Saint Gregory of Narak - February 27

Saint Gregory of Narak was born c. 950, he was educated by his cousin Anania of Narek who was the founder of the monastery and school in his home village in Vaspurakan, Armenia. Gregory was ordained into the priesthood and spent most of his life teaching at the monastery. His greatest work is the Book of Lamentations, a collection of ninety-five prayers. Saint Gregory of Narek was proclaimed Doctor of the Church by Pope Francis in 2015. 

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Saint Bonaventure - July 15

Saint Bonaventure 

July 15 

The Seraphic Doctor

“Arise then oh soul beloved of Christ.  Run then with intense desire to this fountain of life and light and cry out with all the power of your heart, quench the thirst of our burning hearts.”  Saint Bonaventure 

Prayer of Saint Bonaventure said after Mass 

Most loving Lord Jesus grant that my soul may hunger after you the bread of angels, the refreshment of holy souls, our daily and supersubstantial bread, let my heart ever hunger after and feed upon you on whom the angels wish to look and, may my inmost spirit be filled with your delight. May it ever thirst after you, the fountain of life, the fountain of wisdom and knowledge, the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the richness of the house of God.  May it ever aspire after you, seek you, find you, run to you, attain you, meditate upon you, speak of you, and do all things to the praise and glory of your name, with humility and discretion, ease and affection, with love and delight, and with perseverance unto the end. May you alone ever be my hope, my entire assurance, my riches, my delight, my pleasure, my joy, my rest and tranquility, my peace, my sweetness, my fragrance, my sweet savor, my food, my refreshment, my refuge, my help, my wisdom, my portion, my possession and my treasure, in whom may my mind and my heart be fixed and firmly rooted immovably for all eternity. Amen.

Saint Alphonsus Liguori - August 1 (Patron Saint of those Suffering with Arthritis)

Saint Alphonsus Liguori
Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Founder of the Redemptorists

Patron of those Suffering with Arthritis
August 1 

"May God accomplish His adorable
will in your regard." Saint Alphonsus Liguori

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Saint Hilary of Poitiers - January 13

Saint Hilary of Poitiers

Bishop

Doctor of the Church

(c 315 – c 368)



"Much ink has been inconclusively spilled debating whether reason can prove the existence of God. But without doubt reason can carry a person to faith, as it brought St. Hilary of Poitiers to Christianity. A gifted pagan rhetorician, Hilary observed that human beings had been placed on earth to live virtuously and be rewarded for it. Such thinking led him to make a rational inquiry about God. He dismissed polytheism as illogical and determined that God was one and eternal." (Bert Ghezzi, Voices of the Saints: A 365-Day Journey with Our Spiritual Companions, page 116)

Prayer of Saint Hilary of Poitiers

O God, may all my thoughts and words speak of You.
Fill with wind the sails I have hoisted for You,
and carry me forward on my course.

Breathe Your Spirit into my faith
and the way I confess it.
Enable me to continue
the preaching I have begun. 

___
Art
Saint Hilary of Poitiers - Parmigianino

Saint Basil the Great
Saint Gregory Nazianzen

Today the Church celebrates the memorial of St. Basil the Great (329-379) and St. Gregory Nazianzen (329-389), two friends who became bishops and doctors of the Church.

O God, who were pleased to give light to your Church

by the example and teaching

of the Bishops Saints Basil and Gregory,

grant, we pray,

that in humility we may learn your truth

and practice it faithfully in charity.

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.Amen.

___
Art
Basil and Gregory of Nazianzus, Byzantine Fresco, Unknown Artist

Saint Therese Of Lisieux - October 1

Saint Therese of Lisieux
Saint Therese of the Child Jesus

Doctor of the Little Way of Spiritual Childhood

Doctor of Merciful Love

(1873 - 1897)

The last child of the Martin family was born January 2, 1873 and was baptized Marie Francoise Therese. At the age of four her mother died leaving her sister Pauline to care for Therese as a mother. In 1882 when Therese was nine Pauline entered the Carmelite convent leaving Therese with a deep sense of loss, as if losing a second mother before the age of ten. At the age of fourteen Therese entered what she considered to be the third part of her life, she wanted to be a Carmelite. When asked why she answered, “I came to save souls and especially to pray for priests.” (Story of a Soul, p. 149).

“When giving Therese his permission to enter Carmel, Therese’s father had plucked a tiny flower, roots and all, from where it grew in a crevice in the garden wall and had presented it to her. The little white flower represented his own sadness at losing his “little queen” and became for her a symbol of herself, soon to be “transplanted” to Carmel. Therese kept the flower throughout her life. Divine Providence has allowed her to be known and loved as the Little Flower.” (The 33 Doctors of the Church, p. 648)

On a pilgrimage to Rome, Therese asked the Holy Father Pope Leo XIII to allow her to enter the Carmelites at age fifteen. Therese asked, “Holy Father, in honor of your Jubilee, permit me to enter Carmel at the age of fifteen.” After he told her to do as the superiors decided, she reminded the Pope that if he would give permission, all would agree. Pope Leo XIII blessed her, saying, “You will enter if God wills it.” (Story of a Soul, p. 134-135)

At the age of fifteen on the feast of the Annunciation Therese entered Carmel, as God willed it. In the course of her two years as a postulant and novice and her seven years under vows, Therese performed a variety of jobs. The daily schedule of the Lisieux Carmelite convent began with rising at 5 a.m. to a wooden clapper, an hour of mental prayer, Mass, and the Little Hours of the Divine Office. Breakfast followed with bread and coffee then off to work, a main meal at 11 a.m. an hour of recreation, Vespers, spiritual reading, a hour of mental prayer, followed by a light super and a second recreation period. At 7:30 p.m. Matins and Lauds were chanted with the end of the day coming at 11 p.m.

At fifteen could Therese have understood what she was entering with the Carmelite convent? Did she have any reservations? In her own words Therese says, “God gave me the grace not to have a single one when entering Carmel." (Story of a Soul, p. 149)

The prayer Therese carried on the day of her religious profession September 8, 1890 sums up the way in which she gave herself completely to God’s will. She wrote this prayer the day before her profession.

“O Jesus, my divine spouse! May I never lose the second robe of my Baptism; take me before I can commit the slightest voluntary fault. May I never seek nor find anything but Yourself alone. May creatures be nothing for me and may I be nothing for them, but may You, Jesus, be everything… Never let me be a burden to the community, let nobody be occupied with me, let me be looked upon as one to be trampled underfoot, forgotten like Your little grain of sand, Jesus. May Your will be done in me perfectly, and may I arrive at the place You have prepared for me. Jesus, allow me to save very many souls; let no soul be lost today; let all the souls in Purgatory be saved. Jesus, pardon me if I say anything I should not say. I want only to give You joy and to console You.” (Story of a Soul, p. 275)

On the night between Holy Thursday and Good Friday 1896 Therese coughed up what appeared to be blood. Verified the following morning as blood, Therese was not frightened. She felt closer to being with the one she loved in Heaven. Her last year and a half brought increased bodily pain as her tuberculosis ravaged her system. She went home September 30, 1897 at age 24.

The Story of St Therese of Lisieux
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