The feast day of St. Hyacintha is celebrated on January 30.
St. Hyacintha was born near Viterbo, Italy in 1588. Her father was a count and her mother was from a Roman family. Her birth name was Clarice.
Clarice entered the convent of the Tertiearies at Virterbo as a Third Order Franciscan Sister. However, she did not in the beginning embrace the love of poverty which St. Francis called for. She supplied herself with material goods to live life in comfort. When she became seriously ill a confessor brought her Holy Communion to her room. When he noticed her material possessions he advised her to live more humbly. Hyacintha rid herself of her fine clothes and special foods. She began to live a simple life which included penances. She developed a special devotion to the sufferings of Christ and inspired others by her acts of penance. She had a special devotion for Mary, the Mother of Mercy.
St. Hyacintha died at the age of 55 in 1640. Many miracles were reported at her grave site. She was canonize by Pope Pius VII in 1807.
The feast day of St. Angela Merici is celebrated on Jan. 27. St. Angela is the patron saint of the sick and disabled.
St. Angela Merici was born in 1474. She lived primarily in Brescia, Italy. Her parents read to Angela when she was young, teaching her about the saints and martyrs. She lost both of her parents when she was about ten years old. She also lost her sister to death. They were quite close and her grief was great. It was made worse because her sister had not received the Last Sacraments. In spite of being reassured by the parish priest concerning her sister’s salvation, Angela prayed to Jesus for consolation. She experience a vision of a company of Angels surrounding her sister, escorting her to Heaven. She no longer had any doubt about her sisters entry into heaven.
On a trip to the Holy Land St. Angela became blind. She refused to end the pilgrimage, continuing to visit the shrines and praying with enthusiasm. On the return trip her vision was restored while praying before a crucifix.
St. Angela became a member of the Third Order of St. Francis and served the marginalized, the poor, the orphans and the sick. She had a special desire to educate the poor.
At the age of 57, Angela organized twelve girls to help her teach catechism. The group grew to 28 and they formed The Company of Saint Ursula. It was named after St. Ursula who was an early martyr and patron of education and the youth. They later became known as the Ursulines. It was the first group of women religious to work outside the cloister and the first teaching order of women. The order impressed many people with its work including Pope Clement. He requested that she take charge of a religious order of nursing sisters, however she turned him down. She knew her calling was to teach the poor and uneducated.
After her death on Jan. 27, 1540, the Company of Saint Ursula spread rapidly.
The feast day of St. Marianne Cope is celebrated on Jan. 23. St. Marianne Cope was the first Franciscan woman from North America to become a saint. St. Marianne Cope is the patron saint of outcasts.
The birth name of St. Marianne Cope was Barbara Koob (now officially Cope) She was born on Jan 23, 1838 in SE Hessen, West Germany. She was one of ten children. Her father was a farmer. The family moved to the United States one year after her birth.
Her vocation to the religious life was delayed by the necessity to support her family when her father became ill. At the age of 25, Barbara entered the Sisters of St. Francis in Syracuse, New York. She received her religious habit and the name of Sister Marianne. She served as a teacher and principal in several elementary schools in New York. She also helped establish two of the first hospitals in central NY. In 1870, she became a nurse administrator at St. Joseph’s in Syracuse, NY.
In 1882, a priest requested help managing hospitals and schools in Hawaii; primarily working with leprosy patients. She responded to his letter with the following words.
“I am hungry for the work and I wish with all my heart to be one of the chosen ones, whose privilege it will be to sacrifice themselves for the salvation of the souls of the poor Islanders…I am not afraid of any disease, hence, It would be my greatest delight to minister to the abandoned lepers.”
Along with six other sisters of St. Francis, she arrived in Honolulu in Nov. 1833. Mother Marianne was the supervisor as they managed Kakóako Branch Hospital on Oahu which treated 200 leprosy patients. They began by thoroughly cleaning the hospital. They also opened a home for the healthy daughters of the patients who were ill. Mother Marianne met Fr. Damien (now St. Damien…the Apostle to Lepers) in January 1884 while he was still healthy.
In 1887 the new government in charge of Hawaii closed the Hospital. In 1888, she went to Kalaupapa several months before the death of St. Damien. She reassured him she would provide care for the patients at the Boy’s Home at Kalawao on the Island of Molokai. Three Sisters ran the Bishop Home for boys and girls.
Mother Marianne died in Hawaii of natural cause on August 9, 1918 and is buried on the grounds of Bishop Home. The Saint Marianne Cope Shrine and Museum was built to honor her memory.
Mother Marianne was beatified on May 14, 2005 by Pope Benedict XVI. St. Marianne Cope was canonized on Oct 21, 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI.
“I am not thinking of reward. I am working for God and do so cheerfully.“
St. Berard was born at Carbro, Umbria, Italy. He became a Franciscan monk at the time of St. Francis in 1213. He spoke Arabic.
St. Francissent him and other Franciscans to preach to Muslims in Morocco, (Peter Otho, Accursius, and Adjutus). When they arrived they began preaching in the marketplace. They were immediately arrested and told to stop. They refused which resulted in them being beaten.
After refusing to renounce Christ, the sultan beheaded them on January 16, 1220. They are believed to be the first Franciscan martyrs. After viewing their relics, Anthony of Paduadecided to join the Franciscans.
St. Berard was canonized in 1481 by Pope Sixtus IV.
Watch, dear Lord, with those who wake
or watch or weep tonight, and give your angels
charge over those who sleep. Tend your sick ones,
O Lord Jesus Christ, rest your weary ones,
bless your dying ones, soothe your suffering ones,
The feast day of Bl. Eurosia is celebrated on January 9.
Bl. Eurosia was born in Quinto Vicentino, Italy in 1866. Her parents were farmers. She was called Rosina by her family. At age four they moved to Marola where she attended school for only two years before stopping to help with the farm work and domestic chores. She joined the Association of the Daughters of Mary and taught catechism. She had a devotion to the infant Jesus, the Eucharist, the Virgin Mary and the souls in purgatory.
After the death of a neighbor, Rosina began caring for the two children left with no mother. Eventually, she married the father, Carlo Barban. They had nine children, Bl. Eurosia became known as “Mama Rosa”. She became a member of the Franciscan Third Order. She was known for feeding the hungry and nursing the sick.
In Jan, 1932, Bl. Eurosia died surrounded by family.
“I want to spend my heaven in doing good upon earth.”
The feast day of St. Rose Phillippine Duchesne is celebrated on Nov. 18. St. Rose is the patron saint of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Missouri
St. Rose was born in Grenoble, France in 1769. She was drawn to the contemplative life. During the French revolution she spent her time nursing prisoners. She soon joined the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
During Eucharistic Adoration she experienced a vision where she was serving God in the New World. Twelve years later , at the age of 49, she moved to the United States. She was sent to the Louisiana Territory.
In Louisiana, she opened the first free school west of the Missouri River. By 1828 she had founded six houses. She worked among the Potawatomie Indians who named her Quah-kak-ka-num-ad, “Woman-Who-Prays-Always”.
St. Rose died at the age of 83 at St. Charles, Missouri on November 18, 1852.
St. Rose was Beatified by Pope Pius XII in 1940.
St. Rose was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1988.
Humility is the virtue that requires the greatest amount of effort.”
