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Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Augustine, Feast Day August 28

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St. Augustine of Hippo by Sandro Botticelli Public Domain Image
St. Augustine of Hippo
by Sandro Botticelli
Public Domain Image

The feast day of St. Augustine is celebrated on August 28th. St. Augustine is the patron saint of brewers.

After the death of his father at the age of seventeen, St. Augustine left the church and led a loose life. He soon had both a mistress and a son. His mother St. Monica prayed for him for seventeen years before he returned to the faith.
Augustine began his search for faith by joining a group called the Manichees. Manichaeism teaches there are two gods at war with each other; good and evil. It also teaches that all matter is evil. He was hesitant to fully practice his faith due to physical desires. He is known for his statement

“O God, give me chastity, but not yet.”

Eventually, Augustine heard the preaching of St. Ambrose, which greatly influenced him. He began to study the bible. One day, after experiencing great remorse for his sins, Augustine heard a child singing, “Take up and read!” He opened his bible to the letters of St. Paul where he read “put away all impurity and live in imitation of Jesus.” From then on Augustine practiced his faith with zeal. He was baptized by St. Ambrose, ordained a priest and eventually became a bishop. He was also a famous writer. His book “Confessions” is considered a classic. After his death in 430 he was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church.

The following poem was written by St. Augustine.

Late have I loved you, Beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved you!       Lo, you were within, but I outside, seeking there for you,
and upon the shapely things you have made I rushed headlong – I, misshapen.
You were with me, but I was not with you. They held me back far from you,
those things which would have no being, were they not in you.

You called, shouted, broke through my deafness;
you flared, blazed, banished my blindness;
you lavished your fragrance, I gasped; and now I pant for you;
I tasted you, and now I hunger and thirst;
you touched me, and I burned for your peace.

 

August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Faith, patron saints

Prayers Quips and Quotes: St. Monica, Feast Day August 27

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St. Monica by Tristán de Escamilla, Public Domain Image
St. Monica by
Tristán de Escamilla,

The feast day of St. Monica is celebrated on August 27.  She is the patron saint of mothers, alcoholism and difficult marriages.

St. Monica was born of a Christian family in Tagaste in Africa in 331. She was given in marriage by her parents to a non-Christian named Patricius. He was known to have a a bad temper and alcoholism. They had three children who survived infancy. One of them was Augustine.

Monica was known for her pious nature. She prayed without ceasing for her family. A year before his death Patricius converted to Catholicism and was baptized. Augustine was 17 at the time of his father’s death. He left the faith and led an immoral life. By eighteen he had a mistress and a son. He joined a group called the Manichees. Manicheeism teaches that the material world is part of the realm of evil. There are two gods one good and one evil.

Monica never ceased praying for the return of her son to the Catholic faith. After more than 15 years of prayer, Augustine heard St. Ambrose, the bishop of Milan, preach. He decided to study the faith, and eventually returned, being baptized in 387. Eventually Augustine became a priest and then a bishop.  St. Augustine  is now considered a Doctor of the Church.

Monica is the patron of mother’s because of her persistence in prayer.

 

“Nothing is far from God.”

Quote of St. Monica

 

August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

 

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Faith, Martyr, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes; Feast Day of Augustinian Martyrs of Gafsa (Africa)

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Symbol of the ]Augustinian Order
Symbol of the
Augustinian Order

The feast day of  the Martyrs of Gafsa is celebrated on August 26.

St. Augustine founded several monasteries on Northern Africa.  After the death of St. Augustine in 484, King Hunmeric ordered all monasteries abolished and the monks and nuns turned over to the Moors.

The seven brothers from the Gafsa, Tunisia monastery were arrested.  They were:  Deacon Boniface, Subdeacons Scrvus and Rusticus; Abott Liberatus and Monks:  Rogatus, Septimus and Maximus.

After being taken prisoner they were taken to Carthage.  They were offered bribes to renounce Christianity.  When they refused they were thrown into prison.  Christians living in Carthage bribed the jailers who let them offer support to the prisoners.  However, the King was informed and he then ordered the prisoners burned to death.  The youngest monk, Maximus was given a second chance to renounce Christianity.  He refused and pledged his allegiance to God and his Augustinian brothers.

The soldiers tied bundles of dry wood to the monks and placed them on an old raft.  They were however, unable to make the wood burn.  The King became infuriated and ordered the monks to be beaten to death.

The seven Augustinian brothers are honored as martyrs of the faith.

 

What unites our soul most closely to God is self-denial; 

that is, joining our will to the will of God. 

That is what makes the soul truly free.

Quote of St. Faustina;  Feast day October 5

August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

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Faith, Martyr, patron saints, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Genesius of Rome, Feast Day August 25

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St. Genesius of Rome Public Domain Image
St. Genesius of Rome

The feast day of St. Genesius of Rome is celebrated on August 25.  St. Genesius is the patron saint of actors, comedians and clowns.

St. Genesius was a legal clerk who also performed as an actor.  He lived in the third century.  St. Genesius performed for Emperor Diocletian.

One of the plays he performed in was about a catechumen (student of Christianity) who was about to be baptized.  It was a satire which mocked the sacrament.  However, it was influencing St. Genesius to desire baptism.  During the play, he saw angels around him and requested baptism.

The emperor was so outraged, he had Genesius arrested and tortured.  He was eventually beheaded.

 

 

God calls me now, tomorrow will be too late.

Quote of St. Peter Julian Eymard; Feast day August 2

 

August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

 

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Apostle, Faith, Martyr, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Bartholomew, Feast Day August 24

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St. Bartholomew Public Domain Image
St. Bartholomew
Public Domain Image

St. Bartholomew was born in Galilee.   He was also known as Nathanael.  Bartholomew was one of the original twelve Apostles  called by Jesus.   We know very little about Bartholomew except that he was faithful to Jesus and did his best to spread Christianity after the Resurrection of Jesus.  St. Bartholomew is the patron saint against neurological diseases and leather workers.

Bartholomew was present at the Last Supper and he witnessed the Ascension.

After the resurrection, Bartholomew preached in India, Ethiopia and Asia Minor. He was flayed and beheaded by King Astyages in Armenia for converting souls to Christianity.

The feast day of St. Bartholomew is celebrated on Aug. 24.

 

The only way to peace is forgiveness.

Quote of St. John Paul II

 

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Dominican Saints, patron saints, Saint of the Day

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Rose of Lima, Feast Day August 23

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St. Rose of Lima Public Domain Image
St. Rose of Lima

The feast day of St. Rose of Lima is celebrated on August 23.  She is the first saint of the Americas and known as the First Flower of America and the Patroness of the New World.  She is the patron saint of florists and gardeners.

St. Rose was born in April 1586 in Lima, Peru to Oliva and Gaspar Flores.  She was the 7th of 11 children.  Her birth name was Isabel.  However, her mother and friends witnessed a mystical rose descend from the air and light on her face while she was just an infant.  From then on she was called Rose.

Rose clearly had a religious calling from an early age.  After reading about St. Catherine of Siena, she decided to imitate her.  She fasted at least 3 times a week.  She found ways to do penance and offer her suffering for the good of others.   She understood redemptive suffering from an early age.  When given praise for her beauty, she cut her hair and disfigured her face by rubbing it with pepper.  She was also know for placing thorns under the garland of roses she wore in her hair to remind her of the crown of thorns Jesus wore.

St. Rose wished to enter the convent.  However, her parents refused to let her.  Finally, after ten years of struggle and refusal to marry she became a Third Order Dominican.  She lived in her home just as St. Catherine of Siena did.  St. Rose received the Blessed Sacrament daily and lived her life in silence and seclusion, enjoying the family garden.

St. Rose suffered from arthritis and asthma.  She was also disturbed by spiritual dreams.  Her friend Brother Martin de Porres reassured her that her visions were from God.    During the last three years of her life, St. Rose began caring for the elderly and sick.  she used a room in the house in which she lived.

During the inquisition, St. Rose faced an examination.  They found her to be in God’s favor in the midst of suffering.

At the age of 31 St. Rose came down with a high fever.  She died from the fever and paralysis.  A multitude of people attended her funeral.

St. Rose was canonized by Pope Clement X in 1671.

 

 

Without the burden of afflictions it is impossible to reach the height of grace.  The gift of grace increases as the struggle increases.

Quote of St. Rose of Lima

 

August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

 

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