All posts by Vicki Scheenstra

Vicki Scheenstra is a former Catholic Bookstore owner and has been active in Catholic Education.
Dominican Saints, Faith, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Hyacinth of Poland, Feast Day August 17

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St. Hyacinth of Poland Public Domain Image
St. Hyacinth of Poland

The feast day of St. Hyacinth of Poland is celebrated on August 17. 

St. Hyacinth was born in 1185 to noble parents in Odrowacz, Poland.  He was educated by his uncle who was a pious priest who eventually became the Bishop of Cracow.  He was a very happy and pious child with an early calling to the religious life.  He studied at Bologna earning the degree of Doctor of Canon Law and Divinity.

St. Hyacinth returned to Poland.  On a trip to Rome with his uncle he met St. Dominic.  He was one of the first to join the Order of Preachers, becoming a Dominican.  He returned to Poland to establish the Dominican Order.

St. Hyacinth was a wonderful preacher.  He converted many people and was able to build churches and convents.  He visited the sick and was a friend to the poor.  He became known for the many miracles which occurred.  The most famous happened during the Tartars siege of the city of Kiev.  Hyacinth had a tender devotion to the Mother of God.  After celebrating Mass unaware of the siege occurring, he retrieved the Blessed Sacrament and a statue of Mary and fled with the community to the river Dnieper.  Although the river was deep he led them across the river walking on the water.  His footprints could be seen on the water for centuries.

The last years of St. Hyacinth’s life were lived in a convent at Cracow.  On the feast of St. Dominic, he fell ill with a fever.  He celebrated Mass on the Feast of the Assumption in spite of his illness.  He was anointed at the Altar and died later that day on August 15, 1257.

St. Hyacinth was canonized by Pope Clement VIII in 1594.

 

The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.

 

Quote of Michelangelo

August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

 

Faith, Martyr, Saint of the Day, Visionary

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Stephen of Hungary, Feast Day August 16

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St. Stephen of Hungary Public Domain Image
St. Stephen of Hungary

The feast day of St. Stephen of Hungary is celebrated on August 16. 

St. Stephen was born in the year 973.  His mother  was the Duchess Sarolt.  She had had a vision in which the first St. Stephen, the first martyr of the church had appeared to her.  She was told she would bear a son who would evangelize the land.

St. Stephen’s father was the Duke Geza.  Both his mother and father were converted to Christianity by Bishop St. Adalbert of Prague.  The Bishop baptized St. Stephen at the age of ten. St. Stephen married Gesela who was a sister to the Duke of Bavaria in 995.  Sadly, he survived all his children.  Only one child lived to be an adult.  This son, Emeric,  died in a hunting accident in 1031.

St. Stephen use their wealth to build a monastery and encouraged the people of the land to convert to Christianity.  The laws of the land which St. Stephen enacted favored Christianity over paganism.  He sent a request to Pope Sylvester II to proclaim him as King of Hungary.  Pope Sylvester II was happy to oblige.  He sent Stephen a crown and gold processional cross.

As King, St. Stephen was generous to the poor and sick.  He was devoted to the Virgin Mary, building several churches in her honor.  Mary is credited with preventing both a war and the assassination of King Stephen.  While he was king, St. Stephen also established a monastery in Jerusalem.

St. Stephen died on August 15, 1038 the Feast of the Assumption of Mary after suffering an illness.  He was buried next to his son Emerick.  They were both canonized saints in 1083.

 

It is a fact that people are always well aware of what is due them.  Unfortunately, they remain oblivious of what they owe to others.

Quote of St. Francis de Sales;  Feast day January 24

August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

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Faith, Feast Days, Our Lady, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: The Assumption of Mary, Feast Day August 15

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The Assumption of Mary by Palma il Vecchio Public Domain Image
The Assumption of Mary by Palma il Vecchio

The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary will be celebrated on August 15. While this is a belief which goes back to the apostolic age, it was proclaimed dogma on Nov. 1, 1950 by Pope Pius XII.

The word assumption means “to take up.” It is believed that Mary was assumed into heaven by the power of God. This is not the same as the Ascension of Jesus. Jesus ascended into heaven by His own power. The assumption of Mary into heaven gives glory to God by whose power she was taken into heaven.

Pope Pius XII in the papal document, Munificentimus Deus gives four reasons why we believe in the dogma of Assumption of Mary. He explained that the uninterrupted tradition about Mary’s death and assumption began in the first century. The belief is expressed in all the ancient liturgies of the Church. He added that the negative evidence is the absence of veneration of a tomb of Mary while most of the apostles have tombs.

In the Old Testament there is the possibility of bodily assumption in the cases of Enoch (Gen. 5:24), Moses (Deut. 34:5) and Elijah (IIKg. 2:1)

The theological reasons for believing in the Assumption of Mary are twofold.

First; Mary was “immaculately conceived”.  This means she was born without the consequence of “original sin” and is exempted from the postmortem decay of the body.   She is sometimes referred to as “The Second Eve“.

Second; Mary received the fullness of grace and holiness as the mother of Jesus. Her place is with her son Jesus, the redeemer in heaven.

 

Good Lady, bearer of our good Lord,

watch over us…lead us to the safe harbor

of God’s will.

 

Quote of St. John Damascene; Feast day December 4The Assumption of Mary in Art

August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

 

Prayers Quips and Quotes Articles for the Month of August

 

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Faith, Franciscan Saints, Martyr, patron saints, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe, Feast Day August 14

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St. Maximilian Kolbe Public Domain Image
St. Maximilian Kolbe

The feast day of St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe is celebrated on August 14.  He was born in Poland in 1894.  His father ran a religious book store before enlisting in the army.  His mother later became a Benedictine Nun.  St. Maximilian is the patron saint of drug addicts, prisoners, families, and the pro life movement.

 

At the young age of 12, Maximilian experienced a vision from the Virgin Mary.

“That night I asked the Mother of God what was to become of me. Then she came to me holding two crowns, one white, the other red. She asked me if I was willing to accept either of these crowns. The white one meant that I should persevere in purity, and the red that I should become a martyr. I said that I would accept them both.”

Maximilian entered the minor seminary of the Conventual Franciscans in Lviv (formerly Poland, now the Ukraine) becoming a novice at 16.  He studied science as well as philosophy and theology.  He was ordained a priest at the age of 24.  His mission was to fight against indifference towards God.  He founded the Militia of the Immaculata which fought evil and promoted prayer, work and suffering.  He became known as the Apostle of Consecration to Mary.

When the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939, Kolbe and his friars were arrested and then released after 3 months on the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

He was arrested a second time in 1941.  After three months a prisoner escaped and ten men were ordered to be executed.  St. Maximilian Kolbe offered to take the place of a man about to be executed.   When asked who he was he replied ” a priest”.  The commandant allowed the exchange.  He was stripped naked and given no food.  The prisoners sang.  On the eve of the Feast of the Assumption the jailer came to inject the remaining prisoners with a needle with carbolic acid.  The bodies of the prisoners were burned.

Maximilian Kolbe was canonized in 1982.

 

No one in the world can alter the truth, all we can do is seek it and live it.

Quote of St. Maximilian Kolbe

August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

 

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Faith, Martyr, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Maximus the Confessor, Feast Day August 13

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St. Maximus the Confessor
St. Maximus the Confessor

The feast day of St. Maximus the Confessor is celebrated on August 13.  He was born in 580 in Constantinople to a noble family.

After serving as secretary to Emperor Heraclius, Maximus became a monk and abbot at Chrysopolis, which is now Turkey.

St. Maximus attended the Lateran Council which condemned Monotheism.  Monotheism believed Jesus Christ had a divine nature not a human nature.  After returning from the council St. Maximus refused to accept Monotheism which was a heresy prevalent at the time.  He was arrested and charged with treason.  After six years in prison he was brought back to Constantinople with two of his disciples to be tortured and mutilated.   Their tongues and right hands were cut off.  They were then sent to Skhemaris on the Black Sea where he died in the year 662

 

St. Maximus is considered a mystic and honored for his theology of the Incarnation and the two natures of Christ…human and divine.  He wrote over 90 works on the faith.

After his death miracles were reported to have occurred at this tomb.

Be on guard lest the vice that separated you from your brother be not found in your brother, but in you;  and hasten to be reconciled to him lest you fall away from the commandment of love.

Quote of St. Maximus the Confessor

August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

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Saint of the Day, Spirituality

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Feast Day August 12

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St. Jane Frances de Chantal Public Domain Image
St. Jane Frances de Chantal

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Jane Frances de Chantal,

Feast Day August 12

The feast day of St. Jane Frances de Chantal is celebrated on August 12. Jane was born on Jan. 18 1572 in Dijon, France. She was born into a family of nobility. Her father was the president of the parliament of Burgundy. At the age of 29 she married Baron Christophe de Chantal. Their marriage lasted seven years during which they had three daughters and a son. Jane became a widow when Christophe died tragically in a hunting accident when Jane was 28 years old. Although her husband forgave the man who shot him, Jane struggled for a long time to forgive him. With time and God’s grace she was finally able to do so. Because she was able to forgive him, she became the godmother of his child.

To support her children, Jane moved home with her father in law. For seven years she managed his estate bearing patiently his abusive behavior. Jane turned to God for guidance. In a vision she saw the person who was meant to be her spiritual director. When she met St. Francis de Sales while he was preaching she recognized him as the person in her vision. He soon became her spiritual director. They corresponded by letter. Many of the letters have survived.

With the guidance of St. Francis de Sales, Jane opened the Congregation of the Visitation in 1610. They focused on uniting their will to the will of God; trusting in Him and seeking to please Him. After the death of St. Francis de Sales, St. Vincent de Paul became her spiritual director. By the time of her death 86 convents were opened. The Order welcomed women who had been rejected from entering other orders due to health and age. When St. Jane died at the age of 69 she was known for her sanctity. She was credited with miracles before and after her death. St. Jane was canonized in 1767.

 

We should throw ourselves into God as

a little drop of water into the sea,

and lose ourselves indeed,

in the ocean of the divine goodness.

 

Quote of St. Jane Frances de Chantal

 

August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

 

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