The feast day of St. Laura of Cordoba is celebrated on October 19. She was a widow and martyr.
St. Laura lived in Spain in the ninth century. It’s culture was primarily Muslim. After her husband died she became a nun at Cuteclara . She eventually became the abbess.
St. Laura is one of the 48 Martyrs of Cordoba. She was captured and scalded to death by being placed in a vat of boiling lead.
It is You Jesus, stretched out on the cross, who gives me strength and are always close to the suffering soul. Creatures will abandon a person in his suffering, but You, O Lord, are faithful.
The feast day of St. Luke the Evangelist is celebrated on October 18. He is the patron saint of physicians and surgeons.
St. Luke was born in Antioch, Syria. He did not know Jesus. However, he converted from paganism and became a companion of St. Paul. He accompanied him on his missions and into prison two different times.
St. Luke is the author of the third Gospel. His gospel focuses on the merciful heart of Jesus. We also learn about the childhood of Jesus in his Gospel. Three canticles (hymns) were preserved by St. Luke: The Benedictus, the Magnificat and the Nune Dimittis (Canticle of Simeon).
Icon Painted by St. Luke
Legend tells us that St. Luke was also an artist and painted the portrait of the Blessed Virgin.
St. Luke became the patron saint of physicians because he was a physician.
St. Luke died in Achaia (Greece) at the age of 84. It is unknown if he was a martyr.
Virtues are formed by prayer. Prayer preserves temperance. Prayer suppresses anger. Prayer prevents emotions of pride and envy. Prayer draws into the soul the Holy Spirit and raises man to heaven.
The feast day of St. Ignatius of Antioch is celebrated on October 17. He is known as a church father and martyr.
At birth, St. Ignatius was named Theophorus. He became the third Bishop of Antioch in around year 70. The Roman Emperor Dometian declared that he was ‘god’ and required homage. Those who refused were executed.
St. Ignatius led the Christians in Antioch by encouraging prayer and fasting. Emperor Trajan had Ignatius arrested and sent to Syria in chains to be executed. St. Ignatius was able to dictate letters to the six local churches while imprisoned. Most of what we know about St. Ignatius is from his writing.
St. Ignatius had a devotion to the Bless Virgin Mary. He wrote the following:
He who is devoted to the Virgin Mother will certainly never be lost.
In the letters that survived, St. Ignatius warned of false teachers. He focused on unity and the dangers of heresy. He also emphasized the importance of the Eucharist and the humanity of Christ.
St. Ignatius was fed to the lions in the Amphitheater in Rome in the year 107. His last words were:I am the wheat of the Lord. I must be ground by the teeth of these beasts to be made the pure bread of Christ.
The feast day of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque is celebrated on October 16. She is known as the Apostle of the Sacred Heart.
St. Margaret Mary was born to Claude and Philiberte Lamyn on July 22, 1647 in Lhautecour, France. She was the fifth of seven children. She was baptized with name of Margaret and added the name of Mary when she was confirmed in the faith in 1669. From an early age Margaret had a strong devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. Margaret’s father died when she was eight years old. She was sent to a school run by Urbanist Nuns at Chavolles.
Margaret became very ill and was unable to walk. After consecrating herself to the Blessed Virgin, she promised that if cured, she would be one of her daughters. She was immediately cured.
Thrust into poverty after her father’s death, she considered marriage, which caused her internal conflict. Her desire to become a nun prevailed. She joined the Visitation Order in 1671.
St. Margaret Mary began having visions on Dec. 17, 1073. They continued until June 1675. Jesus appeared to her giving her the task of encouraging and teaching a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This included a Holy Hour on Thursdays to reflect on how the Apostles abandoned Him during the Agony in the Garden. It also encouraged receiving communion on 1st Fridays.
After suffering many years of from doubt and despair, St. Margaret Mary died at the age of 43. She had served two terms as assistant supervisor. With the help of St. Claude de la Columbiere, the feast day became popular. The Sacred Heart symbolizes the boundless love given by Jesus in the Eucharist and His Passion and death
I need nothing but God and to lose myself to the Heart of Jesus.
St. Teresa of Avila’s feast day will be celebrated on October 15th. She is known as being the patron saint of writers and headache sufferers.
Born in Avila, Spain in 1515, she was sent to a convent at the age of 16, because her father believed her to be “out of control”. At first she hated it, later she came to enjoy it, in part because they were less strict than her father.
Eventually, she decided to become a Carmelite nun. She practiced meditation and mental prayer. She fell ill with malaria and almost died. She awoke paralyzed, which lasted for three years. She found it very difficult to pray during this time. However at the age of 41 a priest convinced her to go back to prayer. She suffered many distractions and found it very difficult. As she began her prayer life anew, God gave her spiritual delights including ecstasies, and the prayer of union. She eventually became known as a mystic.
At the age of 43 she decided to form a new convent which met with much resistance. Her confessor St. John of the Cross helped to begin the reformed order of the Discalced (barefoot) Carmelites.
St. Teresa was known for her honest dialogue with God. She wanted the nuns in her order to have the proper attitude and discipline in their prayer life. But she too could be frustrated with life. Every moment of her life was a prayer, even the difficult ones. She is known for the following exclamation.
“If this is the way you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few!”
St. Teresa has written many books. These include: The Interior Castle, The Life of Teresa of Jesus, and The Way of Perfection. Her spirituality has led many to a much deeper prayer life. She has been proclaimed a Doctor of the Church.
St. Teresa died on October 4 at the age of 67.
The following prayer is attributed to St. Teresa of Avila:
Let nothing disturb you.
Let nothing make you afraid.
All things are passing.
God alone never changes.
Patience gains all things.
If you have God you will want for nothing.
God alone suffices.
The feast day of St. Callistus I is celebrated on October I. He is honored as a Pope and martyr of the faith.
St. Callistus was a slave for a Roman who worked for Caesar. He was put in charge of the bank by his master. He manged to lose the money deposited and in fear he fled. He was caught and sent to prison. He was released and told to try to recover the money. This time, he was arrested after getting into a brawl in a Jewish synagogue. He was then sent to Sardenia to work in the mines. The mistress of the emperor was able to influence his release.
Callistus became superintendent of the cemetery of St. Callistus. He was ordained a deacon by the Pope and became the friend and adviser of the Pope. When the pope died, Callistus was elected to be Bishop of Rome with a majority vote. This led to a schism with his rival St. Hippolytus who became the first anti-pope. Hippolytus accused Pope Callistus of sympathizing with heretics. He also disagreed with Pope Callistus’ teaching about the power of Divine Mercy in the sacrament of confession.
In the year 236, both Pope Callistus and Hyppolytus were martyred during an uprising in Rome. They were both canonized as saints. It is believed that Hyppolytus made peace with the church before his death.
St. Callistus is the first pope after St. Peter to be honored as a martyr.
“God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us.”
