St. Charles Borromeo was born into a noble family in 1528. He was the nephew of Pope Pius IV. When he was twelve he was sent to a Benedictine Abby to be educated. St. Charles Borromeo is the patron saint of catechists, catechumens and seminarians
St. Charles was an active leader in the Council of Trent. He was ordained a priest while the Council was in progress. That same year he became the Bishop of Milan. At the age of 22, he was named a Cardinal. While serving as the Cardinal of Milan, he enforced the decrees of the Council of Trent. He established seminaries and hospitals. During the plague of 1576, he worked with the sick and helped to bury the dead. For three months he fed 3000 daily with his own money. He founded a society for secular priests called the Oblates of St. Ambrosein 1578. It is now known as the Oblates of St. Charles.
St. Charles was very active in the Catholic Reformation, working to rid the church of corruption. He was the teacher and confessor to St. Aloysius Gonzaga.
St. Charles Barromeo died at the age of 46 in 1584.
“The candle that gives light to others must itself be consumed, Thus we also have to act. We ourselves are consumed to give a good example to others.”
St. Martin was born in Lima, Peru in 1579. He was the son of the governor of Panama. His mother Anna Martin was a freed black slave. St. Martin is the patron saint of social justice and barbers.
When he was 15, he became a Dominican Friar. He worked as a barber, farm laborer and in the infirmary. In the infirmary he cared for the sick. His medical knowledge regarding herbs was discovered and put to good use.
He begged from the rich to support the sick. His desire was to become a foreign missionary and earn martyrdom. Because this was not possible he offered his body to God. He received many spiritual gifts in return for his penances. Martin loved both humans and animals. He established an orphanage and children’s hospital. He also established a shelter for cats and dogs. He was a friend to St. Rose of Lima. St. Martin de Porres is the first black saint from the Americas.
St. Martin de Porres had many spiritual gifts. He had healing power and a prophetic gift. He could see into the future and read hearts. St. Martin died Nov. 3, 1639. His body is incorrupt.
Miracles were reported at his tomb.
St. Martin was canonized by Pope John XXIII in 1962.
The Solemnity of All Saints Day is also known as All Hallows Eve. It is celebrated on November 1 by Western Christianity. It honors all souls who have arrived in heaven. Many countries celebrate it as a national holiday. It is followed by All Souls’ Day on Nov. 2 in which Catholics pray for those still on their journey to heaven. This journey is known as purgatory. Catholics believe that life is a spiritual pilgrimage. Death is the beginning of our journey through purgatory to heaven. Purgatory is where a soul is prepared and purified to enter heaven.
A Saint is a person whose soul has arrived in its’ eternal home…heaven. The journey to heaven is not easy! We ask for the prayers of those in heaven to aid us on our journey to heaven.
True learning consists in the science of the saints: that is to say…..
The Feast Day of St. Quintin is celebrated on October 31. St. Quintin was also known as Quintinus. He was born in the third century in Rome, Italy. His father was a Roman senator.
St. Quintin converted to Christianity. He was a missionary who went to Gaul with St. Lucian of Beauvais. He won many converts with his preaching. In 286, he was arrested during the Marmian persecution. He was tortured and beheaded in 287 at Augusta, Gaul which is now Saint Quintin, France. His body was thrown into the river and then recovered and buried by the people he was instrumental in converting. His tomb was a site known for miracles.
“What you call folly is supreme wisdom. What is there wiser than to recognize the unique true God and to reject with disdain the counterfeits, which are mute, false and deceiving?
The Feast day of St. Alphonsus Rodriguez is celebrated on October 30. He was born in Segovia, Spain on July 25, 1532. His father was a wealthy merchant.
At the age of 14 Alphonsus’ father died. He left school to help his mother run the family business. When he was 23 he married. However, three years later his wife died during childbirth. Within the next several years his mother died as well as his three children. He also found it necessary to sell his failing business.
In response to his grief and suffering, Alphonsus turned to a life of prayer. He applied to become a Jesuit, (The Society of Jesus). He was denied entry due to lack of education. He returned to school and reapplied. In 1571 he was accepted as a lay Jesuit brother. He was sent to Montesione College on Majorca. He served as a doorkeeper for 45 years.
As doorkeeper, St. Alphonsus believed Christ was in every person at the door. He ministered to both the visitors and the students. He became friends with St. Peter Claverwho was a champion of slaves rights.
St. Alphonsus developed a method for finding joy in his hardships which followed him throughout his life into old age. He became a contemplative who meditated on the crucifix and the suffering of Christ. He stated that by bearing his suffering with prayer.
“I felt the grandeur of the Lord”.
“This I encourage myself to endure for love of the Lord who is before me, until I make what is bitter sweet. In this way, learning from Christ Our Lord, I take and convert the sweet into bitter, renouncing myself and all earthly and carnal pleasures, delights and honors of this life so that my whole heart is centered solely on God.
St. Alphonsus Rodriguez was canonized on September 6, 1887.
“Whenever you do anything, you must offer it to God, at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end.”
The Feast day of Bl. Maria Restituta is celebrated on October 29. She was martyred by the Nazis when she refused to remove crucifixes from the hospital walls.
Helen Kafka was born in Vienna, Austria in 1894. Her father was a shoemaker. Helen’s first job was that of a salesgirl. She then became an assistant caregiver at the Lainz public hospital. It was at the hospital that she met the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity. She joined the Order at the age of 20. She took the name Restituta who was a marty in the 4th century.
Sister Restituta became a surgical nurse in 1919 working at the Moulding hospital. After the Nazi invasion of the country she became an opponent of the Nazis. When they ordered her to remove all the crucifixes on the walls of the hospital, she refused. The Nazis then arrested her and charged her for “aiding and abetting the enemy in the betrayal of the fatherland and for plotting high treason”.
The last days Sister Restituta spent in prison were spent caring for other prisoners. Even the communist prisoners spoke highly of her. She was offered freedom if she left her religious order but she refused.
Bl. Maria was beheaded at the age of 48 on March 30, 1943 in Vienna. Pope John Paul II beatified her on June 21, 1998.
The Feast Day of St. Simon and St. Jude is celebrated on the same day…October 28. They were both Apostles and Martyrs. St. Simon is the patron saint of tanners. St. Jude is the patron saint of impossible causes.
St. Simon was the second Bishop of Jerusalem. He preached in Egypt and Persia with St. Jude where both suffered martyrdom.
There are two stories of his death. The first has him dying by crucifixion in Samaria. The second has him sawed in half in Persia.
St. Simon and St. Jude
St. Jude was the son of Cleohas, who died a martyr and Mary who stood at the foot of the cross. He was the brother of St. James the Lesser, and a cousin to Jesus. He was a fisherman. He is not to be confused with Judas Iscariot, who was a traitor. After the resurrection, Jude preached in Syria and Persia with St. Simon. He was a healer and an exorcist. He was beaten to death with a club then beheaded in Persia. His relics are at St. Peter’s Basilica, in Rome. As apostles, both St. Simon and St. Jude became close to Jesus. They truly believed he was the Lord. After the Resurrection Hey spent their life spreading the good news of salvation. Their martyrdom shows us the depth of their love for Jesus.
Come my light and illumine my darkness.
Come my Life and revive me from death.
Come my physidian and heal my wounds.
Come, Flame of Divine Love and burn up the thorns of my sins.
kindling my heart with the flame of thy love.
Come my King, sit upon the throne of my heart and reign there,
For you alone are my King and my Lord.
Prayer of St. Dimitri of Rostov; Feast Day October 28
The Feast day of St. Frumentius is celebrated on October 27. St. Frumentius was born in Lebanon. He helped bring Christianity to Ethiopia and is considered the patron saint of Ethiopia.
Around the year 330, Frumentius and his brother Aedesius took a voyage to the coast of Arabia. They were both students. On the trip home their ship docked at an Ethiopian port. A great riot occurred in which the natives massacred the crew and passengers. The only two to survive were the two brothers who were studying under a tree.
When they were found, they were taken to the king. He was so impressed with their knowledge that he made Aedesius his cupbearer, and Frumentius his secretary. Before the king died, he granted the two brothers liberty in gratitude for their service. The Queen, however, requested that they stay and help her. They agreed to do so.
Frumentius encouraged merchants to settle in the country by granting them privileges and freedom of worship. When the young prince became king the two brothers resigned their posts even though the young king wished them to remain. Aedesius returned to Tyre and was ordained a priest. Frumentius discussed his desire to help in the conversion of Ethiopians with St. Theodosius in Alexandria. He was consecrated bishop of Aksum to allow him to do this work in around the year 350.
He led many souls to the faith. He was known for miracles and his preaching. When he died around the year 383 he was reverently called Abuna which means Our Father and Aba Salama which means Father of Peace. To this day Abuna is the title of the primate of the Church of Ethiopia.
For whoever seeks God while wanting to hold onto his own likes and dislikes, may seek him night and day but will never find him.
Bl. Bonaventure was born Jan. 4, 1651 in Naples, Italy into a poor family. He studied Latin from a priest and became a Franciscanat the age of 15. He was sent to Amalfi to study and was ordained a priest.
As a priest Bl. Bonaventure was known for his simple but powerful sermons. When an epidemic broke out he served all who were sick without concern for his own health. He was known for miraculous cures. Bl. Bonaventure was a very effective priest. His humility was admired and his spirituality was focused on humility, service and obedience.
After 45 years of service as a priest he died from gangrene after asking for forgiveness for his faults. He was given a crucifix and died peacefully on October 26, after receiving the last sacrament.
Pope Pius VI beatified Bl. Bonaventure in 1775.
“No none has the right to sit down and feel helpless, there’s too much to do.”
The Feast Day of St. John Roberts is celebrated on October 25. He is considered one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales whose joint feast day is October 25.
St. John Roberts was born to John and Anna Roberts in 1575 at Trawsfynydd, Merionethshire, North Wales. He studied law. While traveling in Paris he converted to Catholicism. After studying at the English College at Vallodolid for a year he left to join the Abbey of St. Benedict. He was ordained a priest and soon traveled to England.
While in England, St. John Roberts was arrested several times. He returned to England and worked serving those afflicted by the plaque. He was arrested a second time in 1604 while traveling to Spain. Not knowing he was a priest he was soon released but he returned again. On Nov. 5, 1605, he was arrested again and imprisoned at Westminster for seven months and exiled in 106 for 14 months. He founded a house for English Benedictine monks during this time which eventually became known as the Monastery of St. Gregory.
Arrested again in 1607, he escaped after several months. Knowing he would be executed if caught again, he still returned to England. He was arrested on Dec. 2, 1610 as the Mass he was celebrating came to an end. When he refused to sign the Oath of Supremacy he was tried and condemned to death.
On Dec. 10, he was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn. His body disappeared during the French Revolution.
In 1970, St. John Roberts was canonized by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.
“Were I to live longer, I would continue to do what I have been doing.”
The Feast Day of St. Anthony Mary Claret is celebrated on October 24. He is the patron saint of educators, the Catholic Press and weavers.
St. Anthony Mary Claret was the Archbishop of the Diocese of the Canary Islands. With a group of five other priests he was the Founder of the Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, also known as the Claretians.
St. Anthony Mary Claret was born in Catalonia, Spain in 1807. At the age of twelve he became a weaver. He entered the seminary at Vic in 1829 and was ordained to the priesthood on June 13, 1835 on the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua, whom he was named after. He entered the Jesuit novitiate but had to leave due to his ill health.
St. Anthony Mary Claret was assigned to missionary work throughout Catalonia. In 1848 he was sent to the Canary Islands where he gave retreats for fifteen months. When he returned to Spain, he established the Congregation the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (The Claretians) on the feast of “Our Lady of Mt. Carmel“ (July 16, 1848).
He also founded the religious library at Barcelona called “Libreria Religiosa”. It is now known as “Libreria Claret). He was appointed Archbishop of Santiago, Cuba in 1849. Over 9,000 marriages were validated within two years of his arrival. He began a hospital and several schools. The first women’s religious institute in Cuba was begun by St. Anthony. It was known as the Religious of Mary Institute.
In 1857 he was recalled to Spain and he became the Confessor to Queen Isabella II. He became a resident of an Italian Hospice. Preaching everywhere he went, he also distributed books. Eventually, his life in danger, he went to France where he preached in Paris.
In 1869, he participated in the First Vatican Council. He had to withdraw due to poor health. He died on Oct. 24, 1870, at the age of 62 in a Cistercian monastery in France.
“The man who burns with the fire of divine love is a son of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and wherever he goes, he enkindles that flame. He desires and works with all his strength to inflame all men with the fire of God’s love. Nothing deters him, he rejoices in poverty, he labors strenuously, he welcomes hardships, he laughs off false accusations, he rejoices in anguish. He thinks only of how he might follow Jesus Christ and imitate him by his prayers, his labors, his sufferings, and be caring always and only for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.”
The Feast day of St. John Capistrano is celebrated on October 23. He is the patron saint of chaplains, military chaplains and judges.
St. John was born in 1386. He was the son of a German knight. He was well educated studying civil and church law. By the age of 26 he became governor of Perugia. When a battle broke out against the Malatestes he tried to broker peace. He became a prisoner of war. During his time in prison, he encountered St. Francis of Assisi in a dream and experienced a conversion. When released from prison he joined the Franciscansof Perugia. Four years later he was ordained a priest.
St. John Capistrano was known for his preaching. Great crowds gathered to hear him. He was instrumental in reviving the faith. He was a student of St. Bernadino of Sienawho introduced him to the devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus.
During the crusades he preached in Hungary. He visited the kings of Europe uniting them and their armies against invading forces. In 1456, he led a Christian army to Belgrade. When it appeared that they would be overpowered by the Muslims, he ran to the front line holding a crucifix crying
“Victory, Jesus, Victory!“
The Christian army won a great victory and Belgrade was freed from the siege. Several months later, St. John died at Villach in Austria after a painful infection. He was canonized in 1724.
The following quote is taken from the treatise written by St. John Capistrano called “Mirror of the Clergy”.
Those who are called to the table of the Lord must glow with the brightness that comes from the good example of a praiseworthy and blameless life. They must completely remove from their lives the filth and uncleanness of vice. Their upright lives must make them like the salt of the earth for themselves and for the rest of mankind. The brightness of their wisdom must make them like the light of the world that brings light to others. They must learn from their eminent teacher, Jesus Christ, what he declared not only to his apostles and disciples, but also to all the priests and clerics who were to succeed them, when he said: “You are the salt of the earth. But what if salt goes flat? How can you restore its flavor? Then it is good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
