Catholic Saints & Feasts of the Liturgical Year

• March 9- Saint Frances of Rome, Religious—Optional Memorial

  Read onlineMarch 9: Saint Francis of Rome, Religious—Optional Memorial1495–1550Patron Saint of hospitals, nurses, firefighters, booksellers, alcoholics, and the sickCanonized October 16, 1690 by Pope Alexander VIIILiturgical Color: White (Purple if Lenten Weekday)Quote: A married woman must, when called upon, leave her devotions to God at the altar to find him in her household affairs. ~Famous quote of Saint FrancesPrayer:Saint Frances of Rome, you loved and served God at every stage of your life. Please pray that I may serve God within my vocation, seeking only His holy and perfect will. Saint Frances, 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: Giovanni Battista Gaulli, via Wikimedia Commons

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• March 8- Saint John of God, Religious—Optional Memorial

  Read onlineMarch 8: Saint John of God, Religious—Optional Memorial1495–1550Patron Saint of hospitals, nurses, firefighters, booksellers, alcoholics, and the sickCanonized October 16, 1690 by Pope Alexander VIIILiturgical Color: White (Purple if Lenten Weekday)Quote: Lord be blessed for in your great kindness to me who am such a great sinner having done so many wicked things, yet you see fit to set me free from such a tremendous temptation and deception which I fell into through my own sinfulness. You have brought me into a safe harbor where I shall endeavor to serve you with all my strength. My Lord, I beg you with all my might, give me the strength of your grace and always let me see your clemency. I want to be your slave, so kindly show me what I should do. Give peace and quiet to my soul which greatly desires this. O most worthy Lord, may this creature of yours serve and praise you. May I give my whole heart and mind to you. ~Prayed by Saint John of God at the time of his final conversionReflection: Saint John of God was born in the village of Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal to middle-class, faith-filled parents. According to his early biographer, John was abducted from his home when he was only eight years old and taken to the town of Oropesa, Spain, more than 200 miles away. In Oropesa, John found himself homeless and alone. He met a good man named El Mayoral who gave him a job as a shepherd and a place to live. John worked hard until he was twenty-two years old, never returning to his parents’ home. El Mayoral wanted John to marry his daughter, but John wanted to see the world. He joined the army of the Holy Roman Emperor and battled the French. During his service, he was assigned to guard some captured clothing that went missing. John was accused of theft and condemned to death, but others intervened and he was released. Frustrated with military life, John returned to El Mayoral’s farm where he worked for another four years before entering the army once again to fight the Turks for the next eighteen years.Upon the completion of his military service, John decided to return to his home country in Montemor-o-Novo to learn what became of his parents. After much searching, he found one of his elderly uncles who informed him that his mother died of heartbreak after his abduction and that his father joined the Franciscans and advanced in holiness. John said to his uncle, “I no longer wish to stay in this country; but rather to go in search of a way to serve Our Lord beyond my native place, just as my father did. He gave me a good example by doing that. I have been so wicked and sinful and since the Lord has given me life, it is fitting that I should use it to serve him and do penance.”John began an interior search for the best way he could serve God and decided to journey to Africa, to ransom himself to the Muslims in exchange for their prisoners. On the journey, he met a knight and his family who were destitute and unable to care for themselves. The knight begged for John’s help that John gladly gave by working and giving them his earnings. When one of John’s fellow workers fled to Muslim territory and converted to Islam, John began to despair, thinking he should have done more for his friend. After seeking counsel from a Franciscan monastery, he decided to return to the mainland of Spain for the good of his soul.Upon his arrival, John threw himself into a life of prayer, made a general confession, and tearfully went from church to church begging God for the forgiveness of his sins. To support himself, he began to buy and sell religious pictures and books as a traveling salesman. He found this to be spiritually rewarding and fruitful for the salvation of souls. Eventually, at the age of forty-six, he set up a small shop of religious items at Granada’s city gate.Soon after, the great preacher Saint John of Ávila came to town to preach a mission. John was in attendance and was so moved by John of Ávila’s sermons, and so keenly aware of his own sins, that he started running through the streets like a madman, shouting for mercy. He returned to his shop and destroyed every book that was not religious, gave every other religious book and picture away to those passing by, gave away the rest of his possessions, and continued crying out in the streets that he was a sinner. “Mercy! Mercy, Lord God, on this tremendous sinner who has so offended you!” Many thought John was a lunatic. Some good men brought him to Saint John of Ávila who heard his confession, counseled him, consoled him, and offered his continued guidance. But John was so deeply touched by the priest’s holy help that he wanted everyone in the town to know how sinful he was, so he ran through the streets crying out again and rolled in mud as a sign of his sinfulness. Eventually, two compassionate men took John to the local insane asylum for treatment.The theory of the day was that those who were insane were best cured by locking them in a dungeon and torturing them continuously until they chose to abandon their insanity, and this is what happened to John. Saint John of Ávila heard of this and began communicating with John, encouraging him, and guiding him. He received every beating in the asylum with joy as penance and offered each sacrificially to God. Throughout, John exhorted the warden and other officers to treat the patients better. When John began to exude a peaceful disposition, the warden was pleased and permitted him to be freed of his shackles. John showed mercy and compassion to others, performing menial charitable tasks and spreading God’s love. He thought to himself, “May Jesus Christ eventually give me the grace to run a hospice where the abandoned poor and those suffering from mental disorders might have refuge and that I may be able to serve them as I wish.”After receiving permission to leave the asylum, John made a pilgrimage and had a vision of the Blessed Mother who encouraged him to work for the poor and infirm. Upon his return to Granada, he moved forward with his desire to open a hospital. Through begging, he was able to rent a building, furnish it, and begin seeking out the sick. He worked tirelessly to care for them, begged for food, brought priests to hear their confessions, and nursed them back to health. In the years following, John extended his mission of mercy to the poor, the abandoned, widows, orphans, the unemployed, prostitutes, and all who suffered. Soon, others were so inspired by the work John was doing that they joined him. His companions in the work made up what would eventually become the Order of Hospitallers. In John’s life, the group would be only an organized group of companions, but twenty-two years after John’s death, the pope would approve this group of men as a new religious order. Among the many miracles that have been reported, the most notable was when John ran in and out of a burning hospital to rescue patients without being burned himself. Saint John of God is a shining example of God’s power. He was a sinner and was thought to be mentally ill, but God did incredible things through him. If you ever feel as though you have nothing to offer God, think of Saint John and know that the weaker you may feel, the more God can use you.Prayer: Saint John of God, you struggled in many ways throughout your life. Through it all, you never gave up your desire to serve God and others. Please pray for me, especially when I lose hope, that I may imitate your example and offer myself to God for His glory and the service of all. Saint John of God, 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: Church of St Bartholomew on the Tiber Island in Rome

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• March 7- Saints Perpetua and Felicity, Martyrs—Memorial

  Read OnlineMarch 7: Saints Perpetua and Felicity, Martyrs—MemorialSaint Perpetua: c. 182–203Patron Saint of cattle and martyrsInvoked against the death of childrenSaint Felicity: Unknown–203Patron Saint of martyrs, help to have male children, and widowsInvoked against sterility and the death of childrenPre-Congregation canonizationsLiturgical Color: Red (Purple if Lenten Weekday)Quote: Now dawned the day of their victory, and they went forth from the prison into the amphitheater as it were into heaven, cheerful and bright of countenance; if they trembled at all, it was for joy, not for fear. Perpetua followed behind, glorious of presence, as a true spouse of Christ and darling of God; at whose piercing look all cast down their eyes. Felicity likewise, rejoicing that she had borne a child in safety, that she might fight with the beasts, came now from blood to blood, from the midwife to the gladiator, to wash after her travail in a second baptism. ~The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity #18Reflection: The first records of martyrdom in North Africa took place in 180 when twelve Christians were tried and put to death for their faith. After those first martyrs, the Christian faith in North Africa grew stronger and new converts became commonplace. In an attempt to slow the growth of Christianity, Roman Emperor Septimius Severus issued a decree forbidding subjects of the Roman Empire to convert. If they did, they were given the opportunity to renounce their faith and honor the Roman gods. If they refused, they were put to death. In 203, five catechumens preparing for baptism were arrested in the Roman city of Carthage (modern-day Tunisia). Among those catechumens were the two martyrs we honor today.Vibia Perpetua was a twenty-two-year-old married noblewoman at the time of her arrest. She was also a mother, having recently given birth to a son whom she was still nursing. Her father was a pagan, but her mother and a brother were baptized Christians. A second brother was preparing for baptism alongside Perpetua, and a third brother had already died as a pagan. Perpetua had been touched by Christ and decided to become a Christian, but she was arrested before her baptism. Her pagan father came to her in prison and pleaded with her to renounce the Christian faith and refuse baptism to save her life so she could raise her son. Perpetua records that conversation as follows: “‘Father, do you see this vessel lying here to be a little pitcher, or something else? Can it be called by any other name than what it is?’ And he said, ‘No.’ ‘Neither can I call myself anything else than what I am, a Christian’” (Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity). A few days later, Perpetua was secretly baptized in prison.While in prison, Perpetua’s heart yearned for her baby. To her joy, the infant was brought to her so she could nurse him. When that happened, she said, “My prison suddenly became a palace to me and I would rather have been there than anywhere else.”Felicity, a slave, was also a young woman and pregnant at the time of her arrest. One eyewitness stated, “Felicity had feared that she might not be allowed to suffer with the rest, because pregnant women were not sent into the arena. However, she gave birth in the prison to a daughter whom one of their fellow Christians at once adopted.”When these brave women stood before their judge, Perpetua’s father showed up with her baby, pleading with her to renounce Christ, save her life, and be there for her son. The judge also encouraged her: “Spare your father’s white hairs. Spare the tender years of your child. Offer sacrifice for the prosperity of the emperors.” Perpetua refused. When asked directly if she were a Christian, she responded, “Yes, I am.” At that, her father violently inserted himself into the situation but was struck by the guard. When Perpetua saw this, her heart broke. She later recounted, “I felt this as if I myself had been struck, so deeply did I grieve to see my father treated thus in his old age.” The judge passed sentence and all were condemned to death by wild beasts. Still, they were filled with great joy as they returned to their prison. After the sentencing, Perpetua was no longer allowed to see her baby boy.On the day of their martyrdom, Perpetua and Felicity walked to the arena with heads high and joyful spirits. With them were Revocatus, a fellow slave with Felicity, and two freemen, Saturninus and Secundulus. The men were sent into the arena first to be devoured by a leopard, a wild boar, and a bear. Saturnius was the last standing. When a second leopard attacked and blood poured out, the crowd cried out, “He is well baptized now!”Perpetua and Felicity were then placed in the arena, and a wild cow was let loose as a way of mocking them as nursing mothers. The beast gravely wounded them but did not kill them, so an executioner was dispatched. Perpetua cried out to her brother, “Stand fast in the faith, and love one another. Do not let our sufferings be a stumbling block to you.” She then noticed the fear in the eyes of the executioner so she guided his sword to her neck and the young women received their eternal reward.Perpetua and Felicity were both new young mothers at the time of their martyrdom. They loved their newborn babies with tender love. But they also loved their God Whom they had both recently come to know. They were forced to choose. Either reject Christ and be there to raise their babies or remain Christian and leave their babies. With heroic courage and faith, they remained true to both. They remained faithful to Christ, dying as martyrs, and they fulfilled their greatest motherly duty by giving heroic witnesses of faith to their babies. We can only hope that as their children grew and were told the stories of their mothers’ love of God, those children were inspired and sought to imitate their mothers’ Christian faith.Place yourself in that same situation. Would you have had the courage to face death? Would you be able to stay true to your profession of faith under such extreme emotional and familial pressures? Pray to these saintly mothers and be reminded that the greatest gift we can pass onto others is the witness of our faith in Christ. Life is empty unless Christ is loved and professed, and death loses its sting when our lives are Christ’s.Prayer: Saints Perpetua and Felicity, you loved your infants and you loved your God. By embracing martyrdom for your faith, you gave the greatest witness possible to your children. Please pray for me, that I will never shy away from living my faith openly in a hostile world and that I will be a holy witness of God’s most pure love to all. Saints Perpetua and Felicity, 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 from National Museum in Warsaw, via Wikimedia Commons

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• Ash Wednesday

  Read OnlineAsh WednesdayQuote: Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. ~Distribution of ashesReflection: It was a common practice within the early Church that those who were found guilty of grave public sin needed to do public penance before they were admitted back into communion with the Church and admitted to the Most Holy Eucharist. The public sinners came forward in sackcloth forty days before Easter and were sprinkled with ashes, in keeping with many Old Testament examples of public penance. They fasted and prayed for forty days and then, on Easter, were readmitted into full communion with the Church. Eventually, prior to the end of the first millennium, this practice was extended to the entire Church as a way of highlighting everyone’s need for penance. One of the earliest mentions of this practice becoming universal comes from an English Benedictine monk who wrote:We read in the books both in the Old Law and in the New that the men who repented of their sins bestrewed themselves with ashes and clothed their bodies with sackcloth. Now let us do this little at the beginning of our Lent that we strew ashes upon our heads to signify that we ought to repent of our sins during the Lenten fast.Today, as a sign of our ongoing need to repent of our sins and do penance, the faithful are invited to come forward to be marked with ashes as a sign of their commitment to the penitential season of Lent, so as to celebrate with great joy the Solemnity of Easter. Lent is forty-six days long. Forty of those days are penitential days, and six of them are Sundays. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and concludes with the Easter Vigil. The forty penitential days are an imitation of Jesus’ forty days in the desert.As we come forward to receive ashes, the minister traditionally says, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” This line is taken from the Book of Genesis when God expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. He told Eve that she would suffer the pains of childbirth and be subjected to her husband. God told Adam that he would labor for his food through sweat and toil. To both of them, God said this curse would last “Until you return to the ground, from which you were taken; For you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). Thus, the final curse of original sin is death: “...to dust you shall return.”As we come forward to receive ashes, we should hear God saying to us, as He said to Adam and Eve, that we also suffer the consequences of original sin and will die. But that curse must be seen in the light of God’s final plan of salvation. Today, we acknowledge that the curse of death will endure but also hold onto the hope of resurrection made possible through Christ. Lent is a time of repentance for our sin and hope in redemption. Ash Wednesday is our liturgical and public statement that we have chosen both repentance and redemption.As you come forward to receive the ashes today, don’t just go through the motions. Make this act a prayer and one of deep interior devotion. Call to mind your sins and the sins of your whole life, as best you can. Acknowledge the just punishment of eternal death that you deserve for your sins. But then call to mind the infinite and unmerited mercy of God. Remember that even though you are an undeserving sinner, God has reached down from Heaven to offer you the gift of eternal salvation. He has invited you to receive this gift through your repentance and humility. Humble yourself today in “sackcloth and ashes,” and as with those public sinners of old, God will use this Lent to more fully unite your soul with His through His glorious death and resurrection.Prayer: Most glorious and Triune God, You have justly condemned me but mercifully offered me redemption. As I enter this season of Lent, I wholeheartedly acknowledge my sin and repent. Please be merciful to me, a sinner. Help me to make this Lent a truly penitential season so that my soul will be more disposed to receive You this Easter. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: mycatholic.lifeCopyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

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• March 4- Saint Casimir—Optional Memorial

  Read OnlineMarch 4: Saint Casimir—Optional Memorial1458–1484Patron Saint of Poland, Lithuania, and Lithuanian youthBelieved to have been canonized by Pope Leo X in 1521 or Pope Adrian VI in 1522Canonization confirmed by Pope Clement VIII in 1602Liturgical Color: White (Purple if Lenten Weekday)Quote: Daily, daily sing to Mary; Sing, my soul, her praises due. All her glorious actions cherish, With the heart’s devotion true. Lost in wond’ring contemplation, Be her majesty confessed! Call her Mother, call her Virgin, Happy Mother, Virgin blest! ~Verse of a favorite hymn of Saint CasimirReflection: King Casimir IV was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. His wife, Queen Elizabeth, was the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Albert II. Their marriage was arranged primarily for political reasons, giving King Casimir IV greater influence in Bohemia and Hungary, but their marriage also bore great spiritual fruit. They had thirteen children, the third being the saint we honor today, Saint Casimir, named after his father.Saint Casimir was born on October 3, 1458, the second son and third child in the Polish royal family. King Casimir IV’s father had converted to Catholicism from paganism and introduced Christianity to Lithuania. King Casimir IV was, therefore, raised in a good Catholic home which he also provided to his children. A faithful Catholic herself, Queen Elizabeth was the loving mother of her thirteen children.As children born into royalty, Casimir and his siblings were well educated. From the age of nine until sixteen, Casimir and his older brother were tutored by a Polish priest named Father Jan Długosz. This good priest taught the boys Latin, German, law, history, rhetoric, and classical literature.Casimir had no desire for power, war, riches, or nobility. Father Długosz had taught him well, and Casimir had fallen in love with his God and the Blessed Virgin. He prayed frequently, often slept on the floor, engaged in other penitential practices, spent entire nights meditating on the Passion of our Lord, dressed simply, and desired to live a life of chastity. He was charitable to the poor, manifested the virtues, and edified all who encountered him. He especially had a deep devotion to our Blessed Mother and each day sang an ancient hymn called, “Daily, Daily Sing to Mary.”When Casimir was only thirteen, the King of Bohemia and Hungary died and King Casimir IV asserted his right to name a successor. The Bohemians agreed and accepted Vladislaus, the King’s firstborn son, as their king, but some of the Hungarians did not, preferring a godless tyrant named Matthias Corvinus. With the support of some of the Hungarian nobles, King Casimir IV decided to name his son Casimir to the Hungarian throne by force. Casimir was sent to lead the Polish army in battle against the Hungarians and take the throne. Casimir agreed out of obedience to his father, but his heart was not in it. He opposed the war, and in time the effort failed and Casimir returned to Poland. His opposition grew even stronger when he heard that Pope Sixtus IV had asked his father not to go to war. Upon Casimir’s arrival home, his father was furious and imprisoned him in a tower for three months. Those three months, however, were just what Casimir longed for.In the solitude of imprisonment, Casimir was able to return to his life of prayer and deepen his union with God. Afterward, he continued his studies and life of devotion, vowing to remain celibate for the Kingdom of God. His father was not pleased and attempted to arrange a marriage for him, but he refused. After completing his studies at the age of sixteen, Casimir worked closely with his father, but his heart remained with God and the Blessed Mother. When Casimir was twenty, his father had to be absent from Poland for about five years, tending to matters in Lithuania. During those years, Casimir was put in charge of ruling Poland, which he did with thoughtfulness, justice, and charity. When Casimir was twenty-five, he became ill with a lung disease. His father rushed back to Poland to be with his son, and on March 4, 1484, at the age of twenty-five, Casimir died.After his death, devotion to Casimir quickly exploded. Many people prayed to him, and many attributed miracles to his intercession. One notable miracle took place in 1519 when the Lithuanian army was engaged in battle with the Russians. It is said that Saint Casimir appeared to the Lithuanian soldiers in a vision and directed them to a place where they could best defend their city, which they successfully did. This might be the reason that Saint Casimir is the patron saint of both Poland and Lithuania.Shortly after that miracle, it is believed that Pope Leo X carefully examined Casimir’s life and miracles and was prepared to canonize him, but might have died before he was able to do so. Therefore, his successor, Pope Adrian VI, might have been the one to canonize him. Because those questions remained for some time, Pope Clement VIII officially confirmed Casimir’s canonization in 1602, adding him to the Roman liturgical calendar for Poland and Lithuania. In 1620, Saint Casimir was added to the Roman Calendar of the universal Church.Worldly power, riches, and honors were all within the grasp of this young prince, yet he chose the power, riches, and honors bestowed by the heavenly King instead. His heart was filled with faith from a very early age that only grew as he got older. Even after Casimir’s death, God used him to inspire many. Ponder your own ambitions in life, and seek to imitate this young prince who rejected the lies of this world, preferring only the eternal truths of the Kingdom of God.Prayer: Saint Casimir, at an early age you fell in love with God and the Blessed Virgin Mary. You prayed to them unceasingly and devoted your life to their service. You were a true prince in the court of the Great King of Heaven. Please pray for me, that I will always avoid the lures of this world, keeping my eyes fixed only on Heaven. Saint Casimir, 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 from Flickr, by Lawrence OP

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