Saint of the day .

[Colin]

{ From ICN }
Saint of the day: 22nd November

Saint Cecilia

Roman martyr, patron saint of music. According to legend, St Cecilia was a Roman Christian from a patrician family who lived in the 2nd or 3rd century. She had decided to remain single and devote her life to God, but was forced into an arranged marriage. While the wedding guests danced at her wedding, she sat apart singing only the psalms. Valerian, her husband, turned out to be very understanding and respected her vow of virginity.

He and his brother Tiburtius were both so impressed and attracted by Cecilia's graces, eventually they were both baptised. The family devoted themselves to charitable works including obtaining the bodies of martyred Christians and giving them decent burials. When the prefect Almachius found out what they were doing, he had them arrested and tried to force them to make sacrifices to the pagan gods. One of the soldiers who had interrogated them, a man called Maximus, was so struck by their conviction, he became a Christian too. The three men were put to death together.

St Cecilia buried them in the cemetery of Praetextatus. Then she turned her home into a place of worship. When her religion was discovered Almachius ordered her death by suffocation. She survived. Later a soldier came to behead her. Three blows failed to kill her and, according to legend, it took her three days to die. During that time, she was surrounded by friends and comforted everyone by singing praises to God.

Her house was later dedicated as a church by Pope Urban. In 1529 her tomb was opened and her body was found to be incorrupt. The sculptor Maderna made a life-size marble statue of her lying on her bed. A replica of this statue is on the site of her supposed tomb in Rome at the catacombs of Callistus.

Since the 16th century, St Cecilia has been patron of musicians. The traditional account of her life can be found in Chaucer's Second Nun's Tale. The Academy of Music in Rome chose her for their patron in 1584. Dryden and Pope wrote a Song and an Ode to her.

She is the patron of Albi cathedral and of a few English churches and convents and she appears in many mediaeval stained glass windows and murals in Italy.


Saint Cecilia , through your intercession , may our lives make music for the glory of God whose praises you joyfully proclaimed in song .

 

[Colin]

{ From ICN }
Saint of the day: 23rd November

Saint Columban

Monk. Born in Leinster in Ireland around 543, St Columban was a monk at Bangor in County Down under St Comgall, before becoming a wandering missionary on the continent with several companions.

Passing through England and Brittany he founded the great monastery of Luxeuil in Burgundy in 591 and was abbot there for twenty years.

Columban's extremely austere rule there became very influential for a time among the rural Frankish nobility. He offended the Frankish court by criticising morals of the local church hierarchy and by his insistence on the Celtic observances in his houses. He was forced into exile in 610. In 612 he founded the monastery of Bobbio in Lombardy in Italy where he died in 615. Some of his writings survive.

Saint Columban , inspire us to work for reform in our own lives and within the Church at large .

 

[S.ilvio]

Amazing how many Irish missionaries and Saints went abroad to Preach the Gospel. Also how ignorant we are over here of their great legacy. I am being educated here...

 

[Colin]

{ From ICN }
Saint of the day: 24th November

Saint Colman of Cloyne

Bishop. Born in Munster in 530, St Colman was a poet and royal bard at Cashel. He was about 50 when he became a Christian and could be described as having an early 'late vocation'. In his mid 50s he was ordained and from that time, worked as a priest and then a bishop in Limerick and Cork.

He built the first church at Cloyne and another at Kilmaclenine. There are still ancient ruins in these places and a holy well at Cloyne .


Saint Colman of Cloyne , help us too make poetry to the Glory of God in what we say and do .


Ye Did It Unto The Least Of These


We’re in a world so busy
People running everywhere.
Forever looking at our watches
Our minds racing with cares.

We never see that lonely man
Sitting on the street.
We don’t even notice that hungry lady
Struggling in the heat.

Children so needy
Filled with despair.
An old grandma rocking sadly
And no one cares.

We must remember
Jesus left us with a plea…
“Ye did unto the least of these
my brethren, ye did it unto me.”

So what about you?
What about me?
What about the lonely man
Sitting on the street?

Will you reach out
Without a shadow of doubt?
Will you love the least of these
And fulfill Jesus’ plea?

A smile for the lonely man sitting on the street.
A bit of food for the hungry lady struggling in the heat.
A hug for the children so full of despair.
A cheery voice for the old Grandma in the rocking chair.

This seems so simple
Such an easy thing to do.
Let’s reach out for the least of these
And for Jesus too.


Danita Pergerson
July 1990

​

 

[Colin]

{ From ICN }
Saint of the day: 25th November

Blessed Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi

Married couple. Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi were beatified on October 21, 2001 by Pope John Paul II.

The couple lived in Rome. Maria was an academic and educationalist and worked for several Catholic organisations. She died in 1965. Luigi was a lawyer involved in the reconstruction of Italy after the Second World War. He died in 1951. Three of their four children attended the ceremony.

"The richness of faith and married love shown by Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi is a living demonstration of what the Second Vatican Council said about all the faithful being called to holiness,'' the Pope said in his homily. "They lived an ordinary life in an extraordinary way,'' demonstrating that sainthood for married couples is "possible and beautiful''.

The Pope assigned today as the Feast Day for Luigi and Maria. Usually, the Feast Day for a saint is the date of their death; however, since the couple has two different dates of death, in an unprecedented step, celebrating their life as a couple, today was chosen because it marks the anniversary of their marriage in 1905.


Blessed Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi , please pray for married couples that they may live out their vocation in accordance with the will of God .

Pray for all couples who plan to marry that they may enter into the sacrament open to all that God does for them .

Pray for single people that they may never look upon themselves as second class Christians , but that they may be faithful to the unique vocation God calls them to .

 

[Colin]

Saint of the day: 26th November

Saint Leonard of Port Maurizio

Franciscan priest, writer, preacher and patron of popular missionaries.

St Leonard was an Italian, born in Port Maurizio in 1676. After training in Rome, he became a Franciscan and restored the Florentian Friary of San Francesco del Monte. Many friars joined the community. They walked around the country preaching and went on solitary retreat twice a year.

In 1730 St Leonard was appointed Guardian at St Bonaventure's in Rome. For six years he preached to soldiers, sailors, convicts and galley slaves as well as giving parish missions.

From 1736 he preached in Umbria, Genoa and the Marches of Ancona - often in the open air as the crowds were so large. Frequently he preached the Way of the Cross and set up about 500 stations across Italy, many of which are still popular today.

In 1750, a Jubilee Year, he set up Stations of the Cross in the Colosseum. After preaching extensively in Lucca, his strength failed and he died in Rome in 1751. He was canonised in 1867.


Saint Leonard of Port Maurizio , such a wonderful evangelist , pray for us that in the power of the Holy Spirit we may never be ashamed to preach the Gospel by both word and deed .

 

[Colin]

{ From ICN }
Saint of the day: 27th November

Saint Francesco Antonio Fasani

Franciscan priest. Born in Lucera, southeast Italy, in 1681, Francesco entered the Conventual Franciscans when he was just 14. After his ordination 10 years later, he taught philosophy to younger friars, served as guardian of his friary and later became provincial. When his term of office ended, Francesco became master of novices and finally parish priest in his hometown.

In his various ministries, he was loving, devout and penitential. He was a sought-after confessor and preacher. One witness at the canonical hearings regarding Francesco's holiness testified: "In his preaching he spoke in a familiar way, filled as he was with the love of God and neighbour; fired by the Spirit, he made use of the words and deed of Holy Scripture, stirring his listeners and moving them to do penance."

Francesco was a loyal friend of the poor, never hesitating to seek from benefactors what was needed.

When he died in Lucera, in 1742, children ran through the streets and cried out: "The saint is dead! The saint is dead!" Francesco was canonized in 1986.

During his homily at the canonization of Francesco, Pope John Paul II reflected on John 21:15 in which Jesus asks Peter if he loves Jesus more than the other apostles and then tells Peter, "Feed my lambs." The Pope observed that in the final analysis human holiness is decided by love. "He [Francesco] made the love taught us by Christ the fundamental characteristic of his existence, the basic criterion of his thought and activity, the supreme summit of his aspirations."


Saint Francesco Antonio Fasani , inspire us to make the love taught us by Christ the fundamental characteristic of our existence , the basic criterion of our thoughts and activity , and the supreme summit of our aspirations .

 

[Colin]

Saint of the day: 28th November


Saint Catherine Laboure

Nun and visionary. Founder of the devotion of the Miraculous Medal. St Catherine came from a large farming family near Dijon in France. Born in 1806, she looked after her widowed father and later worked as a waitress in her uncle's cafe in Paris, before joining the Sisters of Charity at the age of 14.

She lived in the community in Reuilly, caring for the elderly in a rest home and tending chickens. Her superiors wrote that she was a 'quiet and dull' person. Until her last years, few people realised that she led an extraordinary inner life.

Through a series of dreams and visions, she accurately foresaw many historical events in France. In one dream she saw a picture of Mary standing on a globe with shafts of light coming from her hands with the inscription underneath reading: 'Mary conceived without sin pray for us who have recourse to thee.' On the reverse side was a capital M with the cross above and two hearts below.

Catherine believed she was ordered to have this produced as a medal. She spoke with her superiors and, in 1832, the archbishop allowed 1,500 to be minted. Later an account of the medal's origins was published. A canonical review in 1836 declared them authentic.

In 1842 a Jewish man from Alsace, Alphonsus Ratisbone, inspired by the devotion to the medal, became a Christian and founded the Fathers and Sisters of Sion. From that time onwards, the devotion to the Miraculous Medal spread around the world.

Catherine died on 31 December 1876. Her body remains incorrupt in the convent chapel at Rue de Bac, Paris. She was canonised in 1947.

Saint Catherine Laboure , quiet and dull on the outside , but with an extraordinary inner life , so inspire us that we may be open to the workings of the Holy Spirit that our inner lives may increasingly be in tune to the desires of our Lord and Saviour , Jesus Christ .

Mary , conceived without sin , pray for us who have recourse to you .



The remarkable true story of the miraculous intercession of the Virgin Mary in 1944 to prisoner Claude Newman of Mississippi.
http://www.mysticsofthechurch.com/2011/12/miraculous-story-of-claude-newman-his.html

 

[Colin]

{ From ICN }
Saint of the day: 29th November


Saint Brendan of Birr

Irish abbot. St Brendan was a friend and disciple of St Columba. He was called chief of the prophets of Ireland and intervened at a synod at Meath which ended Columba's excommunication.

When Brendan died in 573, Columba saw a vision in Iona of angels carrying his friend's soul to heaven.

At St Brendan's monastery in Birr, the MacRegol Gospels were made, years after his death. The manuscripts are now kept at the Bodleian Museum in Oxford.


Saint Brendan of Birr , pray that prophets may come forth in Ireland and in the Church world-wide , so that they may forthtell God's word for us in this generation .

 

[Colin]

Saint of the day: 30th November

Saint Andrew

Apostle and martyr. Patron saint of Scotland and Russia. Andrew was a brother of Simon Peter. A fisherman who lived at Capernaum, he was a follower of John the Baptist.

When Jesus passed by the Sea of Galilee he saw Peter and Andrew fishing and told them: "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Andrew went to his brother Simon and said: "We have found the Messiah." So he was the first apostle and the first missionary.

The Gospels show Andrew sitting at Jesus' feet asking questions on behalf of the others, alongside Peter, James and John.

Andrew is mentioned during the feeding of the 5,000. He found the boy with the basket of bread and two fishes. He is also mentioned in the Upper Room when the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles.

He is said to have preached in Sythia, Greece and Byzantium, before being crucified on an x-shaped cross (used on the Scottish flag of St Andrew) at Parras in Achaia in the year 60.

Saint Andrew , patron saint of Scotland and Russia , please pray for the peoples of Scotland and Russia .

Pray for those killed and injured and those left bereaved by the helicopter crash in Glasgow .

Inspire us to evangelise that like you we may always be ready to share the Good News both in season and out by word and deed .

The Saltire , the flag of Scotland .

 

[Colin]

Saint of the day: 1st December

Saint Edmund Campion

Jesuit priest and martyr. Born around 1540, Campion was the son of a London bookseller and educated at Christ's hospital. He won a scholarship to St John's College Oxford in 1557 where he was a brilliant and popular student. When Queen Elizabeth I visited Oxford in 1566 he was chosen by the university as orator to welcome her.

Edmund was ordained as an Anglican deacon in 1569, but openly expressed his uncertainty about his religious beliefs. After a spell in Ireland where he helped found a university (later Trinity College) and wrote a history of the country, he returned to England in 1571 and then went to France to go to the English College in Douai where he professed his Catholic faith and was ordained subdeacon.

He left for Rome later that year to join the Jesuits. After his novitiate at Brunn, he taught at the Jesuit College in Prague. He was ordained priest there in 1578. In 1580 Edmund and another priest Robert Persons were chosen to start a mission in England. On his journey he visited Charles Borromeo in Milan. He arrived at Dover disguised as a jewel merchant.

Edmund first ministered to Catholic prisoners and wrote a document in which he challenged the Privy Council, describing his mission as 'one of free cost to preach the Gospels, minister the Sacraments, instruct the simple, reform sinners, to refute errors, in brief to cry alarm spiritual against foul vice and proud ignorance, wherewith many of my dear countrymen are abused.'

His attractive personality, courage, eloquence and learning gave new heart to Catholics struggling to keep their faith in England. But his charismatic preaching was something the authorities could not ignore.

Often in disguise, Campion travelled throughout Lancashire, Yorkshire and the Midlands, preaching, celebrating Mass and administering the Sacraments. He wrote a pamphlet openly challenging Protestants to debate with him. At a service at St Mary's Church in Oxford 400 copies were secretly distributed.

Campion was finally arrested in Lyford Grange in Berkshire. He was taken to the Tower of London and tortured, but refused to give up his faith. On 14 November he was indicted with others in Westminster Hall on the fabricated charge of trying to incite a rebellion. In spite of his able defence, the jury found him guilty of treason and he was condemned to death.

When Campion heard the sentence he said: " In condemning us you condemn all your own ancestors all the ancient bishops and kings, all that was once the glory of England."

Campion stressed his loyalty to the Queen. His only offence was his religion.

With Alexander Briant and Ralph Sherwin he was hung drawn and quartered at Tyburn on this day in 1581.

It has been said that when he died, the Elizabethan age lost one of its most brilliant thinkers and writers.

Edmund Campion was canonised as one of the 40 martyrs of England and Wales in 1970.

Saint Edmund Campion , pray for us that we may always put God first especially amidst the trials and tribulations we encounter .

 

[S.ilvio]

Saint of the day: 1st December

Saint Edmund Campion

Jesuit priest and martyr. Born around 1540, Campion was the son of a London bookseller and educated at Christ's hospital. He won a scholarship to St John's College Oxford in 1557 where he was a brilliant and popular student. When Queen Elizabeth I visited Oxford in 1566 he was chosen by the university as orator to welcome her.

Edmund was ordained as an Anglican deacon in 1569, but openly expressed his uncertainty about his religious beliefs. After a spell in Ireland where he helped found a university (later Trinity College) and wrote a history of the country, he returned to England in 1571 and then went to France to go to the English College in Douai where he professed his Catholic faith and was ordained subdeacon.

He left for Rome later that year to join the Jesuits. After his novitiate at Brunn, he taught at the Jesuit College in Prague. He was ordained priest there in 1578. In 1580 Edmund and another priest Robert Persons were chosen to start a mission in England. On his journey he visited Charles Borromeo in Milan. He arrived at Dover disguised as a jewel merchant.

Edmund first ministered to Catholic prisoners and wrote a document in which he challenged the Privy Council, describing his mission as 'one of free cost to preach the Gospels, minister the Sacraments, instruct the simple, reform sinners, to refute errors, in brief to cry alarm spiritual against foul vice and proud ignorance, wherewith many of my dear countrymen are abused.'

His attractive personality, courage, eloquence and learning gave new heart to Catholics struggling to keep their faith in England. But his charismatic preaching was something the authorities could not ignore.

Often in disguise, Campion travelled throughout Lancashire, Yorkshire and the Midlands, preaching, celebrating Mass and administering the Sacraments. He wrote a pamphlet openly challenging Protestants to debate with him. At a service at St Mary's Church in Oxford 400 copies were secretly distributed.

Campion was finally arrested in Lyford Grange in Berkshire. He was taken to the Tower of London and tortured, but refused to give up his faith. On 14 November he was indicted with others in Westminster Hall on the fabricated charge of trying to incite a rebellion. In spite of his able defence, the jury found him guilty of treason and he was condemned to death.

When Campion heard the sentence he said: " In condemning us you condemn all your own ancestors all the ancient bishops and kings, all that was once the glory of England."

Campion stressed his loyalty to the Queen. His only offence was his religion.

With Alexander Briant and Ralph Sherwin he was hung drawn and quartered at Tyburn on this day in 1581.

It has been said that when he died, the Elizabethan age lost one of its most brilliant thinkers and writers.

Edmund Campion was canonised as one of the 40 martyrs of England and Wales in 1970.

Saint Edmund Campion , pray for us that we may always put God first especially amidst the trials and tribulations we encounter .

Yet another great man who served Jesus with such courage.

Thank you again, Colin...

 

[Colin]

Saint of the day: 2nd December

Saint Viviana

Early Christian martyr. St Viviana and her sister St Demetria were both martyred for their faith in a purge of Christians conducted in 363 by the brutal prefect of Rome, Apronianus.

The prefect had gone on the rampage after he lost an eye in an accident and became convinced that Christians were to blame. He killed large numbers of people, including the girls' parents Flavian and Dafrosa.

St Viviana and her sister were kept under house arrest for five months and virtually starved. When they were summoned to court, Demetria stood up and declared her faith once more before she fainted and died. Viviana continued to refuse to renounce her faith and was taken from the court and flogged to death.

Saint Viviana , inspire us by your steadfast courage .

 

[Colin]

Saint of the day: 3rd December

Saint Francis Xavier S.J.

Jesuit missionary. Patron of foreign missionaries. St Francis was a Basque Spaniard, born in 1506 at the castle of Xavier in Navarre. He studied at the University of Paris where he met Ignatius Loyola and joined the group of seven who took their vows at Montmarte in 1534. They were ordained priests three years later in Venice.

In 1541, Francis sailed from Lisbon with Simon Rodriguez, for Goa, at the invitation of the King of Portugal. He was appointed Apostolic Nuncio for the East. The journey took thirteen months.

Francis made this town his headquarters. He began by reforming Goa, where many Portuguese Catholics lived, and were notorious for cruelty to their slaves, abusing the local women and neglecting the poor.

Francis preached and wrote verses on Christian truths set to popular tunes in an effort to bring people back to the faith. He also travelled to Ceylon, Southern Indian and the Molluccan islands where he made many converts. Francis went among the poor living as a poor man himself, sleeping on the ground and eating mainly rice and water. He had great success among the low castes but little among the richer people.

Francis was often seasick and had problems learning languages, but this did not dampened his missionary zeal.

In 1549 he went to Japan, translated a statement of Christian belief into Japanese and left more than 100 converts at Kagoshima in his first year. He also travelled to many other parts of the country with varying degrees of success. In Yamaguchi he was given an empty Buddhist monastery.

When he left there were about 2,000 Christians in Japan. Within the next 60 years many of these were killed.

In 1552 Francis returned to Goa. He set out on a fresh mission to China but fell ill and died on the island of Chuen-Shan. He was 46.

Some aspects of his work have been criticised. Like most of his Catholic and Protestant contemporaries, he believed the unbaptised were damned. This lent urgency to his activity and a lack of sensitivity to the religions of the east. But his devotion and concern for the poor cannot be faulted.

His body was returned to Goa and he was canonised in 1622. Several missionary congregations bear his name and many churches and colleges have been dedicated to him.

Saint Francis Xavier , inspire us . Please pray for us that no hardship or embarrassment will hinder us from witnessing to the Gospel of Jesus by word and deed .

( God willing , the Novena of Grace in honour of St. Francis Xavier will be posted in the Chapel March 4th-March 12th , March 12th being the anniversary of the canonization of St. Francis Xavier ) .

 

[Colin]

{ From ICN }
Saint of the day: 4th December

Saint John Damascene

Theologian and hymn writer. St John was born in Damascus around 675. He was the son of an important Christian official at the court of the Kalif Abdul Malek. He is said to have been educated by a Greek monk from Calabria who had been taken prisoner by the Moslems. John succeeded his father's post and filled it for several years. When the Emperor Leo II ordered sacred Christian images and statues to be destroyed, the Moslem Kalif protected John and allowed him to write in their defence. The use of religious images was valid, he said, because they helped people to understand their faith better.

Around this time, John became a monk and priest at the monastery of Mar Saba in the mountain wilderness between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. He lived there until his death.

He was one of the leading religious writers of his day. The most important of his works the Fount of Knowledge, part of which is a digest of Christian doctrine which was used in the West in the Middle Ages. Three surviving sermons are about the Assumption of Our Lady. His hymns are still sung in the Greek liturgy. St John Damascene was made a Doctor of the Church in 1890.


Saint John Damascene , pray for us that the images , icons , statues , crucifixes and medals we use as aids to prayer may be windows through which we see that to which our natural eyes are blind .



Also: Saint Barbara

Known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, she was an early Christian saint and martyr. Accounts place her in the 3rd century in Nicomedia, present-site Turkey or in Heliopolis in Egypt. There is no reference to her in the authentic early Christian writings, nor in the original recension of Saint Jerome's martyrology. Her name can be traced to the 7th century, and veneration of her was common, especially in the East, from the 9th century. Because of doubts about the historicity of her legend, she was removed from the liturgical calendar of the Roman Rite in 1969 in Pope Paul VI's motu proprio Mysterii Paschalis.
Saint Barbara is often portrayed with miniature chains and a tower. As one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, Barbara continues to be a popular saint in modern times, perhaps best known as the patron saint of armourers, artillerymen, military engineers, miners and others who work with explosives because of her old legend's association with lightning, and also of mathematicians. Many of the thirteen miracles in a 15th-century French version of her story turn on the security she offered that her devotees would not die without making confession and receiving extreme unction.
Workers on the massive Crosrail line under construction in London refused to work the tunnels until statues of St Barbara were blessed and installed at each station entrance.


Saint Barbara , pray that the findings of science be used to promote peace , not warfare .

 

[S.ilvio]

( God willing , the Novena of Grace in honour of St. Francis Xavier will be posted in the Chapel March 4th-March 12th , March 12th being the anniversary of the canonization of St. Francis Xavier ) .

Thank you for the reminder, Colin...

 

[Colin]

{ From ICN }
Saint of the day: 5th December

Saint Sabas

Patriarch. Born in Cappadocia (modern-day Turkey) in 438, Sabas is one of the most highly regarded patriarchs among the monks of Palestine and is considered one of the founders of Eastern monasticism.

After an unhappy childhood in which he was abused and ran away several times, Sabas finally sought refuge in a monastery. While family members tried to persuade him to return home, the young boy felt drawn to monastic life and became a monk.

At the age of 18 he travelled to Jerusalem where he asked to be accepted as a disciple of a well-known local solitary. Because he was so young, at first Sabas lived in a monastery, where he worked during the day and spent much of the night in prayer. Then when he reached 30 he was given permission to spend five days each week in a nearby remote cave, engaging in prayer and manual labour. Following the death of his mentor, St Euthymius, Sabas moved farther into the desert near Jericho. There he lived for several years in a cave near the brook Cedron. A rope was his means of access. Wild herbs among the rocks were his food. Occasionally men brought him other food and items, while he had to go a distance for water.

Some of these men asked whether they could join him in his solitude. At first he refused. But eventually, more than 150 men, living in individual huts, grouped together with him around a church, called a laura.

The bishop persuaded a reluctant Sabas, then in his early 50s, to prepare for the priesthood so that he could better serve his monastic community. While functioning as abbot among a large community of monks, he felt ever called to live the life of a hermit. Every year he left his monks throughout Lent.

Over the years Sabas travelled throughout Palestine, preaching the true faith and converting many. At the age of 91, in response to a plea from the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Sabas undertook a journey to Constantinople. He fell ill and, soon after his return, died at the monastery at Mar Saba. Today the monastery is still inhabited by monks of the Eastern Orthodox Church, and St Sabas is regarded as one of the most noteworthy figures of early monasticism.

Saint Sabas , throughout a long life you remained faithful to your Lord and Saviour .

Pray that we too , despite doubts and trials , will remain faithful .

Pray especially for any children who are abused in so many different ways .

Pray for their abusers that they may be repentant and healed .

 

[Colin]

{ From ICN }
Saint of the day: 6th December

Saint Nicholas

Patron of children, sailors, unmarried women, merchants, pawnbrokers, apothecaries and perfumers.

Although he is one of the most popular saints in the East and West, very little is known about the life of this 4th century bishop. His diocese of Myra was in south east Turkey.

According to legend, he gave three bags of gold to three girls who couldn't marry, because they didn't have dowries. This is said to be the basis of the three gold balls on the pawnbroker's sign.

The number three crops up very often in St Nicholas' life. He is said to have raised three young boys to life after they had been murdered. He defended and saved three men unjustly accused of a crime, and he rescued three sailors from drowning.

From his shrine at Bari there was said to have come a wonderful scent. In England about 400 churches are dedicated to St Nicholas, and many windows and frescoes are dedicated to him. Across Europe there are hundreds more dedications.

The most popular result of the cult of St Nicholas is the institution of Santa Claus or Father Christmas. There were many stories of his kindness to children, and in the Low Countries the custom grew of giving children presents on this day.

The custom is still very popular in Holland, Scandinavia and many Slavic countries.

Santa Claus reached his current status in North America where the Dutch Protestants in New Amsterdam united the legend to Nordic folktales of a magician who punished naughty children and rewarded good ones. For more information see: www.stnicholascenter.org

Saint Nicholas , Patron of children , sailors , unmarried women , merchants , pawnbrokers , apothecaries and perfumers , pray for them all .

 

[Colin]

Saint of the day: 7th December

Saint Ambrose

Bishop of Milan. Saint Ambrose was born at Trier in 339. He was the son of the Pretorian Prefect of Gaul. He studied Greek rhetoric and poetry and became a successful advocate.

In 370 he became governor of Aemilia and Liguria at Milan. When the first Arian bishop died, he appealed for peace at the noisy assembly called to elect his successor.

During his speech a child cried out: "Ambrose for bishop". He was very surprised as he was not even a Christian. But a huge crowd began to call for him as bishop and within a week he was baptised and consecrated bishop.

He studied scripture and the writings of Origen and Basil. In time he was to become a very influential figure in the early church. He promoted monasticism and the cult of Our Lady. He became friends with St Augustine's mother, St Monica and, through her, got to know her son, St Augustine, and had an important role in his conversion.

St Ambrose's daily routine as bishop of Milan combined hard work with accessibility to all. As the city was the administrative capital of the Western Empire he came to play an important role in politics, guiding and sometimes criticising rulers. He stood up to Theodosius after an infamous massacre of men, women and children at Thessalonica.

He fought against the Arian heresies and refused to give up a church for Arian worship. He also managed to stop the revival of a cult to the goddess Victory.

His principle works are on the Sacraments, a book on the Office of Clerical Ministers, a commentary on St Luke's Gospel and one catachetical instruction. He also wrote many hymns and taught his people to sing.

St Ambrose died at the age of 58 in the year 397 and was buried under the high altar of his basilica.

In art he is often represented as in episcopal vestments with a scourge symbolising the penance he imposed on the Emperor, or else with a beehive because a swarm of bees, symbolising his future eloquence, settled on him when he was a child .


Saint Ambrose , bishop of Milan , we give thanks to God for the great bishops the Holy Spirit has inspired in Milan , yourself , Pope Paul VI and Cardinal Martini .

May our bishops fan into a flame the gift of God , which is in them through the laying on of hands .

 

[Colin]

Saint of the day: 8th December

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

The dogma of the Immaculate Conception holds that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was free from Original Sin from the very moment of her conception. The Immaculate Conception of Mary is often confused with the virginal conception of Jesus.

Today's feast was first approved by Pope Sixtus IV in 1476.

In 1830 St Catherine Laboure experienced a vision in which she saw Our Lady standing on a globe with rays of light emanating from her hands. The vision was surrounded by an oval frame on which were the words 'Oh Mary conceived without sin pray for us who have recourse to thee.'

In 1854, Pius IX solemnly decreed that 'the most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by the singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, and in view of the merits of Christ Jesus the Saviour of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin. That is revealed by God and therefore firmly and constantly to be believed by all the faithful.'

Just four years later, in Lourdes, the 14 year old St Bernadette, who had very little education and would have know nothing of papal statements, began to experience a series of apparitions of 'a lady', When she asked her name, the Lady replied: "I am the Immaculate Conception."

Saint Bernard wrote of Mary: "If you follow her you do not stray; if you think of her your mind does not err; if you ask of her, you will not be disappointed; if you cling to her, you will not fall. If she be with you, all is well, and you will realise the truth of the words 'the name of the virgin was Mary.'

O God, who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin prepared a worthy dwelling for your Son, grant, we pray, that, as you preserved her from every stain by virtue of the Death of your Son, which you foresaw, so, through her intercession, we, too, may be cleansed and admitted to your presence. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Mary , conceived without sin , pray for us who have recourse to you .

St. Bernadette , pray for us .


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