All posts by Vicki Scheenstra

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

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Agatha, Feast Day Feb. 5

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St. Agatha Public Domain Image
St. Agatha
Public Domain Image

The Catholic Church will be celebrating the feast day of St. Agatha on Feb. 5.  She is the patron saint of breast cancer.

St. Agatha was born in Catania, Sicily.   She died a martyr in 251.  She is one of seven women memorialized in the cannon of the Mass.

Her legendary story tells us she was tortured for her faith. After being imprisoned in a brothel by Quintian, she was then sent to prison. When she persisted in the faith, she was tortured by having her breasts amputated. She was then martyred. During a vision she had of St. Peter, she was healed.

Because of this torture, she is considered the patron saint of breast cancer victims.

St. Agatha died while in prison. In art she is shown with her amputated breasts on a platter.

 

The following quotes are attributed to St. Agatha:

“My courage and my thought be so firmly founded upon the firm stone of Jesus Christ, that for no pain it may not be changed, your words be not wind, your promises be but rain, and your menaces be as rivers that pass, and how will that all these things hurtle at the fundament of my courage, yet for that it shall not move.”

Quote of St. Agatha

“Jesus Christ, Lord of all things! You see my heart, you know my desires. Possess all that I am — you alone.       I am your sheep; make me worthy to overcome the devil.”

Quote of St. Agatha

Lord Jesus Christ, you created me, you watched over me from infancy,
kept my body from defilement, preserved me from love of the world,
made me able to withstand torture, and granted me the virtue of patience
in the midst of torments.

   Quote of St. Agatha

Prayer to Saint Agatha

O St. Agatha,
who withstood the unwelcome advances
from unwanted suitors,
and suffered pain and torture
for your devotion to Our Lord,
we celebrate your faith, dignity, and martyrdom.

Protect us against rape and other violations,
guard us against breast cancer
and other afflictions of women,
and inspire us to overcome adversity.

O St. Agatha, Virgin and Martyr,
mercifully grant that we who venerate your sacrifice,
may receive your intercession.

Amen

February is the Month of the Passion of the Lord


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Faith, Martyr

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Polycarp, Feast Day Feb. 23

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St. Polycarp
St. Polycarp

The feast day of St. Polycarp is celebrated on Feb. 23.

St. Polycarp was born around the year 70. He is considered an Apostolic Father of the Church because he was an actual disciple of the apostles.

St. Polycarp was a disciple of St. John the Evangelist. He became Bishop of Smyrna, (now Turkey).  He was friends with St. Ignatius of Antioch.

St. Polycarp was martyred for his faith. Three days before his martyrdom, he had a vision in which he saw his pillow on fire. He told his companions he would be burnt alive. St. Polycarp was arrested. When told he must swear allegiance to Caesar, he refused, professing that he was a Christian. He was threatened with death by wild beasts, but still refused. He was 86 years old when he was taken to the Smyrna stadium and an attempt was made to burn him alive in the year 156. The flames did him no harm, and so he was killed by a dagger.

The body of St. Polycarp was ordered to be burned.

 

“Help one another with the generosity of the Lord,
and despise no one.
When you have the opportunity to do good,
do not let it go by.”

Quote of St. Polycarp

 

February is the Month of the Passion of the Lord

Apostle, Faith, Feast Days, featired

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: The Chair of Peter, Feast Day Feb. 22

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Chair of St. Peter
Chair of St. Peter

The Feast day of the Chair of Peter is celebrated on February 22. On this day we are reminded of the importance of unity in the church. The Lord himself entrusted the church to the authority of St. Peter.

The word Chair comes from the word “Cathedra” which also is the origin of the word Cathedral. A Cathedral is the church of the Bishop of a diocese. The Pope is also known as the “Vicar of Christ”. It is his duty to defend the faith from errors and teach the truth of the faith.

Because of the teaching authority of the Bishop of Rome, the followers of Jesus in the Catholic Church are united in their beliefs. We trust in the Holy Spirit to guide the Holy Father in directing the church. The beliefs of the Catholic Church are Apostolic. They can be traced back to Jesus and the Apostles.

St. Peter served as the leader of the Church from 33-64 A.D. He was crucified upside down in Rome. The Basilica of St. Peter is built over his grave site.   When we accept the authority of the Bishop of Rome to teach the faith, we accept the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew 16: 18-19.

“And so I tell you, “You are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Quote St. Peter

“Ten thousand difficulties
do not make one doubt.”

Quote of Bl. John Henry Newman

 

February is the Month of the Passion of the Lord.

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Faith, Jesuit Saints, Martyr, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Robert Southwell, Feast Day Feb. 21

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St. Robert Southwell
St. Robert Southwell

The feast day of St. Robert Southwell is celebrated on Feb. 21.

St. Robert Southwell was born in Norfolk, England in 1561 to a family of nobility. He attended the Roman Catholic college at Douai.

 

In 1580, St. Robert joined the Society of Jesus.   Robert studied theology in Rome.   He was ordained a priest in 1584, the same year an act was passed by the Elizabethan government forbidding Catholic priests to remain over 40 days in England. The punishment was death.

 

At his own request, St. Robert Southwell was sent to England as a missionary. He administered the sacraments for six years as the government kept him under surveillance. In 1572 he was arrested and tortured. St. Robert refused to reveal the names of fellow Catholics. He was imprisoned for three years before he was brought to trial. While in prison, he was allowed to write. He wrote many poems and essays which were published after his death.

 

St. Robert Southwell was tried for treason. The following day, he was hanged at Tyburn. He denied any evil intentions toward the Queen or her government.

 

Pope Paul VI canonized St. Robert Southwell as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales on Oct. 25, 1970.

 

 

Our life is but a warfare,
and we are always in the field
against our professed enemies;
for in our baptism, we bid them battle
by defying and renouncing them.

 

 

Quote of St. Robert Southwell

 

 

February is the Month of the Passion of the Lord

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Carmelite Saints, Faith, Our Lady, Saint of the Day, Visionary

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: Children of Fatima, Feast Day Feb. 20

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children of Fatima
The feast day of the Children of Fatima is celebrated on Feb. 20.

In 1917, an angel and Our Lady appeared six times to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal.  Jacinta (7 years old) and Francisco (9 years old) were brother and sister.   Lucy Dos Santos (14 years old) was their cousin. Jacinta and Francisco both died several years after the apparitions.

Francisco was born on June 11, 1908. During the apparitions Francisco could see but not hear what was being said. He had a great love of praying before the Blessed Sacrament. He also had a great devotion to praying the Rosary. He received his first communion on the day of his death, April 4, 1919.

Jacinta was born on March 11, 1910. Jacinta could both hear and see what was said during the apparitions. She was profoundly affected when Our Lady told her that Jesus was very offended by sin. After seeing a vision of hell, she decided to offer herself completely to the salvation of souls. She offered her suffering to free souls from the fires of hell. A year after the apparitions she came down with bronchial pneumonia, an abscessed lung and then was diagnosed with tuberculosis. She offered all of her suffering to Jesus. She was rushed to a hospital in Lisbon. The Blessed Virgin visited her there three times. She died without the presence of her parents or Lucy on Feb.20, 1920.

Lucy was born on March 22, 1907. After the apparitions Our Lady told her that her cousins would soon be in heaven and that Lucy should spread the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Our Lady said

“My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way which will lead you to God.”

It was Lucy who requested a miracle so people would believe in the apparitions. During the investigations surrounding the apparitions, Lucy was harassed. She entered the Sisters of St. Dorothy as Sister Mary of the Sorrowful Mother. Later she became a Carmelite Sister taking the name Sister Maria Lucia. She had several more visions of Our Lady. Lucy died on Feb. 3, 2005 at the age of 97.

During the apparitions in Fatima three secrets were revealed to the children.

1.  After being promised they would go to heaven the children saw a vision of hell which was filled with fire and demons.

2.   Mary instructed the children how to save souls from Hell and convert the world to Christianity. She asked them to spread the devotion to the Immaculate Heart and to pray the Rosary. She asked them to pray for Russia.
3.   The children had a vision of the assassination of the Holy Father.

Many believe the third secret was a prophecy of the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II. Pope John Paul II canonized Francisco and Jacinta Marto on May 13, 2000.

Our Lady with children

If men knew the meaning of eternity,
they would do anything to mend their lives.

Quote of St. Jacinta of Fatima

February is the Month of the Passion of the Lord.

 

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Faith, Prayer, Saint of the Day, Spirituality

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Gertrude Caterina Comensoli, Feast Day Feb. 18

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St. Gertrude
The feast day of St. Gertrude Caterina Comensoli is celebrated on Feb. 18.

St. Gertrude was born in Biennio Brescia, Italy in 1837 into a large family. From early childhood she was always aware of the presence of God, especially in the Eucharist. She was drawn to prayer in the presence of the tabernacle. At the age of 15, Gertrude wanted to join the convent. Because of illness she was forced to wait. She worked as a domestic worker for a priest.

St. Gertrude was concerned about the transition of Italy’s rural society into an industrial one. She gained a private audience with Pope Leo XIII who encouraged her to do something which focused on the education of young women.

On Dec. 15, 1882 she founded the Congregation of the Sacramentine Sisters of Bergamo. It’s focus was on adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and education. The sisters committed their lives to prayer and helping those who were most in need.

St. Gertrude died of natural causes while praying in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in 1903.

 

Arm yourself with prayer rather than a sword,
wear humility rather than fine clothes.

Quote of St. Dominic; Feast day August 8

 

February is the Month of the Passion of the Lord

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