Saint Juan Diego

Saint Juan Diego was an Indian who converted to Christianity back in the late 1400s. He had been converted by the Spaniards who had brought the Faith over from their country. When the Spaniards began to abuse the Indians, the Indians despaired because their treatment was contrary to their teachings. Juan Diego was saddened by the Spaniards' behavior, yet never lost his faith in God and remained humble and holy. As he was on his way to Mass one morning, he heard a sweet voice calling to him. When he followed the noise to where it was coming from, he saw standing before him the most beautiful Lady he had ever beheld. As we know, this was Our Lady coming to him, to tell him that he was to spread the message to the Indians that no matter what, She would always love them and care for them. Saint Juan Diego died in 1548.

Feast Day: December 9

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception

The Catholic Church teaches infallibly that the Blessed Virgin Mary was sinless and pure, right from the very moment of her conception.

Pope Pius IX said in 1854,

“The most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin.”

Mary was not sinless because of an absence of free will, rather, her will and intellect were so closely united that she only ever desired to please God, and thus never chose to sin.


Feast Day: December 8

Saint Sabas

Saint Sabas is regarded as one of the founders of Eastern monasticism. He was born in the year 439. At an early age he entered a monastery, and at 18 he desired to live the life of a hermit. He was considered too young, however. At age thirty, he was finally granted his request, and for five days a week, he would live in a cave alone, absorbed in prayer and work. Eventually, men came and joined him in his way of life. In his early 50s, Sabas became a priest. He died when he was in his early 90s.

Feast Day: December 5

Saint Francis Xavier

Saint Francis Xavier was an extremely intelligent philosopher who taught this subject in Paris in the early 1500s. At the age of 24, he met Saint Ignatius Loyola, who convinced him to join his Society of Jesus, later known as the Jesuits, in 1534. In 1537, Francis was ordained a priest and traveled from Venice to the East Indies, where he preached to numerous crowds about Our Lord and His love for us. He always stayed with the poorest of the poor, living as Christ did. Eventually Francis traveled to Japan, where he learned basic Japanese and preached to the simple. It is said of Francis that he baptized so many people that his hand became permanently bent in the position it would be in while baptizing. In 1552 he began to journey to China but died on the way.

Feast Day: December 3
Patron Saint of Japan and missionaries.

Blessed Rafal Chylinski

Blessed Rafal was born in Poland in the year 1694. He was so pious as a young child that his family called him the "little monk". Eventually he became a Conventual Franciscan in the year 1715. He was ordained a Priest two years later. He played the mandolin, harp and lute. Rafal died in 1741.

Feast Day: December 2

Saint Andrew the Apostle

"As [Jesus] was walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is now called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, ‘Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ At once they left their nets and followed him" ~ Matthew 4:18-20

Saint Andrew was the brother of Saint Peter, and as a disciple of John the Baptist, he was eventually told to follow Christ, as John's prophecy had now been fulfilled. After Christ's death, resurrection and ascension, Andrew went off to Greece and Turkey to preach the Good News to the world. He was martyred by being crucified on an X-shaped cross.


Feast Day: November 30
Patron Saint of fishermen.

Saint James of the Marche

Saint James was born in Italy in 1394. He was so holy and zealous that Saint Bernardine of Siena had to tell him to moderate his strict penances. He was ordained a Priest in the year 1420, and became such a great preacher that he converted over 250,000 people!
Saint James died in the year 1476.

Feast Day: November 28

Saint Francesco Antonio Fasani

Saint Francesco was a holy Franciscan Priest, born in 1681. He lived in Italy and excelled in holiness and wisdom. Many sought Francesco as their Priest for Confession and Mass. He died in 1742.

Feast Day: November 27

Saint Leonard of Port Maurice

Saint Leonard was born in the year 1676. Since his father was a sea captain and often away, he was taken care of by his uncle, and eventually went to study at the Roman College. He was extremely intelligent and seemed destined for a great future in medicine. However, this was not to be; the Holy Spirit had other plans and called Leonard to join the Friars Minor, despite the strong opposition of his uncle.
Leonard was ordained a priest, and shortly after, contracted tuberculosis. He was sent to his home town to be cared for. While there, Leonard promised Our Lord that if He would heal him, he would dedicate his entire life to the missions. Our Lord answered his prayer, and Leonard kept his promise, traveling around Italy for 40 years giving missions at various churches, especially during Lent. He was a very effective preacher and re-instituted important devotions around Italy, such as the Stations of the Cross.
Leonard died in 1751.

Feast Day: November 26
Patron Saint of those who preach Parish Missions.

Saint Catherine of Alexandria

Saint Catherine of Alexandria converted to Christianity at a young age. She converted others as well; at age 18, she astounded 50 pagan philosophers with her wisdom. They all became Christians and were eventually martyred for the Faith. (This goes to show that she not only convinced them of the Truth, but also made them so zealous for it that they were willing to be martyred!)
Eventually, Catherine herself was sentenced to death. She was to be killed on a spiked wheel, yet when she touched it, it crumbled to dust. She was then beheaded and went straight to her Beloved in Heaven.

Feast Day: November 25
Patroness of students, teachers, librarians and lawyers.
Catherine is invoked as one of the 14 Holy Helpers -- Saints who are invoked for very special needs.

Saint Andrew Dung-Lac and Companions

Between the years of 1820 and 1962, 117 men and women were martyred for the Faith in Vietnam. Saint Andrew Dung-Lac was one of these brave people. Due to political stances against Christianity, the emperor had hundreds unjustly tortured and killed. Andrew remained true to the Faith until he and his companions bravely faced execution for it.

Feast Day: November 24

Saint Cecilia

Saint Cecilia lived in the 3rd century. She was a consecrated virgin, yet forced into marriage to a pagan. However, Cecilia's great holiness led her husband and his brother to convert to Catholicism. Eventually, the three would be martyred for their faith. Cecilia suffered horribly in her last days; her murderer attempted to behead her, but ran off before finishing, leaving her lying on the ground for three days until she died. She spent these days in prayer, begging Our Lord for the forgiveness of her sins and those of her attacker.

Feast Day: November 22
Patroness of Musicians

The Presentation of Mary

From AmericanCatholic.org:
Mary’s presentation was celebrated in Jerusalem in the sixth century. A church was built there in honor of this mystery. The Eastern Church was more interested in the feast, but it does appear in the West in the 11th century. Although the feast at times disappeared from the calendar, in the 16th century it became a feast of the universal Church.
As with Mary’s birth, we read of Mary’s presentation in the temple only in apocryphal literature. In what is recognized as an unhistorical account, the Protoevangelium of James tells us that Anna and Joachim offered Mary to God in the Temple when she was three years old. This was to carry out a promise made to God when Anna was still childless.
Though it cannot be proven historically, Mary’s presentation has an important theological purpose. It continues the impact of the feasts of the Immaculate Conception and of the birth of Mary. It emphasizes that the holiness conferred on Mary from the beginning of her life on earth continued through her early childhood and beyond.

Saint Agnes of Assisi

Saint Agnes was the sister of Saint Clare of Assisi, the foundress of the Poor Clares. She was like her sister in holiness and devotion. Two weeks after Clare left home to join Saint Francis in his mission as a nun, Agnes followed and helped her sister to officially found the order. Eventually she became superior at a monastery in 1221, but missed Clare and her religious sisters very much. In 1253, she came back to Clare's monastery while her sister was dying, and passed away herself three months later.

Feast Day: November 19

Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne

Saint Rose lived in France during the French Revolution. At 19, she became a nun, though her parents were opposed to it. She was known for her strong will and intelligence. During the war, Rose's convent was closed. She then ministered in the streets and helped priests in the underground.
After the war, Rose opened the convent back up, but was joined by only four nuns. Together, they travelled to America with the intention of converting the Native Americans. When they arrived in St. Louis, the Bishop had not prepared a place for them. Instead he sent them to St. Charles, Missouri. It was a sad situation, but Rose remained faithful to her call.
When she was 72, Rose was finally permitted to minister in Sugar Creek, Kansas, along the Potawatomi. The Native Americans loved her and called her "Woman-Who-Prays-Always".
Rose died at the age of 83 in 1852.

Feast Day: November 18

Saint Giuseppe Moscati

Saint Giuseppe Moscati was born in Italy in 1880. After his beloved brother Alberto fell off of a horse and died from head trauma, Giuseppe became a doctor, and used his occupation to serve others with joy and patience. He was a revolutionary in the field of medicine, becoming the first doctor to experiment with insulin as a treatment for diabetes, after his mother died from it. He attended Mass every day and hung crucifixes all around his hospital to remind him Who he worked for. He died a peaceful death in 1927.

Feast Day: November 16

Patron Saint of physicians

Saint Leo the Great

All Souls Day

Today the Church remembers and prays for all of the souls in Purgatory, The Church Suffering. The Poor Souls in Purgatory are unable to pray for themselves, and so we must pray for them. Though we do not know the souls that we save through our prayers, they know us and forever remember us in Heaven, where they pray for us in return.

Saint Gertrude is invoked for the Poor Souls in Purgatory, and was given this prayer by Our Lord in a vision, which He told her would release 1000 souls from Purgatory each time it was said:

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.

Today is not a Holy Day of Obligation, however, it is always good to go to Mass and remember the Poor Souls in Purgatory.

All Saints Day

How awesome is it that this blog begins on All Saints Day?! I am very excited about this fact; it starts the whole thing off perfectly.

Today, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Saints in Heaven. We celebrate not only the well-known and popular Saints such as Mary, the Mother of God or Saint Michael the Archangel, but also the Saints who we do not know of, who made it to Heaven yet whose cause for canonization was never opened. It is incredibly awesome to know that there are thousands of holy souls praying constantly for our needs and petitions.

Today is a Holy Day of Obligation, which means we must go to Mass and receive Holy Communion.