Our Lady of Caravaggio/Nostra Signora di Caravaggio: Title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary who appeared in an apparition on 26 May 1432 in the countryside outside Caravaggio, Lombardy, Italy. Giannetta de’ Vacchi: Varoli was cutting hay in a field when the Virgin appeared. Mary requested penance from and a chapel built by the locals. A new spring of healing water appeared in the hay field. The apparition anniversary became a day of pilgrimage to the shrine of Santa Maria del Fonte built at the site and devotion to the Madonna of Caravaggio spread through the region and eventually around the world. In 1879, Italians from Lombardy built a chapel for their settlement in southern Brazil. As it was the only sacred art that any of them possessed, they dedicated the chapel to the Madonna di Caravaggio. Today the shrine hosts over a million pilgrims annually. Patronage – diocese of Cremona, Italy
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St Alphaeus
St Anderea Kaggwa
Bl Andrea Franchi
St Becan of Cork
Bl Berengar of Saint-Papoul
St Damian the Missionary
St Desiderius of Vienne
St Pope Eleuterus
St Felicissimus of Todi
St Fugatius the Missionary
St Gioan Ðoàn Trinh Hoan
St Guinizo of Monte Cassino
St Heraclius of Todi
Bl Lambert Péloguin of Vence
St Mariana de Paredes y Flores of Quito
St Odulvald of Melrose
St Paulinus of Todi
St Peter Sanz
St Ponsiano Ngondwe
St Priscus of Auxerre and Companions
St Quadratus of Africa
St Quadratus the Apologist
St Regintrudis of Nonnberg
St Simitrius of Rome and Companions
St Zachary of Vienne
O God, who in Your love and mercy
was pleased to send missionaries to Uganda
to bring the light of Christ to all the peoples,
we thank You for the gift of the
Holy Martyrs of Uganda, our ancestors in faith,
whom You gave the strength to overcome sin and the
anguish of torture and to bear witness to the truth.
We ask You O Lord,
through the intercession of St Charles Lwanga
and his companions, that we may imitate their deep faith,
hope, ardent charity, spirit of prayer, heroic chastity
and constant fidelity to Christ and to Your Church.
Grant us Your grace, that we may too, courageously witness to Christ.
To the Holy Martyrs, we beg for intercession,
be pleased to hear our prayer and pray for us that this,
our special request may be granted
(make your intention)
Holy Martyrs of Uganda, we honour and praise you!
Please pray for us!
O heavenly Father, we make our prayer
through our Lord, Jesus Christ, in union with the Holy Spirit,
one God forever and ever, amen.
This St Bede, this is a life of total self-giving in love!
It sounds to our ears to be a boring, closed, narrow existence –
ever occupied with learning, writing and teaching.
Almost from the time of his entry to study in the monastery as a young child,
until he died, he managed to remain in his own monastery,
although eagerly sought by kings and other notables, even Pope Sergius
Only once did he leave for a few months in order to teach in the school
of the Archbishop of York.
And amazingly, here was a saint who worked no miracles,
saw no visions and found no new way to God BUT
he is one of the few saints honoured as such even during his lifetime.
His writings were filled with such faith and learning
that even while he was still alive, a Church council
ordered them to be read publicly in the churches.
And he said of his life, “I have spent the whole of my life . . . devoting all of my pains to the study of the Scriptures and amid the observances of monastic discipline and the daily task of singing in church, it has ever been my delight to learn or teach or write.”
St Bede died in 735 praying his favourite prayer: “Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As in the beginning, so now, and forever.”
We remember and honour him as a Doctor of the Church,
so many centuries have gone by, the world in which we live is such a different place and still he teaches us from his eternal monastery in heaven!
“He alone loves the Creator perfectly who manifests a pure love for his neighbour.”
“Unfurl the sails and let God steer us where He will.”
“Christ is the Morning Star, who, when the night of this world is past, gives to his saints the promise of the light of life, and opens everlasting day.”
St Bede the Venerable (673-735) Doctor of the Church
“Come, Holy Spirit. Spirit of truth, You are the reward of the saints, the comforter of souls, light in the darkness, riches to the poor, treasure to lovers, food for the hungry, comfort to those who are wandering. To sum up: You are the one in whom all treasures are contained.”
St Mary Magdalene de Pazzi – Memorial today 25 May
Jesus said to them, “You are badly misled because you fail to understand the Scriptures…….”….Matthew 22:29
REFLECTION – “The whole series of the Divine Scriptures is interpreted in a fourfold way.
We should ascertain what everlasting truths are intimated therein,
what deeds are narrated, what future events are foretold and what commands or counsels are … therein.” …St Bede the Venerable (673-735) Doctor of the Church
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, teach me how to read Your wonderful words in the Scriptures with true understanding. Let me adhere always to the interpretations given by Your Holy Church. Come O Holy Spirit and guide my mind. Lord Jesus Christ,
stand beside me and bless my footsteps. Holy St Bede, intercede for us and pray for us all, amen.
O Christ, our Morning Star By St Bede the Venerable (673-735) Doctor of the Church
O Christ, our Morning Star,
Splendour of Light Eternal,
shining with the glory of the rainbow,
come and waken us
from the greyness of our apathy,
and renew in us Your gift of hope.
Amen
And, as May is still with us, let us greet our Mother!
A Salutation to Mary (adaped) By St John Eudes
Hail Mary, Daughter of God the Father;
Hail Mary, Mother of God the Son;
Hail Mary, Spouse of the Holy Spirit;
Hail Mary, Temple of the Most Holy Trinity.
Hail Mary, white Lilly of the resplendent and ever
unchanging Trinity.
Hail Mary, red Rose of Paradise.
Hail Mary, Virgin full of sweetness and humility,
from whom the King of Heaven willed to be
born and to suckle at the breast.
Hail Mary, Virgin of virgins.
Hail Mary, Queen of martyrs, who spent
Thy life for Heaven while on this earth.
Hail Mary, Queen of my heart, my sweetness,
my life and my entire hope.
Hail Mary, Mother most amiable.
Hail Mary, Mother most admirable.
Hail Mary, Mother of fair love.
Hail Mary, Mother of mercy.
Hail Mary, conceived without sin.
Thou art full of grace,
the Lord is with Thee;
blessed art Thou among all women,
and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus.
Blessed be the Eternal Father who elected Thee.
Blessed be Thy Son, who has loved Thee.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, who has espoused Thee.
And blessed forever be those who love Thee and bless Thee.
O Blessed Virgin, bless us all, in the Name of Thy dear Son.\
Amen
Saint of the Day – 25 May – St Bede the Venerable OSB (673-735) – Confessor, Priest, Monk, Father and Doctor of the Church, Linguist, Translator, Historian – also known as Venerable Bede, Father of English History. Patronages – of Lectors, English writers and historians; Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, England. In 1899, Pope Leo XIII declared him a Doctor of the Church; he is the only native of Great Britain to achieve this designation; Anselm of Canterbury, also a Doctor of the Church, was born in Italy. St Bede was moreover a skilled linguist and translator and his work made the Latin and Greek writings of the early Church Fathers much more accessible to his fellow English, which contributed significantly to English Christianity.
St Bede was born in Wearmoth-Jarrow, England, and at age seven was sent to the nearby monastery of St Peter and St Paul to be educated by the monks. From his writings, it appears that his family was wealthy and noble. Given his name, Bede—a derivative of the English bedtime prayer, it is likely that his parents had planned a religious life for him from birth. Under the holy tutelage of the monks, the natural intellect and spiritual zeal of St Bede magnified into one of the finest minds of his time. He studied all the known sciences: natural philosophy, the philosophical principles of Aristotle, astronomy, arithmetic, grammar, ecclesiastical history, the lives of the saints and, especially, Holy Scripture. St Bede spent his days in scholarly pursuits, prayer and contemplation. St Bede was ordained a deacon at the young age of nineteen and ordained a priest at 30.
He spent his days subsequent to ordination teaching, writing and studying. A prolific writer, he composed 45 texts on varied subjects, including science, literature, philosophy, and spirituality. “Through all the observance of monastic discipline,” Bede wrote, “it has ever been my delight to learn and teach and write.” His best known text, the Ecclesiastical History of the English People, is widely regarded as a decisive historical text which inspired the recording of written history. This text described the history of the English Church, and is a primary source of English history. Thirty of his manuscripts focused on Biblical commentary and theology. Aside from those he wrote, St Bede copied many texts by hand, translating a significant number of them into Latin to aid in teaching those of other languages.
Saint Bede remained in the monastery his entire life, leaving few times, including a brief visit to teach in a school in York and a visit to the monastery at Lindisfarne, where he began correspondence with St Cuthbert. Despite this, his counsel and teaching was sought by royalty and the Pope. His writings and homilies were read throughout the Church.
In his own words, from the Ecclesiastical History of the English People:
“Thus much concerning the ecclesiastical history of Britain and especially of the race of the English, I, Baeda, a servant of Christ and a priest of the monastery of the blessed apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul, which is at Wearmouth and at Jarrow (in Northumberland), have with the Lord’s help composed so far as I could gather it either from ancient documents or from the traditions of the elders, or from my own knowledge. I was born in the territory of the said monastery and at the age of seven I was, by the care of my relations, given to the most reverend Abbot Benedict and afterwards to Ceolfrid, to be educated. From that time I have spent the whole of my life within that monastery, devoting all my pains to the study of the Scriptures and amid the observance of monastic discipline and the daily charge of singing in the Church, it has been ever my delight to learn or teach or write. In my nineteenth year I was admitted to the deaconate, in my thirtieth to the priesthood, both by the hands of the most reverend Bishop John and at the bidding of Abbot Ceolfrid. From the time of my admission to the priesthood to my present fifty-ninth year, I have endeavoured for my own use and that of my brethren, to make brief notes upon the holy Scripture, either out of the works of the venerable Fathers or in conformity with their meaning and interpretation.”
“The Father of English History,” Saint Bede died peacefully at the monastery in Jarrow in 735. He was buried at Jarrow, though his remains now rest in Durham Cathedral.
Saint Cuthbert recorded his final hours, indicating the words of Saint Bede: “If it be the will of my Maker, the time has come when I shall be freed from the body and return to Him Who created me out of nothing when I had no being. I have had a long life, and the merciful Judge has ordered it graciously. The time of my departure is at hand, and my soul longs to see Christ my King in His beauty.”He further wrote of Bede’s life and death, citing a poem that Saint Bede had written in preparation for meeting his Maker: “And he used to repeat that sentence from St Paul, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God,” and many other verses of Scripture, urging us thereby to awake from the slumber of the soul by thinking in good time of our last hour. And in our own language,—for he was familiar with English poetry,—speaking of the soul’s dread departure from the body:
More prudent than he has good call to be, If he consider, before his going hence, What for his spirit of good or of evil After his day of death shall be determined.”
The conclusion of his Ecclesiastical History records his piety, humility, and wisdom: “And I pray thee, loving Jesus, that as Thou hast graciously given me to drink in with delight the words of Thy knowledge, so Thou wouldst mercifully grant me to attain one day to Thee, the fountain of all wisdom and to appear forever before Thy face.”
The life of Saint Bede is highly regarded as instrumental in the recording of written history and the translation of Biblical texts from ancient languages into modern languages. His commentary and theological writings—the goal to explain the teachings of the Church Fathers to all—are highly regarded, like those of Saint Augustine and Saint Ambrose. More than that, the simple monastic life of Saint Bede demonstrates the call of the Lord and the gifts of the Holy Spirit to those who listen and obey.
Ascension of the Lord (Solemnity; 2017)
St Bede the Venerable (Optional Memorial) (673-735) Priest, Monk, O.S.B. DOCTOR of the Church (Added by Pope Leo XIII in 1899)
St Gregory VII, Pope (Optional Memorial)
St Mary Magdalen of Pazzi (Optional Memorial)
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St Agustin Caloca
St Aldhelm of Sherborne
Bl Antonio Caixal
Bl Bartolomeo Magi di Amghiari
St Canio
St Cristobal Magallanes Jara
St Denis Ssebuggwawo
St Dionysius of Milan
St Dunchadh of Iona
St Egilhard of Cornelimünster
Bl Gerardo Mecatti
St Gerbald
St Injuriosus of Auvergne
St Iosephus Chang Song-Jib
Bl James Bertoni
Bl Juan of Granada
St Leo of Troyes
St Madeline Sophie Barat
St Matthêô Nguyen Van Ðac Phuong
St Maximus of Evreux
Bl Nicholas Tsehelsky
St Pasicrates of Dorostorum
Bl Pedro Malasanch
St Pherô Ðoàn Van Vân
St Scholastica of Auvergne
St Senzio of Bieda
St Urban I, Pope
St Valentio of Dorostorum
St Victorinus of Acquiney
St Winebald of Saint Bertin
St Worad of Saint Bertin
St Zenobius of Florence
In the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, commonly known as the Litany of Loreto, there are several “official” titles with which the Church honours Mary: Mother of God; Queen Assumed into Heaven; Mirror of Justice; Seat of Wisdom; Ark of the Covenant; Help of Christians.These titles reflect aspects of Mary’s role in God’s plan, her exalted status as the Mother of God and the many ways she helps God’s people as their mother. Her role in salvation history is not insignificant and is far from finished. Since the apostolic age, her primary task has been to help the pilgrim Church on her journey to her heavenly home.
Our Lady’s help encompasses the entire Church. She reaches out to us constantly and her help takes many forms. She is defender and protectress, teacher and guide, the first Christian and our model in faith. She is a comforting mother embracing us in every aspect of our humanity. She is also aware of Satan and his minions and intervenes for us as the New Eve who is neither fooled nor intimidated by his deceptions. The title “Help of Christians” truly embodies her role of co-operation in our redemption, her maternal mediation of grace in our lives and her advocacy for us before God.
Our Lady, Help of Christians, help us, pray for us!
“This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace, continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the Cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation. By her maternal charity, she cares for the brethren of her Son, who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties, until they are led into their blessed home. Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress and Mediatrix. This, however, is so understood, that it neither takes away anything from, nor adds anything to, the dignity and efficacy of Christ the one Mediator.”
Our Lady became the helper of the human race for the first time when her prayers were heard and God sent His Son to rescue the world from the empire of sin. She is the great woman predicted in the Proto-evangelium of Genesis, who will crush the head of the devil (Genesis 3:15). She is also portrayed in the Apocalypse as the Woman clothed with the sun, (Revelation 12:1). Then the dragon was angry with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God (Christians) and hold the testimony of Jesus (Revelation 12:17).
REFLECTION – “Be devoted to Mary most holy; frequently call on her. Never was it known that anyone who trustingly had recourse to her was not promptly heard………you will see what miracles are!”-……..St John Bosco
PRAYER – My Queen and my Mother,
I give myself entirely to you;
and to show my devotion to you,
I consecrate to you this day my eyes,
my ears, my mouth, my heart,
my whole being without reserve.
Wherefore, good Mother,
as I am your own,
keep me, guard me,
as your property and possession.
Amen.
Our Lady, Help of Christians pray for the Church and for us all!
Most Holy Virgin Mary,
Help of Christians,
how sweet it is to come to your feet
imploring your perpetual help.
If earthly mothers cease not to remember their children,
how can you, the most loving of all mothers forget me?
Grant then to me, I implore you,
your perpetual help in all my necessities,
in every sorrow and especially in all my temptations.
I ask for your unceasing help for all who are now suffering.
Help the weak,
cure the sick,
convert sinners.
Grant through your intercessions many vocations to the religious life.
Obtain for us, O Mary, Help of Christians,
that having invoked you on earth
we may love and eternally thank you in heaven. Amen
Saint of the Day – 24 May – The Feast of Mary Help of Christians – Patronages: Australia (proclaimed on 17 July 1916 by Pope Benedict XV), New Zealand, Andorran security forces, Australian military chaplains, New York, diocese of Townsville, Australia.
Mary Help of Christians (Latin: Sancta Maria Auxilium Christianorum; Spanish: Nuestra Señora María Auxiliadora; Filipino: Maria, Mapag-ampon sa mga Kristiyano), is a Roman Catholic Marian devotion with a feast day celebrated on May 24. Saint John Chrysostom was the first person to use this Marian title in year 345 as a devotion to the Virgin Mary. Don Bosco also propagated Marian devotion under this title. Pope Leo XIII granted a Canonical coronation towards the Marian image bearing the same title on 17 May 1903, now presently enshrined within the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians. Pope Benedict XVI during his Regina Caeli papal address on 24 May 2009 invoked this Marian patronage, under the venerated title of Our Mother of Sheshan, calling for Chinese Catholics to renew their fidelity to the Pope as the sole successor of Saint Peter. Below is the image of Mary Help of Christians enshrined in her Turin basilica, where Pope Leo XIII granted a Canonical coronation on 17 May 1903 and the Basilica of Our Lady Help of Christians, Turin, founded by St. John Bosco
As Mother of God’s children, Mary has responded by helping Christians throughout the ages. She has done this by coming to the aid of individuals, families, towns, kingdoms and nations.
In 1214 she gave the Rosary to Saint Dominic as a weapon to combat the Albigesian heresy which was devastating Southern France. It is very clear to Christians and it is also the Will of God that we have and will continue to have the Help of Mary through the recitation of the Holy Rosary.
In the year 1531 Our Lady appeared in Mexico to an indian named Juan Diego. He was a humble peasant aged 51. As a result of the apparitions, over 10 million indians were converted to Catholicism, the sacrificial killings of babies stopped, and Our Lady left an image which is a reflection of herself imprinted miraculously on the tilma of Juan Diego.
In 1571 the whole of Christendom was saved by Mary Help of Christians when faithful Catholics throughout Europe prayed the Rosary. The great battle of Lepanto occurred on October 7th 1571. For this reason this date has been chosen as the feast of the Holy Rosary. In 1573 Pope Pius V instituted the feast in thanksgiving for the decisive victory of Christianity over Islamism.
Near the end of the 17th century, Emperor Leopold I of Austria took refuge in the Shrine of Mary Help of Christians at Pasau, when 200,000 Ottoman Turks besieged the capital city of Vienna. Pope Innocent XI united Christendom against the ominous attack of Mohammedanism. A great victory occurred thanks to Mary Help of Christians. On September 8th, Feast of Our Lady’s Birthday, plans were drawn for the battle. On September 12, Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, Vienna was finally freed through the intercession of Mary Help of Christians. All Europe had joined with the Emperor crying out “Mary, Help!” and praying the Holy rosary.
In 1809, Napoleon’s men entered the Vatican, arrested Pius VII and brought him in chains to Grenoble, and eventually Fontainbleau. His imprisonment lasted five years. The Pope smuggled out orders from prison for the whole of Christendom to pray to Our Lady Help of Christians, and thus the whole of Europe once again became a spiritual battle ground, not of arms against ruthless arms but of Rosaries against ruthless military might. Soon Napoleon was off the throne and the Pope freed from prison.
After proving her maternal help, throughout the centuries, Our Lady has continued to appear in hundreds of places throughout the world mainly during the 20th century, Lourdes and Fatima being the most famous apparitions. She has brought help from Heaven, and has warned her children to do prayer and penance as a formula for peace. She has stressed that her children must pray the Holy Rosary daily.
Gnadenbild Mariahilf – Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553)
Matzleinsdorfer Pfarrkirche, Wiedner Hauptstraße
Interior view of the Mariahilferkirche church on Haydnplatz in Vienna.
Our Lady, Help of Christians
Our Lady of China
Our Lady of Quercioli
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St Afra of Brescia
Bl Benedict of Cassino
St David of Scotland
Bl Diego Alonso
St Donatian of Nantes
St Gennadius of Astroga
St Hubert of Bretigny
Bl Isidore Ngei Ko Lat
St Joanna the Myrrhbearer
Bl John del Prado
Bl John of Montfort
Bl Juan of Huete
Bl Louis-Zéphirin Moreau
St Manahen
St Marciana of Galatia
Bl Mario Vergara
St Meletius the Soldier
Bl Nicetas of Pereslav
St Palladia
St Patrick of Bayeux
Bl Philip of Piacenza
St Rogatian of Nantes
St Sérvulo of Trieste
St Simeon Stylites the Younger
St Susanna
Bl Thomas Vasière
St Vincent of Lérins
St Vincent of Porto Romano
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Martyrs of Istria: A group of early martyrs in the Istria peninsula. We know little more than some names – Diocles, Felix, Servilius, Silvanus and Zoëllus.
Martyrs of Plovdiv: 38 Christians martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian and Maximian. We don’t even known their names. They were beheaded in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Martyrs of the Small West Gate: Additional Memorial – 20 September as part of the Martyrs of Korea. A group of lay catechists and catechumens who were imprisoned and executed together for the crime of being Christian.
• Saint Agatha Kim A-Gi
• Saint Agatha Yi So-Sa
• Saint Anna Pak A-Gi
• Saint Augustine Yi Kwang-Hon
• Saint Barbara Han A-Gi
• Saint Damianus Nam Myong-Hyok
• Saint Lucia Pak Hui-Sun
• Saint Magdalena Kim Ob-I
• Saint Petrus Kwon Tug-In
They were beheaded on 24 May 1839 at the Small West Gate, Seoul, South Korea and were Canonised on 6 May 1984 by Pope John Paul II.
Announcing a Novena to the Ugandan Martyrs also known as St Charles Lwanga and Companions – beginning 25 May
The Uganda Martyrs are a group of 23 Anglican and 22 Catholic converts to Christianity in the historical kingdom of Buganda, now part of Uganda, who were executed between 31 January 1885 and 27 January 1887.
They were killed on orders of Mwanga II, the Kabaka (King) of Buganda. The deaths took place at a time when there was a three-way religious struggle for political influence at the Buganda royal court. The episode also occurred against the backdrop of the “Scramble for Africa” – the invasion, occupation, division, colonisation and annexation of African territory by European powers. The Catholic Church beatified the martyrs of its faith in 1920 and canonised them in 1964.
St John Baptist de Rossi not only gave his life totally to the care of all the needy – whatever their need might be!
Sick, homeless, poor and needy – by day he devoted himself to the sick and poor in Rome’s hospitals, by night he ministered to those on the street and in shelters. But he didn’t stop there – he alleviated their bodily sorrows firstly and then he cared for their souls and he exhorted fellow priests to follow his example and to care for all – both body and soul.
Many of us shrink from going to the hospitals from fear of infection or from the sights and smells that await us there.
Courage! We are not in the world to follow our own will and pleasure but to imitate the Lord.
“The saints must be honoured as friends of Christ
and children and heirs of God.
Let us carefully observe the manner of life of all
the apostles, martyrs, ascetics and just men
who announced the coming of the Lord.
And let us emulate their faith, charity, hope, zeal,
life, patience under suffering and perseverance unto death
so that we may also share their crowns of glory.”
St John Damascene (675-749) – Doctor of the Church
The Servant of the Lord….must be an apt teacher, patiently and gently correcting those who contradict him…..2 Tm 2:24-25
REFLECTION – “All who undertake to teach must be endowed with deep love, the greatest patience and, most of all, profound humility. They must perform their work with earnest zeal. Then through their humble prayers, the Lord will find them worthy to become fellow workers with Him in the cause of truth.”………….St Louis
PRAYER – Dear Lord, help me to teach others about You by my example as well as my words. Grant that I may spread Your love and Your truth and Your light wherever I go. St John Baptist de Rossi, you always showed the way by your example, your love for the poor and helpless and by your teachings to seminarians, priests and all the people, please pray for us, amen,
MARY, I BEG YOU By St Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) Magnificent Doctor Marian Doctor
Mary, I beg you,
by that grace through which
the Lord is with you
and you will to be with him,
let your mercy be with me.
Let love for you always be with me,
and the care for me be always with you.
Let the cry of my need,
as long as it persists,
be with you,
and the care of your goodness,
as long as I need it,
be with me.
Let joy in your blessedness
be always with me,
and compassion for my wretchedness,
where I need it,
be with you.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 23 May – St John Baptist de Rossi born Giovanni Battista de’ Rossi (22 February 1698 at Voltaggio, diocese of Genoa, Italy – 23 May 1764 at Trinita dei Pellegrini, Italy of multiple strokes) Priest, Preacher and Teacher and apostle of Charity.
St John Baptist was born at the beginning of 1698 in Voltaggio as the last of four children to Carlo de’ Rossi and Francesca Anfosi who were poor but pious. His initial education was under the care of the two priests Scipio Gaetano and Giuseppe Repetto who noted his potential and brilliance and held him as their favorite student. In 1708 he met a noble couple (Giovanni Scorza and Maria Battina Cambiasi) from Genoa after a Mass who took him in as a page after noting his potential – after his father approved – and he went to school there until 1711. His father’s sudden death in 1710 saw his mother plead with him to return home but Rossi was firm in his resolve to continue with his studies; his sole brother (older than him) died not long after their father. Rossi met two Capuchin friars at the Scorza residence one evening (he had begged to meet them) who thought well of him and offered to help him continue his studies. He had known the friars – or of them – for an uncle was one of them as he mentioned to them. ] At the suggestion of his cousin Lorenzo de’ Rossi – the canon of Santa Maria in Cosmedin – he travelled to Rome in 1711 in order to commence his studies at the Collegium Romanum under the guidance of the Jesuits (he first had to receive his mother’s permission). Rossi also studied at the Dominican College of Saint Thomas (underwent his philosophical and theological studies under them). It was around this time that he joined the “Ristretto of the Twelve Apostles”. On one occasion he attended Mass but fainted and was found to have had suffered an epileptic seizure; this would be something he would have to grapple with for the remainder of his life and it meant he would not be able to attend classes sometimes due to the tiredness and the pain.
His desire to become a priest was strong but was hampered due to his suffering of epileptic fits which would exclude one from the priesthood in normal circumstances. Nonetheless he was granted a special dispensation on 3 March 1721 and was ordained to the priesthood soon after on 8 March. He worked in Rome on behalf of homeless women who wandered the streets while being careful to the needs of the sick while helping to found a hospice for homeless women near Saint Galla’s. He also aided prisoners and workers and became an ultra-popular confessor. Rossi became known as a second Saint Philip Neri and he was known for a strong and special devotion to Saint Aloysius Gonzaga.
On a superficial level St. John Baptist de Rossi’s life was uneventful. A simple priest, for forty years he worked in the capacity of an assistant priest in Rome. On a spiritual level, however, he touched thousands of needy people—the sick, the homeless, prostitutes, transient cattle drivers who came to market in Rome, and other rough sorts. By day he devoted himself to the sick poor in Rome’s hospitals. By night he ministered to street people at a refuge.
Caregivers can look to John Baptist as a model. Before he would speak to a dying person about salvation, he did all he could to relieve their suffering. No service for the sick, no matter how repugnant, repulsed him. And his selflessness won people’s hearts. Here is an excerpt from one of his sermons to his fellow priests:
“Ignorance is the leprosy of the soul. How many such lepers exist in the church here in Rome, where many people don’t even know what’s necessary for their salvation? It must be our business to try to cure this disease. The souls of our neighbours are in our hands and yet how many are lost through our fault? The sick die without being properly prepared because we have not given time or care enough to each particular case. Yet with a little more patience, a little more perseverance, a little more love, we could have led these poor souls to heaven.”
Once, for example, a young man dying of syphilis rebuffed de Rossi’s attention until the priest emptied his bedpan. Touched by John Baptist’s humble care, the fellow finally listened to him and made a good confession before he died. Other priests and penitents were amazed by John Baptist’s persuasiveness in the confessional. With a few gentle words he turned people’s lives. Once a young man came to him who was sexually entangled with a woman who kept coming to his house under the pretense of washing and mending his clothes. A brief conversation with John Baptist broke the youth’s addiction. As a sign of his cure, the next day he brought the priest a pile of his clothes he had taken from the woman.
John Baptist exhorted others to follow his example in caring for souls and assisted his fellow priests and seminarians by his words and his life, in a homily to them he said:
“The poor come to church tired and distracted by their daily troubles. If you preach a long sermon they can’t follow you. Give them one idea that they can take home, not half a dozen, or one will drive out the other and they will remember none.”
John Baptist de Rossi, himself worn out by his unselfish service, suffered strokes in 1763 and died a year later.
The cause for canonisation began under Pope Pius VI on 27 June 1781 but suffered brief though significant setbacks due to the French Revolution and the ensuring Napoleonic Wars and Revolutions of 1848. Rossi was beatified after Pope Pius IX attributed two miracles to his intercession on 7 March 1859 and presided over the celebration in Saint Peter’s Basilica on 13 May 1860. On 8 December 1881 the acknowledgement of two more miracles in 1881 enabled Pope Leo XIII to canonise him as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. His relics initially at Saints Trinita church but were translated to Saint John Baptist Rossi parish church in Rome, Italy in 1965.
St Basileus of Braga
St Desiderius of Langres
St Epitacius of Tuy
St Euphebius of Naples
St Euphrosyne of Polotsk
St Eutychius of Valcastoria
St Florentius of Valcastoria
St Goban Gobhnena
St Guibertus of Gorze
Bl Ivo of Chartres
St Jane Antide Thouret
St John Baptist Rossi
Bl Józef Kurzawa
Bl Leontius of Rostov
St Michael of Synnada
St Onorato of Subiaco
St Spes of Campi
St Syagrius of Nice
St William of Rochester
Bl Wincenty Matuszewski
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Martyrs of Béziers: 20 Mercedarian friars murdered by Huguenots for being Catholic. Martyrs. 1562 at the Mercedarian convent at Béziers, France
Martyrs of Cappadocia: A group of Christians tortured and martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian and Galerius. Their names and the details of their lives have not come down to us. They were crushed to death in c.303 in Cappadocia (in modern Turkey)
Martyrs of Carthage: When a civil revolt erupted in Carthage in 259 during a period of persecution by Valerian, the procurator Solon blamed it on the Christians, and began a persecution of them. We know the names and a few details about 8 of these martyrs – Donatian, Flavian, Julian, Lucius, Montanus, Primolus, Rhenus and Victorius. They were beheaded in 259 at Carthage (modern Tunis, Tunisia)
Martyrs of Mesopotamia: A group of Christians martyred in Mesopotamia in persecutions by imperial Roman authorities. Their names and the details of their lives have not come down to us. They were suffocated over a slow fire in Mesopotamia
Martyrs of North Africa: A group of 19 Christians martyred together in the persecutions of the Arian Vandal King Hunneric for refusing to deny the Trinity. We know little more than a few of their names – Dionysius, Julian, Lucius, Paul and Quintian. c.430
At every stage of her life, Rita seems to have bravely endured unendurable circumstances: frustration because her parents overrode her wish to become a nun; married an abuser; refused three times by the Augustinians; afflicted with the pain and embarrassment of the stigmata. None of these things, however, prevented her from serving God and her sisters. We can pray for her intercession in our desperate need, but we should also imitate her love in action.
“What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.”
I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shalll I send?….”Here I am.” I said, “send me!”……………Isaiah 6:8
REFLECTION – “You ask what you might offer to God?
Offer yourself!
What does God expect from you – except yourself?”
PRAYER – Help me to discern through prayer and meditation what You truly want of me.
The enable me to offer it to You and indeed, to offer myself and all I have and all I am, to You.
St Rita of Cascia, you prayed so earnestly to give yourself totally to the Lord and suffer for Him, please pray for us, amen.
Mother of Mercy
By St Bonaventure (1217-74)
Seraphic Doctor
Virgin full of goodness,
Mother of Mercy,
I entrust to you my body and soul,
my thoughts, my actions,
my life and my death.
O my Queen, help me,
and deliver me from all
the snares of the devil.
Obtain for me the grace
of loving my Lord Jesus Christ,
your Son, with a true and perfect love,
and after Him, O Mary,
to love you with all my heart
and above all things.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 22 May – St Rita of Cascia – (born Margherita Lotti) IN 1386 at Roccaparena, Umbria, Italy and died on 22 May 1457 at the Augustinian Convent at Cascia, Italy of tuberculosis)- Mother, Widow, Stigmatist, Consecrated Religious, Mystic, – Patron of Lost and impossible causes, sickness, wounds, marital problems, abuse, mothers, against infertility or sterility, infertile people, against loneliness, against sickness or bodily ill, sick people, wounds, wounded people, desperate people, forgotten people, difficult marriages, parenthood, Cascia, Italy, Dalayap, Philippines, Igbaras, Iloilo, Philippines. Attributes – nun holding a crown of thorns, holding roses, holding roses and figs, with a wound on her forehead. Her Body is Incorrupt and lies in the Basilica of Cascia. Pope Leo XIII canonised Rita on 24 May 1900.
Blessed by God, you were a light in darkness through your steadfast courage when you had to suffer such agony upon your cross. You turned aside from this vale of tears to seek wholeness for your hidden wounds in the great passion of Christ. . . . You were not content with less than perfect healing, and so endured the thorn for fifteen years before you entered into the joy of your Lord.
This poem was engraved on the casket of St Rita of Cascia and is one of the few contemporary sources that tell us about her. St Rita received her “hidden wounds” in an unfortunate marriage. She was born in 1381 in the city of Roccaporena (near Spoleto, Umbria, Italy) where various sites connected with her are the focus of pilgrimages. Her parents, Antonio and Amata Ferri Lotti, were known to be noble, charitable persons, who gained the epithet Conciliatore di Cristo “Peacemakers of Christ.” She was married at age twelve to a nobleman named Paolo Mancini. Her parents arranged her marriage, a common practice at the time, despite her repeated requests to be allowed to enter a convent of religious sisters. Her husband, Paolo Mancini, was known to be a rich, quick-tempered, immoral man, who had many enemies in the region of Cascia. Rita had her first child at the age of twelve. For eighteen years she endured the abuses and infidelities of a violent husband. She also suffered the unruly behaviour of two sons who were strongly influenced by their father. She was delivered from these miserable circumstances in a horrific way – one day her husband was brought home dead, brutally slashed by his enemies. Her rambunctious sons planned to get revenge but died before they could obtain it.
Rita was then free to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a nun. She applied to enter the Augustinian convent at Cascia of Italy, in 1407. But her suffering was not over. Even though orders customarily received widows, the Augustinians three times refused Rita because she had been married. Only after six years did they acquiesce and install her as a nun.
The poem said Rita “sought wholeness” in the passion of Christ. In her meditations she preoccupied her imagination with his agony. On Good Friday, 1441, she prostrated herself before a Crucifix and begged Christ for some small share of his suffering. As though punctured by a crown of thorns, a single wound opened on Rita’s forehead. For fifteen years it caused her daily pain and embarrassed her, as its putrid odour frequently offended her sisters. In 1450, when she was preparing to visit Rome for the jubilee year, the wound temporarily healed. But it reappeared when she returned to Cascia and remained until her death.
Rita died of tuberculosis on 22 May 1457. Three days later, Domenico Angeli, a notary of Cascia, recorded eleven miracles that occurred upon the saint’s death. He left us this brief profile of her religious life:
“A very honourable nun, Lady Rita, having spent forty years as a nun in the cloister of the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene of Cascia by living with charity in the service of God, followed the destiny of every human being. God, in whose service she persevered for the aforementioned time—desiring to show all the faithful a model of life, so that as she had lived serving God with love by fasting and prayer, they too, all faithful Christians, would live also—worked many wonderful miracles and through the merits of Saint Rita, especially on 25 May 1457.”
The Miracle of the Rose
It is said that near the end of her life Rita was bedridden at the convent. While visiting her, a cousin asked if she desired anything from her old home. Rita responded by asking for a rose from the garden. It was January and her cousin did not expect to find one due to the season. However, when her relative went to the house, a single blooming rose was found in the garden and her cousin brought it back to Rita at the convent. St Rita is often depicted holding roses or with roses nearby. On her feast day churches and shrines of St Rita provide roses to the congregation that are blessed by the priest during Mass.
The Miracle of the Bees
In the Parish Church of Laarne, near Ghent, Belgium, there is a statue of St Rita in which several bees are featured. This depiction originates from the story of her Baptism as an infant. On the day after her Baptism, her family noticed a swarm of white bees flying around her as she slept in her crib. However, the bees peacefully entered and exited her mouth without causing her any harm or injury. Instead of being alarmed for her safety, her family was mystified by this sight. According to Butler, this was taken to indicate that the career of the child was to be marked by industry, virtue and devotion.
Legacy
A large sanctuary of St Rita was built in the early 20th century in Cascia. The sanctuary and the house where she was born are among the most active pilgrimage sites of Umbria.
French singer Mireille Mathieu adopted St Rita as her patron saint on the advice of her paternal grandmother. In her autobiography, Mathieu describes buying a candle for St Rita using her last franc. Though Mathieu claims that her prayers did not always come true, she testifies that they inspired her to become a strong and determined woman.
St Rita of Cascia (Optional Memorial)
—
St Aigulf of Bourges
St Atto of Pistoia
St Aureliano of Pavia
St Ausonius of Angoulême
St Baoithin of Ennisboyne
St Basiliscus of Pontus
St Bobo of Provence
St Boethian of Pierrepont
St Castus the Martyr
St Conall of Inniscoel
Bl Diego de Baja
Bl Dionisio Senmartin
St Emilius the Martyr
St Faustinus the Martyr
St Francisco Salinas Sánchez
St Fulgencio of Otricoli
Bl Fulk of Castrofurli
Bl Giacomo Soler
Bl Giusto Samper
St Helen of Auxerre
St Humility of Faenza
Bl John Baptist Machado
St John Forest
St John of Parma
St José Quintas Durán
St Julia of Corsica
St Lupo of Limoges
St Marcian of Ravenna
St Margaret of Hulme
Bl Maria Rita Lopes Pontes de Souza Brito
Bl Pedro of the Assumption
St Quiteria
St Romanus of Subiaco
St Timothy the Martyr
St Venustus the Martyr
—
Franciscan Martyrs of Japan
“I have a sensitive and excessive heart”
In the personal view that he presented to his spiritual director, on entering the major seminary in 1808, this characteristic was a very good reflection of his personality. Eugene was a “man of heart”. He loved passionately, as he himself admitted. He loved his family. “I am an idolater of my family… I would allow myself to be beaten with an axe for certain of its individuals… I would give my life for them without hesitation” he once wrote. This tendency of love for his family was equally manifested in behalf of the children of his religious family, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. His most ardent desire was to see them love one another as brothers. This intent was so profound within him that he inscribed it in his spiritual testament. On his deathbed, May 21, 1861, to a few Oblates by his side awaiting a parting instruction from their venerated father, Bishop de Mazenod repeated three times, as if to be well understood: “Charity, charity, charity”.
This great capacity for love allowed St Eugene to open that loving heart to the grace of God which bore rich fruit in his life. That required a certain amount of flexibility as well as courage to face the problems every growing group encounters. We look to saints like Eugene not to borrow their love, courage and zeal but, with God’s grace, to discover our own, always seeking first God’s kingdom (see Matthew 6:33). And a thought that fills us with hope, our passionate love, may just be the impetus and grace of God which forces us to rush headlong into His work and to convert that love into charity too!
“I had looked for happiness outside of God but outside of Him I had found only affliction and disappointment.”
“What more glorious occupation than to act in everything and for everything only for God, to love Him above all else, to love Him all the more, as one who has loved Him too late.”
“To love the Church is to love Jesus Christ and vice versa.”
“We glorify God in the masterpiece of His power and love… it is the Son whom we honour in the person of His Mother.”
One Minute Reflection – 21 May – The Memorial of St Eugene de Mazenod (1782-1861)
May the Lord make you overflow with love for one another and for all………….1 Thes 3:12
REFLECTION – “I find my happiness in pastoral work. It is for this that I am a bishop and not to write books, still less to pay court to the great, or to waste my time among the rich. It is true…that this is not the way to become a cardinal but if one could become a saint, would it not be better still?”…St Eugene de Mazenod (1782-1861)
PRAYER – Loving Father, grant me the grace to strive after perfect love. Help me to bring forth frequents acts of love so that I may grow in this greatest of virtues. St Eugene you overflowed with love, they said your heart was as big as the world, please pray for us all, amen.
AnaStpaul 
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