexandria (297-373) Father and Doctor of the Church
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, inspire me to meditate on Your holy words every day and fill me with Your Holy Spirit, that I might not only understand them but be filled with the desire to follow and live their instructions. May they be a consolation, a strength and an assistance on my journey to You. St Henry – you were inspired and strove to live by the Holy Scriptures, please pray for us all, amen.
Saint of the Day – 13 July – Saint Clelia Barbieri (1847-1870) – Foundress of the Congregation of the “Suore Minime dell’Addolorata” Little Sisters of the Mother of Sorrows, Catechist, Mystic – Born on 13 February 1847 in Le Budrie di Persiceto, Bologna, Papal States and died on 13 July 1870 (aged 23) in Le Budrie di Persiceto, Bologna, Kingdom of Italy. Patronages – Little Sisters of the Mother of Sorrows, Catechists, People ridiculed for their piety.
Clelia Barbieri was born to Giacinta Nannetti and Giuseppe Barbieri, on 13 February 1847 in a village called “Budrie” of St Giovanni in Persiceto in the outskirts of Bologna, Italy and in the Archdiocese of Bologna.
Her parents were of different origins: Giuseppe Barbieri came from perhaps the poorest family of “Budrie” while Giacinta from the most important family in town: he worked as servant for Giacinta’s uncle, the district’s medical doctor, while she was the daughter of the well-to-do Pietro Nannetti. After her much-contested wedding, the wealthy Giacinta accepted the poverty of a labourer’s life and moved from a comfortable home to the humble cottage of her father-in-law, Sante Barbieri; nevertheless forming a family built on the rock of faith and a totally Christian life.
In line with her mother’s expressed wish, she was baptised Clelia Rachele Maria on the very day of her birth. Her mother taught Clelia to love God early in her life placing in her heart the desire for sanctity. One day Clelia asked her, “Mother, how can I become a saint?” In the meantime Clelia also learned the art of sewing, spinning and weaving kemp which was the most important work of the district.
In 1855, during a cholera epidemic the then eight-year-old Clelia lost her father and through the generosity of her uncle, the doctor, she, her mother and younger sister Ernestina moved into a more comfortable house near the parish church. For Clelia the days became more saintly and dedicated. Anyone who wanted to see her could always find her either at home weaving and sewing or in church praying. Although it was usual at that time to receive First Communion almost at adulthood, Clelia due to her unusual catechistic preparation and spirituality, made hers on 17 June 1858, at only eleven years of age. This was a decisive day for Clelia’s future since it was then that she had her first mystic experience: exceptional contrition and repentance for her own sins and those of the world. She underwent anguish and suffering for the sins that crucified Christ and for the sorrows of Our Lady. From the day of her First Communion, the crucifix and Our Lady of Sorrows inspired her saintly soul.
At the same time she had a first inspiration as to her future which she perceived as based on prayer and good works.
In adoration before the Holy Tabernacle she was motionless, rapt in prayer, while at home she was the companion and model for the other working girls. Far more mature than her years, she found in her work the first contact with the girls of “Budrie” where working hemp fibers was the main occupation and where all were engaged in this hard work. Clelia brought something particularly personal to her little world, she worked with joy and love, praying and thinking of God at all times and even speaking of Him to her companions.
While Clelia was not Martha, (completely devoted to the cares of the world), yet she dedicated herself lovingly to the service of those most loved by Our Lord, the very poor, to the extent that her delicate hands were marked early in her short life with the hard labours she undertook. While Clelia was not Mary who abandoned, excluded and neglected everything to prostrate herself in love and devotion, yet Clelia had no other thought, no other love than that for Our Lord whom she carried in her heart and soul as she walked with Him through life as if already in His world. She lived in charity, completely dedicated to loving her fellowmen without restraint. She forgot and even ignored her body. She was happy to belong to the Lord and her happiness rested, in fact, in thinking only of Him. Something, however, compelled her to turn towards her fellowmen, the poorest and most tried, who often waited in vain for some small sign of love and brotherhood. A fervent faith burned inside her and she felt that she “must go” to give herself to all of God’s poor. She loved that solitude which would permit her to reach God more fully but she left the protection of her home and went forth inspired by her all-consuming love for mankind.
At this time in history, there existed in the Church a group called “The Christian Catechism Workers” who were mainly men whose aim it was to combat the prevalent religious negligence of the times. At “Budrie” the group was led by an elderly schoolteacher. Clelia became one of the Christian Catechism Workers. Then, at “Budrie” with her acceptance, the catechism group was reborn and attracted others with her very same dedication and faith. At first, Clelia was admitted as an assistant teacher and was the least important member but soon her surprising talents and preparation evidenced themselves, so that the senior members placed themselves under her leadership.
Having rejected several flattering marriage proposals, the group of young ladies which had sprung up from the Catechism group, elected Clelia as their leader and conceived the idea of a community devoted to an apostolic and contemplative way of life. This was to be a life of service which would spring from the Eucharist with daily Holy Communion and would ennoble itself with the teaching of catechism to the farmers and labourers of the area. The idea could not become a reality immediately due to the political situation at the time of Italy’s unification (1866-67). However, it was finally realised on 1 May 1868 when with the bureaucratic and local problems solved, Clelia and her young friends moved into the so-called “teacher’s house” where the Workers for Christian Catechism had formerly met. This was the humble beginning of Clelia Barbieri’s religious family which later was to be named the religious community of the “Suore Minime dell’Addolorata”, Little Sisters of the Mother of Sorrows. “Minime” because of Clelia’s devotion to the saint, Minimo Romito di Paola, St Francesco, patron and provident protector of the young community; “dell’Addolorata” because this title of Our Lady of Sorrows was the most loved of all of Our Lady’s titles by Clelia Barbieri.
After moving into “the teacher’s house”, a series of extraordinary events in the form of assistance to the young community occurred which were undoubtedly the work of Divine Providence and without which the group could never have survived. The small group was inspired by Clelia’s physical and moral sufferings in her darkest hours and in the absurd humiliations she endured at the hands of those who should have been more understanding. However, her faith and devotion in prayer were always extraordinary. In the small “Budrie” community there was faith, a desire for God and a missionary zeal full of creativity and imagination by no means based on any external support which was virtually nonexistent. Clelia was the moving spirit. The small initial group grew as well as the number of poor, sick and young boys and girls needing catechism and religious instruction.
Slowly, the people began to see Clelia as a leader and teacher of the faith. They started calling her “Mother” although she was only twenty-two years old. They called her with this title until her death which came about very shortly. The dormant tuberculosis she had always carried, suddenly flared up only two years after she had founded the order.
Clelia died prophesying to the sister at her bedside, “I’m leaving but I’ll never abandon you. When in that alfalfa field next to the church there will be a new community house, I will no longer be with you … You will grow in number and you will expand over plains and mountains to work in the vineyard of the Lord. The day will come when here at ‘Budrie’ many will arrive with carriages and horses …” And she added, “I’m going to Heaven and all those who will die in our community will enjoy eternal life”.
She died on 13 July 1870 with the happiness of one going to meet her Spouse and beloved Lord. Clelia’s death prophecy has been fulfilled.
Her religious order has expanded and continues to grow. It extends throughout Italy, in India and in Tanzania. Today, the sisters following in Clelia’s footsteps, humbly continue their useful work of assistance to all in need and now number hundreds spread over thirty-five community houses.
Being only twenty three at the time of her death, Clelia Barbieri is the youngest founder of a religious community in the history of the Church.
She was Canonised at Rome on 9 April 1989 by St Pope John Paul II...vatican.va
Barbieri’s death soon resulted in an unusual and unexplained occurrence that has often been reported in the various parishes that she visited and in the houses in which her order is located at. Her voice is often heard during scriptural readings and songs and this voice never speaks alone but is heard as part of a group. People from various backgrounds have reported hearing the voice which is described to be unlike any they have ever heard. The first reported occurrence happened in 1871 when the sisters of her congregation were in their usual evening meditation.
Members of his order worked in hospitals, prisons and in the homes of those afflicted by disease. The order’s original name, the “Fathers of a Good Death,” reflected the desire to aid in their spiritual salvation and prepare the dying to receive their last rites. Later known as the Order of the Ministers of the Sick, or simply as the “Camillians,” the group received papal approval in 1586 and was confirmed as a religious order in 1591. In addition to the traditional vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, they took a vow of unfailing service to the sick.
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