The vigil of the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul is the only one remaining of the Vigils of Apostles. By the thousands, Christian people have gone on pilgrimage to the tombs of Saints Peter and Paul. In the second and third centuries the Roman Church already stood pre-eminent by reason of her apostolicity, the infallible…
The two great Apostles, Peter and Paul, are the solid rock on which the Church is built. They are at the origin of her faith and will forever remain her protectors and her guides. To them Rome owes her true greatness, for it was under God’s providential guidance that they were led to make of…
Today’s feast is in some sense a repetition of yesterday’s. In the early Church, on June 29 in Rome two stations were held: one at St. Peter’s, the other at the basilica of St. Paul-Outside-the-Walls, at the tomb of each of the two Apostles. Subsequently, the “Commemoration of St. Paul” was transferred to the following…
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…
