Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini - November 13

"What have we to fear if the Heart of Jesus protects us?
Let us keep our gaze fixed on the wound of the Heart of Jesus."
Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini 

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini was born July 15, 1850 about twenty miles from Milan, Italy.  Her father had the habit of reading stories about missionaries to his thirteen children which led Frances to dream if becoming a missionary in China.  But God's plans are not always ours, Frances became a missionary but she was not set to China as she had prayed, instead Frances was sent to help the Italian immigrants in the slums of New York City.

After receiving her teachers certificate at age 18 from a school run by the Daughters of the Sacred Heart Frances immediately applied for admission into the convent in hopes to be sent as a teacher to the Orient. She was turned down.  Instead she was offered a substitute teaching position a mile away from her village. She accepted the position thankful to practice her profession.

At age 24 she reapplied for the convent and was again turned down.  Instead she was asked to help organize a badly run orphanage in the nearby town of Cadogno.  She accepted and spent the next six years reorganizing the orphanage. After having impressed her superiors with her performance Frances finally put on the habit of a nun at the age of 30, taking her final vows three years later.

Praying to be sent to China, Frances was instead asked to found a missionary order of women to serve in the diocese of Cadogno.  Frances accepted this request opening an orphanage and day school and starting the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. This became a success and Frances, now Mother Cabrini, went on to open another mission in Milan, but she still dreamed of being a missionary in China.

In 1887 with the hope of broadening her area of activity beyond the diocese of her home town and to receive papal approval for her order, Mother Cabrini went to Rome.  Pope Leo XIII approved her order, but instead of sending her to China, Pope Leo XIII sent her to America to help the Italian immigrants assimilate.  Mother Cabrini accepted the assignment and taking seven nuns left for New York.

When they arrived on March 31, 1889, they learned that there was no place for them to live.  They could not afford a hotel, so they spent the night in prayer.  The next morning after Mass the sisters met with the archbishop and devised a plan.  Shortly thereafter, a wealthy Italian woman contributed money for the purchase of their first house.  This house quickly filled with orphans.

They next year the order opened a school across the Hudson in West Park.  In 1892 with an initial capital of two hundred and fifty dollars, representing five contributions of fifty dollars each, Mother Cabrini opened her first hospital, Columbus Hospital on Twelfth Street in New York.

Mother Cabrini never fulfilled her dream to become a missionary to China, but she had come to terms with this writing in 1895, "Our prayers are often so imperfect that they deserve to be rejected, but the loving Heart of Jesus corrects them and turns them to noble ends. He himself asks for what is for our greater good, mercifully covering our unworthiness with His merits." 

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini died at the age of 67 in 1917.During her lifetime, she established 67 orphanages, schools, and hospitals.  In 1946, she became the first American citizen to become a Saint.

  Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini pray for us.    For items related to the Catholic Faith
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Mural by Gonippo Raggi in the chapel of a New York orphanage 

Saint Charles Borromeo - November 4

Saint Charles Borromeo 

November 4 

Born at Arona, Italy, in 1538, Saint Charles became a bishop and cardinal of Milan during the period of the Counter-Reformation. He was active in carrying out the reform dictates of the Council of Trent in his dioceses and is remembered for his intense pastoral activity and his works of charity, especially during the plague of 1576.   

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Saint Charles Borromeo - Sigismondo Caula

Saint John Capistrano - October 23

Saint John of Capistrano 

October 23

Patron Saint of Military Chaplain’s  

Saint John Capistrano was born in the village of  Capistrano  in the mountains of the Abruzzi in central Italy in 1386.  He began his career as a lawyer, but later was placed in prison for political reasons.  It was during his imprisonment that he had a conversion of heart and upon his release became a priest and joined the Franciscans. 

In 1456, on the request of Pope Callixus III, 70 year old Saint John Capistrano organized a crusade against the Turks and led a Christian army that turned back the Turks at Belgrade in 1456, earning him the name “the Soldier Priest.”

Saint John Capistrano died in 1456 of the bubonic plague. 

"Peace is a fundamental right of every man and woman, which should be continuously promoted taking into account that “insofar as men are sinners, the threat of war hands over them and will so continue until the coming of Christ.  Be man and women of peace.  And be so to the full, welcome into your hearts Christ, the Author and Guarantor of True Peace.   He will help you to put force at the service of the important values of life, of justice, of forgiveness and of freedom.” (Blessed Pope Paul II  November 19^th 2000)

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Saint John Capistrano - Jose de Paez 

Saint Ignatius of Antioch - October 17

Saint Ignatius of Antioch
October 17

“I am God’s wheat and shall be ground by the teeth of wild animals.  I am writing to all the churches to let it be known that I will gladly die for God if only you do not stand in my way.  I plead with you:  show me no untimely kindness,  Let me be food for the wild beasts, for they are my way to God. I am God’s wheat and shall be ground by their teeth so that I may become Christ’s pure bread.” (A Letter to the Romans by Saint Ignatius of Antioch)

Saint Ignatius was consecrated as the second Bishop of Antioch and successor to Saint Peter around the year 69.  In 107, during the reign Emperor Trajan, Saint Ignatius was sentenced to death for refusing to renounce the Christian faith.  On his journey to Rome to be executed, he wrote seven letters of encouragement, instruction and inspiration to the Christians of the Churches of Asia Minor and Greece.

It was Saint Ignatius who first used the Greek term katholikos, meaning universal to describe the whole Church in his Letter to the Smymaeans, "Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be; as wherever Jesus Christ is there is the Catholic Church."  Saint Ignatius was dedicated to defending the true teaching handed down by the Apostles.  He died a martyr's death, publicly devoured by lions in the Roman Coliseum.   

“It is not that I want merely to be called a Christian, but to actually be one.  Yes, if I prove to be one, then I can have the name…Come fire, cross, battling with wild beasts, wrenching of bones, mangling of limbs, crushing of my whole body, cruel tortures of the Devil – Only let me get to Jesus Christ!” Saint Ignatius of Antioch

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Art
Martyrdom of Saint Ignatius of Antioch - Cesare Fracanzano

Pope Francis Consecrates the World to the Immaculate Heart of Mary - October 13

On October 13, 1917 near Fatima, Portugal, 70,000 people had arrived in hopes of witnessing the apparition of Our Lady.  "They all saw the clouds part, and the sun appear like a great disk of white fire.  But the children (Jacinta, Francisco, and Lucia) saw a vision of the Holy Family.  Next Our Lady appeared as Our Lady of Sorrows, and beside her stood Jesus.  He made the sign of the cross over the people.  Finally, Our Lady came again as Our Lady of Mount Carmel.  She was crowned, and the Infant Jesus stood on her knee."  (The Story of Our Lady of Fatima, Brother Ernest, C.S.C., 1957)

"From the road, where the carriages were crowded together and where hundreds of persons had stayed for want of sufficient courage to advance across the muddy ground, we saw the huge crowd turn towards the sun which appeared at its zenith, clear of the clouds. It resembled a disc of silver, and it was possible to stare at it without the least discomfort.  It did not burn the eyes.  It did not blind.  We would say that it proceed an eclipse.  Then a tremendous cry rang out, and the crowd nearest us were heard to shout:  "Miracle! Miracle!...Marvel!..Marvel!"  Before the dazzled eyes of the people, whose attitude transported us to biblical times, and who, dumbfounded, heads uncovered, contemplated the blue of the sky, the sun trembled, it made strange and abrupt movements, outside of all cosmic laws,  "the sun danced", according to the typical expression of the peasants..."  (O Seculo, October 15, 1917) 

On October 13th,  the anniversary of the miracle of the sun, the last apparition of Our Lady of Fatima, Pope Francis consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary with this prayer:
   

Holy Mary Virgin of Fatima,

with renewed gratitude for your maternal presence

we join our voice to that of all the generations

who call you blessed.

We celebrate in you the works of God,

who never tires of looking down with mercy

upon humanity, afflicted with the wound of sin,

to heal it and save it.

Accept with the benevolence of a Mother

the act of consecration that we perform today with confidence,

before this image of you that is so dear to us.

We are certain that each of us is precious in your eyes

and that nothing of all that lives in our hearts is unknown to you.

We let ourselves be touched by your most sweet regard

and we welcome the consoling caress of your smile.

Hold our life in your arms:

bless and strengthen every desire for good;

revive and nourish faith;

sustain and enlighten hope;

awaken and animate charity;

guide all of us along the path of holiness.

Teach us your own preferential love

for the little and the poor,

for the excluded and the suffering,

for sinners and the downhearted:

bring everyone under your protection

and entrust everyone to your beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus.

Amen.

Saint Jerome - September 30

Saint Jerome 

September 30 

Doctor of the Church

Patron of Librarians

"Ignorance of the Scriptures

 is ignorance of Christ." Saint Jerome

The life of Saint Jerome is evidence that God writes straight with crooked lines, making virtues out of vice.  Saint Jerome who was known for his difficult personality, one might say he was a curmudgeon, was also greatly beset by sexual temptation.  In fact, if it wasn't for Saint Jerome’s vices, we might not have the Vulgate.  For in order to distract his mind from sexual thoughts, Saint Jerome took up the arduous study of Hebrew and Greek grammar and vocabulary.

It was because of his exceptional knowledge of Hebrew and Greek that Pope Damasus appointed Saint Jerome to create a reliable standard Latin text of the Bible.  Up to that time many translations had been produced, but because of the multiplicity of translations they contained variations and errors. Saint Jerome’s Latin translation of both the Old and New Testament took him about 20 years (384 – 406A.D)

In his GeneralAudience November 7, 2007, Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI reminded us that the secret for fighting against our weaknesses, vices and temptations is to focus our attention on Jesus, especially the Word of God present in the Bible. 

Here is what he said,  “What can we learn from St Jerome? It seems to me, this above all; to love the Word of God in Sacred Scripture. St Jerome said: "Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ". It is therefore important that every Christian live in contact and in personal dialogue with the Word of God given to us in Sacred Scripture. This dialogue with Scripture must always have two dimensions: on the one hand, it must be a truly personal dialogue because God speaks with each one of us through Sacred Scripture and it has a message for each one. We must not read Sacred Scripture as a word of the past but as the Word of God that is also addressed to us, and we must try to understand what it is that the Lord wants to tell us. However, to avoid falling into individualism, we must bear in mind that the Word of God has been given to us precisely in order to build communion and to join forces in the truth on our journey towards God. Thus, although it is always a personal Word, it is also a Word that builds community, that builds the Church. We must therefore read it in communion with the living Church. The privileged place for reading and listening to the Word of God is the liturgy, in which, celebrating the Word and making Christ's Body present in the Sacrament, we actualize the Word in our lives and make it present among us. We must never forget that the Word of God transcends time. Human opinions come and go. What is very modern today will be very antiquated tomorrow. On the other hand, the Word of God is the Word of eternal life, it bears within it eternity and is valid for ever. By carrying the Word of God within us, we therefore carry within us eternity, eternal life.”

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Art
Saint Jerome - Jan van Hemessen
Saint Jerome - Georges de la Tour
Saint Jerome - Hans Memling

Saint Vincent de Paul - September 27

Saint Vincent de Paul

September 27

Patron of Charitable Societies

Saint Vincent was born of poor parents in France about 1580.  His first schooling was under the direction of the Franciscans.  After four years, his achievements caught the eye of a wealthy gentleman who chose St. Vincent as a tutor for his children.  This enabled him to continue his schooling without being a burden on his parents. 

In 1596 he entered the University of Toulouse studying theology and was ordained a priest in 1600.

On a voyage from Marseilles to Narbonne in 1605 he was captured by African pirates and held as a slave in Tunis for two years until by Divine Providence he escaped by way of Rome back to France.  At this time another wealthy man, the Count of Goigny, employed St. Vincent as a tutor for his family. 

By 1617, St. Vincent began to preach in the missions. He founded the Congregation of the Mission also known as the Lazarists and with the help of Saint Louise de Marillac co-founded the Daughters of Charity.  He was a true servant of God, with charity his predominant virtue, which he extended to all classes of people, from children to the elderly.

St. Vincent Pray for Us