St. Thomas Villanova Dividing His Clothes by Murillo
The feast day of St. Thomas of Villanova is celebrated on September 22. He served as the Bishop of Valencia for 11 years.
St. Thomas of Villanova was born in Fuenlana, Spain in 1488. He was very generous to the poor and needy from a very early age. He was known to give his clothes to those less fortunate. At the age of 16 he entered the University of Alcala. When his father died he gave away his inheritance to feed unmarried women. He finished his studies in theology at Alcala and then became a Professor of Philosophy and Theology. He joined the Hermits of St. Augustine becoming well known for his holiness and generosity. He was ordained a priest of the order in 1518.
St. Thomas was chosen to be Archbishop of Granada but turned down the position. Out of obedience to his superiors he accepted the position of Bishop of Valencia. He served as bishop for eleven years. While serving the people of Valencia he founded two colleges and built a hospital. His love of the poor inspired him supply food for those who were hungry. He was given the gift of healing, miracles and conversion of sinners.
St. Thomas of Villanova died of Angina Pectoris at the age of 67 in 1658. Miracles were attributed to him before and after his death.
Pope Alexander VII canonized St. Thomas of Villanova in 1658.
Sept. 21 is the feast day of St. Matthew the Apostle. The Catholic Church will be celebrating his life and martyrdom during the holy Mass. St. Matthew is the patron saint of accountants and bankers.
St. Matthew is also known as “Levi”. Matthew was a tax collector by trade. Tax collectors were despised by most of the people. He was called by Jesus to be one of the twelve Apostles.
The Apostles lived and traveled with Jesus during the three years leading up to his crucifixion. After the crucifixion they received the Holy Spirit at Pentecostand began to spread the “Good News” of salvation.
It is believed that St. Matthew is the author of the first gospel. This gospel was written in Aramaic, which was the language of the Hebrew people. The Gospel of Matthew is referred to as the “teaching gospel”. It contains most of the parables of Jesus and the Beatitudes, which were given to us by Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount.
After the death and resurrection of Jesus, Matthew is believed to have preached in Ethiopia. Reports of his martyrdom vary greatly. It is not known if he was burned, stoned, beheaded or killed with an ax. However, the Church considers him to be a martyr who died for the faith. Traditional prayer:
Glorious St. Matthew, in your Gospel you portray Jesus as the longed-for Messiah who fulfilled the Prophets of the Old Covenant and as the new Lawgiver who founded a Church of the New Covenant. Obtain for us the grace to see Jesus living in His Church and to follow his teachings in our lives on earth so that we may live forever with him in heaven.
Acquire the spirit of peace and thousands around you will be saved.
Quote of St. Seraphim of Sarov; Feast Day February 5
The martyrdom of 103 Koreans is celebrated on September 20.
For over 100 years the Christians in Korea practiced their faith in secret. The government of Korea was based on Confucianism and believed that Christians were a threat to the government.
The first known martyrs are Paul Youn and James Kouen. They were martyred after refusing to offer sacrifice on the death of a relative.
Over the next 100 years over 10, 000 Korean Christians were tortured and executed.
On May 6, 1984, in Seoul, Pope John Paul IIcanonized 103 of the martyrs. Their feast day is celebrated on September 20.
Martyrdom is the heroic act of love.
Quote of St. Just Bretenie’res……Korean Martyr; Feast Day March 7
On Saturday, Sept. 19, a globe of light opened to reveal a beautiful woman seated on a stone. The woman appeared to two shepherd children in Salette, France. The apparition was approved and is celebrated on September 19.
The children’s names were Melanie Calvat, age 15, and Maiximin Graud, age 11. The woman was gently crying and asking for the people and the priests to repent of their sins. She called for penance.
Our Lady was tall, wearing a pearl studded dress and white shawl with a tiara on her head. A crucifix was hanging from her neck. She seemed to be made of light. As she talked to the children she warned of coming war and famine.
Our Lady asked the children to pray day and night for the salvation of the world.
Our Lady of La Salette warned of chastisements that would fall upon humanity if they didn’t change their ways. Before ascending into heaven she urged the children to pray more and gave each of them a secret that was revealed to Pope Pius IX in 1851 concerning threats to the church and to the world.
While Our Lady’s message focused on conversion and penance she also gave the children a message of hope regarding the power of prayer saying:
“if they are converted, the stones and rocks will change into mounds of wheat, and the potatoes will be self-sown in the land”,
After the apparition many people made amends for the wrongs they had done. Miracles began occurring at the site, as people were cured over various ailments from water from the spring there within weeks of Our Lady’s appearance. The Church officially approved of this apparition (deeming it worthy of belief) after much investigation and debate in 1851. Construction of a church at La Salette began in 1852 and was completed in 1865. It was designated as the Basilica of Our Lady of La Salette in 1879.
Pope John Paul II made the following comment on the Apparition of La Salette:
“In this place, Mary, the loving Mother appeared manifesting her pain for the moral evil caused by humanity. Her tears help us to understand the seriousness of sin and the rejection of God, and at the same time it is a manifestation of the passionate fidelity that her Son has for each person, even though His redemptive love is marked by the wounds of treason and abandonment by men.”
Of all the virtues of the Virgin Mary, the most admirable is her great humility; it is a virtue of which we ourselves have a great need.
Quote of Bl. Alphonsus de Orozco; Feast Day September 19
The feast day of St. Joseph of Cupertino is celebrated on September 18. St. Joseph of Cupertino is the patron saint of air travelers, pilots, astronauts, and those with learning disabilities.
St. Joseph of Cupertino was born on June 17, 1603 in Puglia, Italy. His father died before he was born leaving his mother destitute. He was born in a stable. As a child he was a slow learner, probably having a learning disability. When he was 17 he was denied acceptance to the Order of the Friars Minor Conventuals due to lack of an education. He was however, accepted into the Capuchins at Martino near Cupertino. He gardened, tended the animals and worked in the kitchen.
Because of his learning disabilities St. Joseph could only study small amounts of material at a time. He then prayed to remember the material for the test. St. Joseph was ordained in 1628.
St. Joseph was a mystic with the gift of miraculous levitation and visions. Anything religious could cause him to levitate. During prayer he was known for his ecstasies and suddenly levitating. The first time levitation occurred was on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, October 4 1630. During the procession he suddenly rose into the sky and hovered over the crowd. He was so embarrassed he fled and hid. The levitation happened so often he earned the title “The Flying Saint”.
The most famous act of levitation occurred while he was in the presence of Pope Urban VIII. He was filled with reverence and immediately was lifted into the air. During the Inquisition he was confined for several weeks but released. Crowds tried to meet him until he was place in seclusion…unable to speak to anyone other than the bishop the vicar general of the Order, his fellow friars and a doctor if needed.
After his death on Sept. 18, 1663, great crowds of people attended his funeral. Pope Clement XIII canonized St. Joseph of Cupertino on July 16, 1767.
A movie has been made of his life named A Reluctant Saint. St. Joseph of Cupertino is the patron saint of air travelers, pilots, astronauts, and those with learning disabilities.
“The fullness of joy is to behold God in everything.”
Quote of St. Catherine of Genoa; Feast day September 15
The feast day of the Stigmata of St. Francis is celebrated on September 17.
What is a stigmata? A stigmata is the spontaneous appearance of the wound marks of Jesus Christ on a person’s body. St. Francis is the first known saint to receive the stigmata.
St. Francis was born in 1181 in Assisi, Italy. His father was Pietro di Bernardone, a wealthy cloth salesman. Francis was indifferent to school. He enjoyed good times with his friends. He was attracted to the military and was a prisoner of war for two years. After returning home he experienced a profound conversion after having a dream. Christ appeared and spoke to St. Francis in a vision in the chapel at San Damiano. He said
“Francis go out and build up My house, for it is nearly falling down.”
St. Francis took these words literally and began to repair the old chapel. St. Francis embraced poverty, founding the Order of St. Francis after living for a time as a hermit. He had a strong devotion to the cross and to the Eucharist. He served the poor and the sick, caring for the lepers who were suffering at that time.
On Sept. 14, 1224, St. Francis was just beginning the second month of a retreat in honor of St. Michael the Archangel. He was fasting for 40 days. Near the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, St. Francis experienced a vision in which a seraph with six wings appeared. The figure not had wings but also showed signs of being crucified. While contemplating the crucifixion of Christ, St. Francis experienced joy mingled with pain. The vision of Christ nailed to a cross touch his soul with compassion. The vision vanished but St. Francis was left with marks on his own body as if had been crucified. His hands and feet now had nail wounds. His right side had a wound as if it had been pierced and frequently it bled.
At first St. Francis tried to conceal the wounds which were real and painful. Eventually he revealed them publicly, saying;
“Nothing gives me so much consolation as to think of the life and passion of our Lord.”
While St. Francis of Assisi was the first saint to receive the stigmata, currently 62 Saints and Blesseds have been known to receive the stigmata. St. Catherine of Siena(1380) and Padre Pio (1918) are only two of the many who have received this grace.
The stigmata is a considered a supernatural sign that a person has united their suffering with that of Christ. The suffering of Christ during His Passion is called redemptive suffering. When we join our suffering to His (no matter how small our suffering is in comparison) we are participating in the Passion of Our Lord. Our suffering can be beneficial to the salvation of others. The sign of the stigmata shows us that our suffering has a purpose. It unites us to Our Lord Jesus Christ.
May I feel in my soul and in my body, as much as possible, that pain which You, dear Jesus, sustained in the hour of Your most bitter Passion. May I feel in my heart, as much as possible, that excessive love with which You, O Son of God, were inflamed in, willingly enduring such suffering for us sinners.
