The feast day of St. Stephen is celebrated on December 26. He was a disciple of Jesus.
St. Stephen is believed to be one of the 72 original disciples of Our Lord. After the ascension of Jesus he became one of the first seven deacons of the Catholic Church. He is considered the first to be martyred for the faith. In the book of Acts:6 we learn the story of the plot against St. Stephen. He was accused of blasphemy against the Jewish temple. This resulted in him being condemned and then stoned to death. Before his death he cried out to the Lord to forgive those persecuting him.
Look! I see an opening in the sky, and the Son of Man standing
at God’s right hand…Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
The feast day of St. Emiliana and Trasila is celebrated on December 24. They were both Aunts of St. Gregory the Great.
St. Gregory the Great’s father had three sisters, Emiliana, Trasila and Gordiana. Gordiana eventually married. Trasila and Emilana lived in their father’s house living a life of prayer. They lived as if in a convent, praying many hours with joy and peace. They both made great spiritual progress.
Tarsilla had a vision of her great grandfather inviting her to join him in heaven. She died on Dec. 24th. This left her sister in grief on Christmas day. However, Tarsilla appeared to Emiliana several days after her death, asking her to celebrate Epiphany with her in heaven. Emiliana died on the eve of Epiphany, Jan. 5.
The feast day for both St. Emiliana and St. Tarsilla is celebrated on Dec. 24.
“Since I began to love, love has never forsaken me. It has grown to its own fullness within my innermost heart.”
Quote of St. Catherine of Genoa; Feast Day September 15
The feast Day of St. John Cantius is celebrated on December 23. He was a priest in Poland.
St. John Cantius was born in 1397 in the Polish town of Kanty. He is also known as St. John of Kanty. He studied at a university in Krakow, Poland. After being ordained a priest, he was offered a position as rector of a school in Miechow. During this time he studied the writings and spirituality of St. Augustine. In 1429, he returned to Krakow, accepting a position in the Philosophy Department at Jagiellonian University. Eventually, he became the head of the Philosophy Dept. then the directorship of the University’s Theology Department.
St. John led a very austere life. He kept only what he absolutely needed, sleeping little and on the floor. He ate very little, consuming no meat. He was known for his kindness and generosity and was taken advantage of because of it. St. John had an affinity to the less fortunate and to the students.
At the time of his death in 1472, he was beloved and considered a holy man. Veneration began immediately after his death.
Pope John Paul II had a devotion to this saint from Poland.
Fight all error, but do it with good humor, patience, kindness, and love. Harshness will damage your own soul and spoil the best cause.
The feast day of St. Flavian is celebrated on December 22.
St. Flavian became the Patriarch of Constantinople after the death of Patriarch Proclus. It was a time of great turmoil in the church. St. Flavian convened a Local Council at Constantinople to discuss the heresy of Eutyches, which believed Jesus was Divine but not human.
When Eutyches persisted in his belief, he was excommunicated from the Church. Chrysathius, a friend of Eutyches, defended him and won his equital and the condemnation of Patrizrch Flavian.
Flavian suffered sever beatings and then he was chained and sentenced to banishment.
The Catholic Church celebrates Christmas for twelve days.
While the Nativity of Our Lord is celebrated Dec. 25, the Twelve days of Christmas begins on Christmas Day, Dec. 25(beginning at sundown), and ends at sunrise on Jan. 6, the Feast of the Epiphany. During the Christmas season the priest’s vestments are gold to symbolize the sacredness of the Christmas season. The change in the color of vestments indicates that Advent is over. During Advent, the priest’s vestments are purple to symbolize the holy season of waiting and prayer.
According to legend, the song The Twelve Days of Christmas was actually written by Jesuit priests in England during the sixteenth century. It was a time of persecution and the song was used to secretly teach basic facts regarding the Catholic faith. If someone studied all the items represented in the song they knew the basics of the catholic faith.
Each number had a secret meaning:
Twelve represented the twelve teachings mentioned in the Apostles Creed;
Five represented the first books of the Old Testament;
Four represented the four gospels;
Three represented the Trinity;
Two represented the two natures of Christ…human and divine;
and One represented Jesus himself, our Lord and our God.
The Pear Tree represented the cross we must carry when we follow Christ.
The Apostles’ Creed is a summary of the faith taught by the Apostles. When we pray the Apostles Creed we are professing our faith in the church begun by the Apostles.
The Apostles’ Creed
We believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.
We believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into hell.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
The holy catholic Church,
The communion of saints,
The resurrection of the body
and life everlasting. Amen
The Catholic Church has feast days throughout the year. Many of its feast days are in honor of the saints. The feast day given to a saint is usually the day he or she died and entered heaven.
Take a small amount of time each day during the twelve days of Christmas to meditate on the actual feast day we are celebrating.
The Holy Innocents are the innocent children murdered by King Herod after the Magi told him about birth of the new King of the Jews, called the Christ child. The little children were murdered in an attempt to find and murder Christ, “The King of the Jews”.
St. Anysia was a martyr in Greece. She lived from 284-309. She was killed with a sword after being accosted by a soldier. She used her wealth to help the poor.
The prayer of a good innocent,and obedient child is like dew from heaven falling upon his whole family.
St. Sylvester I was the Bishop of Rome. He died in the year 335 after helping to define doctrine at the Council of Nicea which proclaimed the Nicean Creed.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is the first native born American to be canonized. She lived in New York, dying in 1821. She is the Founder and first Superior of the Sister of Charity in the U.S.
“Be attentive to the voice of Grace.”
Quote of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
St. John N. Neumann
St. John N. Neumann; Feast Day January 5
St. John N. Neumann was born in Bohemia. He emigrated to the U.S. becoming a Redemptorist priest and the fourth Bishop of Philadelphia. He is the first American bishop to be canonized.
The Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the Three Kings following the star to visit Jesus. They brought the King of the Jews gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
The feast day of St. Peter Canisius is celebrated on December 21. He is the patron saint of the Catholic Press, a Jesuit priest and a Doctor of the Church.
St. Peter Canistius was born in Holland in 1521. He received his masters degree at the age of 19 from the University of Cologne. He studied art, law, and theology. He met Peter Faber, the first disciple of Ignatius, at a retreat. Soon after, he decided to become a member of the Society of Jesus, (the Jesuits). He was ordained in 1546. During the Council of Trent he was a delegate. St. Peter taught at several universities and established colleges and seminaries. He also wrote a catechism for lay people which was easy to understand. It was translated into twelve languages. He was an eloquent preacher, leading the counter reformation and renewing the faith in southern Germany. He also led reform in Austria, Bavaria and Bohemia.
After Mass one day, he received a vision of the Sacred Heart. Afterward, he offered his work to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Prior to his death he suffered from a paralytic seizure. He continued preaching and writing until his death on Dec. 21, 1597.
“Anyone who wishes to frolic with the devil cannot rejoice with Christ.”
The feast day of St. Dominic of Silos is celebrated on December 20. He is the patron saint of pregnant women, shepherds and prisoners. He was a Benedictine monk and priest.
St. Dominic of Silos was born in Navarre, Spain. around the year 1000. He was a peasant, shepherding his father’s flock. His love of solitude led him to become a Benedictine monk. He was ordained a priest becoming the Master of novices and prior. Because of his opposition to the annexation of the monastery land he was driven into exile.
St. Dominic turned to King Ferdinand I of Leon for aid. King Ferdinand found him refuge in the town of Silos in a decaying Abbey occupied by six monks. Dominic became the abbot of the community. He rebuilt the monastery both physically and spiritually. The monastery became a center of book design and scholarship Its proceeds were used for charity.
St. Dominic raised funds to ransom Christians taken prisoner by the Moors. The membership in the monastery increased to 40 monks.
St. Dominic died on Dec. 20. Many healings were reported at the monastery, especially regarding pregnancy. Almost one hundred hears after his death, Blessed Joan de Aza de Guzmán prayed at his shrine to conceive the child she named Dominic.
“Is it not reward enough to know that one is doing the will of God?”
Quote of St. Just Bretenie’res; Feast day September 20
The feast day of St. Thomas De and Companions is celebrated on December 19.
St. Thomas was a tailor in Vietnam who entered the Dominican Orderas a tertiary. He was arrested and charged with giving aid and shelter to foreign missionaries. He was strangled at the age of 26.
The companions of St. Thomas De were Dominic Uy, Augustine Moi, Xavier May and Francis Man.
Augustine was also a Dominican tertiary. He was a day laborer. He refused to trample a crucifix when he was ordered to do so. He was strangled.
Francis Xavier was a native catechist and was also strangled.
Francis Man was a Dominican Tertiary working as a catechist when arrested.
St. Thomas De and Companions were among the 117 Vietnamese martyrs canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1988.
The feast day of Bl. Anthony Grassi is celebrated on December 18. He was an Oratian priest and confessor.
Bl. Anthony Grassi was born in Ferma, Italy in 1592. His father died when he was only ten years old. From his father he received a devotion to Our Lady of Loreto. At the age of 17 he joined the Oratorian Fathers. Because of his impressive memory he was known as a “walking dictionary”.
Before he was ordained, Bl. Anthony suffered for a time from scruples, (fear of committing sin). However, while celebrating his first Mass this fear was lifted and replaced with serenity.
At the age of 29, while on a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Loreto, he was struck by lightning and it was believed he would die. He was temporarily paralyzed. When he recovered after several days, he realized he had been cured of his acute indigestion. In thanksgiving for his new life he made a yearly pilgrimage to Our Lady of Loreto, which was only twenty miles from the Oratory.
As a priest, his spiritual father was St. Philip Neri. They both had the gift of healing, and Bl. Anthony was credited with many healings before and after his death. Father Anthony became known as a good confessor, hearing confessions for 5-6 hours daily. Father Antony exercised his priestly ministry in instructing the ignorant, comforting the weak, visiting the sick and imprisoned, helping the troubled and encouraging youth in the ways of holiness.
Bl. Anthony died in1671 Antony was beatified by Pope Leo XIII on 30th September, 1900.
“Where there is no love, put love and you will find love.”
The feast day of St. Olympias is celebrated on December 17. She was a widow and deaconess from Constantinople.
St. Olympius was born in Constatinople in 368 into a wealthy family. She was left orphaned and raised by her sister Theodosia who was quite pious. She married at a young age to Nebridias who was the treasurer of the Emperor Theodosius the Great. He died only 20 days after their marriage.
Turning down several offers of marriage Olympius insisted on remaining single. She was consecrated a deaconess by the Bishop of Constantinople. With several other women she founded a community. They established a hospital and an orphanage. They also sheltered expelled monks from Nitria.
St. Olympius became a friend and disciple of St. John Chrysostom. When he was expelled in 404 from Constantinople she continued to support him. When she refused to support Arsacius and his successor Atticus, she was fined and persecuted. Her community disbanded, bringing to an end her charitable works.
St. Olympius died in exile in Nicodemia on July 25.
You will be consoled according to the greatness of your sorrow and affliction; the greater the suffering, the greater will be the reward.
Quote of St. Mary Magdalen dei Pazzi; Feast day May 25
The feast day of St. Adelaide is celebrated on December 16. She is the patron saint of abuse victims and brides.
St. Adelaide was born in 931 in Burgundy. Her marriage, at the age of 15 or 16 to Lothair, heir of King Hugh of Italy. was arranged by her father. Their union was unhappy but short due to his death three years later. Adelaide refused to marry the son of his successor, Berengar. She was imprisoned in an attempt to force a marriage. Adelaide escaped and requested aid from the Emperor Otto. She eventually married him. They had four children; the future Otto II and three daughters (two became nuns). Otto and Adelaide received the imperial crown from John XII.
After the death of Otto, her son Otto II succeeded him. He also died. Otto III, still a minor was entrusted the joint registry of his mother and grandmother. After he took full power, Adelaide devoted herself to pious works establishing many churches and monasteries.
The feast day of St. Mary di Rosa is celebrated on December 15. She founded the Handmaids of Charity of Brescia.
Paula Frances Mary di Rosa was born on Nov. 6, 1813 at Brescia, Italy into a wealthy family. Her mother died when she was eleven years old.
After being educated by Visitation Nuns, she returned home to manage her father’s estate. Having a great desire to enter the convent, she was inspired to volunteer at the Brescia hospital during the cholera outbreak in 1836. She also helped care for the spiritual needs of the girls working at her father’s mills and arranged retreats.
St. Mary di Rosa founded a home for girls and a school for deaf mutes. She founded a religious order called the Handmaids of Charity of Brescia. It was also known as the Servants of Charity. It began with four members and grew to twenty two. At this time, Paula took the religious name of Mary Crucifixa because of her devotion to the passion and crucifixion and suffering of Christ.
The Sisters ministered to the wounded on the battlefields of Northern Italy and in hospitals.
St. Mary di Rosa died peacefully at the age of 42 on December 15, 1855. She was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1954.
“I can’t go to bed with a quiet conscience if during the day I’ve missed any chance, however slight, of preventing wrongdoing or of helping to bring about some good.”
