BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//THE FRANCISCAN FRIARS, TOR - ECPv6.15.18//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-WR-CALNAME:THE FRANCISCAN FRIARS, TOR
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:20260927
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260928
DTSTAMP:20260405T161427
CREATED:20170728T180950Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170728T180950Z
UID:50967-1790467200-1790553599@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Vincent de Paul
DESCRIPTION:Image: Detail | Saint Vincent de Paul | Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Nouÿ\n\nSaint Vincent de Paul\nSaint of the Day for September 27\n(1580 – September 27\, 1660)\nClick to hear audio clip ►\nSaint Vincent de Paul’s Story\nThe deathbed confession of a dying servant opened Vincent’s eyes to the crying spiritual needs of the peasantry of France. This seems to have been a crucial moment in the life of the man from a small farm in Gascony\, France\, who had become a priest with little more ambition than to have a comfortable life. \nIt was the Countess de Gondi (whose servant he had helped) who persuaded her husband to endow and support a group of able and zealous missionaries who would work among poor tenant farmers and country people in general. Vincent was too humble to accept leadership at first\, but after working for some time in Paris among imprisoned galley-slaves\, he returned to be the leader of what is now known as the Congregation of the Mission\, or the Vincentians. These priests\, with vows of poverty\, chastity\, obedience\, and stability\, were to devote themselves entirely to the people in smaller towns and villages. \nLater\, Vincent established confraternities of charity for the spiritual and physical relief of the poor and sick of each parish. From these\, with the help of Saint Louise de Marillac\, came the Daughters of Charity\, “whose convent is the sickroom\, whose chapel is the parish church\, whose cloister is the streets of the city.” He organized the rich women of Paris to collect funds for his missionary projects\, founded several hospitals\, collected relief funds for the victims of war\, and ransomed over 1\,200 galley slaves from North Africa. He was zealous in conducting retreats for clergy at a time when there was great laxity\, abuse\, and ignorance among them. He was a pioneer in clerical training and was instrumental in establishing seminaries. \nMost remarkably\, Vincent was by temperament a very irascible person—even his friends admitted it. He said that except for the grace of God he would have been “hard and repulsive\, rough and cross.” But he became a tender and affectionate man\, very sensitive to the needs of others. \nPope Leo XIII made him the patron of all charitable societies. Outstanding among these\, of course\, is the Society of St. Vincent de Paul\, founded in 1833 by his admirer Blessed Frédéric Ozanam. \n\nReflection\nThe Church is for all God’s children\, rich and poor\, peasants and scholars\, the sophisticated and the simple. But obviously the greatest concern of the Church must be for those who need the most help—those made helpless by sickness\, poverty\, ignorance\, or cruelty. Vincent de Paul is a particularly appropriate patron for all Christians today\, when hunger has become starvation\, and the high living of the rich stands in more and more glaring contrast to the physical and moral degradation in which many of God’s children are forced to live. \n\nSaint Vincent de Paul is the Patron Saint of:\nCharitable Societies
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-vincent-de-paul/2026-09-27/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260928
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260929
DTSTAMP:20260405T161427
CREATED:20170728T180952Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170728T180952Z
UID:50968-1790553600-1790639999@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saint Wenceslaus
DESCRIPTION:Image: Saint Wenceslaus statue on the Gothic Bridge in Kłodzko | photo by Jacek Halicki\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSaint Wenceslaus\nSaint of the Day for September 28\n(c. 907 – 929)\nClick to hear audio clip ►\nSaint Wenceslaus’ Story\nIf saints have been falsely characterized as “other worldly\,” the life of Wenceslaus stands as an example to the contrary: He stood for Christian values in the midst of the political intrigues which characterized 10th-century Bohemia. \nHe was born in 907 near Prague\, son of the Duke of Bohemia. His saintly grandmother\, Ludmilla\, raised him and sought to promote him as ruler of Bohemia in place of his mother\, who favored the anti-Christian factions. Ludmilla was eventually murdered\, but rival Christian forces enabled Wenceslaus to assume leadership of the government. \nHis rule was marked by efforts toward unification within Bohemia\, support of the Church\, and peace-making negotiations with Germany\, a policy which caused him trouble with the anti-Christian opposition. His brother Boleslav joined in the plotting\, and in September of 929 invited Wenceslaus to Alt Bunglou for the celebration of the feast of Saints Cosmas and Damian. On the way to Mass\, Boleslav attacked his brother\, and in the struggle\, Wenceslaus was killed by supporters of Boleslav. \nAlthough his death resulted primarily from political upheaval\, Wenceslaus was hailed as a martyr for the faith\, and his tomb became a pilgrimage shrine. He is hailed as the patron of the Bohemian people and of former Czechoslovakia. \n\nReflection\n“Good King Wenceslaus” was able to incarnate his Christianity in a world filled with political unrest. While we are often victims of violence of a different sort\, we can easily identify with his struggle to bring harmony to society. The call to become involved in social change and in political activity is addressed to Christians; the values of the gospel are sorely needed today. \n\nSaint Wenceslaus is the Patron Saint of :\nBohemia
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saint-wenceslaus/2026-09-28/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260929
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260930
DTSTAMP:20260405T161427
CREATED:20170728T180953Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170728T180953Z
UID:50971-1790640000-1790726399@www.thefranciscanfriars.org
SUMMARY:Saints Michael\, Gabriel\, and Raphael
DESCRIPTION:Image: Detail | East window behind the altar | St. Michael’s Church\, Ballinasloe\, County Galway\, Ireland | Frederick Settle Barff\n\nSaints Michael\, Gabriel\, and Raphael\nSaint of the Day for September 29\nClick to hear audio clip ►\nSaints Michael\, Gabriel\, and Raphael’s Story\nAngels—messengers from God—appear frequently in Scripture\, but only Michael\, Gabriel and Raphael are named. \nMichael appears in Daniel’s vision as “the great prince” who defends Israel against its enemies; in the Book of Revelation\, he leads God’s armies to final victory over the forces of evil. Devotion to Michael is the oldest angelic devotion\, rising in the East in the fourth century. The Church in the West began to observe a feast honoring Michael and the angels in the fifth century. \nGabriel also makes an appearance in Daniel’s visions\, announcing Michael’s role in God’s plan. His best-known appearance is an encounter with a young Jewish girl named Mary\, who consents to bear the Messiah. \nRaphael’s activity is confined to the Old Testament story of Tobit. There he appears to guide Tobit’s son Tobiah through a series of fantastic adventures which lead to a threefold happy ending: Tobiah’s marriage to Sarah\, the healing of Tobit’s blindness\, and the restoration of the family fortune. \nThe memorials of Gabriel and Raphael were added to the Roman calendar in 1921. The 1970 revision of the calendar joined their feasts to Michael’s. \n\nReflection\nEach of these archangels performs a different mission in Scripture: Michael protects; Gabriel announces; Raphael guides. Earlier belief that inexplicable events were due to the actions of spiritual beings has given way to a scientific world-view and a different sense of cause and effect. Yet believers still experience God’s protection\, communication\, and guidance in ways which defy description. We cannot dismiss angels too lightly. \n\nSaints Michael\, Gabriel\, and Raphael are the Patron Saints of:\nDeath\nGermany\nGrocers\nPolice Officers\nRadiologists \nSaint Gabriel is the Patron Saint of:\nBroadcasters \nSaint Raphael is the Patron Saint of:\nThe Blind
URL:https://www.thefranciscanfriars.org/event/saints-michael-gabriel-and-raphael/2026-09-29/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260930
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20261001
DTSTAMP:20260405T161427
CREATED:20170728T180955Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170728T180955Z
UID:50977-1790726400-1790812799@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/2026-09-30/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20261001
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20261002
DTSTAMP:20260405T161427
CREATED:20170801T133138Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T133138Z
UID:50982-1790812800-1790899199@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/2026-10-01/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20261002
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20261003
DTSTAMP:20260405T161427
CREATED:20170801T135749Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T135749Z
UID:50984-1790899200-1790985599@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/2026-10-02/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20261003
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20261004
DTSTAMP:20260405T161427
CREATED:20170801T150934Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T150934Z
UID:50985-1790985600-1791071999@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/2026-10-03/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20261004
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20261005
DTSTAMP:20260405T161427
CREATED:20170801T151122Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170801T151122Z
UID:50989-1791072000-1791158399@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/2026-10-04/
CATEGORIES:Saint of the Day
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR