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Saint Stanislaus | April 11
Stanislaus was born of noble parents on July 26th at Szczepanow near Cracow, Poland. He was educated at Gnesen and was ordained there. He was given a canonry by Bishop Lampert Zula of Cracow, who made him his preacher, and soon he became noted for his preaching. He became a much sought after spiritual adviser. He was successful in his reforming efforts, and in 1072 was named Bishop of Cracow. He incurred the enmity of King Boleslaus the Bold when he denounced the King's cruelties and injustices and especially his kidnapping of the beautiful wife of a nobleman. When Stanislaus excommunicated the King and stopped services at the Cathedral when Boleslaus entered, Boleslaus himself killed Stanislaus while the Bishop was saying Mass in a chapel outside the city on April 11. Stanislaus has long been the symbol of Polish nationhood. He was canonized by Pope Innocent IV in 1253 and is the principle patron of Cracow. His feast day is April 11th.
Saint Vincent Ferrer | April 5
Sometimes it can be easy to idealize past ages in the Church. But a look at history shows that the Bride of Christ has never had it easy! In the days of St. Vincent Ferrer, two, then three men claimed to be the legitimate pope. Vincent found himself swept up in the drama. One of his old friends was elected a false pope. While initially supportive, Vincent became disillusioned by the division in the Church. He spent 20 years going back to the basics. He avoided Church politics and traveled Europe as a missionary preacher. Eventually, St. Vincent publicly denounced the man who had once been his friend. Sometimes drama, scandal, and disappointment in the Church can drive us away from our faith. Rather than leave, Vincent clung to Christ. During tumultuous times in the Church, St. Vincent Ferrer, pray for us!
Saint Isidore | April 4
Saint Frances of Paola | April 2
Francis was born at Paola, Italy and was educated at the Franciscan friary of San Marco there, and when fifteen became a hermit near Paola. In 1436, he and two companions began a community that is considered the foundation of the Minim Friars. He built a monastery where he had led his eremitical life some fifteen years later and set a Rule for his followers emphasizing penance, charity, and humility, and added to the three monastic vows, one of fasting and abstinence from meat; he also wrote a rule for tertiaries and nuns.
Saint Joseph's Day, also called the Feast of Saint Joseph or the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, is in Western Christianity the principal feast day of Saint Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary and legal father of Jesus Christ, celebrated on 19 March. It has the rank of a solemnity in the Catholic Church.
It is a feast or commemoration in many places. Saint Joseph's Day is the Patronal Feast day for Poland as well as for Canada, persons named Joseph, Josephine, etc., for religious institutes, schools and parishes bearing his name, and for carpenters. It is also Father's Day in some Catholic countries, mainly Spain, Portugal, and Italy. It is not a holy day of obligation for Catholics in the United States.
St. Cyril of Jerusalem
Short Bio
St. Cyril of Jerusalem was a bishop in the fourth century. His teachings on the Eucharist, among other topics, secured his place as a Doctor of the Church. Though his ministry was marked by estrangement, exile, and ultimately, reconciliation, he never lost his faith!
Biography
St. Cyril of Jerusalem (c.315-386) was born and raised in Jerusalem. He was educated in the Faith and had a love of Scripture at an early age that guided him toward the priesthood.
After he was ordained a priest by the bishop of Jerusalem, he went on to serve as a catechist for those newly baptized in his congregations. The writings he produced during the early years of his priesthood have gone on to help give the modern Church a clear example of how the Church of the East did things during those first few centuries of Christianity. They included teachings on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, prerequisites for Baptism, the Eucharistic liturgy, and more.
During the fourth century the Arian heresy, which denied the divinity of Christ, was threatening to tear the young Church apart. It was during this time that Cyril was ordained Bishop of Jerusalem and accused by his contemporaries of Arianism. They exiled him from his homeland on three different occasions, but he was ultimately acquitted of the accusations both in his own time and a thousand years later when he was named a Doctor of the Church in 1822.
Once back in Jerusalem, he and a bishop named Gregory, who would become St. Gregory, attended the Council of Constantinople, where the Nicene Creed was officially adopted. During this time, he publicly accepted and promoted the word “consubstantial,” the word the Council of Nicaea chose to describe Christ’s divinity and the relationship between God the Father and the Son.
His life reminds us that even a prominent theologian of the Church can suffer pain from controversy. Despite this, he never gave up and went on to be recognized as a Doctor of the Church. St. Cyril, pray for us!
Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick.
St. Katharine Drexel | March 3
Short Bio
St. Katharine Drexel (1858–1955), is one of the first American-born saints. Giving up her inheritance, she founded a religious order which established 63 schools and 50 missions for African and Native Americans, including Xavier University of Louisiana.
Biography
Born in Philadelphia, St. Katharine Drexel (November 26, 1858 – March 3, 1955), grew up to become one of the first American-born saints. Her mother passed away when she was only five weeks old. Her father, a renowned banker, remarried a wonderful woman, and together they raised St. Katherine Drexel and her two sisters in a life of privilege. Both financially and spiritually well-endowed, the Drexels were devout Catholics and set an excellent example of true Christian servitude with prayer and care for the poor.
After her father’s death, St. Katharine considered joining a contemplative order. However, during an audience with the Pope while on a trip to Rome with her sister, when she asked for more missionaries to be sent to the American West, the Pope asked her to become a missionary herself! Now known as the Apostle for Social Justice, St. Katharine gave up her inheritance and instead devoted her life to the material and spiritual well-being of Black and Native Americans. She established the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored, and together they opened a boarding school in Santa Fe, the first of 50 missions for Native Americans in 16 states. At the time of her death, she had also established a system of 63 schools, including Xavier University in New Orleans, the first Catholic university in the United States for African Americans. Believing that education was the key to opportunity, her love of the Blessed Sacrament sustained her mission.
At 77, she suffered a heart attack and was forced to retire from active ministry. She spent the next 20 years of her life in quiet yet intense prayer. She died at the age of 96 and was canonized in 2000 by Pope John Paul II. St. Katharine Drexel, pray for us!
St. Casimir - March 2
We live in a culture that tells children, "Follow your dreams! Be who you want to be!" It might be hard to imagine the courage it took to be St. Casimir. A prince second in line for the throne of Poland, the young man had great expectations placed upon him. Inspired by a devout tutor, St. Casimir developed a deep faith. As a teenager, he would often sleep on the ground, reject courtly finery for plain clothes, and dedicate long hours to prayer. He even made a private commitment to celibacy. Casimir's avoidance of a military engagement made his father furious. The king imprisoned his own son. The episode confirmed to St. Casimir that he served a higher King, Jesus Christ. He would spend the rest of his life in prayer, study, and service to the poor. When we need courage to do what is right, St. Casimir, pray for us!
St. Polycarp of Smyrna | February 23
As a disciple of St. John, the Evangelist, St. Polycarp was able to hear about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection directly from those who witnessed it. Because Polycarp was ordained as Bishop of Smyrna by St. John, he is one of three chief Apostolic Fathers, along with Clement of Rome and Ignatius of Antioch.
During his life Polycarp defended the Church against heresies. His important writing, the Letter to the Philippians, quoted the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles, stressing Paul’s authority in the Church and setting out clear arguments against the gnostic heresy that denied Christ’s divinity.
The early period of the Church was a dangerous time to be a Christian and like many, St. Polycarp was martyred. He was captured by Romans and sentenced to burn at the stake. However, the fire did not touch him, instead rising up like sails around him. Seeing that the flames would not injure Polycarp, the Romans stabbed him instead. The Martyrdom of Polycarp is perhaps the earliest fully preserved account of a Christian martyr.
Saint Gregory of Narek | February 27
St. Gregory was raised in a monastery and eventually entered the Narek Monastery, known as Narekavank in what is now Turkey, as a monk and lived there for nearly the entirety of his life.
At the time, Armenia was experiencing a literature, painting, architecture, and theological renaissance, in which Gregory participated.
As an Armenian monk, Gregory lived humbly and taught at the monastic school. He wrote his prayers in the encyclopedia of prayer for all nations in hopes the book would one day guide people of all stations around the world to prayer.
He was a leader of the well-developed school of Armenian mysticism at the Monastery and was asked to answer the question, "What can one offer to God, our creator, who already has everything and knows everything better than we could ever express it?"
In his Book of Prayer, also called the Book of Lamentations or the Song of Songs, Gregory wrote that the answer to the question is "the sighs of the heart." The book contains 91 prayers and was completed one year before he died.
Several miracles and traditions have been traced back to Gregory and he is known as "the watchful angel in human form."
Gregory of Narek was venerated as a saint by the Armenian Catholic Church and is also recognized as a saint of the Roman Catholic church. On April 12, 2015, Pope Francis officially proclaimed Gregory of Narek as a Doctor of the Church.
Saint Peter Damian | February 21
St. Peter Damian is one of those stern figures who seem specially raised up, like St. John Baptist, to recall men in a lax age from the error of their ways and to bring them back into the narrow path of virtue. He was born at Ravenna and, having lost his parents when very young, he was left in the charge of a brother in whose house he was treated more like a slave than a kinsman.
As soon as he was old enough he was sent to tend swine. Another brother, who was archpriest of Ravenna, took pity on the neglected lad and undertook to have him educated. Having found a father in this brother, Peter appears to have adopted from him the surname of Damian.
Damian sent the boy to school, first at Faenza and then at Parma. He proved an apt pupil and became in time a master and a professor of great ability. He had early begun to inure himself to fasting, watching and prayer, and wore a hairshirt under his clothes to arm himself against the alurements of pleasure and the wiles of the devil. Not only did he give away much in alms, but he was seldom without some poor persons at his table, and took pleasure in serving them with his own hands.
