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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171209
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171210
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T135841Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170914T192000Z
UID:6034-1512777600-1512863999@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Juan Diego
DESCRIPTION:Saint Juan Diego\nSaint of the Day for December 9\n(1474 – May 30\, 1548)\n\n\n Click to hear audio clip ►\n\n\nSaint Juan Diego’s Story\nThousands of people gathered in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe July 31\, 2002\, for the canonization of Juan Diego\, to whom the Blessed Mother appeared in the 16th century. Pope John Paul II celebrated the ceremony at which the poor Indian peasant became the Church’s first saint indigenous to the Americas. \nThe Holy Father called the new saint “a simple\, humble Indian” who accepted Christianity without giving up his identity as an Indian. “In praising the Indian Juan Diego\, I want to express to all of you the closeness of the Church and the pope\, embracing you with love and encouraging you to overcome with hope the difficult times you are going through\,” John Paul said. Among the thousands present for the event were members of Mexico’s 64 indigenous groups. \nFirst called Cuauhtlatohuac (“The eagle who speaks”)\, Juan Diego’s name is forever linked with Our Lady of Guadalupe because it was to him that she first appeared at Tepeyac hill on December 9\, 1531. The most famous part of his story is told in connection with the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12. After the roses gathered in his tilma were transformed into the miraculous image of Our Lady\, however\, little more is said about Juan Diego. \nIn time he lived near the shrine constructed at Tepeyac\, revered as a holy\, unselfish. and compassionate catechist who taught by word and especially by example. \nDuring his 1990 pastoral visit to Mexico\, Pope John Paul II confirmed the long-standing liturgical cult in honor of Juan Diego\, beatifying him. Twelve years later he was proclaimed a saint. \n\nReflection\nGod counted on Juan Diego to play a humble\, yet huge role in bringing the Good News to the peoples of Mexico. Overcoming his own fear and the doubts of Bishop Juan de Zumarraga\, Juan Diego cooperated with God’s grace in showing his people that the Good News of Jesus is for everyone. Pope John Paul II used the occasion of this beatification to urge Mexican laymen and laywomen to assume their responsibilities for passing on the Good News and witnessing to it.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/6034/2017-12-09/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171210
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171211
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T140026Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170914T191957Z
UID:6037-1512864000-1512950399@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Blessed Adolph Kolping
DESCRIPTION:Blessed Adolph Kolping\nSaint of the Day for December 10\n(December 8\, 1813 – December 4\, 1865)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nBlessed Adolph Kolping’s Story\nThe rise of the factory system in 19th-century Germany brought many single men into cities where they faced new challenges to their faith. Father Adolph Kolping began a ministry to them\, hoping that they would not be lost to the Catholic faith\, as was happening to workers elsewhere in industrialized Europe. \nBorn in the village of Kerpen\, Adolph became a shoemaker at an early age because of his family’s economic situation. Ordained in 1845\, he ministered to young workers in Cologne\, establishing a choir\, which by 1849 had grown into the Young Workmen’s Society. A branch of this began in St. Louis\, Missouri\, in 1856. Nine years later there were over 400 Gesellenvereine (workman’s societies) around the world. Today this group has over 450\,000 members in 54 countries across the globe. \nMore commonly called the Kolping Society\, it emphasizes the sanctification of family life and the dignity of labor. Father Kolping worked to improve conditions for workers and greatly assisted those in need. He and St. John Bosco in Turin had similar interests in working with young men in big cities. He told his followers\, “The needs of the times will teach you what to do.” Father Kolping once said\, “The first thing that a person finds in life and the last to which he holds out his hand\, and the most precious that he possesses\, even if he does not realize it\, is family life.” \nHe and Blessed John Duns Scotus are buried in Cologne’s Minoritenkirche\, originally served by the Conventual Franciscans. The Kolping Society’s international headquarters are across from this church. \nKolping members journeyed to Rome from Europe\, America\, Africa\, Asia and Oceania for Father Kolping’s beatification in 1991\, the 100th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s revolutionary encyclical “Rerum Novarum” (“On the Social Order”). Father Kolping’s personal witness and apostolate helped prepare for that encyclical. \n\nReflection\nSome people thought that Father Kolping was wasting his time and talents on young working men in industrialized cities. In some countries\, the Catholic Church was seen by many workers as the ally of owners and the enemy of workers. Men like Adolph Kolping showed that was not true.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/6037/2017-12-10/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171211
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171212
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T140235Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170914T191954Z
UID:6040-1512950400-1513036799@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Damasus I
DESCRIPTION:Saint Damasus I\nSaint of the Day for December 11\n(304 – December 11\, 384)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Damasus I’s Story\nTo his secretary Saint Jerome\, Damasus was “an incomparable person\, learned in the Scriptures\, a virgin doctor of the virgin Church\, who loved chastity and heard its praises with pleasure.” Damasus seldom heard such unrestrained praise. Internal political struggles\, doctrinal heresies\, uneasy relations with his fellow bishops and those of the Eastern Church marred the peace of his pontificate. \nThe son of a Roman priest\, possibly of Spanish extraction\, Damasus started as a deacon in his father’s church\, and served as a priest in what later became the basilica of San Lorenzo in Rome. He served Pope Liberius (352-366) and followed him into exile. \nWhen Liberius died\, Damasus was elected bishop of Rome; but a minority elected and consecrated another deacon\, Ursinus\, as pope. The controversy between Damasus and the antipope resulted in violent battles in two basilicas\, scandalizing the bishops of Italy. At the synod that Damasus called on the occasion of his birthday\, he asked them to approve his actions. The bishops’ reply was curt: “We assembled for a birthday\, not to condemn a man unheard.” Supporters of the antipope even managed to get Damasus accused of a grave crime—probably sexual—as late as A.D. 378. He had to clear himself before both a civil court and a Church synod. \nAs pope\, his lifestyle was simple in contrast to other ecclesiastics of Rome\, and he was fierce in his denunciation of Arianism and other heresies. A misunderstanding of the Trinitarian terminology used by Rome threatened amicable relations with the Eastern Church\, and Damasus was only moderately successful in dealing with that challenge. \nDuring his pontificate\, Christianity was declared the official religion of the Roman state\, and Latin became the principal liturgical language as part of the pope’s reforms. His encouragement of Saint Jerome’s biblical studies led to the Vulgate\, the Latin translation of Scripture which 12 centuries later the Council of Trent declared to be “authentic in public readings\, disputations\, preaching.” \n\nReflection\nThe history of the papacy and the Church is inextricably mixed with the personal biography of Damasus. In a troubled and pivotal period of Church history\, he stands forth as a zealous defender of the faith who knew when to be progressive and when to entrench. \nDamasus makes us aware of two qualities of good leadership: alertness to the promptings of the Spirit and service. His struggles are a reminder that Jesus never promised his Rock protection from hurricane winds nor his followers immunity from difficulties. His only guarantee is final victory.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-damasus-i/2017-12-11/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171212
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171213
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T140422Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170914T191950Z
UID:6043-1513036800-1513123199@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Our Lady of Guadalupe
DESCRIPTION:Our Lady of Guadalupe\nSaint of the Day for December 12\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nThe Story of Our Lady of Guadalupe\nThe feast in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe goes back to the 16th century. Chronicles of that period tell us the story. \nA poor Indian named Cuauhtlatohuac was baptized and given the name Juan Diego. He was a 57-year-old widower and lived in a small village near Mexico City. On Saturday morning\, December 9\, 1531\, he was on his way to a nearby barrio to attend Mass in honor of Our Lady. \nHe was walking by a hill called Tepeyac when he heard beautiful music like the warbling of birds. A radiant cloud appeared and within it stood a young Native American maiden dressed like an Aztec princess. The lady spoke to him in his own language and sent him to the bishop of Mexico\, a Franciscan named Juan de Zumarraga. The bishop was to build a chapel in the place where the lady appeared. \nEventually the bishop told Juan Diego to have the lady give him a sign. About this same time Juan Diego’s uncle became seriously ill. This led poor Diego to try to avoid the lady. The lady found Diego\, nevertheless\, assured him that his uncle would recover and provided roses for Juan to carry to the bishop in his cape or tilma. \nWhen Juan Diego opened his tilma in the bishop’s presence\, the roses fell to the ground and the bishop sank to his knees. On Juan Diego’s tilma appeared an image of Mary exactly as she had appeared at the hill of Tepeyac. It was December 12\, 1531. \n\nReflection\nMary’s appearance to Juan Diego as one of his people is a powerful reminder that Mary and the God who sent her accept all peoples. In the context of the sometimes rude and cruel treatment of the Indians by the Spaniards\, the apparition was a rebuke to the Spaniards and an event of vast significance for Native Americans. While a number of them had converted before this incident\, they now came in droves. According to a contemporary chronicler\, nine million Indians became Catholic in a very short time. In these days when we hear so much about God’s preferential option for the poor\, Our Lady of Guadalupe cries out to us that God’s love for and identification with the poor is an age-old truth that stems from the Gospel itself. \n\nOur Lady of Guadalupe is the Patron Saint of:\nThe Americas\nMexico
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/our-lady-of-guadalupe/2017-12-12/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171213
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171214
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T143740Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170914T191947Z
UID:6048-1513123200-1513209599@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Lucy
DESCRIPTION:Saint Lucy\nSaint of the Day for December 13\n(283 – 304)\n\n\n\n Click to hear audio clip ►\n\n\n\nSaint Lucy’s Story\nEvery little girl named Lucy must bite her tongue in disappointment when she first tries to find out what there is to know about her patron saint. The older books will have a lengthy paragraph detailing a small number of traditions. Newer books will have a lengthy paragraph showing that there is little basis in history for these traditions. The single fact survives that a disappointed suitor accused Lucy of being a Christian and she was executed in Syracuse (Sicily) in the year 304. But it is also true that her name is mentioned in the First Eucharistic Prayer\, geographical places are named after her\, a popular song has her name as its title\, and down through the centuries many thousands of little girls have been proud of the name Lucy. \nOne can easily imagine what a young Christian woman had to contend with in pagan Sicily in the year 300. If you have trouble imagining\, just glance at today’s pleasure-at-all-costs world and the barriers it presents against leading a good Christian life. \nHer friends must have wondered aloud about this hero of Lucy’s\, an obscure itinerant preacher in a far-off captive nation that had been destroyed more than 200 years before. Once a carpenter\, he had been crucified by the Roman soldiers after his own people turned him over to the Roman authorities. Lucy believed with her whole soul that this man had risen from the dead. Heaven had put a stamp on all he said and did. To give witness to her faith she had made a vow of virginity. \nWhat a hubbub this caused among her pagan friends! The kindlier ones just thought her a little strange. To be pure before marriage was an ancient Roman ideal\, rarely found but not to be condemned. To exclude marriage altogether\, however\, was too much. She must have something sinister to hide\, the tongues wagged. \nLucy knew of the heroism of earlier virgin martyrs. She remained faithful to their example and to the example of the carpenter\, whom she knew to be the Son of God. She is the patroness of eyesight. \n\nReflection\nIf you are a little girl named Lucy\, you need not bite your tongue in disappointment. Your patron is a genuine\, authentic heroine\, first class\, an abiding inspiration for you and for all Christians. The moral courage of the young Sicilian martyr shines forth as a guiding light\, just as bright for today’s youth as it was in A.D. 304. \n\nSaint Lucy is the Patron Saint of:\nThe Blind\nEye Disorders \n\nAnother Saint of the Day for December 13 is Servant of God Berthold of Ratisbon.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/6048/2017-12-13/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171214
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171215
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T143931Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170914T191944Z
UID:6051-1513209600-1513295999@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint John of the Cross
DESCRIPTION:Saint John of the Cross\nSaint of the Day for December 14\n(June 24\, 1541 – December 14\, 1591)\n\n\n\nClick to hear audio clip ►\n\n\n\nSaint John of the Cross’ Story\nJohn is a saint because his life was a heroic effort to live up to his name: “of the Cross.” The folly of the cross came to full realization in time. “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself\, take up his cross\, and follow me” (Mark 8:34b) is the story of John’s life. The Paschal Mystery—through death to life—strongly marks John as reformer\, mystic-poet\, and theologian-priest. \nOrdained a Carmelite priest in 1567 at age 25\, John met Teresa of Avila and\, like her\, vowed himself to the primitive Rule of the Carmelites. As partner with Teresa and in his own right\, John engaged in the work of reform\, and came to experience the price of reform: increasing opposition\, misunderstanding\, persecution\, imprisonment. He came to know the cross acutely—to experience the dying of Jesus—as he sat month after month in his dark\, damp\, narrow cell with only his God. \nYet\, the paradox! In this dying of imprisonment John came to life\, uttering poetry. In the darkness of the dungeon\, John’s spirit came into the Light. There are many mystics\, many poets; John is unique as mystic-poet\, expressing in his prison-cross the ecstasy of mystical union with God in the Spiritual Canticle. \nBut as agony leads to ecstasy\, so John had his Ascent to Mt. Carmel\, as he named it in his prose masterpiece. As man-Christian-Carmelite\, he experienced in himself this purifying ascent; as spiritual director\, he sensed it in others; as psychologist-theologian\, he described and analyzed it in his prose writings. His prose works are outstanding in underscoring the cost of discipleship\, the path of union with God: rigorous discipline\, abandonment\, purification. Uniquely and strongly John underlines the gospel paradox: The cross leads to resurrection\, agony to ecstasy\, darkness to light\, abandonment to possession\, denial to self to union with God. If you want to save your life\, you must lose it. John is truly “of the Cross.” He died at 49—a life short\, but full. \n\nReflection\nJohn\, in his life and writings\, has a crucial word for us today. We tend to be rich\, soft\, comfortable. We shrink even from words like self-denial\, mortification\, purification\, asceticism\, discipline. We run from the cross. John’s message—like the gospel—is loud and clear: Don’t—if you really want to live! \n\nSaint John of the Cross is the Patron Saint of:\nMystics
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-john-of-the-cross/2017-12-14/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171215
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171216
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T144124Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170914T191941Z
UID:6054-1513296000-1513382399@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Blessed Mary Frances Schervier
DESCRIPTION:Blessed Mary Frances Schervier\nSaint of the Day for December 15\n(January 3\,1819 – December 14\, 1876)\n\n\n\nClick to hear audio clip ►\n\n\n\nBlessed Mary Frances Schervier’s Story\nThis woman who once wanted to become a Trappistine nun was instead led by God to establish a community of sisters who care for the sick and aged in the United States and throughout the world. \nBorn into a distinguished family in Aachen (then ruled by Prussia but formerly Aix-la-Chapelle\, France)\, Frances ran the household after her mother’s death and established a reputation for generosity to the poor. In 1844 she became a Secular Franciscan. The next year she and four companions established a religious community devoted to caring for the poor. In 1851 the Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis were approved by the local bishop; the community soon spread. The first U.S. foundation was made in 1858. \nMother Frances visited the United States in 1863 and helped her sisters nurse soldiers wounded in the Civil War. She visited the United States again in 1868. When Philip Hoever was establishing the Brothers of the Poor of St. Francis\, she encouraged him. \nWhen Mother Frances died\, there were 2\,500 members of her community worldwide. They are still engaged in operating hospitals and homes for the aged. Mother Mary Frances was beatified in 1974. \n\nReflection\nThe sick\, the poor\, and the aged are constantly in danger of being considered “useless” members of society and therefore ignored—or worse. Women and men motivated by the ideals of Mother Frances are needed if the God-given dignity and destiny of all people are to be respected.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/blessed-mary-frances-schervier/2017-12-15/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171216
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171217
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T145418Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170914T191938Z
UID:6057-1513382400-1513468799@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Blessed Honoratus Kozminski
DESCRIPTION:Blessed Honoratus Kozminski\nSaint of the Day for December 16\n(October 16\, 1829 – December 16\, 1916)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nBlessed Honoratus Kozminski’s Story\nWenceslaus was born in Biala Podlaska in 1829. By the age of 11 he had lost his faith. By the age of 16 his father died. He attended architecture school at the School of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Suspected of participating in a rebellious conspiracy against the Czarists in Poland\, he was imprisoned from April 1846 until March of 1847. His life then took a turn for the better\, and in 1848 he received the Capuchin habit and a new name\, Honoratus. He was ordained in 1855 and dedicated his energies to the ministry where he was involved\, among other things\, with the Secular Franciscan Order. \nA 1864 revolt against Czar Alexander III failed\, which led to the suppression of all religious orders in Poland. The Capuchins were expelled from Warsaw and moved to Zakroczym. There Honoratus founded 26 religious congregations. These men and women took vows but did not wear a religious habit and did not live in community. In many regards\, they lived as today’s secular institutes do. Seventeen of these groups still exist as religious congregations. \nFather Honoratus’ writings include many volumes of sermons\, letters\, and works on ascetical theology\, works on Marian devotion\, historical and pastoral writings\, as well as many writings for the religious congregations which he founded. \nWhen in 1906\, various bishops sought to reorganize the communities under their authority\, Honoratus defended them and their independence. In 1908\, he was relieved of his leadership role. He encouraged the members of these communities to be obedient to the Church. \nHe died on December 16\, 1916 and was beatified in 1988. \n\nReflection\nFather Honoratus realized that the religious communities that he founded were not truly his. When ordered by Church officials to relinquish control\, he instructed the communities to be obedient to the Church. He could have become bitter or combative\, but instead\, he accepted his fate with religious submission\, and realized that the gifts of the Religious were to be gifts to the larger community. He learned to let go.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/blessed-honoratus-kozminski/2017-12-16/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171217
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171218
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T145606Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170914T191934Z
UID:6060-1513468800-1513555199@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Hildegard of Bingen
DESCRIPTION:  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint Hildegard of Bingen\nSaint of the Day for December 17\n(September 16\, 1098 – September 17\, 1179)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Hildegard of Bingen’s Story\nAbbess\, artist\, author\, composer\, mystic\, pharmacist\, poet\, preacher\, theologian—where to begin describing this remarkable woman? \nBorn into a noble family\, she was instructed for ten years by the holy woman Blessed Jutta. When Hildegard was 18\, she became a Benedictine nun at the Monastery of Saint Disibodenberg. Ordered by her confessor to write down the visions that she had received since the age of three\, Hildegard took ten years to write her Scivias (Know the Ways). Pope Eugene III read it and in 1147 encouraged her to continue writing. Her Book of the Merits of Life and Book of Divine Works followed. She wrote over 300 letters to people who sought her advice; she also composed short works on medicine and physiology\, and sought advice from contemporaries such as Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. \nHildegard’s visions caused her to see humans as “living sparks” of God’s love\, coming from God as daylight comes from the sun. Sin destroyed the original harmony of creation; Christ’s redeeming death and resurrection opened up new possibilities. Virtuous living reduces the estrangement from God and others that sin causes. \nLike all mystics\, she saw the harmony of God’s creation and the place of women and men in that. This unity was not apparent to many of her contemporaries. \nHildegard was no stranger to controversy. The monks near her original foundation protested vigorously when she moved her monastery to Bingen\, overlooking the Rhine River. She confronted Emperor Frederick Barbarossa for supporting at least three antipopes. Hildegard challenged the Cathars\, who rejected the Catholic Church claiming to follow a more pure Christianity. \nBetween 1152 and 1162\, Hildegard often preached in the Rhineland. Her monastery was placed under interdict because she had permitted the burial of a young man who had been excommunicated. She insisted that he had been reconciled with the Church and had received its sacraments before dying. Hildegard protested bitterly when the local bishop forbade the celebration of or reception of the Eucharist at the Bingen monastery\, a sanction that was lifted only a few months before her death. \nIn 2012\, Hildegard was canonized and named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XVI. \n\nReflection\nPope Benedict spoke about Hildegard of Bingen during two of his general audiences in September 2010. He praised the humility with which she received God’s gifts and the obedience she gave Church authorities. He praised the “rich theological content” of her mystical visions that sum up the history of salvation from creation to the end of time. \nDuring his papacy\, Pope Benedict XVI said\, “Let us always invoke the Holy Spirit\, so that he may inspire in the Church holy and courageous women like Saint Hildegard of Bingen\, who\, developing the gifts they have received from God\, make their own special and valuable contribution to the spiritual development of our communities and of the Church in our time.” \n\nThe Liturgical Feast of Saint Hildegard of Bingen is September 17.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-hildegard-of-bingen/2017-12-17/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171218
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171219
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T145900Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170914T191931Z
UID:6062-1513555200-1513641599@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Blessed Anthony Grassi
DESCRIPTION:Blessed Anthony Grassi\nSaint of the Day for December 18\n(November 13\, 1592 – December 13\, 1671)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nBlessed Anthony Grassi’s Story\nAnthony’s father died when his son was only 10 years old\, but the young lad inherited his father’s devotion to Our Lady of Loreto. As a schoolboy\, he frequented the local church of the Oratorian Fathers\, joining the religious order when he was 17. \nAlready a fine student\, he soon gained a reputation in his religious community as a “walking dictionary” who quickly grasped Scripture and theology. For some time he was tormented by scruples\, but they reportedly left him at the very hour he celebrated his first Mass. From that day\, serenity penetrated his very being. \nIn 1621\, at age 29\, Anthony was struck by lightning while praying in the church of the Holy House at Loreto. He was carried paralyzed from the church\, expecting to die. When Anthony recovered in a few days he realized that he had been cured of acute indigestion. His scorched clothes were donated to the Loreto church as an offering of thanks for his new gift of life. \nMore important\, Anthony now felt that his life belonged entirely to God. Each year thereafter he made a pilgrimage to Loreto to express his thanks. \nHe also began hearing confessions\, and came to be regarded as an outstanding confessor. Simple and direct\, he listened carefully to penitents\, said a few words and gave a penance and absolution\, frequently drawing on his gift of reading consciences. \nIn 1635\, he was elected superior of the Fermo Oratory. He was so well regarded that he was reelected every three years until his death. He was a quiet person and a gentle superior who did not know how to be severe. At the same time he kept the Oratorian constitutions literally\, encouraging the community to do likewise. \nHe refused social or civic commitments and instead would go out day or night to visit the sick or dying or anyone else needing his services. As he grew older\, he had a God-given awareness of the future\, a gift which he frequently used to warn or to console. \nBut age brought its challenges as well. He suffered the humility of having to give up his physical faculties one by one. First was his preaching\, necessitated after he lost his teeth. Then he could no longer hear confessions. Finally\, after a fall\, he was confined to his room. The archbishop himself came each day to give him holy Communion. One of Anthony’s final acts was to reconcile two fiercely quarreling brothers. \n\nReflection\nNothing provides a better reason for reassessing a life than a brush with death. Anthony’s life already seemed to be on track when he was struck by lightning; he was a brilliant priest blessed\, at last\, with serenity. But his experience softened him. He became a loving counselor and a wise mediator. The same might be said of us if we put our hearts to it. We needn’t wait to be struck by lightning. \n\nThe Liturgical Feast of Blessed Anthony Grassi is December 15.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/blessed-anthony-grassi/2017-12-18/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171219
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171220
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T150031Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170914T191928Z
UID:6065-1513641600-1513727999@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Blessed Pope Urban V
DESCRIPTION:Blessed Pope Urban V\nSaint of the Day for December 19\n(1310 – December 19\, 1370)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nBlessed Pope Urban V’s Story\nIn 1362\, the man elected pope declined the office. When the cardinals could not find another person among them for that important office\, they turned to a relative stranger: the holy person we honor today. \nThe new Pope Urban V proved a wise choice. A Benedictine monk and canon lawyer\, he was deeply spiritual and brilliant. He lived simply and modestly\, which did not always earn him friends among clergymen who had become used to comfort and privilege. Still\, he pressed for reform and saw to the restoration of churches and monasteries. Except for a brief period he spent most of his eight years as pope living away from Rome at Avignon\, seat of the papacy from 1309 until shortly after his death. \nHe came close but was not able to achieve one of his biggest goals—reuniting the Eastern and Western churches. \nAs pope\, Urban continued to follow the Benedictine Rule. Shortly before his death in 1370\, he asked to be moved from the papal palace to the nearby home of his brother so he could say goodbye to the ordinary people he had so often helped. \n\nReflection\nSimplicity in the midst of power and grandeur seems to define this saint as he reluctantly accepted the papacy but remained\, at heart\, a Benedictine monk. Surroundings need not negatively influence a person.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/6065/2017-12-19/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171220
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171221
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T150219Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170914T191924Z
UID:6068-1513728000-1513814399@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Dominic of Silos
DESCRIPTION:Saint Dominic of Silos\nSaint of the Day for December 20\n(c. 1000 – December 20\, 1073)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Dominic of Silos’ Story\nIt’s not the founder of the Dominicans we honor today\, but there’s a poignant story that connects both Dominics. \nOur saint today\, Dominic of Silos\, was born in Spain around the year 1000 into a peasant family. As a young boy he spent time in the fields\, where he welcomed the solitude. He became a Benedictine priest and served in numerous leadership positions. Following a dispute with the king over property\, Dominic and two other monks were exiled. They established a new monastery in what at first seemed an unpromising location. Under Dominic’s leadership\, however\, it became one of the most famous houses in Spain. Many healings were reported there. \nAbout 100 years after Dominic’s death\, a young woman made a pilgrimage to his tomb. There Dominic of Silos appeared to her and assured her that she would bear another son. The woman was Joan of Aza\, and the son she bore grew up to be the “other” Dominic—the one who founded the Dominicans. \nFor many years thereafter\, the staff used by Saint Dominic of Silos was brought to the royal palace whenever a queen of Spain was in labor. That practice ended in 1931. \n\nReflection\nSaint Dominic of Silos’ connection with the Saint Dominic who founded the Dominican Order brings to mind the film Six Degrees of Separation: we are all connected it seems. God’s providential care can bring people together in mysterious ways\, but it all points to his love for each of us.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-dominic-of-silos/2017-12-20/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171221
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171222
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T150349Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170824T150349Z
UID:6071-1513814400-1513900799@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Peter Canisius
DESCRIPTION:Saint Peter Canisius\nSaint of the Day for December 21\n(May 8\,1521 – December 21\, 1597)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Peter Canisius’ Story\nThe energetic life of Peter Canisius should demolish any stereotypes we may have of the life of a saint as dull or routine. Peter lived his 76 years at a pace which must be considered heroic\, even in our time of rapid change. A man blessed with many talents\, Peter is an excellent example of the scriptural man who develops his talents for the sake of the Lord’s work. \nHe was one of the most important figures in the Catholic Reformation in Germany. His played such a key role that he has often been called the “second apostle of Germany” in that his life parallels the earlier work of Boniface. \nAlthough Peter once accused himself of idleness in his youth\, he could not have been idle too long\, for at the age of 19 he received a master’s degree from the university at Cologne. Soon afterwards he met Peter Faber\, the first disciple of Ignatius Loyola\, who influenced Peter so much that he joined the recently formed Society of Jesus. \nAt this early age Peter had already taken up a practice he continued throughout his life—a process of study\, reflection\, prayer and writing. After his ordination in 1546\, he became widely known for his editions of the writings of Saint Cyril of Alexandria and St. Leo the Great. Besides this reflective literary bent\, Peter had a zeal for the apostolate. He could often be found visiting the sick or prisoners\, even when his assigned duties in other areas were more than enough to keep most people fully occupied. \nIn 1547 Peter attended several sessions of the Council of Trent\, whose decrees he was later assigned to implement. After a brief teaching assignment at the Jesuit college at Messina\, Peter was entrusted with the mission to Germany—from that point on his life’s work. He taught in several universities and was instrumental in establishing many colleges and seminaries. He wrote a catechism that explained the Catholic faith in a way which common people could understand—a great need of that age. \nRenowned as a popular preacher\, Peter packed churches with those eager to hear his eloquent proclamation of the gospel. He had great diplomatic ability\, often serving as a reconciler between disputing factions. In his letters (filling eight volumes) one finds words of wisdom and counsel to people in all walks of life. At times he wrote unprecedented letters of criticism to leaders of the Church—yet always in the context of a loving\, sympathetic concern. \nAt 70\, Peter suffered a paralytic seizure\, but he continued to preach and write with the aid of a secretary until his death in his hometown (Nijmegen\, Netherlands) on December 21\, 1597. \n\nReflection\nPeter’s untiring efforts are an apt example for those involved in the renewal of the Church or the growth of moral consciousness in business or government. He is regarded as one of the creators of the Catholic press\, and can easily be a model for the Christian author or journalist. Teachers can see in his life a passion for the transmission of truth. Whether we have much to give\, as Peter Canisius did\, or whether we have only a little to give\, as did the poor widow in the Gospel (see Luke 21:1–4)\, the important thing is to give our all. It is in this way that Peter is so exemplary for Christians in an age of rapid change when we are called to be in the world but not of the world. \n\nSaint Peter Canisius is the Patron Saint of:\nGermany
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-peter-canisius/2017-12-21/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171222
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171223
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T162101Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170914T191921Z
UID:6074-1513900800-1513987199@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Blessed Jacopone da Todi
DESCRIPTION:Blessed Jacopone da Todi\nSaint of the Day for December 22\n(c. 1230 – December 25\, 1306)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nBlessed Jacopone da Todi’s Story\nJacomo\, or James\, was born a noble member of the Benedetti family in the northern Italian city of Todi. He became a successful lawyer and married a pious\, generous lady named Vanna. \nHis young wife took it upon herself to do penance for the worldly excesses of her husband. One day Vanna\, at the insistence of Jacomo\, attended a public tournament. She was sitting in the stands with the other noble ladies when the stands collapsed. Vanna was killed. Her shaken husband was even more disturbed when he realized that the penitential girdle she wore was for his sinfulness. On the spot\, he vowed to radically change his life. \nHe divided his possessions among the poor and entered the Secular Franciscan Order. Often dressed in penitential rags\, he was mocked as a fool and called Jacopone\, or “Crazy Jim\,” by his former associates. The name became dear to him. \nAfter 10 years of such humiliation\, Jacopone asked to be a member of the Order of Friars Minor. Because of his reputation\, his request was initially refused. He composed a beautiful poem on the vanities of the world\, an act that eventually led to his admission into the Order in 1278. He continued to lead a life of strict penance\, declining to be ordained a priest. Meanwhile\, he was writing popular hymns in the vernacular. \nJacopone suddenly found himself a leader in a disturbing religious movement among the Franciscans. The Spirituals\, as they were called\, wanted a return to the strict poverty of Francis. They had on their side two cardinals of the Church and Pope Celestine V. These two cardinals\, though\, opposed Celestine’s successor\, Boniface VIII. At the age of 68\, Jacopone was excommunicated and imprisoned. Although he acknowledged his mistake\, Jacopone was not absolved and released until Benedict XI became pope five years later. He had accepted his imprisonment as penance. He spent the final three years of his life more spiritual than ever\, weeping “because Love is not loved.” During this time he wrote the famous Latin hymn\, Stabat Mater. \nOn Christmas Eve in 1306 Jacopone felt that his end was near. He was in a convent of the Poor Clares with his friend\, Blessed John of La Verna. Like Francis\, Jacopone welcomed “Sister Death” with one of his favorite songs. It is said that he finished the song and died as the priest intoned the “Gloria” from the midnight Mass at Christmas. From the time of his death\, Brother Jacopone has been venerated as a saint. \n\nReflection\nHis contemporaries called Jacopone\, “Crazy Jim.” We might well echo their taunt\, for what else can you say about a man who broke into song in the midst of all his troubles? We still sing Jacopone’s saddest song\, the Stabat Mater\, but we Christians claim another song as our own\, even when the daily headlines resound with discordant notes. Jacopone’s whole life rang our song out: “Alleluia!” May he inspire us to keep singing.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/blessed-jacopone-da-todi/2017-12-22/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171223
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171224
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T165833Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170824T165833Z
UID:6077-1513987200-1514073599@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint John of Kanty
DESCRIPTION:Saint John of Kanty\nSaint of the Day for December 23\n(June 24\, 1390 – December 24\, 1473)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint John of Kanty’s Story\nJohn was a country lad who made good in the big city and the big university of Kraków\, Poland. After brilliant studies he was ordained a priest and became a professor of theology. The inevitable opposition which saints encounter led to his being ousted by rivals and sent to be a parish priest at Olkusz. An extremely humble man\, he did his best\, but his best was not to the liking of his parishioners. Besides\, he was afraid of the responsibilities of his position. But in the end he won his people’s hearts. After some time he returned to Kraków and taught Scripture for the remainder of his life. \nHe was a serious man\, and humble\, but known to all the poor of Kraków for his kindness. His goods and his money were always at their disposal\, and time and again they took advantage of him. He kept only the money and clothes absolutely needed to support himself. He slept little\, ate sparingly\, and took no meat. He made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem\, hoping to be martyred by the Turks. He made four pilgrimages to Rome\, carrying his luggage on his back. When he was warned to look after his health\, he was quick to point out that\, for all their austerity\, the fathers of the desert lived remarkably long lives. \n\nReflection\nJohn of Kanty is a typical saint: He was kind\, humble and generous\, he suffered opposition and led an austere\, penitential life. Most Christians in an affluent society can understand all the ingredients except the last: Anything more than mild self-discipline seems reserved for athletes and ballet dancers. Christmas is a good time at least to reject self-indulgence.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-john-of-kanty/2017-12-23/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171224
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171225
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T170512Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170824T170512Z
UID:6081-1514073600-1514159999@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Christmas at Greccio
DESCRIPTION:Christmas at Greccio\nSaint of the Day for December 24\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nThe Story of Christmas at Greccio\nWhat better way to prepare for the arrival of the Christ Child than to take a brief journey to Greccio\, the spot in central Italy where Saint Francis of Assisi created the first Christmas crib in the year 1223. \nFrancis\, recalling a visit he had made years before to Bethlehem\, resolved to create the manger he had seen there. The ideal spot was a cave in nearby Greccio. He would find a baby (we’re not sure if it was a live infant or the carved image of a baby)\, hay upon which to lay him\, an ox and an ass to stand beside the manger. Word went out to the people of the town. At the appointed time\, they arrived carrying torches and candles. \nOne of the friars began celebrating Mass. Francis himself gave the sermon. His biographer\, Thomas of Celano\, recalls that Francis “stood before the manger…overcome with love and filled with a wonderful happiness… \n” For Francis\, the simple celebration was meant to recall the hardships Jesus suffered even as an infant\, a savior who chose to become poor for our sake\, a truly human Jesus. \nTonight\, as we pray around the Christmas cribs in our homes\, we welcome into our hearts that same Savior. \n\nReflection\nGod’s choice to give human beings free will was\, from the beginning\, a decision to be helpless in human hands. With the birth of Jesus\, God made the divine helplessness very clear to us\, for a human infant is totally dependent on the loving response of other people. Our natural response to a baby is to open our arms\, as Francis did\, to the infant of Bethlehem and to the God who made us all.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/christmas-at-greccio/2017-12-24/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171225
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171226
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T170643Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170824T170643Z
UID:6084-1514160000-1514246399@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord
DESCRIPTION:Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord\nSaint of the Day for December 25\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nThe Story of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord\nOn this day\, the Church focuses especially on the newborn Child\, God become human\, who embodies for us all the hope and peace we seek. We need no other special saint today to lead us to Christ in the manger\, although his mother Mary and Joseph\, caring for his foster-son\, help round out the scene. \nBut if we were to select a patron for today\, perhaps it might be appropriate for us to imagine an anonymous shepherd\, summoned to the birthplace by a wondrous and even disturbing vision in the night\, a summons from an angelic choir\, promising peace and goodwill. A shepherd willing to seek out something that might just be too unbelievable to chase after\, and yet compelling enough to leave behind the flocks in the field and search for a mystery. \nOn the day of the Lord’s birth\, let’s let an unnamed\, “non-celebrity” at the edge of the crowd model for us the way to discover Christ in our own hearts—somewhere between skepticism and wonder\, between mystery and faith. And\, like Mary and the shepherds\, let us treasure that discovery in our hearts. \n\nReflection\nThe precise dating in this passage sounds like a textbook on creationism. If we focus on the time frame\, however\, we miss the point. It lays out the story of a love affair: creation\, the deliverance of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt\, the rise of Israel under David. It climaxes with the birth of Jesus. From the beginning\, some scholars insist\, God intended to enter the world as one of us\, the beloved people. Praise God!
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/solemnity-of-the-nativity-of-the-lord/2017-12-25/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171226
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171227
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T170827Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170824T170827Z
UID:6087-1514246400-1514332799@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Stephen
DESCRIPTION:Saint Stephen\nSaint of the Day for December 26\n(d. c. 36 )\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Stephen’s Story\nAs the number of disciples continued to grow\, the Greek-speaking Christians complained about the Hebrew-speaking Christians\, saying that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said\, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table. Brothers\, select from among you seven reputable men\, filled with the Spirit and wisdom\, whom we shall appoint to this task\, whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” The proposal was acceptable to the whole community\, so they chose Stephen\, a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit… (Acts 6:1-5). \nActs says that Stephen was a man filled with grace and power\, who worked great wonders among the people. Certain Jews\, members of the Synagogue of Roman Freedmen\, debated with Stephen but proved no match for the wisdom and spirit with which he spoke. They persuaded others to make the charge of blasphemy against him. He was seized and carried before the Sanhedrin. \nIn his speech\, Stephen recalled God’s guidance through Israel’s history\, as well as Israel’s idolatry and disobedience. He then claimed that his persecutors were showing this same spirit. “[Y]ou always oppose the holy Spirit; you are just like your ancestors” (Acts 7:51b). \nHis speech brought anger from the crowd. “But [Stephen]\, filled with the holy Spirit\, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God\, and he said\, ‘Behold\, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God….’ They threw him out of the city\, and began to stone him…. As they were stoning Stephen\, he called out\, ‘Lord Jesus\, receive my spirit…. Lord\, do not hold this sin against them’” (Acts 7:55-56\, 58a\, 59\, 60b). \n\nReflection\nStephen died as Jesus did: falsely accused\, brought to unjust condemnation because he spoke the truth fearlessly. He died with his eyes trustfully fixed on God\, and with a prayer of forgiveness on his lips. A “happy” death is one that finds us in the same spirit\, whether our dying is as quiet as Joseph’s or as violent as Stephen’s: dying with courage\, total trust and forgiving love. \n\nSaint Stephen is the Patron Saint of:\nDeacons
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-stephen/2017-12-26/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171227
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171228
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T170938Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170824T171010Z
UID:6090-1514332800-1514419199@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint John the Apostle
DESCRIPTION:Saint John the Apostle\nSaint of the Day for December 27\n(6 – 100)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint John the Apostle’s Story\nIt is God who calls; human beings answer. The vocation of John and his brother James is stated very simply in the Gospels\, along with that of Peter and his brother Andrew: Jesus called them; they followed. The absoluteness of their response is indicated by the account. James and John “were in a boat\, with their father Zebedee\, mending their nets. He called them\, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him” (Matthew 4:21b-22). \nFor the three former fishermen—Peter\, James and John—that faith was to be rewarded by a special friendship with Jesus. They alone were privileged to be present at the Transfiguration\, the raising of the daughter of Jairus and the agony in Gethsemane. But John’s friendship was even more special. Tradition assigns to him the Fourth Gospel\, although most modern Scripture scholars think it unlikely that the apostle and the evangelist are the same person. \nJohn’s own Gospel refers to him as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (see John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2)\, the one who reclined next to Jesus at the Last Supper\, and the one to whom he gave the exquisite honor\, as he stood beneath the cross\, of caring for his mother. “Woman\, behold your son…. Behold\, your mother” (John 19:26b\, 27b). \nBecause of the depth of his Gospel\, John is usually thought of as the eagle of theology\, soaring in high regions that other writers did not enter. But the ever-frank Gospels reveal some very human traits. Jesus gave James and John the nickname\, “sons of thunder.” While it is difficult to know exactly what this meant\, a clue is given in two incidents. \nIn the first\, as Matthew tells it\, their mother asked that they might sit in the places of honor in Jesus’ kingdom—one on his right hand\, one on his left. When Jesus asked them if they could drink the cup he would drink and be baptized with his baptism of pain\, they blithely answered\, “We can!” Jesus said that they would indeed share his cup\, but that sitting at his right hand was not his to give. It was for those to whom it had been reserved by the Father. The other apostles were indignant at the mistaken ambition of the brothers\, and Jesus took the occasion to teach them the true nature of authority: “…[W]hoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so\, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:27-28). \nOn another occasion\, the “sons of thunder” asked Jesus if they should not call down fire from heaven upon the inhospitable Samaritans\, who would not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to Jerusalem. But Jesus “turned and rebuked them” (see Luke 9:51-55). \nOn the first Easter\, Mary Magdalene “ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved\, and told them\, ‘They have taken the Lord from the tomb\, and we don’t know where they put him’” (John 20:2). John recalls\, perhaps with a smile\, that he and Peter ran side by side\, but then “the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first” (John 20:4b). He did not enter\, but waited for Peter and let him go in first. “Then the other disciple also went in\, the one who had arrived at the tomb first\, and he saw and believed” (John 20:8). \nJohn was with Peter when the first great miracle after the Resurrection took place—the cure of the man crippled from birth—which led to their spending the night in jail together. The mysterious experience of the Resurrection is perhaps best contained in the words of Acts: “Observing the boldness of Peter and John and perceiving them to be uneducated\, ordinary men\, they [the questioners] were amazed\, and they recognized them as the companions of Jesus” (Acts 4:13). \nThe Apostle John is traditionally considered the author of the Fourth Gospel\, three New Testament letters and the Book of Revelation. His Gospel is a very personal account. He sees the glorious and divine Jesus already in the incidents of his mortal life. At the Last Supper\, John’s Jesus speaks as if he were already in heaven. It is the Gospel of Jesus’ glory. \n\nReflection\nIt is a long way from being eager to sit on a throne of power or to call down fire from heaven to becoming the man who could write: “The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers” (1 John 3:16). \n\nSaint John the Apostle is the Patron Saint of:\nTurkey
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-john-the-apostle/2017-12-27/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171228
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171229
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T171147Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170824T171147Z
UID:6093-1514419200-1514505599@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Holy Innocents
DESCRIPTION:Holy Innocents\nSaint of the Day for December 28\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nThe Story of the Holy Innocents\nHerod “the Great\,” king of Judea\, was unpopular with his people because of his connections with the Romans and his religious indifference. Hence he was insecure and fearful of any threat to his throne. He was a master politician and a tyrant capable of extreme brutality. He killed his wife\, his brother and his sister’s two husbands\, to name only a few. \nMatthew 2:1-18 tells this story: Herod was “greatly troubled” when astrologers from the east came asking the whereabouts of “the newborn king of the Jews\,” whose star they had seen. They were told that the Jewish Scriptures named Bethlehem as the place where the Messiah would be born. Herod cunningly told them to report back to him so that he could also “do him homage.” They found Jesus\, offered him their gifts and\, warned by an angel\, avoided Herod on their way home. Jesus escaped to Egypt. \nHerod became furious and “ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under.” The horror of the massacre and the devastation of the mothers and fathers led Matthew to quote Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah\, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children…” (Matthew 2:18). Rachel was the wife of Jacob/Israel. She is pictured as weeping at the place where the Israelites were herded together by the conquering Assyrians for their march into captivity. \n\nReflection\nThe Holy Innocents are few\, in comparison to the genocide and abortion of our day. But even if there had been only one\, we recognize the greatest treasure God put on the earth—a human person\, destined for eternity and graced by Jesus’ death and resurrection. \n\nThe Holy Innocents are the Patron Saints of:\nBabies \n 
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/holy-innocents/2017-12-28/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171229
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171230
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T171248Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170824T195251Z
UID:6096-1514505600-1514591999@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Thomas Becket
DESCRIPTION:Saint Thomas Becket\nSaint of the Day for December 29\n(December 21\, 1118 – December 29\, 1170)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Thomas Becket’s Story\nA strong man who wavered for a moment\, but then learned one cannot come to terms with evil and so became a strong churchman\, a martyr and a saint—that was Thomas Becket\, archbishop of Canterbury\, murdered in his cathedral on December 29\, 1170. \nHis career had been a stormy one. While archdeacon of Canterbury\, he was made chancellor of England at the age of 36 by his friend King Henry II. When Henry felt it advantageous to make his chancellor the archbishop of Canterbury\, Thomas gave him fair warning: he might not accept all of Henry’s intrusions into Church affairs. Nevertheless\, in 1162 he was made archbishop\, resigned his chancellorship\, and reformed his whole way of life! \nTroubles began. Henry insisted upon usurping Church rights. At one time\, supposing some conciliatory action possible\, Thomas came close to compromise. He momentarily approved the Constitutions of Clarendon\, which would have denied the clergy the right of trial by a Church court and prevented them from making direct appeal to Rome. But Thomas rejected the Constitutions\, fled to France for safety and remained in exile for seven years. When he returned to England\, he suspected it would mean certain death. Because Thomas refused to remit censures he had placed upon bishops favored by the king\, Henry cried out in a rage\, “Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest!” Four knights\, taking his words as his wish\, slew Thomas in the Canterbury cathedral. \nThomas Becket remains a hero-saint down to our own times. \n\nReflection\nNo one becomes a saint without struggle\, especially with himself. Thomas knew he must stand firm in defense of truth and right\, even at the cost of his life. We also must take a stand in the face of pressures—against dishonesty\, deceit\, destruction of life—at the cost of popularity\, convenience\, promotion and even greater goods. \n\nSaint Thomas Becket is the Patron Saint of:\nRoman Catholic Secular Clergy
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-thomas-becket/2017-12-29/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171230
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171231
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T171443Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170825T170851Z
UID:6097-1514592000-1514678399@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Egwin
DESCRIPTION:Saint Egwin\nSaint of the Day for December 30\n(d. c. 720)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Egwin’s Story\nYou say you’re not familiar with today’s saint? Chances are you aren’t—unless you’re especially informed about Benedictine bishops who established monasteries in medieval England. \nBorn of royal blood in the 7th century\, Egwin entered a monastery and was enthusiastically received by royalty\, clergy and the people as the bishop of Worcester\, England. As a bishop he was known as a protector of orphans and the widowed and a fair judge. Who could argue with that? \nHis popularity didn’t hold up among members of the clergy\, however. They saw him as overly strict\, while he felt he was simply trying to correct abuses and impose appropriate disciplines. Bitter resentments arose\, and Egwin made his way to Rome to present his case to Pope Constantine. The case against Egwin was examined and annulled. \nUpon his return to England\, he founded Evesham Abbey\, which became one of the great Benedictine houses of medieval England. It was dedicated to Mary\, who had reportedly made it known to Egwin just where a church should be built in her honor. \nHe died at the abbey on December 30\, in the year 717. Following his burial many miracles were attributed to him: The blind could see\, the deaf could hear\, the sick were healed. \n\nReflection\nCorrecting abuses and faults is never an easy job\, not even for a bishop. Egwin attempted to correct and build up the clergy in his diocese and it earned him the wrath of his priests. When we are called to correct someone or some group\, plan on opposition\, but also know that it might be the right thing to do.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-egwin/2017-12-30/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171231
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20180101
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T172045Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170824T172045Z
UID:6100-1514678400-1514764799@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Sylvester I
DESCRIPTION:Saint Sylvester I\nSaint of the Day for December 31\n(d. 335)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Sylvester I’s Story\nWhen you think of this pope\, you think of the Edict of Milan\, the emergence of the Church from the catacombs\, the building of the great basilicas\, Saint John Lateran\, Saint Peter’s and others\, the Council of Nicaea and other critical events. But for the most part\, these events were planned or brought about by Emperor Constantine. \nA great store of legends has grown up around the man who was pope at this most important time\, but very little can be established historically. We know for sure that his papacy lasted from 314 until his death in 335. Reading between the lines of history\, we are assured that only a very strong and wise man could have preserved the essential independence of the Church in the face of the overpowering figure of the Emperor Constantine. The bishops in general remained loyal to the Holy See and at times expressed apologies to Sylvester for undertaking important ecclesiastical projects at the urging of Constantine. \n\nReflection\nIt takes deep humility and courage in the face of criticism for a leader to stand aside and let events take their course\, when asserting one’s authority would only lead to useless tension and strife. Sylvester teaches a valuable lesson for Church leaders\, politicians\, parents and others in authority.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-sylvester-i/2017-12-31/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20180101
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20180102
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T172925Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170824T173215Z
UID:6103-1514764800-1514851199@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Mary\, Mother of God
DESCRIPTION:Mary\, Mother of God\nSaint of the Day for January 1\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nThe Story of Mary\, Mother of God\nMary’s divine motherhood broadens the Christmas spotlight. Mary has an important role to play in the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. She consents to God’s invitation conveyed by the angel (Luke 1:26-38). Elizabeth proclaims: “Most blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me\, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:42-43\, emphasis added). Mary’s role as mother of God places her in a unique position in God’s redemptive plan. \nWithout naming Mary\, Paul asserts that “God sent his Son\, born of a woman\, born under the law” (Galatians 4:4). Paul’s further statement that “God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts\, crying out ‘Abba\, Father!’“ helps us realize that Mary is mother to all the brothers and sisters of Jesus. \nSome theologians also insist that Mary’s motherhood of Jesus is an important element in God’s creative plan. God’s “first” thought in creating was Jesus. Jesus\, the incarnate Word\, is the one who could give God perfect love and worship on behalf of all creation. As Jesus was “first” in God’s mind\, Mary was “second” insofar as she was chosen from all eternity to be his mother. \nThe precise title “Mother of God” goes back at least to the third or fourth century. In the Greek form Theotokos (God-bearer)\, it became the touchstone of the Church’s teaching about the Incarnation. The Council of Ephesus in 431 insisted that the holy Fathers were right in calling the holy virgin Theotokos. At the end of this particular session\, crowds of people marched through the street shouting: “Praised be the Theotokos!” The tradition reaches to our own day. In its chapter on Mary’s role in the Church\, Vatican II’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church calls Mary “Mother of God” 12 times. \n\nReflections\nOther themes come together at today’s celebration. It is the Octave of Christmas: Our remembrance of Mary’s divine motherhood injects a further note of Christmas joy. It is a day of prayer for world peace: Mary is the mother of the Prince of Peace. It is the first day of a new year: Mary continues to bring new life to her children—who are also God’s children. \n\nAnother Saint of the Day for January 1 is Blessed Waldo.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/mary-mother-of-god/2018-01-01/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20180102
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20180103
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T173328Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170824T173328Z
UID:6104-1514851200-1514937599@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Basil the Great
DESCRIPTION:Saint Basil the Great\nSaint of the Day for January 2\n(329 – January 1\, 379)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Basil the Great’s Story\nBasil was on his way to becoming a famous teacher when he decided to begin a religious life of gospel poverty. After studying various modes of religious life\, he founded what was probably the first monastery in Asia Minor. He is to monks of the East what Saint Benedict is to the West\, and Basil’s principles influence Eastern monasticism today. \nHe was ordained a priest\, assisted the archbishop of Caesarea (now southeastern Turkey)\, and ultimately became archbishop himself\, in spite of opposition from some of the bishops under him\, probably because they foresaw coming reforms. \nOne of the most damaging heresies in the history of the Church\, Arianism\, which denied the divinity of Christ\, was at its height. Emperor Valens persecuted orthodox believers\, and put great pressure on Basil to remain silent and admit the heretics to communion. Basil remained firm\, and Valens backed down. But trouble remained. When the great Saint Athanasius died\, the mantle of defender of the faith against Arianism fell upon Basil. He strove mightily to unite and rally his fellow Catholics who were crushed by tyranny and torn by internal dissension. He was misunderstood\, misrepresented\, accused of heresy and ambition. Even appeals to the pope brought no response. “For my sins I seem to be unsuccessful in everything.” \nHe was tireless in pastoral care. He preached twice a day to huge crowds\, built a hospital that was called a wonder of the world (as a youth he had organized famine relief and worked in a soup kitchen himself) and fought the prostitution business. \nBasil was best known as an orator. Though not recognized greatly in his lifetime\, his writings rightly place him among the great teachers of the Church. Seventy-two years after his death\, the Council of Chalcedon described him as “the great Basil\, minister of grace who has expounded the truth to the whole earth.” \n\nReflection\nAs the French say\, “The more things change\, the more they remain the same.” Basil faced the same problems as modern Christians. Sainthood meant trying to preserve the spirit of Christ in such perplexing and painful problems as reform\, organization\, fighting for the poor\, maintaining balance and peace in misunderstanding. \n\nSaint Basil the Great is the Patron Saint of:\nRussia
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-basil-the-great/2018-01-02/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20180103
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20180104
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T174504Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170824T174504Z
UID:6109-1514937600-1515023999@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Most Holy Name of Jesus
DESCRIPTION:Most Holy Name of Jesus\nSaint of the Day for January 3\n\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nThe Story of the Most Holy Name of Jesus\nAlthough Saint Paul might claim credit for promoting devotion to the Holy Name because Paul wrote in Philippians that God the Father gave Christ Jesus “that name that is above every name” (see 2:9)\, this devotion became popular because of 12th-century Cistercian monks and nuns but especially through the preaching of Saint Bernardine of Siena\, a 15th-century Franciscan. \nBernardine used devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus as a way of overcoming bitter and often bloody class struggles and family rivalries or vendettas in Italian city-states. The devotion grew\, partly because of Franciscan and Dominican preachers. It spread even more widely after the Jesuits began promoting it in the 16th century. \nIn 1530\, Pope Clement V approved an Office of the Holy Name for the Franciscans. In 1721\, Pope Innocent XIII extended this feast to the entire Church. \n\nReflection\nJesus died and rose for the sake of all people. No one can trademark or copyright Jesus’ name. Jesus is the Son of God and son of Mary. Everything that exists was created in and through the Son of God (see Colossians 1:15-20). The name of Jesus is debased if any Christian uses it as justification for berating non-Christians. Jesus reminds us that because we are all related to him we are\, therefore\, all related to one another.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/most-holy-name-of-jesus/2018-01-03/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20180104
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20180105
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T193444Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170824T193444Z
UID:6112-1515024000-1515110399@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
DESCRIPTION:Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton\nSaint of the Day for January 4\n(August 28\, 1774 – January 4\, 1821)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Elizabeth Ann Seton’s Story\nMother Seton is one of the keystones of the American Catholic Church. She founded the first American religious community for women\, the Sisters of Charity. She opened the first American parish school and established the first American Catholic orphanage. All this she did in the span of 46 years while raising her five children. \nElizabeth Ann Bayley Seton is a true daughter of the American Revolution\, born August 28\, 1774\, just two years before the Declaration of Independence. By birth and marriage\, she was linked to the first families of New York and enjoyed the fruits of high society. Reared a staunch Episcopalian\, she learned the value of prayer\, Scripture and a nightly examination of conscience. Her father\, Dr. Richard Bayley\, did not have much use for churches but was a great humanitarian\, teaching his daughter to love and serve others. \nThe early deaths of her mother in 1777 and her baby sister in 1778 gave Elizabeth a feel for eternity and the temporariness of the pilgrim life on earth. Far from being brooding and sullen\, she faced each new “holocaust\,” as she put it\, with hopeful cheerfulness. \nAt 19\, Elizabeth was the belle of New York and married a handsome\, wealthy businessman\, William Magee Seton. They had five children before his business failed and he died of tuberculosis. At 30\, Elizabeth was widowed\, penniless\, with five small children to support. \nWhile in Italy with her dying husband\, Elizabeth witnessed Catholicity in action through family friends. Three basic points led her to become a Catholic: belief in the Real Presence\, devotion to the Blessed Mother and conviction that the Catholic Church led back to the apostles and to Christ. Many of her family and friends rejected her when she became a Catholic in March 1805. \nTo support her children\, she opened a school in Baltimore. From the beginning\, her group followed the lines of a religious community\, which was officially founded in 1809. \nThe thousand or more letters of Mother Seton reveal the development of her spiritual life from ordinary goodness to heroic sanctity. She suffered great trials of sickness\, misunderstanding\, the death of loved ones (her husband and two young daughters) and the heartache of a wayward son. She died January 4\, 1821\, and became the first American-born citizen to be beatified (1963) and then canonized (1975). She is buried in Emmitsburg\, Maryland. \n\nReflection\nElizabeth Seton had no extraordinary gifts. She was not a mystic or stigmatic. She did not prophesy or speak in tongues. She had two great devotions: abandonment to the will of God and an ardent love for the Blessed Sacrament. She wrote to a friend\, Julia Scott\, that she would prefer to exchange the world for a “cave or a desert.” “But God has given me a great deal to do\, and I have always and hope always to prefer his will to every wish of my own.” Her brand of sanctity is open to everyone if we love God and do his will. \n\nSaint Elizabeth Ann Seton is the Patron Saint of:\nCatholic School\nLoss of Parents
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-elizabeth-ann-seton/2018-01-04/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20180105
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20180106
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T193744Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170825T171315Z
UID:6115-1515110400-1515196799@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint John Neumann
DESCRIPTION:Saint John Neumann\nSaint of the Day for January 5\n(March 28\, 1811 – January 5\, 1860)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint John Neumann’s Story\nPerhaps because the United States got a later start in the history of the world\, it has relatively few canonized saints\, but their number is increasing. \nJohn Neumann was born in what is now the Czech Republic. After studying in Prague\, he came to New York at 25 and was ordained a priest. He did missionary work in New York until he was 29\, when he joined the Redemptorists and became its first member to profess vows in the United States. He continued missionary work in Maryland\, Virginia and Ohio\, where he became popular with the Germans. \nAt 41\, as bishop of Philadelphia\, he organized the parochial school system into a diocesan one\, increasing the number of pupils almost twentyfold within a short time. \nGifted with outstanding organizing ability\, he drew into the city many teaching communities of sisters and the Christian Brothers. During his brief assignment as vice provincial for the Redemptorists\, he placed them in the forefront of the parochial movement. \nWell-known for his holiness and learning\, spiritual writing and preaching\, on October 13\, 1963\, John Neumann became the first American bishop to be beatified. Canonized in 1977\, he is buried in St. Peter the Apostle Church in Philadelphia. \n\nReflection\nNeumann took seriously our Lord’s words\, “Go and teach all nations.” From Christ he received his instructions and the power to carry them out. For Christ does not give a mission without supplying the means to accomplish it. The Father’s gift in Christ to John Neumann was his exceptional organizing ability\, which he used to spread the Good News. Today the Church is in dire need of men and women to continue in our times the teaching of the Good News. The obstacles and inconveniences are real and costly. Yet when Christians approach Christ\, he supplies the necessary talents to answer today’s needs. The Spirit of Christ continues his work through the instrumentality of generous Christians.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-john-neumann/2018-01-05/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20180106
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20180107
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T193903Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170824T193935Z
UID:6116-1515196800-1515283199@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint André Bessette
DESCRIPTION:Saint André Bessette\nSaint of the Day for January 6\n( August 9\, 1845 – January 6\, 1937)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint André Bessette’s Story\nBrother André expressed a saint’s faith by a lifelong devotion to Saint Joseph. \nSickness and weakness dogged André from birth. He was the eighth of 12 children born to a French Canadian couple near Montreal. Adopted at 12\, when both parents had died\, he became a farmhand. Various trades followed: shoemaker\, baker\, blacksmith—all failures. He was a factory worker in the United States during the boom times of the Civil War. \nAt 25\, André applied for entrance into the Congregation of Holy Cross. After a year’s novitiate\, he was not admitted because of his weak health. But with an extension and the urging of Bishop Bourget\, he was finally received. He was given the humble job of doorkeeper at Notre Dame College in Montreal\, with additional duties as sacristan\, laundry worker and messenger. “When I joined this community\, the superiors showed me the door\, and I remained 40 years\,” he said. \nIn his little room near the door\, he spent much of the night on his knees. On his windowsill\, facing Mount Royal\, was a small statue of Saint Joseph\, to whom he had been devoted since childhood. When asked about it he said\, “Some day\, Saint Joseph is going to be honored in a very special way on Mount Royal!” \nWhen he heard someone was ill\, he visited to bring cheer and to pray with the sick person. He would rub the sick person lightly with oil taken from a lamp burning in the college chapel. Word of healing powers began to spread. \nWhen an epidemic broke out at a nearby college\, André volunteered to nurse. Not one person died. The trickle of sick people to his door became a flood. His superiors were uneasy; diocesan authorities were suspicious; doctors called him a quack. “I do not cure\,” he said again and again. “Saint Joseph cures.” In the end he needed four secretaries to handle the 80\,000 letters he received each year. \nFor many years the Holy Cross authorities had tried to buy land on Mount Royal. Brother André and others climbed the steep hill and planted medals of Saint Joseph. Suddenly\, the owners yielded. André collected $200 to build a small chapel and began receiving visitors there—smiling through long hours of listening\, applying Saint Joseph’s oil. Some were cured\, some not. The pile of crutches\, canes and braces grew. \nThe chapel also grew. By 1931\, there were gleaming walls\, but money ran out. “Put a statue of Saint Joseph in the middle. If he wants a roof over his head\, he’ll get it.” The magnificent Oratory on Mount Royal took 50 years to build. The sickly boy who could not hold a job died at 92. \nHe is buried at the Oratory. He was beatified in 1982 and canonized in 2010. At his canonization in October 2010\, Pope Benedict XVI said that Saint Andre “lived the beatitude of the pure of heart.” \n\nReflection\nRubbing ailing limbs with oil or a medal? Planting a medal to buy land? Isn’t this superstition? Aren’t we long past that? Superstitious people rely only on the “magic” of a word or action. Brother André’s oil and medals were authentic sacramentals of a simple\, total faith in the Father who lets his saints help him bless his children.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-andre-bessette/2018-01-06/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20180107
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20180108
DTSTAMP:20260404T132112
CREATED:20170824T194417Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170825T171135Z
UID:6119-1515283200-1515369599@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Raymond of Peñafort
DESCRIPTION:Saint Raymond of Peñafort\nSaint of the Day for January 7\n(1175 – January 6\, 1275)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Raymond of Peñafort’s Story\nSince Raymond lived into his hundredth year\, he had a chance to do many things. As a member of the Spanish nobility\, he had the resources and the education to get a good start in life. \nBy the time he was 20\, he was teaching philosophy. In his early 30s he earned a doctorate in both canon and civil law. At 41 he became a Dominican. Pope Gregory IX called him to Rome to work for him and to be his confessor. One of the things the pope asked him to do was to gather together all the decrees of popes and councils that had been made in 80 years since a similar collection by Gratian. Raymond compiled five books called the Decretals. They were looked upon as one of the best organized collections of Church law until the 1917 codification of canon law. \nEarlier\, Raymond had written for confessors a book of cases. It was called Summa de Casibus Poenitentiae. More than simply a list of sins and penances\, it discussed pertinent doctrines and laws of the Church that pertained to the problem or case brought to the confessor. \nAt the age of 60\, Raymond was appointed archbishop of Tarragona\, the capital of Aragon. He didn’t like the honor at all and ended up getting sick and resigning in two years. \nHe didn’t get to enjoy his peace long\, however\, because when he was 63 he was elected by his fellow Dominicans to be the head of the whole Order\, the successor of Saint Dominic. Raymond worked hard\, visited on foot all the Dominicans\, reorganized their constitutions and managed to put through a provision that a master general be allowed to resign. When the new constitutions were accepted\, Raymond\, then 65\, resigned. \nHe still had 35 years to oppose heresy and work for the conversion of the Moors in Spain. He convinced Saint Thomas Aquinas to write his work Against the Gentiles. \nIn his 100th year\, the Lord let Raymond retire. \n\nReflection\nRaymond was a lawyer\, a canonist. Legalism can suck the life out of genuine religion if it becomes too great a preoccupation with the letter of the law to the neglect of the spirit and purpose of the law. The law can become an end in itself\, so that the value the law was intended to promote is overlooked. But we must guard against going to the opposite extreme and seeing law as useless or something to be lightly regarded. Laws ideally state those things that are for the best interests of everyone and make sure the rights of all are safeguarded. From Raymond\, we can learn a respect for law as a means of serving the common good. \n\nSaint Raymond of Peñafort is the Patron Saint of:\nLawyers
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-raymond-of-penafort/2018-01-07/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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