The feast day of St. Ignatius of Antioch is celebrated on October 17. He is known as a church father and martyr.
At birth, St. Ignatius was named Theophorus. He became the third Bishop of Antioch in around year 70. The Roman Emperor Dometian declared that he was ‘god’ and required homage. Those who refused were executed.
St. Ignatius led the Christians in Antioch by encouraging prayer and fasting. Emperor Trajan had Ignatius arrested and sent to Syria in chains to be executed. St. Ignatius was able to dictate letters to the six local churches while imprisoned. Most of what we know about St. Ignatius is from his writing.
St. Ignatius had a devotion to the Bless Virgin Mary. He wrote the following:
He who is devoted to the Virgin Mother will certainly never be lost.
In the letters that survived, St. Ignatius warned of false teachers. He focused on unity and the dangers of heresy. He also emphasized the importance of the Eucharist and the humanity of Christ.
St. Ignatius was fed to the lions in the Amphitheater in Rome in the year 107. His last words were:I am the wheat of the Lord. I must be ground by the teeth of these beasts to be made the pure bread of Christ.
The feast day of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque is celebrated on October 16. She is known as the Apostle of the Sacred Heart.
St. Margaret Mary was born to Claude and Philiberte Lamyn on July 22, 1647 in Lhautecour, France. She was the fifth of seven children. She was baptized with name of Margaret and added the name of Mary when she was confirmed in the faith in 1669. From an early age Margaret had a strong devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. Margaret’s father died when she was eight years old. She was sent to a school run by Urbanist Nuns at Chavolles.
Margaret became very ill and was unable to walk. After consecrating herself to the Blessed Virgin, she promised that if cured, she would be one of her daughters. She was immediately cured.
Thrust into poverty after her father’s death, she considered marriage, which caused her internal conflict. Her desire to become a nun prevailed. She joined the Visitation Order in 1671.
St. Margaret Mary began having visions on Dec. 17, 1073. They continued until June 1675. Jesus appeared to her giving her the task of encouraging and teaching a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This included a Holy Hour on Thursdays to reflect on how the Apostles abandoned Him during the Agony in the Garden. It also encouraged receiving communion on 1st Fridays.
After suffering many years of from doubt and despair, St. Margaret Mary died at the age of 43. She had served two terms as assistant supervisor. With the help of St. Claude de la Columbiere, the feast day became popular. The Sacred Heart symbolizes the boundless love given by Jesus in the Eucharist and His Passion and death
I need nothing but God and to lose myself to the Heart of Jesus.
St. Teresa of Avila’s feast day will be celebrated on October 15th. She is known as being the patron saint of writers and headache sufferers.
Born in Avila, Spain in 1515, she was sent to a convent at the age of 16, because her father believed her to be “out of control”. At first she hated it, later she came to enjoy it, in part because they were less strict than her father.
Eventually, she decided to become a Carmelite nun. She practiced meditation and mental prayer. She fell ill with malaria and almost died. She awoke paralyzed, which lasted for three years. She found it very difficult to pray during this time. However at the age of 41 a priest convinced her to go back to prayer. She suffered many distractions and found it very difficult. As she began her prayer life anew, God gave her spiritual delights including ecstasies, and the prayer of union. She eventually became known as a mystic.
At the age of 43 she decided to form a new convent which met with much resistance. Her confessor St. John of the Cross helped to begin the reformed order of the Discalced (barefoot) Carmelites.
St. Teresa was known for her honest dialogue with God. She wanted the nuns in her order to have the proper attitude and discipline in their prayer life. But she too could be frustrated with life. Every moment of her life was a prayer, even the difficult ones. She is known for the following exclamation.
“If this is the way you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few!”
St. Teresa has written many books. These include: The Interior Castle, The Life of Teresa of Jesus, and The Way of Perfection. Her spirituality has led many to a much deeper prayer life. She has been proclaimed a Doctor of the Church.
St. Teresa died on October 4 at the age of 67.
The following prayer is attributed to St. Teresa of Avila:
Let nothing disturb you.
Let nothing make you afraid.
All things are passing.
God alone never changes.
Patience gains all things.
If you have God you will want for nothing.
God alone suffices.
The feast day of St. Callistus I is celebrated on October I. He is honored as a Pope and martyr of the faith.
St. Callistus was a slave for a Roman who worked for Caesar. He was put in charge of the bank by his master. He manged to lose the money deposited and in fear he fled. He was caught and sent to prison. He was released and told to try to recover the money. This time, he was arrested after getting into a brawl in a Jewish synagogue. He was then sent to Sardenia to work in the mines. The mistress of the emperor was able to influence his release.
Callistus became superintendent of the cemetery of St. Callistus. He was ordained a deacon by the Pope and became the friend and adviser of the Pope. When the pope died, Callistus was elected to be Bishop of Rome with a majority vote. This led to a schism with his rival St. Hippolytus who became the first anti-pope. Hippolytus accused Pope Callistus of sympathizing with heretics. He also disagreed with Pope Callistus’ teaching about the power of Divine Mercy in the sacrament of confession.
In the year 236, both Pope Callistus and Hyppolytus were martyred during an uprising in Rome. They were both canonized as saints. It is believed that Hyppolytus made peace with the church before his death.
St. Callistus is the first pope after St. Peter to be honored as a martyr.
“God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us.”
The feast day of Bl. Alexandrina Maria da Costa is celebrated on October 13. She is known for living on the Eucharist alone for three years. She is the patron saint of the bedridden and paralyzed.
Alexandrina was born on March 30, 1904. in Balasar, Portugal. She worked in the fields to earn money. She nearly died of an infection when she was twelve.
On Holy Saturday, at the age of 14, she and a friend were sewing when three men broke into her home threatening to rape them. In an attempt to escape she jumped out of a window and fell 4 meters. She had many injuries and the doctors predicted her paralysis would get worse. She was able to attend church until the age of 19 although she was quite hunched over. At the age of 21 she became totally paralyzed and bedridden.
Alexandrina prayed for a miraculous healing so that she could be a missionary. Eventually she realized that God wanted her to spend her time in prayer. She accepted her affliction as God’s will and offered herself as a “victim soul” for the conversion of sinners. She suffered from paralysis for over 30 years.
Describing her situation she stated the following:
“Our Lady has given me an even greater grace; first abandonment, then complete conformity to God’s will and finally the thirst for suffering.”
For 3 1/2 years Alexandrina experienced the mystical gift of feeling the pains of Christ on the Cross. Every Friday, for three hours she relived the “Passion of Jesus”. Her paralysis was overcome, but she suffered great pain. Alexandrina knew Jesus wanted her to suffer in joy so she was known for her smile.
For 13 years Alexandrina was nourished only by the Eucharist. Unable to keep anything down including water, she began a “fast” for Jesus. She offered her suffering for the salvation of souls. As news of her fast spread, pilgrims began to visit asking her for prayers. This tired her and increased her sufferingbut she promised to pray for everyone.
Because of the skepticism surrounding her fast, Alexandrina agreed to be admitted to a hospital where she would be examined. She was permitted the Eucharist daily. The disbelief of the doctors caused her great suffering, but after a month they certified that she had had nothing to eat or drink except the Eucharist. She kept a picture of St. Jacinta of Fatimaby her bed.
In her prayers Jesus told her:
“You are living by the Eucharist alone because I want to prove to the world the power of the Eucharist and the power of my life in souls.”
Bl. Alexandrina died on October 13, 1955. She declared…
“I am happy because I am going to heaven.”
She was beatified by Pope John Paul II. On her tombstone, Bl. Alexandrina requested the following statement:
“Sinners, how much I want to tell you. Do not risk losing Jesus for all eternity for He is so good. Enough with sin. Love Jesus, love Him!”
The feast day of Bl. Maria Teresa Fasco is celebrated on October 12.
Known as Marietta as a child, Bl. Maria Teresa was born on Dec. 27, 1881 in Torriglia, Italy. Her mother died when she was eight years old. Her older sister Luigia helped raise her. The family was not poor and she received a good education.
The parish Marietta attended was under the pastoral care of AugustinianFriars. She taught singing and was involved in religious education. Marietta studied the spirituality of St. Augustine and was drawn to it. When the Augustinian Nun St. Rita of Cascia was canonized in 1900 it made a great impression on her. She applied to the Augustinian monastery at Casci against her families wishes. She was denied entry because they felt she was used to the comforts of city living. They did not believe she would do well living a rural life. However, she applied a second time and was accepted.
Maria Teresa became disillusioned when younger nuns joined who had a lack of discipline. Tension in the monastery grew between the younger and older sisters. Maria Teresa left the community for a time in 1910. She returned in 1911 determined to reform the monastery. She began writing letters to supervisors explaining the situation. Their response was to make her the Director of Novices! In 1920 she was elected Abbess. She served as Abbess for 27 years. The monastery became a good example of the Augustinian way of life.
Sister Maria Teresa started an orphanage for girls and helped to build a larger church to receive pilgrims coming to learn about St. Rita. She referred to the orphans as her “bees”. Sister Maria Teresa enjoyed teaching the orphans. Her newsletter called “From the Bees to the Roses” is still published today.
During World War II when Nazi troops forced their way into the monastery she was not intimidated. They departed after speaking to her.
Sister Maria Teresa suffered from health problems. including painful breast cancer which required two surgeries. She also had asthma, diabetes, heart problems and poor circulation. She had difficult walking. She died peacefully on January 18, 1947 before the new basilica was completed.
“I am leaving this world with faith, hope and love! I hope to find you there…where Good reigns and where we will live forever!”
Sister Maria Teresa was beatified by St. John Paul II in 1997.
