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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20261111
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20261112
DTSTAMP:20260519T113536
CREATED:20170801T192018Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T192018Z
UID:51127-1794355200-1794441599@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Martin of Tours
DESCRIPTION:Image: Statue of Saint Martin of Tours on the dome of the Basilica of Saint Martin of Tours | photo by ZohaStel\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint Martin of Tours\nSaint of the Day for November 11\n(c. 316 – November 8\, 397)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Martin of Tours’ Story\nA conscientious objector who wanted to be a monk; a monk who was maneuvered into being a bishop; a bishop who fought paganism as well as pleaded for mercy to heretics—such was Martin of Tours\, one of the most popular of saints and one of the first not to be a martyr. \nBorn of pagan parents in what is now Hungary and raised in Italy\, this son of a veteran was forced at the age of 15 to serve in the army. He became a Christian catechumen and was baptized at 18. It was said that he lived more like a monk than a soldier. At 23\, he refused a war bonus and told his commander: “I have served you as a soldier; now let me serve Christ. Give the bounty to those who are going to fight. But I am a soldier of Christ and it is not lawful for me to fight.” After great difficulties\, he was discharged and went to be a disciple of Hilary of Poitiers. \nHe was ordained an exorcist and worked with great zeal against the Arians. He became a monk\, living first at Milan and later on a small island. When Hilary was restored to his see after exile\, Martin returned to France and established what may have been the first French monastery near Poitiers. He lived there for 10 years\, forming his disciples and preaching throughout the countryside. \nThe people of Tours demanded that he become their bishop. He was drawn to that city by a ruse—the need of a sick person—and was brought to the church\, where he reluctantly allowed himself to be consecrated bishop. Some of the consecrating bishops thought his rumpled appearance and unkempt hair indicated that he was not dignified enough for the office. \nAlong with Saint Ambrose\, Martin rejected Bishop Ithacius’s principle of putting heretics to death—as well as the intrusion of the emperor into such matters. He prevailed upon the emperor to spare the life of the heretic Priscillian. For his efforts\, Martin was accused of the same heresy\, and Priscillian was executed after all. Martin then pleaded for a cessation of the persecution of Priscillian’s followers in Spain. He still felt he could cooperate with Ithacius in other areas\, but afterwards his conscience troubled him about this decision. \nAs death approached\, his followers begged him not to leave them. He prayed\, “Lord\, if your people still need me\, I do not refuse the work. Your will be done.” \n\nReflection\nMartin’s worry about cooperation with evil reminds us that almost nothing is either all black or all white. The saints are not creatures of another world: They face the same perplexing decisions that we do. Any decision of conscience always involves some risk. If we choose to go north\, we may never know what would have happened had we gone east\, west or south. A hyper-cautious withdrawal from all perplexing situations is not the virtue of prudence; it is\, in fact\, a bad decision\, for “not to decide is to decide.” \n\nSaint Martin of Tours is the Patron Saint of:\nHorses\nSoldiers\nSouth Africa
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-martin-of-tours/2026-11-11/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20261112
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20261113
DTSTAMP:20260519T113536
CREATED:20170801T192132Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T192132Z
UID:51131-1794441600-1794527999@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Josaphat
DESCRIPTION:Image: Icon of St. martyr Josaphat Kutsevych\, Archbishop of Polotsk | photo by Mykola Swarnyk\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint Josaphat\nSaint of the Day for November 12\n(c. 1580 –  November 12\, 1623)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Josaphat’s Story\nIn 1964\, newspaper photos of Pope Paul VI embracing Athenagoras I\, the Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople\, marked a significant step toward the healing of a division in Christendom that has spanned more than nine centuries. \nIn 1595\, when today’s saint was a boy\, the Orthodox bishop of Brest-Litovsk in present-day Belarus and five other bishops representing millions of Ruthenians\, sought reunion with Rome. John Kunsevich (who took the name Josaphat in religious life) was to dedicate his life and die for the same cause. Born in what is now Ukraine\, he went to work in Wilno and was influenced by clergy adhering to the Union of Brest (1596). He became a Basilian monk\, then a priest\, and soon was well known as a preacher and as an ascetic. \nHe became bishop of Vitebsk at a relatively young age\, and faced a difficult situation. Most monks\, fearing interference in liturgy and customs\, did not want union with Rome. By synods\, catechetical instruction\, reform of the clergy\, and personal example\, however\, Josaphat was successful in winning the greater part of the Orthodox in that area to the union. \nBut the next year a dissident hierarchy was set up\, and his opposite number spread the accusation that Josaphat had “gone Latin” and that all his people would have to do the same. He was not enthusiastically supported by the Latin bishops of Poland. \nDespite warnings\, he went to Vitebsk\, still a hotbed of trouble. Attempts were made to foment trouble and drive him from the diocese: A priest was sent to shout insults to him from his own courtyard. When Josaphat had him removed and shut up in his house\, the opposition rang the town hall bell\, and a mob assembled. The priest was released\, but members of the mob broke into the bishop’s home. Josaphat was struck with a halberd\, then shot\, and his body thrown into the river. It was later recovered and is now buried in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. He was the first saint of the Eastern Church to be canonized by Rome. \nHis death brought a movement toward Catholicism and unity\, but the controversy continued\, and the dissidents\, too\, had their martyr. After the partition of Poland\, the Russians forced most Ruthenians to join the Russian Orthodox Church. \n\nReflection\nThe seeds of separation were sown in the fourth century when the Roman Empire was divided into East and West. The actual split came over customs such as using unleavened bread\, Saturday fasting and celibacy. No doubt the political involvement of religious leaders on both sides was a large factor\, and doctrinal disagreement was present. But no reason was enough to justify the present tragic division in Christendom\, which is 64 percent Roman Catholic\, 13 percent Eastern Churches (mostly Orthodox) and 23 percent Protestant\, and this when the 71 percent of the world that is not Christian should be experiencing unity and Christ-like charity from Christians!
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-josaphat/2026-11-12/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20261113
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20261114
DTSTAMP:20260519T113536
CREATED:20170801T192247Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T192247Z
UID:51136-1794528000-1794614399@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini
DESCRIPTION:Image: Statue of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini in the portico of the sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary in Pompei | photo by Dario Crespi\nSaint Frances Xavier Cabrini\nSaint of the Day for November 13\n(July 15\, 1850 – December 22\, 1917)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Frances Xavier Cabrini’s Story\nFrances Xavier Cabrini was the first United States citizen to be canonized. Her deep trust in the loving care of her God gave her the strength to be a valiant woman doing the work of Christ. \nRefused admission to the religious order which had educated her to be a teacher\, she began charitable work at the House of Providence Orphanage in Cadogno\, Italy. In September 1877\, she made her vows there and took the religious habit. \nWhen the bishop closed the orphanage in 1880\, he named Frances prioress of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. Seven young women from the orphanage joined her. \nSince her early childhood in Italy\, Frances had wanted to be a missionary in China but\, at the urging of Pope Leo XIII\, Frances went west instead of east. She traveled with six sisters to New York City to work with the thousands of Italian immigrants living there. \nShe found disappointment and difficulties with every step. When she arrived in New York\, the house intended to be her first orphanage in the United States was not available. The archbishop advised her to return to Italy. But Frances\, truly a valiant woman\, departed from the archbishop’s residence all the more determined to establish that orphanage. And she did. \nIn 35 years\, Frances Xavier Cabrini founded 67 institutions dedicated to caring for the poor\, the abandoned\, the uneducated and the sick. Seeing great need among Italian immigrants who were losing their faith\, she organized schools and adult education classes. \nAs a child\, she was always frightened of water\, unable to overcome her fear of drowning. Yet\, despite this fear\, she traveled across the Atlantic Ocean more than 30 times. She died of malaria in her own Columbus Hospital in Chicago. \n\nReflection\nThe compassion and dedication of Mother Cabrini is still seen in hundreds of thousands of her fellow citizens who care for the sick in hospitals\, nursing homes\, and state institutions. We complain of increased medical costs in an affluent society\, but the daily news shows us millions who have little or no medical care\, and who are calling for new Mother Cabrinis to become citizen-servants of their land. \n\nSaint Frances Xavier Cabrini is the Patron Saint of:\nHospital Administrators\nImmigrants\nImpossible Causes\nIndia
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-frances-xavier-cabrini/2026-11-13/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20261114
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20261115
DTSTAMP:20260519T113536
CREATED:20170801T192406Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T192406Z
UID:51138-1794614400-1794700799@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Gertrude the Great
DESCRIPTION:Image: The high altar statue of Saint Gertrude the Great with a mouse on the distaff| Grafenbach\, Austria | photo by Rollroboter\nSaint Gertrude the Great\nSaint of the Day for November 14\n(January 6\, 1256 – November 17\, 1302)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Gertrude the Great’s Story\nGertrude\, a Benedictine nun in Helfta\, Saxony\, was one of the great mystics of the 13th century. Together with her friend and teacher Saint Mechtild\, she practiced a spirituality called “nuptial mysticism\,” that is\, she came to see herself as the bride of Christ. Her spiritual life was a deeply personal union with Jesus and his Sacred Heart\, leading her into the very life of the Trinity. \nBut this was no individualistic piety. Gertrude lived the rhythm of the liturgy\, where she found Christ. In the liturgy and in Scripture she found the themes and images to enrich and express her piety. There was no clash between her personal prayer life and the liturgy. \n\nReflection\nSaint Gertrude’s life is another reminder that the heart of the Christian life is prayer: private and liturgical\, ordinary or mystical\, but always personal. \n\nThe Liturgical Feast of Saint Gertrude the Great is November 16.\n\nSaint Gertrude the Great is the Patron Saint of:\nWest Indies
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-gertrude-the-great/2026-11-14/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20261115
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20261116
DTSTAMP:20260519T113536
CREATED:20170801T192522Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T192522Z
UID:51142-1794700800-1794787199@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Albert the Great
DESCRIPTION:Image: Saint Albert the Great | Vincenzo Onofri | photo by sailko\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint Albert the Great\nSaint of the Day for November 15\n(1206 – November 15\, 1280)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Albert the Great’s Story\nAlbert the Great was a 13th-century German Dominican who decisively influenced the Church’s stance toward Aristotelian philosophy brought to Europe by the spread of Islam. \nStudents of philosophy know him as the master of Thomas Aquinas. Albert’s attempt to understand Aristotle’s writings established the climate in which Thomas Aquinas developed his synthesis of Greek wisdom and Christian theology. But Albert deserves recognition on his own merits as a curious\, honest\, and diligent scholar. \nHe was the eldest son of a powerful and wealthy German lord of military rank. He was educated in the liberal arts. Despite fierce family opposition\, he entered the Dominican novitiate. \nHis boundless interests prompted him to write a compendium of all knowledge: natural science\, logic\, rhetoric\, mathematics\, astronomy\, ethics\, economics\, politics\, and metaphysics. His explanation of learning took 20 years to complete. “Our intention\,” he said\, “is to make all the aforesaid parts of knowledge intelligible to the Latins.” \nHe achieved his goal while serving as an educator at Paris and Cologne\, as Dominican provincial\, and even as bishop of Regensburg for a short time. He defended the mendicant orders and preached the Crusade in Germany and Bohemia. \nAlbert\, a Doctor of the Church\, is the patron of scientists and philosophers. \n\nReflection\nAn information glut faces us Christians today in all branches of learning. One needs only to read current Catholic periodicals to experience the varied reactions to the findings of the social sciences\, for example\, in regard to Christian institutions\, Christian life-styles\, and Christian theology. Ultimately\, in canonizing Albert\, the Church seems to point to his openness to truth\, wherever it may be found\, as his claim to holiness. His characteristic curiosity prompted Albert to mine deeply for wisdom within a philosophy his Church warmed to with great difficulty. \n\nSaint Albert the Great is the Patron Saint of:\nMedical Technicians\nPhilosophers\nScientists \n\nAnother Saint of the Day for November 15 is Blessed Mary of the Passion.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-albert-the-great/2026-11-15/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20261116
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20261117
DTSTAMP:20260519T113536
CREATED:20170801T192649Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T192649Z
UID:51146-1794787200-1794873599@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Margaret of Scotland
DESCRIPTION:Image: Saint Margaret of Scotland | François Augustin Caunois | photo by BastienM\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint Margaret of Scotland\nSaint of the Day for November 16\n(1045 – November 16\, 1093)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Margaret of Scotland’s Story\nMargaret of Scotland was a truly liberated woman in the sense that she was free to be herself. For her\, that meant freedom to love God and serve others. \nNot Scottish by birth\, Margaret was the daughter of Princess Agatha of Hungary and the Anglo-Saxon Prince Edward Atheling. She spent much of her youth in the court of her great-uncle\, the English king\, Edward the Confessor. Her family fled from William the Conqueror and was shipwrecked off the coast of Scotland. King Malcolm befriended them and was captivated by the beautiful\, gracious Margaret. They were married at the castle of Dunfermline in 1070. \nMalcolm was good-hearted\, but rough and uncultured\, as was his country. Because of Malcolm’s love for Margaret\, she was able to soften his temper\, polish his manners\, and help him become a virtuous king. He left all domestic affairs to her\, and often consulted her in state matters. \nMargaret tried to improve her adopted country by promoting the arts and education. For religious reform she encouraged synods and was present for the discussions which tried to correct religious abuses common among priests and laypeople\, such as simony\, usury\, and incestuous marriages. With her husband\, she founded several churches. \nMargaret was not only a queen\, but a mother. She and Malcolm had six sons and two daughters. Margaret personally supervised their religious instruction and other studies. \nAlthough she was very much caught up in the affairs of the household and country\, she remained detached from the world. Her private life was austere. She had certain times for prayer and reading Scripture. She ate sparingly and slept little in order to have time for devotions. She and Malcolm kept two Lents\, one before Easter and one before Christmas. During these times she always rose at midnight for Mass. On the way home she would wash the feet of six poor persons and give them alms. She was always surrounded by beggars in public and never refused them. It is recorded that she never sat down to eat without first feeding nine orphans and 24 adults. \nIn 1093\, King William Rufus made a surprise attack on Alnwick castle. King Malcolm and his oldest son\, Edward\, were killed. Margaret\, already on her deathbed\, died four days after her husband. \n\nReflection\nThere are two ways to be charitable: the “clean way” and the “messy way.” The “clean way” is to give money or clothing to organizations that serve the poor. The “messy way” is dirtying your own hands in personal service to the poor. Margaret’s outstanding virtue was her love of the poor. Although very generous with material gifts\, Margaret also visited the sick and nursed them with her own hands. She and her husband served orphans and the poor on their knees during Advent and Lent. Like Christ\, she was charitable the “messy way.”
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-margaret-of-scotland/2026-11-16/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20261117
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20261118
DTSTAMP:20260519T113536
CREATED:20170801T192819Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T192819Z
UID:51148-1794873600-1794959999@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
DESCRIPTION:Image: Detail | Saint Elizabeth of Hungary | Series of frescoes with scenes from the life of St. Martin of tours in the Lower Church of Saint Francis of Assisi | Simone Martini\n\nSaint Elizabeth of Hungary\nSaint of the Day for November 17\n(1207 – November 17\, 1231)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Elizabeth of Hungary’s Story\nIn her short life\, Elizabeth manifested such great love for the poor and suffering that she has become the patroness of Catholic charities and of the Secular Franciscan Order. The daughter of the King of Hungary\, Elizabeth chose a life of penance and asceticism when a life of leisure and luxury could easily have been hers. This choice endeared her in the hearts of the common people throughout Europe. \nAt the age of 14\, Elizabeth was married to Louis of Thuringia\, whom she deeply loved. She bore three children. Under the spiritual direction of a Franciscan friar\, she led a life of prayer\, sacrifice\, and service to the poor and sick. Seeking to become one with the poor\, she wore simple clothing. Daily she would take bread to hundreds of the poorest in the land who came to her gate. \nAfter six years of marriage\, her husband died in the Crusades\, and Elizabeth was grief-stricken. Her husband’s family looked upon her as squandering the royal purse\, and mistreated her\, finally throwing her out of the palace. The return of her husband’s allies from the Crusades resulted in her being reinstated\, since her son was legal heir to the throne. \nIn 1228\, Elizabeth joined the Secular Franciscan Order\, spending the remaining few years of her life caring for the poor in a hospital which she founded in honor of Saint Francis. Elizabeth’s health declined\, and she died before her 24th birthday in 1231. Her great popularity resulted in her canonization four years later. \n\nReflection\nElizabeth understood well the lesson Jesus taught when he washed his disciples’ feet at the Last Supper: The Christian must be one who serves the humblest needs of others\, even if one serves from an exalted position. Of royal blood\, Elizabeth could have lorded it over her subjects. Yet she served them with such a loving heart that her brief life won for her a special place in the hearts of many. Elizabeth is also an example to us in her following the guidance of a spiritual director. Growth in the spiritual life is a difficult process. We can play games very easily if we don’t have someone to challenge us. \n\nSaint Elizabeth of Hungary is the Patron Saint of:\nBakers\nCatholic Charities\nSecular Franciscan Order
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-elizabeth-of-hungary/2026-11-17/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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