Catholic Saints & Feasts of the Liturgical Year

Read entire reflection online >>>December 23: Saint John of Kanty (Cantius), Priest—Optional Memorialc. 1390–1473Patron Saint of teachers, students, priests, pilgrims, Lithuania, and PolandCanonized by Pope Clement XIII on July 16, 1767Liturgical Color: VioletQuote: Fight all false opinions, but let your weapons be patience, sweetness and love. Roughness is bad for your own soul and spoils the best cause. ~Saint John of KantyPrayer:Saint John Cantius, though you were a great intellectual, your humility and deep faith, coupled with your genuine love for those whom you ministered to, had a lasting effect upon the people of your community, and upon all of Poland. Please pray for me, that I will learn from your life and imitate your virtues so that I, too, will one day be counted among the saints. Saint John Cantius, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: mycatholic.lifeCopyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.Photo: Saint John Kanty Parish, Buffalo, NY

Read entire reflection online >>>December 14: Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor—Memorialc. 1542–1591Patron Saint of contemplatives, mystical theology, and Spanish poetsCanonized by Pope Benedict XIII on December 27, 1726Declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XI in 1926Commonly referred to as the “Mystical Doctor”Liturgical Color: WhiteQuote: In order to expound and describe this dark night, through which the soul passes in order to attain to the Divine light of the perfect union of the love of God, as far as is possible in this life, it would be necessary to have illumination of knowledge and experience other and far greater than mine; for this darkness and these trials, both spiritual and temporal, through which happy souls are wont to pass in order to be able to attain to this high estate of perfection, are so numerous and so profound that neither does human knowledge suffice for the understanding of them, nor experience for the description of them; for only he that passes this way can understand it, and even he cannot describe it. ~Prologue of Ascent to Mount Carmel, Saint John of the CrossPrayer:Saint John of the Cross, through the sufferings you endured in your youth and as a friar, God purified you and called you deeper. You responded, and through you the Carmelites were reformed, and from you came a wealth of spiritual treasures in your teachings. Please pray for me, that I will never shy away from the sufferings of the Cross but will see those sufferings as the means of my deeper union with our loving God. Saint John of the Cross, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: mycatholic.lifeCopyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.Museo Nacional de Arte, Public domain, via Wikimedia

Read entire reflection online >>>December 7: Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor—Memorialc. 339–c. 397Patron Saint of beekeepers, bishops, candlemakers, domestic animals, geese, honey cake bakers, learning, livestock, police officers, schoolchildren, security personnel, starlings, and wax refinersPre-Congregation canonizationLiturgical Color: WhiteQuote: To avoid dissensions we should be ever on our guard, more especially with those who drive us to argue with them, with those who vex and irritate us, and who say things likely to excite us to anger. When we find ourselves in company with quarrelsome, eccentric individuals, people who openly and unblushingly say the most shocking things, difficult to put up with, we should take refuge in silence, and the wisest plan is not to reply to people whose behavior is so preposterous. Those who insult us and treat us contemptuously are anxious for a spiteful and sarcastic reply: the silence we then affect disheartens them, and they cannot avoid showing their vexation; they do all they can to provoke us and to elicit a reply, but the best way to baffle them is to say nothing, refuse to argue with them, and to leave them to chew the cud of their hasty anger. This method of bringing down their pride disarms them, and shows them plainly that we slight and despise them. ~Saint AmbrosePrayer:Saint Ambrose, God called you to become bishop, and you responded. Once ordained, you embraced your new calling with vigor and unwavering devotion. Through you, many lives were touched and continue to be touched through your writings and witness. Please pray for me, that I will be more fully open to God’s will for my life, always surrendering my own preferences and embracing God’s. Saint Ambrose of Milan, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: mycatholic.lifeCopyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.Image: Public domain via Wikimedia: Main

Read entire reflection online >>>December 4: Saint John Damascene, Priest, Religious and Doctor—Optional Memorialc. 676–749Patron Saint of pharmacists, icon painters, and theology studentsPre-Congregation canonizationDeclared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1890Liturgical Color: WhiteQuote: In other ages God had not been represented in images, being incorporate and faceless. But since God has now been seen in the flesh, and lived among men, I represent that part of God which is visible. I do not venerate matter, but the Creator of matter, who became matter for my sake and deigned to live in matter and bring about my salvation through matter…But I do not venerate it in absolute terms as God! How could that which, from non-existence, has been given existence, be God?…Is not the wood of the Cross, three times blessed, matter?… And the ink, and the most Holy Book of the Gospels, are they not matter? The redeeming altar which dispenses the Bread of life, is it not matter?… And, before all else, are not the flesh and blood of Our Lord matter? Either we must suppress the sacred nature of all these things, or we must concede to the tradition of the Church the veneration of the images of God and that of the friends of God who are sanctified by the name they bear, and for this reason are possessed by the grace of the Holy Spirit. ~Saint John DamascenePrayer:Saint John Damascene, you sensed God calling you out of the world to a place where you could enter into deep communion with Him. In that holy monastery, you were formed in virtue and holy learning. God then used you in remarkable ways for the good of the Church and His glory. Please pray for me, that I will embrace the deeper conversion I need so as to be better equipped to serve God as He wills. Saint John Damascene, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: mycatholic.lifeCopyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.Image: Public domain, via Wikimedia

Read entire reflection online >>>November 30: Saint Andrew the Apostle—Feastc. 5–10–c. 60–80Patron Saint of boatmen, butchers, farm workers, fish dealers, fishermen, happy marriages, maidens, miners, paralytics, pregnant women, ropemakers, sailmakers, sailors, singers, spinsters, textile workers, water carriers, and women who wish to become mothersInvoked against cramps, convulsions, dysentery, fever, gout, neck pain, paralysis, sore throats, and whooping coughPre-Congregation canonizationLiturgical Color: RedQuote: Ægeates then being enraged, ordered the blessed Andrew to be fastened to the cross. And he, having left them all, goes up to the cross, and says to it with a clear voice: Rejoice, O cross, which has been consecrated by the body of Christ, and adorned by His limbs as if with pearls. Assuredly before my Lord went up on you, you had much earthly fear; but now invested with heavenly longing, you are fitted up according to my prayer. For I know, from those who believe, how many graces you have in Him, how many gifts prepared beforehand. Free from care, then, and with joy, I come to you, that you also exulting may receive me, the disciple of Him that was hanged upon you…And having thus spoken, the blessed Andrew, standing on the ground, and looking earnestly upon the cross, stripped himself and gave his clothes to the executioners…And they having come up, lifted him on the cross; and having stretched his body across with ropes, they only bound his feet, but did not sever his joints, having received this order from the proconsul: for he wished him to be in distress while hanging, and in the night-time, as he was suspended, to be eaten up alive by dogs. ~Acts of AndrewPrayer:Saint Andrew the Apostle, God called you, and you listened and responded. After responding, the Son of God formed you, taught you, and prepared you for the mission He entrusted to you. Please pray for me, that I will more fully imitate your willing acceptance of Christ in my life, so that I will be able to be more fully formed by Him and used by Him to be an instrument of His saving Cross to the world. Saint Andrew, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: mycatholic.lifeCopyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.Mattia Preti, Public domain, via Wikimedia