The feast of the Precious Blood of our Lord was instituted by Pius IX in 1849. By reminding us of the scene of Calvary and of the blow from the lance which pierced our Savior’s side, the liturgy of this feast is at pains to emphasize the meaning and tremendous significance of this fact in…
The Angel Gabriel had announced to Mary that God would soon give a son to Elizabeth. The Virgin at once betook herself to Hebron where her cousin resided: that is the mystery of the Visitation. Mary visits Elizabeth and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, exclaims: “Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the…
St. Irenaeus was born in Asia Minor about the year 140. It is not known when he came to Gaul. He was a priest of the Church of Lyons during the persecution of 177 when St. Pothinus, first bishop of the city and the first martyr of Lyons, was put to death. Irenaeus succeeded him…
In 1900 in China several thousand Christians, victims of the Boxers’ hatred, bore witness to the Catholic faith by a glorious death. Among them 2,418 were put to death in the Vicariates forming the mission entrusted to the Friars Minor. The cause of their beatification was introduced in 1926. To facilitate the conduct of the…
St. Antony Mary Zaccaria was the founder of the Clerks Regular of St. Paul, later called the Barnabites from the name of their principle church in Rome. He also founded a congregation of nuns which no longer exists. He was a great admirer of St. Paul and was himself imbued with the teaching of the…
St. Maria Goretti is a modern martyr for purity and an excellent example for our youth today. In 1902, when not yet twelve years old, she defended her virginity against the evil intentions of an eighteen year old youth by telling him such actions would be a sin and displeasing to God. After receiving multiple…
Saints Cyril and Methodius were born at Salonica. Cyril was a philosopher of some note and a priest. Methodius was governor of a Slavonic colony in Macedonia when in 863 the Emperor of Constantinople sent them to the Moravians who were asking for the light of the Gospel. Both possessed the requisite preparation for successfully…
Daughter of Peter III of Aragon, St. Elizabeth of Portugal was named after her great-aunt, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, whose virtues had to undergo a series of heavy trials which she endured with heroism. On more than one occasion she went to considerable pains to bring about peace between her children and their father. After…
St. Veronica was born at Mercatello, in the duchy of Urbino in Italy in 1660. Few Saints have received such extraordinary favors from Our Lord, as this holy Abbess of the Poor Clares at Citta di Castello. She received the stigmata several times, her head showed the marks of the crown of thorns and she…
The seven brothers were the sons of St. Felicitas, a noble Christian widow in Rome. After the death of her husband she and her sons were such an edifying example of the practice of Christianity and charity that many idolators were moved to renounce the worship of their false gods, and to embrace the faith…
