I had never heard of this saint before. But I love to hear of a saint who was also a soldier. There are not so many of them. Also there is something very romantic about Crusaders.
SAINT OF THE DAY THURSDAY, 9 OCTOBER, 2025 SAINT LOUIS BERTRAND SPANISH DOMINICAN PRIEST (1 January 1526 - 9 October 1581) Believed to be a relative of St. Vincent Ferrer, Saint Louis Bertrand, on the very day of his birth, January 1, 1526, was baptized at the same font where St. Vincent received the sacrament a century and a half before him. St. Louis Bertrand was exceptionally pious as a child, reciting daily the Office of Our Lady and attending different churches in order to conceal from the knowledge of others his frequent reception of the Holy Eucharist. He was received into St. Dominic's order when he was nineteen years old and was ordained before he was twenty-two. He filled many offices in the Order, most notably that of master of novices. By the practice of outstanding virtue, self-denial and penance, he furnished for his novices a perfect model for their imitation. In the year 1562, St. Louis Bertrand was sent from his native Valencia, Spain, to South America, where he worked for seven years among the Indians in the northwestern part of the continent, among the tribe of the Caribs in the Caribbean Islands, and among the natives on the Isthmus of Panama. During these missionary years he was favored with the gift of tongues. While speaking to the natives in Castilian, he was understood by all and often spoke in languages with which he was naturally unfamiliar. His preaching was accompanied by many miracles and prophecies. He once raised a girl to life by the application of a Rosary and often attributed to the intercession of Our Lady the miraculous powers he manifested. After returning to his native land, St. Louis Bertrand again occupied administrative positions in the Order and won the esteem and friendship of St. Teresa of Avila. The Saint died a holy death after suffering a long and painful illness. Many prodigies accompanied his passing. During the process of beatification, witnesses testified that shortly after his death a heavenly perfume arose from his body, that a light which glowed for several minutes proceeded from his mouth and illuminated his whole cell, and that seraphic music was heard in the church before his funeral. The body of the Saint, which remained incorrupt for over three hundred fifty years, was maliciously destroyed during the Spanish revolution of 1936. PATRON: Caribbean Vicariates, Colombia, Dominican Novices. PRAYER: Almighty and merciful God, You filled the heart of St. Louis Bertrand, with a zeal of preaching through good deeds and words. Enkindle in us the virtues of humility and patience so we too may obediently do your will faithfully. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, the perfect example of obedience, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever. Amen.
SAINT OF THE DAY FRIDAY, 10 OCTOBER, 2025 SAINT FRANCIS BORGIA PRIEST AND SUPERIOR GENERAL OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS (28 October 1510 - 30 September 1572) Francis Borgia was born on October 28, 1510 in Gandia, Valencia, Spain. He was the son of the Duke of Gandia. The great grandson, paternally, of Pope Alexander VI, the notorious Borgia Pope. Maternally, he was the great grandson of King Ferdinand of Aragon. Francis Borgia belonged to one of the most prominent families of the kingdom of Aragon, a family that gave the Church two popes. Francis' grandmother joined her daughter in a convent of Poor Clares after the death of her husband. She held a pious influence in the court of the Borgia, to which Francis is indebted. It was with these two women (the mother and grandmother of Francis) that holiness penetrated into the scandalous lineage of the Borgia family. Francis grew to be a pious young man, possessed of many natural gifts. He was a favorite at the court of Charles V. It is recounted that one day Francis passed through Alcalá, followed by his escort, and exchanged an emotional glance with a poor man being escorted to prison by the Inquisition. This man was Ignatius of Loyola, and at this moment Francis could not have had any idea what an important role this man would play in his destiny. The following year, Francis married Eleanor de Castro, a Portuguese noblewoman, with whom he had eight children. On his father's death in 1543, he became the fourth Duke of Gandia. He was only thirty-three and lived a happy, peaceful life with his wife and children. But unlike so many other powerful nobles, Francis was a perfect Christian gentleman, a true man of God and his great joy was to receive Holy Communion often. This happy life ended when his beloved wife died in 1546. As viscount and duke at the palace of Emperor Charles V, Francis stood in high honor. The sudden death of the beautiful Empress Isabella (May 1, 1539) and the sight of her disfigured face as her body was taken to Granada made him resolve to leave the world and serve the King of kings alone. Francis did something that astonished all the nobles of Spain; he gave up his Dukedom to his son Charles. He sought admittance to the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). Finally, in 1550, after settling his children and the affairs of his estate, he entered the Jesuits in Rome. The news of the “Duke turned Jesuit” spread quickly. So many people came to his first Mass that they had to set up an altar outdoors. His Superior tested him by treating him in exactly the opposite way he had been used to all his forty-one years of life. He who had once been a Duke had to help the cook, carrying wood for the fire and sweeping the kitchen. When he served food to the priests and brothers, he had to kneel down in front of them all and beg them to forgive him for being so clumsy! Still he never once complained or grumbled. The only time he became angry was when anyone treated him with respect as if he was still a Duke. Once a doctor who had to take care of a painful wound that Francis had gotten, said to him: "I am afraid, my lord, that I have to hurt your grace." The saint answered that he would not hurt him more than he was right then by calling him "my lord" and "your grace." It was not too long before the humble priest accomplished wonderful works for God's glory as he preached everywhere and advised many important people.After doing wonders throughout his country he crossed into Portugal and surpassed himself there. In 1554 St. Ignatius made him commissary general of the Society of Jesus in Spain. He spread the Society of Jesus all over Spain and in Portugal. When he was made Superior General of the Jesuits, he sent missionaries all over the world and practically founded the Society in Spain establishing many houses and colleges.. Under his guidance, the Jesuits grew to be a very great help to the Church in many lands. He was crucial in dissolving the prejudices that his relative, Emperor Charles V, harbored against the Jesuits. He also assisted at the death of the dowager queen Juana, who had gone mad fifty years before, on the death of her husband. She died healed and at peace. He also met St. Teresa of Avila, the great reformer of the Carmelite Order, and was the first to recognize her greatness. Back in Rome, St. Charles Borromeo, and Cardinal Ghislieri, later Pope Pius V. regularly attended his sermons. At the death of Father Laynez, second general of the Jesuits, Francis was elected Father General of the Jesuit Order. Backed by St. Pius V who admired and trusted him, he was able to do great things for the Order in Rome and abroad. He built two churches, and at times using his personal influence to obtain acceptance of the Jesuits. He introduced so many reforms to the society of Jesus that he was considered in some ways to be its second founder. Francis was a man of contemplation and action in the fullest sense. He drew a lot of strength from the silence of his prayer. Through his brother, Thomas, he sent a blessing to his children and grandchildren, and as their names were spoken to him, he prayed for each. In spite of such success, Francis Borgia remained completely humble. Worn by the responsibilities of his post and a last trip throughout Europe in which he was publicly hailed as a saint, he returned to Rome on a littler. In 1571 Pius sent Borgia to Spain, Portugal, and France to strengthen the league against the Turks. He fell ill on the return journey and died shortly after reaching Rome on September 30, 1572. A selection of Borgia's letters was edited in Monumenta Historica Societatis Jesu, S. Franciscus Borgia, 5 vol. (1894–1911). His relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. His images are found with St. Ignatius of Loyola in the centre, flanked by St. Francis Xavier on the left and St. Francis Borgia on the right. St. Francis Borgia is one of the greatest saints of the Catholic Reformation. He was beatified on November 23, 1624, by Pope Urban VIII. He was canonized on June 20, 1670, by Pope Clement X. His feast day is on October 10. PATRON: Against earthquakes; Portugal; Gandía; Rota, Marianas. MAJOR SHRINE: Relics translated to Jesuit church in Madrid, 1901. SYMBOL: Skull crowned with an emperor's diadem. PRAYER: O Lord Jesus Christ, Who art both the example and the reward of true humility: we beseech Thee that even as Thou didst make St. Francis of Borgia glorious by following Thee in despising earthly honors, so Thou wouldst suffer us also to become his companions alike in following Thee and in his glory. Who liveth and reigneth with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
A saint who had everything in spades materially but chose to give it all up to follow Christ. So inspiring.
Praislie I really appreciate this thread. Thank you. October is incredibly rich in high powered saints and our Guardian Angels.
Agree! Also I was so surprised that Sam posted a beautiful photo of St Therese on the day of her First Holy Communion. I have never seen that before!
SAINT OF THE DAY SATURDAY, 11 OCTOBER, 2025 SAINT JOHN XXIII POPE (25 November 1881 - 3 June 1963) The man who would be Pope John XXIII was born in the small village of Sotto il Monte in Italy, on November 25, 1881. He was the fourth of fourteen children born to poor parents who made their living by sharecropping. Named Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, the baby would eventually become one of the most influential popes in recent history, changing the Church forever. Roncalli's career within the Church began in 1904 when he graduated from university with a doctorate in theology. He was ordained a priest thereafter and soon met Pope Pius X in Rome. By the following year, 1905, Roncalli was appointed to act as secretary for his bishop, Giacomo Radini-Tedeschi. He continued working as the bishop's secretary until the bishop died in August 1914. The bishop's last words to Roncalli were, "Pray for peace." Such words mattered in August 1914 as the world teetered on the brink of World War I. Italy was eventually drawn into the war and Roncalli was drafted into the Italian Army as a stretcher bearer and chaplain. Roncalli did his duty and was eventually discharged from the army in 1919. Free to serve the Church in new capacities he was appointed to be the Italian president of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, handpicked by Pope Benedict XV. Then in February 1925, Roncalli was summoned to the Vatican and given a new mission. This time he was sent to Bulgaria as the Apostolic Visitor to that country. Later, he was appointed apostolic delegate to Turkey and Greece and made archbishop of Mesembria. Beginning in 1935, racial tensions and anti-Jewish sentiment began to explode into actual acts of violence against the Jews and other ethnic minorities. Roncalli started using his influence to save what people he could from the depredation of both local authorities and later the Nazis. During his tenure as archbishop, Roncalli saved thousands of Jews, enough that he was named a "Righteous Gentile" following the war. In late 1944, the Church was anxious to remove clergy in France that had collaborated with the Nazis in various forms. Roncalli was appointed as the new papal Nuncio and sent to France to negotiate the retirement of bishops who were involved with the Nazis. In 1952, Roncalli was offered a new position, this time as Patriarch of Venice. At the same time he assumed his new title, Roncalli became the Cardinal-Priest of Santa Prisca. He assumed his new responsibilities on March 15, 1953. Roncalli's papal predecessor died on October 9, 1958 and he was soon summoned to Rome where he was to participate in the process of selecting a new pope. The College eventually settled on Roncalli for election and he accepted, saying "I will be called John," a surprising choice because of that name's association with schism. As Pope John XXIII, he immediately began to change the culture in the Vatican. On Christmas, 1958, he resumed the papal practice of making visits to the community within the official Diocese of Rome. He visited the sick, the poor, and prisoners. He apologized for episodes of anti-Semitism within the Church carried on by some of his predecessors. It was originally expected that Pope John XXIII would only serve a short time before passing away and that he would make no significant changes to Church practice. However, Pope John XXIII was a man of great mercy and kindness and much like Pope Francis of today, he did many things that created sensation in the streets and pews. Perhaps his most influential decision was the call for an ecumenical council which would be known as Vatican II. As a result of this council, many practices of the classic Church would be altered with a new emphasis on ecumenism and a new liturgy. Pope John XXIII addressed several topics of importance to Catholics around the world. He prohibited the use of contraceptives which interfere with the procreative will of God. He upheld the traditional view that married couples may not divorce. He also moved to protect the Church from scandal, ordering confidentiality when dealing with matters of clergy accused of the sexual abuse of children. How his request to the bishops of his time was interpreted remains subject to debate. By late 1962, Pope John XXIII has executed most of the work for which he would be known. He was, like his own sister before him, diagnosed with stomach cancer, which was a terminal diagnosis for that time. In his last months, he offered to negotiate peace between the Soviet Union and the United States, then at the height of the Cold War. The offer, although declined, was popular in both countries. In the wake of the news, John XXIII was the first pope to be honored as the Time Magazine Man of the Year. Pope John XXIII did the best he could although his health and doctors were failing. On June 3, 1963, Pope John XXIII died in his bed at age 81. The world mourned John XXIII and he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Johnson in December 1963.Pope John XXIII generally maintained a good reputation among those who remembered him and he was often titled "the Good." On September 3, 2000, Pope John Paul beatified him. Miracles were attributed to him and his body was found to be in an uncorrupted state, a phenomenon consistent with sainthood. His body was put on display for the veneration of the faithful. Pope John XXIII was canonized on April 27, 2014 along with Pope John Paul II in a historic ceremony which was presided by Pope Emeritus Benedict and Pope Francis. It was a historic ceremony with two living men with the title of pontiff presiding together. St. Pope John XXIII's feast day is October 11, as opposed to the day of his death, which is June 3. This special feast day is intended as a commemoration of the opening of the Second Vatican Council on October 11, 1962. PATRON: Of Papal delegates, Patriarchy of Venice, Second Vatican Council. PRAYER: Dear Pope John, your simplicity and meekness carried the scent of God and sparked in people's hearts the desire for goodness. You spoke often of the beauty of the family gathered around the table to share bread and faith: pray for us that once again true families would live in our homes. With outstretched hands you sowed hope, and you taught us to listen for God's footsteps as he prepares a new humanity: help us have a healthy optimism of defeating evil with good. You loved the world with its light and darkness, and you believed that peace is possible: help us be instruments of peace at home and in our communities. With paternal gentleness you gave all children a caress: you moved the world and reminded us that hands have been given to us not for striking, but for embracing and drying tears. Pray for us so that we do not limit ourselves to cursing the darkness but that we bring the light, bringing Jesus everywhere and always praying to Mary. Amen.
I love Pope St John xxiii . I grew up with him from childhood and read his book, 'Journal of a Soul' several times. He was one of those saints who is said to have preserved his baptismal innocence and this comes across so well in his writings. A black mark may be said to be the Vatican Council which seems to have been a total disaster for both the Church and the World. But I suppose it may be said that something good in and off itself was misinterpreted and hijacked. Anyway I will leave that to the historians to decide. His body is preserved, incorrupt, in St Peters. I cried when I saw it, it was like meeting an old friend. There are some lovely stories about his sense of humour and wise words. https://www.loyolapress.com/catholi...reflections/the-humor-and-love-of-john-xxiii/ “How many people work in the Vatican?” “About half of them,” said His Holiness. When he once met a little boy named Angelo, he exclaimed, “That was my name, too!” And then, conspiratorially, “But then they made me change it!”
FEAST OF THE DAY SUNDAY, 12 OCTOBER, 2025 OUR LADY OF THE PILLAR The church of Our Lady of the Pillar was the first shrine ever raised in Our Lady's honor. It is a well-founded tradition and forms part of Zaragoza's (Spanish City) history and patriotism that our Lady appeared to the Apostle Saint James, patron of Spain. This sacred image of our Lady of the Pillar, has escaped injury, the rituals of the Catholic Faith have been celebrated unceasingly in the chapel where Saint James first officiated, and its altars have never been defiled by pagan rites despite all the centuries of war, rampage, and desecration by the Romans, Goths, Moors, or Vandals. Even time, the great destroyer, has failed to leave its marks on the statue: Although nearly twenty centuries old, it shows not the slightest sign of deterioration. After having preached the Gospel of our Divine Lord and Master in Judea and Samaria, Saint James traveled to Spain to spread the Faith there. He disembarked at Carthagena and started to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His simple eloquence won the hearts of the rude Iberians, who came flocking in large numbers to receive the Sacrament of Baptism from his hands. In Andalusia, Castile, Galicia, and Portugal he met with the same success, and so when he finally entered Zaragoza his fame had traveled before him, and the light of Faith spread quickly throughout the city. On the night of the second of January, forty years after the birth of our Savior, Saint James was walking along the banks of the river Ebro with seven disciples whom he had won to the Faith in Zaragoza. The sky was aglow with myriads of stars, the toils of the day were over, both man and beast had gone to rest. Inspired by the calm beauty of the night and the contemplation of the glories of the Heavenly dome, in whose wonders they saw the Master's hand, they spoke reverently of the sublime mysteries of the Divinity. At the same hour the Blessed Virgin was in Jerusalem, praying to her Son for Saint James, who, she knew, would soon be called upon to give his life for the Faith. While she prayed, her Divine Son appeared to her and, as the Venerable Mary of Agreda relates in her Mystical City of God, He commissioned her to go to Zaragoza: “As thou already knowest, it is necessary for My glory, that the Apostles labor with My grace, and that at the end they must follow Me to the cross and to the death I have suffered for the whole human race. The first one who is to imitate Me therein is My faithful servant James, and I will that he suffer martyrdom in this city of Jerusalem. In order that he come hither, and for other purposes of My glory and thine, I desire thee to visit him in Spain, where he is preaching My name. I desire, My Mother, that thou go to Zaragoza where he now is, and command him to return to Jerusalem. But before he leaves that city, he is to build a temple in thy name and title, where thou shalt be venerated and invoked for the welfare of that country, for My glory and pleasure, and that of the most Blessed Trinity.” Later, according to the same Venerable Mary of Agreda, Our Lord added: “I give you My royal word that I shall look with special clemency and fill with blessings all those who, with devotion and humility, call upon Me through thy intercession in that temple. In thy hands have I deposited and consigned all My treasures; as My Mother, who holds My place and power, thou canst signalize that place by depositing therein the riches and promising in it thy favors; for all will be fulfilled according to thy will and pleasure.” Having spoken these words, He disappeared, and a band of angels, singing canticles of joy, filled the room. Raising Mary on their wings, they bore her through the air. Saint James, near the banks of the Ebro, knelt in prayer with upturned face while his companions, fatigued with the labors of the day, had closed their heavy eyelids and, like the Apostles before them, slept while their master prayed. A flash of light suddenly lit up the fields, sounds of Heavenly music filled the air, and the seven disciples, roused from their slumbers, gazed with wonder and fear at the apparition before them. Seated on a throne of light, borne aloft by angels, was Mary, whom they supposed was in Jerusalem. Angels knelt around her on transparent clouds while others, playing mystical harps, sang the sublime words with which, forty years before, the Archangel Gabriel had saluted her in her home in Nazareth, “Ave Maria Gratia plena, Dominus tecum.” Saint James, seeing this vision in ecstasy, saw the angels suspend the throne in front of him and place themselves before it. Mary, taking from the hands of the Seraphim a small column upon which stood a beautiful statue of herself with the Infant Jesus in her arms, showed it to Saint James, gave him her blessing, and said, “James, servant of the Most High, blessed be thou by Him, and may He fill thee with His Divine Grace.” PATRON: Patroness of Spain, Patroness of All Hispanic Peoples--by declaration of Pope John Paul II in 1984. PRAYER: Almighty and eternal God, who gave the Blessed Virgin Mary, the glorious Mother of your Son, as a pillar of strength to all who call upon her, grant that, by her intercession, we may be strong in faith, steadfast in hope, and constant in charity. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.
FEAST OF THE DAY MONDAY, 13 OCTOBER, 2025 108 YEARS OF THE MIRACLE OF FATIMA (LAST APPARITION OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA) During the night of 12-13 October it had rained throughout, soaking the ground and the pilgrims who make their way to Fátima from all directions by the thousands. By foot, by cart and even by car they came, entering the bowl of the Cova from the Fátima-Leiria road, which today still passes in front of the large square of the Basilica. From there they made their way down the gently slope to the place where a trestle had been erected over the little holm oak of the apparitions. Today on the site is the modern glass and steel Capelhina (little chapel), enclosing the first chapel built there and the statue of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fátima where the holm oak had stood. As for the children, they made their way to the Cova amid the adulation and skepticism which had followed them since May. When they arrived they found critics who questioned their veracity and the punctuality of the Lady, who had promised to arrive at noon. It was well passed noon by the official time of the country. However, when the sun arrived at its zenith the Lady appeared as she had said she would. "What do you want of me?" I want a chapel built here in my honor. I want you to continue saying the Rosary every day. The war will end soon, and the soldiers will return to their homes. "Yes. Yes." "Will you tell me your name?" I am the Lady of the Rosary. "I have many petitions from many people. Will you grant them?" Some I shall grant, and others I must deny. People must amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins. They must not offend our Lord any more, for He is already too much offended! "And is that all you have to ask?" There is nothing more. As the Lady of the Rosary rises toward the east she turns the palms of her hands toward the dark sky. While the rain had stopped, dark clouds continued to obscure the sun, which suddenly bursts through them and is seen to be a soft spinning disk of silver. "Look at the sun!" From this point two distinct apparitions were seen, that of the phenomenon of the sun seen by the 70,000 or so spectators and that beheld by the children alone. Lucia describes the latter in her memoirs. After our Lady had disappeared into the immense distance of the firmament, we beheld St. Joseph with the Child Jesus and Our Lady robed in white with a blue mantle, beside the sun. St. Joseph and the Child Jesus seemed to bless the world, for they traced the Sign of the Cross with their hands. When, a little later, this apparition disappeared, I saw Our Lord and Our lady; it seemed to me to that it was Our Lady of Sorrows (Dolors). Our Lord appeared to bless the world in the same manner as St. Joseph had done. This apparition also vanished, and I saw Our Lady once more, this time resembling Our Lady of Carmel. [Only Lucia would see the latter, presaging her entrance into Carmel some years later.] This would be the last of the apparitions of Fátima for Jacinta and Francisco. However, for Lucia Our Lady would return a seventh time, in 1920, as she had promised the previous May. At that time Lucia would be praying in the Cova before leaving Fátima for a girls boarding school. The Lady would come to urge her to dedicate herself wholly to God. As the children viewed the various apparitions of Jesus, Mary and Joseph the crowd witnessed a different prodigy, the now famous miracle of the sun. Among the witnesses there were the following:We looked easily at the sun, which for some reason did not blind us. It seemed to flicker on and off, first one way, then another. It cast its rays in many directions and painted everything in different colors--- the trees, the people, the air and the ground. But what was most extraordinary, I thought, was that the sun did not hurt our eyes. Everything was still and quiet, and everyone was looking up. Then at a certain moment, the sun appeared to stop spinning. It then began to move and to dance in the sky until it seemed to detach itself from its place and fall upon us. It was a terrible moment. -Ti Marto (father of Jacinta and Francisco) The sun appeared with its circumference well defined. It came down as if to the height of the clouds and began to whirl giddily upon itself like a captive ball of fire. With some interruptions, this lasted about eight minutes. The atmosphere darkened and the features of each became yellow. Everyone knelt even in the mud.... -Fr. Manuel Pereira da Silva (in a letter to a friend) PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF FATIMA: O Most Holy Virgin Mary, Queen of the most holy Rosary, you were pleased to appear to the children of Fatima and reveal a glorious message. We implore you, inspire in our hearts a fervent love for the recitation of the Rosary. By meditating on the mysteries of the redemption that are recalled therein may we obtain the graces and virtues that we ask, through the merits of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Redeemer. Amen.
Yesterday was Spanish National Day in which they can of celebrate the Spanish State. Alongside this in the Church they celebrate Our Lady of the Pillar which is kind of like a Spiritual Founding Day in which is celebrated the coming of the Church to Spain. So a kind of double whammy. The sang the most beautiful hymn to her which I believe I also saw sung in Mexico to Our Lady of Guadalupe but with different lyrics
Happy Feast Day! Im in the middle of reading a book written by Sr. Angela de Fatima Cohelo called Inside the Light. She is vice postulator for cause of Sr. Lucia and was the postulator for now Sts. Jacinta and Francisco. She met Sr. Lucia multiple times and so far the book has brought beautiful insights into what Fatima is about. It shows the depth of love Our Lady has for us.
Thank you, miker! Tis the first time I have seen that picture (post 180) of my beloved namesake! St. Therese, pray for all on this forum!
SAINT OF THE DAY TUESDAY, 14 OCTOBER, 2025 SAINT CALLISTUS I POPE AND MARTYR Died: 222 AD Early in the third century, it was to Callistus, then a deacon, that Pope Saint Zephyrinus confided the government of the clergy, as well as the creation and maintenance of the Christian cemeteries, which at that time were the catacombs of Rome. At the death of the Sovereign Pontiff, Callistus succeeded him as Head of the Church. It is he who made obligatory for the entire Church, the fast of the Ember Days which the Apostles had instituted, to bring down blessings on each season of the year. During his time, the Christians began to build churches, which though destroyed during the various persecutions, were eventually rebuilt. Among the catacombs owed to his government, is the one on the Appian Way which bears his name. Many precious memories are conserved there; in it are found the tomb of Saint Cecilia, the crypts of several popes, and paintings which attest the perfect conformity of the primitive Faith with that of the present-day Church. During the pontificate of Saint Callistus, several very striking conversions occurred among the very officers of the persecuting emperor Alexander Severus. At one time an officer, his family and household, forty-two persons in all, were baptized by the Pope on the same day. Many others asked him for Baptism; among them a Senator and sixty-eight persons of his household, and a guardian of the saintly Pope, whose name was Privatus, after the prayers of the Holy Father had cured him of an ulcer. All these new Christians were martyred, and their heads were exposed at the various gates of Rome to discourage any who would propagate the Faith of Christ in that city. Despite the continuing pursuits and his constant solicitude for all the churches, Saint Callistus found the means to have a diligent search made by fishermen for the body of a priest of his clergy, which had been cast into the Tiber after his martyrdom. When it was found he was filled with joy, and buried it with hymns of praise. During the persecution Saint Callistus was obliged to take shelter in the poor and populous quarters of the city. The martyred priest, Calipodius, appeared to him soon afterwards, saying: Father, take courage; the hour of the reward is approaching; your crown will be proportionate to your sufferings. Soon afterwards he was discovered there, and the house was guarded by soldiers who received the order to allow no food to enter it for several days. And Saint Callistus was martyred in his turn. With a rock suspended from his neck, he was thrown from a window into a well on October 14, 223. The priest Asterius recovered and buried his body in the catacomb named for Calipodius. A week later Asterius too was arrested and thrown into the Tiber. The Christians interred this martyr also. PATRON: Cemetery workers. PRAYER: O God, who raised up Pope Saint Callistus the First to serve the Church and attend devoutly to Christ's faithful departed, strengthen us, we pray, by his witness to the faith, so that, rescued from the slavery of corruption, we may merit an incorruptible inheritance. 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.
One of the lies told by many modern historians is that the persecution of the Early Christians was not so bad and that not so many died. But you have only to see how many of the early Popes who were butchered and the stories surrounding them to know that the persecutions were incredibly severe.
SAINT OF THE DAY WEDNESDAY, 15 OCTOBER, 2025 SAINT TERESA OF AVILA VIRGIN AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH RELIGIOUS FOUNDRESS OF THE ORDER OF THE DISCALCED CARMELITES (OCD) (28 March 1515 - 4 October 1582) St. Teresa of Jesus, honored by the Church as the "seraphic virgin," and reformer of the Carmelite Order, ranks first among women for wisdom and learning. She is called doctor of mystical theology; in a report to Pope Paul V the Roman Rota declared: "Teresa has been given to the Church by God as a teacher of the spiritual life. The mysteries of the inner mystical life which the holy Fathers propounded unsystematically and without orderly sequence, she has presented with unparalleled clarity." St. Teresa of Avila was a Carmelite nun and a Spanish mystic. She is also known as "St. Teresa of Jesus" or the "Great St. Teresa". She was Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada, a child of a noble family, born on March 28, 1515 at Avila in Castile. Her mother died when she was fifteen. This event upset her so much that her father sent her to an Augustinian convent in Avila. Her father brought her home after a year and a half when she became ill. After being exposed to monastic life she wished to become a nun, which her father forbade as long as he was living. At the age of around twenty she secretly left home and entered the Incarnation of the Carmelite nuns in Avila, after which her father dropped his opposition. Much of St. Teresa's life was plagued by illness. In 1538 it appears she suffered from malaria when her father took her from the convent and placed her under doctors care. Despite this she remained ill and undertook experimental cures by a woman in the town of Becedas. These methods left her in a coma for three days and not able to walk for three years. It was during this time of illness and convalescence that she took to daily mental prayer, which led to her experiences with mystical prayer. She credited her recovery to St. Joseph. St. Teresa never sought the mystical experiences that she experienced, but resigned herself to God's will and considers them a divine blessing. She spent long hours in meditation that she called the "prayer of quiet" and the "prayer of union." During such prayers she frequently went into ecstasy, and at times entered upon mystical flights in which she would feel as if her soul were lifted out of her body. She said ecstasy was like a "detachable death" and her soul became awake to God as never before when the faculties and senses are dead. St. Teresa, being a contemplative, is well known for her discussion on the grades of prayer through which the soul is focused upon the love of God passes before reaching the "central mansion" of the soul, where Christ lives. She distinguished sharply between the essence of mysticism, which is loving the contemplation of God infused by God's own love and grace, and the tangential phenomena that may accompany the contemplative life, such as visions, audible sensations, ecstasy, levitation, and stigmata. She, as others, believed that Satan could manipulate such phenomena to corrupt the gullible even when they come from God. St. Teresa felt that the Devil could twist such things in order to cause the individual to be more concerned with these manifestations than with their true mission of loving God entirely.Although St. Teresa warned against taking the powers of the Devil too seriously, and advised that his powers should be despised. She said Satan was constantly active against Christians, especially the contemplative, trying intensely to block them from their goal of achieving absolute union with God. Although the Devil was powerless against the defense that Christ builds up in a faithful soul, he will rush in at the person's weakest moments to suggest things that appear reasonable and good but invariably result in feelings of confusion, worthlessness and disgust. He puts forth ingeniously devised temptations: he encourages self-righteousness and false humility and discourages us from prayer; he causes us to feel guilty for having received God's grace and to labor under the impossible burden of trying to earn it; he makes us ill-tempered toward others; he creates illusions and distractions in the intellect; he inspires the doubt and fear that the understanding that we are granted in contemplation is an illusion. Sometimes we feel that we have lost control of our souls, as if demons are tossing us back and forth like balls. Sometimes we feel that we have made no progress, but even when the boat is becalmed, God is secretly stirring in the sails and moving us along. In 1562, against opposition, she founded a convent in Avila with stricter rules than those that prevailed in Carmelite monasteries. She was determined to establish a small community that would follow the Carmelite contemplative life, especially unceasing prayer. In 1567 she was given permission to establish other convents, and eventually founded seventeen others. She dedicated herself to reforming the Carmelite order. When St. Teresa was fifty-three she met the twenty-six-year-old St. John of the Cross, who was dedicated to reforming the male Carmelite monasteries. Following a period of turbulence within the Carmelites, from 1575 to 1580, the Discalced Reform was recognized as separate. As St. Teresa was traveling about Spain founding her reformed Carmelite convents her pen was busy too. All of her books have become spiritual classics. Life, her first work and autobiography written in 1565, describes how she experienced a spiritual marriage with Christ as bridegroom to the soul; she had this experience on November 18, 1572. Following this experience she wrote The Way of Perfection (1573), about the life of prayer. This was followed by The Interior Castle (1577), her best-known work, in which she presents a spiritual doctrine using a castle to symbolize the interior life. This latter book was revealed to her on Trinity Sunday, 1577, in which she saw a crystal globe like a castle that contained seven rooms; the seventh, in the center, held the King of Glory. One approached the center, which represents the Union with God, by going through the other rooms of Humility, Practice of Prayer, Meditation, Quiet, Illumination, and Dark Night. After founding her last convent at Burgos, in 1582, St. Teresa returned in very poor health to Avila. The difficult journey proved to have been too much for her frail condition. She took to her deathbed upon her arrival at the convent and died three days later on October 4, 1582. The next day the Gregorian Calendar went into effect, thus dropping ten days and making her death on October 14. Her feast day is October 15. St. Teresa was canonized in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV and was declared doctor of the Church, the first woman so honored, in 1970 by Pope Paul VI. PATRON: sickness; against headaches; against heart disease; lacemakers; loss of parents; opposition of Church authorities; those in need of grace; religious; those ridiculed for their piety; Spain; those named Teresa, Theresa, Teresita, Terry, Tessa, Teresina, and Tracy. PRAYER: O God, who through your Spirit raised up Saint Teresa of Jesus to show the Church the way to seek perfection, grant that we may always be nourished by the food of her heavenly teaching and fired with longing for true holiness. 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.
Saint Teress was my own big guide on our spiritual pilgrimage. I think I read all her books, especially her Interior Mansions which I read man, many times. She is down to Earth, clear as Spring water and with a great sense of humour. She is so humble and it is very easy to take her as a friend and companion. I admit to being surprised when I learn of her doing things like levitating or doing miracles. It is easy to under rate her because of her deep, deep humility. I find the same thing when I was films of Carmelite communities. It is so easy to miss that fact that we are dealing with some very saintly ladies indeed. Think of St Therese of Liseaux. Most of the sisters who lived right alongside her had no idea they in the company of a very great saint. Only her sisters who knew her from childhood knew.
SAINTS OF THE DAY THURSDAY, 16 OCTOBER, 2025 SAINT MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE SAINT GERARD MAJELLA SAINT MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE VIRGIN (22 July 1647 - 17 October 1690) A self-effacing nun in the Visitation Convent at Paray-le-Monial, France, was inspired by the Lord Jesus to establish the devotion of the Holy Hour. Her name was St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, and from the age of seven, when she received her first Holy Communion, she had always manifested an intense love of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Our Lord appeared to her often, usually as the Crucified Christ. Her simplicity caused her to feel that these apparitions were also granted to others who had recourse to Jesus in the sacrament of His love. Once the Master appeared to the young girl as she was returning from a dance and reproached her for not espousing Him. When twenty-four years of age, Margaret entered the cloister, choosing the most menial tasks. Gifted with intelligence and common sense, she made great progress in holiness. Our Lord entrusted to her the mission of establishing the reign of the Sacred Heart among the children of men. Criticism did not hamper her zeal, and her charity toward her opponents won them over to the cause of the Master. In the first revelation of the Sacred Heart to the nun, Our Lord made known His burning desire to be loved by all men, and His design of manifesting to them His Sacred Heart with its treasures of mercy. Margaret Mary communicated Our Lord's wish that the faithful receive Holy Communion on the first Friday of each month and observe the Feast of the Sacred Heart on the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi. After nineteen years in the convent, St. Margaret Mary died on October 17, 1690. Many pilgrims to her tomb have sought and obtained favors. Through her apostolate of devotion to the Sacred Heart many sinners have repented and found grace with God. PATRON: Against polio; devotees of the Sacred Heart; loss of parents; polio patients. PRAYER: Pour out on us, we pray, O Lord, the spirit with which you so remarkably endowed Saint Margaret Mary, so that we may come to know that love of Christ which surpasses all understanding and be utterly filled with your fullness. 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. SAINT GERARD MAJELLA RELIGIOUS (6 APRIL 1726 - 16 OCTOBER 1755) St. Gerard was born in southern Italy on April 6, 1726. His father died while Gerard was still young, forcing him to be apprenticed to a tailor. His frail health, quiet disposition, and gentle ways led him to being bullied by fellow workers and by his employers. He was refused admission to the Capuchin Order on account of his youth, so he lived for a time as a hermit. His great love for Jesus crucified caused him to lead a very ascetical lifestyle. Getting to know the Redemptorists, he applied to them but was initially rejected because of his poor health. On his insistance, however, he was reluctantly accepted and sent to the novitiate with a note saying: "I am sending you a useless lay brother." Gerard was professed in July 1752, and quickly disproved the prediction of his uselessness by his excellent service as porter, tailor, and sacristan. His prayerfulness and dedication began to be too great to overlook and so he gained a reputation for sanctity. This brought a large number of persons to him for guidance in the spiritual life. He readily responded, revealing a remarkable gift for sensing the deep interior reality of a person. Because of this genius, of his ability to bring relief to the sick, and of his care for women in childbirth, many miracles were attributed to him and he gained the nickname "The Wonderworker." His popularity eventually led to accusations of sexual misconduct, which he bore patiently until they were proven false. He died on October 16, 1755, worn out by his austerities and by tuberculosis. Very many Catholics throughout the world honor him as the special patron of new mothers and of families, and his reputation as "The Wonderworker" continues to our day. — The Redemptorists THE PATRON OF EXPECTANT MOTHERS St. Gerard is often called upon as the Parton because of a miraculous healing that took place in his lifetime. A few months before his death, Gerard went to visit the house of a family. As he was leaving, he dropped his handkerchief. One of the daughters picked it up and tried to return it to him. He replied, "Keep it. You may need it some day." Years later, when this same girl became pregnant, she experienced great complications and feared that she would miscarry the child. Remembering this event with St. Gerard, she asked for the handkerchief. As soon as it was brought to her, the pain disappeared and she eventually gave birth to a healthy child. PATRON: Childbirth; children; expectant mothers; falsely accused people; good confessions; lay brothers; motherhood; mothers; pregnant women; pro-life movement; unborn children. PRAYER TO ST. GERARD: Almighty and Eternal God, we thank you for the gift of St. Gerard and the example of his life. Because St. Gerard always had complete faith and trust in you, you blessed him with miracles of help and healing. Through him, you showed your loving concern for all those who suffered or were in need; you never failed to hear his prayer on their behalf. Today, through St. Gerard's powerful intercession, you continue to show your love for all those who place their trust in you. (Mention your petition) And so, Father, full of faith and confidence, and in thanksgiving for all the wonderful things you have done for us, we place ourselves before you today. Through the intercession of St. Gerard, hear our prayers and petitions , and if it is your holy will, grant them. Amen.
