Do you want Our Lord to give you many graces?
Visit Him often.
Do you want Him to give you few graces?
Visit him seldom.
Visits to the Blessed Sacrament are powerful and
an indispensable means of overcoming the attacks of the devil.
Make frequent visits to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament
and the devil will be powerless against you.
St. John Bosco
Visit Him often.
Do you want Him to give you few graces?
Visit him seldom.
Visits to the Blessed Sacrament are powerful and
an indispensable means of overcoming the attacks of the devil.
Make frequent visits to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament
and the devil will be powerless against you.
St. John Bosco
The
youngest of a poor farming family of Piedmont in northern Italy, John
Melchior Bosco was born on August 16, 1815. He lost his father at the
age of two, and his saintly “Mamma” Margarita brought up three sons in
extreme poverty and want.
Intelligent
and talented, John Bosco received his first instruction from a priest
who, perceiving his gifts, took him under his wing. Supported by his
mother and facing many difficulties, he pursued the priesthood, and at
twenty-two was ordained in the diocese of Turin.
At
twenty she had set her heart on marrying the Marquess Cassizucchi; the
young nobleman married Clarice's younger sister instead. Despondent,
Clarice joined the community at St. Bernardine and received the name,
Hyacintha.
St. Gildas is considered to be the first British historian quoted by the Venerable Bede and Alcuin.
Thomas
Aquinas was born about 1225 in the castle of Rocca Secca, into the
noble lineage of the family of Aquino. His father, Landulf, was a knight
and his mother, Theodora, a countess.
Finally
his mother relented. Returning to the Dominicans they found that he had
made so much progress on his own, that he was soon ordained. Sent to
study in Cologne under St. Albert Magnus, his great size and silence
earned him the encomium of “the Dumb Ox” but hearing his brilliant
defense of a difficult thesis, St. Albert responded, "We call this young
man a dumb ox, but his bellowing in doctrine will one day resound
throughout the world."
Angela
de Merici was born in Desenzano, on the southwestern shore of beautiful
Lake Garda, in northern Italy. Left an orphan at the age of ten with an
older sister and a brother, they were taken in by an uncle living in
the neighboring town of Salò.
Timothy and Titus were two of St. Paul’s favorite and most trusted disciples.
Titus
was Greek and a convert from paganism; he is mentioned in several of
the Pauline epistles. He is seen as a peacemaker, administrator and
great friend of the Apostle Paul. When St. Paul was having trouble with
the community at Corinth, Titus was the bearer of his severe letter and
with tact, firmness and charity succeeded in smoothing things out, which
gave St. Paul great joy.
Then
Christ Our Lord instructed him to arise and proceed to Damascus where
he would learn what was expected of him. On arising Saul found that he
was blind, and was led into the town to the house of a man called Judas.
Alphonsus,
King of Leon and Galicia, very much wanted all his servants to honor
the Blessed Virgin by saying the Rosary. So he would hang a large rosary
on his belt and always wear it, but unfortunately never said it
himself. Nevertheless, his wearing it encouraged everyone to say the
Rosary very devoutly.
Francis
de Sales was born in the Duchy of Savoy, in present-day France, in the
Château de Sales. His father was Francis, Lord of Boisy, Sales and Novel
and his mother Frances de Sionnz, the daughter of a prominent
magistrate.
He
was consecrated Bishop of Geneva in 1602, ruling his diocese from
Annecy in France where he immediately established regular catechetical
lessons for young and old. He himself taught the children of whom he
was beloved. He visited the parishes throughout his rugged diocese, made
provisions for the clergy, reformed religious orders, and preached
incessantly, everywhere known for his kindness and patient zeal. Those
who flocked to hear the holy bishop said, “Never have such holy,
apostolic sermons been preached.”
St. Vincent was a native of Huesca, Spain, but lived in Zaragoza.
The
priest continued, “When he had said this, he disappeared. I abstained
for several days from my sinful practices, but when temptation came I
again returned to my sins.
Vincent
Pallotti was born in Rome in 1795, the son of a well-to-do grocer. In
school he was known as a “little saint” and, although bright, he was
also considered “a bit slow” – an illusion amply disproved by the
apostolic endeavors of his life.
Vincent
Pallotti died on January 22, 1850 at the age of fifty-five. When his
body was exhumed in 1906 and again in 1950, it was found to be
completely incorrupt. It is enshrined in the Church of St. Salvatore in
Onda in Rome.
Agnes
was born around 291 in a Christian, patrician family of Rome, and
suffered martyrdom in the terrible persecution of Diocletian.
Pope
St. Fabian was the first layman ever to be elected to the papacy.
Before entering into his pontificate in 236, Fabian was a humble and
well respected farmer. Upon the death of his predecessor, Pope Anterus,
Fabian traveled with some companions to Rome to mourn his passing with
the faithful and to be present when the new pope was elected. While
attending the council to determine who Anterus’ successor would be, a
dove suddenly appeared and descended upon the head of Fabian as a clear
sign of his divine election. By unanimous vote, Fabian was instantly
chosen as the next pope.
Celebrated
alongside St. Fabian is the Roman martyr, Sebastian. Though the
narrative of his story is largely unhistorical, legend tells us that he
was a young officer in the imperial army, who secretly dedicated himself
to the spiritual and temporal assistance of the Christians and martyrs.
It was he who exhorted Sts. Marcus and Marcellianus to constancy in the
Faith and inspired them with the courage to face their deaths when they
began to waver under the pleas of their friends. Being thus discovered,
Sebastian was condemned by Emperor Diocletian and delivered over to
Mauritanian archers to be shot to death. Miraculously, he survived
though and was nourished back to health by St. Zoe, a convert of his and
mother of Sts. Marcus and Marcellianus. Refusing to flee, Sebastian
confronted the Emperor again and harshly reproached him for his cruelty
to the Christians. He died in 288 after being clubbed to death and his
body thrown into the common sewer. It was privately removed, and he also
was buried in the cemetery of Calixtus.
Wulfstan
(Wulstan) was a native of Warwickshire, England. After his priestly
ordination, he became a novice at the monastery of Worcester where he
edified all by the innocence and sanctity of his life. He was assiduous
at prayer, often watching all night in church.
She
suffered terrible tortures, one of which was being taken to the arena
to be devoured by wild beasts. Rather than devour her though, the lions
are said to have licked her feet! Finally, she was taken outside the
city walls and beheaded. Legend tells us that when she was martyred, a
great eagle appeared above her and protected her body for several days
until the Christians were able to retrieve it.
Margaret
of Hungary was the daughter of King Bela IV, a champion of Christendom,
and Maria Laskarina, a pious Byzantine princess. Bella IV being the
brother of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Margaret was the saintly Queen of
Hungary’s blood niece.
Her
body worn out by the fatigue of long hours of labor, fasting and
prayer, Margaret died at the age of twenty-eight on January 18, 1270.
The virtuous princess was universally venerated as a saint from the time
of her death.
At
the age of thirty-five, the holy hermit moved from his solitude in the
vicinity of his native village, to a location across the eastern branch
of the river Nile where he made his abode in some ruins on the summit of
a mountain. There he lived for twenty years, rarely seeing any man
except one who brought him bread every so often.
Honoratus
was born into a patrician Roman family that had settled in Gaul,
present-day France. As a young man, he renounced paganism and won his
elder brother Venantius over to Christ.
The
island of Lérins, today the island of Saint Honorat just south of
Cannes, is home to Cistercian monks who live in a majestic monastery and
produce fine wines and liqueurs which are well-known throughout the
world.
Among the women saints of Ireland, St. Ita holds the most prominent place after St. Brigid. She is sometimes called Deirdre.
Sava,
born in 1174, was the youngest of the three sons of Stephen I, founder
of the Nemanyde dynasty, of the independent Serbian State. At the age of
seventeen he became a monk on Mount Athos, on the Greek peninsula.
Abdicating the throne in 1196, his father joined him and together they
established the thriving monastery of Khilandari.
Hilary
was born into an illustrious family in Poitiers, Gaul, in present-day
France. Although he was brought up in idolatry, its tenets and beliefs
did not satisfy his spiritual thirst. Chancing upon a copy of the Sacred
Scriptures one day, after years of searching and studying, Hilary
opened the Book of Exodus to God's words to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"
When
Marguerite was thirty-four, she was invited by the visiting governor of
the French settlement in Canada to start a school at Ville-Marie, today
Montreal. She generously accepted and traveled to the French colony
then numbering two hundred people. Ville-Marie also had a hospital and a
Jesuit mission chapel.
Eventually,
he retired as a hermit to a cave on a mountain near Bethlehem, but his
sanctity and miracles attracted many who wished to serve God under his
direction. A spacious monastery was built on a place called Cathismus,
which became a haven of saints in the desert.
Shortly
after the Church’s founding, many saints, notably Pope Saint Leo the
Great, had already spoken of the Child Jesus and His birth. But devotion
to the Infant Jesus truly began to flourish in the Middle Ages, thanks
to the ardor of various saints. Saint Francis of Assisi was moved while
meditating on the fact that God became a child and was laid in a manger.
It was he who set up history’s first nativity scene to represent this
divine mystery. Saint Anthony of Padua, following the example of his
founder and master, likewise marveled at the Infant-God, and was often
granted the privilege of holding Him in his arms, this being the way
Saint Anthony is generally depicted. Other saints have also received
this ineffable favor.
Centuries
later, another Carmelite, Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy
Face, honored the Child Jesus in a special way, not only choosing this
as her name in religion, but also by initiating the way of “Spiritual
Infancy.” It was, she said, on Christmas night of 1886 that she received
the greatest grace of her life, the grace of forsaking childish
immaturity and entering the great way of the saints. She abandoned
herself to the Child Jesus with all docility, like a ball in the hands
of a child. When she received the responsibility of dressing the
convent’s little image of the Child Jesus, she did so with true
devotion. She also enjoyed prolonged colloquies with the image of the
Infant of Prague in the choir of the novitiate.
Almost
simultaneously, Providence inspired Princess Polyxena of Lobkovice, a
widow who was retiring to the castle of Roudnice, to donate to the
monastery a wax-covered statue of the Child Jesus. He was represented
standing, vested in royal garments, holding a globe in His left hand
while giving a blessing with His right. The statue had been a wedding
present to her mother, Maria Manriques de Lara, when she married
Vratislav of Pernstyn, and she had in turn presented it to her daughter
as a wedding gift.
When
the image was newly enthroned in the oratory of the novitiate, the
benefactors of the convent, who had disappeared in those years that the
image was missing, returned and renewed their assistance.
Friar
Cyril could not help but answer such a just request. When he arrived at
the bedside of the dying woman, her husband said to her, “My dear, open
your eyes. See, the Child Jesus is here to cure you.” With much effort
the sick woman opened her eyes and her face lit up. “Oh!” she exclaimed,
“the Child is here in my room!” She raised her arms toward the statue
to kiss it. Seeing this, her husband exclaimed jubilantly, “A miracle! A
miracle! My wife is cured!”
In
1655, thanks to a contribution of the Baron of Tallembert, the
miraculous image was placed upon a magnificent altar in the church of
Our Lady of Victory and solemnly crowned by Archbishop Joseph von Corti
of Prague.