St. Theophane was born in France in 1829. He entered the Foreign Mission of Paris. He was ordained a priest in 1852 and became a missionary. He worked for 15 months at Hong Kong before going to West Tonkin which is now Vietnam.
In Vietnam, he taught seminary and ministered to the people of Tonkin for four years. He was arrested on Nov. 30, 1860 and tried for being a Christian.
During his trial he refused to renounce his faith. St. Theophane was caged for several months before he was beheaded in 1861. While being caged he was allowed to write many letters. Some of them survived. In a letter to his father he wrote,
“We are all flowers planted on this earth, which God plucks in His own good time; some a little sooner, some a little later…Father and son may we meet in Paradise. I, poor little moth, go first. Adieu.”
Marie Therese Martin was born at Alencon, France on Jan. 2, 1873. St Thérèse of Lisieux is the patron saint of florists, missionaries, pilots and against tuberculosis.
The father of St. Thérèse, Louis Martin, was a watchmaker. Her Mother, Zelie was a lace maker. She died when Thérèse was four year old. Pope Francis canonized both Louise and Zelie as saints on Oct. 18, 2015. All five of their daughters entered religious life. The family attended daily Mass, visited the elderly and the sick and helped the poor.
St. Thérèse felt called into the religious life at the age of 15. She asked permission to enter the Carmel of Lisieux a Carmelite convent. She took the name of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face.
St. Thérèse had a childlike trust in the providence of God and in His merciful love. Her life as contemplative Carmelite was short but it influenced many souls. She was declared a Doctor of the Church by St. Pope St. John Paul II in 1997.
During her nine years living as a Carmelite Nun St. Thérèse became known for her spirituality. Her love of God was profound and she wanted to share that love with others. She developed her “Little Way” which was her way of loving Jesus. When asked to explain it, she replied:
“It is the way of spiritual childhood, the way of trust and absolute self-surrender. I want to point out to souls the means that I have always found so completely successful…to tell them there is only one thing to do here below…to offer Our Lord the flowers of little sacrifices and win Him by our caresses.”
St. Thérèse’s spirituality began with scripture and the gospels. She offered any suffering in her life to God and trusted in Him completely. She found joy in suffering for it united her to the cross and the Passion of Our Lord. She also had a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
“How little known is the merciful love of the Heart of Jesus! It is true that to enjoy that treasure we must humble ourselves, must confess our nothingness . . . and here is where many a soul draws back.”
St. Thérèse liked to use the image of flowers, especially roses, in her prayers. She considered each sacrifice a flower given to God. She compared souls to flowers, each one unique.
St. Thérèse came down with tuberculosis and died after several years of suffering at the age of 24 on Sept. 30, 1897. She was canonized in 1925.
The autobiography St. Thérèse wrote, The Story of a Soul, was published the year after her death.
“I want to suffer and even rejoice for love, for this is my way of scattering flowers. Never a flower shall I find but its petals shall be scattered for you, and all the while I will sing, yes sing, even when gathering my roses in the midst of thorns, and the longer and sharper the thorns may be, the sweeter shall be my song!”
The feast day of St. Alphonsa is celebrated on July 28. She was born in Muttahupadathu, India in 1910. She is the second canonized saint of India.
Baptized with the name Anna, she had a difficult birth and childhood. Her mother died three months after she was born. She was raised by her maternal Aunt. After falling into a pit of burning chaff, her feet were badly burned leaving her disabled. At an early age, after reading the biography of St. Therese of Lisieux, she had a great desire to become a saint.
In 1927 at the age of 17 she joined the Poor Claresat Christ Convent at Bharananganam. She took the name Alphonsa. She completed her permanent vows in 1936. After completing her own education. Alphonsa taught school but she was plaqued by illness.She became known for her willingness to accept suffering. After enduring several different types of illnesses over many years St. Alphonsa died at the age of 35. Her tomb is a site for pilgrims due to the many reported miracles at the site. The miracle which was approved by the Vatican for her canonization was the curing of a child with a club foot. St. Alphonsa was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2008.
Since only grief and suffering have fallen to the lot of my Spouse, I too lovingly embrace them and my soul is at peace, though the body continues to be tormented. For the last seven years I have ceased to be my own, being given over entirely to my Divine Spouse. You know all that and now let the Lord do as He will with me. It is not a cure I am anxious for but only that His Holy Will be fulfilled in me.
The feast day of St. Macrina the Younger is celebrated on July 19. She was born into a family of saints during the year 327 in Cesarea. Her grandparents were martyrs. Her grandmother was St. Macrina the Elder. Her parents Basil the Elder and Emmelia are both saints.
Macrina’s mother taught her to read and educated her. Macrina in turn taught her brothers to read. Her brothers were St. Basil and St. Gregory of Nyssa and St. Peter of Sebastea.
At the age of twelve, Macrina became engaged to marry. Her fiance died suddenly and she then decided to remain single. She helped her mother raise her brothers as well as helping her mother run the household.
When Macrina’s father died, both Macrina and her mother consecrated themselves to a life of prayer and contemplation.
St. Macrina died a peaceful death in 371 holding the crucifix which she always had near her.
My life is an instant, an hour which passed by.
My life is a moment which I have no power to stay.
You know, O my God, that to love you here on earth…
The feast day of Bl. Maria Candida is celebrated on March 21. Maria Barba was born in Cantanzaro, Calabria. She was raised in Palermo, Sicily.
From the time of her first communion at the age of ten, Maria had a great devotion to the Eucharist. Her devotion grew when she read The Story of a Soul by a Carmelite nun, St. Thérèse of Lisiuex. At the age of 15 she wished to join a religious order, but her parents resisted. It was more than twenty years before her wish came true. Five years after the death of her mother she joined the Carmel of Ragusa in 1919, taking the name Maria Candida of the Eucharist. On April 23, 1924 she made her solemn profession as a Carmelite Nun. Within 6 months she became prioress of the Monastery.
As prioress Bl. Maria Candida worked diligently to revive the spirit of their foundress, St. Teresa of Jesus among the nuns of the monastery. The community grew under her leadership, making it possible to begin a new foundation in Syracuse.
Bl. Maria Candida shared her love of the Eucharist in the book she wrote: Eucharist; True Jewel of Eucharistic Spirituality.
Bl. Maria Candida of the Eucharist died from liver cancer in 1939 on the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity.
Our Lord does not come from Heaven every day to stay in a golden ciborium. He comes to find another heaven, the heaven of our soul in which He loves to dwell.
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.
