BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//THE FRANCISCAN FRIARS, TOR - ECPv6.16.3//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for THE FRANCISCAN FRIARS, TOR
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:America/New_York
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20250309T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20251102T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20260308T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20261101T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20270314T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20271107T060000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260813
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260814
DTSTAMP:20260614T130055
CREATED:20170727T180849Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170727T180849Z
UID:50847-1786579200-1786665599@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saints Pontian and Hippolytus
DESCRIPTION:Image: Diptych of Saints Pontian and Hippolytus | liturgies.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaints Pontian and Hippolytus\nSaint of the Day for August 13\n(d. 235)\nSaints Pontian and Hippolytus’ Story\nClick to hear audio clip ►\nTwo men died for the faith after harsh treatment and exhaustion in the mines of Sardinia. One had been pope for five years\, the other an antipope for 18. They died reconciled. \nPontian. Pontian was a Roman who served as pope from 230 to 235. During his reign he held a synod in Alexandria which confirmed the excommunication of the great theologian Origen. Pontian was banished to exile by the Roman emperor in 235\, and resigned so that a successor could be elected in Rome. He was sent to the “unhealthy” island of Sardinia\, where he died that same year of harsh treatment. With him was Hippolytus with whom he was reconciled. The bodies of both were brought back to Rome and buried as martyrs with solemn rites. \nHippolytus. As a priest in Rome\, Hippolytus–the name means “a horse turned loose”–was at first “holier than the Church.” He censured the pope for not coming down hard enough on a certain heresy—calling him a tool in the hands of one Callistus\, a deacon—and coming close to advocating the opposite heresy himself. When Callistus was elected pope\, Hippolytus accused him of being too lenient with penitents\, and had himself elected antipope by a group of followers. He felt that the Church must be composed of pure souls uncompromisingly separated from the world: Hippolytus evidently thought that his group fitted the description. He remained in schism through the reigns of three popes. In 235\, he also was banished to the island of Sardinia. Shortly before or after this event\, he was reconciled to the Church\, and died in exile with Pope Pontian. \nHippolytus was a rigorist\, a vehement and intransigent man for whom even orthodox doctrine and practice were not purified enough. He is\, nevertheless\, the most important theologian and prolific religious writer before the age of Constantine. His writings are the fullest source of our knowledge of the Roman liturgy and the structure of the Church in the second and third centuries. His works include many Scripture commentaries\, polemics against heresies\, and a history of the world. A marble statue dating from the third century\, representing the saint sitting in a chair\, was found in 1551. On one side is inscribed his table for computing the date of Easter; on the other\, a list of how the system works out until the year 224. Pope John XXIII installed the statue in the Vatican library. \n\nReflection\nHippolytus was a strong defender of orthodoxy\, and admitted his excesses by his humble reconciliation. He was not a formal heretic\, but an overzealous disciplinarian. What he could not learn in his prime as a reformer and purist\, he learned in the pain and desolation of imprisonment. It was a fitting symbolic event that Pope Pontian shared his martyrdom.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saints-pontian-and-hippolytus/2026-08-13/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260814
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260815
DTSTAMP:20260614T130055
CREATED:20170727T180851Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170727T180851Z
UID:50848-1786665600-1786751999@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe
DESCRIPTION:Image: Stained glass in Our Lady of Czestochowa Grotto (Sorrowful Mother Shrine) | photo by Nheyob\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint Maximilian Mary Kolbe\nSaint of the Day for August 14\n(January 8\, 1894 – August 14\, 1941)\nSaint Maximilian Mary Kolbe’s Story\nClick to hear audio clip ►\n“I don’t know what’s going to become of you!” How many parents have said that? Maximilian Mary Kolbe’s reaction was\, “I prayed very hard to Our Lady to tell me what would happen to me. She appeared\, holding in her hands two crowns\, one white\, one red. She asked if I would like to have them—one was for purity\, the other for martyrdom. I said\, ‘I choose both.’ She smiled and disappeared.” After that he was not the same. \nHe entered the minor seminary of the Conventual Franciscans in Lvív–then Poland\, now Ukraine– near his birthplace\, and at 16 became a novice. Though Maximilian later achieved doctorates in philosophy and theology\, he was deeply interested in science\, even drawing plans for rocket ships. \nOrdained at 24\, Maximilian saw religious indifference as the deadliest poison of the day. His mission was to combat it. He had already founded the Militia of the Immaculata\, whose aim was to fight evil with the witness of the good life\, prayer\, work\, and suffering. He dreamed of and then founded Knight of the Immaculata\, a religious magazine under Mary’s protection to preach the Good News to all nations. For the work of publication he established a “City of the Immaculata”—Niepokalanow—which housed 700 of his Franciscan brothers. He later founded another one in Nagasaki\, Japan. Both the Militia and the magazine ultimately reached the one-million mark in members and subscribers. His love of God was daily filtered through devotion to Mary. \nIn 1939\, the Nazi panzers overran Poland with deadly speed. Niepokalanow was severely bombed. Kolbe and his friars were arrested\, then released in less than three months\, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception. \nIn 1941\, Fr. Kolbe was arrested again. The Nazis’ purpose was to liquidate the select ones\, the leaders. The end came quickly\, three months later in Auschwitz\, after terrible beatings and humiliations. \nA prisoner had escaped. The commandant announced that 10 men would die. He relished walking along the ranks. “This one. That one.” \nAs they were being marched away to the starvation bunkers\, Number 16670 dared to step from the line. \n“I would like to take that man’s place. He has a wife and children.”\n“Who are you?”\n“A priest.” \nNo name\, no mention of fame. Silence. The commandant\, dumbfounded\, perhaps with a fleeting thought of history\, kicked Sergeant Francis Gajowniczek out of line and ordered Fr. Kolbe to go with the nine. In the “block of death” they were ordered to strip naked\, and their slow starvation began in darkness. But there was no screaming—the prisoners sang. By the eve of the Assumption\, four were left alive. The jailer came to finish Kolbe off as he sat in a corner praying. He lifted his fleshless arm to receive the bite of the hypodermic needle. It was filled with carbolic acid. They burned his body with all the others. Fr. Kolbe was beatified in 1971 and canonized in 1982. \n\nReflection\nFather Kolbe’s death was not a sudden\, last-minute act of heroism. His whole life had been a preparation. His holiness was a limitless\, passionate desire to convert the whole world to God. And his beloved Immaculata was his inspiration. \n\nSaint Maximilian Mary Kolbe is the Patron Saint of:\nAddicts\nDrug addiction
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-maximilian-mary-kolbe/2026-08-14/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260815
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260816
DTSTAMP:20260614T130055
CREATED:20170727T180854Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170727T180854Z
UID:50851-1786752000-1786838399@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary
DESCRIPTION:Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary\nSaint of the Day for August 15\nThe Story of the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary\nClick to hear audio clip ►\nOn November 1\, 1950\, Pope Pius XII defined the Assumption of Mary to be a dogma of faith: “We pronounce\, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma that the immaculate Mother of God\, the ever Virgin Mary\, having completed the course of her earthly life\, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory.” The pope proclaimed this dogma only after a broad consultation of bishops\, theologians and laity. There were few dissenting voices. What the pope solemnly declared was already a common belief in the Catholic Church. \nWe find homilies on the Assumption going back to the sixth century. In following centuries\, the Eastern Churches held steadily to the doctrine\, but some authors in the West were hesitant. However by the 13th century there was universal agreement. The feast was celebrated under various names–Commemoration\, Dormition\, Passing\, Assumption–from at least the fifth or sixth century. Today it is celebrated as a solemnity. \nScripture does not give an account of Mary’s Assumption into heaven. Nevertheless\, Revelation 12 speaks of a woman who is caught up in the battle between good and evil. Many see this woman as God’s people. Since Mary best embodies the people of both Old and New Testaments\, her Assumption can be seen as an exemplification of the woman’s victory. \nFurthermore\, in 1 Corinthians 15:20\, Paul speaks of Christ’s resurrection as the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. \nSince Mary is closely associated with all the mysteries of Jesus’ life\, it is not surprising that the Holy Spirit has led the Church to believe in Mary’s share in his glorification. So close was she to Jesus on earth\, she must be with him body and soul in heaven. \n\nReflection\nIn the light of the Assumption of Mary\, it is easy to pray her Magnificat (Luke 1:46–55) with new meaning. In her glory she proclaims the greatness of the Lord and finds joy in God her savior. God has done marvels to her and she leads others to recognize God’s holiness. She is the lowly handmaid who deeply reverenced her God and has been raised to the heights. From her position of strength she will help the lowly and the poor find justice on earth\, and she will challenge the rich and powerful to distrust wealth and power as a source of happiness.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/solemnity-of-the-assumption-of-mary/2026-08-15/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260816
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260817
DTSTAMP:20260614T130055
CREATED:20170727T180856Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170727T180856Z
UID:50854-1786838400-1786924799@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Stephen of Hungary
DESCRIPTION:  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \nSaint Stephen of Hungary\nSaint of the Day for August 16\n(975 – August 15\, 1038)\nSaint Stephen of Hungary’s Story\nClick to hear audio clip ►\nThe Church is universal\, but its expression is always affected—for good or ill—by local culture. There are no “generic” Christians; there are Mexican Christians\, Polish Christians\, Filipino Christians. This fact is evident in the life of Stephen\, national hero and spiritual patron of Hungary. \nBorn a pagan\, he was baptized around the age of 10\, together with his father\, chief of the Magyars\, a group who migrated to the Danube area in the ninth century. At 20\, he married Gisela\, sister to the future emperor\, Saint Henry. When he succeeded his father\, Stephen adopted a policy of Christianization of the country for both political and religious reasons. He suppressed a series of revolts by pagan nobles and welded the Magyars into a strong national group. He asked the pope to provide for the Church’s organization in Hungary—and also requested that the pope confer the title of king upon him. He was crowned on Christmas day in 1001. \nStephen established a system of tithes to support churches and pastors and to relieve the poor. Out of every 10 towns one had to build a church and support a priest. He abolished pagan customs with a certain amount of violence\, and commanded all to marry\, except clergy and religious. He was easily accessible to all\, especially the poor. \nIn 1031\, his son Emeric died\, and the rest of Stephen’s days were embittered by controversy over his successor. His nephews attempted to kill him. He died in 1038 and was canonized\, along with his son\, in 1083. \n\nReflection\nGod’s gift of holiness is a Christlike love of God and humanity. Love must sometimes bear a stern countenance for the sake of ultimate good. Christ attacked hypocrites among the Pharisees\, but died forgiving them. Paul excommunicated the incestuous man at Corinth “that his spirit may be saved.” Some Christians fought the Crusades with noble zeal\, in spite of the unworthy motives of others. \nToday\, after senseless wars\, and with a deeper understanding of the complex nature of human motives\, we shrink from any use of violence—physical or “silent.” This wholesome development continues as people debate whether it is possible for a Christian to be an absolute pacifist or whether evil must sometimes be repelled by force. \n\nSaint Stephen of Hungary is the Patron Saint of:\nBricklayers\nHungary \n\nAnother Saint of the Day for August 16 is Saint Roch.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-stephen-of-hungary/2026-08-16/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260817
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260818
DTSTAMP:20260614T130055
CREATED:20170727T180902Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170727T180902Z
UID:50860-1786924800-1787011199@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Joan of the Cross
DESCRIPTION:Image: Wooden statue of Saint Joan of the Cross | A l’école des soeurs de Jeanne Delanoue | unknown\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint Joan of the Cross\nSaint of the Day for August 17\n(June 18\, 1666 – August 17\, 1736)\nSaint Joan of the Cross’ Story\nClick to hear audio clip ►\nAn encounter with a shabby old woman many dismissed as insane prompted Saint Joan to dedicate her life to the poor. For Joan\, who had a reputation as a businesswoman intent on monetary success\, this was a significant conversion. \nBorn in 1666 in Anjou\, France\, Joan worked in the family business—a small shop near a religious shrine—from an early age. After her parents’ death she took over the shop. She quickly became known for her greediness and insensitivity to the beggars who often came seeking help. \nThat was until she was touched by the strange woman who claimed she was on intimate terms with the deity. Joan\, who had always been devout\, even scrupulous\, became a new person. She began caring for needy children. Then the poor\, elderly\, and sick came to her. Over time\, she closed the family business so she could devote herself fully to good works and penance. \nShe went on to found what came to be known as the Congregation of Saint Anne of Providence. It was then she took the religious name of Joan of the Cross. By the time of her death in 1736 she had founded 12 religious houses\, hospices\, and schools. Pope John Paul II canonized her in 1982. \n\nReflection\nThe downtown areas of most major cities hold a population of “street people.” Well-dressed folks usually avoid making eye contact\, probably for fear of being asked for a handout. That was Joan’s attitude until the day one of them touched her heart. Most people thought the old woman was crazy\, but she put Joan on the road to sainthood. Who knows what the next beggar we meet might do for us?
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-joan-of-the-cross/2026-08-17/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260818
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260819
DTSTAMP:20260614T130055
CREATED:20170727T180904Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170727T180904Z
UID:50863-1787011200-1787097599@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Louis of Toulouse
DESCRIPTION:Image: Saint Louis of Toulouse | unknown\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint Louis of Toulouse\nSaint of the Day for August 18\n(February 9\, 1274 – August 19\, 1297)\nSaint Louis of Toulouse’s Story\nClick to hear audio clip ►\nWhen he died at the age of 23\, Louis was already a Franciscan\, a bishop and a saint! \nLouis’s parents were Charles II of Naples and Sicily\, and Mary\, daughter of the King of Hungary. Louis was related to Saint Louis IX on his father’s side and to Elizabeth of Hungary on his mother’s side. \nLouis showed early signs of attachment to prayer and to the corporal works of mercy. As a child he used to take food from the castle to feed the poor. When he was 14\, Louis and two of his brothers were taken as hostages to the king of Aragon’s court as part of a political deal involving Louis’s father. At the court\, Louis was tutored by Franciscan friars under whom he made great progress both in his studies and in the spiritual life. Like Saint Francis he developed a special love for those afflicted with leprosy. \nWhile he was still a hostage\, Louis decided to renounce his royal title and become a priest. When he was 20\, he was allowed to leave the king of Aragon’s court. He renounced his title in favor of his brother Robert and was ordained the next year. Very shortly after\, he was appointed bishop of Toulouse\, but the pope agreed to Louis’s request to become a Franciscan first. \nThe Franciscan spirit pervaded Louis. “Jesus Christ is all my riches; he alone is sufficient for me\,” Louis kept repeating. Even as a bishop he wore the Franciscan habit and sometimes begged. He assigned a friar to offer him correction—in public if necessary—and the friar did his job. \nLouis’s service to the Diocese of Toulouse was richly blessed. In no time he was considered a saint. Louis set aside 75 percent of his income as bishop to feed the poor and maintain churches. Each day he fed 25 poor people at his table. \nLouis was canonized in 1317 by Pope John XXII\, one of his former teachers. \n\nReflection\nWhen Cardinal Hugolino\, the future Pope Gregory IX\, suggested to Francis that some of the friars would make fine bishops\, Francis protested that they might lose some of their humility and simplicity if appointed to those positions. Those two virtues are needed everywhere in the Church\, and Louis shows us how they can be lived out by bishops. \n\nThe Liturgical Feast of Saint Louis of Toulouse is August 19.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-louis-of-toulouse/2026-08-18/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260819
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260820
DTSTAMP:20260614T130055
CREATED:20170727T180906Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170727T180906Z
UID:50865-1787097600-1787183999@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint John Eudes
DESCRIPTION:Image: Stained glass window in Saint-Pierre de Dourdain | photo by GO69\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint John Eudes\nSaint of the Day for August 19\n(November 14\, 1601 – August 19\, 1680)\nSaint John Eudes’ Story\nClick to hear audio clip ►\nHow little we know where God’s grace will lead. Born on a farm in northern France\, John died at 79 in the next “county” or department. In that time\, he was a religious\, a parish missionary\, founder of two religious communities\, and a great promoter of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. \nJohn joined the religious community of the Oratorians and was ordained a priest at 24. During severe plagues in 1627 and 1631\, he volunteered to care for the stricken in his own diocese. Lest he infect his fellow religious\, during the plague he lived in a huge cask in the middle of a field. \nAt age 32\, John became a parish missionary. His gifts as a preacher and confessor won him great popularity. He preached over 100 parish missions\, some lasting from several weeks to several months. \nIn his concern with the spiritual improvement of the clergy\, John realized that the greatest need was for seminaries. He had permission from his general superior\, the bishop\, and even Cardinal Richelieu to begin this work\, but the succeeding general superior disapproved. After prayer and counsel\, John decided it was best to leave the religious community. \nThat same year John founded a new community\, ultimately called the Eudists–the Congregation of Jesus and Mary–devoted to the formation of the clergy by conducting diocesan seminaries. The new venture\, while approved by individual bishops\, met with immediate opposition\, especially from Jansenists and some of his former associates. John founded several seminaries in Normandy\, but was unable to get approval from Rome–partly\, it was said\, because he did not use the most tactful approach. \nIn his parish mission work\, John was disturbed by the sad condition of prostitutes who sought to escape their miserable life. Temporary shelters were found\, but arrangements were not satisfactory. A certain Madeleine Lamy\, who had cared for several of the women\, one day said to him\, “Where are you off to now? To some church\, I suppose\, where you’ll gaze at the images and think yourself pious. And all the time what is really wanted of you is a decent house for these poor creatures.” The words\, and the laughter of those present\, struck deeply within him. The result was another new religious community\, called the Sisters of Charity of the Refuge. \nJohn Eudes is probably best known for the central theme of his writings: Jesus as the source of holiness; Mary as the model of the Christian life. His devotion to the Sacred Heart and to the Immaculate Heart led Pope Pius XI to declare him the father of the liturgical cult of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. \n\nReflection\nHoliness is the wholehearted openness to the love of God. It is visibly expressed in many ways\, but the variety of expression has one common quality: concern for the needs of others. In John’s case\, those who were in need were plague-stricken people\, ordinary parishioners\, those preparing for the priesthood\, prostitutes\, and all Christians called to imitate the love of Jesus and his mother.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-john-eudes/2026-08-19/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260820
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260821
DTSTAMP:20260614T130055
CREATED:20170727T180909Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170727T180909Z
UID:50866-1787184000-1787270399@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
DESCRIPTION:Image: Stained glass representing St. Bernard of Clairvaux | photo by Jastrow (2006)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint Bernard of Clairvaux\nSaint of the Day for August 20\n(1090 – August 20\, 1153)\nSaint Bernard of Clairvaux’s Story\nClick to hear audio clip ►\nMan of the century! Woman of the century! You see such terms applied to so many today—“golfer of the century\,” “composer of the century\,” “right tackle of the century”—that the line no longer has any punch. But Western Europe’s “man of the twelfth century\,” without doubt or controversy\, had to be Bernard of Clairvaux. Adviser of popes\, preacher of the Second Crusade\, defender of the faith\, healer of a schism\, reformer of a monastic Order\, Scripture scholar\, theologian\, and eloquent preacher: any one of these titles would distinguish an ordinary man. Yet Bernard was all of these—and he still retained a burning desire to return to the hidden monastic life of his younger days. \nIn the year 1111\, at the age of 20\, Bernard left his home to join the monastic community of Citeaux. His five brothers\, two uncles\, and some 30 young friends followed him into the monastery. Within four years\, a dying community had recovered enough vitality to establish a new house in the nearby valley of Wormwoods\, with Bernard as abbot. The zealous young man was quite demanding\, though more on himself than others. A slight breakdown of health taught him to be more patient and understanding. The valley was soon renamed Clairvaux\, the valley of light. \nHis ability as arbitrator and counselor became widely known. More and more he was lured away from the monastery to settle long-standing disputes. On several of these occasions\, he apparently stepped on some sensitive toes in Rome. Bernard was completely dedicated to the primacy of the Roman See. But to a letter of warning from Rome\, he replied that the good fathers in Rome had enough to do to keep the Church in one piece. If any matters arose that warranted their interest\, he would be the first to let them know. \nShortly thereafter it was Bernard who intervened in a full-blown schism and settled it in favor of the Roman pontiff against the antipope. \nThe Holy See prevailed on Bernard to preach the Second Crusade throughout Europe. His eloquence was so overwhelming that a great army was assembled and the success of the crusade seemed assured. The ideals of the men and their leaders\, however\, were not those of Abbot Bernard\, and the project ended as a complete military and moral disaster. \nBernard felt responsible in some way for the degenerative effects of the crusade. This heavy burden possibly hastened his death\, which came August 20\, 1153. \n\nReflection\nBernard’s life in the Church was more active than we can imagine possible today. His efforts produced far-reaching results. But he knew that they would have availed little without the many hours of prayer and contemplation that brought him strength and heavenly direction. His life was characterized by a deep devotion to the Blessed Mother. His sermons and books about Mary are still the standard of Marian theology.
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-bernard-of-clairvaux/2026-08-20/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR