Tag Archives: Benedictine

Feast Days and Saint of the Day; JUNE CALENDAR

 
Our Lady of Perpetual Help

 

June 1…..St. Justin MartyrPatron saint of philosophers…Martyr

June 2…..St. Erasmus...Martyr…Patron saint of sailors and against intestinal troubles

June 3…..St. Charles Lwanga & Companions...Uganda…Martyr

June 4…..St. Francis Caraciolo...Italy…Confessor

June 5…..St. Bonaiface...Apostle to the Germans…Martyr

June 6…..St. Norbet...Archbishop of  Magdeburg

June 7……St. Paul of Constantinople...Bishop of Constantinople…Martyr

June 8…...St. William of York...England…Bishop of York

June 9…...St. Ephrem of SyriaDeacon

June 10….Bl. John Dominic...Dominican…Italy

June 11……St. BarnabusFounder of the Cypriot Church

June 12…...St. Gaspar Bertoni...Italy…Priest

June 13…...St. Anthony of Padua...Portugal…Franciscan…Patron saint of sailors, lost articles and fishermen

June 14…...St. Elisha..Patron saint of Carmelite Order…Prophet

June 15……St. Germaaine of Pibrac...France…Incorrupt

June 16……St. John Francis Regis…Jesuit Priest…France

June 17…...St. Albert Chmielowski...Poland…Albertines

June 18…...St. Elizabeth of Schoenna…Germany…Benedictine…martyr

June 19……St. Romual...Italy…Monk

June 20…….St. Silverius...Bishop of Rome…Martyr

June 21…….St. Aloysius Gonzaga...Italy…Jesuit Deacon…Patron saint of youth and plague victims.

June 22……St. Thomas MoreEngland…Martyr…Patron saint of lawyers

June 23…….St. AudreyEngland…Incorrupt

June 24……..Nativity of St. John the Baptist...Cousin to Jesus…Martyr

June 25……. St. EurosiaFrance…Martyr…Patron saint against bad weather

June 26……..St. Josemaria Esccriva...Spain…Opus Dei

June 27………Our Lady of Perpetual Help...Crete…Icon

June 28………St. Irenaeus...Asia Minor…Church Father…Martyr

June 29……...St. Peter & St. PaulApostles…Martyrs

June 30………The First Martyrs of the Church of Rome

 

St. Peter and St. Paul…Apostles

 

 

 

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Peter Orseolo, Feast Day January 10




St. Peter Orseolo

The feast day of St. Peter Orseolo is celebrated on January 10.

St. Peter Orseolo married at the age of 18. He had one son. At the age of 20 he became the Commander of the Venetian Fleet and led them against Dalmatian pirates. After the revolution, he became a Doge (chief magistrate) in 976. He worked on restoring the city and began to rebuild the Church of San Marco. He also tried to help the widows and orphans and built hospitals. After two years of service as a Doge he joined the Benedictine Monastery in Southern France living the life of a hermit in the forest surrounding the monastery.

In 976, he decided to live a life of complete solitude, having contact only with God.

St. Peter Orseolo died in 987. His tomb became a site popular with pilgrims.

 

“Before all, and above all, attention shall be paid to the care of the sick, so that they shall be served as if they were Christ Himself.”

Quote of St. Benedict of Nursia

 

January is the Month of the Holy Name

 

 

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Dominic of Silos, Feast Day December 20




St. Dominic of Silos

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

 

December is the Month of the Divine Infancy

 

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Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. John Roberts, Feast Day October 25




Prayers, Quips and Quotes:

St. John Roberts, Feast Day October 25

St. John Roberts
St. John Roberts

 

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.”

Quote of St. John Roberts

 

October is the Month of the Most Holy Rosary

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Prayers, Quips and Quotes: Bl. Herman the Cripple, Feast Day September 25




Prayers, Quips and Quotes:

Bl. Herman the Cripple, Feast Day September 25

Bl. Herman the Cripple
Bl. Herman the Cripple

The feast day of Bl. Herman the Cripple  is celebrated on September 25.  He is the patron saint of the unborn child and the disabled.

Bl. Herman was  the son of the Earl of Altshausen in southern Germany.  He was born with a cleft palate, cerebral palsy and possibly spina bifida.  The doctors told his parents he would not live past five years of age.  He lived to be 41.

Herman had trouble with both moving and speaking.  His parents cared for him until the age of seven.  He was then given to the Abbey of Reichenau to be cared for.  The monks raised him in the Benedictine monastery where he became interested in theology and the spiritual world.  In spite of his disabilities, Bl. Herman was very intelligent.  He studied math, astronomy, theology, history, poetry , Arabic, Greek and Latin.  He built musical instruments and was known for his poetry.  At the age of 20 Herman became a Benedictine monk.

Towards the end of his life Herman suffered from blindness.  He began writing hymns.  The most famous are the Salve Regina, Hail Holy Queen and Redemptoris Mater.  Bl. Herman used prayer and music to grow closer to God.

Bl. Herman died at the age of 41 in 1054.  Because so many children with disabilities die because of abortion, Bl. Herman is the saint of the unborn child.  He is also the patron saint of the disabled.

 

Hail Holy Queen

 

Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy!   Our life, our sweetness, and our hope!

To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve.  To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.  Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us;  and after this, our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. 

O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.  Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Prayer of Bl. Herman the Cripple

September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows

 

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Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Feast Day August 20

 

Prayers, Quips and Quotes:

St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Feast Day August 20

St. Bernard of Clairvaux Public Domain Image
St. Bernard of Clairvaux

The feast day of St. Bernard of Clairvaux is celebrated on August 20.  He was born in a family castle in Dijon, Burgundy in 1090.  The family included six sons and one daughter.  He was raised by a pious French mother.  Bernard was also pious as a child, however the death of his mother caused a prolonged depression.

St. Bernard was drawn towards the Benedictine monastery at Citeaux.  One day, at the age of 19, he knelt and asked God for guidance.  All doubts vanished and he decided to follow the Cistercian way of life.  Bernard was so persuasive that 31 nobles, including his five brothers and two uncles, were convinced to follow him to Citeaux.

When they arrived at the monastery , Stephen Harding was the abbot and they were instructed,

“If you desire to live in this house, leave your body behind; only spirits live here.”

After living a year at the monastery, he made his profession and continued living a cloistered life away from the world.

The monks lived a very simple life.  The land was poor and they ate barley bread, herbs and some vegetables.  The number of monks grew to 130.  Eventually the monastery became known as Clairvzux.

St. Bernard suffered stomach problems but never complained.  At one point he was near death because he became so ill.  He was ordered to live apart from the community to recover his strength.  He lived on a special diet under a doctor’s care and returned to the monastery with improved health.

St. Bernard received the gift of miracles.  The first witnessed miracle happened while singing at Mass.  He restored the speech to a relative named Josbert de la Forte who was near death.  Many miracles were witnessed where Bernard healed the sick by making a sign of the cross over a person and praying.

Because his health was frail, he was directed to preach and write rather than work in the field.  He was an eloquent preacher.  He fought for reform in the church clergy.  St. Bernard became well known as an arbitrator and counselor.  He settled many disputes including intervening during a church schism.

St. Bernard preached during the Second Crusade throughout Europe.  When the Crusade failed, St. Bernard attributed the failure to the sins of the Crusaders.

St. Bernard was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1830.

Remember, O most loving Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession was left unaided.  Inspired by this confidence, we fly unto you, O virgin of virgins, our mother.  To you we come, before you we stand, sinful and sorrowful. 

O mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not our petitions, but in your mercy, hear and answer me.

Prayer of St. Bernard of Clairvaux

 

August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

 

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Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Benedict, Feast Day July 11

The feast day of St. Benedict is celebrated on July 11.  In the Eastern Church it is celebrated on March 14th.

St. Benedict was born in Nursia in 480 to upper class parents. He attended university in Rome. To escape the vice he was surrounded by he fled Rome and spent three years in seclusion. After these three years he founded the monasteries he is famous for.

St. Benedict is considered the founder of western monasticism. His monasteries were based on the principles in his book The Rule of Benedict. This book begins with this prologue:

“Listen carefully, my son, to the masters’ instructions and attend to them with the ear of your heart. (R.B. Prologue)”

St. Benedict Public Domain Image
St. Benedict
Public Domain Image

His rule begins with the word LISTEN! The monasteries have a very strict discipline. They focus on daily personal and liturgical prayer. Singing of the Psalms and reading the Divine Office is practiced daily. Listening to the word of God is the primary focus of their spirituality.  Lectio Divino is slow reading and meditation on the scripture. Benedictine spirituality also demands obedience, hospitality, and service.

St. Benedict died while standing in prayer before God in the year 547. St. Benedict is the patron saint of students and Europe.

 

Shatter all your temptations against Christ.

Quote of St. Benedict

July is the Month of the Most Precious Blood.

Prayers, Quips and Quotes Articles for the Month of July

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Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Camillus de Lellis, Feast Day July 18




St. Camillus Public Domain Image
St. Camillus

The feast day of St. Camillus de Lellis is July 18.

St. Camillus  was born on May 25, 1550 in Bucchianico, Abruzzo, Italy.  His mother died when he was a child and he received little attention.

As a teenager he was adventurous and a risk taker often losing his money and fighting.  During one fight he was wounded in his leg.  The wound did not heal but spread to his foot. It was during this time that his father also died.

Camillus continued to fight and gamble.  He became so destitute that he stopped at a church to request help.  Leaving the church, he met two monks.  He soon began working for a Capuchin monastery helping with construction projects.  After talking to a priest, he had a burning desire to become a Benedictine priest.  However, he was rejected due to lack of education.

At the age of 25, Camillus was admitted into a hospital for treatment of his leg.  To pay for the treatment he cared for the sick and dying in the hospital.  He was discharged form the hospital for gambling and fighting.  He decided to study to become a Benedictine, however his wound again needed treatment.  He returned to the hospital where he was hired to help reform the hospital.

At the age of 34 he became a priest and organized others to help.  They called themselves “Servants of the Sick.”

The Order of St. Camillus serves the sick and dying in 35 countries.  They care for both the physical and spiritual needs of the person in need.

 

It is always a feast where love is,

And where love is, God is.

Quote of Dorothy Day, Servant of God

 

July is the Month of the Most Precious Blood

Prayers, Quips and Quotes; St. Benedict, Feast Day July 11




 

St. Benedict Public Domain Image
St. Benedict
Public Domain Image

The feast day of St. Benedict is celebrated on July 11. In the Eastern Church it is celebrated on March 14th.

St. Benedict was born in Nursia in 480 to upper class parents. He attended university in Rome. To escape the vice he was surrounded by he fled Rome and spent three years in seclusion. After these three years he founded the monasteries he is famous for.

St. Benedict is considered the founder of western monasticism. His monasteries were based on the principles in his book The Rule of Benedict. This book begins with this prologue: “Listen carefully, my son, to the masters’ instructions and attend to them with the ear of your heart. (R.B. Prologue)”

His rule begins with the word LISTEN! The monasteries have a very strict discipline. They

St. Benedict Public Domain Image
St. Benedict
Public Domain Image

focus on daily personal and liturgical prayer. Singing of the Psalms and reading the Divine Office is practiced daily. Listening to the word of God is the primary focus of their spirituality. Lectio Divino is slow reading and meditation on the scripture. Benedictine spirituality also demands obedience, hospitality, and service.

St. Benedict died while standing in prayer before God in the year 547. St. Benedict is the patron saint of students and Europe.

 

 

Shatter all your temptations against Christ.

Quote of St. Benedict

July is the Month of the Most Precious Blood.




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Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Romuald, Feast Day June 19




St. Romuald Public Domain Image
St. Romuald
Public Domain Image

 

 

 

St. Romuald was born at Ravenna, Italy in 951. His feast day is celebrated on June 19.

As a young man he pursued the pleasures of the world. However, at the age of 20, he witnessed a duel between his father and a relative over property. His father killed the relative. St. Romuald fled to a Benedictine monastery to do penance as if he had committed the crime himself.

St. Romuald became a monk at the Basilica of Saint Apollinare in Classe. Wanting a stricter order he founded several monasteries of his own. When faced with temptation he always turned to prayer. His rule states,

 “Sit in your cell as in paradise. Put the whole world behind you and forget it. Watch your thoughts like a good fisherman watching for fish. The path you must follow is in the Psalms – never leave it.”

St. Romuald spent 30 years founding monasteries. His father eventually followed him and became a monk. When he wavered he had the encouragement of his son.

St. Romuald died in the year 1027.

 

I arise today through God’s strength to pilot me.

God’s wisdom to guide me, God’s eye to see before me.

God’s ear to hear me, God’s word to speak for me,

God’s hand to guard me, God’s way to be before me,

God’s shield to protect me, God’s host to secure me.

 

Quote of St. Patrick, Feast Day March 17

June is the Month of the Sacred Heart.

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Elizabeth of Schoenna, Feast Day June 18




St. Elizabeth of Schoenna
St. Elizabeth of Schoenna

The feast day of St. Elizabeth of Schoenna is celebrated on June 18.

St. Elizabeth was born in 1129 in Bonn, Germany. She was raised in a monastery and at the age of twelve entered a Benedictine Monastery. She made her profession in 1147 and became superioress of the Benedictine Nuns in 1157.

Elizabeth often had visions and ecstasies which occurred on Holy Days and Sundays. She wrote down her visions and after her death in 1165, the material was published by her brother Egbert who was a priest. The church has not examined her work and has not given an opinion.

Although she has never been formally canonized her name has been entered in the Roman martyrology.

To be ignorant of the Scriptures is to be ignorant of Christ.

Quote of St. Jerome; Feast day September 30

 

June is the Month of the Sacred Heart.

 

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Augustine of Canterbury, Feast Day May 27




St. Augustine of Canterbury Public Domain Image
St. Augustine of Canterbury

The feast day of St. Augustine of Canterbury is celebrated on May 27.

St. Augustine was the prior of the Benedictine Monastery of St. Andrew in Rome. Pope Gregory decided he needed to send missionaries to England. Augustine and 30 monks were who he chose to send. The mission was to unite the Christians after the Saxon conquest of England.

The King of England listened with curiosity to what the missionaries had to say. On Pentecost Sunday in 597, King Ethelbert was baptized. He believed in religious freedom and did not make his new religion mandatory however many followed his example and were baptized. St. Augustine was not successful in uniting the Anglo-Saxon Christians with the original Briton Christians (Celtics). He followed Pope Gregory’s advice to purify rather than destroy pagan temples and customs. As much as possible pagan rites and festivals were changed into Christian feasts.

St. Augustine died eight years after arriving in England. He died on May 26.

God’s works are not regulated by our plans and wishes.

Quote of St. Vincent de Paul; Feast day September 27

 

May is the Month of Our Lady