St Maria Anna Blondin (Optional Memorial, Canada)
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St Agia of Hainault
St Anthia of Illyria
St Bitheus
St Calocerus of Brescia
St Cogitosus
St Corebus
St Eleuterius of Illyria
St Eusebius of Fano
St Galdinus of Milan
St Gebuinus of Lyons
St Genocus
Bl Idesbald of Dunes
Bl James Oldo
Bl Joseph Moreau
St Laserian of Leighlin
St Louis Leroy
Bl Luca Passi
Bl Marie of the Incarnation
St Perfecto of Córdoba
St Pusicio
St Wigbert of Augsburg
Category: SAINT of the DAY
Thought for the Day – 17 April
St Stephen Harding had to search long for the kind of life he wished to live for God but he persevered and God rewarded his search. He wanted to live the life of a simple monk but God had other plans. By his fidelity to his chosen vocation, he became the father of a great order, enriching the Church with his own holiness and generations of the Cistercian monks life of prayer. The lesson – don’t give up, keep asking the Lord to show you where you should be, for His glory.
St Stephen Harding, pray for us!
One Minute Reflection – 17 April – Easter Monday 2nd Day of the Octave
One Minute Reflection – 17 April – Easter Monday 2nd Day of the Octave
Meditation for the Day: Help us put our baptism into action.
The women were frightened and yet very happy,
as they hurried from the tomb and ran to tell his disciples.
— Matthew 28:8
REFLECTION – “We imitate Christ’s death by being buried with him in baptism. If we ask what this kind of burial means and what benefit we may hope to derive from it, it means first of all making a complete break with our former way of life and our Lord Himself said that this cannot be done unless a man is born again. In other words, we have to begin a new life and we cannot do so until our previous life has been brought to an end. When runners reach the turning point on a racecourse, they have to pause briefly before they can go back in the opposite direction. So also when we wish to reverse the direction of our lives there must be a pause, or a death, to mark the end of one life and the beginning of another…….Baptism cleanses the soul from the pollution of worldly thoughts and inclinations: You will wash me, says the psalmist and I shall be whiter than snow. We receive this saving baptism only once because there was only one death and one resurrection for the salvation of the world and baptism is its symbol.”………St Basil the Great
Prayer – Loving Father, How do I live the baptismal promises I made again over the weekend? I want to live my life in service of You.
Help me to carry the gift of faith I received from You. Help me to welcome those who joined the church in baptism.
Guide me and give me the courage to live my faith, to accept Your love. Amen
Saint of the Day – 17 April – St Stephen Harding
Saint of the Day – 17 April – St Stephen Harding O.Cist. (1050-1104) Monk, priest, writer, teacher and co-founder of the Cistercian Order – Patron of the Cistercians Attributes: Dressed in the Cistercian habit, abbot’s crozier, holding the Carta caritatis (“Charter of Charity”), a founding document for the Cistercian Order.
Harding was born in Sherborne, Dorset, in the Kingdom of England, and spoke English, Norman, French and Latin. He was placed in Sherborne Abbey at a young age, but eventually left the monastery and became a travelling scholar, journeying with one devout companion, into Scotland and afterwards to Paris and then to Rome. He eventually moved to Molesme Abbey in Burgundy, under the Abbot Robert of Molesme (c. 1027-1111).
When Robert left Molesme to avoid what he perceived to be the abbey’s increasing wealth and overly strong connections to the aristocracy, Harding and Alberic of Cîteaux went with him. Seeing no hope of a sufficient reformation in Molemse, Robert appointed another abbot for the abbey and then, with Alberic, Harding and twenty-one other monks, received permission from Hugh, the Archbishop of Lyons and legate of the Holy See, to found a new monastery in Citeaux, a marshy wilderness five leagues from Dijon. There, they formed a new, more austere, monastery. Eudes, afterwards Duke of Burgundy, built them a little church, which was placed under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin, as all the churches of the Cistercians from that time have been.
Stephen became the third abbot of Cîteaux. However, very few were joining the community and the monks were suffering from hunger and sickness. In 1112, Bernard of Clairvaux entered the community, bringing with him thirty companions. Between 1112 and 1119, a dozen new Cistercian houses were founded to accommodate those joining the young order. Harding’s organisational skills were exceptional; he instituted the system of general chapters and regular visitations. In 1119, he received official approbation for the Carta Caritatis (Charter of Charity), an important document for the Cistercian Order, establishing its unifying principles.
Stephen Harding served Cîteaux Abbey as abbot for twenty-five years. While no single person is considered the founder of the Cistercian Order, the shape of Cistercian thought, and its rapid growth in the 12th century were arguably due to Harding’s leadership. Insisting on simplicity in all aspects of monastic life, he was largely responsible for the severity of Cistercian architecture and the simple beauty of the Order’s liturgy. He was an accomplished scribe for the monastery’s scriptorium; his highest achievement is considered to be the Harding Bible, famous among medieval manuscripts. In 1133, he resigned as head of the order because of age and infirmity. He died on 28 March 1134, and was buried in the tomb of Alberic, his predecessor, in the cloisters at Cîteaux.
In a joint commemoration with Robert of Molesme and Alberic, the first two abbots of Cîteaux, the Roman Catholic Church celebrates Stephen Harding’s in a joint feast day on 26 January too.
The north aisle of the Church of St Sepulchre-without-Newgate in London was formerly a chapel dedicated to him.
Saints – 17 April
Bl Ambrose of Massa
St Anicetus, Pope
St Arnoald of Metz
St Donnan of Eigg
St Elias of Córdoba
St Fortunatus of North Africa
Bl Gervinus of Aldenberg
Bl Henry Heath
St Hermogenes of Melitene
St Innocent of Tortona
St Isidore of Córdoba
Bl James of Cerqueto
St Kateri Tekakwitha
St Landericus of Soignies
St Marcian of North Africa
Bl Mariana of Jesus
St Pantagathus of Vienne
St Paulus of Córdoba
St Peter of Antioch
St Peter of Melitene
St Robert of Chaise Dieu
St Stephen Harding
St Usthazade
St Villicus of Metz
St Wando of Fontenelle
Thought for the Day – 16 April
Thought for the Day – 16 April
In a modern inner city, one local character kneels for hours on the sidewalk and prays. Swathed in his entire wardrobe winter and summer, he greets passersby with a blessing. Where he sleeps no one knows but he is surely a direct spiritual descendant of Benedict, the ragged man who slept in the ruins of Rome’s Colosseum. These days we ascribe such behaviour to mental illness or worse. Benedict’s contemporaries called him holy. Holiness is always a bit mad by earthly standards. St Benedict Joseph discovered his own way to holiness, it might seem strange and “mad” but he realised that he could find God in his own unique way. Whatever the circumstances of our lives, we too can find God there, for holiness is possible anywhere.
St Benedict Joseph Labre, pray for us!
Quote of the Day – 16 April
Quote of the Day – 16 April
“God afflicts us because he loves us; and it is very pleasing to him, when in our afflictions he sees us abandon ourselves to his paternal care.”
St Benedict Joseph Labre
One Minute Reflection – 16 April – Easter Sunday
Through baptism into (Christ’s) death we were buried with him, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead….we too might live a new life………Romans 6:4
REFLECTION – “Christ is our life. Let us therefore look to Christ. He came to suffer in order to merit glory; to seek cotempt in order to be exalted. He came to die but also to rise again.”……………St Augustine
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, through my baptism, I was buried with Christ and rose to a new life of grace. Let me rejoice in the Easter glory of Your Son and so guard my life that I will enjoy it fully in heaven with Him. St Benedict Joseph Labre, you so rightly are called the “Beggar of Perpetual Adoration”, you so perfectly adored our risen Lord who is always with us in the Blessed Sacrament, please pray for us, amen!
Saint of the Day – 16 April – St Benedict Joseph Labre TOSF (1748-1783)
Saint of the Day – 16 April – St Benedict Joseph Labre TOSF (1748-1783) “Beggar of Perpetual Adoration” – Patronages – against insanity and mental illness,bachelors, beggars, homeless people, mentally ill people, people rejected by religious orders, pilgrims – Attributes – beggar in a tri-cornered hat sharing his alms.
St Benedict Joseph Labre was born in 1748 in the village of Amettes, near Arras, in the former Province of Artois in the north of France. He was the eldest of fifteen children of a prosperous shopkeeper, Jean Baptist Labre and his wife, Anne Grandsire.
Labre had an uncle, a parish priest, living some distance from his family home; this uncle gladly received him and undertook his early education for the priesthood. At the age of sixteen, he approached his uncle about becoming a Trappist monk but his parents told him he would have to wait until he grew older. When Benedict was about eighteen, an epidemic fell upon the city, and uncle and nephew busied themselves in the service of the sick. While the uncle took care of the souls and bodies of the people, Benedict went to and fro caring for the cattle. He cleaned their stalls and fed them; exchanging the life of a farm labourer for that of a student under his uncle’s roof. Among the last victims of the epidemic was the uncle himself.
Labre set off for La Trappe Abbey to apply to the Order but did not come up to their requirements. He was under age, he was too delicate, he had no special recommendations. He later attempted to join the Carthusians and Cistercians but each order rejected him as unsuitable for communal life. He was, for about six weeks, a postulant with the Carthusians at Neuville. In November 1769 he obtained admission to the Cistercian Abbey of Sept-Fonts. After a short stay at Sept-Fonts his health gave way and it was decided that his vocation lay elsewhere.
Labre, according to Catholic tradition, experienced a desire, which he considered was given to him by God and inspired by the example of Saint Alexius of Rome and that of the holy Franciscan tertiary pilgrim, Saint Roch, to “abandon his country, his parents, and whatever is flattering in the world to lead a new sort of life, a life most painful, most penitential, not in a wilderness nor in a cloister but in the midst of the world, devoutly visiting as a pilgrim the famous places of Christian devotion”.
Labre joined the Third Order of Saint Francis and settled on a life of poverty and pilgrimage. He first traveled to Rome on foot, subsisting on what he could get by begging. He then travelled to most of the major shrines of Europe, often several times each. He visited the various shrines in Loreto, Assisi, Naples, and Bari in Italy, Einsiedeln in Switzerland, Paray-le-Monial in France and Santiago de Compostela in Spain. During these trips he would always travel on foot, sleeping in the open or in a corner of a room, with his clothes muddy and ragged. On one occasion he stopped at the farmhouse of Matthieu and Marie Vianney, who would later become the parents of the future saint, the Curé d’Ars. He lived on what little he was given and often shared the little he did receive with others. He is reported to have talked rarely, prayed often and accepted quietly the abuse he received.
Benedict Joseph Labre depicted by Antonio Cavallucci (1752–1795)
In so doing, Labre was following in the role of the mendicant, the “Fool-for-Christ” . He would often swoon when contemplating the crown of thorns, in particular, and, during these states, it is said he would levitate or bilocate. He was also said to have cured some of the other homeless he met and to have multiplied bread for them. In the last years of his life (his thirties), he lived in Rome, for a time living in the ruins of the Colosseum and would leave only to make a yearly pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Loreto. He was a familiar figure in the city and known as the “saint of the Forty Hours” (or Quarant’ Ore) for his dedication to Eucharistic adoration.
The day before he died, Labre collapsed in the church of Santa Maria ai Monti, blocks from the Colosseum and despite his protestations was charitably taken to a house behind the church at Via dei Serpenti 2. He died there of malnutrition on 16 April, during Holy Week, in 1783 and was buried in the Church of Santa Maria ai Monti.
S.Maria ai Monti: Tomb of St Benedict Joseph Labre
Saints and Feasts – 16 April
Easter Sunday (2017)
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Bl Arcangelo Canetoli
St Benedict Joseph Labre
St Bernadette of Lourdes
St Drogo
St Elias
St Fructuosus of Braga
St Herveus of Tours
Bl Joachim Piccolomini
St Lambert of Saragossa
St Lambert of Saragossa
St Magnus of Orkney
St Turibius of Astorga
St Vaise
St William Gnoffi
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Martyrs of Avrillé – 26 beati: – A group of lay people who were executed together for their faith during the anti-Christian persecutions of the French Revolution.
• Blessed Anne Maugrain
• Blessed François Micheneau veuve Gillot
• Blessed François Suhard veuve Ménard
• Blessed Jean Ménard
• Blessed Jeanne Gourdon veuve Moreau
• Blessed Jeanne Leduc épouse Paquier
• Blessed Jeanne Onillon veuve Onillon
• Blessed Jeanne Thomas veuve Delaunay
• Blessed Madeleine Cady épouse Desvignes
• Blessed Madeleine Sallé épouse Havard
• Blessed Marguerite Robin
• Blessed Marie Forestier
• Blessed Marie Gingueneau veuve Coiffard
• Blessed Marie Lardeux
• Blessed Marie Piou épouse Supiot
• Blessed Marie Rechard
• Blessed Marie Roger veuve Chartier
• Blessed Marie-Genevieve Poulain de la Forestrie
• Blessed Marthe Poulain de la Forestrie
• Blessed Perrine Bourigault
• Blessed Perrine Laurent
• Blessed Perrine Pottier épouse Turpault
• Blessed Pierre Delépine
• Blessed Renée Bourgeais veuve Juret
• Blessed Renée Rigault épouse Papin
• Blessed Renée Sechet veuve Davy
16 April 1794 at Avrillé, Maine-et-Loire, France – Beatified: 19 February 1984 by Pope John Paul II at Rome, Italy
Martyrs of Corinth – 9 saints: A group of nine Christians who were tortured and martyred together in the persecutions of Decius. We know little more than three of their names – Callistus, Charisius and Leonide. They were thrown into the sea at Corinth, Greece c.250
Martyrs of Saragossa: Group of eighteen martyrs murdered in 304 in Saragossa, Spain in the persecutions of Diocletian and the prefect Dacean. We know little more than the names – Apodemus, Caecilian, Caius, Crementius, Engratia, Eventius, Felix, Fronto, Gaius, Julia, Lambert, Lupercus, Martial, Optatus, Primitivus, Publius, Quintilian, Saturnius (4 men of this name), Succesus and Urban. Their graves re-discovered in 1389 in the crypt under the church of San Encrazia in Saragossa
Thought for the Day – 15 April
Thought for the Day – 15 April
The life of Blessed Cesar de Bus is one of initial indecision, aimless pursuit of worldly pleasure and return to the grace of the Lord. Cesar’s life reminds us that we are all called at different times in our lives to serve—even if we feel unworthy or unable, the Lord sees within us the spark of faith and hope and we are called to nurture that spark into a flame of Love – just be awake and aware, do not resist the inspiration of the Holy Spirit! As we look toward Christ’s Easter triumph over death, we turn inside ourselves, finding our own call to serve others in love.
Blessed Cesar de Bus pray for us!
Saint of the Day – 15 April – Bl Cesar de Bus
Saint of the Day – 15 April – Bl Cesar de Bus (1544-1607) Priest, teacher, Founder of two religious congregations: the Secular Priests of the Christian Doctrine and the Daughters of the Christian Doctrine – Patron of Catechists.
Cesar was born at Cavaillon, France and little is known about his early life, with the exception that he was middle child – the seventh of thirteen children and raised as a pious child.lived both piously and virtuously. At eighteen years old, he joined the French army,and took part in the king’s war against the Huguenots. Back in his home town of Cavaillon, he took over the position of his late brother as canon of Salon, a position he wanted for its income and connections instead of its spiritual significance. One night while on his way to a masked ball, he passed a shrine where a small light was burning before an image of the Virgin Mary. He was suddenly overwhelmed by the memory that a friend, Antoinette Reveillade, had prayed fervently for his salvation. He realised that there was no way he could live a life offending God and then expect to be accepted in the end. There, on the road, he had a complete conversion. He returned to his studies, resumed his pious lifestyle and was soon ordained to the priesthood at the age of 38.
Upon ordination, Cesar immediately distinguished himself by his works of charity, serving all in need. He was profoundly affected reading a biography of Saint Charles Borromeo and tried to take him as a model in all things, especially his devotion to catechesis. He worked as a catechist in Aix-in-Provence, France, an area in turmoil following the Religious Wars. Saint Francis de Sales called him “a star of the first magnitude in the firmament of Catechesis.” He founded the Ursulines of Province and the Fathers of Christian Doctrine (Doctrinarians). The Fathers were destroyed during the French Revolution but an Italian branch, the Doctrinarian Fathers continues today with houses in Italy, France and Brazil. He further demonstrated great effectiveness and zeal in preaching. He focused primarily on those who would receive the Word of God from no one else—those living in horrible conditions, living out of city in the countryside and those marginalised by society. He further focused on catechesis of the family, instructing the parents alongside the children, something which had previously not been done. The congregation was approved by Pope Clement VIII. A few years later, Cesar founded a companion congregation, the Daughters of the Christian Doctrine.
Blessed Cesar wrote five volumes on the Catechism, portions of which continue in use today. His Instructions for the Family on the Four Parts of the Roman Catechism, was published 60 years after his death. He died on Easter Sunday, 15 April 1607 in Avignon, Vaucluse, France of natural causes and his remains are interred in the church of Saint Mary in Monticelli in Rome, Italy. Blessed Pope Paul VI at his Beatification: “He learned in this way to seek and love sacrifice, for sacrifice configures one with Christ, Suffering and Victory. To offer himself as a libation, to leave everything in God’s hand at the cost of the greatest renunciations, this seemed to have been the leitmotif, the perpetual aim of his efforts. And when, at the end of his life, suffering and afflicted with blindness for 14 years, he was at last able to prepare for the supreme gift, he realised how useful asceticism has been to master the old Adam. He was ready to meet the Lord. His joy was perfect.”
He was Beatified on 27 April 1975 by Blessed Pope Paul VI who said at the ceremony:
“The work of Cesar de Bus continues to generate, after three centuries, our admiration. Here’s someone who got it right. He recognised the needs of his time and he responded with equal generosity and efficiency. Attracted by his vision and influence, other enthusiastic men were gradually gathered around him, learning how to approach the catechism and taking a lead from him. Quickly they formed a religious family who, despite the vicissitudes of history, still flourishes today in various countries. Now located in Cavaillon, France, the Fathers of Christian Doctrine know this day our special concern for them, our esteem and they receive our wishes and encouragement! We are pleased to honour them now in the person of their founder.
And we wish the pastors and those responsible for catechetical use, who have followed Blessed Cesar’s example and writings, guiding their thinking and their work. Blessed Caesar de Bus, you who left us the admirable example of a life given to God, who burned with a desire to communicate God’s life with your brothers, now intercede for us with the Lord, for the same Fire consumes us and the same charity urges us. And you, dear brothers and sons, we entrust you to him and we bless you from my heart.”
Saints – 15 April
Holy Saturday (2017)
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St Abbo II of Metz
St Abbondio
St Acuta
St Anastasia of Rome
St Basilissa of Rome
Bl Cesar de Bus
St Crescens of Myra
St Eutyches of Rome
St Eutychius of Ferentino
St Huna of Slättåkra
St Hunna of Alsace
Bl Laurentinus Sossius
St Lidwina
St Maro of Rome
St Maximus of Persia
St Mundus
St Nidger of Augsburg
St Olympiades of Persia
St Ortario of Landelles
St Paternus of Vannes
St Paternus of Wales
St Pausilopo of Thrace
St Ruadhan of Lorrha
St Sylvester of Réome
St Theodore of Thrace
St Victorinus of Rome
St Waltmann of Cambrai
Mercedarian Martyrs of Africa: A group of Mercedarian monks sailing to Africa as on a mission to redeem capture Christians. Captured by Moors, they were tortured and executed for their faith. Martyrs. 1393
Saint of the Day – 14 April – Blessed Peter Gonzalez OP (1190 – 1246)
Saint of the Day – 14 April – Blessed Peter Gonzalez OP. (1190 – 1246) also known as -Pedro González Telmo, Saint Telmo, or Saint Elmo, was a Castilian Priest, and Friar of the Order of Preachers, born in 1190 in Frómista, Palencia, Kingdom of Castile and Leon. Confessor, Preacher – Patron of mariners, sailors, fisherman, Tui, Spain, Tui-Vigo, Spain, diocese of, Attributes – Dominican holding a blue candle or a candle with a blue flame; Dominican lying on his cloak which is spread over hot coals; Dominican holding fire in his bare hands; Dominican catching fish with his bare hands; Dominican beside the ocean, often holding or otherwise protecting a ship. Image below – 16th-century painting of the Blessed Peter González, by Alejo Fernández, in the Alcázar of Seville
Saint Paul had a conversion experience on the road to Damascus. Many years later, the same proved true for Peter Gonzalez, who triumphantly rode his horse into the Spanish city of Astorga in the 13thcentury to take up an important post at the cathedral. The animal stumbled and fell, leaving Peter in the mud and onlookers amused.
Humbled, Peter re-evaluated his motivations–his bishop-uncle had secured the cathedral post for him– and started down a new path. He became a Dominican priest and proved to be a most effective preacher. He spent much of his time as court chaplain and attempted to exert positive influence on the behaviour of members of the court. After King Ferdinand III and his troops defeated the Moors at Cordoba, Peter was successful in restraining the soldiers from pillaging and persuaded the king to treat the defeated Moors with compassion.
After retiring from the court, Peter devoted the remainder of his life to preaching in northwest Spain. Having developed a special mission to Spanish and Portuguese seamen, he is considered their patron.
Peter Gonzalez died in 1246 and was beatified in 1741.
Although his cultus was confirmed in 1741 by Pope Benedict XIV and despite his common epithet of “saint,” Peter was never formally Canonised. Peter González was Beatified in 1254 by Pope Innocent IV.
The diminutive “Elmo” (or “Telmo”) belongs properly to the Martyr-Bishop Saint Erasmus (died c. 303), one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, of whose name “Elmo” is a contraction. However, as Erasmus is the patron saint of sailors generally and Peter González of Spanish and Portuguese sailors specifically, they have both been popularly invoked as “Saint Elmo.“
Saints and Solemnities – 14 April
Good Friday (2017)
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St Abundius the Sacristan
St Antony of Vilna
St Ardalion the Actor
St Benezet the Bridge Builder
St Bernhard of Tiron
St Domnina of Terni
St Eustace of Vilna
St Fronto of Nitria
Bl Hadewych
St John of Monte Marano
St John of Vilna
St Lambert of Lyon
St Lydwina of Schiedam
St Maximus of Rome
St Peter Gonzalez
St Tassach of Raholp
St Thomaides of Alexandria
St Tiburtius of Rome
St Valerian of Trastevere
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Martyrs of Antioch
Thought for the Day – 13 April
Thought for the Day – 13 April
Jesus taught that His followers would “suffer persecution for the sake of justice” and that is often the lot of the followers of Christ. If we follow our Christian convictions and live them, we will often be opposed and criticised. That is part of the price of following our Lord Jesus Christ, look what happened to Him! The real significance of the word martyr comes not from the dying but from the witnessing, which the word means in its derivation. People who are willing to give up everything, their most precious possessions, their very lives, put a supreme value on the cause or belief for which they sacrifice. Martyrdom, dying for the faith, is an incidental extreme to which some have had to go to manifest their belief in Christ. A living faith, a life that exemplifies Christ’s teaching throughout and that in spite of difficulties, is required of all Christians. St Pope Martin I refused to cut corners as a way of easing his lot, to make some accommodations with the civil rulers and he died a martyr.
St Pope Martin I pray for us!
Saint of the Day – 13 April – St Pope Martin I
Saint of the Day – 13 April – St Pope Martin I (598-655) Martyr – Attributes Pope holding money, Pope with geese around him (possible confusion by artist with Martin of Tours), Pope in a prison cell.
S. Martin was a Priest of Rome who had a reputation for being well-educated and holy. He became the 74th Pope in July, 649. When people were arguing over the truths about Jesus, Pope Martin called a meeting of Bishops. This meeting was the Council of the Lateran. It explained clearly what we believe about certain truths. However, some Christians were not pleased about it. Pope Martin knew the Council’s explanations were true. It was his duty as pope to teach people the truth.
Some powerful men did not appreciate Pope Martin’s activities. One such person was Emperor Constans II of Constantinople. He sent his soldiers to Rome to capture Martin and bring him to Constantinople. The soldiers kidnapped the pope. They took him from the Lateran Cathedral and onto a ship. Pope Martin became ill but they continued their journey. In October, 653, he was put in jail in Constantinople for three months. He was given only a little food and water each day. Pope Martin was put on trial, publicly humiliated and condemned to death. But then he was sent back to the same prison for three more months. Patriarch Paul of Constantinople pleaded for the pope’s life. So instead of death, the pope was sentenced to be exiled. Pope Martin was put on a ship that took him across the Black Sea. In April, 654, it landed on the Russian peninsula called the Crimea.
Pope Martin was shocked at the neglect he suffered from those who were in charge of his captivity. He wrote his own account of those sad days. The pope said that he felt very bad to be forgotten by his relatives and members of the Church in Rome. He realised their neglect was driven by fear.
The pope’s exile lasted two years. He died around 655. Because of his terrible sufferings, he was proclaimed a martyr. He is the last of the popes so far to be considered a martyr.
Saints, memorials, celebrations – 13 April
Holy Thursday (2017)
St Pope Martin I (Optional Memorial)
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Agathonica of Pergamus
Agathodorus of Pergamus
Caradoc of Wales
Carpus of Pergamus
Bl Edward Catherick
Bl Francis Dickenson
Guinoc
Hermengild
Ida of Boulogne
Bl Ida of Louvain
Bl Isabel Calduch Rovira
Bl James of Certaldo
Bl John Lockwood
Bl Margaret of Castello
Martius of Auvergne
Bl Miles Gerard
Papylus of Pergamus
Proculus of Terni
Bl Rolando Rivi
Sabas Reyes Salazar
Bl Scubilion Rousseau
Ursus of Ravenna
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Martyrs of Dorostorum – 3 saints: A lector and two students martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian – Dadas, Maximus and Quinctillianus. Beheaded c.303 in Dorostorum, Lower Mysia (modern Sillistria, Bulgaria
Thought for the Day – 12 April
Thought for the Day – 12 April
Talented people like Blessed Angelo of Chivasso see the stupidity of most personal ambition that seeks to lord it over others; rather, talents and gifts should be for the service of others, for enriching and benefiting their lives. How often do we put others down in order to make ourselves look better than they? We must recognise that this attitude is the exact opposite of the words of the Beatitudes, the words of Christ and if we seek such a path, we have a great deal of work to do!
Bl Angelo of Chivasso, pray for us!
One Minute Reflection – 12 April
One Minute Reflection – 12 April
……………..yet I live, no longer I but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me………….Gal 2:20
REFLECTION – “The Crucifix is an open book that all can read.
The crucifix is an infinite declaration of love!”……………St Catherine of Siena
PRAYER – Lord Jesus Christ, inspire me to read the Crucifix as all the teaching I need. Grant that I may return glory, gratitude and love to You for Your great love for me. Grant too that I may use all the talents given me, as Blessed Angelo of Chivasso did, for the glory of Your Kingdom and the love of all my neighbours. Bl Angelo, pray for us. Amen
Saint of the Day – 12 Apil – Blessed Angelo Carletti di Chivasso
Saint of the Day – 12 Apil – Blessed Angelo of Chivasso (1411-1495) OFM Religious Priest, Theologian, Teacher, Writer.
Antonio Carletti was born in 1411 to a noble family of Chivasso, Italy, near Turin. He attended the University of Bologna, where he received the degree of Doctor of Civil and Canon Law and served as a magistrate in the Court of Chiavasso. He was appointed to the Senate by the Marquis of Monferrato Gian Giacomo. It was probably at the age of thirty that he entered the Order of Friars Minor at Santa Maria del Monte in Genoa, taking the name Angelo. There he met Francesco della Rovere, who was later to become Pope Sixtus IV.
In 1467 he accompanied Fra Pietro da Napoli, who had been charged by the Vicar General to reorder the Franciscan province of Austria.
In 1472 he was chosen to fill the office of Vicar-General of that branch of the Order then known as the Cismontane Observance, founded by Bernadine of Siena. He held that office again in 1478, in 1485 and in 1490. He founded the monasteries of Saluzzo, Mondovì and Pinerolo and preached in Mantua, Genoa, Cuneo, Susa, Monferrato and Turin at the court of Charles I, Duke of Savoy. He also served as a spiritual counselor for Catherine of Genoa and Blessed Paola Gambara.
In 1480 the Ottoman Empire under Mehmed II took possession of Otranto and threatened to overrun and lay waste the area. Angelo was appointed Apostolic Nuncio by Pope Sixtus IV and commissioned to preach a crusade against the invaders. While the residents of Otranto held out under siege, Mehmed II died and the Turkish forces retired from the Italian peninsula.
Again, in 1491, he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio and Commissary by Innocent VIII, conjointly with the Bishop of Mauriana, and reached a peaceful agreement between Catholics and Waldensians.
In theology he is considered a major adherent of Scotism. His works are given by Wadding in the latter’s “Scriptores Ordinis Minorum”. The most noted of these is the “Summa de Casibus Conscientiae”, called after him the “Summa Angelica”. The first edition of di Chivasso’s “Summa Angelica” appeared in the year 1486 and from that year to the year 1520 it went through 31 editions, 25 of which are preserved in the Royal Library at Munich.
The “Summa” is divided into 659 articles arranged in alphabetical order and forming what would now be called a dictionary of moral theology. The most important of these articles is the one entitled “Interrogationes in Confessione”. It serves, in a way, as a dictionary of moral theology and was found very useful for confessors. Judging the character of the work of Bl. Angelo as a theologian from this, his most important contribution to moral theology, one is impressed with the gravity and fairness that characterized his opinions throughout. The “Summa” is a valuable guide in matters of conscience and approaches closely, in the treatment of the various articles, to casuistic theology as this science is now understood, hence the title of the work, “Summa de Casibus Conscientiae”.
Martin Luther considered it a symbol of Catholic orthodoxy and had it publicly burned in the public square outside Wittenberg’s Elster Gate on December 10, 1520 together with the Bull of Excommunication Exsurge Domine, the Code of Canon Law and the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas.
Angelo Carletti di Chivasso died on April 11, 1495 at the convent of St. Anthony at Cuneo. On April 14, 1753, Pope Benedict XIII beatified Angelo Carletti,[6] giving official approval to the cult that had for long been paid to Angelo, especially by the people of Chivasso and Coni. The latter chose him as their special patron. His feast is kept on 12 April. He is celebrated in his native Chivasso, with an traditional country fair and prayer.
Saints – 12 April
St Acutina
St Alferius of La Cava
Bl Andrew of Montereale
Bl Angelo Carletti di Chivasso
St Artemón of Caesarea
St Basil of Parion
St Constantine of Gap
St Damian of Pavia
St David Uribe Velasco
St Erkemboden of Thérouanne
St Florentin of Arles
St Pope Julius I
St Lorenzo of Belem
St Peter of Montepiano
St Sabas the Lector
St Teresa of the Andes
St Tetricus of Auxerre
St Victor of Braga
St Vissia of Fermo
St Wigbert
St Zeno of Verona
Thought for the Day – 11 April
Thought for the Day – 11 April
Evil has to be confronted boldly whatever the consequences. Brave men like Saints John the Baptist, Thomas Becket, Thomas More and Stanislaus are a few of the prophets who dared to denounce corruption in high places. They followed in the footsteps of Jesus Himself, who pointed out the moral corruption in the religious leadership of His day. There is no longer little chance that we will face such corruption and take a stand in our modern world for evil surrounds us at every turn and so, it should be very clear, in the face of evil, where we stand! It is our moral duty – Christ, our Lord, can expect no less from us, risky or not, this is our duty – are we ready, willing and able?
St Stanislaus, pray for us!
Quote of the Day – 11 April
Quote of the Day – 11 April
“If you really want to love Jesus,
first learn to suffer
because suffering teaches you to love.”
St. Gemma Galgani
One Minute Reflection – 11 April
One Minute Reflection – 11 April
I know my sheep and my sheep know me…..
for these sheep I will give my life……John 10:14-15
REFLECTION – “Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is at the same time light and love.
That is to say, He is the truth in charity.”…………..Servant of God Pope Pius XII
“If I saw the gates of Hell open and I stood on the brink of the abyss,
I should not despair, I should not lose hope of mercy because I should trust in You, my God.”………………..St Gemma Galgani (Memorial today 11 April)
PRAYER – Lord Jesus, let me be attached to You in truth, love and trust. Grant that I may always follow You as my Shepherd amid the perils and trails of this life. St Gemma Galgani pray for us, amen.
Saint of the Day – 11 April – St Stanislaus (1030-1079) Bishop Martyr
Saint of the Day – 11 April – St Stanislaus (1030-1079) also known as St Stanislaus Szczepanowsky – Bishop and Martyr, Preacher, Spiritual Director – Patron of Cracow, Poland, Archdiocese of Cracow, Poland, City of, Plock, Poland, Diocese of, Poland, soldiers in battle, moral order.
Stanisław Szczepanowski was born in 1030, southern Poland, the only son of a noble family. At this time, Christianity was still new to Poland, having been introduced less than a century earlier. He studied at the cathedral school of Gniezno, then in Paris and Liège. Stanislaus returned to Poland after his studies and was ordained a priest. In 1072, the Bishop of Krakow died and Stanislaus was elected successor. He was hesitant to accept but did after the command of Pope Alexander II and Stanislaus became the first Polish-born bishop. (Image below: 1- Saint Stanislaus being ordained as bishop. 2- Saint Stanislaus resurrects Peter. 3-King Bolesław murders Saint Stanislaus. 4-Stanislaus’ body is cut in pieces. Image from the Hungarian Kings’ Anjou Legendarium of the 14th century)
St. Stanislaus bought a parcel of land for his diocese and the seller, a man named Piotr, died shortly thereafter. Piotr’s family still claimed the land even though the diocese paid for it and a legal case developed. The king decided in favour of the seller’s family but Stanislaus challenged the decision. St. Stanislaus went to Piotr’s grave and commanded him to rise. Piotr rose, three years after his death, testified in court and defended Stanislaus. The diocese kept the land and Piotr returned to his grave.
King Bolesław II was known for his promiscuity, corruption, as well as cruel treatment of soldiers and their families. These all led to his excommunication by St. Stanislaus in 1079. For this, the bishop was accused of treason and soldiers were ordered to kill him but they refused. The king attacked St. Stanislaus while he was celebrating Mass. Stanislaus ran but the king followed him and Stanislaus was martyred in the public square. Outrage over the murder forced Bolesław to renounce the throne and go into exile in Hungary. The remains of St. Stanislaus are interred at Wawel Cathedral in Krakow.
Saints – 11 April
St Stanislaus (Memorial)
—
St Agericus of Tours
St Aid of Achard-Finglas
Bl Angelo Carletti di Chivasso
St Antipas of Pergamon
St Barsanuphius of Gaza
St Domnio of Salona
Bl Elena Guerra
St Eustorgius of Nicomedia
St Gemma Galgani
Bl George Gervase
St Godeberta of Noyon
St Guthlac of Croyland
St Hildebrand of Saint-Gilles
St Isaac of Monteluco
Bl James of Africa
Bl John of Cupramontana
Bl Lanunio
St Machai
St Maedhog of Clonmore
Bl Mechthild of Lappion
Bl Paul of Africa
St Philip of Gortyna
St Raynerius Inclusus
St Sancha of Portugal
St Stephen of Saint-Gilles
Bl Symforian Ducki
Thought for the Day – 10 April
Thought for the Day – 10 April
Chartres Cathedral has been called a “sermon in stone and stained glass” and it demonstrates what can happen when faith bursts into culture. St Fulbert of Chartres recognised that unless faith influences culture, it’s voice remains weak. It is not enough to believe – we have to make the Christian faith part of our lives and part of the world we live in. So, as Chartres teaches and impacts our hearts and minds with awe and faith, so our lives too should be a “school of faith” and teach our world with awe and belief!
St Fulbert pray for us!
One Minute Reflection – 10 April
One Minute Reflection – 10 April
Father, into your hands I commend my spirit……Luke 23:45-46
REFLECTION – “He died, but He vanquished death; in Himself He put an end to what we feared; He took it upon Himself and He vanquished it, as a mighty hunter He captured and slew the lion.
Where is death? Seek it in Christ, for it exists no longer; but it did exist and now it is dead.
O life, O death of death! Be of good heart; it will die in us, also. What has taken place in our head will take place in His members; death will die in us also. But when? At the end of the world, at the resurrection of the dead in which we believe and concerning which we do not doubt.”…………….St Augustine (Sermon 233:3-4)
PRAYER – God of love, my prayer is simple: Your son, Jesus, suffered and died for me.
I know only that I cannot have real strength unless I rely on You. I cannot feel protected from my many weaknesses until I turn to You for forgiveness and your unalterable love. Help me to share this strength, protection and love with others. St Fulbert of Chartres you worked your whole life to bring the truth and love of God to all, please pray for us, amen.
Saint of the Day – 10 April – St Fulbert of Chartres
Saint of the Day – 10 April – St Fulbert of Chartres (c960 in Italy-1029 in Chartres, France) Bishop, Writer, Poet, Reformer, Marian devotee, Preacher, Teacher, Advisor – Attributes – preaching monk, in his sick bed with the Virgin Mary nearby.
Fulbert was born in Italy around the year 960. He was taught by the famous Gerbert, who became Pope Sylvester II in the year 999. Fulbert followed Pope Sylvester to Rome. When Pope Sylvester II died in 1003, Fulbert went to France where he started a school at Chartres. This school was the most famous seat of education in France. Scholars from all over France, Italy, Germany and England attended school there. Fulbert became chancellor of the church of Chartres and was the treasurer of St. Hilary’s at Poitiers. Later he was elected bishop of Chartres and he rebuilt the cathedral when it burned down. He had the assistance of King Canute of England, Duke William of Aquitaine and other European leaders in rebuilding the cathedral in great splendour.
The veneration of the Virgin Mary was already established in the Church and Fulbert use this to teach her importance. The results were twofold, it helped to ease people’s fears and greatly expanded the Marian Cult and Chartres’s position in it. Chartres was already involved due to its being the holder of a sacred relic of Mary’s, the “Sancta Camisia”, (Holy Tunic), which has been variously described as being worn by Mary during the Annunciation or during the birth of Christ. This tunic was already the subject of a miracle because of its use by an earlier bishop of Chartres, Gauscelinus, in 911 to ward off the invading Normans. Fulbert expanded on the theme of miracles involving Mary, especially those cases where she had interceded between sinners and God. In this way people could pray for Mary’s intercession with God on their behalf in the perceived coming apocalypse. Fulbert himself was involved in one of these miracles; when he was gravely ill Mary had healed him with a drop of milk because of his devotion to her. This also served to give Mary the image of not only the mother of Christ but for all who believed in her, their mother too. All of this led to Fulbert’s ultimate goal of promoting a special feast day to celebrate Mary’s Nativity.
To gain popular support for this feast, Fulbert wrote his famous sermon “Approbate Consuetudinis” in which he relates Mary’s miracles. He also brings in the evidence of Mary’s family lineage, which the Bible traces back to King David. In his sermon Fulbert used the symbolism of the “Stirps Jesse” (Tree of Jesse) to help explain Mary’s familial relationship to the great men of the past and how it was determined, as described in Scripture, that she would be the one to whom Christ would be born. This again served to enhance her importance to the world and convince people of the need to celebrate her birth. This sermon led to a number of liturgical changes throughout the next few centuries in Europe. The sermon itself, or variations of it and the chants associated with it, became part of the service for the feast day of Mary’s Nativity on 8 September By promoting the Feast day of Mary’s Nativity, Fulbert was able to advance the importance of Mary and therefore the cult of her veneration grew. This in turn enhanced the importance of the Cathedral of Chartres as a centre for Marian devotion and also gave people a spiritual symbol to turn to in times of need at the turn of the millennium.
During his time in Chartres Fulbert played an important role in the development and spread of the ideas that led to the Gregorian church reforms of the eleventh century under Pope Gregory VII. These reforms concerned the division between the powers of church and state, especially in the appointment of new abbots and bishops. In the eleventh century the secular rulers had a habit of appointing whomever they wanted to fill vacant church positions. Fulbert and some of his students, such as Abbot Albert of Marmoutier, routinely wrote that it was up to the clergy and the citizens of the diocese involved to elect a replacement, the authority being found in the rulings of the First Council of Nicaea (325) and the Council of Antioch (264-272). These reforms also stated that the Church, not the state, was responsible for disciplining the clergy. The issues of simony (the buying of church offices) and immoral clerics were also addressed by Fulbert. Although the reforms were issued by Gregory VII, some of its ideas came from Fulbert, whose writings were disseminated through his students.
After Chartres Cathedral burned in 1020, Fulbert devoted his energies to raising funds for its rebuilding, which was completed in 1037, nine years after his death. In 1194 the cathedral was again almost completely destroyed by fire; only the crypt, some of the west facade and two towers remained. The crypt has been incorporated into all subsequent reconstructions. The construction of the Gothic-style cathedral that stands to-day began afterward. It is in this cathedral that we see Fulbert’s influences that resulted from his promotion of the Feast day of Mary’s Nativity and the cult of the Virgin Mary. The sculptures around the three portals depict the life of Mary, who is the central figure in the Royal Portal. One of the cathedral’s stained glass windows depicts the Tree of Jesse, which traces Mary’s family and the Holy Family, again a reference to Fulbert’s teachings in regards to the Feast of Mary’s Nativity.
St Fulbert died of natural causes on April 10, 1029.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, we pray that St. Fulbert will intercede for our clergy when they need strengthening to make the right decisions. May they always stay true to Church teachings and to You, we pray. Amen.
AnaStpaul 
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