Tag Archives: December Feast Days

Faith, Martyr, patron saints, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Lucy, Feast Day December 13

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St. Lucy
by Domenico di Pace Beccafumi

 

The feast day of St. Lucy is celebrated on December 13.  She is the patron saint of the blind and visually impaired.  She is also a martyr.

St. Lucy was born in 283 in Syracuse (Sicily). The name Lucy means “Light”. Her feast day is celebrated on Dec. 13, the day she was executed.

Lucy was born into a wealthy family of Greek ancestry. She vowed her life to Christ. Her Roman father died when she was young. Her mother tried against her will to arrange a marriage for her. After Lucy prayed at the tomb of St. Agatha, her mother’s illness (probably a hemorrhage), was cured. Her mother then agreed to let Lucy consecrate herself to Christ and to remain a virgin.

The rejected suitor of Lucy denounced her and reported her Christianity to the authorities. The magistrate Paschasius was known for his persecution and torture of Christians. He ordered her to burn a sacrifice to the emperor’s image. When she refused, she was ordered to be executed, in the year 304, at the age of 21. The attempt to burn her to death failed, so she was executed by a sword to the throat.    Before the execution, she was tortured, having her eyes gouged. This is why she is the patron of the blind and visually impaired. In art St. Lucy is frequently shown holding a golden plate with her eyes on it.

Legend concludes that God restored her sight before her death.

While some of the history of St. Lucy is legend, her name is mentioned in several different places, including the canon of St. Gregory, indicating that she is a real person. By the sixth century, devotion to St. Lucy was widespread.

 

“O Jesus, Divine Savior,

grant that I be no longer deaf

to your heavenly call.”

Quote of St. Katherine Drexel; Feast day March 3

St. Lucy

December is the Month of the Divine Infancy

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Faith, Our Lady, patron saints

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: Our Lady of Guadalupe, Feast Day December 12

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Our Lady of Guadalupe

 

The feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated on Dec. 12. She has been named the patron of the Americas.

Our Lady appeared to a peasant near Mexico City named Juan Diego in 1529. She appeared to him as an Aztec Princess, and spoke in his native tongue. She requested he tell the bishop to build a church on the site. Initially the bishop was skeptical, demanding proof of the vision. Juan Diego returned to the site of the vision to find Castillo Roses blooming in the frozen earth. He collected them and returned to the bishop. When he opened his cloak, the flowers fell to the ground and an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was imprinted on his cloak. (The miracle of the roses) His cloak is under glass, on display, in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.

The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe was soon built. Over six million soon converted to the faith because of the apparition.

There have been many apparitions of Mary over time. Not all of them have been approved by the Church. While belief in the apparitions is not a requirement, devotion to the approved apparitions are encouraged. Before an apparition can be approved it is thoroughly investigated by the Vatican.

The church teaches us that Mary always leads us to her Son, Jesus. Jesus is both human and divine; Mary is human only, but the mother of Our Lord. We consider her our spiritual mother, to whom we can always turn to for intercessory prayer. (To Jesus, Thru Mary)

Anyone who is questioning the reverence held for Mary should ask themselves several questions.

  • Do the commandments require us to honor our father and mother?
  • Did Jesus honor Mary?
  • Are we not called to imitate Jesus?
  • Why then, should we not honor Mary, His mother?

The following prayer to Mary is a sample of intercessory prayer. In this type of prayer, we ask a saint, or another person, to pray for us and with us.

Beautiful Virgin of Guadalupe, I ask you on behalf of all my brothers and sisters of the world that you bless us and protect us. Give us proof of your love and kindness. Oh pure Virgin of Guadalupe, give me through your Son, forgiveness for my sins, blessings for my job, cure for my diseases and needs, and all that you deem necessary. I ask for my family, Oh Mother of God, do not disdain the pleas we present to you in our needs. Amen

 

“Oh, how happy is the soul

that freely lets herself be

molded to the liking

of this Divine Savior.”

Quote of St. Jane Frances de Chantel; Feast day August 12

 

December is the Month of the Divine Infancy

 

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Pope, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Damasus I, Feast Day December 11

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St. Damasus I

 

The feast day of  St. Damasus is celebrated on December 11.  He was the Bishop of Rome.

Damasus was born in 306. His father was a Roman priest. Following his father’s footsteps, he began as a deacon. He served in the Basilica of San Lorenzo. He also served Pope Liberius following him into exile. When Pope Liberius died he was elected Pope. At the same time a minority elected Ursinus as the Pope. Ursinus was considered the anti-pope. Unrest and discord were constant during the reign of Pope Damasus.

Pope Damasus commissioned his secretary St.Jerome to translate the scripture into Latin, the Vulgate version of the Bible. He also changed the liturgical language of the Church from Greek to Latin. He worked to preserve the catacombs and the graves of the martyrs, and relics. During his reign, Christianity was declared the official religion of the Roman state.

Pope Damasus I died of natural causes in Rome on Dec. 11, 384.

 

“For me, prayer means launching out

of the heart toward God;

a cry of grateful love from the

crest of joy or the trough of despair;

It is a vast supernatural force

that opens out my heart,

and binds me close to Jesus.”

Quote of St. Thérèse of Lisieux; Feast day October 1

 

 December is the Month of the Divine Infancy

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Pope, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Gregory III, Feast Day December 10

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St. Pope Gregory III

The feast day of St. Gregory III is celebrated on December 10.  He was the Bishop of Rome.

St. Gregory III was born in Syria. His father’s name was John. Little is known about his childhood. He became a Syrian priest. He was proclaimed pope immediately after the death of Pope Gregory II. The most pressing problem was defending the veneration of holy images. Emperor Leo III considered it idolatry.

Pope Gregory called a synod during which he approved measures against anyone who destroyed images of Jesus, Mary or the saints. He taught that icons and images promote worship rather than being the object of worship themselves. He repaired many beautiful churches and promoted monasticism. Pope Gregory was known for his virtue and knowledge.

Pope Gregory III died of natural causes on November 28, 741.

When God is our strength,

it is strength indeed;

when our strength

is our own,

it is only weakness.

Quote of St. Augustine; Feast day August 28

 

December is the Month of the Divine Infancy

 

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Faith, Feast Days, Our Lady, patron saints, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: Immaculate Conception of Mary, Feast Day December 8

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The Immaculate Conception
by Padre Manuel

 

The Feast day of the Immaculate Conception is celebrated on Dec. 8 during the season of Advent.  The feast day celebrates the belief that Mary was conceived without the stain of original sin. It is often misunderstood as the celebration of the conception of Jesus.

Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception is the Patron Saint of Brazil and the United States.

 

The feast day became a celebration for the universal church in the 18th century. Pope Pius IX declare;

“The most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin.”

Mary herself confirmed her title to St. Bernadette saying to her;

” I am the Immaculate Conception.”

The largest Marian shrine in the U S. is the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception located in Washington D.C.

Just as Eve was conceived without sin, Mary also was conceived without sin. Mary is considered, ‘the new Eve’.

Rather than disobeying God, Mary said,  “Let it be.”

 

Purer than heaven’s purest angels, brighter than its brightest seraph:

Mary, after her Creator, God, made her and gave her all,

the most perfect of beings, the masterpiece of Infinite Wisdom,

Almighty Power and Eternal Love.

To such a being we cannot reasonably suppose that

a perfection was denied her which had been already

gratuitously bestowed on inferior creatures;

on the angelic spirits.

Quote of St. John N. Newmann; Feast day January 5

The Immaculate Conception in Art

 

December is the Month of the Divine Infancy

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Doctor of the Church, patron saints, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Ambrose, Feast Day December 7

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St. Ambrose
St. Ambrose

The feast day of St. Ambrose is celebrated on December 7.  He was the Bishop of Milan and proclaimed a Doctor and Father of the Church.  St. Ambrose is the patron saint of bee keepers and students.

St. Ambrose was born in the year 339. He studied in Rome, Italy becoming a lawyer. He was in the process of converting to Catholicism when a great dispute arose after the death of the Bishop of Milan. It was Ambrose who intervened and maintained order. Everyone was so impressed that they requested him as their next bishop even though he he was only a cathecumen (student) and not yet baptized. Resisting at first, eventually Ambrose agreed. He was baptized and eight days later on Dec. 7, 374 he was consecrated the Bishop of Milan at the age of 35.

As bishop he immediately gave his money to the poor. He was known for his fight against paganism and Arianism ( the belief that Jesus Christ did not have a divine nature). He was instrumental in the conversion and baptism of St. Augustine. The title “Honey tongued Doctor” was given to him because of his speaking skills.  Because of his title he became the patron saint of bee keepers.

St. Ambrose died of natural causes on April 14, 397.

 

“True repentance

is to cease to sin.”

Quote of St. Ambrose

 

December is the Month of the Divine Infancy

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