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 Our Lady of the Snows is celebrated on August 5. It is on this day the Basilica of Mary Major was dedicated.
A man by the name of John lived in the ancient city of Rome. He and his wife were childless. They chose to leave their fortune to Mary, the Mother of God. Pope Liberius suggessted that they pray for a sign to guide them in what she wished them to do.
On the evening of August 5, Our Lady appeared to John, his wife and the Pope asking for a church to be built in her honor on the Esquiline Hill. John and his wife asked for a sign . She told them:
“Snow will crown the crest of the hill.”
Although it snows only on rare occasions in Rome the snow covered the hill during the summer night of August 5, 358. The snow fell in a pattern showing the outline of the church soon to be built.
Mary soon became known as Our Lady of the Snows. Snow symbolizes that Mary is as ‘pure as the driven snow’. Her many blessings may be compared to the number and variety of snowflakes.
The church built is now known as Saint Mary Major. It has since been enlarged and restored. Other names it has been known as are Basilica of Liberius, Saint Mary of the Crib and finally Saint Mary Major.
A statue of Our Lady of the Snows is believed to have been produced by St. Luke the Apostle.
Mary is always performing these two movements: absorbing grace from her most holy son, and pouring it forth on sinners.
The First Martyrs of the Church of Rome are honored on June 30. The feast day has been celebrated beginning in 1969.
More than half of Rome was destroyed by fire in July of 64. The unpopular Emperor Nero was blamed for the fire but he accused the Christians to cover his own crimes. The martyrs were executed in many different ways. Some were burned alive at night to be used as living torches. Others were crucified and still others were fed to wild animals. The crime they were charged with was “their hatred of the human race”.
There was a large Jewish population in Rome at the time of the persecution. Paul had not yet visited Rome, however there were Christians living there.
The feast day of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is celebrated on June 27.
Many people believe the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was originally painted by St. Luke. It is presently in the Church of St. Alphonsus under the care of the Order of Redemptorists.Numerous miracles have followed the icon.
The icon is an authentic expression of Byzantine art from ancient times. The gold background reflects God’s glory. In the portrait are Mary, the Mother of God, the Christ Child and the Archangels Michael and Gabriel. Mary is gazing at the person who is looking at the icon moving everyone to love Jesus her son and Our Savior. The Christ Child is comforted in his mother’s arms. One of his sandals is almost lost indicating that we sometimes need to seek assistance in our troubles. It is Mary who protected Our Lord in his childhood. She will protect us also.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Icon Chapel Bydgoszcz
The Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was first venerated in Crete. Tradition tells us however, that in 1480 the icon was smuggled from Crete to Rome by a thief! The smugglers asked Mary for protection during a storm at sea and God answered their prayers. After arriving in Rome, the merchant who had stolen the icon became very ill. He asked his caretaker to return the icon to the Church. The wife of the caretaker however insisted they keep the picture for themselves after the man had died. The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared several times to the man and his wife requesting that the icon be returned to a church. When she was ignored, she began appearing to their six year old daughter, requesting that the icon be placed between the Churches of St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran. Eventually, the icon was returned and enshrined at St. Matthews in 1499. St. Matthews was destroyed when Napoleon’s army invaded Rome in 1798. The icon was believed to be lost.
In 1855, The Order of Redemtorists came to Rome. They were granted possession of the land on which St. Matthew’s previously existed to build a new church. A Redemptorist priest remembered that he had learned as a young boy that the holy icon was in an Augustinian monastery near Rome. The Redemptorists petitioned the pope to allow the image to be returned to the spot the Blessed Virgin had requested that it be placed.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help
On April 26, 1866 the icon was transferred in a solemn procession to the Church of St. Alphonsus. They were given permission to spread the devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
Prayer to Our Lady:
Mother of Perpetual Help, Woman of Eternal Hope, your wordless gaze tells us so much about you. Knowing eyes look upon us with tender love. The slight bend of your head reveals such maternal concern. While your left hand supports the Child, your right hand is ready to receive us, too. Just as He feels the beating of your heart, so you encourage us to lead a life of hope and holiness. Just as His sandal will fall on your lap, through your intercession may God pick us up as we stumble and fall. Never let us be parted from you and your son, Jesus.
Lady of love, you invite us to place our hand where His fingers touch yours — near a heart of endless hope — so that we may be united often in prayer here on earth and joined forever with you in heaven. Amen.
Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did.
The feast day of St. Onesimus is celebrated on Feb. 16. We learn about St. Onesimus in St. Paul’s letter to Philemon. He had fled from his master, Philemon, after robbing him. St. Onesimus met St. Paul, who was a prisoner in Rome at the time. After meeting St. Paul, Onesimus converted to Christianity.
St. Paul sends him back to Philemon armed with the letter we read in the Bible. In the letter St. Paul pleads for love and forgiveness. Philemon is persuaded to pardon Onesimus who then returns to help St. Paul.
Under the instruction of St. Paul, Onesimus is believed to become a priest and then a bishop. St. Paul has him deliver his Epistle to the Colossians and St. Onesius helps St. Paul to spread the Good News!
It is believed that Onesimus is arrested during the persecutions, brought to Rome in chains and stoned to death in the year 95.
I know of one means only by which to attain perfection: Love! Let us love, since our heart is made for nothing else.
The feast day of St. Valentine is celebrated on Feb. 14. St. Valentine is an actual saint. His relics are claimed by three churches in Rome. What we know about him has been passed down orally, so it is considered part legend. St. Valentine is the patron saint of happy marriages and lovers because of his devotion to the Sacrament of Marriage.
St. Valentine was a Roman priest during the time of Emperor Claudias II, who persecuted the church. He actually prohibited the marriage of young people because he believed unmarried men were better soldiers. During the time of St. Valentine polygamy (multiple wives) was very common. St. Valentine encouraged couples to marry in the church in spite of the edict. He held the marriage ceremonies in secret.
Eventually Valentine was caught, imprisoned and tortured. One of his jailers had a daughter who was blind. After Valentine prayed with her, her sight was restored. This resulted in the jailer converting to the Christian faith. In 269 Valentine was sentenced to death .
The last words of St. Valentine were in a note to the girl he had healed signing it “from your Valentine”.
“Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair.”
