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Faith, patron saints, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Joseph of Cupertino, Feast Day September 18

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St. Joseph of Cupertino Public Domain Image
St. Joseph of Cupertino

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

 

September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows

 

 

Faith, Franciscan Saints, Saint of the Day, Visionary

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: Stigmata of St. Francis, Feast Day September 17

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Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi

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.

Quote of St. Francis of Assisi

September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows

 

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Franciscan Saints, Incorruptible, Saint of the Day, Visionary

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Rose of Viterbo, Feast Day September 4

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St. Rose of Viterbo Public Domain Image
St. Rose of Viterbo

The feast day of St. Rose of Viterbo is celebrated on September 4.  Rose was born in Viterbo, Italy in 1234.  The city was in revolt against the pope.  Her family was exiled for supporting the Pope.  After the Pope won the dispute, Rose returned to the city.

St. Rose was pious from a very young age.  She practiced contemplative prayer by age 7.  She had the gift of miracles and visions.   While still a child she is credited with the healing of her Aunt who was believed to be dead.  At the age of ten, Mary instructed her to join the 3rd Order of St. Francis.  Shortly after, Our Lord appeared to her on a cross wearing a crown of thorns.  When Rose asked him why this had happened he told her his deep love for men was the reason.  Rose persisted asking him who had pierced him.  He told her:

The sins of men have done it.

This vision inspired young Rose to take to the streets preaching penance.  St. Rose tried and failed to join the Order of Poor Clare’s due to lack of a dowry.  She tried to  found a religious community of her own but it was not approved.    She lived a life of prayer and penance in her father’s home.  She died in 1251 at the age of 18.

The body of St. Rose was discovered to be incorrupt and lies in the monastery of St. Mary of the Roses which refused her entry.  St. Rose was canonized in 1457.

Rose’s dying words to her parents were:

“I die with joy, for I desire to be united to my God. Live so as not to fear death. For those who live well in the world, death is not frightening, but sweet and precious.“

Quote of St. Rose of Viterbo

 

September is the Month of Our Sorrowful Mother

 

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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

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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Incorruptible, Pope, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Pius X, Feast Day August 21

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St. Pius X

The feast day of St. Pius X is celebrated on August 21.

The birth name of St. Pius X was Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto.    He was born in Riese, Italy into a family of ten children.  His father was a poor parish clerk and hi mother was a seamstress.

At the age of 15, Giuseppe entered the seminary at Padua, Italy.  His father died before he had graduated.  His Mother would not let him return home to help the family, insisting he stay in school.  He was ordained a priest in 1858 and worked as a parish priest for 17 years.  Because of his many works of mercy, many were converted to the faith.

Father Sarto wished to work with the poor, however, he was named spiritual director of a major seminary and later became a bishop and then a cardinal.  In 1903, he was elected the Pope, the Bishop of Rome.  As Pope, he took the name of Pius X.  He emphasized the importance of the Eucharist becoming known as the Pope of the Holy Eucharist.  He allowed the Eucharist to be received at the age of seven.  He also encouraged the use of Gregorian Chant in the liturgy.

Pope Pius X sheltered refugees with his own resources and tried to prevent World War 1.  He died within two months after the war began on August 20, 1914.

The body of St. Pius X was exhumed 30 years after his death and discovered to be incorruptible.  His limbs were still flexible.  His body can be viewed at St. Peter’s Basilica.

 

I was born poor.  I lived poor.  I will die poor.

Quote of St. Pius X

August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

 

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Faith, Franciscan Saints, Incorruptible, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Clare of Assisi, Feast Day August 11

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St. Clare of Assisi Public Domain Image
St. Clare of Assisi

The feast day of St. Clare of Assisi is celebrated on August 11. St. Clare was born to a wealthy family in Assisi, Italy on July 16, 1194. At the age of 15 she refused to marry as her parents wished her to do. When she heard St. Francis speak on Palm Sunday, she left home to join him at San Damiano. She took a vow of poverty after which St. Francis cut off her long hair and gave her a brown habit to wear. She was later followed by her sister Agnes and her mother. The ladies who followed St. Francis became known as “The Poor Ladies.” After Clare eventually was named Abbess they became known as “The Poor Clares.”

The Poor Clares went barefoot, ate no meat and observed almost complete silence. They lived an enclosed life, away from the world. The Poor Clares actually predated the Franciscans which was later founded by St. Francis. St. Clare saw St. Francis as a spiritual father figure and cared for him during his illness and at the end of his life in 1226.

St. Clare died  in Assisi on August 11, 1253.  She was discovered to be incorrupt on September 23,1850 when her coffin was opened.  Her body can be viewed in the crypt at Santa Chiara, Italy.

St. Clare was canonized by Pope Alexander in 1255.

 

Love Him totally

who gave Himself totally

for your love.

 

Quote of St. Clare of Assisi

St. Clare of Assisi in Art

 

August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

 

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