Category Archives: Faith

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Peter Chrysologus, Feast Day July 30




St. Peter Chrysologus Public Domain Image
St. Peter Chrysologus

The feast day of St. Peter Chrysologus is celebrated on July 30. Peter was born around the year 400 in the small town of Imola, Italy.  He studied theology and was ordained a deacon by Bishop Cornelius. Bishop Cornelius was the local bishop of Imola and had also baptized him. Bishop Cornelius was Peter’s spiritual director teaching him the value of humility.

St. Peter embraced a simple life of prayer as a monk for many years. After the death of the Archbishop of Ravenna in 430, Peter traveled to Rome with Bishop Cornelius to see Pope Sixtus III. Tradition tells us that because of a vision the Pope overruled the choice for a new bishop and declared Peter the new Bishop of Ravenna.

Peter Chrysologus  was known as a good preacher. His sermons were short but inspirational and filled with zeal. As bishop he battled the heresy of monophysitism which denied the humanity of Christ. He insisted that Christ was both fully human and fully divine and supported the authority of the popes in teaching about the nature of Christ. He encouraged everyone to accept the mystery of the Incarnation with simple faith. He believed that learning was second only to virtue for improving the mind.

St. Peter Chrysologus died in 450 in the town of Imola. He was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XIII in 1729.

 

The Good Shepherd lowered His shoulders to carry back

to the fold of salvation the sheep who had been lost.

Quote of St. Peter Chrysologus

 

July is the Month of the Most Precious Blood



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Prayers, Quips and Quotes: Bl. Titus Brandsma, Feast Day July 27

Bl. Titus Brandsma Public Domain Image
Bl. Titus Brandsma

The feast day of Bl. Titus Brandsma is celebrated on July 27. His birth name was Anno Sjoera Brandsma. He was born on Feb. 23 in Fries land, Netherlands. Titus grew up in a small farming village. Bl. Titus knew from an early age that he had a religious calling. He applied to join the Franciscans but was turned down due to health. On Sept. 17, 1898 he joined the Carmelites. He took the name of Titus which was his father’s name. He took his first vows in 1899 and was ordained in 1904. Bl. Titus earned a Doctorate in Philosophy from the Roman Gregorian University.

Bl. Titus Brandsma taught at the Catholic University in Nijmegen. He was also a journalist and writer. He wrote against the Nazi propaganda which caused the Socialists to notice him. The Gestapo watched him closely after the invasion of the Netherlands. He was arrested on Jan. 19, 1931 for declaring Nazism was not compatible with the Christian faith. He was abused in prison for several weeks.

Bl. Titus Brandsma was deported to the Dachau concentration camp in June 1931. Although he was severely mistreated he asked fellow prisoners to pray for the guards. He wrote many reflections while in prison. When he was no longer able to work the Nazis used him for medical experimentation.

On July 26, 1931 Bl. Titus Brandsma was killed from a lethal injection. Before he died he gave his Rosary to the doctor who killed him. The nurse who assisted the doctor returned to the faith because of his witness to Christ.

St. John Paul II beatified Titus Brandsma on Nov. 3 1985.

 

They who want to win the world for Christ

must have the courage to come into conflict with it.

Quote of Bl. Titus Brandsma

 

July is the Month of The Most Precious Blood.

 

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Joachim & St. Anne, Feast Day July 26




St. Anne and St. Joachim Public Domain Image
St. Anne and St. Joachim

On July 26th the Catholic church will celebrate the feast day of Sts. Anne and Joachim. They are the parents of Mary and the grandparents of Jesus.  St. Anne and St. Joachim are the patron saints of parents and grandparents.

Although most of what we know about them is legendary, their names were passed down in the non-biblical Gospel of James. Tradition tells us they were wealthy but pious. St. Anne conceived late in life, after the appearance of an angel. The Angel promised them they would have a child. Anne promised to dedicate the child to God. The feast day of The Holy Family is celebrated the Sunday after Christmas.

We reflect on their feast day about the importance of family and love. Tradition also tells us that a church was built on the site of the home of St. Joachim and St. Anne at the Mount of Olives.

 

We are created in the image of God…

from the time there is conception there is the life of God…

that is why it is so wrong to destroy life,

to destroy the image of God.

Quote of St. Teresa of Calcutta; Feast day September 5

 

July is the Month of the Most Precious Blood.

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Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. James the Greater, Feast Day July 25




St. James the Greater Public Domain Image
St. James the Greater

On July 25, the Catholic Church will be celebrating the feast day of St. James the Greater. St. James was a fisherman and the brother of John. Peter was his partner. When they were called to become Apostles of  Jesus, they left everything to do so.  St. James the Greater is the patron saint of laborers and Spain.

There were two Apostles named James. James the Greater is the older of the two. He was also called “The Son of Thunder”.  James, John and Peter were honored to be the only Apostles present at the Transfiguration. They were also present in the Garden of Gethsemane while Jesus prayed before His death.

Tradition tells us he evangelized in Spain after the crucifixion for nine years. St. James the Greater was the first Apostle to be martyred. In the year 44, King Herod Agrippa killed him with a sword during the early persecutions of the Church.

 

Truly, matters in the world are in a bad state,

but if you and I begin in earnest to reform ourselves,

a really good beginning will have been made.

Quote of St. Peter Alcantara; Feast day October 19

 

St. James the Greater in Art

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Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. John Boste, Feast Day July 24




St. John Boste

St. John Boste is one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.  Their feast day is celebrated together on October 25.   The Feast Day of St. John Boste is celebrated on July 24, the anniversary of his death.

St. John Boste was born in Dufton Westmoreland in 1544.  He attended Queen’s College, Oxford.  He became the first headmaster to serve under Queen Elizabeth l.  He converted to Catholicism and was received into the Church in 1576.  After leaving England he was ordained a priest in Rheims in 1581.

St. John Boste returned to England as a missionary priest.  He evaded arrest for ten years.  After a betrayal, he was finally arrested.  He was found hiding behind a fireplace after celebrating a forbidden Mass.  He was taken to the Tower of London and interrogated on the rack.  He was then hung, drawn and quartered while reciting the Angelus prayer.

 

My function is to invade souls, not to meddle in temporal invasions.

Quote of St. John Boste

 

July is the Month of the Most Precious Blood

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Prayers, Quips and Quotes; St. Macrina the Younger, Feast Day July 19




St. Macrina the Younger
St. Macrina the Younger

The feast day of St. Macrina the Younger is celebrated on July 19.  She was born into a family of saints during the year 327 in Cesarea.  Her grandparents were martyrs.  Her grandmother was St. Macrina the Elder.  Her parents Basil the Elder and Emmelia are both saints.

Macrina’s mother taught her to read and educated her.  Macrina in turn taught her brothers to read.    Her brothers were St. Basil and St. Gregory of Nyssa and St. Peter of Sebastea.

At the age of twelve, Macrina became engaged to marry.  Her fiance died suddenly and she then decided to remain single.  She helped her mother raise her brothers as well as helping her mother run the household.

When Macrina’s father died, both Macrina and her mother consecrated themselves to a life of prayer and contemplation.

St. Macrina died  a peaceful death in 371 holding the crucifix which she always had near her.

 

My life is an instant, an hour which passed by.

My life is a moment which I have no power to stay.

You know, O my God, that to love you here on earth…

I have only today.

Quote of St. Therese of Lisieux

 

July is the Month of the the Most Precious Blood

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