The feast day of St. John Berchmans is celebrated on November 26. He is the patron saint of altar boys.
St. John Berchmans was born in 1599 at Diest, Belgium. His father was a shoemaker. At a very young age he wanted to become a priest. After his mother’s death, in 1615 he entered the JesuitCollege At Melines. He journeyed to Rome where he continued to study. He was known for his holiness and his desire for perfection in small things. In 1621, at the age of 22, he died after becoming ill, possibly from dysentery.
Many miracles were attributed to him after his death. He had a strong devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and to Our Lady. He composed a Chaplet in honor of her Immaculate Conception. He also composed a poem called ‘To an Altar Boy’.
“Our true worth does not consist in what human beings think of us.
What we really are consists in what God knows us to be.”
The feast day of St. Catherine Alexandria is celebrated on November 25. She is the patron saint of Christian philosophers, teachers and librarians. She is considered a virgin and martyr.
While there is no historical evidence regarding St. Catherine of Alexandria there is a strong tradition about her martyrdom. St. Catherine was born around 287 in Alexandria, Egypt. She was the daughter of a wealthy pagan couple. She had a love of learning and studied philosophy and religion. After studying Christianity, she converted.
Legend tells us that she was imprisoned and tortured by Emperero Maxentius after she refused to marry him. He forced her to debate the most learned pagan philosophers hoping she would commit apostasy, however the debates resulted in many conversions to the Christian faith.
St. Catherine was tortured by being placed on a wheel full of spikes in an attempt to kill her. The wheel broke into two pieces and fell apart. She was then beheaded.
“Strength for a person who desires to acquire virtues,
consists in not losing heart when one happens to fall,
The feast day of St. Andrew Dung and companions is celebrated on November 24. St. Andrew Dung was a priest and martyr of Vietnam.
St. Andrew Dung represents the 117 martyrs of Vietnam; 97 of the martyrs were Vietnamese and 21 were foreign missionaries. The missionaries included 11 Spaniards and, 10 French; 8 were bishops, 50 were priests and 59 were lay people. They were martyred during a period of persecution between 1625 and 1886.
St. Andrew was the born in 1795 to a poor pagan family in North Vietnam. He moved to Hanoi when he was twelve. He was educated by a Christian and after three years was baptized. He became a catechist and continued to study theology.
In 1823, he was ordained a priest. He was imprisoned under Emperor Minh Mang. His congregation made donations to free him. He changed his name to Andrew Lac to avoid persecution and changed locations. He was arrested a second time along with Father Peter Thi another Vietnamese Priest. Again his freedom was bought. They were soon arrested a third time and beheaded after being brutally tortured.
The 117 martyrs were beatified by Pope John Paul IIon May 27, 1900. The memorial celebrates all the Vietnamese Martyrs of the 17th, 18th and 9th centuries.
The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who,
in a period of moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.
St. Clement of Rome was the third successor of St. Peter and the fourth pope of the Catholic Church. He is the patron saint of mariners.
St. Clement was Jewish by birth. He converted to Christianity and became a follower of St. Paul and St. Peter. He was ordained a priest by St. Peter. Because he knew the Apostles he is considered one of the five Apostolic Fathers.
As Pope, St. Clement wrote a letter to the Corinthian Church. The Corinthian Church was in turmoil. He urged charity and obedience. His letter brought peace and order to the Church.
St. Clement lived during a time of persecution. He was banished and sentenced to work with other prisoners in a stone quarry. He continued to successfully convert people. Because of the success he had in converting people, he was sentenced to death. He was put to death by being tied to an anchor and thrown into the sea.
“Follow the saints, because those who follow them will become saints.”
The feast day of St. Cecelia is celebrated on November 22. She is a martyr and the patron saint of musicians.
St. Cecelia by Guarino
St. Cecelia was born in Rome to an esteemed family late in the first century. She lived a life of prayer. She was given in marriage to a young pagan named Valerian. Cecelia shared her promise of celibacy and consecration to God with her husband. During the wedding, it is said that she sat apart, singing to God in her heart with thanksgiving.
Valerian converted to Christianity and he honored her desire to remain a virgin. He helped Cecilia in her charity toward the poor. Because of this, he was arrested and put to death.
Almachius, the Prefect of Rome, feared her nobility and charity to the poor. He had her imprisoned in the steam bath of her own home, trying to suffocate her. After a full day and night in stifling steam, Cecilia survived without harm. This resulted in Almachius sending an executioner to behead her. She was struck three times, but she was not beheaded. She fell to the floor. After several days of bleeding in her own bath, Christians rushed in to help her. On the third morning the venerable Bishop Urban visited Cecilia. As she lay dying, she requested that her palace be made into a church for the poor. She died praying, after receiving the Eucharist. Her body was buried in the Catacomb of Saint Callistus. The year of her death is unknown bu it is believed her martyrdom took place during the pontificate of Urban I (222-230).
In 817, her tomb was discovered by Pope Paschal I. Her body was one of the first of over a hundred saints whose bodies were discovered to be incorrupt. Her body remained as it was when she died. Her relics were put into the crypt in the Church of Santa Cecilia in Trasrevere. When her tomb was opened in 1599, her body was perfectly incorrupt. Her neck still had marks of being struck with a sword.
St. Cecelia is the patron saint of musicians, because of the zeal with which she sang the divine praises of thanksgiving. Her spirituality included a love of music. St. Cecilia is often venerated in poetry and music.
The feast day of the Presentation of Mary is celebrated on November 21.
The feast day of the Presentation of Mary originated in Jerusalem in 543. The story appears in the Protoevangelium of James which is an extra biblical document. St. Joachim and St. Anne, the parents of Mary, in gratitude for having a child after many years of infertility, presented Mary to God at the temple in Jerusalem when she was three years old.
The feast day emphasizes the purity of Mary from the moment her life began. Mary is considered a temple in which God dwells in a special way.
The feast day also remembers all the people who have dedicated themselves to God in a contemplative order.
Through Thee…the faithful have received baptism;
churches have been erected in all parts of the earth.
By Thine assistance the Gentiles have been brought to repentance.
And finally through Thee, the only Son of God, source of light,
