Category Archives: Saint of the Day

patron saints, Pope, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Gregory the Great, Feast Day Sept. 3

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St. Gregory the Great Public Domain Image
St. Gregory the Great

The feast day of St. Gregory the Great is celebrated on September 3.

St. Gregory the Great was born in Rome, Italy around the year 550. He was born into a wealthy family. By the age of 23, he had become the prefect of Rome.  The following year his father died.  He decided to leave office and to become a monk.   St. Gregory is the patron saint of musicians, students, singer and teachers.

St. Gregory turned his family home into a monastery which he dedicated to St. Andrew.  He built six other monasteries on family land in Sicily and gave the remainder of his inheritance to the poor.  As a monk he devoted time to prayer, study and meditation.  He studied the writings of the Latin fathers.

After four years of prayer as a monk, Pope Pelagius II ordained Gregory a deacon and sent him to Constantinople.  He returned to Rome in 586 to serve Pope Pelagius until his death four years later.

Although Gregory was only a deacon he was elected Pope by popular acclaim.  His first act was to organize a three day penitential procession asking God to end the plague.  The plague ended after the procession reached the church of St. Mary Major.

As pope, Gregory negotiated for peace when the Lombards threatened Rome.

Over sixty of Pope Gregory’s sermons have survived, as well as over 80 letters he wrote.  He organized the liturgy and is given credit for the Gregorian Chant becoming popular.

Pope Gregory was well known for his compassion.  During a famine Pope Gregory ordered the church to use its assets to feed the poor.  He also ordered the clergy to go into the streets to help the poor.  If they did not they were replaced.

While Pope Gregory considered the Bishop of Rome to be the first among the bishops he also considered bishops to be equal.  Pope Gregory considered the Bishop of Rome to be likened to a final court of appeal.  He referred to himself as “the servant of the servants of God.”

Pope Gregory suffered from arthritis in his later years.   Pope Gregory was acclaimed a saint by popular decree.  St. Gregory the Great died on March 12, 604.

 

For it was not poverty that led Lazarus to heaven, but humility;  nor was it wealth that prevented the rich man from attaining eternal rest, but rather his egoism and his infidelity.

Quote of St. Gregory the Great

September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows

 

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Dominican Saints, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Ingrid of Sweden, Feast Day September 2

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St. Ingrid of Sweden
St. Ingrid of Sweden

 

St. Ingrid was born in Skanninge, Sweden in the 13th century.  Her spiritual directer was Father Peter of Dacia, a Dominican priest.

Ingrid married young.   However, she became a widow when her husband died.  After a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, she gave all her possessions to God and became the first Dominican Nun in Sweden.  She also founded the first Dominican cloister in Sweden.

St. Ingrid was known for her holiness.  When she died in 1282, many miracles occurred, causing a cult to form calling for her to be named a saint.  The canonization process was begun in 1405 but formal canonization never occurred.  She is regarded a saint by many and has her feast day listed on the liturgical calendar.

 

Why should we mourn when those who have left us have suffered no loss, but have rather gained all?  Instead of earthly life they have gained eternal life;  they have exchanged a house on earth for a heavenly mansion; in place of the world they have found God.

Quote of Bl. Ildefonso Schuster

 

September is the Month of Our Sorrowful Mother

 

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Faith, patron saints, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Giles the Abbot, Feast Day September 1

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St. Giles, Abbot Public Domain Image
St. Giles, Abbot

The feast day of St. Giles the Abbot is celebrated on September 1.   St. Giles is the patron saint of the mentally ill, the disabled, epileptics, childhood fears, and depression.

St. Giles was born into a noble family in Athens, Greece in the seventh century.  After the death of his parents, he distributed his inheritance to the poor.    He also became known for the gift of miracles and healing he had received.  Giles longed to live a life of solitude, serving God as a recluse, away from all the praise and fame of the world.

He left Greece, sailing for France.  Everywhere he lived he became known for his gift of miracles and healing.  He would have to flee once again to find a place to live in peace and solitude.  He first lived near the mouth of the Rhone River.  Later he lived near the river Gard and finally he lived in the diocese of Nimes.  His final dwelling place was deep in the forest in a cavern in  a rock.  He occupied his time in prayer, praising God and meditating.  He was a vegetarian, living on herbs and roots.  His only companion was a red deer, which provided him with milk to drink.

After several years of living in complete solitude, the King of France instituted  a great hunt near where Giles lived.  The hunters chased the deer which led them to the cave where Giles lived.  They shot an arrow into the cave, wounding the holy hermit.  They found him covered with blood with the deer lying at his feet.  When the king was told what had happened, he ordered him taken care of.  He came to see him offering him gifts.  St. Giles refused the gifts and the King’s request to leave his solitude. Before leaving the king asked if there was anything he could do for him, St. Giles said he would like a monastery built where they were standing.

St. Giles became the Abbot of the monastery which was soon built.  Several disciples joined him.  His fame continued to spread because of his gift of miracles.  The conversion of the King was one of these miracles.

St. Giles made a pilgrimage to Rome to see the Pope.  He requested a blessing for his community which embraced the Rule of St. Benedict. Not only did he receive a blessing but he received the gift of two beautifully carved doors of cedar wood for his church.

Many sinners were converted because of the prayers and miracles of St. Giles.  St. Giles died on September 1, 725.  The miracles which took place near his tomb were so many that soon after his death a town began to grown and was named Giles.

 

 

I praise

Your humility that consoles me

Your patience that shelters me

Your eternity that preserves me

and……Your truth that rewards me.

Quote of St. Thomas Aquinas;  Feast day January 28

 

September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows

 

patron saints, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Raymond Nonnatus, Feast Day August 31

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St. Ramond Nonnatus Public Domain Image
St. Ramond Nonnatus

The feast day of St. Raymond Nonnatus is celebrated on August 31.  He was born in Catalonia, Spain in 1204.  His mother died during childbirth prompting a delivery by caesarean section.  The name Nonnatus means not born.  St. Raymond is the patron saint of women in labor and the falsely accused.

Raymond felt great empathy for expectant mothers and is the patron saint of women in labor.  His father wanted him to take over the family farm.  He chose instead to become a priest, joining the religious order of Mercedarians.    The Mercedarians were dedicated to ransoming Christian slaves from the Moors who occupied most of Spain.

St. Raymond was sent to Algeria where he used his inheritance to ransom slaves.  When the money ran out, he traded his life for that of a slave.   He was imprisoned but succeeded in converting several of his jailers.  The Moors then bored holes in his lips and sealed his mouth shut with a padlock to prevent him from preaching!

St. Raymond was sentenced to death, however, the Mercedarians ransomed him home to Spain.  He was then given the title of Cardinal by Pope Gregory IX in 1239.  Soon after, he came down with a fever and died in Cardona.   He is often shown in art in the company of angels.  Many miracles were attributed to St. Raymond before and after his death in1240 at the age of 37.

 

You pay God a compliment by asking great things of Him.

Quote of St. Teresa of Avila;  Feast day October 15

August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

 

 

Faith, Saint of the Day, Spirituality

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Jeanne Jugan, Feast Day August 30

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St. Jeanne Jugan Public Domain Image
St. Jeanne Jugan

The feast day of St. Jeanne Jugan is celebrated on August 30.  She was born in 1792 in a small port town in the region of Brittany, France.

By the age of four her father had died at sea.  Her mother struggled to support her and her siblings.  She learned to knit and spin wool.  Eventually, she worked as a kitchen maid for a wealthy family.  Jeanne felt called to serve Christ while still in her teens.  She began by working in a local hospital.

At age 25, Jeanne joined the Third Order of St. John Eudes.  She worked as a nurse for six years but left for health issues.   Her spirituality focused on her devotion to Mary, her desire to be one with the poor and trust in Divine Providence.

Jeanne was sharing an apartment with an older woman and an orphaned younger woman.  One day, she met an elderly woman named Anne Chauvin.  Anne was blind, partially paralized and had no one to care for her.  She carried her home, up the flight of stairs to her apartment.  She gave her bed to Anne, deciding to sleep in the Attic.   By 1841, she had rented a room to provide housing for a dozen elderly people.  The next year, she acquired an unused convent which was able to house 40.  Many young women joined her to help.  The Community which she formed became known as The Little Sisters of the Poor.  Jeanne became known as Sister Mary of the Cross.

An ambitious priest eventually had her forced out of her leadership role and placed in retirement.  In retirement, Sister Mary continued to pray for the order which had 2400 members.  She was not known to be its foundress.  The priest was eventually disciplined and St. Jeanne Jugan acknowledged as the foundress.

St. Jeanne was considered a true friend of the poor.    She died in 1879 at the age of 86.  She was beatified by Pope John Paul II and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on Oct. 11, 2009.

 

What happiness for us, to be a Little Sister of the Poor!  Making the poor happy is everything!

Quote of St. Jeanne Jugan

August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

 

Faith, Martyr, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: Beheading of John the Baptist, Feast Day August 29

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Martyrdom of John the Baptist Public Domain Image
Martyrdom of John the Baptist

The Feast day of the Beheading of John the Baptist is celebrated on August 29.

 

John the Baptist is the last prophet proclaiming the coming of the Lord. We actually meet John when Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry,

“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.”( Luke1: 39)

John was actually about six months older than his cousin Jesus.

The next time we hear of John the Baptist he comes out of the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.  John  proclaimed:

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”(Matthew 3: 11)

In Matthew 3: 13,  Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying,

“I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

But Jesus answered him,

“Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.”

After Jesus had been baptized, the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of

Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist Public Domain Image
Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist

God descending like a dove and a voice from heaven said,

“This is my Son, the Beloved,

with whom I am well pleased.”

We learn in Mark 1:14 that it is after the arrest of John the Baptist by King Herod, that Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God and saying, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has come near, repent, and believe in the good news.”

Why was John arrested? The story is told in Mark 6: 17-29. John was arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married. John had said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”  Herodias harbored a grudge against him and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so because Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. On Herod’s birthday Herodias’ own daughter came in and performed a dance that so delighted Herod and his guests that Herod promised her whatever she requested. She went to her mother asking “What shall I ask for?” Herodias replied,

“The head of John the Baptist.” 

The girl hurried back to King Herod saying

“I want you to give me at once on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”

King Herod was distressed at the request, but because of his oaths in front of guest he did not wish to break his word to her. So he promptly dispatched an executioner with orders to bring back John the Baptists’ head. The head, on a silver platter, was given to the girl. In turn the girl gave it to her mother.

When the disciples heard about it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

John the Baptist is most remembered for his call to repentance and baptism. The following is one of his last statements before his death.

 

 

We are travelers, hastening to go back to our own country.

Quote of St. Leo the Great;  Feast day November 10

 

August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

 

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