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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20170930
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171001
DTSTAMP:20260404T094657
CREATED:20170728T180955Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170731T193952Z
UID:5344-1506729600-1506815999@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Jerome
DESCRIPTION:Image: One side of a double-sided panel. Three saints in full figure – Saint Sylvester\, Saint Jerome\, and Saint Martin | anonymous\nSaint Jerome\nSaint of the Day for September 30\n(345 – 420)\nClick to hear audio clip ►\nSaint Jerome’s Story\nMost of the saints are remembered for some outstanding virtue or devotion which they practiced\, but Jerome is frequently remembered for his bad temper! It is true that he had a very bad temper and could use a vitriolic pen\, but his love for God and his son Jesus Christ was extraordinarily intense; anyone who taught error was an enemy of God and truth\, and Saint Jerome went after him or her with his mighty and sometimes sarcastic pen. \nHe was above all a Scripture scholar\, translating most of the Old Testament from the Hebrew. He also wrote commentaries which are a great source of scriptural inspiration for us today. He was an avid student\, a thorough scholar\, a prodigious letter-writer and a consultant to monk\, bishop\, and pope. Saint Augustine said of him\, “What Jerome is ignorant of\, no mortal has ever known.” \nSaint Jerome is particularly important for having made a translation of the Bible which came to be called the Vulgate. It is not the most critical edition of the Bible\, but its acceptance by the Church was fortunate. As a modern scholar says\, “No man before Jerome or among his contemporaries and very few men for many centuries afterwards were so well qualified to do the work.” The Council of Trent called for a new and corrected edition of the Vulgate\, and declared it the authentic text to be used in the Church. \nIn order to be able to do such work\, Jerome prepared himself well. He was a master of Latin\, Greek\, Hebrew\, and Chaldaic. He began his studies at his birthplace\, Stridon in Dalmatia. After his preliminary education\, he went to Rome\, the center of learning at that time\, and thence to Trier\, Germany\, where the scholar was very much in evidence. He spent several years in each place\, always trying to find the very best teachers. He once served as private secretary of Pope Damasus. \nAfter these preparatory studies\, he traveled extensively in Palestine\, marking each spot of Christ’s life with an outpouring of devotion. Mystic that he was\, he spent five years in the desert of Chalcis so that he might give himself up to prayer\, penance\, and study. Finally\, he settled in Bethlehem\, where he lived in the cave believed to have been the birthplace of Christ. Jerome died in Bethlehem\, and the remains of his body now lie buried in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. \n\nReflection\nJerome was a strong\, outspoken man. He had the virtues and the unpleasant fruits of being a fearless critic and all the usual moral problems of a man. He was\, as someone has said\, no admirer of moderation whether in virtue or against evil. He was swift to anger\, but also swift to feel remorse\, even more severe on his own shortcomings than on those of others. A pope is said to have remarked\, on seeing a picture of Jerome striking his breast with a stone\, “You do well to carry that stone\, for without it the Church would never have canonized you” (Butler’s Lives of the Saints). \n\nSaint Jerome is the patron Saint of:\nLibrarians\nTranslators\nScholars
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-jerome/2017-09-30/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171001
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171002
DTSTAMP:20260404T094657
CREATED:20170801T133138Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T133138Z
UID:5479-1506816000-1506902399@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
DESCRIPTION:  \nImage: Saint Thérèse of Lisieux as a novice at age 16. | Carmelite Archives of Lisieux\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint Thérèse of Lisieux\nSaint of the Day for October 1\n(January 2\, 1873 – September 30\, 1897)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Thérèse of Lisieux’s Story\n“I prefer the monotony of obscure sacrifice to all ecstasies. To pick up a pin for love can convert a soul.” \nThese are the words of Thérèse of Lisieux\, a Carmelite nun called the “Little Flower\,” who lived a cloistered life of obscurity in the convent of Lisieux\, France. And her preference for hidden sacrifice did indeed convert souls. Few saints of God are more popular than this young nun. Her autobiography\, The Story of a Soul\, is read and loved throughout the world. Thérèse Martin entered the convent at the age of 15 and died in 1897 at the age of 24. \nLife in a Carmelite convent is indeed uneventful and consists mainly of prayer and hard domestic work. But Thérèse possessed that holy insight that redeems the time\, however dull that time may be. She saw in quiet suffering a redemptive suffering\, suffering that was indeed her apostolate. Thérèse said she came to the Carmel convent “to save souls and pray for priests.” And shortly before she died\, she wrote: “I want to spend my heaven doing good on earth.” \nThérèse was canonized in 1925. On October 19\, 1997\, Pope John Paul II proclaimed her a Doctor of the Church\, the third woman to be so recognized in light of her holiness and the influence of her teaching on spirituality in the Church. \nHer parents\, Louis and Zélie\, were beatified in 2008\, and canonized in 2015. \n\nReflection\nThérèse has much to teach our age of the image\, the appearance\, the “sell.” We have become a dangerously self-conscious people\, painfully aware of the need to be fulfilled\, yet knowing we are not. Thérèse\, like so many saints\, sought to serve others\, to do something outside herself\, to forget herself in quiet acts of love. She is one of the great examples of the gospel paradox that we gain our life by losing it\, and that the seed that falls to the ground must die in order to live. \nPreoccupation with self separates modern men and women from God\, from their fellow human beings and ultimately from themselves. We must relearn to forget ourselves\, to contemplate a God who draws us out of ourselves\, and to serve others as the ultimate expression of selfhood. These are the insights of Saint Thérèse\, and they are more valid today than ever. \n\nSaint Thérèse is the Patron Saint of:\nFlorists\nMissionaries\nPilots\nPriests
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-therese-of-lisieux/2017-10-01/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171002
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171003
DTSTAMP:20260404T094657
CREATED:20170801T135749Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T135749Z
UID:5483-1506902400-1506988799@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Feast of the Guardian Angels
DESCRIPTION:Image: Detail | The Guardian Angel | Marcantonio Franceschini\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFeast of the Guardian Angels\nSaint of the Day for October 2\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nThe Story of the Feast of the Guardian Angels\nPerhaps no aspect of Catholic piety is as comforting to parents as the belief that an angel protects their little ones from dangers real and imagined. Yet guardian angels are not only for children. Their role is to represent individuals before God\, to watch over them always\, to aid their prayer\, and to present their souls to God at death. \nThe concept of an angel assigned to guide and nurture each human being is a development of Catholic doctrine and piety based on Scripture but not directly drawn from it. Jesus’ words in Matthew 18:10 best support the belief: “See that you do not despise one of these little ones\, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.” \nDevotion to the angels began to develop with the birth of the monastic tradition. Saint Benedict gave it impetus and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux\, the great 12th-century reformer\, was such an eloquent spokesman for the guardian angels that angelic devotion assumed its current form in his day. \nA feast in honor of the guardian angels was first observed in the 16th century. In 1615\, Pope Paul V added it to the Roman calendar. \n\nReflection\nDevotion to the angels is\, at base\, an expression of faith in God’s enduring love and providential care extended to each person day in and day out.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/feast-of-the-guardian-angels/2017-10-02/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171003
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171004
DTSTAMP:20260404T094657
CREATED:20170801T150934Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T150934Z
UID:5488-1506988800-1507075199@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Theodora Guérin
DESCRIPTION:Image: Saint Theodora Guerin | Image courtesy and © Sisters of Providence\, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint Theodora Guérin\nSaint of the Day for October 3\n(October 2\, 1798 – May 14\, 1856)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Theodora Guérin’s Story\nTrust in God’s Providence enabled Mother Theodore to leave her homeland\, sail halfway around the world\, and found a new religious congregation. \nBorn in Etables\, France\, Anne-Thérèse Guerin’s life was shattered by her father’s murder when she was 15. For several years\, she cared for her mother and younger sister. She entered the Sisters of Providence in 1823\, taking the name Sister Saint Theodore. An illness during novitiate left her with lifelong fragile health\, but that did not keep her from becoming an accomplished teacher. \nAt the invitation of the bishop of Vincennes\, Indiana\, she and five sisters were sent in 1840 to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods\, Indiana\, to teach and to care for the sick poor. She was to establish a motherhouse and novitiate. Only later did she learn that her French superiors had already decided the sisters in the United States should form a new religious congregation under her leadership. \nShe and her community persevered despite fires\, crop failures\, prejudice against Catholic women religious\, misunderstandings\, and separation from their original religious congregation. She once told her sisters\, “Have confidence in the Providence that so far has never failed us. The way is not yet clear. Grope along slowly. Do not press matters; be patient\, be trustful.” Another time\, she asked\, “With Jesus\, what shall we have to fear?” \nShe is buried in the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Saint Mary-of-the-Woods\, Indiana\, and was beatified in 1998. Eight years later\, she was canonized. \n\nReflection\nGod’s work gets done by people ready to take risks and to work hard—always remembering what Saint Paul told the Corinthians\, “I planted\, Apollos watered\, but God caused the growth.” Every holy person has a strong sense of God’s Providence.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-theodora-guerin/2017-10-03/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171004
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171005
DTSTAMP:20260404T094657
CREATED:20170801T151122Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T151122Z
UID:5491-1507075200-1507161599@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Francis of Assisi
DESCRIPTION:Image: Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy | Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio | photo by carulmare | flickr\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint Francis of Assisi\nSaint of the Day for October 4\n(September 26\, 1182 – October 3\, 1226)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Francis of Assisi’s Story\nFrancis of Assisi was a poor little man who astounded and inspired the Church by taking the gospel literally—not in a narrow fundamentalist sense\, but by actually following all that Jesus said and did\, joyfully\, without limit\, and without a sense of self-importance. \nSerious illness brought the young Francis to see the emptiness of his frolicking life as leader of Assisi’s youth. Prayer—lengthy and difficult—led him to a self-emptying like that of Christ\, climaxed by embracing a leper he met on the road. It symbolized his complete obedience to what he had heard in prayer: “Francis! Everything you have loved and desired in the flesh it is your duty to despise and hate\, if you wish to know my will. And when you have begun this\, all that now seems sweet and lovely to you will become intolerable and bitter\, but all that you used to avoid will turn itself to great sweetness and exceeding joy.” \nFrom the cross in the neglected field-chapel of San Damiano\, Christ told him\, “Francis\, go out and build up my house\, for it is nearly falling down.” Francis became the totally poor and humble workman. \nHe must have suspected a deeper meaning to “build up my house.” But he would have been content to be for the rest of his life the poor “nothing” man actually putting brick on brick in abandoned chapels. He gave up all his possessions\, piling even his clothes before his earthly father (who was demanding restitution for Francis’ “gifts” to the poor) so that he would be totally free to say\, “Our Father in heaven.” He was\, for a time\, considered to be a religious fanatic\, begging from door to door when he could not get money for his work\, evoking sadness or disgust to the hearts of his former friends\, ridicule from the unthinking. \nBut genuineness will tell. A few people began to realize that this man was actually trying to be Christian. He really believed what Jesus said: “Announce the kingdom! Possess no gold or silver or copper in your purses\, no traveling bag\, no sandals\, no staff” (Luke 9:1-3). \nFrancis’ first rule for his followers was a collection of texts from the Gospels. He had no intention of founding an order\, but once it began he protected it and accepted all the legal structures needed to support it. His devotion and loyalty to the Church were absolute and highly exemplary at a time when various movements of reform tended to break the Church’s unity. \nHe was torn between a life devoted entirely to prayer and a life of active preaching of the Good News. He decided in favor of the latter\, but always returned to solitude when he could. He wanted to be a missionary in Syria or in Africa\, but was prevented by shipwreck and illness in both cases. He did try to convert the sultan of Egypt during the Fifth Crusade. \nDuring the last years of his relatively short life (he died at 44)\, he was half blind and seriously ill. Two years before his death\, he received the stigmata\, the real and painful wounds of Christ in his hands\, feet and side. \nOn his deathbed\, he said over and over again the last addition to his Canticle of the Sun\, “Be praised\, O Lord\, for our Sister Death.” He sang Psalm 141\, and at the end asked his superior to have his clothes removed when the last hour came and for permission to expire lying naked on the earth\, in imitation of his Lord. \n\nReflection\nFrancis of Assisi was poor only that he might be Christ-like. He recognized creation as another manifestation of the beauty of God. In 1979\, he was named patron of ecology. He did great penance (apologizing to “Brother Body” later in life) that he might be totally disciplined for the will of God. His poverty had a sister\, humility\, by which he meant total dependence on the good God. But all this was\, as it were\, preliminary to the heart of his spirituality: living the gospel life\, summed up in the charity of Jesus and perfectly expressed in the Eucharist. \n\nSaint Francis of Assisi is the Patron Saint of:\nAnimals\nArchaeologists\nEcology\nItaly\nMerchants\nMessengers\nMetal Workers
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-francis-of-assisi/2017-10-04/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171005
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171006
DTSTAMP:20260404T094657
CREATED:20170801T151236Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T151236Z
UID:5494-1507161600-1507247999@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska
DESCRIPTION:Image: Saint Faustyna and Jesus\, I Trust in You sculpture | Piotrków Trybunalski\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint Maria Faustina Kowalska\nSaint of the Day for October 5\n(August 25\, 1905 – October 5\, 1938)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Maria Faustina Kowalska’s Story\nSaint Faustina’s name is forever linked to the annual feast of the Divine Mercy\, the Divine Mercy chaplet\, and the Divine Mercy prayer recited each day at 3 p.m. by many people. \nBorn in what is now west-central Poland\, Helena Kowalska was the third of 10 children. She worked as a housekeeper in three cities before joining the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in 1925. She worked as a cook\, gardener and porter in three of their houses. \nIn addition to carrying out her work faithfully\, generously serving the needs of the sisters and the local people\, she also had a deep interior life. This included receiving revelations from the Lord Jesus\, messages that she recorded in her diary at the request of Christ and of her confessors. \nAt a time when some Catholics had an image of God as such a strict judge that they might be tempted to despair about the possibility of being forgiven\, Jesus chose to emphasize his mercy and forgiveness for sins acknowledged and confessed. “I do not want to punish aching mankind\,” he once told Saint Faustina\, “but I desire to heal it\, pressing it to my merciful heart.” The two rays emanating from Christ’s heart\, she said\, represent the blood and water poured out after Jesus’ death. \nBecause Sister Maria Faustina knew that the revelations she had already received did not constitute holiness itself\, she wrote in her diary: “Neither graces\, nor revelations\, nor raptures\, nor gifts granted to a soul make it perfect\, but rather the intimate union of the soul with God. These gifts are merely ornaments of the soul\, but constitute neither its essence nor its perfection. My sanctity and perfection consist in the close union of my will with the will of God.” \nSister Maria Faustina died of tuberculosis in Krakow\, Poland\, on October 5\, 1938. Pope John Paul II beatified her in 1993 and canonized her seven years later. \n\nReflection\nDevotion to God’s Divine Mercy bears some resemblance to devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In both cases\, sinners are encouraged not to despair\, not to doubt God’s willingness to forgive them if they repent. As Psalm 136 says in each of its 26 verses\, “God’s love [mercy] endures forever.”
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-maria-faustina-kowalska/2017-10-05/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171006
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171007
DTSTAMP:20260404T094657
CREATED:20170801T151353Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T151353Z
UID:5497-1507248000-1507334399@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Bruno
DESCRIPTION:Image: Saint Bruno | Girolamo Marchesi\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint Bruno\nSaint of the Day for October 6\n(c. 1030 – October 6\, 1101)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Bruno’s Story\nThis saint has the honor of having founded a religious order which\, as the saying goes\, has never had to be reformed because it was never deformed. No doubt both the founder and the members would reject such high praise\, but it is an indication of the saint’s intense love of a penitential life in solitude. \nBruno was born in Cologne\, Germany\, became a famous teacher at Rheims\, and was appointed chancellor of the archdiocese at the age of 45. He supported Pope Gregory VII in his fight against the decadence of the clergy\, and took part in the removal of his own scandalous archbishop\, Manasses. Bruno suffered the plundering of his house for his pains. \nHe had a dream of living in solitude and prayer\, and persuaded a few friends to join him in a hermitage. After a while he felt the place unsuitable and\, through a friend\, was given some land which was to become famous for his foundation “in the Chartreuse” (from which comes the word Carthusians). The climate\, desert\, mountainous terrain\, and inaccessibility guaranteed silence\, poverty\, and small numbers. \nBruno and his friends built an oratory with small individual cells at a distance from each other. They met for Matins and Vespers each day and spent the rest of the time in solitude\, eating together only on great feasts. Their chief work was copying manuscripts. \nThe pope\, hearing of Bruno’s holiness\, called for his assistance in Rome. When the pope had to flee Rome\, Bruno pulled up stakes again\, and spent his last years (after refusing a bishopric) in the wilderness of Calabria. \nBruno was never formally canonized\, because the Carthusians were averse to all occasions of publicity. However\, Pope Clement X extended his feast to the whole Church in 1674. \n\nReflection\nIf there is always a certain uneasy questioning of the contemplative life\, there is an even greater puzzlement about the extremely penitential combination of community and hermit life lived by the Carthusians.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-bruno/2017-10-06/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171007
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171008
DTSTAMP:20260404T094657
CREATED:20170801T151505Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T151505Z
UID:5500-1507334400-1507420799@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Our Lady of the Rosary
DESCRIPTION:Image: Our Lady of the Rosary | St. Nicholas Church\, Osgood\, Ohio\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nOur Lady of the Rosary\nSaint of the Day for October 7\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nThe Story of Our Lady of the Rosary\nSaint Pius V established this feast in 1573. The purpose was to thank God for the victory of Christians over the Turks at Lepanto—a victory attributed to the praying of the rosary. Clement XI extended the feast to the universal Church in 1716. \nThe development of the rosary has a long history. First\, a practice developed of praying 150 Our Fathers in imitation of the 150 Psalms. Then there was a parallel practice of praying 150 Hail Marys. Soon a mystery of Jesus’ life was attached to each Hail Mary. Though Mary’s giving the rosary to Saint Dominic is recognized as a legend\, the development of this prayer form owes much to the followers of Saint Dominic. One of them\, Alan de la Roche\, was known as “the apostle of the rosary.” He founded the first Confraternity of the Rosary in the 15th century. In the 16th century\, the rosary was developed to its present form—with the 15 mysteries (joyful\, sorrowful and glorious). In 2002\, Pope John Paul II added five Mysteries of Light to this devotion. \n\nReflection\nThe purpose of the rosary is to help us meditate on the great mysteries of our salvation. Pius XII called it a compendium of the gospel. The main focus is on Jesus—his birth\, life\, death\, and resurrection. The Our Fathers remind us that Jesus’ Father is the initiator of salvation. The Hail Marys remind us to join with Mary in contemplating these mysteries. They also make us aware that Mary was and is intimately joined with her Son in all the mysteries of his earthly and heavenly existence. The Glory Bes remind us that the purpose of all life is the glory of the Trinity. \nThe rosary appeals to many. It is simple. The constant repetition of words helps create an atmosphere in which to contemplate the mysteries of God. We sense that Jesus and Mary are with us in the joys and sorrows of life. We grow in hope that God will bring us to share in the glory of Jesus and Mary forever.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/our-lady-of-the-rosary/2017-10-07/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171008
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171009
DTSTAMP:20260404T094657
CREATED:20170801T151614Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T151650Z
UID:5503-1507420800-1507507199@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint John Leonardi
DESCRIPTION:Image: Body of Saint John Leonardi | Santa Maria in Portico in Campitelli\, Rome\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint John Leonardi\nSaint of the Day for October 8\n(1541 – October 9\,1609)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint John Leonardi’ Story\n“I am only one person! Why should I do anything? What good would it do?” Today\, as in any age\, people seem plagued with the dilemma of getting involved. In his own way\, John Leonardi answered these questions. He chose to become a priest. \nAfter his ordination\, he became very active in the works of the ministry\, especially in hospitals and prisons. The example and dedication of his work attracted several young laymen who began to assist him. They later became priests themselves. \nJohn lived after the Protestant Reformation and the Council of Trent. He and his followers projected a new congregation of diocesan priests. For some reason the plan\, which was ultimately approved\, provoked great political opposition. John was exiled from his home town of Lucca\, Italy\, for almost the entire remainder of his life. He received encouragement and help from Saint Philip Neri\, who gave him his lodgings—along with the care of his cat! \nIn 1579\, John formed the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine\, and published a compendium of Christian doctrine that remained in use until the 19th century. \nFather Leonardi and his priests became a great power for good in Italy\, and their congregation was confirmed by Pope Clement in 1595. John died at the age of 68 from a disease caught when tending those stricken by the plague. \nBy the deliberate policy of the founder\, the Clerks Regular of the Mother of God have never had more than 15 churches and today form only a very small congregation. \n\nReflection\nWhat can one person do? The answer is plenty! In the life of each saint\, one thing stands clear: God and one person are a majority! What one individual\, following God’s will and plan for his or her life\, can do is more than our mind could ever hope for or imagine. Each of us\, like John Leonardi\, has a mission to fulfill in God’s plan for the world. Each one of us is unique and has been given talent to use for the service of our brothers and sisters for the building up of God’s kingdom. \n\nThe Liturgical Feast of Saint John Leonardi is October 9.\n\nSaint John Leonardi is the Patron Saint of:\nPharmacists
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/5503/2017-10-08/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171009
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171010
DTSTAMP:20260404T094657
CREATED:20170801T151757Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T151757Z
UID:5506-1507507200-1507593599@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Denis and Companions
DESCRIPTION:Image: Detail | Louis XII of France Kneeling in Prayer | Jean Bourdichon\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint Denis and Companions\nSaint of the Day for October 9\n(d. 258?)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Denis and Companions’ Story\nThis martyr and patron of France is regarded as the first bishop of Paris. His popularity is due to a series of legends\, especially those connecting him with the great abbey church of St. Denis in Paris. He was for a time confused with the writer now called Pseudo-Dionysius. \nThe best hypothesis contends that Denis was sent to Gaul from Rome in the third century and beheaded in the persecution under Emperor Valerius in 258. \nAccording to one of the legends\, after he was martyred on Montmartre (literally\, “mountain of martyrs”) in Paris\, he carried his head to a village northeast of the city. Saint Genevieve built a basilica over his tomb at the beginning of the sixth century. \n\nReflection\nAgain\, we have the case of a saint about whom almost nothing is known\, yet one whose cult has been a vigorous part of the Church’s history for centuries. We can only conclude that the deep impression the saint made on the people of his day reflected a life of unusual holiness. In all such cases\, there are two fundamental facts: A great man gave his life for Christ\, and the Church has never forgotten him—a human symbol of God’s eternal mindfulness. \n\nSaint Denis is the Patron Saint of:\nFrance
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-denis-and-companions/2017-10-09/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171010
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171011
DTSTAMP:20260404T094657
CREATED:20170801T152227Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T152227Z
UID:5509-1507593600-1507679999@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Francis Borgia
DESCRIPTION:Image: Carlos V receives a visit from Saint Francis Borgia in Yuste | Joaquín María Herrer y Rodríguez\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint Francis Borgia\nSaint of the Day for October 10\n(October 28\, 1510 – September 30\, 1572)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Francis Borgia’s Story\nToday’s saint grew up in an important family in 16th-century Spain\, serving in the imperial court and quickly advancing in his career. But a series of events—including the death of his beloved wife—made Francis Borgia rethink his priorities. He gave up public life\, gave away his possessions\, and joined the new and little-known Society of Jesus. \nReligious life proved to be the right choice. He felt drawn to spend time in seclusion and prayer\, but his administrative talents also made him a natural for other tasks. He helped in the establishment of what is now the Gregorian University in Rome. Not long after his ordination\, he served as political and spiritual adviser to the emperor. In Spain\, he founded a dozen colleges. \nAt 55\, Francis was elected head of the Jesuits. He focused on the growth of the Society of Jesus\, the spiritual preparation of its new members\, and spreading the faith in many parts of Europe. He was responsible for the founding of Jesuit missions in Florida\, Mexico\, and Peru. \nFrancis Borgia is often regarded as the second founder of the Jesuits. He died in 1572 and was canonized 100 years later. \n\nReflection\nSometimes the Lord reveals his will for us in stages. Many people hear a call in later life to serve in a different capacity. We never know what the Lord has in store for us. \n\nSaint Francis Borgia is the Patron Saint of:\nEarthquakes \n\nAnother Saint of the Day for October 10 is Saint Daniel and Companions.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-francis-borgia/2017-10-10/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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CREATED:20170801T152348Z
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UID:5512-1507680000-1507766399@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint John XXIII
DESCRIPTION:Image: Pope John XXIII begins the Mass | Saint Peter’s Basilica\, October 11\, 1959 | photo by Medici con l’Africa Cuamm\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint John XXIII\nSaint of the Day for October 11\n(November 25\, 1881 – June 3\, 1963)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint John XXIII’s Story\nAlthough few people had as great an impact on the 20th century as Pope John XXIII\, he avoided the limelight as much as possible. Indeed\, one writer has noted that his “ordinariness” seems one of his most remarkable qualities. \nThe firstborn son of a farming family in Sotto il Monte\, near Bergamo in northern Italy\, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was always proud of his down-to-earth roots. In Bergamo’s diocesan seminary\, he joined the Secular Franciscan Order. \nAfter his ordination in 1904\, Angelo returned to Rome for canon law studies. He soon worked as his bishop’s secretary\, Church history teacher in the seminary\, and as publisher of the diocesan paper. \nHis service as a stretcher-bearer for the Italian army during World War I gave him a firsthand knowledge of war. In 1921\, he was made national director in Italy of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. He also found time to teach patristics at a seminary in the Eternal City. \nIn 1925\, he became a papal diplomat\, serving first in Bulgaria\, then in Turkey\, and finally in France. During World War II\, he became well acquainted with Orthodox Church leaders. With the help of Germany’s ambassador to Turkey\, Archbishop Roncalli helped save an estimated 24\,000 Jewish people. \nNamed a cardinal and appointed patriarch of Venice in 1953\, he was finally a residential bishop. A month short of entering his 78th year\, he was elected pope\, taking the name John after his father and the two patrons of Rome’s cathedral\, St. John Lateran. He took his work very seriously but not himself. His wit soon became proverbial\, and he began meeting with political and religious leaders from around the world. In 1962\, he was deeply involved in efforts to resolve the Cuban missile crisis. \nHis most famous encyclicals were Mother and Teacher (1961) and Peace on Earth (1963). Pope John XXIII enlarged the membership in the College of Cardinals and made it more international. At his address at the opening of the Second Vatican Council\, he criticized the “prophets of doom” who “in these modern times see nothing but prevarication and ruin.” Pope John XXIII set a tone for the Council when he said\, “The Church has always opposed… errors. Nowadays\, however\, the Spouse of Christ prefers to make use of the medicine of mercy rather than that of severity.” \nOn his deathbed\, he said: “It is not that the gospel has changed; it is that we have begun to understand it better. Those who have lived as long as I have…were enabled to compare different cultures and traditions\, and know that the moment has come to discern the signs of the times\, to seize the opportunity and to look far ahead.” \n“Good Pope John” died on June 3\, 1963. Saint John Paul II beatified him in 2000\, and Pope Francis canonized him in 2014. \n\nReflection\nThroughout his life\, Angelo Roncalli cooperated with God’s grace\, believing that the job at hand was worthy of his best efforts. His sense of God’s providence made him the ideal person to promote a new dialogue with Protestant and Orthodox Christians\, as well as with Jews and Muslims. In the sometimes noisy crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica\, many people became silent on seeing the simple tomb of Pope John XXIII\, grateful for the gift of his life and holiness. After the beatification\, his tomb was moved into the basilica itself.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-john-xxiii/2017-10-11/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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CREATED:20170801T152507Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T152507Z
UID:5515-1507766400-1507852799@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos
DESCRIPTION:Image: Shrine of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos\, St Magn Basilica\, Füssen\, Germany | photo by Myke Rosenthal\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBlessed Francis Xavier Seelos\nSaint of the Day for October 12\n(January 11\, 1819 – October 4\, 1867)\n\n\nClick to hear audio clip ►\n\n\n  \nBlessed Francis Xavier Seelos’ Story\nZeal as a preacher and a confessor led Father Seelos to works of compassion as well. \nBorn in southern Bavaria\, he studied philosophy and theology in Munich. On hearing about the work of the Redemptorists among German-speaking Catholics in the United States\, he came to this country in 1843. Ordained at the end of 1844\, he was assigned for six years to St. Philomena’s Parish in Pittsburgh as an assistant to Saint John Neumann. The next three years Father Seelos was superior in the same community and began his service as novice master. \nSeveral years in parish ministry in Maryland followed\, along with responsibility for training Redemptorist students. During the Civil War\, he went to Washington\, D.C.\, and appealed to President Lincoln that those students not be drafted for military service\, although\, eventually\, some were. \nFor several years\, he preached in English and in German throughout the Midwest and in the Mid-Atlantic states. Assigned to St. Mary of the Assumption Church community in New Orleans\, he served his Redemptorist confreres and parishioners with great zeal. In 1867\, he died of yellow fever\, having contracted that disease while visiting the sick. He was beatified in 2000. \n\nReflection\nFather Seelos worked in many different places but always with the same zeal: to help people know God’s love and compassion. He preached about the works of mercy and then engaged in them\, even risking his own health. \n\nThe Liturgical Feast of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos is October 5.\n\nAnother Saint of the Day for October 12 is Saint Seraphin of Montegranaro.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/blessed-francis-xavier-seelos/2017-10-12/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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CREATED:20170801T152617Z
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UID:5519-1507852800-1507939199@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher
DESCRIPTION:Image: Blessed Marie Rose Durocher | Achona\, The Online Newspaper of Academy of the Holy Names\, Tampa | photo by Keri Kelly/Achona Online\nBlessed Marie-Rose Durocher\nSaint of the Day for October 13\n(October 6\, 1811 –  October 6\, 1849)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nBlessed Marie-Rose Durocher’s Story\nCanada was one diocese from coast to coast during the first eight years of Marie-Rose Durocher’s life. Its half-million Catholics had received civil and religious liberty from the English only 44 years before. When Marie-Rose was 29\, Bishop Ignace Bourget became bishop of Montreal. He would be a decisive influence in her life. \nHe faced a shortage of priests and sisters and a rural population that had been largely deprived of education. Like his counterparts in the United States\, Bishop Bourget scoured Europe for help and himself founded four communities\, one of which was the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. Its first sister and reluctant co-foundress was Marie-Rose. \nShe was born in a little village near Montreal in 1811\, the 10th of 11 children. She had a good education\, was something of a tomboy\, rode a horse named Caesar and could have married well. At 16\, she felt the desire to become a religious but was forced to abandon the idea because of her weak constitution. At 18\, when her mother died\, her priest brother invited her and her father to come to his parish in Beloeil\, not far from Montreal. \nFor 13 years\, she served as housekeeper\, hostess\, and parish worker. She became well known for her graciousness\, courtesy\, leadership\, and tact; she was\, in fact\, called “the saint of Beloeil.” Perhaps she was too tactful during two years when her brother treated her coldly. \nAs a young woman\, she had hoped there would someday be a community of teaching sisters in every parish\, never thinking she would found one. But her spiritual director\, Fr. Pierre Telmon\, O.M.I.\, after thoroughly (and severely) leading her in the spiritual life\, urged her to found a community herself. Bishop Bourget concurred\, but Marie-Rose shrank from the prospect. She was in poor health and her father and her brother needed her. \nShe finally agreed and\, with two friends\, Melodie Dufresne and Henriette Cere\, entered a little home in Longueuil\, across the Saint Lawrence River from Montreal. With them were 13 young girls already assembled for boarding school. Longueuil became her Bethlehem\, Nazareth\, and Gethsemani. She was 32 and would live only six more years—years filled with poverty\, trials\, sickness\, and slander. The qualities she had nurtured in her “hidden” life came forward—a strong will\, intelligence and common sense\, great inner courage\, and\, yet\, a great deference to directors. Thus was born an international congregation of women religious dedicated to education in the faith. \nShe was severe with herself and by today’s standards quite strict with her sisters. Beneath it all\, of course\, was an unshakable love of her crucified Savior. \nOn her deathbed\, the prayers most frequently on her lips were “Jesus\, Mary\, Joseph! Sweet Jesus\, I love you. Jesus\, be to me Jesus!” Before she died\, she smiled and said to the sister with her\, “Your prayers are keeping me here—let me go.” \nShe was beatified in 1982. \n\nReflection\nWe have seen a great burst of charity\, a genuine interest in the poor. Countless Christians have experienced a deep form of prayer. But penance? We squirm when we read of terrible physical penance done by people like Marie-Rose. That is not for most people\, of course. But the pull of a materialistic culture oriented to pleasure and entertainment is impossible to resist without some form of deliberate and Christ-conscious abstinence. That is part of the way to answer Jesus’ call to repent and turn completely to God. \n\nThe Liturgical Feast of Saint Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher is October 6.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/blessed-marie-rose-durocher/2017-10-13/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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UID:5522-1507939200-1508025599@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Callistus I
DESCRIPTION:Image: Statue of Pope Callistus I on the Saints portal | Northern transept of Our Lady cathedral of Reims\, Marne\, France | photo by Fab5669\nSaint Callistus I\nSaint of the Day for October 14\n(d. 223)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Callistus I’s Story\nThe most reliable information about this saint comes from his enemy Saint Hippolytus\, an early antipope\, later a martyr for the Church. A negative principle is used: If some worse things had happened\, Hippolytus would surely have mentioned them. \nCallistus was a slave in the imperial Roman household. Put in charge of the bank by his master\, he lost the money deposited\, fled\, and was caught. After serving time for a while\, he was released to make some attempt to recover the money. Apparently he carried his zeal too far\, being arrested for brawling in a Jewish synagogue. This time he was condemned to work in the mines of Sardinia. He was released through the influence of the emperor’s mistress and lived at Anzio. \nAfter winning his freedom\, Callistus was made superintendent of the public Christian burial ground in Rome (still called the cemetery of Saint Callistus)\, probably the first land owned by the Church. The pope ordained him a deacon and made him his friend and adviser. \nHe was elected pope by a majority vote of the clergy and laity of Rome\, and thereafter was bitterly attacked by the losing candidate\, Saint Hippolytus\, who let himself be set up as the first antipope in the history of the Church. The schism lasted about 18 years. \nHippolytus is venerated as a saint. He was banished during the persecution of 235 and was reconciled to the Church. He died from his sufferings in Sardinia. He attacked Callistus on two fronts—doctrine and discipline. Hippolytus seems to have exaggerated the distinction between Father and Son (almost making two gods) possibly because theological language had not yet been refined. He also accused Callistus of being too lenient\, for reasons we may find surprising: 1) Callistus admitted to Holy Communion those who had already done public penance for murder\, adultery\, and fornication; 2) he held marriages between free women and slaves to be valid—contrary to Roman law; 3) he authorized the ordination of men who had been married two or three times; 4) he held that mortal sin was not a sufficient reason to depose a bishop; 5) he held to a policy of leniency toward those who had temporarily denied their faith during persecution. \nCallistus was martyred during a local disturbance in Trastevere\, Rome\, and is the first pope (except for Peter) to be commemorated as a martyr in the earliest martyrology of the Church. \n\nReflection\nThe life of this man is another reminder that the course of Church history\, like that of true love\, never did run smooth. The Church had to (and still must) go through the agonizing struggle to state the mysteries of the faith in language that\, at the very least\, sets up definite barriers to error. On the disciplinary side\, the Church had to preserve the mercy of Christ against rigorism\, while still upholding the gospel ideal of radical conversion and self-discipline. Every pope—indeed every Christian—must walk the difficult path between “reasonable” indulgence and “reasonable” rigorism.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-callistus-i/2017-10-14/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171016
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CREATED:20170801T152900Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T152900Z
UID:5525-1508025600-1508111999@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Teresa of Avila
DESCRIPTION:Image:The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa of Avila | Gian Lorenzo Bernini | photo by Tybo | flickr\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint Teresa of Avila\nSaint of the Day for October 15\n(March 28\, 1515 – October 4\, 1582)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Teresa of Avila’s Story\nTeresa lived in an age of exploration as well as political\, social\, and religious upheaval. It was the 16th century\, a time of turmoil and reform. She was born before the Protestant Reformation and died almost 20 years after the closing of the Council of Trent. \nThe gift of God to Teresa in and through which she became holy and left her mark on the Church and the world is threefold: She was a woman; she was a contemplative; she was an active reformer. \nAs a woman\, Teresa stood on her own two feet\, even in the man’s world of her time. She was “her own woman\,” entering the Carmelites despite strong opposition from her father. She is a person wrapped not so much in silence as in mystery. Beautiful\, talented\, outgoing\, adaptable\, affectionate\, courageous\, enthusiastic\, she was totally human. Like Jesus\, she was a mystery of paradoxes: wise\, yet practical; intelligent\, yet much in tune with her experience; a mystic\, yet an energetic reformer; a holy woman\, a womanly woman. \nTeresa was a woman “for God\,” a woman of prayer\, discipline\, and compassion. Her heart belonged to God. Her ongoing conversion was an arduous lifelong struggle\, involving ongoing purification and suffering. She was misunderstood\, misjudged\, and opposed in her efforts at reform. Yet she struggled on\, courageous and faithful; she struggled with her own mediocrity\, her illness\, her opposition. And in the midst of all this she clung to God in life and in prayer. Her writings on prayer and contemplation are drawn from her experience: powerful\, practical\, and graceful. She was a woman of prayer; a woman for God. \nTeresa was a woman “for others.” Though a contemplative\, she spent much of her time and energy seeking to reform herself and the Carmelites\, to lead them back to the full observance of the primitive Rule. She founded over a half-dozen new monasteries. She traveled\, wrote\, fought—always to renew\, to reform. In her self\, in her prayer\, in her life\, in her efforts to reform\, in all the people she touched\, she was a woman for others\, a woman who inspired and gave life. \nHer writings\, especially the Way of Perfection and The Interior Castle\, have helped generations of believers. \nIn 1970\, the Church gave her the title she had long held in the popular mind: Doctor of the Church. She and St. Catherine of Siena were the first women so honored. \n\nReflection\nOurs is a time of turmoil\, a time of reform\, and a time of liberation. Modern women have in Teresa a challenging example. Promoters of renewal\, promoters of prayer\, all have in Teresa a woman to reckon with\, one whom they can admire and imitate. \n\nSaint Teresa of Avila is the Patron Saint of:\nheadaches
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-teresa-of-avila/2017-10-15/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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CREATED:20170801T153006Z
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UID:5528-1508112000-1508198399@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque
DESCRIPTION:Image: Stained glass\, depiction Christ appearing to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and showing her His Sacred Heart | St. Francis Xavier Basilica\, Vincennes\, IN\nSaint Margaret Mary Alacoque\nSaint of the Day for October 16\n(July 22\, 1647 – October 17\, 1690)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Margaret Mary Alacoque’s Story\nMargaret Mary was chosen by Christ to arouse the Church to a realization of the love of God symbolized by the heart of Jesus. \nHer early years were marked by sickness and a painful home situation. “The heaviest of my crosses was that I could do nothing to lighten the cross my mother was suffering.” After considering marriage for some time\, Margaret Mary entered the Order of the Visitation nuns at the age of 24. \nA Visitation nun was “not to be extraordinary except by being ordinary\,” but the young nun was not to enjoy this anonymity. A fellow novice termed Margaret Mary humble\, simple\, and frank\, but above all\, kind and patient under sharp criticism and correction. She could not meditate in the formal way expected\, though she tried her best to give up her “prayer of simplicity.” Slow\, quiet\, and clumsy\, she was assigned to help an infirmarian who was a bundle of energy. \nOn December 21\, 1674\, three years a nun\, she received the first of her revelations. She felt “invested” with the presence of God\, though always afraid of deceiving herself in such matters. The request of Christ was that his love for humankind be made evident through her. \nDuring the next 13 months\, he appeared to her at intervals. His human heart was to be the symbol of his divine-human love. By her own love she was to make up for the coldness and ingratitude of the world—by frequent and loving holy Communion\, especially on the first Friday of each month\, and by an hour’s vigil of prayer every Thursday night in memory of his agony and isolation in Gethsemane. He also asked that a feast of reparation be instituted. \nLike all saints\, Margaret Mary had to pay for her gift of holiness. Some of her own sisters were hostile. Theologians who were called in declared her visions delusions and suggested that she eat more heartily. Later\, parents of children she taught called her an impostor\, an unorthodox innovator. A new confessor\, Saint Claude de la Colombière\, a Jesuit\, recognized her genuineness and supported her. Against her great resistance\, Christ called her to be a sacrificial victim for the shortcomings of her own sisters\, and to make this known. \nAfter serving as novice mistress and assistant superior\, she died at the age of 43 while being anointed. She said: “I need nothing but God\, and to lose myself in the heart of Jesus.” \n\nReflection\nOur scientific-materialistic age cannot “prove” private revelations. Theologians\, if pressed\, admit that we do not have to believe in them. But it is impossible to deny the message Margaret Mary heralded: that God loves us with a passionate love. Her insistence on reparation and prayer and the reminder of final judgment should be sufficient to ward off superstition and superficiality in devotion to the Sacred Heart while preserving its deep Christian meaning. \n\nOther Saints of the Day for October 16 is Saint Gerard Majella and Saint Hedwig.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-margaret-mary-alacoque/2017-10-16/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171018
DTSTAMP:20260404T094657
CREATED:20170801T153121Z
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UID:5531-1508198400-1508284799@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Ignatius of Antioch
DESCRIPTION:Image: Detail | Saint Ignatius with Madonna and Child | Lorenzo Lotto\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint Ignatius of Antioch\nSaint of the Day for October 17\n(d. c. 107)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Ignatius of Antioch’s Story\nBorn in Syria\, Ignatius converted to Christianity and eventually became bishop of Antioch. In the year 107\, Emperor Trajan visited Antioch and forced the Christians there to choose between death and apostasy. Ignatius would not deny Christ and thus was condemned to be put to death in Rome. \nIgnatius is well known for the seven letters he wrote on the long journey from Antioch to Rome. Five of these letters are to churches in Asia Minor; they urge the Christians there to remain faithful to God and to obey their superiors. He warns them against heretical doctrines\, providing them with the solid truths of the Christian faith. \nThe sixth letter was to Polycarp\, bishop of Smyrna\, who was later martyred for the faith. The final letter begs the Christians in Rome not to try to stop his martyrdom. “The only thing I ask of you is to allow me to offer the libation of my blood to God. I am the wheat of the Lord; may I be ground by the teeth of the beasts to become the immaculate bread of Christ.” \nIgnatius bravely met the lions in the Circus Maximus. \n\nReflection\nIgnatius’s great concern was for the unity and order of the Church. Even greater was his willingness to suffer martyrdom rather than deny his Lord Jesus Christ. He did not draw attention to his own suffering\, but to the love of God which strengthened him. He knew the price of commitment and would not deny Christ\, even to save his own life.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-ignatius-of-antioch/2017-10-17/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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CREATED:20170801T153232Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T153232Z
UID:5534-1508284800-1508371199@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Luke
DESCRIPTION:Image: The Apostle Luke | Andrey Mironov\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint Luke\nSaint of the Day for October 18\n(d. c. 84)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Luke’s Story\nLuke wrote one of the major portions of the New Testament\, a two-volume work comprising the third Gospel and Acts of the Apostles. In the two books he shows the parallel between the life of Christ and that of the Church. He is the only Gentile Christian among the Gospel writers. Tradition holds him to be a native of Antioch\, and Paul calls him “our beloved physician.” His Gospel was probably written between 70 and 85 A.D. \nLuke appears in Acts during Paul’s second journey\, remains at Philippi for several years until Paul returns from his third journey\, accompanies Paul to Jerusalem\, and remains near him when he is imprisoned in Caesarea. During these two years\, Luke had time to seek information and interview persons who had known Jesus. He accompanied Paul on the dangerous journey to Rome where he was a faithful companion. \nLuke’s unique character may best be seen by the emphases of his Gospel\, which has been given a number of subtitles:\n1) The Gospel of Mercy\n2) The Gospel of Universal Salvation\n3) The Gospel of the Poor\n4) The Gospel of Absolute Renunciation\n5) The Gospel of Prayer and the Holy Spirit\n6) The Gospel of Joy \n\nReflection\nLuke wrote as a Gentile for Gentile Christians. His Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles reveal his expertise in classic Greek style as well as his knowledge of Jewish sources. There is a warmth to Luke’s writing that sets it apart from that of the other synoptic Gospels\, and yet it beautifully complements those works. The treasure of the Scriptures is a true gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church. \n\nSaint Luke is the Patron Saint of:\nArtists/Painters\nBrewers\nButchers\nNotaries\nPhysicians/Surgeons \n\nAnother Saint of the Day for October 18 is Blessed James of Strepar.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-luke/2017-10-18/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171019
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171020
DTSTAMP:20260404T094657
CREATED:20170801T154051Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T154051Z
UID:5537-1508371200-1508457599@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saints Isaac Jogues\, Jean de Brébeuf\, and Companions
DESCRIPTION:Image: Martyrdom of Father Isaac Jogues S.J. | Engraving by A. Malaer | Wellcome Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaints Isaac Jogues\, Jean de Brébeuf\, and Companions\nSaint of the Day for October 19\n(d. 1642 – 1649)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaints Isaac Jogues\, Jean de Brébeuf\, and Companions’ Story\nIsaac Jogues and his companions were the first martyrs of the North American continent officially recognized by the Church. As a young Jesuit\, Isaac Jogues\, a man of learning and culture\, taught literature in France. He gave up that career to work among the Huron Indians in the New World and in 1636\, he and his companions\, under the leadership of Jean de Brébeuf\, arrived in Quebec. The Hurons were constantly warred upon by the Iroquois\, and in a few years Father Jogues was captured by the Iroquois and imprisoned for 13 months. His letters and journals tell how he and his companions were led from village to village\, how they were beaten\, tortured\, and forced to watch as their Huron converts were mangled and killed. \nAn unexpected chance for escape came to Isaac Jogues through the Dutch\, and he returned to France\, bearing the marks of his sufferings. Several fingers had been cut\, chewed\, or burnt off. Pope Urban VIII gave him permission to offer Mass with his mutilated hands: “It would be shameful that a martyr of Christ not be allowed to drink the Blood of Christ.” \nWelcomed home as a hero\, Father Jogues might have sat back\, thanked God for his safe return\, and died peacefully in his homeland. But his zeal led him back once more to the fulfillment of his dreams. In a few months he sailed for his missions among the Hurons. \nIn 1646\, he and Jean de Lalande\, who had offered his services to the missioners\, set out for Iroquois country in the belief that a recently signed peace treaty would be observed. They were captured by a Mohawk war party\, and on October 18 Father Jogues was tomahawked and beheaded. Jean de Lalande was killed the next day at Ossernenon\, a village near Albany\, New York. \nThe first of the Jesuit missionaries to be martyred was René Goupil who with Lalande\, had offered his services as an oblate. He was tortured along with Isaac Jogues in 1642\, and was tomahawked for having made the sign of the cross on the brow of some children. \nJean de Brébeuf was a French Jesuit who came to Canada at the age of 32 and labored there for 24 years. He went back to France when the English captured Quebec in 1629 and expelled the Jesuits\, but returned to his missions four years later. Although medicine men blamed the Jesuits for a smallpox epidemic among the Hurons\, Jean remained with them. \nHe composed catechisms and a dictionary in Huron\, and saw 7\,000 converted before his death. He was captured by the Iroquois and died after four hours of extreme torture at Sainte Marie\, near Georgian Bay\, Canada. \nFather Anthony Daniel\, working among Hurons who were gradually becoming Christian\, was killed by Iroquois on July 4\, 1648. His body was thrown into his chapel\, which was set on fire. \nGabriel Lalemant had taken a fourth vow—to sacrifice his life for the Native Americans. He was horribly tortured to death along with Father Brébeuf. \nFather Charles Garnier was shot to death as he baptized children and catechumens during an Iroquois attack. \nFather Noel Chabanel was killed before he could answer his recall to France. He had found it exceedingly hard to adapt to mission life. He could not learn the language\, and the food and life of the Indians revolted him\, plus he suffered spiritual dryness during his whole stay in Canada. Yet he made a vow to remain until death in his mission. \nThese eight Jesuit martyrs of North America were canonized in 1930. \n\nReflection\nFaith and heroism planted belief in Christ’s cross deep in our land. The Church in North America sprang from the blood of martyrs\, as has been true in so many places. The ministry and sacrifices of these saints challenges each of us\, causing us to ask just how deep is our faith and how strong our desire to serve even in the face of death. \n\nSaints Isaac Jogues\, Jean de Brébeuf\, and Companions are the Patron Saints of:\nNorth America\nNorway
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saints-isaac-jogues-jean-de-brebeuf-and-companions/2017-10-19/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171020
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171021
DTSTAMP:20260404T094657
CREATED:20170801T154250Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T154250Z
UID:5540-1508457600-1508543999@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Paul of the Cross
DESCRIPTION:Image: Saint Paul of the Cross | Engraving | Wellcome Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint Paul of the Cross\nSaint of the Day for October 20\n(January 3\, 1694 – October 18\, 1775)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Paul of the Cross’ Story\nBorn in northern Italy in 1694\, Paul Daneo lived at a time when many regarded Jesus as a great moral teacher but no more. After a brief time as a soldier\, he turned to solitary prayer\, developing a devotion to Christ’s passion. Paul saw in the Lord’s passion a demonstration of God’s love for all people. In turn that devotion nurtured his compassion and supported a preaching ministry that touched the hearts of many listeners. He was known as one of the most popular preachers of his day\, both for his words and for his generous acts of mercy. \nIn 1720\, Paul founded the Congregation of the Passion\, whose members combined devotion to Christ’s passion with preaching to the poor and rigorous penances. Known as the Passionists\, they add a fourth vow to the traditional three of poverty\, chastity\, and obedience\, to spread the memory of Christ’s passion among the faithful. Paul was elected superior general of the Congregation in 1747\, spending the remainder of his life in Rome. \nPaul of the Cross died in 1775\, and was canonized in 1867. Over 2000 of his letters and several of his short writings have survived. \n\nReflection\nPaul’s devotion to Christ’s passion must have seemed eccentric if not bizarre to many people. Yet it was that devotion that nurtured Paul’s compassion and supported a preaching ministry that touched the hearts of many listeners. He was one of the most popular preachers of his day\, known for both his words and his generous acts of mercy. \n\nSaint Paul of the Cross is the Patron Saint of:\nHungary \n\nAnother Saint of the Day for October 20 is Blessed Contardo Ferrini.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-paul-of-the-cross/2017-10-20/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171021
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171022
DTSTAMP:20260404T094657
CREATED:20170801T154629Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T154629Z
UID:5543-1508544000-1508630399@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Hilarion
DESCRIPTION:Image: Saint-Hilarion Church\, Church place in Saint-Hilarion\, France | photo by Lionel Allorge\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint Hilarion\nSaint of the Day for October 21\n(c. 291 – 371)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Hilarion’s Story\nDespite his best efforts to live in prayer and solitude\, today’s saint found it difficult to achieve his deepest desire. People were naturally drawn to Hilarion as a source of spiritual wisdom and peace. He had reached such fame by the time of his death that his body had to be secretly removed so that a shrine would not be built in his honor. Instead\, he was buried in his home village. \nSaint Hilarion the Great\, as he is sometimes called\, was born in Palestine. After his conversion to Christianity\, he spent some time with Saint Anthony of Egypt\, another holy man drawn to solitude. Hilarion lived a life of hardship and simplicity in the desert\, where he also experienced spiritual dryness that included temptations to despair. At the same time\, miracles were attributed to him. \nAs his fame grew\, a small group of disciples wanted to follow Hilarion. He began a series of journeys to find a place where he could live away from the world. He finally settled on Cyprus\, where he died in 371 at about age 80. \nHilarion is celebrated as the founder of monasticism in Palestine. Much of his fame flows from the biography of him written by Saint Jerome. \n\nReflection\nWe can learn the value of solitude from Saint Hilarion. Unlike loneliness\, solitude is a positive condition in which we are alone with God. In today’s busy and noisy world\, we could all use a little solitude.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-hilarion/2017-10-21/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171022
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171023
DTSTAMP:20260404T094657
CREATED:20170801T154757Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T154757Z
UID:5546-1508630400-1508716799@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint John Paul II
DESCRIPTION:Image: Pope John Paul II | old Yankee Stadium\, New York City\, in October 1979 | Library of Congress\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint John Paul II\nSaint of the Day for October 22\n(May 18\, 1920 – April 2\, 2005)\n\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint John Paul II’s Story\nOpen wide the doors to Christ\,” urged John Paul II during the homily at the Mass when he was installed as pope in 1978. \nBorn in Wadowice\, Poland\, Karol Jozef Wojtyla had lost his mother\, father and older brother before his 21st birthday. Karol’s promising academic career at Krakow’s Jagiellonian University was cut short by the outbreak of World War II. While working in a quarry and a chemical factory\, he enrolled in an “underground” seminary in Kraków. Ordained in 1946\, he was immediately sent to Rome where he earned a doctorate in theology. \nBack in Poland\, a short assignment as assistant pastor in a rural parish preceded his very fruitful chaplaincy for university students. Soon he earned a doctorate in philosophy and began teaching that subject at Poland’s University of Lublin. \nCommunist officials allowed him to be appointed auxiliary bishop of Kraków in 1958\, considering him a relatively harmless intellectual. They could not have been more wrong! \nHe attended all four sessions of Vatican II and contributed especially to its Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. Appointed as archbishop of Kraków in 1964\, he was named a cardinal three years later. \nElected pope in October 1978\, he took the name of his short-lived\, immediate predecessor. Pope John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. In time\, he made pastoral visits to 124 countries\, including several with small Christian populations. \nHe promoted ecumenical and interfaith initiatives\, especially the 1986 Day of Prayer for World Peace in Assisi. He visited Rome’s Main Synagogue and the Western Wall in Jerusalem; he also established diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Israel. He improved Catholic-Muslim relations and in 2001 visited a mosque in Damascus\, Syria. \nThe Great Jubilee of the Year 2000\, a key event in John Paul’s ministry\, was marked by special celebrations in Rome and elsewhere for Catholics and other Christians. Relations with the Orthodox Churches improved considerably during his ministry as pope. \n“Christ is the center of the universe and of human history” was the opening line of his 1979 encyclical\, Redeemer of the Human Race. In 1995\, he described himself to the United Nations General Assembly as “a witness to hope.” \nHis 1979 visit to Poland encouraged the growth of the Solidarity movement there and the collapse of communism in central and eastern Europe 10 years later. He began World Youth Day and traveled to several countries for those celebrations. He very much wanted to visit China and the Soviet Union but the governments in those countries prevented that. \nOne of the most well-remembered photos of his pontificate was his one-on-one conversation in 1983 with Mehmet Ali Agca\, who had attempted to assassinate him two years earlier. \nIn his 27 years of papal ministry\, John Paul II wrote 14 encyclicals and five books\, canonized 482 saints and beatified 1\,338 people. In the last years of his life\, he suffered from Parkinson’s disease and was forced to cut back on some of his activities. \nPope Benedict XVI beatified John Paul II in 2011\, and Pope Francis canonized him in 2014. \n\nReflection\nBefore John Paul II’s funeral Mass in St. Peter’s Square\, hundreds of thousands of people had waited patiently for a brief moment to pray before his body\, which lay in state inside St. Peter’s for several days. The media coverage of his funeral was unprecedented. \nCardinal Joseph Ratzinger\, then dean of the College of Cardinals and later Pope Benedict XVI\, presided at the funeral Mass and concluded his homily by saying: “None of us can ever forget how\, in that last Easter Sunday of his life\, the Holy Father\, marked by suffering\, came once more to the window of the Apostolic Palace and one last time gave his blessing urbi et orbi (‘to the city and to the world’). \n“We can be sure that our beloved pope is standing today at the window of the Father’s house\, that sees us and blesses us. Yes\, bless us\, Holy Father. We entrust your dear soul to the Mother of God\, your Mother\, who guided you each day and who will guide you now to the glory of her Son\, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.”
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-john-paul-ii/2017-10-22/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171023
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171024
DTSTAMP:20260404T094657
CREATED:20170801T155447Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T155447Z
UID:5549-1508716800-1508803199@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint John of Capistrano
DESCRIPTION:Image: Saint John Capistrano | Stained glass window in the Franciscan Monastery in Washington\, DC. | photo by Lawrence OP\n\nSaint John of Capistrano\nSaint of the Day for October 23\n(June 24\, 1386 – October 23\, 1456)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint John of Capistrano’s Story\nIt has been said the Christian saints are the world’s greatest optimists. Not blind to the existence and consequences of evil\, they base their confidence on the power of Christ’s redemption. The power of conversion through Christ extends not only to sinful people but also to calamitous events. \nImagine being born in the 14th century. One-third of the population and nearly 40 percent of the clergy were wiped out by the bubonic plague. The Western Schism split the Church with two or three claimants to the Holy See at one time. England and France were at war. The city-states of Italy were constantly in conflict. No wonder that gloom dominated the spirit of the culture and the times. \nJohn Capistrano was born in 1386. His education was thorough. His talents and success were great. When he was 26 he was made governor of Perugia. Imprisoned after a battle against the Malatestas\, he resolved to change his way of life completely. At the age of 30 he entered the Franciscan novitiate and was ordained a priest four years later. \nHis preaching attracted great throngs at a time of religious apathy and confusion. He and 12 Franciscan brethren were received in the countries of central Europe as angels of God. They were instrumental in reviving a dying faith and devotion. \nThe Franciscan Order itself was in turmoil over the interpretation and observance of the Rule of St. Francis. Through John’s tireless efforts and his expertise in law\, the heretical Fraticelli were suppressed and the “Spirituals” were freed from interference in their stricter observance. \nHe helped bring about a reunion with the Greek and Armenian Churches\, unfortunately only a brief arrangement. \nWhen the Turks captured Constantinople in 1453\, he was commissioned to preach a crusade for the defense of Europe. Gaining little response in Bavaria and Austria\, he decided to concentrate his efforts in Hungary. He led the army to Belgrade. Under the great General John Hunyadi\, they gained an overwhelming victory\, and the siege of Belgrade was lifted. Worn out by his superhuman efforts\, Capistrano was an easy prey to an infection after the battle. He died on October 23\, 1456. \n\nReflection\nJohn Hofer\, a biographer of John Capistrano\, recalls a Brussels organization named after the saint. Seeking to solve life problems in a fully Christian spirit\, its motto was: “Initiative\, Organization\, Activity.” These three words characterized John’s life. He was not one to sit around. His deep Christian optimism drove him to battle problems at all levels with the confidence engendered by a deep faith in Christ. \n\nSaint John of Capistrano is Patron Saint of:\nJudges
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-john-of-capistrano/2017-10-23/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171024
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171025
DTSTAMP:20260404T094657
CREATED:20170801T155606Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T155606Z
UID:5552-1508803200-1508889599@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Anthony Mary Claret
DESCRIPTION:Image: Saint Anthony Mary Claret | Saints in Rome and Beyond\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint Anthony Mary Claret\nSaint of the Day for October 24\n(December 23\, 1807 – October 24\, 1870)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Anthony Mary Claret’s Story\nThe “spiritual father of Cuba” was a missionary\, religious founder\, social reformer\, queen’s chaplain\, writer and publisher\, archbishop\, and refugee. He was a Spaniard whose work took him to the Canary Islands\, Cuba\, Madrid\, Paris\, and to the First Vatican Council. \nIn his spare time as weaver and designer in the textile mills of Barcelona\, he learned Latin and printing: The future priest and publisher was preparing. Ordained at 28\, he was prevented by ill health from entering religious life as a Carthusian or as a Jesuit\, but went on to become one of Spain’s most popular preachers. \nAnthony spent 10 years giving popular missions and retreats\, always placing great emphasis on the Eucharist and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. His rosary\, it was said\, was never out of his hand. At 42\, beginning with five young priests\, he founded a religious institute of missionaries\, known today as the Claretians. \nHe was appointed to head the much-neglected archdiocese of Santiago in Cuba. He began its reform by almost ceaseless preaching and hearing of confessions\, and suffered bitter opposition mainly for opposing concubinage and giving instruction to black slaves. A hired assassin (whose release from prison Anthony had obtained) slashed open his face and wrist. Anthony succeeded in getting the would-be assassin’s death sentence commuted to a prison term. His solution for the misery of Cubans was family-owned farms producing a variety of foods for the family’s own needs and for the market. This invited the enmity of the vested interests who wanted everyone to work on a single cash crop—sugar. Besides all his religious writings are two books he wrote in Cuba: Reflections on Agriculture and Country Delights. \nHe was recalled to Spain for a job he did not relish—being chaplain for the queen. He went on three conditions: He would reside away from the palace\, he would come only to hear the queen’s confession and instruct the children\, and he would be exempt from court functions. In the revolution of 1868\, he fled with the queen’s party to Paris\, where he preached to the Spanish colony. \nAll his life Anthony was interested in the Catholic press. He founded the Religious Publishing House\, a major Catholic publishing venture in Spain\, and wrote or published 200 books and pamphlets. \nAt Vatican I\, where he was a staunch defender of the doctrine of infallibility\, he won the admiration of his fellow bishops. Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore remarked of him\, “There goes a true saint.” At the age of 63\, he died in exile near the border of Spain. \n\nReflection\nJesus foretold that those who are truly his representatives would suffer the same persecution as he did. Besides 14 attempts on his life\, Anthony had to undergo such a barrage of the ugliest slander that the very name Claret became a byword for humiliation and misfortune. The powers of evil do not easily give up their prey. No one needs to go looking for persecution. All we need to do is be sure we suffer because of our genuine faith in Christ\, not for our own whims and lack of prudence. \n\nSaint Anthony Mary Claret is Patron Saint of:\nSavings\nWeavers
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-anthony-mary-claret/2017-10-24/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171025
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171026
DTSTAMP:20260404T094657
CREATED:20170801T155715Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T155715Z
UID:5555-1508889600-1508975999@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Antônio de Sant’Anna Galvão
DESCRIPTION:Image: Statue of Saint Antônio de Sant’Anna Galvão | Cathedral of Saint Anthony\, Guaratinguetá | photo by Zééh.mané\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint Antônio de Sant’Anna Galvão\nSaint of the Day for October 25\n(1739 – December 23\, 1822)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Antônio de Sant’Anna Galvão’s Story\nGod’s plan in a person’s life often takes unexpected turns which become life-giving through cooperation with God’s grace. \nBorn in Guarantingueta near São Paulo\, Antônio attended the Jesuit seminary in Belem\, but later decided to become a Franciscan friar. Invested in 1760\, he made final profession the following year and was ordained in 1762. \nIn São Paulo\, he served as preacher\, confessor\, and porter. Within a few years\, he was appointed confessor to the Recollects of Saint Teresa\, a group of nuns in that city. He and Sister Helena Maria of the Holy Spirit founded a new community of sisters under the patronage of Our Lady of the Conception of Divine Providence. Sister Helena Maria’s premature death the next year left Father Antônio responsible for the new congregation\, especially for building a convent and church adequate for their growing numbers. \nHe served as novice master for the friars in Macacu and as guardian of St. Francis Friary in São Paulo. He founded St. Clare Friary in Sorocaba. With the permission of his provincial and the bishop\, he spent his last days at the Recolhimento de Nossa Senhora da Luz\, the convent of the sisters’ congregation he had helped establish. \nHe was beatified in Rome on October 25\, 1998\, and canonized in 2007. \n\nReflection\nHoly women and men cannot help calling our attention to God\, to God’s creation and to all the people whom God loves. The lives of holy people are so oriented toward God that this has become their definition of “normal.” Do people see my life or yours as a living sign of God’s steadfast love? What might have to change for that to happen?
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-antonio-de-santanna-galvao/2017-10-25/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171026
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171027
DTSTAMP:20260404T094657
CREATED:20170801T155827Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T155827Z
UID:5558-1508976000-1509062399@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Peter of Alcantara
DESCRIPTION:Image: Saint Peter of Alcántara | Luis Tristán\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint Peter of Alcantara\nSaint of the Day for October 26\n(1499 – October 18\, 1562)\n\n\nClick to hear audio clip ►\n\n\nSaint Peter of Alcantara’s Story\nPeter was a contemporary of well-known 16th-century Spanish saints\, including Ignatius of Loyola and John of the Cross. He served as confessor to Saint Teresa of Avila. Church reform was a major issue in Peter’s day\, and he directed most of his energies toward that end. His death came one year before the Council of Trent ended. \nBorn into a noble family (his father was the governor of Alcantara in Spain)\, Peter studied law at Salamanca University and\, at 16\, joined the so-called Observant Franciscans (also known as the discalced friars). While he practiced many penances\, he also demonstrated abilities which were soon recognized. He was named the superior of a new house even before his ordination as a priest\, he was elected provincial at the age of 39\, and he was a very successful preacher. Still\, he was not above washing dishes and cutting wood for the friars. He did not seek attention; indeed\, he preferred solitude. \nPeter’s penitential side was evident when it came to food and clothing. It is said that he slept only 90 minutes each night. While others talked about Church reform\, Peter’s reform began with himself. His patience was so great that a proverb arose: “To bear such an insult one must have the patience of Peter of Alcantara.” \nIn 1554\, Peter\, having received permission\, formed a group of Franciscans who followed the Rule of St. Francis with even greater rigor. These friars were known as Alcantarines. Some of the Spanish friars who came to North and South America in the 16th\, 17th and 18th centuries were members of this group. At the end of the 19th century\, the Alcantarines were joined with other Observant friars to form the Order of Friars Minor. \nAs spiritual director to Saint Teresa\, Peter encouraged her in promoting the Carmelite reform. His preaching brought many people to religious life\, especially to the Secular Franciscan Order\, the friars and the Poor Clares. \nHe was canonized in 1669. \n\nReflection\nPoverty was a means and not an end for Peter. The goal was following Christ in ever greater purity of heart. Whatever obstructed that path could be eliminated with no real loss. The philosophy of our consumer age—you are worth what you own—may find Peter of Alcantara’s approach severe. Ultimately\, his approach is life-giving while consumerism is deadly. \n\nThe Liturgical Feast of Saint Peter Alcantara is September 22.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-peter-of-alcantara/2017-10-26/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171027
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171028
DTSTAMP:20260404T094657
CREATED:20170801T155959Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T155959Z
UID:5561-1509062400-1509148799@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY: Blessed Bartholomew of Vicenza
DESCRIPTION:Image: Statue of Blessed Bartholomew of Vicenza | Monastery of Saint Bartholomew-Saint Anthony\, Vicenza\, Italy | photo by Claudio Gioseffi\nBlessed Bartholomew of Vicenza\nSaint of the Day for October 27\n(c. 1200 – 1271)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nBlessed Bartholomew of Vicenza’s Story\nDominicans honor one of their own today\, Blessed Bartholomew of Vicenza. This was a man who used his skills as a preacher to challenge the heresies of his day. \nBartholomew was born in Vicenza around 1200. At 20\, he entered the Dominicans. Following his ordination\, he served in various leadership positions. As a young priest\, he founded a military order whose purpose was to keep civil peace in towns throughout Italy. \nIn 1248\, Bartholomew was appointed a bishop. For most men\, such an appointment is an honor and a tribute to their holiness and their demonstrated leadership skills. But for Bartholomew\, it was a form of exile that had been urged by an antipapal group that was only too happy to see him leave for Cyprus. Not many years later\, however\, Bartholomew was transferred back to Vicenza. Despite the antipapal feelings that were still evident\, he worked diligently—especially through his preaching—to rebuild his diocese and strengthen the people’s loyalty to Rome. \nDuring his years as bishop in Cyprus\, Bartholomew befriended King Louis IX of France\, who is said to have given the holy bishop a relic of Christ’s Crown of Thorns. \nBartholomew died in 1271. He was beatified in 1793. \n\nReflection\nDespite oppositions and obstacles\, Bartholomew remained faithful to his ministry to God’s People. We face daily challenges to our faithfulness and duties as well. Perhaps Bartholomew could serve as an inspiration in our darker moments.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/blessed-bartholomew-of-vicenza/2017-10-27/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171028
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171029
DTSTAMP:20260404T094657
CREATED:20170801T160121Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T160121Z
UID:5564-1509148800-1509235199@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saints Simon and Jude
DESCRIPTION:Image: San Simón | Jusepe de Ribera / Image: Saint Jude Thaddeus | Georges de La Tour\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \n  \nSaints Simon and Jude\nSaint of the Day for October 28\n(1st Century)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaints Simon and Jude’s Story\nJude is so named by Luke and Acts. Matthew and Mark call him Thaddeus. He is not mentioned elsewhere in the Gospels\, except\, of course\, where all the apostles are mentioned. Scholars hold that he is not the author of the Letter of Jude. Actually\, Jude had the same name as Judas Iscariot. Evidently because of the disgrace of that name\, it was shortened to “Jude” in English. \nSimon is mentioned on all four lists of the apostles. On two of them he is called “the Zealot.” The Zealots were a Jewish sect that represented an extreme of Jewish nationalism. For them\, the messianic promise of the Old Testament meant that the Jews were to be a free and independent nation. God alone was their king\, and any payment of taxes to the Romans—the very domination of the Romans—was a blasphemy against God. No doubt some of the Zealots were the spiritual heirs of the Maccabees\, carrying on their ideals of religion and independence. But many were the counterparts of modern terrorists. They raided and killed\, attacking both foreigners and “collaborating” Jews. They were chiefly responsible for the rebellion against Rome which ended in the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. \n\nReflection\nAs in the case of all the apostles except for Peter\, James and John\, we are faced with men who are really unknown\, and we are struck by the fact that their holiness is simply taken to be a gift of Christ. He chose some unlikely people: a former Zealot\, a former (crooked) tax collector\, an impetuous fisherman\, two “sons of thunder\,” and a man named Judas Iscariot. \nIt is a reminder that we cannot receive too often. Holiness does not depend on human merit\, culture\, personality\, effort\, or achievement. It is entirely God’s creation and gift. God needs no Zealots to bring about the kingdom by force. Jude\, like all the saints\, is the saint of the impossible: Only God can create his divine life in human beings. And God wills to do so\, for all of us. \n\nSaint Jude is the Patron Saint of:\nDesperate Situations
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saints-simon-and-jude/2017-10-28/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20171029
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20171030
DTSTAMP:20260404T094657
CREATED:20170801T160239Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T160239Z
UID:5567-1509235200-1509321599@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY: Saint Narcissus of Jerusalem
DESCRIPTION:Image: Saint Narcissus of Jerusalem | in Caractâeristiques des saints dans l’art populaire | photo by Internet Archive Book Images\nSaint Narcissus of Jerusalem\nSaint of the Day for October 29\n(d. c. 216)\nClick to hear audio clip ► \nSaint Narcissus of Jerusalem’s Story\nLife in second- and third-century Jerusalem couldn’t have been easy\, but Saint Narcissus managed to live well beyond 100. Some even speculate he lived to 160. \nDetails of his life are sketchy\, but there are many reports of his miracles. The miracle for which he is most remembered was turning water into oil for use in the church lamps on Holy Saturday when the deacons had forgotten to provide any. \nWe do know that Narcissus became bishop of Jerusalem in the late second century. He was known for his holiness\, but there are hints that many people found him harsh and rigid in his efforts to impose Church discipline. One of his many detractors accused Narcissus of a serious crime at one point. Though the charges against him did not hold up\, he used the occasion to retire from his role as bishop and live in solitude. His disappearance was so sudden and convincing that many people assumed he had actually died. \nSeveral successors were appointed during his years in isolation. Finally\, Narcissus reappeared in Jerusalem and was persuaded to resume his duties. By then\, he had reached an advanced age\, so a younger bishop was brought in to assist him until his death. \n\nReflection\nAs our life spans increase and we face the bodily problems of aging\, we might keep Saint Narcissus in mind and ask him to help us face our developing issues.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-narcissus-of-jerusalem/2017-10-29/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
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