This week we celebrated Mary, Jesus’s Mother, as Queen of Heaven and Earth. In the Jewish kingdom, a king’s mother was His queen, and just so Jesus—Who always honored His Mother on earth—now wishes us to honor her as queen. All tribute paid and prayers said to the saints and Mary are pleasing to Jesus, Who always taught His followers to pray for each other.
Our Lady of Knock (Aug. 21): in Ireland, in 1879, a vision of Our Lady, St. Joseph, and St. John the Apostle appeared shining with light in the air by a church in Knock. Mary was crowned and praying, Joseph faced Mary wearing white robes, and John was robed as a bishop preaching from an open book, beside an altar with a lamb, cross, and adoring angels. Miraculous healings occurred there after the vision. Also celebrated this week (Aug. 22) were the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Mary’s Queenship. Please read my previous articlefor more details on Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth, and as Loving Mother of both Christ and all Christians.
St. Batholomew the Apostle (Aug. 24) is the Nathaniel from the Gospels (Batholomew means “son of Tholomai”) who wondered that a prophet should come from Nazareth, but was called by Jesus an “Israelite…in whom there is no guile” (Jn. 1:47). Nathaniel testified (Jn. 1:49), “Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel.” Tradition says he preached in India and Greater Armenia, where he was martyred by being flayed, which is why he is often depicted holding his own skin.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux (Aug. 20), “born of noble Burgundian parents, was a monk of the Cistercian Order, a branch of the Benedictine Order. He became Abbot of the famous monastery of Clairvaux, which he himself had founded. The writings, sermons, and letters of this great Doctor rendered invaluable services to the Church. He also preached the second crusade, and died at Clairvaux in 1153.”1
St. Thaddeus (Aug. 21, Byzantine) “was one of the Seventy, not the same as the Jude Thaddeus who was one of the Twelve. He went to Edessa in Syria and preached the Gospel, there and throughout Syria and Phoenicia, and fell asleep in the Lord in Beirut [Ecpubs].” St. Titus (Aug. 25, Byzantine), “Bishop of Crete, was one of the most faithful disciples of St. Paul. The Apostle wrote to Titus a letter included in Holy Scripture. He died in 101.” St. Irenaeus of Lyons (Aug. 23, Byzantine), a Doctor and Father of the Church, was a disciple of St. John the Apostle’s disciple; he was a great theologian who fought the heresy of Gnosticism (martyred in 202).
Pope St. Pius X (Aug. 21) was born and raised poor but eventually became a bishop and then pope in 1903. He was famous for eschewing luxuries or worldly honors (as well as pernicious modern philosophies) even as pope, and his will said, “I was born poor, I have lived in poverty, and I wish to die poor.” He is most famous, however, for lowering the age at which children can receive Holy Communion. His papal motto was “To renew all things in Christ.” Ecpubs says, “He renewed the prayer of Christians and the chant of the western Church, and urged young children to approach the Lord’s table.”
King St. Louis IX (Aug. 25), from Catholicsaints.info: “Son of King Louis VIII and [the holy] Blanche of Castile. King of France and Count of Artois at age eleven; his mother ruled as regent until he reached 22, and then he reigned for 44 years. Louis made numerous judicial and legislative reforms, promoted Christianity in France, established religious foundations, aided mendicant orders, propagated synodal decrees of the Church, built leper hospitals, and collected relics. Married Marguerite of Provence at age 19, and was the father of eleven children. Supported Pope Innocent IV in war against Emperor Frederick II of Germany. Trinitarian tertiary. Led two Crusades and died on one.” Louis was also friendly with Sts. Bonaventure and Thomas Aquinas.
St. Louis’s Sainte-Chapelle
Samuel the Prophet (Aug. 20) is one of the most famous Old Testament sages, whose reply to God as a young boy is a good model for the rest of us to adopt; “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth” (1 Sam./1 Kings 3:10):
“Fifteenth and last of the Judges of Israel, he lived approximately eleven hundred years before Christ. Born in the tribe of Levi, son of Elkanah and Hannah, he was promised to the Lord by his till-then barren mother. At the age of twelve, Samuel had his first revelation from the Lord God. Samuel preached repentance to the children of Israel, and led the people to victory over the Philistines. Asked by the people to give them a king, he warned them that God was the only true king of Israel, but they insisted. It was Samuel who anointed Saul son of Kish as the first King of Israel, and David son of Jesse as its second and greatest ruler. He died in Ramah and was buried there.”
St. Rose of Lima (Aug. 23) was born 1586 in Lima, Peru, and grew up to be very beautiful. She turned her back on the world, however, to become a Dominican tertiary. She practiced severe penances and prayed almost constantly. Her holiness and charity made her greatly beloved in Lima. St. Genesius (Aug. 25) was an actor in Ancient Rome who mocked Christianity, before having a miraculous conversion while performing on stage, which led to his martyrdom (he is the patron saint of actors). St. Éoghan of Ardstraw (Aug. 23) was a 6th century Irish monastic who trained other saints, bishops, and priests. He founded monasteries and was a bishop. St. Philip Benizi (Aug. 22/23) was a cardinal and preacher who helped briefly reunite the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, worked to bring peace to Italy, and assisted in founding the Servite Third Order.
St. Abraham of Smolensk (Aug. 21) was born to a wealthy Russian family, but chose to become a monk and Biblical scholar. He was falsely accused by those jealous of his holiness and powerful preaching, but was eventually cleared of all charges. St. Joseph Calasanz (Aug. 25) was a well-educated Spanish priest who started free schools and the Clerks Regular of Religious Schools (Piarists); sadly, later in life, misunderstandings led to the suppression of his congregation. Bl. Miroslav Bulesic(Aug. 24) was a young Croatian priest and critic of Communism who survived WWII but was martyred by Communists.
“The holy martyr Bassa [Aug. 21] was the wife of a pagan priest, secretly Christian. She brought up her sons in the Faith as well. Her husband handed her over to the torturers with her sons. They were beheaded in the persecution of Maximian. (3rd century) [Ecpubs].” St. Jeanne Francesde Chantel (Aug. 21) was a “wife, mother, nun, and founder of a religious community.” Bl. Victoire Rasoamanarivo(Aug. 21) was born in 1848 to a prominent family in Madagascar. She was married young and stayed true to her Catholic faith despite pressure to become Protestant. “She spent six or seven hours daily in prayer and performed works of charity for the poor and abandoned, for prisoners, and for lepers.”
St. Zacchaeus (Aug. 20) was a despised publican when Jesus came to town, and Zacchaeus climbed a tree to see Christ. Having promised to restore his ill-gotten gains four-fold, Zacchaeus received the assurance of forgiveness from Jesus (see Luke 19). You can see the tree Zacchaeus climbed below, as it still stands in Jericho. St. Andrew Stratelates and soldiers (Aug. 19) were Roman warriors tortured and martyred in the third century. Sarah the Matriarch (Aug. 19), Old Testament wife of Abraham, gave birth to Isaac in her old age through the power of God.
Also this week were St. John Eudes (Aug. 19), a French priest, preacher, writer, and founder of religious orders; St. Jordan of Pisa (Aug. 19), a zealous Italian Dominican preacher; St. Tydfil (Aug. 23), a Welsh princess and martyr; St. Ebbe the Elder(Aug. 25), a Northumbrian princess and peacemaker who became an abbess; the Martyrs of Nagasaki (Aug. 19), a group of missionaries and lay Japanese martyred in 1622; and Bl. Teofilius Matulionis (Aug. 20), a Lithuanian archbishop imprisoned, persecuted, and exiled by the Soviets.
You can also read about Sebald, Pope Sixtus III, and Gregorio Martos Muñoz (Aug. 19); and Oswine of Deira, Philibert of Jumièges, Maria de Mattias, and Heliodorus of Persia and companions(Aug. 20); Wladyslaw Findysz (Aug. 21); Symphorian of Autun and John Kemble (Aug. 22); Lupo of Novi and Apollinaris of Rheims (Aug. 23); Emily de Vialar, Jarogniew Wojciechowski, Patrick the Elder, and Ptolemy of Nepi (Aug. 24); and Menas, Thomas of Hereford, Tomás Díaz y Díaz, and Miguel Carvalho (Aug. 25).
Have a blessed week!
From the Latin Mass missal.
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Author: Catherine Salgado
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