All posts by Vicki Scheenstra

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

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Patrick, Feast Day March 17

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St. Patrick
St. Patrick

The feast day of St. Patrick is celebrated on March 17.   St. Patrick is the patron saint of slaves, Ireland and snakes.

St. Patrick was born in Kilpatrick, Scotland, in 387. His parents were Romans, living in Britain. At age 14 he was captured by a raiding party and taken to Ireland as a slave. As a slave, he tended to the sheep. He turned to God in prayer. His prayer “The Breastplate of St. Patrick” is well known.

Patrick was a slave until the age of 20. He received guidance in a dream. He was led to sailors who took him to Britain. In another dream, the people of Ireland asked him to return. He was reunited with his parents

St. Patrick studied to become a priest. He was ordained a priest by St. Germanus who was the bishop he studied under.   He was ordained a priest, then a Bishop. As Bishop he was sent back to Ireland. Many people converted under his guidance. St. Patrick is known for using the shamrock to explain the Trinity. He served as the Bishop of Ireland for forty years. Many miracles are attributed to St. Patrick.

St. Patrick wrote “The Confession of St. Patrick”  which  tells about his passionate faith and the trials he experienced.  St. Patrick died in Saul, where he built his first church, on March 17, 461

 

The Breastplate of St. Patrick

Christ be behind me, Christ be before me,
Christ be beside me…King of my heart.
Christ be within me, Christ be below me,
Christ be above me…never to part.
Christ on my right hand, Christ on my left hand,
Christ all around me…shield in the strife.
Christ in my sitting, Christ in my sleeping,
Christ in my rising…light of my life.

(may be sung to Morning has Broken)

 

 

March is the Month of St. Joseph

 

St. Patrick in Art

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Faith, Martyr, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Julian of Antioch, Feast Day March 16

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St. Julian of Antioch
St. Julian of Antioch

 

The feast day of St. Julian of Antioch is celebrated on March 16.  

St. Julian was born in Anazarbus, Cilicia (Turkey).  He was arrested for being a Christian during the persecutions of Diocletian in 305 A.D.

St. Julian  refused to renounce his faith resulting in his being tortured and paraded through the city of Cilicia. After being sentenced to death, his body was sewn into a sack filled with vipers and scorpions and then cast into the sea. When the sack was recovered, the remains of St. Julian were sent to Alexandria and then to Antioch where St. John Chrysostom gave the eulogy at his burial.

 

Jesus stretches out His arms on the cross to embrace sinners.

 

Quote of St. John XXIII; Feast day October 11

 

March is the Month of St. Joseph

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Faith, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Louise de Marillac, Feast Day March 15

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louis de marillacThe feast day of St. Louise de Marillac is celebrated on March 15. 

Louise was born in 1591 in Meux, France into a noble family.  Her mother died while she was quite young.  Her father eventually placed her with the royal Dominican monastery in Poissy.  At the age of 15, her father also died.  She requested entry in the Capuchins  but was denied due to her frail health.

Several years later, Louise married Antony Le Gras.  They had one son, Michel.  When her husband became ill, Louise became severely depressed.  In 1619, while in Paris, she met St. Francis de Sales, who became her spiritual advisor.  Her depression came to an end after a spiritual experience during a Mass on Pentecost.  She described her experience in the following way:

 

“On the Feast of Pentecost during Holy Mass or while I was praying in the church, my mind was completely freed of all doubt.  I was advised that I should remain with my husband and the time would come when I would be in the position to make vows of poverty, chastity and obedience and that I would be in a small community where others would do the same.” 

 

Louise’s husband died three years after this experience.  She decided never to marry again and to serve God alone.  She sold her home and moved into a small home which was near St. Vincent de Paul who became her advisor.  While still raising her son and managing her home she helped St. Vincent to begin the Daughters of Charity.  St. Vincent said “Your convent will be the house of the sick; your cell, a hired room; your chapel, the parish church; your cloister, the streets of the city or the wards of the hospital;  your enclosure, obedience.

Louise was very hard working and courageous.  Eventually there were over 40 housed which she started in France.  She also established hospitals and orphanages.

Louise died on March 15, 1660.  She was beatified by Pope Benedict XV in 1920 and canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1934.

 

Be diligent in serving the poor.  Love the poor, honor them my children, as you would honor Christ himself.

Quote of St. Louise de Marillac

 

March is the Month of St. Joseph

 

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Faith, patron saints, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Matilda, Feast Day March 14

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St. Matilda in Art
St. Matilda

St. Matilda is the patron saint of widows and second wives.  Her feast day is celebrated on March 14.

 

St. Matilda was born in 895. She was raised by her grandmother, the Abbess of Eufurt Convent. Matilda married Henry the Fowler who was the son of the Duke Otto of Saxony, whose first marriage had been declared invalid. He eventually became the King of Germany.

Widowed in 936, St. Matilda was known for her generosity towards charities. This estranged her from her sons, Otto and Henry. They became angry and criticized her extravagance. She decided to retire to a country home. In time, her sons asked for forgiveness welcoming her back to the palace.

St. Matilda built many churches, convents and monasteries. She lived her final years at the convent at Nordausen. She died at the monastery at Quedlinberg on March 14, 968 where she is buried.

 

Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven.

 

Quote of St. Rose of Lima; Feast day August 23

 

 

March is the Month of St. Joseph

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Benedictine Saints, Faith, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Leander, Feast Day March 13

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St. Leander
The feast day of St. Leander is celebrated on March 13.

St. Leander was born into a saintly family. Both he and his brother St. Isidore served as the Bishop of Seville. His sister St.Florentia became an abbess in charge of forty convents and over 1,000 nuns. He was born at Cartagena, Spain in 534.

St. Leander became a Benedictine monk. In 579 he became the Bishop of Seville. As bishop he defended the church from the heresy of Arianism, which denied the divinity of Christ. He promoted orthodox Christianity. For a period of time he was forced into exile in Byzantium. When he returned he oversaw the Third Council of Toledo.

It was St. Leander who began the practice of reciting the Nicene Creed during Mass. He believed it would help in the fight against Arianism.

Nicene Creed

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
Maker of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial
of one Being with the Father.

Through him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.

With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.

He has spoken through the Prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

St.Leander died in the year 601. He was succeeded as bishop by his brother St. Isidore.
St. Leander is considered a Doctor of the Church.

The humble man receives praise the way a clean window takes the light of the sun. The truer and more intense the light is the less you see of the glass.

Quote of Thomas Merton

 

March is the Month of St. Joseph

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Faith, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Seraphina, Feast Day March 12

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St. Seraphina
The feast day of St.Seraphina is celebrated on March 12. 

St. Seraphina was born in San Gimignano, Italy to a poor family in 1238. As a young girl she was very pretty. After her father died, she came down with a strange illness. The illness took away her beauty. Her eyes, feet and hands became deformed.

Eventually, St. Seraphina was paralyzed. She helped her mother spin and sow. She never complained and was known for her serenity. Her mother also died leaving her with no income. A friend would bring her food.

St. Seraphina turned to Christ on the Cross for comfort. She felt she was called to imitate the suffering Christ. Her favorite saint was St. Gregory the Great, due to his many sufferings. She asked him to intercede for her, asking for patience to bear her sufferings. Eight days before her death, St. Gregory appeared to her telling her she would die on his feast day. His feast day was celebrated at the time on March 12. It is now celebrated on Sept. 3.

St. Seraphina died on March 12, 1253 at the age of 15.

The cross is the staff of the lame.

Quote of St. George of Amastris; Feast day February 21

 

March is the Month of St. Joseph

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