Tag Archives: Martyr

14 Helpers, Martyr, patron saints, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Denis and Companions, Feast Day October 9

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St. Denis
St. Denis

 

The feast day of St. Denis and Companions is celebrated on October 9.  St. Denis is the patron saint of France and against headaches.

St. Denis was born and raised in Italy.  He is also known as St. Dionysius.  He was sent to Gaul by Pope St. Clement.  He is probably the first Bishop of Paris.  St. Denis was martyred along with two companions according to the writings of St. Gregory of Tours.  His companions are believed to be St. Rustreus and St. Eleutherius, a priest and deacon.  They were beheaded with a sword under the persecution of Emperor Valerius in 258.   The head of St. Denis was carried into the nearby village before their bodies were thrown into the Seine River.  St. Denis body was recovered and a chapel was built over his tomb.

St. Denis is one of the 14 helpers who were invoked in the middle ages against the Black Plaque.  It is for this reason he became the patron saint against headaches.

 

Remember that this life is short, and that eternity is very long.

Quote of Bl. Susanna Araki Chabyoye

 

October is the Month of the Most Holy Rosary

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Saint of the Day, Spirituality

Prayers, Quips and Quotes; St. Wenceslas of Bohemia, Feast Day September 28

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St. Wenceslaus Public Domain Image
St. Wenceslaus

The feast day of St. Wenceslas is celebrated on September 28.  He is most remembered for the Christmas Carol Good King Wenceslas.  He became King of Bohemia at the age of 18.

King Wenceslaus was born to the Duke of Bohemia.  His family had been converted by St. Cyril and St. Methodius.  His mother however, was a pagan.  After her husbands death she persecuted Christians.

The Duchess Ludmilla was the mother in law of Drahomira and grandmother to Wenceslaus.  She taught him about religion.  He practiced his faith and received the sacraments in secret.

When he became King of Bohemia the persecution ended.  He built churches, recalled priests from exile and welcomed Christian missionaries into Bohemia.

St. Wenceslaus had a strong devotion to the Eucharist and helped prepare the altar bread with his own hands.  He also made wine from wheat and grapes he grew himself.

A reconciliation was attempted with his family when they gathered at a banquet on the Feast of St. Cosmas and Damien (Sept. 27).  The next morning his brother killed him with a lance on the steps of the church.  Two years before, his mother had arranged for his grandmother Ludmilla to be strangled to death. The feast day of St. Ludmilla is celebrated on September 16.

The good king died at the age of 22.  Miracles were reported at his tomb.

The Christmas Carol sung about Gook King Wenceslaus  reminds us to serve others as the good King did.  To think less of ourselves and to see Christ in the poor.

 

“God has not created poverty……it is we who have created it.  

Before God, all of us are poor.” 

Quote of St. Teresa of Calcutta, Feast Day September 5

 

September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows

 

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Martyr, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Gerard Sagredo, Feast Day September 24

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St. Gerard Sagredo

 

The feast day of St. Gerard Sagredo is celebrated on September 24.  He is a martyr and patron saint of Hungary.

St. Gerard was born in Venice in 980.  He went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land but his ship landed at Istria.  He became the educator of the prince and played a role in the conversion of Hungary to Christianity.

St. Gerard became the first Bishop of Csanad in 1030.  After the death of the King, St. Stephen, he refused to serve the new King.  Persecution against Christians became common.

St. Gerard was martyred on September 24, 1046.  Legend states he was placed in a wooden barrel hauled to the hilltop and rolled down what is now named Gillert Hill.  At the bottom he was beaten to death.

St. Gerard Sagredo was canonized in 1083.

 

“It is in loving the cross that one discovers his heart.”

Quote of St. Bernadette;  Feast Day April 16

 

September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows

 

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Apostle, Martyr, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Matthew, Feast Day September 21

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St. Matthew Public Domain Image
St. Matthew

Sept. 21 is the feast day of St. Matthew the Apostle. The Catholic Church will be celebrating his life and martyrdom during the holy Mass.  St. Matthew is the patron saint of accountants and bankers.

St. Matthew is also known as “Levi”. Matthew was a tax collector by trade. Tax collectors were despised by most of the people. He was called by Jesus to be one of the twelve Apostles.

The Apostles lived and traveled with Jesus during the three years leading up to his crucifixion.  After the crucifixion they received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and began to spread the “Good News”  of salvation.

It is believed that St. Matthew is the author of the first gospel. This gospel was written in Aramaic, which was the language of the Hebrew people. The Gospel of Matthew is referred to as the “teaching gospel”. It contains most of the parables of Jesus and the Beatitudes, which were given to us by Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount.

After the death and resurrection of Jesus, Matthew is believed to have preached in Ethiopia. Reports of his martyrdom vary greatly. It is not known if he was burned, stoned, beheaded or killed with an ax. However, the Church considers him to be a martyr who died for the faith.
Traditional prayer:

Glorious St. Matthew, in your Gospel you portray Jesus as the longed-for Messiah who fulfilled the Prophets of the Old Covenant and as the new Lawgiver who founded a Church of the New Covenant. Obtain for us the grace to see Jesus living in His Church and to follow his teachings in our lives on earth so that we may live forever with him in heaven.

 

Acquire the spirit of peace and thousands around you will be saved.

Quote of St. Seraphim of Sarov;  Feast Day February 5

 

September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows

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Faith, Martyr, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. John Gabriel Perboyre, Feast Day September 11

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The Feast day of St. John Gabriel Peboyre is celebrated on September 11.

St. John was the oldest son  of a farmer in Le Puech, France.  He had seven younger siblings. Three of the brothers joined the Vincentian Fathers and two of the Daughter became Daughters of Charity.

When his younger brother was accepted into the Vincentian Seminary, his parents asked him to accompany the brother until he was settled.  He was surprised to find that he was also drawn to join the Vincentians.  His parents supported his decision to join the order rather than return home to farm.

In 1820, St. John was ordained a Vincentian priest.  He hoped to become a missionary and travel to China, however he was assigned to be a supervisor of the mother-house in Paris.

In 1835, he began his journey to China as a missionary.  It took five months to arrive.  He served the poor in Ho Nan  China before being transferred to Hubei.

Persecution began in 1839 and St. John Gabriel was arrested.  After being tortured,  he was found guilty of preaching Christianity and condemned to death.  He was tied to a stake and strangled.  His body wa retrieved and buried in the mission cemetery.

Pope John Paul II canonized St. John Gabriel Perboyre in 1996.

 

O my Divine Savior,
Transform me into Yourself.
May my hands be the hands of Jesus.
Grant that every faculty of my body
May serve only to glorify You.
Above all,
Transform my soul and all its powers
So that my memory, will and affection
May be the memory, will and affections
Of Jesus.

I pray You
To destroy in me all that is not of You.
Grant that I may live but in You, by You and for You,
So that I may truly say, with Saint Paul,
“I live – now not I – But Christ lives in me.

Prayer composed by St. John G. Perboyre

 

September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows

 

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Martyr, patron saints, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Regina, Feast Day September 7

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St. Regina
St. Regina

The feast day of St. Regina is celebrated on September 7.  She was born in Alise, France.  Her mother died at childbirth.  Regina’s father was a prominent man who was a pagan.  He hired a Christian nurse to raise Regina.  While Regina was quite young the nurse secretly baptized Regina.

St. Regina became more and more religious as she grew older.  When her father learned that she had been baptized, he disowned her.  She lived with her nurse and worked in the fields to earn money.  She also tended sheep.  While working, she meditated on the love and mercy of God.

When Regina was 15 years old, the prefect of Gaul named Olybrius noticed Regina and became determined to marry her.  He was unhappy that she was a Christian.  Olybrius tried to convince her to deny her faith but she not only refused but proclaimed her faith even louder.   Olybrius then had her imprisoned.  She was chained to the walls of the cell with an iron belt.  After she still refused to deny her faith, she was whipped and scourged.  Finally she was beheaded.  She died in the year 286.   Many were converted after seeing a solitary dove hover over her during the torture.

The relics of St. Regina are enshrined in Flavigini Abbey where many miracles have since occurred.

St. Regina is honored as a martyr for the faith.  She is the patron saint against poverty and for victims of abuse.

 

If the moon is beautiful as it reflects the light of the sun at so great a distance, what will be the beauty of the saints, who for all eternity and not at a distance, will reflect the divine image of God!

Quote of Ven. Solanus Casey

 

September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows