Saint Josaphat had the most terrible death with the most hideous injuries. The thing that strikes me about him is that he was prepared to die for his Faith in the Catholic Church. But of course before you die for something you have to know what it actually is. What is true and what is false. I wonder how many Catholics actually know this today and are in reality following the newly founded False Church? https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertain...and-by-his-side/ar-AA1QeFY3?ocid=BingNewsSerp Gio Benitez, Openly Gay ABC News Weekend Anchor, Joins Catholic Church and Reaffirms Faith with Husband by His Side
SAINT OF THE DAY THURSDAY, 13 NOVEMBER, 2025 SAINT FRANCES XAVIER CABRINI VIRGIN AND FOUNDRESS (15 July 1850 - 22 December 1917) This saint, the first United States citizen to be canonized, was born in Italy of parents who were farmers. She was the thirteenth child, born when her mother was fifty-two years old. The missionary spirit was awakened in her as a little girl when her father read stories of the missions to his children. She received a good education, and at eighteen was awarded the normal school certificate. For a while she helped the pastor teach catechism and visited the sick and the poor. She also taught school in a nearby town, and for six years supervised an orphanage assisted by a group of young women. The bishop of Lodi heard of this group and asked Frances to establish a missionary institute to work in his diocese. Frances did so, calling the community the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. An academy for girls was opened and new houses quickly sprang up. One day Bishop Scalabrini, founder of the Missionaries of Emigration, described to Mother Cabrini the wretched economical and spiritual conditions of the many Italian immigrants in the United States, and she was deeply moved. An audience with Pope Leo XIII changed her plans to go to the missions of the East. "Not to the East, but to the West," the Pope said to her. "Go to the United States." Mother Cabrini no longer hesitated. She landed in New York in 1889, established an orphanage, and then set out on a lifework that comprised the alleviation of every human need. For the children she erected schools, kindergartens, clinics, orphanages, and foundling homes, and numbers of hospitals for the needy sick. At her death over five thousand children were receiving care in her charitable institutions, and at the same time her community had grown to five hundred members in seventy houses in North and South America, France, Spain, and England. The saint, frail and diminutive of stature, showed such energy and enterprise that everyone marveled. She crossed the Atlantic twenty-five times to visit the various houses and institutions. In 1909 she adopted the United States as her country and became a citizen. After thirty-seven years of unflagging labor and heroic charity she died alone in a chair in Columbus Hospital at Chicago, Illinois, while making dolls for orphans in preparation for a Christmas party. Cardinal Mundelein of Chicago officiated at her funeral and in 1938 also presided at her beatification by Pius XI. She was canonized by Pius XII in 1946. She lies buried under the altar of the chapel of Mother Cabrini High School in New York City. PATRON: hospital administrators; immigrants; orphans. PRAYER: God our Father, who called Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini from Italy to serve the immigrants of America, by her example, teach us to have concern for the stranger, the sick, and all those in need, and by her prayers help us to see Christ in all the men and women we meet. 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.
I must watch the film on Saint Frances once again, it was quite wonderful. One thing comes across is how she was tapped by the Pope and the Vatican as a superb, in deed genius administrator. It is kind of counter cultural to what we often think of women's role in the Church. She was one of many, many women saints who wielded great power at times when women had no power at all in the secular world but because she was so Holy she never let it go to her head.
SAINT OF THE DAY FRIDAY, 14 NOVEMBER, 2025 SAINT LAURENCE O'TOOLE BISHOP (1128 - November 14, 1180) Saint Laurence was the son of the king of Leinster in Ireland. His birth caused such great joy to his father, that in thanksgiving, to honour Christ, he pardoned a vassal who was an enemy and even chose him for sponsor of the child. They were stopped on the way to church by a man who was regarded as a prophet and who told them in verse that the child would be magnificent on earth and glorious in heaven and that his name must be Laurence. Though the king had decided otherwise, the infant was indeed given that name. When only ten years old, his father delivered him up as a hostage to a rival prince who required this of his sincerity when there was a question of a treaty of peace but who treated the child with great inhumanity, leaving him to suffer hunger and cold and other inhuman conditions until his health was nearly ruined. His father, hearing of this, by menaces obliged the tyrant to put him temporarily in the hands of the Bishop of Glendenoch in the county of Wicklow. The holy youth was soon cured and, by his fidelity in corresponding with the divine grace, he grew to be a model of virtues. When his father came for him, he declared he desired to enter into the service of the Church and remain with the good bishop. To this his father willingly agreed. On the death of the bishop, who was also Abbot of a monastery of the same city, Saint Laurence was chosen Abbot in 1150, though only twenty years old and doubting his competence. Nonetheless, he governed with a paternal spirit, employing all his revenues during a famine in the province, to procure food for the needy, remedies for the sick and aid of all kinds for the unfortunate. Never did he use his revenues, even when prosperity returned, for anything but care of the poor, repairs for ruined or decrepit churches or the construction of new ones and the foundation of hospitals. When the see of Glendenoch became vacant once more in 1161, it was Saint Laurence who was chosen to fill it and although he could not resolve to accept that new dignity, he was obliged soon afterwards to become Archbishop of Dublin and he was told that to refuse would be to resist the Will of God. He established a regular life for the Canons of his cathedral, according to the example of Saint Augustine and he himself followed all the rules with exactitude, sharing their table, their prayer and their silence. Each Lent he returned to Glendalough to make a forty days' retreat in St. Kevin's Cave on a precipice of Lugduff Mountain over the Upper Lake. About the year 1171 Saint Laurence was obliged, for the affairs of his diocese, to go to England to see the king, Henry II, who was then at Canterbury. He was received by the Benedictine monks of Christ Church with the greatest honour and respect. On the following day, as the holy Archbishop was advancing to the altar to officiate, a maniac, who had heard much of his sanctity and who thought it would be a gift to the Church to make of him another martyr in the likeness of Saint Thomas Becket, struck him a violent blow on the head. All present concluded that he was mortally wounded but the Saint recovered his senses and asked for some water, which he blessed. He then requested that the wound be washed with it, and the blood was immediately stanched and the archbishop celebrated Mass. He obtained the offender's pardon from the king . His prayers brought about many miracles, including the return to their senses for those who had become alienated, a miracle rare in the history of religion. After he attended a General Council in Rome in 1179, the Pope made him his legate for all of Ireland and he visited all its provinces to re-establish ecclesiastical discipline everywhere. In 1175 Henry II of England became offended with Roderick, the monarch of Ireland and prudence that he granted him everything he asked and left the whole negotiation to his discretion. After a stay at the Monastery of Abingdon south of Oxford – necessitated by a closure of the ports – he landed at Le Tréport, Normandy, at a cove named after him, Saint-Laurent. He fell ill and was conveyed to the Abbey of St Victor at Eu. Mortally ill, it was suggested that he should make his will, to which he replied: “God knows, I have not a penny under the sun to leave anyone.” His last thoughts were of his people in Dublin : “Alas, you poor, foolish people, what will you do now? Who will take care of you in your trouble? Who will help you?” He died on 14 November 1180. The Saint is described as tall and graceful in figure. He was well known as an ascetic, wore a hair shirt, never ate meat and fasted every Friday on bread and water. In contrast to this, it is said that when he entertained, his guests lacked for nothing, while he drank water coloured to look like wine so as not to spoil the feast. Due to the great number of miracles that rapidly occurred either at his tomb or through his intercession, Lorcán was canonised only 45 years after his death in 1225 by Pope Honorius III. St Laurence's heart was preserved in a reliquary in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin from the 13th century. His skull was brought to England in 1442 by a nobleman named Sir Rowland Standish who had fought at Agincourt. The bones were interred at the parish church of Chorley in England, now named St Laurence's, until they disappeared in the English Reformation. Lorcán's heart remains in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. The reliquary was stolen in 2012, with the Dean of Christ Church saying “It has no economic value but it is a priceless treasure that links our present foundation with its founding father”. It was recovered in Phoenix Park in 2018 after a tip-off to the Garda Síochána. Media reported that the unidentified thieves thought it was cursed and caused family members' illnesses. At a special ceremony in Christ Church on 26 April 2018, the heart was returned to it's home. PATRON: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin. PRAYER: O God, who in blessed Laurence O'Toole were pleased to provide for your Church the example of a good shepherd, mercifully grant that through his intercession we may merit an eternal place in your pastures. 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 OF THE DAY SATURDAY, 15 NOVEMBER, 2025 SAINT ALBERT THE GREAT BISHOP, CONFESSOR AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH (c.1193 - November 15, 1280) Albert, the "light of Germany," called the Great because of his encyclopedic knowledge, was born in 1193 at Lauingen, Donau. He studied at Padua, where under the influence of the second Dominican general, he joined the newly-founded Order of Preachers (1223). Soon he was sent to Germany, taught in various cities, particularly Cologne; Thomas Aquinas was his student. In 1248 he received the honor of Master in Sacred Theology at Paris. Throngs attended his lectures. In 1254 Albert was chosen provincial of his Order in Germany. For a time he lived at the court of Pope Alexander II, who in 1260 made him bishop of Regensburg; two years later, however, he returned to his community at Cologne. There he acted as counselor, peacemaker, and shepherd of souls with great success. He died on 15 November 1280. Pope Pius XI numbered him among the ranks of the saints on December 16, 1931, and declared him a doctor of the Church. Much of his life was given to writing. His twenty-one folio volumes are devoted to commentaries on Aristotle (whose works were just then becoming known in the West) and the Bible. Legend credits him with drawing the ground plans for the cathedral at Cologne. Albert, the greatest German scholar of the Middle Ages, was outstanding in the fields of natural science, theology, and philosophy. Albert is named "Doctor Universalis" because of his vast knowledge and writings. PATRON: Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Ohio; medical technicians; natural sciences; philosophers; schoolchildren; scientists; students; students of theology. PRAYER: O God, who made the Bishop Saint Albert great by his joining of human wisdom to divine faith, grant, we pray, that we may so adhere to the truths he taught, that through progress in learning we may come to a deeper knowledge and love of you. 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 OF THE DAY SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2025 SAINT GERTRUDE THE GREAT VIRGIN (January 6, 1256 – November 17, 1302) St. Gertrude the Great, a Cistercian nun, is one of the most lovable German saints from medieval times, and through her writings she will remain for all ages a guide to the interior life. Her deep relationship with the Lord in prayer led to her being hailed as a mystic. She was also regarded as a great theologian. In spite of much ill-health, Gertrude used her exceptional natural talents well, knew Latin fluently. When she was twenty-five years old (1281), Christ began to appear to her and to disclose to her the secrets of mystical union. Obeying a divine wish, she put into writing the favors of grace bestowed upon her. Her most important work, Legatus Divinae Pietatis, "The Herald of Divine Love," is distinguished for theological profundity, sublime poetry, and unusual clarity. How it stimulates love of God can be felt only by reading it; Abbot Blosius is said to have read it twelve times each year. Gertrude once had a vision on the feast of John the Evangelist, described in Gertrude's writings. As she rested her head near Jesus' wound on his side, she could hear the beating of his heart. She asked St. John if he, too, felt the beating of Jesus' Divine Heart on the night of the Last Supper. He told her he was saving this revelation for a time when the world needed it to rekindle its love. Along with St. Mechtilde, she practiced what is known as "nuptial mysticism," seeing herself as the bride of Christ. She embraced charity for both rich and poor, she was a simple woman with a deep solidarity with those not yet ready for the beatific vision, who are still being purified in the state of repose known as purgatory. St. Gertrude died in 1302, more consumed by the fire of God's love than by fever. St. Gertrude the Great is invoked for souls in purgatory and for living sinners. Our Lord told St. Gertrude that the following prayer would benefit many souls in purgatory each time it is said. The prayer was extended to include living sinners as well. "Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen." PATRON: Nuns; travellers; West Indies. PRAYER: O God, who prepared a delightful dwelling for yourself in the heart of the Virgin Saint Gertrude, graciously bring light, through her intercession, to the darkness of our hearts, that we may joyfully experience you present and at work within us. 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.
They had some wonderful old books about the visions of Saint Gertrude the Great in the Monastery, also those of her spiritual daughter St Mechtilde. I used to love reading from her about how folks dressed in heaven, what angels looked and dressed like, her Spiritual Marriage to Christ and so on. I always loved reading about such things from all the saints but Gertrude is kinda Queen of the visions. She had so many and such wonderful ones. I must try and find one and post it. I see she is often shown with a cat https://www.catholictradition.org/Gertrude/revelations13.htm A vision in which St. Gertrude beheld Our Lord communicating the sisters. On a Sunday on which fell both the Feast of St. Lawrence and that of the dedication of the church of the monastery, the Saint, having begun to pray during the first Mass for some persons who had recommended themselves to her prayers, perceived a green vine-branch which came forth from the throne of God and descended to the earth. By its foliage, as by steps, one could ascend from the bottom to the top. She understood that this mystic ladder was a symbol of faith, by which the elect mount up to Heaven. As she saw many of her sisters assembled at the summit of this vine, on the left side of the throne of God, amongst whom Jesus Christ stood with extreme pleasure in presence of His heavenly Father, the hour approached at which the community would have communicated, if they had not been hindered by the interdict. She desired ardently that she and those present might receive this life-giving Sacrament which by an incomprehensible secret of the Divine goodness gives life to mankind, despite all the obstacles which are opposed to it. After this, she saw Jesus Christ holding a Host in His hand, which He plunged into the Heart of God His Father. When he drew it forth, it seemed as if coloured vermilion or tinged with blood. Gertrude was amazed at this and marveled much what it might signify the more so because red is a symbol of the Passion and the Eternal Father could never have any marks of suffering. Being thus entirely absorbed in meditating on what she saw she forgot to ask for the accomplishment of her desires. Soon after she knew, without perceiving in what manner it was effected, that the Lord had chosen for the place of His dwelling and repose the hearts and souls of all her sisters whom she had seen assembled around the throne of God. The Saint now remembered a person who had recommended herself to her prayers before Mass with great humility and devotion and she prayed God to grant her a share in these favours. He replied, that no one could ascend thus unless she was elevated by confidence, of which the person for whom she prayed had but little. The Saint replied: "It seems to me, my God, that the want of confidence in this person proceeds from a humility, on which Thou dost usually pour forth Thy most abundant graces." Our Lord answered: "I will descend now and communicate Myself to this soul and to all who are in the valley of self- abasement." Then the Son of God, the Lord and Master of all virtues appeared to descend suddenly by a crimson ladder and soon after she beheld Him at the altar of the church of the monastery, clothed with pontifical vestments and bearing in His Hands a pix like those in which the consecrated Hosts alone are reserved and He remained seated before the priest until the Preface of the Mass. A multitude of angels attended Him, so that the whole church on the northern side, which was to the right side of the Lord, seemed filled with them. These blessed spirits testified a particular joy in visiting the place where their fellow-citizens, the religious of the monastery, had so often addressed their prayers to God. On the left that is, on the south side, there was but one choir of Angels who were followed by a choir of Apostles, a choir of Martyrs, a choir of confessors and a choir of virgins, each apart. Gertrude, beholding so august an assembly and reflecting that, according to Scripture, it is purity which brings us nearest to God, perceived between the Lord and the choir of virgins rays of light, shining like snow, which united these holy virgins more closely than the other Saints to their Spouse, by the ravishing sweetness of His caresses and intimacy. She also perceived rays of a most brilliant light, which were shed upon some members of the community, as if there were no obstacles between them and God, although they were materially separated from the church where she beheld this mysterious apparition.
Oh! It is not St Gertrude the Great who had it with cats. It is St Gertrude of Nivelles who is patron saint of cats.
SAINT OF THE DAY MONDAY, 17 NOVEMBER, 2025 SAINT ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY WIDOW (1207 – November 17, 1231) Elizabeth was the daughter of the Hungarian King Andrew II. At the age of four, she was brought to the court of her future husband, Ludwig, landgrave of Thuringia. After her marriage in 1221, she very conscientiously fulfilled her duties both towards her husband and as a servant of God. During the night she would rise from bed and spend long periods in prayer. Zealously she performed all types of charitable acts; she put herself at the service of widows, orphans, the sick, the needy. During a famine she generously distributed all the grain from her stocks, cared for lepers in one of the hospitals she established, kissed their hands and feet. For the benefit of the indigent she provided suitable lodging. Under the spiritual direction of a Franciscan friar, she led a life of prayer, sacrifice, and service to the poor and sick. Seeking to become one with the poor, she wore simple clothing. Daily she would take bread to hundreds of the poorest in the land who came to her gate. After the early death of her husband, Elizabeth laid aside all royal dignities in order to serve God more freely. Nor was she spared intense suffering - the goods belonging to her as a widow were withheld, she was forced to leave Wartburg. In Eisenach no one dared receive her out of fear of her enemies. Upon much pleading a shepherd of the landgrave permitted her to use an abandoned pig sty. No one was allowed to visit or aid her; with her three children, of whom the youngest was not more than a few months old, she was forced to wander about in the winter's cold. In 1228 she took the veil of the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis at Marburg and there built a hospital with some property still belonging to her. She retained for herself only a small mud house. All her strength and care were now devoted to the poor and the sick, while she obtained the few things she needed by spinning. Elizabeth's health declined, and she died before her 24th birthday in 1231. PATRON: Bakers; beggars; brides; Catholic charities; charitable societies; charitable workers; charities; countesses; death of children; exiles; falsely accused people; Franciscan Third Order; hoboes; homeless people; hospitals; in-law problems; lacemakers; lace workers; nursing homes; nursing services; people in exile; people ridiculed for their piety; Sisters of Mercy; tertiaries; Teutonic Knights; toothache; tramps; widows. PRAYER: O God, by whose gift Saint Elizabeth of Hungary recognized and revered Christ in the poor, grant, through her intercession, that we may serve with unfailing charity the needy and those afflicted. 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.
Thanks to all who post or upload encouraging messages, links, videos, articles, etc. Rather than giving in to hopelessness, they show how saints and saints-in-progress continue fighting evil with good words and actions, to the point of white and red martyrdom. As we all know, God is always in control, drawing greater good out of evil. There are numerous victim souls all over the world, many of whom are ordinary people who may even be unaware that God has chosen them for this special (and in many cases, hidden) vocation, perhaps to keep them humble and totally dependent on God and to increase their merits. They are not necessarily holier than others, but in God’s mysterious ways, He has appointed them for this mission to help accomplish the divine plan of salvation. A number of these souls suffer in silence, their crosses and crowns of thorns concealed from others, misunderstood, misjudged, calumniated, persecuted, oppressed, cancelled, ostracized, abused in all sorts of ways. Yet they serve as little lights illuminating this pitch-dark world—victim souls, courageous priests and consecrated souls, lay people from all walks of life—the faithful remnant. For all those who feel crushed, weary, and exhausted with heavy burdens, the more intense your pain, offered for love of God and neighbor, the more purified your motives become. The more sanctified your love, the closer your union with Jesus, our Suffering Savior, and the greater your heavenly reward.
https://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/media/articles/st-elizabeth-of-hungary/ Elizabeth of Hungary’s care for the Sick & Poor Twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, Elizabeth went to visit the sick. She personally cared for those who were particularly repulsive; to some she gave food, to others clothing; some she carried on her own shoulders, and performed many other kindly services. Her husband, of happy memory, gladly approved of these charitable works. Finally, when her husband died, she sought the highest perfection; filled with tears, she implored me to let her beg for alms from door to door. On Good Friday of that year, when the altars had been stripped, she laid her hands on the altar in a chapel in her own town, where she had established the Friars Minor, and before witnesses she voluntarily renounced all worldly display and everything that our Saviour in the gospel advises us to abandon. Even then she saw that she could still be distracted by the cares and worldly glory which had surrounded her while her husband was alive. Against my will she followed me to Marburg. Here in the town she built a hospice where she gathered together the weak and the feeble. There she attended the most wretched and contemptible at her own table. A Contemplative Woman Apart from those active good works, I declare before God that I have seldom seen a more contemplative woman. When she was coming from private prayer, some religious men and women often saw her face shining marvelously and light coming from her eyes like the rays of the sun. Before her death I heard her confession. When I asked what should be done about her goods and possessions, she replied that anything which seemed to be hers belonged to the poor. She asked me to distribute everything except one worn out dress in which she wished to be buried. When all this had been decided, she received the body of our Lord. Afterward, until vespers, she spoke often of the holiest things she had heard in sermons. Then, she devoutly commended to God all who were sitting near her, and as if falling into a gentle sleep, she died. Conrad of Marburg was St. Elizabeth of Hungary’s spiritual director. This excerpt from his recollections about St. Elizabeth of Hungary appears in the Roman Office of Readings for the memorial of St. Elizabeth of Hungary on November 17. Banner/featured image by Carl Ederer. Public domain. Originally posted on Nov 12 2023 Conrad of Marburg Conrad of Marburg was the spiritual director of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, a princess who lived an exemplary life as a wife and mother and, in her widowhood, devoted herself to the care of the sick. Conrad lived in the 13th century.
FEAST OF THE DAY TUESDAY, 18 NOVEMBER, 2025 DEDICATION OF THE BASILICAS OF SAINTS PETER AND PAUL Today's feast is a spiritual journey to two holy tombs, that of St. Peter and that of St. Paul in Rome. These two basilicas, marking the place of each apostle's martyrdom, are the common heritage and glory of Christendom; it is, therefore, easily seen why we observe their dedication. Abbot Herwegen makes the following observations on St. Peter's in Rome. The Eternal City has two principal churches, St. John Lateran and St. Peter's. Since ancient times the Lateran basilica, the mother of all churches on earth, has been the church proper to the bishop of Rome in his position as head of the local community. Here the Lenten season was opened and the Easter liturgy solemnized. The basilica of St. Peter, on the other hand, was the church of non-Romans, of pilgrims who journeyed to the city where the two great apostles were martyred. Here those celebrations were held which expressed the universal character of the Roman Church, e.g., Epiphany and the noon Mass on Christmas. The Introits, Lessons, and chants of both these feasts are best explained as proclaiming Christ's universal dominion and His royal majesty. The third lesson gives the history regarding the construction of the two basilicas. Among the holy places which the first Christians held in honor, those sites were especially dear where the bodies of holy martyrs lay. Great veneration was accorded that area of the Vatican Hill where the grave of St. Peter was located. From all lands Christians made pilgrimages to it as to the rock of faith and the foundation of the Church. In due time the legend arose that Emperor Constantine the Great, eight days after his baptism, took off his diadem, threw himself humbly upon the earth, and shed many tears. Then with pick and shovel he started digging and, in memory of the twelve apostles, carried away twelve baskets of ground; thereby he set the boundaries of the basilica to be built in honor of St. Peter. When finished, the edifice was solemnly consecrated by Pope Sylvester I. Pope Sylvester had ordered the altar to be of stone; he anointed it with chrism and decreed that in the future only stone altars were to be used. A new church, the present St. Peter's, was consecrated by Pope Urban VIII on November 18, 1626. The ancient basilica of St. Paul was destroyed by fire in 1823. Donations from around the world made the reconstruction possible. The Basilica was built over St. Paul´s grave. A new structure was consecrated by Pius IX on December 10, 1854, the occasion of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. In the perspective of the liturgy, the two churches honored today are prime examples connoting the heavenly Jerusalem. The liturgy excels in the pedagogy of passing from the material to the supernatural — the precedent for which on the point in question was already set by the author of the Apocalypse. These two churches continue to draw millions of faithful pilgrims each year as well as many visitors from other faiths. PRAYER: Defend your Church, O Lord, by the protection of the holy Apostles, that, as she received from them the beginnings of her knowledge of things divine, so through them she may receive, even to the end of the world, an increase in heavenly grace. 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.
There is a difference praying in one of these great Cathedrals. I could feel it as soon as I entered the doors yesterday. Fortresses against Satan. That is why they used to put little statues of screaming demons around them.
SAINT OF THE DAY WEDNESDAY, 19 NOVEMBER, 2025 SAINT MECHTILDIS OF HELFTA RELIGIOUS (c.1240 - 19 November 1298) St. Mechtildis was one of a trio of extraordinary mystics who inhabited the same Benedictine convent in Saxony in the late thirteenth century. Aside from Mechtildis of Helfta (born in Hackeborn – and also carries that title), first came to the convent of Helfta when she was seven, there was also the ex-Beguine St. Mechtild of Magdeburg (70 years prior) and the younger, St. Gertrude the Great. None of these women held any notable office in their community and yet they exerted spiritual authority far beyond the convent as a result of their visions and their wide reputation for holiness. Mechtildis of Helfta and Gertrude were particularly close. Gertrude had been donated, to the convent at the age of five, and Mechtildis, fifteen years her senior, had been largely responsible for her upbringing. As nuns and mystics they both developed a similar spirituality, emphasizing an affective devotion to the humanity of Christ and a strong focus on the Eucharist. In the case of Mechtildis, her first mystical vision occurred while receiving Holy Communion. Our Lord appeared to her, held her hands, and left his imprint on her heart "like a seal in wax." Christ furthermore presented his own heart to her in the form of a cup and said, "By my heart you will praise me always; go, offer to all the saints the drink of life from my heart that they may be happily inebriated with it." Mechtildis had a great devotion to the humanity of Christ, for this humanity was the "door" by which human beings and, indeed, all creation entered into union with divinity. In one extraordinary vision she perceived that "the smallest details of creation are reflected in the Holy Trinity by means of the humanity of Christ, because it is from the same earth that produced them that Christ drew his humanity." As a result of her visions, Mechtildis wielded tremendous authority within her community and beyond. She was regarded as a prophet, teacher, and counsellor, "a tender mother of the unfortunate by her continual prayers, her zealous instruction, and her consolations." The teachings and visions of St. Mechtildis were carefully recorded, by her spiritual daughter and lifelong friend, St. Gertrude, in a work entitled the Book of Special Grace. She was initially terrified that the book might cause trouble, but Christ appeared to her in prayer and told her not to worry. She became a much sought spiritual advisor to her sister nuns, laity and learned Dominicans. She died on November 19, 1298. Saint Mechtilde of Helfta was also known as Mechtilde of Hackeborn Mechtilde of Hackeborn-Wippra Mechtilde of Magdeburg Mathilda, Mathildis, Matilda, Maud, Mechthild, Mechtild, Mechtildis PATRON: Against blindness. PRAYER: O God, who called your handmaid blessed Mechtilde to seek you before all else, grant that, serving you, through her example and intercession, with a pure and humble heart, we may come at last to your eternal glory. 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.
It is so easy to get mixed up with all these Mechtilde's But sometimes seems to make a breakthrough with a whole family of saints around about the same time and the same place. As though He were trying to knock on the door or our heart many times in a row. Even to kick the front door of our hearts right down. A good example of this was at the foundation of the Discalced Carmelites. I read a book one time listing brief accounts of the lives of the first Discalced Saints and Beata's. This must have been at least 30 or 40 of them, amazing. The same thing with other Religious Orders such as the Franciscans or Passionists. As though a huge doorway to heaven had suddenly opened.
SAINT OF THE DAY THURSDAY, 20 NOVEMBER, 2025 SAINT EDMUND KING AND MARTYR (King from 855 - 20 November 869) Though from the time of King Egbert, in 802, the kings of the West-Saxons were monarchs of all England, yet several kings reigned in certain parts after that time, in some measure subordinate to them. One Offa was king of the East-Angles, who, being desirous to end his days in penance and devotion at Rome, resigned his crown to Saint Edmund, at that time only fifteen years of age, but a most virtuous prince, and descended from the old English-Saxon kings of this isle. The saint was placed on the throne of his ancestors, as Lydgate, Abbo, and others express themselves, and was crowned by Hunbert, bishop of Elman, on Christmas-day in 855, at Burum, a royal villa on the Stour, now called Bures or Buers. Though very young, he was by his piety, goodness, humility, and all other virtues, the model of good princes. He was a declared enemy of flatterers and informers, and would see with his own eyes and hear with his own ears, to avoid being surprised into a wrong judgment, or imposed upon by the passions or ill designs of others. The peace and happiness of his people were his whole concern, which he endeavoured to establish by an impartial administration of justice and religious regulations in his dominions. He was the father of his subjects, particularly of the poor, the protector of widows and orphans, and the support of the weak. Religion and piety were the most distinguishing part of his character. Monks and devout persons used to know the psalter without book, that they might recite the psalms at work, in travelling, and on every other occasion. To get it by heart Saint Edmund lived in retirement a whole year in his royal tower at Hunstanton, (which he had built for a country solitude), which place is now a village in Norfolk. The book which the saint used for that purpose was religiously kept at Saint Edmundsbury till the dissolution of abbeys. The holy king had reigned fifteen years when the Danes infested his dominions. The Danish Chronicle relates, that Regner Lodbrog, king of Denmark, was taken prisoner, and put to death in Ireland, which he had invaded. Harald Klag, who had fled from his tyranny to Lewis Debonnair in Germany, and received the Christian faith, succeeded him, but relapsed into idolatry. After him Syward III, and Eric I, and II, reigned; the latter, towards the end of his life, was converted to the faith by Saint Anscharius. In his time the sons of Regner Lodbrog, after having subdued Norway, laid England waste. Their names were Eric, Orebic, Godfrey, Hinguar, Hubba, Ulfo, and Biorno, who, with mighty armies which they collected in the northern kingdoms, all commenced adventurers and pirates. Hinguar and Hubba, two of these brothers, the most barbarous of all the Danish plunderers, landing in England, wintered among the East-Angles; then, having made a truce with that nation, they in summer sailed to the north, and, landing at the mouth of the Tweed, plundered with fire and sword Northumberland, and afterwards Mercia, directing their march through Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, and Cambridgeshire. Out of a lust of rage and cruelty, and the most implacable aversion to the Christian name, they everywhere destroyed the churches and monasteries; and, as it were, in barbarous sport, massacred all priests and religious persons whom they met with. In the great monastery of Coldingham, beyond Berwick, the nuns fearing not death, but insults which might be offered to their chastity, at the instigation of Saint Ebba, the holy abbess, cut off their noses and upper lips, that, appearing to the barbarians frightful spectacles of horrors, they might preserve their virtue from danger: the infidels accordingly were disconcerted at such a sight, and spared their virtue, but put them all to the sword. In their march, amongst other monasteries, those of Bardney, Croyland, Peterborough, Ely, and Huntingdon were levelled with the ground, and the religious inhabitants murdered. In the cathedral of Peterborough is shown a monument (removed thither from a place without the building) called Monk's-Stone, on which are the effigies of an abbot and several monks. It stood over the pit in which fourscore monks of this house were interred, whom Hinguar and Hubba massacred in 870. The barbarians, reeking with blood, poured down upon Saint Edmund's dominions, burning Thetford, the first town they met with, and laying waste all before them. The people, relying upon the faith of treaties, thought themselves secure, and were unprepared. However, the good king raised what forces he could, met the infidels, or at least a part of their army, near Thetford, and discomfited them. But seeing them soon after reinforced with fresh numbers, against which his small body was not able to make any stand, and being unwilling to sacrifice the lives of his soldiers in vain, and grieving for the eternal loss of the souls of his enemies, who would be slain in a fruitless engagement, he disbanded his troops, and retired himself towards his castle of Framlingham in Suffolk. The barbarian had sent him proposals which were inconsistent both with religion and with the justice which he owed to his people. These the saint rejected, being resolved rather to die a victim of his faith and duty to God, than to do anything against his conscience and religion. In his flight he was overtaken and surrounded by infidels at Oxon, upon the Waveney: he concealed himself for some short time, but, being discovered, was bound with heavy chains, and conducted to the general's tent. Terms were again offered him equally prejudicial to religion and to his people, which the holy king refused to confirm, declaring that religion was dearer to him than his life, which he would never purchase by offending God. Hinguar, exasperated at this answer, in his barbarous rage caused him to be cruelly beaten with cudgels; then to be tied to a tree, and torn a long time together with whips. All this he bore with invincible meekness and patience, never ceasing to call upon the name of Jesus. The infidels were the more exasperated, and as he stood bound to the tree, they made him a mark wantonly to shoot at, till his body was covered with arrows, like a porcupine. Hinguar at length, in order to put an end to the butchery, commanded his head to be struck off. Thus the saint finished his martyrdom on the 20th of November, in 870, the fifteenth of his reign, and twenty-ninth of his age; the circumstances of which Saint Dunstan learned from one who was armour-bearer to the saint, and an eye-witness. The place was then called Henglesdun, now Hoxon, or Hoxne; a priory of monks was afterwards built there, which bore the name of the martyr.
