St Agno of Zaragoza
St Alexander of Pydna
St Aphrodisius of Africa
Bl Arnold of Padua
St Boniface Curitan
St Diaconus
St Eutychius of Mesopotamia
Bl Eve of Liege
Bl Giacomo Cusmano
St Lazarus of Milan
St Leo of the Agro Verano
St Leobinus of Chartres
St Matilda of Saxony
St Maximilian
Bl Pauline of Thuringia
St Peter of Africa
St Philip of Turin
St Talmach
Bl Thomas Vives
—
47 Martyrs of Rome – Forty-seven people who were baptised into the faith in Rome, Italy by Saint Peter the Apostle, and were later martyred together during the persecutions of Nero. Martyred c.67 in Rome, Italy
Martyrs of Valeria – Two monks martyred by Lombards in Valeria, Italy who were never identified. After the monks were dead, their killers could still hear them singing psalms. They were hanged on a tree in Valeria, Italy in the 5th
I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
Whom shall I send?……
“Here I am”, I said, “send me!”……….Isaiah 6:8
REFLECTION – “This man of suave eloquence and eminent talent shone as brightly by his virtues as by his doctrine. By his faith and zeal the Gothic people have been converted from Arianism to the Catholic faith”…..St Isidore of Seville speaking of his brother St Leander, whom we celebrate today.
PRAYER – Help me to discern through prayer and meditation what You truly want of me. Then enable me to offer it to You – and indeed to offer myself and all I have to You. St Leander, you were and are an example to all around you, please pray for us, amen!
Saint of the Day – 13 March – St Leander of Seville (c 534-600/601) – BIsho, Confessor of the Faith, Teacher, Writer Apostle of Spain and Evangelisation – Patron of Episcopal attire and Liturgical garments. Saint Leander, as Bishop, instituted the practice of praying the Nicene Creed during Mass—a practice which continues today. He viewed the Creed as a manner in which to proclaim the divinity of Christ at a time when the Church suffered attack from various heresies, as well as an opportunity to reinforce the faith of the people. Through his diligent work, Saint Leander saw Catholicism flourish in Spain at a time of great political and religious uncertainty.
Leander and Isidore and their siblings (all sainted) belonged to an elite family of Hispano-Roman stock of Carthago Nova. Their father Severianus is claimed to be, according to their hagiographers, a dux or governor of Cartagena, though this seems more of a fanciful interpretation since Isidore simply states that he was a citizen. The family moved to Seville around 554. The children’s subsequent public careers reflect their distinguished origin: Leander and Isidore both became bishops of Seville and their sister Saint Florentina was an abbess who directed forty convents and one thousand nuns. Even the third brother, Fulgentius, appointed Bishop of Écija at the first triumph of Catholicism over Arianism but of whom little is known, has been canonised as a saint.
The family as a matter of course were staunch Catholics, as were the great majority of the Romanised population, from top to bottom; only the Visigothic nobles and the kings were Arians. It should be stated that there was less Visigothic persecution of Catholics than legend and hagiography have painted. From a modern standpoint, the dangers of Catholic Christianity were more political. Saint Leander, as bishop, instituted the practice of praying the Nicene Creed during Mass—a practice which continues today. He viewed the Creed as a manner in which to proclaim the divinity of Christ at a time when the Church suffered attack from various heresies, as well as an opportunity to reinforce the faith of the people. Through his diligent work, Saint Leander saw Catholicism flourish in Spain at a time of great political and religious uncertainty.
Leander, enjoying an elite position in the secure surroundings of tolerated Catholic culture in Seville, became at first a Benedictine monk and then in 579 he was appointed bishop of Seville. In the meantime he founded a celebrated school, which soon became a centre of Catholic learning. As Bishop he had access to the Catholic Merovingian Princess Ingunthis, who had come as a bride for the kingdom’s heir and he worked tirelessly with her to convert her husband St. Hermenegild, the eldest son of Liuvigild, an act of court intrigue that cannot honestly be divorced from a political context. Leander defended the new convert even when he went to war with his father “against his father’s cruel reprisals,” the Catholic Encyclopedia puts it. “In endeavouring to save his country from Arianism, Leander showed himself an orthodox Christian and a far-sighted patriot.”
This action earned him the king’s wrath and exile to Constantinople, where he met and became close friends of the Papal Legate, the future Pope Gregory the Great. Saint Leander served as a contemporary and advisor to Saint Gregory, encouraging him to write his famous commentary on the Book of Job entitled the “Moralia.”
After some time, King Leovigild summoned Leander back to Seville. Having experienced a change of heart, he wished for Leander to instruct his son Reccared—who would inherit the throne—in the ways of the faith. Through Leander’s instruction and model, the people of Spain were converted. He presided over the third Council of Toledo, which upheld the consubstantiality of the Trinity and brought about many moral reforms in the Church. Saint Leader further wrote an influential Rule for Spanish nuns. He introduced the practice of praying the Nicene Creed at Mass. A prolific writer, unfortunately most of his works have been lost to history, although much of the correspondence written by Gregory the Great to his attention remains extant.
After a long life of fighting heresies and preaching the truth, Saint Leander died around the year 600. He was succeeded by his brother, St Isidore of Seville, who is a Doctor of the Church.
Saint Isidore and Saint leander of Sevilla. Ignacio de Ries
Bl Agnellus of Pisa
St Ansovinus of Camerino
Bl Berengar de Alenys
St Christina of Persia
St Euphrasia
Bl Françoise Tréhet
St Gerald of Mayo
St Grace of Saragossa
St Heldrad of Novalese
Bl Judith of Ringelheim
St Kevoca of Kyle
St Leander of Seville
St Mochoemoc
St Nicephorus of Constantinople
Bl Peter II of La Cava
St Pientius of Poitiers
St Ramirus of Leon
St Sabinus of Egypt
St Sancha of Portugal
—
Martyrs of Cordoba: Roderick, Salomon,
Martyrs of Nicaea:
Arabia
Horres
Marcus
Nymphora
Theodora
Theusitas
Martyrs of Nicomedia
Eufrasia
Macedonius
Modesta
Patricia
Urpasian
Sufferings and pain are difficult for anyone to bear and in St. Seraphina’s case they were a true martyrdom. Seraphina had to make sense out of it, young as she was. She drew strength from the sufferings of Jesus and found her happiness in God, in spite of her terrible afflictions. We have little reason to complain about our and we have many lessons to learn from her.
For his sake I have forfeited everything…..
so that Christ may be my wealth and
I may be in him…………Phil 3:8-9
REFLECTION – “An act of renunciation is an act of union with God.
The Divine Master looks lovingly upon a person who gains a victory over self.”……….St Madeleine Sophie Barat
PRAYER – Divine Master, teach me to give up all things so that I may be united closely to You. Let me be willing to lose all things rather than give up my union with You. Dear St Seraphina, so young and innocent, you knew completely serenity in suffering and union with the Father, please pray for us! Amen
Saint of the Day – 12 March – St Seraphina/Fina – (1238-1253) – Virgin – Patron of physically challenged people, handicapped people and spinners
She was a little girl, very pretty, born into a very poor family, whose father died when she was very young. As a little girl she learned to sew and spin, spending most of her time at home.
After her father’s death, she was struck with a strange and paralyzing illness. She became misshapen and ugly, in constant pain, unable to get out of bed or even to move. Her mother took care of her but had to leave her for hours at a time to attend to her work. Seraphina’s only consolation was the crucifix and she realized that she was called to imitate the suffering Christ.
So she never complained. She managed to remain serene and something beautiful shone out of her face. Then she was struck another blow. Her mother died and she was left completely destitute, her neighbours repelled by her appearance and her sickness, her only friend a girl named Beldia who visited her and brought her food.
In her reading, St. Seraphina had heard of the great sufferings of Pope St. Gregory the Great and he became her special saint. She prayed to him, drew strength from the sufferings that he had to endure and prayed that he would obtain for her the patience she needed to bear her own sufferings. She was now so weak and helpless that it was clear to everyone she could not live very long.
Eight days before her death, alone and almost completely forsaken, St. Gregory appeared to her and told her: “Dear child, on my feast day, God will give you rest” (in those days his feast day was celebrated on March 12). On that day, she died. The whole city attended her funeral and from that moment everyone began to pray to her. On the place where she had lain, her neighbours found white violets growing and even today in the village of San Geminiano where she lived, the white violets that bloom in March are called Santa Fina flowers. She died on March 12,1253, at the age of fifteen.
2nd Sunday in Lent
—
St Almut of Wetter
St Alphege the Bald
Bl Angela Salawa
St Basilissa of Asia
Bl Beatrix of Engelport
St Bernard of Carinola
Bl Claudius the Minor
St Egdunus
St Fechno
St Girolamo da Recanati
St Heiu of Hartlepool
St Indrecht of Iona
St Innocent I, Pope
St Joseph Zhang Dapeng
St Luigi Orione
St Maximilian of Thebeste
St Mura McFeredach
St Paul Aurelian
St Peter the Deacon
St Seraphina
St Theophanes the Chronographer
—
Martyrs of Nicomedia – 8 saints
Peter of Nicomedia
Doroteo of Nicomedia
Gorgonio of Nicomedia
The primary feast of St Joseph is on 19 March, the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the foster father of Jesus Christ.
Indeed, the Catholic Church dedicates the entire month of March to Saint Joseph and urges us to pay special attention to his life and example.
Fathers, in particular, should cultivate devotion to Saint Joseph, whom God Himself chose to care for His Son. As we learn more about Saint Joseph, we can teach our own boys about the virtues of fatherhood through his example.
St. Teresa of Avila’s Plea
“Would that I could persuade all men to be devoted to this glorious Saint [St. Joseph], for I know by long experience what blessings he can obtain for us from God. I have never known anyone who was truly devoted to him and honoured him by particular services who did not advance greatly in virtue: for he helps in a special way those souls who commend themselves to him. It is now very many years since I began asking him for something on his feast and I have always received it. I f the petition was in any way amiss, he rectified it for my greater good . . .
” I ask for the love of God that he who does not believe me will make the trial for himself—then he will find out by experience the great good that results from commending oneself to this glorious Patriarch and in being devoted to him.”
St. Alphonsus Liguori on St. Joseph,
Patron of a Happy Death
“Since we all must die, we should cherish a special devotion to St. Joseph, that he may obtain for us a happy death. All Christians regard him as the advocate of the dying who had honoured him during their life and they do so for three reasons:
“First, because Jesus Christ loved him not only as a friend but as a father and on this account his mediation is far more efficacious than that of any other Saint.
“Second, because St. Joseph has obtained special power against the evil spirits, who tempt us with redoubled vigour at the hour of death.
“Third, the assistance given St. Joseph at his death by Jesus and Mary obtained for him the right to secure a holy and peaceful death for his servants. Hence, if they invoke him at the hour of death he will not only help them but he will also obtain for them the assistance of Jesus and Mary.”
St Joseph we ask for your assistance in all our needs starting tomorrow, pray for us!
“Ogilvie typifies what can be overlooked when we reflect the Creed, in the Creed when we say, ‘suffered under Pontius Pilate.’ In other words, Ogilvie typifies the perennial struggle of the Church with the state. It was a civil official who condemned Christ and it is the state over the centuries, which in Augustine’s language, has become the arm of the enemies of God that gave the Church her first martyrs for 300 years and has been placing such a heavy burden on those who wish to remain faithful to Christ. The conflict of Church and state is the final feature of John Ogilvie’s spirituality as a martyr.
Let us ask St. John Ogilvie to obtain, especially for the leaders in the Church today, something of the courage he had to be willing to proclaim the true faith even at the price of their blood. St. John Ogilvie, pray for us.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
“In all that concerns the king, I will be slavishly obedient; if any attack his temporal power, I will shed my last drop of blood for him. But in the things of spiritual jurisdiction which a king unjustly seizes I cannot and must not obey.” ~~ St John Ogilvie at his trial
“willingly and joyfully pour forth even a hundred lives. Snatch away that one which I have from me and make no delay about it, but my religion you will never snatch away from me!”
“If there be here any hidden Catholics, let them pray for me but the prayers of heretics I will not have.”— Saint John Ogilvie at his execution
“At last conscience won the day. I became a Catholic; I abandoned Calvinism – and this happy change I attribute to the martyr’s beads and to no other cause those beads which, if I had them now, gold could not tempt me to part with and if gold could purchase them, I should not spare it.” ~~~ Baron John ab Eckersdorff
(St. John Ogilvie was executed by hanging on March 10, 1615.
A few moments before his hanging, St. John threw his Rosary into the crowd where it
hit Baron John ab Eckersdorff a Calvinist nobleman on the chest – he later converted to
Catholicism, attributing his conversion to witnessing the martyrdom and St. John’s
rosary.)
We are ….. heirs of God, heirs of Christ, if only we suffer with him so as to be glorified with him……..Romans 8:17
REFLECTION – If we suffer with Christ, we will be glorified with Him. The fulfilment of the promised happiness is certain for those who share in the Lord’s Passion……St Pope Leo the Great
PRAYER – Grant me Your grace to overcome my natural fear of suffering Lord. Strengthen me to bear my sufferings in union with Your sacred Passion, for the salvation of the world. St John Ogilvie you are an example to me, please pray that this Lenten time will assist us all in overcoming our fear of sharing in the Passion of our God. Amen
Blessed Memorial of St John Ogilvie SJ – 10 March – St John Ogilvie, his Rosary and the Baron
Although the judge had tried to pin the crime of treason on him, Ogilvie forced him to assert that it was for his Catholic Faith that he was being killed, rather than for treason, which Protestant history alleges. Just as with Saint Thomas More, the heroic Jesuit protested his allegiance to the King saying that he was the King’s loyal subject but God’s servant first. Again, as it was with Thomas More, the executioner begged the martyr’s forgiveness, which he paternally gave.
There were many brave Catholics who came to the execution site to support the saint with prayers and with shouts. They were fearless. John said onthe scaffold “If there be here any hidden Catholics, let them pray for me but the prayers of heretics I will not have.” Then something spontaneous happened, by divine intervention and inspiration. Just before they tied his hands on the scaffold the saint quickly pulled out his rosary and tossed it to the crowd as a token of farewell. There was a Protestant Baron, a traveller, who happened to be in the crowd and the rosary bounced off his chest. The man tried to reach down for the beads but was beaten to them by the surrounding faithful anxious to get such a relic.
This episode of the Protestant gentleman in the crowd was recounted in the records of the trial of the saint because he, the Baron John ab Eckersdorff, was converted by means of the rosary of our Jesuit martyr. Here is how the event is related, in the words of the Baron, as we have them in Father Daniel Conway’s three part history of Venerable John Ogilvie, published in 1878, in a Glasgow diocesan journal “The Month”:
“His Rosary struck the breast of a young noble
man who was on his travels in these kingdoms.
He was a foreigner and a heretic his name, Baron
John ab Eckersdorff. ” I was on my travels through England and Scotland as it is the custom of our nobility being a mere stripling, and not having the faith. I happened to be in Glasgow the day Father Ogilvie was led forth to the gallows, and it is impossible for me to describe his lofty bearing in meeting death. His farewell to the Catholics was his casting into their midst, from the scaffold, his rosary beads just before he met his fate. That rosary, thrown haphazard, struck me on the breast in such wise that I could have caught it in the palm of my hand; but there was such a rush and crush of the Catholics to get hold of it, that unless I wished to run the risk of being trodden down, I had to cast it from me. Religion was the last thing I was then thinking about : it was not in my mind at all; yet from that moment I had no rest. Those rosary beads had left a wound in my soul; go where I would I had no peace of mind. Conscience was disturbed, and the thought would haunt me : why did the martyr’s rosary strike me, and not another? For years I asked myself this question it followed me about everywhere. At last conscience won the day. I became a Catholic; I abandoned Calvinism – and this happy change I attribute to the martyr’s beads and to no other cause those beads which, if I had them now, gold could not tempt me to part with and if gold could purchase them, I should not spare it.”
Saint of the Day – 10 March – St John Ogilvie SJ (1579-1615 died aged 36) MARTYR and Jesuit Priest – hanged 10 March 1615 at Glasgow, Scotland but no relic of his body has survived. He was canonised 0n 17 October 1976 by Pope Paul VI.
John Ogilvie’s noble Scottish family was partly Catholic and partly Presbyterian. His father raised him as a Calvinist, sending him to the continent to be educated. There John became interested in the popular debates going on between Catholic and Calvinist scholars. Confused by the arguments of Catholic scholars whom he sought out, he turned to Scripture. Two texts particularly struck him: “God wills all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth,” and “Come to me all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you.”
Slowly, John came to see that the Catholic Church could embrace all kinds of people. Among these, he noted, were many martyrs. He decided to become Catholic and was received into the Church at Louvain, Belgium, in 1596 at the age of 17.
John continued his studies, first with the Benedictines, then as a student at the Jesuit College at Olmutz. He joined the Jesuits and for the next 10 years underwent their rigorous intellectual and spiritual training. Ordained a priest in France in 1610, he met two Jesuits who had just returned from Scotland after suffering arrest and imprisonment. They saw little hope for any successful work there in view of the tightening of the penal laws. But a fire had been lit within John. For the next two and a half years he pleaded to be missioned there.
Sent by his superiors, he secretly entered Scotland posing as a horse trader or a soldier returning from the wars in Europe. Unable to do significant work among the relatively few Catholics in Scotland, John made his way back to Paris to consult his superiors. Rebuked for having left his assignment in Scotland, he was sent back. He warmed to the task before him and had some success in making converts and in secretly serving Scottish Catholics. But he was soon betrayed, arrested and brought before the court. His trial dragged on until he had been without food for 26 hours. He was imprisoned and deprived of sleep. For eight days and nights he was dragged around, prodded with sharp sticks, his hair pulled out. Still, he refused to reveal the names of Catholics or to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the king in spiritual affairs. He underwent a second and third trial but held firm. At his final trial he assured his judges: “In all that concerns the king, I will be slavishly obedient; if any attack his temporal power, I will shed my last drop of blood for him. But in the things of spiritual jurisdiction which a king unjustly seizes I cannot and must not obey.”
Condemned to death as a traitor, he was faithful to the end, even when on the scaffold he was offered his freedom and a fine living if he would deny his faith. His courage in prison and in his martyrdom was reported throughout Scotland. This Jesuit loved to laugh. His jokes brightened the dark days of his captivity during which his captors tried to “brainwash” him. “For eight days and nine nights, they kept me awake by using pins, needles and whips.” St. John Ogilvie was executed by hanging on March 10, 1615 and was disembowled. A few moments before his hanging, St. John threw his Rosary into the crowd where it was caught by Baron John ab Eckersdorff a Calvinist nobleman – who later converted to Catholicism, attributing his conversion to witnessing the martyrdom and St. John’s rosary.
John Ogilvie was canonised in 1976, becoming the first Scottish saint since 1250.
St Alexander of Apema
St Anastasia the Patrician
St Andrew of Strumi
St Attalas of Bobbio
St Blanchard of Nesle-la-Réposte
St Caius of Apema
St Cordratus of Nicomedië
St Droctoveus of Paris
Bl Elias del Socorro Nieves
St Emilian of Lagny
St Failbhe the Little
St Gustav the Hermit
St Himelin
Bl Jean-Marie Joseph Lataste
St John Ogilvie
Bl John of Vallombrosa
St Kessog
St Macarius of Jerusalem
St Marie Eugénie de Jésus
St Peter of Veroli
St Rufinus of Nicomedië
St Sannudius of Bagensena
St Saturninus of Nicomedië
St Sedna of Ossory
St Silvester of Ireland
St Simplicius, Pope
St Victor of North Africa
Bl Wirnto of Formbach
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Anonymous Martyrs of Persia – A group of 42 Christians martyred in Persia in the 4th century.
Forty Martyrs of Armenia – Forty Christian soldiers of the Thunderstruck Legion of the Imperial Roman army who were tortured and murdered for their faith during the persecutions of Emperor Licinius. They were exposed naked on a frozen pond to freeze to death at Sebaste, Armenia in 320 and their bodies afterward were burned.
What an amazing lady! St Frances of Rome was an ordinary wife and mother whose love for God and His children knew no bounds and who trusted in God to give her guidance. There was nothing she felt she could not do with God and she let nothing stop her. Looking at her exemplary life of fidelity to God and devotion to her fellow human beings which Frances of Rome was blessed to lead, one cannot help but be reminded of Saint Teresa of Calcutta, who loved Jesus Christ in prayer and also in the poor. The life of Frances of Rome calls each of us not only to look deeply for God in prayer but also to carry our devotion to Jesus living in the suffering of our world. Frances shows us that this life need not be restricted to those bound by vows. We need something of her love and her trust and energy and then we too, can accomplish great things!
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God………Psalm 143:10
REFLECTION – “Let us serve God but let us do so according to His will. He will then take the place of everything in our lives. He will be our strength and the reward of our labours.”………St Vincent de Paul
PRAYER – Infinite Lord, help me to serve You always in accord with Your holy will. Show me how to make You my Lord and my All. St Frances of Rome, you showed us all the way of holiness within the confines of our lives, always seeking to do the will of God and serve all His children, most especially those in need but remaining always true to the vows of your marriage. Please pray for us all, amen.
Saint of the Day – 9 March – St Frances of Rome Obl.S.B. (1384-1440) Wife, Mother, Mystic, Organiser of charitable services and a Benedictine Oblate who founded a religious community of Oblates, who share a common life without religious vows – Patronages – against plague/epidemics, of automobile drivers (given in 1951), aviators, taxi drivers, death of children, the laity, motorcyclists, motorists, people ridiculed for their piety, Roman housewives, widows, women, Rome, Italy.
Frances was born in 1384 in Rome to a wealthy and aristocratic couple, Paolo Bussa and Iacobella dei Roffredeschi, in the up-and-coming district of Parione and christened in the nearby Church of St Agnes on the famed Piazza Navona. When she was eleven years old, she wanted to be a nun but, at about the age of twelve, her parents forced her to marry Lorenzo Ponziani, commander of the papal troops of Rome and member of an extremely wealthy family. Although the marriage had been arranged, it was a happy one, lasting for forty years, partly because Lorenzo admired his wife and partly because he was frequently away at war.
With her sister-in-law Vannozza, Frances visited the poor and took care of the sick, inspiring other wealthy women of the city to do the same. Soon after her marriage, Frances fell seriously ill. Her husband called a man in who dabbled in magic but Frances drove him away and later recounted to Vannozza that St Alexis had appeared to her and cured her.
When her mother-in-law died, Frances became mistress of the household. During a time of flood and famine, she turned part of the family’s country estate into a hospital and distributed food and clothing to the poor. According to one account, her father-in-law was so angry that he took away from her the keys to the supply rooms but gave them back when he saw that the corn bin and wine barrel were replenished after Frances finished praying.
St Frances of Rome Giving Alms by Baciccio
During the wars between the pope in Rome and various anti-popes in the Western Schism of the Church, Lorenzo served the former. According to one story, their son, Battista, was to be delivered as a hostage to the commander of the Neapolitan troops. Obeying this order on the command of her spiritual director, Frances brought the boy to the Campidoglio. On the way, she stopped in the Church of the Aracoeli located there and entrusted the life of her son to the Blessed Mother. When they arrived at the appointed site, the soldiers went to put her son on a horse to transport him off to captivity. The horse, however, refused to move, despite heavy whipping. The superstitious soldiers saw the hand of God in this and returned the boy to his mother.
During a period of forced exile, much of Lorenzo’s property and possessions were destroyed. In the course of one occupation of Rome by Neapolitan forces in the early part of the century, he was wounded so severely that he never fully recovered. Frances nursed him throughout the rest of his life.
Frances experienced other sorrows in the course of her marriage with Lorenzo Ponziani. They lost two children to the plague. Chaos ruled the city in that period of neglect by the pope and the ongoing warfare between him and the various forces competing for power on the Italian peninsula devastated the city. The city of Rome was largely in ruins—wolves were known to enter the streets. Frances again opened her home as a hospital and drove her wagon through the countryside to collect wood for fire and herbs for medicine. It is said she had the gift of healing, and more than sixty cases were attested to during the Canonisation proceedings.
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, “With her husband’s consent St Frances practised continence and advanced in a life of contemplation.
Her visions often assumed the form of drama enacted for her by heavenly personages. She had the gift of miracles and ecstasy, as well as the bodily vision of her guardian angel, had revelations concerning Purgatory and Hell and foretold the ending of the Western Schism. She could read the secrets of consciences and detect plots of diabolical origin. She was remarkable for her humility and detachment, her obedience and patience”.
On August 15, 1425, the feast of the Assumption of Mary, she founded the Olivetan Oblates of Mary, a confraternity of pious women, under the authority of the Olivetan monks of the Abbey of Santa Maria Nova in Rome but neither cloistered nor bound by formal vows, so they could follow her pattern of combining a life of prayer with answering the needs of their society.
In March 1433, she founded a monastery at Tor de’ Specchi, near the Campidoglio, in order to allow for a common life by those members of the confraternity who felt so called. This monastery remains the only house of the Institute. On 4 July of that same year, they received the approval of Pope Eugene IV as a religious congregation of oblates with private religious vows. The community later became known simply as the Oblates of St. Frances of Rome.
Frances herself remained in her own home, nursing her husband for the last seven years of his life from wounds he had received in battle. When he died in 1436, she moved into the monastery and became the superior. She died in 1440 and was buried in Santa Maria Nova.
On 9 May 1608, she was Canonised by Pope Paul V and in the following decades a diligent search was made for her remains, which had been hidden due to the troubled times in which she lived. Her body was found incorrupt some months after her death. Her grave was identified on 2 April 1638, (but this time only the bones remained) and her remains were reburied in the Church of Santa Maria Nova on 9 March 1649, which since then has been her feast day. Again, in 1869, her body was exhumed and has since then been displayed in a glass coffin for the veneration of the faithful. The Church of Santa Maria Nova is now usually referred to as the Church of St Frances.
In 1925, Pope Pius XI declared her the patron saint of automobile drivers because of a legend that an angel used to light the road before her with a lantern when she travelled, keeping her safe from hazards. Within the Benedictine Order, she is also honoured as a patron saint of all oblates.
St Frances of Rome (Optional Memorial
—
St Antony of Froidemont
St Bosa of York
St Bruno of Querfurt
St Candidus St Catherine of Bologna
St Constantine of Cornwall
St Cyrion St Dominic Savio St Gregory of Nyssa
St Mary of Seyne
St Pacian of Barcelona
St Vitalis of Calabria
—
Martyrs of Korea: – Ioannes Baptista Chon Chang-un, Petrus Ch’oe Hyong
The utter humility of John of God, which led to a totally selfless dedication to others, is most impressive. Here is a man who realised his nothingness in the face of God. The Lord blessed him with the gifts of prudence, patience, courage, enthusiasm and the ability to influence and inspire others. He saw that in his early life he had turned away from the Lord and, moved to receive his mercy, John began his new commitment to love others in openness to God’s love. It is amazing what good we can do for others if we only put our mind and hearts to it and don’t count the cost and don’t worry about who gets the credit! For all his work and pains, many thought St John of God was a lunatic but it didn’t stop him. He gave back good for persecution! An example to us all.
“Have charity, first for our own souls, then with the
neighbour. For, as water quenches fire, so charity
quenches sin.”
“When I am depressed, I can find no better remedy than in
gazing in contemplation on Jesus Christ crucified and
thinking of His most holy passion and of the distress He
suffered in this life.”
“The first (virtue) is faith, believing all that
holy mother church believes and holds,
keeping and putting into practice
what she commands”
If you are unfaithful, (Christ) will still remain faithful………2 Tm 2:13
REFLECTION – “Whether you like it or not, you will grow apart from human beings. However, Christ is faithful and always with you. Fot Christ provides all things.”……….St John of God
PRAYER – Lord Jesus, help me to remain faithful to You rather than to trust in others. However, should I ever be unfaithful please continue to be faithful to Your promises and grant me the grace to do penance. St John of God, pray for us, amen.
Saint of the Day – 8 March – St John of God OH (1495-1550) – aged 55 – Founder of the Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, a worldwide Catholic religious institute dedicated to the care of the poor, sick, and those suffering from mental disorders. Patronages – against alcoholism and of alcoholics, against bodily ills of all sickness and of the sick, bookbinders, booksellers, publishers and printers, of the dying, firefighters, heart patients, hospitals (proclaimed on 22 June 1886 by Pope Leo XIII), hospital workers, nurses (proclaimed in 1930 by Pope Pius XI),Tultepec, Mexico
Born as João Duarte Cidade on 8 March 1495 of a noble but now impoverished family. As a 16th-century Spanish soldier, John gave up religion and led a wild life. When he left the military at age 40, he became a shepherd. John decided to make a radical conversion—to go to Muslim North Africa and free Christian slaves. He saw himself dying as a martyr. His confessor helped John settle on a more prudent plan: to open a religious bookstore in Granada, Spain. He successfully managed this project. It was during this period of his life that St John had a vision of the Infant Jesus, Who bestowed upon him the name by which he was later known, John of God, also directing him to go to Granada. He then settled in that city, where he worked disseminating books, using the recent movable type printing press of Johannes Gutenberg to provide people with works of chivalry and devotional literature.
Saint John of God by Murillo (1672)
St John of God saving the Sick from a Fire at the Royal Hospital in 1549 by Manuel Gómez-Moreno González (1880)
At first, John begged for money to support those in need but soon people volunteered to help. John led a life of total giving and constant prayer. He found work for unemployed people. When the archbishop called John to his office because people complained that John kept immoral women in his hospital, he was silenced by John’s humility. John fell on his knees, saying, “I know of no bad person in my hospital except myself, who am unworthy to eat the bread of the poor.” John soon had a flourishing hospital. His helpers formed a community called the Brothers Hospitallers.
John of God died from pneumonia contracted while saving a drowning man. When John realised he was dying, he went over all the accounts, revised the rules and timetable and appointed a new leader. He died kneeling before the altar in his hospital chapel. John is the patron of hospitals.
Founder Statue at the Vatican
The first biography of John of God was written by Francisco de Castro, the chaplain at John of God’s hospital in Granada, Spain. He drew from his personal knowledge of John as a young man and also used material gathered from eyewitnesses and contemporaries of his subject. It was published at the express wish of the Archbishop of Granada, who gave financial backing to its publication. Castro began writing in 1579, twenty-nine years after John of God’s death but he did not live to see it published, for he died soon after completing the work. His mother, Catalina de Castro, had the book published in 1585.
Statue of St John of God at the Church of Vilar de Frades, Barcelos, Portugal. The inscription reads: All things pass, only good works last.
St John of God (Optional Memorial)
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St Apollonius of Antinoë
St Arianus of Alexandria
St Beoadh of Ardcarne
St Duthus of Ross
St Felix of Burgundy
St Humphrey of Prüm
St Jon Helgi Ogmundarson
St Litifredus of Pavia
St Philemon of Antinoë
St Pontius of Carthage
St Provinus of Como
St Quintilis of Nicomedia
St Rhian
St Senan of Scattery
St Stephen of Obazine
St Theophylact of Nicomedia
St Theoticus of Alexandria
St Veremundus of Irache
Bl Vincent Kadlubek of Krakow
—
Martyrs of North Africa – 9 saints – A bishop and some of his flock who were martyred together in North Africa. The only details that have survived are nine of the names – Beata, Cyril, Felicitas, Felix, Herenia, Mamillus, Rogatus, Silvanus, Urban
Sts Perpetua and Felicity were ordinary wives and mothers, who were swept up in the madness of persecution, who loved their families and their children and certainly were not eager to die. But heroism is found everywhere and their example has inspired Christians who have had to suffer for their faith, throughout the ages. They could so easily have turned back – they were not even baptised yet! And what of their teacher Saturus, who voluntarily joined the catechumens so that he might die for Christ with them and who (we presume it was he) baptised them whilst in prison – his name, in my opinion should be included with theirs. THIS is bravery, this is our example, are we ready, willing and able to defend, to protect, to stand tall and if necessary to die?
“Father do you see this water jar,
or whatever it is, standing here?
Could one call it by any other name
than what it is? Well, in the same way
I cannot be called by any other name
than what I am—a Christian.”……..St Perpetua
“Now it is I who suffer what I am suffering;
then, there will be another in me who will
suffer for me, because I will be suffering for Him.”…St Felicity
Saint/s of the Day – 7 March – Saints Perpetua and Felicity – Martyrs (died c203) in Carthage (Roman province of Africa – modern day Tunisia) – Patrons of Mothers, Expectant Mothers, ranchers, butchers, Carthage, Catalonia.
Vibia Perpetua was a married noblewoman, said to have been 22 years old at the time of her death and mother of an infant she was nursing. Felicity, a slave imprisoned with her and pregnant at the time, was martyred with her. They were put to death along with others at Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. According to the passion, a slave named Revocatus, his fellow slave Felicitas, the two free men Saturninus and Secundulus, and Perpetua, who were catechumens, that is, Christians being instructed in the faith but not yet baptised, were arrested and executed at the military games in celebration of the Emperor Septimus Severus’s birthday. To this group was added a man named Saturus (the Catechist of St Perpetua) who voluntarily went before the magistrate and proclaimed himself a Christian.
St Perpetua kept a diary during her last days, while she awaited her execution. Her diary, along with an eyewitness’s account of her death, is one of the oldest, most reliable histories of a martyr’s sufferings. This account was passed down to encourage other Christians to witness to the world with their lives—to teach others that greater than life itself is knowing Jesus and being loyal to him.
Perpetua’s account records the events that took place in Carthage, Africa, in the year 202, when the Emperor Severus issued an anti-Christian law forbidding anyone to be baptised and become a Christian. At that time twenty-two-year-old Perpetua was a catechumen, studying to become a Christian. She was also the mother of an infant son. Perpetua was arrested along with four other catechumens, including Felicity, her slave woman, who was about to give birth to a child. All were tried and sentenced to be thrown to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre during a national holiday. Their deaths would be scheduled along with sports events and various games.
During the days before their execution, their teacher Saturus voluntarily joined the catechumens so that he might die for Christ with them. Perpetua’s father, a wealthy pagan, pleaded with her to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods so she could be free, but she refused. She said, “Father do you see this water jar, or whatever it is, standing here? Could one call it by any other name than what it is? Well, in the same way I cannot be called by any other name than what I am—a Christian.”
While they were awaiting death, Perpetua and her companions were baptised. Shortly before the scheduled execution, Felicity gave birth to a baby girl. During childbirth, she had cried out in pain. Someone hearing her asked her how she would ever endure the suffering of martyrdom. She replied, “Now it is I who suffer what I am suffering, then, there will be another in me who will suffer for me, because I will be suffering for Him.”
On the day of their execution, the martyrs left their prison “joyfully as though they were on their way to heaven” and entered the arena, where they were killed before the cheering crowd. Perpetua and Felicity were beheaded; the others were killed by wild beasts. Today these women are mentioned in the first Eucharistic Prayer.
St Felicity of Carthage (Optional Memorial)
St Perpetua of Carthage (Optional Memorial)
—
St Ardo of Aniane
St Deifer of Bodfari
St Drausinus of Soissons
St Enodoch
St Esterwine of Wearmouth
St Eubulus of Caesarea
St Gaudiosus of Brescia
Bl Henry of Austria
Bl Leonid Feodorov
Bl Maria Antonia de Paz y Figueroa
St Paul of Prusa
St Paul the Simple
Bl St Reinhard of Reinhausen
St Teresa Margaret Redi
Bl William of Assisi
—
Martyrs of Carthage – 4 saints: A catechist and three students martyred together for teaching and learning the faith. We know little more than their names – Revocatus, Saturninus, Saturus and Secundulus. Mauled by wild beasts and beheaded 7 March 203 at Carthage, North Africa
Martyrs of Korea
Siméon-François Berneux
Bernard-Louis Beaulieu
Ioannes Baptista Nam Chong-Sam
Pierre-Henri Dorie
Simon-Marie-Just Ranfer de Bretenières
Martyrs of Laos
Bl Luc Sy
Bl Maisam Pho Inpèng
Martyrs of Tyburn
Bl German Gardiner
Bl John Ireland
Bl John Larke
On 9 May 1608, she was Canonised by Pope Paul V and in the following decades a diligent search was made for her remains, which had been hidden due to the troubled times in which she lived. Her body was found incorrupt some months after her death. Her grave was identified on 2 April 1638, (but this time only the bones remained) and her remains were reburied in the Church of Santa Maria Nova on 9 March 1649, which since then has been her feast day. Again, in 1869, her body was exhumed and has since then been displayed in a glass coffin for the veneration of the faithful. The Church of Santa Maria Nova is now usually referred to as the Church of St Frances.
AnaStpaul 
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