Dec. 1…Bl. Charles de Foucould...France…Martyr…Patron Saint of diocesan priests
Dec. 2...St. Bibiana...Rome…Martyr
Dec. 3…St. Francis Xavier...Spain…Co-Founder of the Jesuits…Patron Saint of foreign missions…Incorrupt
Dec. 4…St. John Damascene...Demascus…Doctor of the Church St. Barbara…Patron against sudden death
Dec. 5…St.Sabas...Cappadocia….priest and monk
Dec. 6…St. Nicholas...Bishop of Myra…Patron Saint of children, sailors, and bakers.
Dec. 7…St. Ambrose…Bishop of Milan…Doctor and Father of the Church.,.Patron Saint of bee keepers
Dec. 8…Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary…Patron Saint of Brazil and the United States.
Dec. 9…St. Juan Diego…Mexico City…Visionary
Dec. 10…St. Gregory III...Syria…Bishop of Rome…
Dec. 11…St. Damasus I…Bishop of Rome
Dec. 12…Our Lady of Guadalupe...Mexico City…Patron Saint of the Americas.
Dec. 13…St. Lucy…Sicily…Patron Saint of the blind and visually impaired…Martyr
Dec. 14…St. John of the Cross...Spain…Mystic…Carmelite…Patron of mystics…Doctor of the Church
Dec. 15…St. Maria Di Rosa...Italy…Servants of Charity
Dec. 16…St. Adelaide...Burgundy…Patron Saint of abuse victims and brides.
Dec. 17…St. Olympias...Constantinople…widow and deaconess
Dec. 18…Bl. Anthony Grassi...Italy…Oratorian Father…
Dec. 19…St. Thomas De & Companions…Vietnam…Dominican…Martyr
Dec. 20...St. Dominic of Silos…Spain…Benedictine…Patron Saint of pregnant women, shepherds and prisoners
Dec. 21…St. Peter Canisius...Holland. and Germany..Jesuit priest…Doctor of the Church…Patron Saint of the Catholic Press,
Dec. 22…St. Flavian...Patriarch of Constantinople…Martyr
Dec. 23…St. John Cantius...Poland…Priest
Dec. 24…St. Emiliana & Tarsila..Italy…Sisters
Dec. 25…Feast of the Nativity…Birth of Jesus…Christmas
Dec. 26...St. Stephen…Disciple of Jesus…First Martyr
Dec. 27…St. John the Evangelist...Apostle…Patron of writers, editors, and publishers
Dec. 28…The Holy Innocents...Bethlehem…Martyrs
Dec. 29…St. Thomas Becket…Normandy…Archbishop of Canterbury…Martry
Dec. 30…St. John Alcober …Granada…China…Dominican Priest…Martyr
Dec. 31…St. Sylvester I...Bishop of Rome
October 1...St. Therese of Lisieux...France…Carmelite…Doctor of the Church…Patron Saint of florists, missionaries, pilots and against tuberculosis
October 2…Feast of the Guardian Angels
October 3…St. Theodore Guerin…France and United States..Patron Saint of the Diocese of Lafayette, Indiana…Sisters of Providence
October 4…St. Francis of Assisi…Italy…Founder of Franciscans…Patron Saint of the environment, peacemakers, and animals.
October 5…St. Faustina...Poland…Apostle of Mercy…Visionary
October 6…St. Bruno...Germany…Founder of Carthursian Order
October 7…Feast of the Most Holy Rosary...Devotion begun by St. Dominic
October 8…Bl. Ambrose of Sienna...Dominican…Peacemaker
October 9…St. Denis & Companions...Italy…Bishop of Paris…Martyr…Patron Saint of France and against headaches
October 10…Bl. Mary Angela...Poland…Congregation of the Sisters of St. Felix of Cantalice
October 11…St. John XXIII...Italy…Bishop of Rome…Franciscan
October 12…Bl. Maria Teresa …Fasce…Italy…Augustinian
October 13…Bl. Alexandrina Mariada Costa...Portugal… Patron Saint of the bedridden and paralyzed.
October 14…St. Callistus I...Bishop of Rome…Martyr
October 15…St. Teresa of Avila...Spain…Carmelite mystic…Patron Saint against headache
October 16…St. Margaret Mary…France…Apostle of the Sacred Heart…
October 17…St. Ignatius of Antioch…Bishop of Antioch…Church Father…Martyr
October 18…St. Luke…Disciple of Jesus…Patron Saint of physicians and surgeons
October 19…St. Laura of Cordoba…Spain…Widow and Martyr
October 20…St. Paul of the Cross...Republic of Genoa…Founder of Passionist Order…
October 21…St. Gaspar of Bufalo…Rome…Missionaries of the Most Precious Blood
October 22…St. John Paul II…Poland…Bishop of Rome…Patron Saint of youth.
October 23…St John of Capistrano...Franciscan…Patron Saint of chaplains, military chaplains and judges.
October 24…St. Anthony Mary Claret...Archbishop of Canary Islands…Patron Saint of educators, the Catholic Press and weavers
October 25…St. John Roberts…England…Benedictine…Martyr…Founder of Claretians…Archbishop of Canary Islands
October 26…Bl. Bonaventura of Poternza…Italy…Franciscan
October 27...St. Frumentius…Lebenon…Bishop of Axsom…Ethiopia
October 28…St. Simon & St. Jude...Apostles…Martyrs..Patron Saint of impossible causes.
October 29...Bl. Maria Restituta...Austria…Franciscan Sister…Martyr
October 30…St. Alphonsus Rodriguez...Spain…Jesuit Brother
October 31…St. Quintin…Italy…Missionary…Martyr
Prayer for Peace and Healing
May I be at Peace
May my heart remain open.
May I be aware of my true nature.
May I be healed.
May I be a source of healing for others.
May I dwell in the
Breath of God.
O Blessed Jesus,
give stillness of soul in You.
Let Your mighty calmness reign in me.
Rule me, O King of Gentleness, King of Peace.
And I saw a river over which every soul must pass to reach the Kingdom of Heaven, and the name of that river was suffering.and then I saw a boat which carried souls across the river, and the name of that boat was Love.
May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received and pass on the love that has been given to you.;
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, prais and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.
Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Prayer for Peace of Mind
Fortify me with the grace of Your Holy Spirit and give Your peace to my soul that I may be free from all needless anxiety, solicitude and worry.
Help me to desire always that which is pleasing and acceptable to You so that Your will may be my will.
I pray for Your healing touch upon my body, mind and spirit.
I beg You to remove any fear or anxiety.
Fill me with the Peace that You alone can give.
I place myself completely in Your hands.
O my Lord Jesus, trusting in Your care and love for me, may my recovery be swift, my strength be renewed, and my health restored.
I lift up all my afflictions in Your hands, Lord, for You are the Divine Healer with Divine Mercy.
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I put my trust in You.
Amen.
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
The feast day of St. John of the Cross is celebrated on December 14. Because of his mystical writing, he is called the Mystical Doctor. He is one of the 35 Doctors of the Church. He is the patron of mystics.
Juan de Yepes Alvarez was born in Spain in 1542. His father was disowned by the family when he married a weavers’ daughter. His father died soon after his birth. Most of Juan’s childhood was spent in poverty. As a teenager, Juan worked in a hospital caring for the terminally ill and mental patients.
At the age of 21, Juan became a brother in the Carmelite Order. He went for higher studies in Slamanca and was ordained a priest, taking the name of John of the Cross at age 25. He soon met St. Teresa of Avila, a Carmelite nun, who convinced him to help her in the work of reforming the Carmelite Order. There was great resistance to the reforming of the order to a more prayerful life. Those against the reform actually kidnapped him. They held him prisoner for over nine months in a small cell, six by ten feet wide. He was beaten often. During this time of trial, St. John of the Cross became very close to God, spending his time writing his mystical poetry. He eventually escaped using a rope made of strips of blankets to climb out the window. The only thing he took with him was his writings. John hid in a convent infirmary where he read his poetry to the nuns. From this period on he shared his experience of God’s love.
St. John of the Cross wrote many books including:
In 1579, he became Rector of Colegio de San Basilio, continuing his writing ministry. He is known for a spirituality which believes in the prayer of detachment. His spirituality also focused on joining our suffering to the Paschal Mystery (the death and suffering of Jesus Christ). He taught that the Cross leads to resurrection, agony to ecstasy, darkness to light, abandonment to possession, denial of self to union with God.
St. John of the Cross died of fever caused by cellulitus. He was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726. His feast day is Dec. 14, the day of his death and entry into heaven.
“Live in the world as if only God
and your soul were in it;
then your heart will never be made
captive by any earthly thing.”
Quote of St. John of the Cross
December is the Month of the Divine Infancy
