Saints in the shrine of ermita metro manila by Julita Cuizon Villegas

THE SAINTS in the
SHRINE of ERMITA
METRO MANILA

Feastday: April 19
Patron of emergencies, expeditious solutions, against
procrastination, merchants, navigators, programmers, and hackers
revolutionaries
Death: 303
Expeditus was probably born in Armenia. He was a Christian
martyr, but not much else is known about him. Information
concerning Expeditus is found in the Hieronymian
Martyrology, where he appears as one of six Roman soldiers said
to have been executed at Melitene during the Diocletian
persecution.
If he stationed at Melitene at the beginning of the fourth century, he would likely have been a member of
the Legio XII Fulminata
The earliest indication of devotion to St Expeditus comes only from the second half of the eighteenth century. He
was mentioned briefly in 1675 in the Acta sanctorum volume for April. However, according to Delehaye, the
word "Expeditus" is a misreading of "Elpidius". The name "Expeditus" has provoked puns, so he has become the
saint of rapidity.
Saint Expeditus

At first, he was invoked for urgent causes; he has since become the
patron of dealers, sailors, students, and examinees; he is also
implored for success in lawsuits.
Given that "Expeditus" is Latin for a soldier without marching
pack, i.e. a soldier with light equipment, this saint may be an
anonymous individual known by his profession. His cult was
already developed in Turin, Italy, in the Middle Ages.
Roman Catholic veneration
Legends
According to tradition, Expeditus was
a Roman centurion in Armenia who became a Christian and was
beheaded during the Diocletian Persecution in AD 303. The day he
decided to become a Christian, the Devil took the form of
a crow (a snake in some versions of the legend) and told him to
defer his conversion until the next day. Expeditus stamped on the
bird and killed it, declaring, "I'll be a Christian today!"

The recipients assumed that the statuary or relics belonged to an
Expeditus, and so veneration began. Such an account is set in
France in 1781. A case containing the relics of a saint, who was
formerly buried in the Denfert-Rochereau catacombs of Paris, was
delivered at a convent in the city. The senders had
written expédit on the case, to ensure fast delivery of the remains.
The nuns assumed that "Expédit" was the name of a martyr, and
prayed for his intercession. When their prayers were answered,
veneration spread rapidly through France and on to other Roman
Catholic countries.

Another version of the story takes place in New Orleans,
Louisiana, which was strongly influenced by French
Catholic culture through the colonial period. This account
says that Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel (New
Orleans) received a large shipment of statues of various
saints, and that one case lacked an identifying label. It was
labeled "Expedite" (Expédit in French), so the residents
assumed that must be the saint's name. Expédit still
figures prominently in Louisiana Creole folklore and is
revered through amulets, flowers, candles, and
intercessory prayers.

Prayer of Saint Expedite
Saint Expedite, you lay in rest.
I come to you and ask this wish will be granted
“ Let my supporting documents be read by the consular officer, and may he
grant and expedite my US visa.
Saint Expedite now what I ask you.
Saint Expedite now what I want of you, this very second , don’t waste another
day .grant me what I ask for.
I know your power
I know you because of your work.
I know you can help me.
Do this for me and I will spread your name with love and honor so that it will
be invoked again and again.
Expedite this wish with speed, love ,honor and goodness.
Glory to you Saint Expedite.
AMEN.

Nuestra Señora de Guía
Our Lady of Guidance
Nuestra Señora de Guía
Patroness of Overseas Filipino Workers
The Nuestra Señora de Guía, also known as Our Lady of Guidance,
is a 16th-century image of the Blessed Virgin Mary depicted as
the Immaculate Conception and widely venerated by Filipinos. The
wooden Black Madonna is considered the oldest extant Marian statue in
the Philippines.
Locally venerated as patroness of navigators and travelers, the image is
enshrined at the Ermita Church in the city of Manila. Pope Paul
VI granted this image a canonical coronation on December 30, 1955.
Location Ermita, Manila, Philippines
Date 19 May 1571
Witness Unknown
Type Molave wood
Holy See approval Pope Paul VI
Shrine Our Lady of Guidance Archdiocesan Shrine
Patronage Navigators, travellers, seafarers
Attributes pandan leaves, open hands, marshal's baton,
dark skin, Chinese features

Description
Made of molave (Vitex cofassus) wood, the
statue stands about 50 centimetres (20 in) and
is characterized by dark skin, sinitic features,
and long brunette hair. She is dressed in both
a manto and a stylized tapis, the traditional
wraparound skirt of Filipino women. Among
her regalia are a sceptre, a parure of jewels
offered by Archbishop of Manila Rufino J.
Cardinal Santos in 1960, and a gold crown
bestowed by Pope Paul VI during his visit
to Manila Cathedral on 16 May 1971.

History
The image enshrined above the high altar of Ermita Church.
According to the Anales de la Catedral de Manila, the crew of Miguel López de Legazpi
discovered a group of natives in what is now Ermita along the eastern shores of Manila
Bay worshiping a statue of a female figure. There are a number of theories as to its origin,
it could either be an Animist-Tantrist Diwata which is a localization of the Hindu "Devata"
(देवता), an East Asian idol due to her Chinese features, a Marian icon imported from
nearby Portuguese Macau, or, due to its striking resemblance to the Santo Nino de Cebu,
may be a relic left by the Magellan expedition when it passed by the Philippines during
the first circumnavigation of the world. This sacred statue had managed to survive
Islamic Iconoclasm by the Sultanate of Brunei ( ‫نڬارا‬‫بروني‬‫دارالسالم‬ ), a state that had invaded
Manila. While its original purpose is debated, the image was later identified by
missionaries as that of the Virgin Mary. Local folklore meanwhile recounts the Spaniards
witnessing natives venerating the statue in a "pagan manner", by placing it on a trunk
surrounded by pandan plants.

The pandan plant itself is a common food ingredient in the Indianised cultures of South
and Southeast Asia. This is remembered in the placement of real or imitation pandan
leaves around the image's base as one of its iconic attributes.
On 19 May 1571, the local sovereigns Sulayman III and Rajah Matanda ceded Kota
Selurong (a client state of the Sultanate of Brunei) as well as the Kingdom of Tondo to
the Spanish Empire, with Miguel López de Legazpi, who had arrived from Mexico,
consecrating the city to both Saint Pudentiana and Our Lady of Guidance. In 1578, Phillip
II of Spain issued a royal decree invoking Our Lady of Guidance to be "sworn patroness"
of Manila. The statue was first enshrined in Manila Cathedral inside the citadel
of Intramuros until 1606, when the first shrine compound was built on the current site.
Called La Hermita ("the Hermitage") because of a Mexican hermit who lived in the area,
the shrine was originally made of bamboo, nipa, and molave wood. It was later rebuilt in
stone but suffered damaged in an earthquake in 1810.

During the Second World War, the statue was saved by the parish priest of Ermita Church,
Fr. Blas de Guernica, and a Justo N. López. They hid the statue in a niche of the church's
crypt a few weeks before the Allies liberated Manila in February 1945. After the battle, Fr.
Rogelio Bedonia, along with a chaplain and four soldiers of the United States Army, went
to the completely-ruined shrine, retrieved the icon, and brought it to a safer place. Until
the construction of a temporary chapel, the icon stayed in a private house on Taft Avenue,
in San Miguel de Mayumo and finally in Quiapo. The current shrine was built in 1947.[4]
A replica of the image was made to commemorate the quadricentennial of the icon's
finding. From May 1970 to 1971, the replica visited almost all parishes, chapels, hospitals,
schools, and other institutions in the Archdiocese of Manila. It is this replica that is
brought out for processions and public veneration on its feast day, with the original
remaining ensconced in its glass-covered alcove above the main altar.[5] The statue was
removed from the shrine and placed in the room of Pope John Paul II for the duration of
his 1995 Apostolic visit.

In December 2011, EWTN featured the statue as the "oldest Marian Icon in the Philippines" in the program,
"Mary: Mother of the Philippines". Father Patrick Peyton also once preached a sermon on the Family
Rosary Crusade in the presence of the image.
Papal associations
The image was canonically crowned on Rizal Day, 30 December 1955, by the Apostolic Nuncio to the
Philippines, Archbishop Egidio Vagnozzi.
The statue was removed from the shrine and placed in the room of Pope John Paul II for the duration of his
visit in early January 1995 for World Youth Day.
On 14 January 2015, the image was again removed from Ermita Church and translated to the Apostolic
Nunciature along Taft Avenue, where Pope Francis stayed during his visit to the Philippines and Sri Lanka.
The icon was later present at Quirino Grandstand for the Pope's open-air Mass on 18 January. It
accompanied a replica of the Santo Niño de Cebú, another widely generates, early Spanish colonial icon
whose feast was celebrated on that day.

Archdiocesan Shrine
The church was granted Archdiocesan Shrine status in 2005 under former
Archbishop of Manila Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales. The current parish priest
and rector is Rev. MonsignorMario David Enríquez, who was installed on 16
July 2015.
Patronage
Due to the church's proximity to the United States Embassy, the statue is
often visited by locals who petition the Virgin for safety in overseas travel.
Devotees claim that when invoked under this title, the Virgin’s intercession is
speedy and miraculous, particularly in securing approval of requests
for United States visas.
She is also considered the patron saint of all Overseas Filipino Workers.

The Heroically Ordinary Life
of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz
By nature of our vocations, Christ calls us fathers
and husbands to die, to a martyrdom of self. He
calls us to lay down our lives for our brides and
our families, dying to our selfish desires. St. Paul
could not be clearer on this point (see Ephesians
5:25-27). It is a metaphorical death, to be sure,
and one which leads to a new life with our
families.

Some men, however, go beyond mere manhood, beyond the natural
virtues we all strive to live out, as Christ calls us to live. These men,
these saints, not only give up their lives symbolically in marriage, as
all men do who exchange wedding vows, but also literally in their
deaths as martyrs for the Faith. There are few of these married martyr
saints, and each one of them gives the Church a shining example of
the call all of us have to holiness.
Of this elite band of brothers, St. Lorenzo Ruiz remains relatively
obscure, a saint better known in Catholic trivia circles than in spiritual
discussions. That is a shame, for we Christian men, especially
husbands and fathers, gain much from reflecting on this true man of
Christ and his life of love and service.

An Ordinary Life
St. Lorenzo was born around 1600 in the Binondo district of Manila to a
Catholic Chinese and Filipino couple. In a way, his early life was
strikingly similar to that of most cradle Catholic men. Lorenzo first
learned the Faith in the home, taught by his parents. He attended a
school run by Spanish Dominican friars, as well as serving as an altar boy
and a sacristan for the church in his district of Manila (which was largely
inhabited by Chinese emigrants and their families).

The Dominicans, for their part, taught Lorenzo Spanish, as well as how to
read and write. So good was his penmanship, that he eventually became a
professional calligrapher and a clerk. Inspired by the Dominicans, Lorenzo
joined the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary. Contemporaries noticed, in a
particular way, his honesty and trustworthiness, to the point that the
Dominican friars made him their unofficial messenger as well.
Lorenzo soon married a Filipino woman named Rosario, and with her had
three children. He continued to work as a clerk and as a translator for the
Spaniards, and their life remained normal. Lorenzo kept his close ties with
the Dominicans and helped them in ministering to the people in Manila,
especially those in the Binondo district. Life for Lorenzo was simple,
ordinary.

It was through this ordinary life of virtue that Lorenzo became an extraordinary
man. Ordinary men, when faced with persecution, seek safety, and rightly
so. We all have our responsibilities to family, to work, and to our own lives. Yet
God calls us on our mission in our ordinary lives, breaking into our
complacency, calling us out of our routine, comfortable lives, so that we might
serve Him fully.
With Extraordinary Virtue
For Lorenzo Ruiz, the catalyst that led to his eventual martyrdom was a false
accusation of murder.
The year 1636 opened no differently than the others in Lorenzo Ruiz’s nearly
forty-year long life. By the year’s end, however, the devout father and husband
would find himself a prisoner in a foreign, hostile land, undergoing tortures
that would break an ordinary man. Yet this man, who had lived such an
ordinary life thus far, had prepared by prayer and right living for such days,
weeks, and months of torture.

The ordeal began in June of 1636. The details of what transpired are
fuzzy. What historians know is that some Spaniards falsely accused
Lorenzo of murdering another Spaniard. Rather than face a hostile
show trial, Lorenzo turned to his friends and mentors, the Dominicans.
They struck an agreement, and Lorenzo was soon on a small ship
headed for Japan with a group of Dominican missionaries (whether he
knew they were going to Japan as missionaries seems a matter of
historical debate). They planned on landing in a favorable portion of
the country, as the harsh, anti-Western (and thereby anti-Catholic)
Tokugawa Shogunate ruled seventeenth century Japan. However, the
missionaries’ plans went horribly awry, and a storm put them on shore
near Okinawa, which the Shogunate ruled.

The Japanese arrested the missionaries and shipped them
to Nagasaki, over 700 miles away. There they imprisoned
Lorenzo and his companions. The missionaries defied the
shogun’s order to abandon the Catholic Faith and leave
Japan (the missionaries agreed to leave but not to
apostatize). As a result, Lorenzo and his companions
suffered unbelievable physical and psychological tortures
for over a year. Torturers crushed, stabbed, soaked,
pressed, and cut their bodies. Their torturers made it very
clear that if the Catholics abandoned their Faith, they
would earn their freedom.

To a man, despite moments of spiritual struggle, the companions
held fast to the Faith. Lorenzo in particular had a moment of
spiritual darkness, in which he nearly apostatized to escape the
torture. Then he became emboldened, and in his newfound courage,
he comforted his companions. He himself found comfort in the
rosary, praying as often as he could.
Then came the day of execution. The Japanese hung the
missionaries upside-down over a pit, adding weights to the prisoners
to add pressure, slowly pulling them downward. The prisoners’
heads were cut to allow blood collecting there to bleed out,
preventing the prisoners from losing consciousness and to prolong
their suffering. Lorenzo and another lay companion died that way;
the priests with them were beheaded a few days later.

Despite this horrific torture, Lorenzo and all of his companions remained
true to the Faith. At one point in this whole ordeal, whether while he was
being tortured or during the trial against him, Lorenzo declared his Catholic
Faith and devotion to God, saying, “Had I many thousands of lives I would
offer them all for him. Never shall I apostatize. You may kill me if that is what
you want. To die for God—such is my will.”
Living for our Death
St. Lorenzo Ruiz died as he lived: a servant of the Lord. Only the grace given
to him through his ordinary, daily life in Manila sustained him in his hour of
spiritual need. By dying a little bit each day, and by giving up his own
selfishness so that he might be a devoted husband and father, he prepared his
heart to accept God’s second vocation for him, that of a martyr. It was in
living the ordinary well that Lorenzo Ruiz found the pattern for following the
extraordinary virtues

The questions we must ask ourselves are: How are we living our ordinary
lives? Do we see God’s hand in the mundane, the boring, and the
typical? What is God calling me to do, or what sort of saint is he preparing
me to be? Have I given my life to Christ?
As Pope St. John Paul II explains, “Lorenzo Ruiz . . . reminds us that
everyone’s life and the whole of one’s life must be at Christ’s disposal.
Christianity means daily giving, in response to the gift of Christ who came
into the world so that all might have life and have it to the full.”
If we can answer the above questions honestly, then we are one step closer
to walking with St. Lorenzo and his companions in eternity and living
eternal life to the fullest.

PRAYER TO SAN LORENZO RUIZ de MANILA
Beloved SAN LORENZO RUIZ DE MANILA, confronted with death, you proclaimed your readiness
to die a thousand times for your Christian faith. Today the whole world admires your courage. We
feel particularly proud of you as our brother. And we pray: You, a family man, protect our families.
Keep them united in love. You, who bore your sufferings with patience and resignation, intercede for
the sick of mind and body; help them to receive the grace of God’s miraculous healing. You, who
died in a foreign country, take care of Filipinos living and working in this country and in other parts
of the world. You, an example of Christian fortitude, sustain our faith and make it spread and grow
strong all around us. You, the Philippines’ first saint, be the country’s special protector. Unite us as
one people; help us to work in harmony for development and progress; and give us peace. AMEN.
Touch the heart of consular officer in US embassy to read and consider my supporting documents
so that my visa will expedite. San Lorenzo Ruiz, pray for us.
PRAYER IN TIMES OF ADVERSITY
Beloved SAN LORENZO RUIZ DE MANILA

Pedro Calungsod
A 17-year-old Filipino catechist who was killed for his faith
Saint Pedro Calungsod (Latin: Petrus Calungsod, Spanish: Pedro
Calúñgsod or archaically Pedro Calonsor, Italian: Pietro Calungsod; July 21,
1654] – April 2, 1672), also known as Peter Calungsod and Pedro Calonsor,
was a Roman
Catholic Filipino migrant, sacristan and missionary catechist who, along with
the Spanish Jesuit missionary Diego Luis de San Vitores, suffered religious
persecution and martyrdom in Guam for their missionary work in 1672.
While in Guam, Calungsod preached Christianity to the Chamorro
people through catechism, while baptizing infants, children and adults at the
risk and expense of being persecuted and eventually murdered. Through
Calungsod and San Vitores' missionary efforts, many native
Chamorros converted to Roman Catholicism.
Calungsod was formally beatified on March 5, 2000, by Pope John Paul II.
Calungsod was officially canonized by Pope Benedict XVI at Saint Peter's
Basilica in Vatican City on October 21, 2012.

Calungsod bravely set out as a young missionary in Guam and converted many to Christianity.
Born in the Visayan Islands of the Philippines during the 17th century, Pedro
Calungsod eventually traveled to Guam, where his zeal for the Christian faith was
put to good use. He was willing to do anything to serve Christ and his Church, even
if it meant giving up his life.
Initially Calungsod volunteered to help the Jesuit missionaries there and to become
a catechist. It was a difficult life in Guam as the territory was not easy to navigate
and the native people were not always receptive to the word of God.
One day a Chinese immigrant began spreading rumors about the missionaries. He
claimed that the water used for baptism was poisonous. This was based on the
reality that many of the infants who were baptized were in danger of death. It
appeared to some of the people that every time a missionary baptized a baby, that
child would die.

These rumors created an intense persecution, but it didn’t
dissuade Calungsod and a priest he was assisting. They even offered
baptism to a child of a father who left the Christian faith and greatly
despised the missionaries. The child’s mother consented to the
baptism and when the child’s father learned what happened, he was
furious. He started throwing spears at Calungsod and the priest,
eventually killing both of them. It is believed that Calungsod could
have easily escaped, but decided to remain at the priest’s side.
They were seen as great martyrs for the faith and at Calungsod’s
beatification St. John Paul II praised his heroism, raising him up as
an example for all young people.

From his childhood, Pedro Calungsod declared himself
unwaveringly for Christ and responded generously to his call. Young
people today can draw encouragement and strength from the
example of Pedro, whose love of Jesus inspired him to devote his
teenage years to teaching the faith as a lay catechist. Leaving family
and friends behind, Pedro willingly accepted the challenge put to
him by Fr. Diego de San Vitores to join him on the Mission to the
Chamorros. In a spirit of faith, marked by strong Eucharistic and
Marian devotion, Pedro undertook the demanding work asked of
him and bravely faced the many obstacles and difficulties he met.

In the face of imminent danger, Pedro would not forsake Fr.
Diego, but as a “good soldier of Christ” preferred to die at the
missionary’s side. Today Bl. Pedro Calungsod intercedes for the
young, in particular those of his native Philippines, and he
challenges them. Young friends, do not hesitate to follow the
example of Pedro, who “pleased God and was loved by him” (Wis
4: 10) and who, having come to perfection in so short a time, lived
a full life (cf. ibid., v. 13).
Calungsod is recognized as the patron saint of Filipino youth and
a prime example of a catechist who was willing to risk it all to
bring the message of Jesus Christ to the world.

Prayer to Blessed Pedro Calungsod
Blessed Pedro Calungsod, young migrant, student, catechist, missionary,
faithful, friend, and martyr, you inspire us by your fidelity in time of trial
and adversity, by your courage in teaching the Faith in the midst of
hostility and by your love in shedding your life’s blood for the sake of
the Gospel of Jesus.
We beg you, make our cares and troubles.[Touch the heart and mind of
the consular officer to read and consider my supporting documents so
that I will be issued for a US visa immediately] and intercede for us
before the throne of Mercy and Grace, so that as we experience the help
of Heaven, we may be encouraged and strengthened to proclaim and live
the Gospel here on earth. AMEN.

Saint Jude the Apostle
Apostle and Martyr
Born First century B.C.E.
Died First century C.E. in Persia
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church, Eastern
Orthodox Church, Eastern Catholic
Churches, Coptic
Christians, Anglican Church
Major shrine Saint Peter's, Rome, Rheims,
Toulouse, France
Feast October 28, June 19
Attributes axe, club, boat, oar, medallion
Patronage Armenia, lost causes, desperate
situations, hospitals, St.
Petersburg, Florida, the Chicago
Police Department, Clube de
Regatas do Flamengo from Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil.

Saint Jude (1st century C.E.), also known as St. Judas or
Jude Thaddeus, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus,
who is sometimes confused with Jude, the brother of Jesus,
the probable author of the Epistle of Jude.
Jude the apostle is widely viewed as a saint by different
branches of Christianity. For example, the Armenian
Apostolic Church honours him along with Saint
Bartholomew. Correspondingly, Roman Catholics see him as
the patron saint of desperate cases and lost causes.
He should not be confused with Judas Iscariot, another apostle
and later the betrayer of Jesus. Their name is a Greek variant
of Judah and was common among Jews at the time.

Issue of Identity
There is some ambiguity regarding the precise identity of Saint Jude within
the New Testament because his details vary within the Synoptic Gospels:
 Mark and some manuscripts of Matthew identify him as "Thaddeus."
 Other manuscripts of Matthew name him as "Lebbaeus."
 Other manuscripts of Matthew name him as "Judas the Zealot."
 Luke names him as Judas, son of James, or in the King James Version:
"Judas the brother of James" (Luke 6:16).
Modern biblical scholars are nearly unanimous in claiming that Saint Jude and
Thaddeus did not represent the same person.Various scholars have proposed
alternate theories to explain the discrepancy: an unrecorded replacement of one
for the other during the ministry of Jesus to apostacy or death; the possibility that
"twelve" was a symbolic number and an estimation; and the obvious possibility that
the names were not recorded perfectly by the early church.

Some early Christian writers, by contrast, have argued that the
multiplicity of names for this apostle was an attempt to
distinguish this Apostle from Judas Iscariot:
"Even in the Gospels the evangelists were embarrassed to mention the name
of Judas. Their prejudice is quite apparent. In the one passage in which St
John spoke of Thaddeus, he hurried over the name, and was quick to add,
"Judas, not the Iscariot..." Even more striking is the fact that both Matthew and
Mark never mentioned the full name of this apostle, Jude Thaddeus, but merely
called him by his surname, Thaddeus. One can correctly assume that the
evangelists wanted to reestablish a good name for this apostle among his
companions and especially among the people. By using only his surname, they
could remove any stigma his name might have given him" —Otto Hophan, The
Apostle.

The name by which Luke calls the Apostle, "Jude of James" is
ambiguous as to the relationship of Jude to this James. Though such
a construction commonly denotes a relationship of father and son, it
has been traditionally interpreted as "Jude, brother of James"
(See King James Version).
The Gospel of John (John 14:22) also mentions a disciple called
Judas, who during the Last Supper asks Jesus: "Lord, how is it that
You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?" The passage
takes care to distinguish the disciple from the subsequent traitor by
the wording "Judas (not Iscariot)." Scholars are uncertain whether this
refers to Jude of James or not.

Almost universally accepted, however, is that this Jude is not
the same as Jude the brother of Jesus (Mark
6:3 and Matthew 13:55-57, but compare John 7:5) or the
author of the Epistle of Jude. Identifying the apostle Jude
with the writer of the epistle is problematical, not least
because in verse 17 there is a reference to "the apostles"
implying the writer does not include himself. Although the
name "Jude" was common in first-century Israel, tradition
has conflated the persons (as was the case for various
figures named Mary and John).

Since tradition also numbered a Thaddeus among the Seventy
Disciples mentioned in Luke 10:1-24, some scholars have
argued that another Thaddaeus was one of the Seventy.
However, the identification of the two names has been virtually
universal, leading to the name of Judas Thaddaeus. However,
Eusebius wrote, "Thomas, one of the twelve apostles, under
divine impulse sent Thaddeus, who was also numbered
among the seventy disciples of Christ, to Edessa, as a
preacher and evangelist of the teaching of Christ."

Symbol of his martyrdom
According to the Armenian tradition, Saint Jude suffered
martyrdom about 65 C.E. in Beirut, Lebanon together with
the apostle Simon the Zealot, with whom he is usually
connected. Their acts and martyrdom were recorded in
an Acts of Simon and Jude that was among the collection
of passions and legends traditionally associated with the
legendary Abdias, bishop of Babylon, and said to have
been translated into Latin by his disciple Tropaeus
Africanus, according to the Golden Legend account of the
saints. Saints Simon and Jude are venerated together in
the Roman Catholic Church on October 28.
Sometime after his death, Saint Jude's body was brought from Beirut, Lebanon to Rome and placed
in a crypt in St. Peter's Basilica which is visited by many devotees. According to popular tradition, the
remains of St. Jude were preserved in a monastery on an island in the northern part of Issyk-Kul lake
in Kyrgyzstan at least until mid-fifteenth century.

Iconography
St. Jude is traditionally depicted carrying the image of Jesus
in his hand or close to his chest, denoting the legend of
the Image of Edessa, recorded in apocryphal
correspondence between Jesus and Abgarus which is
reproduced in Eusebius' History Ecclesiastica, I, xiii.
According to it, King Abgar of Edessa (a city located in what
is now southeast Turkey) sent a letter to Jesus to cure him of
an illness that afflicts him, and sent the envoy Hannan, the
keeper of the archives, offering his own home city to Jesus as
a safe dwelling place.

The envoy either painted a likeness of Jesus, or Jesus,
impressed with Abgar's great faith, pressed his face into a
cloth and gave it to Hannan to take to Abgar with his answer.
Upon seeing Jesus' image, the king placed it with great
honor in one of his palatial houses. After Christ had
ascended to heaven, St. Jude was sent to King Abgar by the
Apostle St. Thomas. The king was cured and astonished. He
converted to Christianity along with most of the people under
his rule. Additionally, St. Jude is often depicted with a flame
above his head. This represents his presence at Pentecost,
when he received the Holy Spirit with the other apostles.

Subsequent Veneration
St. Jude Thaddeus is invoked in desperate situations because his New Testament letter
stresses that the faithful should persevere in the environment of harsh, difficult circumstances,
just as their forefathers had done before them. Therefore, he is the patron saint of desperate
cases. (The epithet is also commonly rendered as "patron saint of lost causes".)
Many Christians, especially in the past, reckoned him as Judas Iscariot and avoided prayers
on behalf of him. Therefore he was also called the "Forgotten Saint." The Order of Preachers
(the Dominicans) began working in present day Armenia soon after their founding in 1216.
There was a substantial devotion to St. Jude in this area at that time, by both Roman and
Orthodox Catholics. This lasted until persecution drove Christians from the area in the 1700s.
Devotion to Saint Jude began again in earnest in the 1800s, starting in Italy and Spain,
spreading to South America, and finally to the U.S. (starting in the area around Chicago) owing
to the influence of the Claretians and the Dominicans in the 1920s. Novena prayers to St. Jude
helped people, especially newly arrived immigrants from Europe, deal with the pressures
caused by the Great Depression, World War II, and the changing workplace and family life.

Saint Jude is the patron saint of the Chicago Police
Department and of Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (a
popular football (soccer) team in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). His
other patronages include desperate situations and hospitals.
One of his namesakes is St. Jude Children's Research
Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, which has helped many
children with terminal illnesses and their families since its
founding in 1962. His feast day is October 28 (Roman
Catholic Church and Lutheran Church) and June 19
(Eastern Orthodox Church).
To encourage devotion to St. Jude, it is common to
acknowledge in writing favors received. He is frequently
thanked in the personals column of many daily newspapers.

Novena To Saint Jude
Novena Prayer to St. Jude Thaddeus to be repeated once a day for nine days:
Most holy Apostle, SAINT JUDE THADDEUS, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, you bear name
of the traitor, who delivered the beloved Master into the hands of His enemies. Yet the Church
honors and invokes you universally as the patron of hopeless cases and things despaired. Pray
for me! Make use, I implore you, of that particular privilege accorded to you to bring visible and
speedy help where help is almost despaired. Come to my assistance in this great need that I may
receive the consolation and support of heaven in all my necessities, evils, and sufferings:
particularly…
My US Visa..please touch the heart of the consular officer to read and consider my
supporting documents so that my US visa will be issued.
… and that I may bless God with you and all the elect throughout eternity. I promise you, O
blessed SAINT JUDE, to be ever mindful of this great favor and I will never cease to honor you as
my special and powerful patron and to do all in my power to encourage devotion to you.
V. SAINT JUDE, Apostle of Hope:
R. Pray for us!

St. Therese of the Child Jesus
On October 1, Catholics around the world honor the life of
St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, or St. Thérèse of Lisieux on
her feast day. St. Thérèse was born January 2, 1873 in
Alençon, France to pious parents, both of whom are
scheduled to be canonized in October 2016. Her mother
died when she was four, leaving her father and elder
sisters to raise her.
On Christmas Day 1886 St. Thérèse had a profound
experience of intimate union with God, which she
described as a “complete conversion.” Almost a year later,
in a papal audience during a pilgrimage to Rome, in 1887,
she asked for and obtained permission from Pope Leo XIII
to enter the Carmelite Monastery at the young age of 15.

On entering, she devoted herself to living a life
of holiness, doing all things with love and
childlike trust in God. She struggled with life in
the convent, but decided to make an effort to
be charitable to all, especially those she didn’t
like. She performed little acts of charity
always, and little sacrifices not caring how
unimportant they seemed. These acts helped
her come to a deeper understanding of her
vocation.
She wrote in her autobiography that she had always dreamed of being
a missionary, an Apostle, a martyr – yet she was a nun in a quiet
cloister in France. How could she fulfill these longings?

Charity gave me the key to my vocation. I
understood that the Church had a Heart and
that this Heart was burning with love. I knew
that one love drove the members of the Church
to action, that if this love were extinguished,
the apostles would have proclaimed the Gospel
no longer, the martyrs would have shed their
blood no more.
I understood that Love comprised all vocations, that Love was
everything, that it embraced all times and places...in a word, that it was
eternal! Then in the excess of my delirious joy, I cried out: O Jesus, my
Love...my vocation, at last I have found it...My vocation is Love!”

Thérèse offered herself as a sacrificial victim to
the merciful Love of God on June 9, 1895, the
feast of the Most Holy Trinity and the following
year, on the night between Holy Thursday and
Good Friday, she noticed the first symptoms of
Tuberculosis, the illness which would lead to her
death.
Thérèse recognized in her illness the mysterious visitation of the divine
Spouse and welcomed the suffering as an answer to her offering the
previous year. She also began to undergo a terrible trial of faith which
lasted until her death a year and a half later. “Her last words, ‘My
God, I love you,’ are the seal of her life,” said Pope John Paul II.

Since her death, millions have been
inspired by her ‘little way’ of loving God
and neighbor. Many miracles have been
attributed to her intercession. She had
predicted during her earthly life that “My
Heaven will be spent doing good on
Earth.”
Saint Thérèse was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope John Paul II in 1997 - 100
years after her death at the age of 24. She is only the third woman to be so proclaimed,
after Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Teresa of Avila.
St. Thérèse wrote once, 'You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at
the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do
them."

Therese Martin was the last of nine children
born to Louis and Zelie Martin on January 2,
1873, in Alencon, France. However, only
five of these children lived to reach
adulthood. Precocious and sensitive,
Therese needed much attention. Her
mother died when she was 4 years old. As a
result, her father and sisters babied young
Therese. She had a spirit that wanted
everything.
SAINT THERESE OF LISIEUX

At the age of 14, on Christmas Eve in 1886,
Therese had a conversion that transformed her life.
From then on, her powerful energy and sensitive
spirit were turned toward love, instead of keeping
herself happy. At 15, she entered the Carmelite
convent in Lisieux to give her whole life to God. She
took the religious name Sister Therese of the Child
Jesus and the Holy Face. Living a hidden, simple
life of prayer, she was gifted with great intimacy with
God.
Through sickness and dark nights of doubt and fear, she remained faithful to
God, rooted in His merciful love. After a long struggle with tuberculosis, she
died on September 30, 1897, at the age of 24. Her last words were the story
of her life: "My God, I love You!"

The world came to know Therese through her
autobiography, "Story of a Soul". She described her
life as a "little way of spiritual childhood." She lived
each day with an unshakable confidence in God's
love. "What matters in life," she wrote, "is not great
deeds, but great love." Therese lived and taught a
spirituality of attending to everyone and everything
well and with love. She believed that just as a child
becomes enamored with what is before her, we
should also have a childlike focus and totally
attentive love. Therese's spirituality is of doing the
ordinary, with extraordinary love.

She loved flowers and saw herself as the
"little flower of Jesus," who gave glory to
God by just being her beautiful little self
among all the other flowers in God's garden.
Because of this beautiful analogy, the title
"little flower" remained with St. Therese.
Her inspiration and powerful presence from
heaven touched many people very quickly.
She was canonized by Pope Pius XI on May
17, 1925. Had she lived, she would have
been only 52 years old when she was
declared a Saint.

My mission - to make God loved - will begin after my death,"
she said. "I will spend my heaven doing good on earth. I will
let fall a shower of roses." Roses have been described and
experienced as Saint Therese's signature. Countless millions
have been touched by her intercession and imitate her "little
way." She has been acclaimed "the greatest saint of modern
times." In 1997, Pope John Paul II declared St. Therese a
Doctor of the Church - the only Doctor of his pontificate - in
tribute to the powerful way her spirituality has influenced
people all over the world.
The message of St. Therese is beautiful, inspiring, and simple.
Please visit the areas in this section of the Web site to learn
more about this wonderful Saint.

My Novena Rose Prayer
O Little Therese of the Child Jesus, please pick for me a rose
from the heavenly gardens and send it to me as a message of love.
O Little Flower of Jesus, ask God to grant the favors
I now place with confidence in your hands . .
(Touch the heart and mind of the consulate officer who handle my
case to read and consider the documents I sent so that they will
grant me my US visa.)
St. Therese, help me to always believe as you did in
God's great love for me, so that I might imitate your "Little Way"
each day.
Amen.

Saint Joseph
Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Legal father of Jesus
Prince and Patron of the Universal
Church
Venerated in All Christian denominations which venerate saints
Feast 19 March – Saint Joseph, Husband of Mary (Western Christianity)
1 May – Memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker (Catholic Church)
Joseph (Hebrew: ‫ף‬ ֵ‫,יֹוס‬ romanized: Yosef; Greek: Ἰωσ
ήφ, romanized: Ioséph) is a figure in the canonical
gospels who was married to Mary, Jesus' mother, and
was Jesus' legal father. In the Apocrypha, Joseph
was the father of James, Joses, Jude, Simon, and at
least two daughters. According to Epiphanius and the
apocryphal History of Joseph the Carpenter, these
children were from a marriage which predated the
one with Mary, a belief that is accepted by some
select Christian denominations. Perspectives on
Joseph as a historical figure are distinguished from a
theological reading of the Gospel texts.

Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic
Church, Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox
Church, Anglicanism and Lutheranism. In both Catholic
and Protestant traditions, Joseph is regarded as the patron
saint of workers and is associated with various feast
days. Pope Pius IX declared him to be both the patron and
the protector of the Catholic Church, in addition to his
patronages of the sick and of a happy death, due to the belief
that he died in the presence of Jesus and Mary. In popular
piety, Joseph is regarded as a model for fathers and has also
become patron of various dioceses and places.

Several venerated images of Saint Joseph
have been granted a canonical
coronation by a pope. In popular
religious iconography he is associated
with lilies or a spikenard. With the present-
day growth of Mariology, the theological
field of Josephology has also grown and
since the 1950s centers for studying it
have been formed.

Prayer to St.Josepf in a difficult problem
Oh glorious St. Joseph, thou who hast power to render possible even things
which are considered impossible, come to our aid in our present trouble and
distress. Take this important and difficult affair under thy particular protection,
that it may end happily. (Please help me that I can go with my husband in
US this coming June 18 for protection in both of us in the travel. Help the
speedy processing of my visa and it would be delivered in our place
immediately)
O dear St. Joseph, all our confidence is in thee. let it not be said that we would
invoke thee in vain; and since thou art so powerful with Jesus and Mary. show
that thy goodness equals thy power. Amen, St. Joseph, friend of the sacred
heart, pray for us.

Saint Michael the
Archangel
Saint Michael the Archangel is referenced
in the Old Testament and has been part of
Christian teachings since the earliest
times. In Catholic writings and traditions he
acts as the defender of the Church, and
chief opponent of Satan; and assists souls
at the hour of death.
A widely used "Prayer to Saint Michael"
was brought into official use by Pope Leo
XIII in 1886 and was recommended
by Pope John Paul Ii in 1994. The feast
day of the archangels Michael, Gabriel,
and Raphael is September 29.

In Roman Catholicism Saint Michael has four distinct roles.
First, he is the Enemy of Satan and the fallen angels. He
defeated Satan and ejected him from Paradise and will
achieve victory at the hour of the final battle with Satan.
St. Michael the Archangel, whose name means, “one who is
like God,” led the army of angels who cast Satan and the
rebellious angels into Hell; at the end of time, he will wield
the sword of justice to separate the righteous from the evil
(cf. Revelation 12:7ff).

The early Church Fathers recognized the importance of the angels and
archangels, particularly St. Michael. Theodoret of Cyr (393-466) in
his Interpretation of Daniel wrote, “We are taught that each one of us is
entrusted to the care of an individual angel to guard and protect us, and
to deliver us from the snares of evil demons. Archangels are entrusted
with the tasks of guarding nations, as the Blessed Moses taught, and
with those remarks the Blessed Daniel is in accord; for he himself
speaks of ‘the chief of the Kingdom of the Persians,’ and a little later of
‘the chief of the Greeks,’ while he calls Michael the chief of Israel.'” The
Church Fathers would also posit that St. Michael stood guard at the gate
of paradise after Adam and Eve had been banished, and he was the
angel through whom God published the Ten Commandments, who
blocked the passage of Balaam (Number 22:20ff), and who destroyed
the army of Sennacherib (2 Chronicles 32:21).

St. Basil and other Greek Fathers ranked St. Michael as the Prince of
all the Angels. With the rise of scholasticism and the exposition of the
“nine choirs of angels,” some said St. Michael was the prince of the
Seraphim, the first of the choirs. (However, St. Thomas Aquinas
assigned St. Michael as the prince of the last choir, the angels.)
St. Michael the Archangel has been invoked for protection on various
occasions. In 590, a great plague struck Rome. Pope St. Gregory the
Great led a procession through the streets as an act of penance,
seeking the forgiveness of and atoning for sin. At the tomb of Hadrian
(now Castle Sant’ Angelo near St. Peter’s Basilica), St. Michael
appeared and sheathed his sword, indicating the end of the
plague. The Holy Father later built a chapel at the top of the tomb and
to this day a large statue of St. Michael rests there.

Therefore, in our Catholic tradition, St. Michael has four duties: (1) To
continue to wage battle against Satan and the other fallen angels; (2)
to save the souls of the faithful from the power of Satan especially at
the hour of death; (3) to protect the People of God, both the Jews of
the Old Covenant and the Christians of the New Covenant; and (4)
finally to lead the souls of the departed from this life and present them
to our Lord for the particular judgment, and at the end of time, for the
final judgment. For these reasons, Christian iconography depicts St.
Michael as a knight-warrior, wearing battle armor, and wielding a
sword or spear, while standing triumphantly on a serpent or other
representation of Satan. Sometimes he is depicted holding the scales
of justice or the Book of Life, both symbols of the last judgment.

As Catholics, we have remembered through our liturgical rites the
important role of St. Michael in defending us against Satan and the
powers of evil. An ancient offertory chant in the Mass for the Dead
attested to these duties: “Lord, Jesus Christ, King of Glory, deliver the
souls of all the faithful departed from the pains of Hell and from the
deep pit; deliver them from the mouth of the lion that Hell may not
swallow them up and that they may not fall into darkness, but may the
standard-bearer Michael conduct them into the holy light, which thou
didst promise of old to Abraham and his seed. We offer to thee, Lord,
sacrifices and prayers; do thou receive them in behalf of those souls
whom we commemorate this day. Grant them, Lord, to pass from
death to that life which thou didst promise of old to Abraham and to his
seed.”

In the Tridentine Mass since the 1200s, St. Michael was invoked in the Confiteor,
along with the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. John the Baptizer, and Saints Peter and
Paul; the invocation of these saints inspired the faithful to remember the call to
holiness and the sinlessness of the Church Triumphant in Heaven.
For the greater part of the twentieth century, the faithful recited the prayer to St.
Michael at the end of the Mass. Pope Leo XIII (d. 1903) had a prophetic vision of
the coming century of sorrow and war. After celebrating Mass, the Holy Father
was conferring with his cardinals. Suddenly, he fell to the floor. The cardinals
immediately called for a doctor. No pulse was detected, and the Holy Father was
feared dead. Just as suddenly, Pope Leo awoke and said, “What a horrible
picture I was permitted to see!” In this vision, God gave Satan the choice of one
century in which to do his worst work against the Church. The devil chose the
twentieth century. So moved was the Holy Father from this vision that he
composed the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel:

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle! Be our protection against
the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we
humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power
of God, thrust into Hell Satan and all the other evil spirits who roam
about the world seeking the ruin of souls.” Pope Leo ordered this prayer
said at the conclusion of Mass in 1886. (When Pope Paul VI issued
the Novus Ordo of the Mass in 1968, the prayer to St. Michael and the
reading of the “last gospel” at the end of the Mass were suppressed.)
Finally, St. Michael figures prominently in the Rite of Exorcism,
particularly in the case of diabolical infestation of places. Here the priest
prays: “Most glorious Prince of the heavenly Army, Holy Michael the
Archangel, defend us in battle against the princes and powers and
rulers of darkness in this world, against the spiritual iniquities of those
former angels.

Come to the help of man whom God made in his own image and
whom he bought from the tyranny of Satan at a great price. The
Church venerates you as her custodian and patron. The Lord
confided to your care all the souls of those redeemed, so that you
would lead them to happiness in Heaven. Pray to the God of peace
that he crush Satan under our feet; so that Satan no longer be able to
hold men captive and thus injure the Church. Offer our prayers to the
Most High God, so that His mercies be given us soon. Make captive
that Animal, that Ancient serpent, which is enemy and Evil Spirit, and
reduce it to everlasting nothingness, so that it no longer seduce the
nations.”

In the Spring of 1994, our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, urged the
faithful to offer the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel. He also made
the strong suggestion that the recitation of the prayer be instituted at
Mass once again. (Note that the Holy Father did not mandate the
recitation of the prayer at Mass.) Clearly, the Holy Father was
responding to the grave evils we see present in our world– the sins of
abortion, euthanasia, terrorism, genocide, and the like. Satan and the
other fallen angels are doing their best to lead souls to Hell. We need
the help of St. Michael! For this reason, many parishes have erected
a shrine in St. Michael’s honor or offer the prayer in his honor at the
conclusion of Mass.

The Story of St. Peregrine
The Rebel Who Became a Saint
Peregrine Laziosi (1265-1345) was
born in Forli, Italy, the only son of well-
to-do parents. In his teens he joined
the enemies of the Pope in his
hometown and soon became a
ringleader of rebels.
Pope Martin IV had placed Forli under
a spiritual interdict which closed
churches in the city, hoping to bring its
citizens to their senses. That failing, he
sent Philip Benizi, of the Order of
Servites (Servants of Mary), as his
personal ambassador to try to bring
peace to the angry rebels.

The Servites gave him a warm welcome. He was clothed ceremoniously in the
religious habit by Philip Benizi himself. One of Peregrine’s slogans as a Servite may
well have been: “Better today than yesterday, better tomorrow than today!” Daily he
sought to become a more fervent religious man. To atone for past misdeeds he
treated himself harshly and worked hard for the poor and afflicted.
People took to calling him the “Angel of Good Counsel,” so grateful were they for his
wise advice so freely given.
After being ordained a priest he went to Forli to found a Servite monastery. A few
years later a cancerous growth appeared on his right foot. It was so painful that he
finally agreed with the surgeon who wanted to amputate.
The night before the scheduled surgery, Peregrine spent hours in prayer. Then he
dozed off and dreamt that Christ was touching him and healing his foot. The thrill of it
woke him up. In the dim moonlight he saw that his foot, carefully bandaged a few
hours earlier was completely healed.

The Forlineses appreciated him still more after learning of
the miraculous cure. When they were sick they appealed to
his prayers. Some were cured when he whispered “Jesus”
into their ears. The Church has since appointed him patron
of persons with cancer, foot ailments, or any incurable
disease.
Peregrine died on May 1st, 1345 and was ranked with the
saints in 1726. Thousands of clients pay him special honor
on May 1st each year.

St. Philomena Saint Philomena was a young consecrated virgin whose
remains were discovered on May 24/25 1802 in
the Catacomb of Priscilla. Three tiles enclosing the tomb
bore an inscription, Pax Tecum Filumena (i.e. "Peace be
unto you, Philomena"), that was taken to indicate that her
name (in the Latin of the inscription) was Filumena, the
English form of which is Philomena. Philomena is the patron
saint of infants, babies, and youth.
The remains were translated (moved) to Mugnano del
Cardinale in 1805. There, they became the focus of
widespread devotion; several miracles were credited to the
saint's intercession, including the healing
of Venerable Pauline Jaricot in 1835, which received wide
publicity. Saint John Vianney attributed to her intercession
the extraordinary cures that others attributed to himself.

In 1833, a Neapolitan nun reported that Philomena had appeared in
a vision to her, and the Saint had revealed that she was
a Greekprincess, martyred at 13 years of age by Diocletian, who
was Roman Emperor from 284 to 305.
From 1837 to 1961, celebration of her liturgical feast was approved
for some places, but was never included in the General Roman
Calendar for universal use. The 1920 typical edition of the Roman
Missal included a mention of her, under August 11, in the section
headed Missae pro aliquibus locis ("Masses for some places"), with
an indication that the Mass to be used in those places was one from
the common of a virgin martyr, without any collect proper to the saint

Dearest St. Philomena, your prayers are powerful because you
are so close to Our Lord. Your child-like faith and devotion are an
inspiration to all of the faithful. Many miracles have occurred as
result of your intercession. In your closeness to Our Lord, please
up these my intentions in prayer… (Success in my going to US
my husband through speeding up my visa ) St. Philomena, at
young age, you gave everything to Jesus to be come a consecrated
virgin for the Kingdom. Giving even more, you gave your live as
suffered a martyr’s death to preserve your gift to our Lord. Pray
me, that I might have the same faith and willingness to accept
will no matter the cost. Amen.

Anthony of Padua
Saint Anthony of Padua (Portuguese: Santo António
de Pádua), born Fernando Martins de Bulhões (15
August 1195 – 13 June 1231)[1] - also known as Saint
Anthony of Lisbon (Portuguese: Santo António de
Lisboa) - was a Portuguese Catholic priest and friarof
the Franciscan Order. He was born and raised by a
wealthy family in Lisbon, Portugal, and died
in Padua, Italy. Noted by his contemporaries for his
powerful preaching, expert knowledge of scripture,
and undying love and devotion to the poor and the
sick, he was one of the most quickly canonized saints
in church history. He was proclaimed a Doctor of the
Church on 16 January 1946. He is also the patron
saint of lost things.

Early years
Fernando Martins de Bulhões was born in Lisbon, Portugal. While 15th-
century writers state that his parents were Vicente Martins and Teresa
Pais Taveira, and that his father was the brother of Pedro Martins de
Bulhões, the ancestor of the Bulhão or Bulhões family, Niccolò Dal-Gal
views this as less certain. His wealthy and noble family arranged for him
to be instructed at the local cathedral school. At the age of 15, he
entered the community of Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy
Cross at the Augustinian Abbey of Saint Vincent on the outskirts of
Lisbon.
In 1212, distracted by frequent visits from family and friends, he asked to
be transferred to the motherhouse of the congregation, the Monastery of
the Holy Cross in Coimbra, then the capital of Portugal. There, the young
Fernando studied theology and Latin.

Joining the Franciscans
In Alvise Vivarini's painting, Anthony is distinguished from the other saints by his
attributes, the book and the white lily stalk.
After his ordination to the priesthood, Fernando was named guest master and placed
in charge of hospitality for the abbey. While he was in Coimbra, some Franciscan
friars arrived and settled at a small hermitage outside Coimbra dedicated to
Saint Anthony of Egypt. Fernando was strongly attracted to the
simple, evangelical lifestyle of the friars, whose order had been founded only 11
years prior. News arrived that five Franciscans had been beheaded in Morocco, the
first of their order to be killed. King Afonso ransomed their bodies to be returned and
buried as martyrs in the Abbey of Santa Cruz. Inspired by their example, Fernando
obtained permission from church authorities to leave the Canons Regular to join the
new Franciscan order. Upon his admission to the life of the friars, he joined the
small hermitage in Olivais, adopting the name Anthony (from the name of the chapel
located there, dedicated to Saint Anthony the Great), by which he was to be known.

Anthony then set out for Morocco, in fulfillment of his
new vocation. However, he fell seriously ill in
Morocco and set sail back for Portugal in hope of
regaining his health. On the return voyage, the ship
was blown off course and landed in Sicily.[5]
From Sicily, he made his way to Tuscany, where he
was assigned to a convent of the order, but he met
with difficulty on account of his sickly appearance. He
was finally assigned to the rural hermitage of San
Paolo near Forlì, Romagna, a choice made after
considering his poor health. There, he had recourse
to a cell one of the friars had made in a nearby cave,
spending time in private prayer and study.

Preaching and teaching
Saint Anthony of Padua Holding Baby
Jesus by Strozzi, c. 1625; the white lily
represents purity.
One day in 1222, in the town of Forlì, on the occasion of an
ordination, a number of visiting Dominican friars were present,
and some misunderstanding arose over who should preach.
The Franciscans naturally expected that one of the
Dominicans would occupy the pulpit, for they were renowned
for their preaching; the Dominicans, though, had come
unprepared, thinking that a Franciscan would be the homilist.
In this quandary, the head of the hermitage, who had no one
among his own humble friars suitable for the occasion, called
upon Anthony, whom he suspected was most qualified, and
entreated him to speak whatever the Holy Spirit should put
into his mouth.Anthony objected, but was overruled, and his
sermon created a deep impression. Not only his rich voice
and arresting manner, but also the entire theme and
substance of his discourse and his moving eloquence, held
the attention of his hearers. Everyone was impressed with his
knowledge of scripture, acquired during his years as an
Augustinian friar.

At that point, Anthony was sent by Brother
Gratian, the local minister provincial, to the
Franciscan province of Romagna, based
in Bologna.[5] He soon came to the attention of
the founder of the order, Francis of Assisi.
Francis had held a strong distrust of the place of
theological studies in the life of his brotherhood,
fearing that it might lead to an abandonment of
their commitment to a life of real poverty. In
Anthony, however, he found a kindred spirit for
his vision, who was also able to provide the
teaching needed by young members of the
order who might seek ordination. In 1224, he
entrusted the pursuit of studies for any of his
friars to the care of Anthony.
St Anthony holding Baby Jesus

The reason St. Anthony's help is invoked for finding
things lost or stolen is traced to an incident that
occurred in Bologna. According to the story,
Anthony had a book of psalms that was of some
importance to him, as it contained the notes and
comments he had made to use in teaching his
students.
A novice who had decided to leave took the psalter with him. Prior to the
invention of the printing press, any book was an item of value. Upon
noticing it was missing, Anthony prayed it would be found or returned.
The thief was moved to restore the book to Anthony and return to the
order. The stolen book is said to be preserved in the Franciscan friary in
Bologna.

Occasionally, he took another post, as a teacher,
for instance, at the universities
of Montpellier and Toulouse in southern France,
but as a preacher Anthony revealed his supreme
gift. According to historian Sophronius Clasen,
Anthony preached the grandeur of
Christianity.[6] His method included allegory and
symbolical explanation of Scripture. In 1226,
after attending the general chapter of his order
held at Arles, France, and spreading the word of
the lord in the French region of Provence,
Anthony returned to Italy and was appointed
provincial superior of northern Italy. He chose
the city of Padua as his location.

Occasionally, he took another post, as a teacher, for instance,
at the universities of Montpellier and Toulouse in southern
France, but as a preacher Anthony revealed his supreme gift.
According to historian Sophronius Clasen, Anthony preached
the grandeur of Christianity. His method included allegory and
symbolical explanation of Scripture. In 1226, after attending
the general chapter of his order held at Arles, France, and
spreading the word of the lord in the French region
of Provence, Anthony returned to Italy and was appointed
provincial superior of northern Italy. He chose the city of
Padua as his location.

In 1228, he served as envoy from the general chapter to Pope Gregory IX. At the papal court,
his preaching was hailed as a "jewel case of the Bible" and he was commissioned to produce
his collection of sermons, Sermons for Feast Days (Sermones in Festivitates). Gregory IX
himself described him as the "Ark of the Testament“ (Doctor Arca testamenti).
Anthony became sick with ergotism in 1231, and went to the woodland retreat
at Camposampiero with two other friars for a respite. There, he lived in a cell built for
him under the branches of a walnut tree. Anthony died on the way back to Padua on
13 June 1231 at the Poor Clare monastery at Arcella (now part of Padua), aged 35.
According to the request of Anthony, he was buried in the small church of Santa
Maria Mater Domini, probably dating from the late 12th century and near a convent
which had been founded by him in 1229. Nevertheless, due to his increased
notability, construction of a large basilica began around 1232, although it was not
completed until 1301. The smaller church was incorporated into structure as the
Cappella della Madonna Mora (Chapel of the Dark Madonna). The basilica is
commonly known today as "Il Santo".

Various legends surround the death of Anthony. One holds that when
he died, the children cried in the streets and that all the bells of the
churches rang of their own accord. Another legend regards his
tongue. Anthony is buried in a chapel within the large basilica built to
honor him, where his tongue is displayed for veneration in a
large reliquary along with his jaw and his vocal cords. When his body
was exhumed 30 years after his death, it was found turned to dust, but
the tongue was claimed to have glistened and looked as if it were still
alive and moist; apparently a further claim was made that this was a
sign of his gift of preaching.[9] On 1 January 1981, Pope Saint John
Paul II authorized a scientific team to study the saint's remains and
the tomb was opened on 6 January

Saint and Doctor of the Church
St Anthony of Padua and St Francis
of Assisi by Friedrich Pacher
Anthony was canonized by Pope
Gregory IX on 30 May 1232,
at Spoleto, Italy, less than one year
after his death.
"The richness of spiritual teaching
contained in the Sermons was so
great that in [16 January]
1946 Venerable Pope Pius
XII proclaimed Anthony a Doctor of
the Church, attributing to him the
title Doctor Evangelicus ["Evangelical
Doctor"], since the freshness and
beauty of the Gospel emerge from
these writings

Blessed
Fr. Charles de Foucauld
O.C.S.O. (Martyr)
Born 15 September 1858
Strasbourg, French Empire
Died: 1 December 1916 (aged 58)
Tamanrasset, French Algeria
Beatified: 13 November 2005 by Pope Benedict XVI
Feast: December 1
Charles Eugène de Foucauld, Viscount of Foucauld,
born on September 15, 1858 in Strasbourg (France), died
on December 1, 1916 in Tamanrasset (Algeria), was
a cavalry officer in the French army, then
an explorer and geographer, and finally
a Catholic priest, hermit who lived amongst the Tuareg in
the Sahara in Algeria. He was assassinated in 1916 and
is considered by the Catholic Church to be a martyr. His
inspiration and writings led to the founding of the Little
Brothers of Jesus among other religious congregations.
He was beatified on 13 November 2005 by Pope
Benedict XVI.

Orphaned at the age of six, Charles de Foucauld was brought
up by his maternal grandfather, colonel Beaudet de Morlet. He
joined the Saint-Cyr Military Academy. Upon leaving the
Academy he opted to join the cavalry. He thus went to
the Saumur Cavalry School where he was known for his
childish sense of humour, whilst living a life of debauchery
thanks to an inheritance he received after his grandfather's
death. He was assigned to a regiment. At the age of twenty-
three, he decided to resign in order to explore Morocco by
impersonating a Jew. The quality of his works earned him a
gold medal from the Société de géographie, as well as great
fame following publication of his book "Reconnaissance au
Maroc" (1888).

Once back in France, he rekindled his catholic faith and joined
the cistercian trappist order on January 16, 1890. Still with the
Trappists, he then went to Syria. His quest of an even more
radical ideal of poverty, altruism, and penitence, lead him to
leave the Trappists in order to become a hermit in 1887. He was
then living in Palestine, writing his meditations that became the
cornerstone of his spirituality.
Ordained in Viviers in 1901,[1] he decided to settle in the
Algerian Sahara at Béni Abbès. His ambition was to form a
new congregation, but nobody joined him. He lived with
the Berbers, adopting a new apostolic approach, preaching not
through sermons, but through his example. In order to be more
familiar with the Tuareg, he studied their culture for over twelve
years, using a pseudonym to publish the first Tuareg-
French dictionary. Charles de Foucauld's works are a reference
point for the understanding of Tuareg culture.
Drawing of St.Charkes Eugene de Foucald

On December 1st 1916, Charles de Foucauld was assassinated at
his hermitage. He was quickly considered to be a martyr and was
the object of veneration following the success of the biography
written by René Bazin (1921). New religious congregations, spiritual
families, and a renewal of hermeticism are inspired by Charles de
Foucauld's life and writings.
His beatification process started only eleven years after his death, in
1927. It was interrupted during the Algerian War, resumed later, and
Charles de Foucauld was declared Venerable on April
24th 2001 by Pope John Paul II, then Blessed on November
13th 2005 by Pope Benedict XVI.

Hermitage of Charles Foucauld, built in
1911, on the Assekrem (2780 m).
De Foucauld's family was originally from
the Périgord region of France and part of the old French
nobility; their motto being "Jamais arrière". Several of his
ancestors took part in the crusades, source of great
prestige within the French nobility. His great-great-uncle,
Armand de Foucauld de Pontbriand, a vicar and first
cousin of the archbishop of Arles, Monseigneur Jean
Marie du Lau d'Allemans, as well as the archbishop
himself, were victims of the September Massacres that
took place during the French Revolution. His mother,
Élisabeth de Morlet, was from the Lorraine aristocracy
whilst his grandfather had made a fortune during the
revolution as a republican. Élisabeth de Morlet married
the viscount Édouard de Foucauld de Pontbriand, fôrest
inspector, in 1885. On July 17th 1857, their first child,
named Charles is born, and dies one month later

Their second son, whom they name
Charles Eugène, was born
in Strasbourg on September 15,
1858, in the family house at what
was previously mayor Dietrich's
mansion, where La Marseillaise was
sung for the first time, in 1792. The
child was baptised at the Saint-
Pierre-le-Jeune Church (though
currently a Protestant church, both
faiths coexisted there until 1898) on
November 4 of the same year.

A few months after his birth, his father was transferred
to Wissembourg. In 1861, Charles was three and a half
years old when his sister, Marie-Inès-Rodolphine, was
born. His profoundly religious mother educated him
in catholic faith, steeped in acts of devotion and piety. She
died following misscarriage on March 13, 1864, followed
by her husband who suffered from neurasthenia, on
August 9. The now orphaned Charles (age 6) and his
sister Marie (age 3) were put in the care of their paternal
grandmother, viscountessClothilde de Foucauld, who died
of a heart attack shortly afterwards. The children were
then taken in by their maternal
grandparents, colonel Beaudet de Morlet and his wife,
who lived in Strasbourg

The colonel Beaudet de Morlet, alumni
of the École Polytechnique and
engineering officer, provided his
grandchildren with a very affectionnate
upbringing. Charles shall write of
him : "My grandfather whose beautiful
intelligence I admired, whose infinite
tenderness surrounded my childhood
and youth with an atmosphere of love,
the warmth of which I still feel
emotionally".
Charles pursued his studies at the Saint-Arbogast episcopal school, and went
to Strasbourg high school in 1868. At the time an introvert and short-
tempered, he was often ill and pursued his education thanks to private tuition.

He spent the summer of 1868 with his aunt, Inès Moitessier, who felt responsible for
her nephew. Her daughter, Marie Moitessier (later Marie de Bondy), eight years
younger than Charles became fast friends with him. She was a fervent church-goer
who was very close to Charles, sometimes acting as a maternal figure for him.
In 1870 the de Morlet family fled the Franco-Prussian War and found refuge in Bern.
Following the French defeat, the family moved to Nancy in October 1871. Charles
had four years of secular highschool left.[5] Jules Duvaux was a teacher of his, and
he bonded with fellow student Gabriel Tourdes.[5] Both students had a passion for
classical literature, and Gabriel remained, according to Charles, one of the "two
incomparable friends" of his life. His education in a secular school developed
nurtured patriotic sentiment, alongside a mistrust for the German Empire. His first
communion took place on April 28th 1872, and his confirmation at the hands of
Monseigneur Joseph-Alfred Foulon in Nancy follows shortly thereafter

In October 1873, whilst in a Rhetoric class, he began to distance
himself from the faith before becoming agnostic.He later
affirmed : "The philosophers are all in discord. I spent twelve years not
denying and believing nothing, despairing of the truth, not even
believing in God. No proof to me seemed evident". This loss of the
faith was accompanied by uneasiness : Charles found himself to
be "all selfishness, all impiousness, all evil desire, I was as though
distraught".
On April 11, 1874, his cousin Marie married Olivier de Bondy.A few
months later, on August 12, 1874, Charles obtained
his baccalauréat with the distinction "mention bien" (équivalent
to Magna cum Laude).

A dissipated youth
Charles was sent to the Sainte-Geneviève school (now located
in Versailles), run by the Jesuites, at that time located in the Latin
Quarter, Paris, in order to prepare the admission test for the Saint-Cyr
Military Academy.Charles was opposed to the strictness of the
boarding school and decided to abandon all religious practice. He
obtained his second baccalauréat in August 1875. He led a dissipated
lifestyle at that point in time and was expelled from the school for
being "lazy and undisciplined" in March 1876.
He then returned to Nancy, where he studied tutoring whilst secretly
perusing light readings. During his readings with Gabriel Tourdes, he
wanted to "completely enjoy that which is pleasant to the mind and
body". This reading Bulimia brought the two students to the works
of Aristotle, Voltaire, Erasmus, Rabelais and Laurence Sterne.

In June 1876, he signs up for Saint-Cyr Military Academy, and was
accepted eighty-second out of four hundred and twelve. He was one of
the youngest in his class. His grandfather emancipated him ; at 18
years old, he came of age and could now have a greater inheritance.
Life as a clergyman
In 1890, de Foucauld joined the Cistercian Trappist order first in
France and then at Akbès on the Syrian-Turkish border. He left in 1897
to follow an undefined religious vocation in Nazareth. He began to lead
a solitary life of prayer near a convent of Poor Clares and it was
suggested to him that he be ordained. In 1901, he was ordained
in Viviers, France, and returned to the Sahara in French Algeria and
lived a virtually eremitical life. He first settled in Béni Abbès, near
the Moroccan border, building a small hermitage for "adoration and
hospitality", which he soon referred to as the "Fraternity".

He moved to be with the Tuareg people, in Tamanghasset in
southern Algeria. This region is the central part of the Sahara
with the Ahaggar Mountains (the Hoggar) immediately to the
west. Foucauld used the highest point in the region,
the Assekrem, as a place of retreat. Living close to the Tuareg
and sharing their life and hardships, he made a ten-year study
of their language and cultural traditions. He learned the Tuareg
language and worked on a dictionary and grammar. His
dictionary manuscript was published posthumously in four
volumes and has become known among Berberologists for its
rich and apt descriptions. He formulated the idea of founding a
new religious institute, under the name of the Little Brothers of
Jesus.

Death
On 1 December 1916, de Foucauld was dragged from his fortress
by a group of tribal raiders led by El Madani ag Soba, who was
connected with the Senussi Bedouin. They intended to kidnap de
Foucauld. However the tribesmen were disturbed by
two Méharistes of the French Camel Corps. One startled bandit
(15-year-old Sermi ag Thora) shot de Foucauld through the head,
killing him instantly. The Méharistes were also shot dead. The
murder was witnessed by sacristan and servant Paul Embarek, an
African Arab former slave liberated and instructed by de Foucauld.[
The French authorities continued for years searching for the
bandits involved. In 1943 El Madani fled French forces in Libya to
the remote South Fezzan. Sermi ag Thora was apprehended and
executed at Djanet in 1944.
De Foucauld was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on 13 November
2005, and is listed as a martyr in the liturgy of the Catholic Church.
French Government Stamp of Charles de Foucauld issued in
1959

Charles de Foucauld inspired and helped to organize
a confraternity within France in support of his idea. This organisation,
the Association of the Brothers and Sisters of the Sacred Heart of
Jesus, consisted of 48 lay and ordained members at the time of his
death. This group, notably Louis Massignon, the world-famous scholar
of Islam, and René Bazin, author of a best-selling biography, La Vie de
Charles de Foucauld Explorateur en Maroc, Ermite du Sahara (1921),
kept his memory alive and inspired the family of lay and religious
fraternities that include Jesus Caritas, the Little Brothers of Jesus and
the Little Sisters of Jesus, among a total of ten religious congregations
and nine associations of spiritual life. Though originally French in origin,
these groups have expanded to include many cultures and their
languages on all continents.
The 1936 French film The Call of Silence depicted his life.

In 1950, the colonial Algerian
government issued a postage stamp
with his image. The French
government did the same in 1959.
In 2013, partly inspired by the life of
de Foucauld a community of
consecrated brothers or monachelli
(little monks) was established in
Perth, Australia, called the Little
Eucharistic Brothers of Divine Will.

Maria Raffaella Cimatti
Bl. Maria Raffaella Cimatti, H.S.M.
Virgin and religious
Born Santina Cimatti
7 June 1861
Celle, Faenza, Ravenna,
Kingdom of Italy
Died 23 June 1945 (aged 84)
Alatri, Frosinone,
Kingdom of Italy
Venerated in Catholic Church (Diocese of Alatri &
the Hospitaler Sisters of Mercy)
Beatified 12 May 1996, Vatican City, by Pope
John Paul II
Major shrine Cathedral of St. Paul,
Alatri, Frosinone, Italy
23 June
Maria Raffaella Cimatti, H.S.M. (7 June 1861 – 23 June 1945) was
an Italian member of the Hospitaler Sisters of Mercy, a religious
institute dedicated to medical care. She was beatified by the Catholic
Church in 1996.

Biography
She was born Santina Cimatti on 7 June 1861 in Celle, a village now a part
of Faenza in the Province of Ravenna,to Giacomo Cimatti and his wife, Rosa Pasi.
Her father was a farmworker and her mother a weaver. After Santina, the couple
had five boys: Domenico, Paolo and Antonio, who all died in infancy, and Luigi and
Vincenzo, who both later joined the Salesians of Don Bosco. Upon her father's
death in 1882, Cimatti helped her mother by schooling her brothers, though from a
young age she wanted to enter religious life.
After her brothers joined the Salesians and the local parish priest took her mother
in, Cimatti, who was then freed of family obligations, went to Rome and joined the
Hospitaler Sisters of Mercy in 1889.There she was given the religious name Maria
Raffaella and dedicated her life to helping the sick the following year, taking her
temporary religious vows in 1890. In 1893 she was is sent to St. Benedict Hospital
in Alatri, Frosinone, to study nursing and to serve as a pharmacist's assistant. She
took her perpetual vows in 1905.

Later, Cimatti was sent to nurse for her
first posting at the Umberto I Hospital
in Frosinone, where in 1921, she was
also placed in charge of the convent
as prioress. Her primary duty during her
career was as hospital pharmacist.In
1928 she was sent back to the convent
in Alatri, where she served as prioress
until 1940, when she asked to be
allowed to retire from her administrative
duties and to serve
the Sisters, the patients, the students and the hospital staff. She was diagnosed with a fatal disease in
1943.The following year, under the German occupation of the city during World War II, she nursed the
war wounded and personally interceded with the German General Kesselring at his headquarters in
Alatri when rumors of bombing the city surfaced. The city was spared. She died on 23 June 1945 in
Alatri, and buried in a little chapel which served the hospital.

Veneration
A steady veneration of Cimatti having developed after her death,
a canonization process was opened on 6 June 1962 in Alatri by Vittorio
Ottaviani, the local bishop. For five years, the Ordinary Process on the
Reputation of Holiness was conducted and the Rogatory Process took
place in Faenza in 1967. Between 1988 and 1989 her intercession in a
miraculous healing was investigated.
The cause was accepted for further investigation by the Congregation
for the Causes of Saints of the Holy See, which led to a decree declaring
her life to have been one of heroic virtue in 1994, making it possible for
her beatification. She was beatified on 12 May 1996 by Pope John Paul
II[4] in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, and her remains were moved
from the hospital chapel to the Cathedral of St. Paul in Alatri.

Martin de Porres, O.P
Martin of Charity
Saint of the Broom
Born December 9, 1579
Lima, Viceroyalty of Peru
Died November 3, 1639 (aged 59)
Lima, Viceroyalty of Peru (modern-day Peru)
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church, Lutheran
Church, Anglican Communion
Beatified 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI
Canonized May 6, 1962, by Pope John XXIII
Major shrine Basilica and Convent of Santo Domingo, Lima,
Peru

Feast November 3
Attributes a dog, a cat, a bird, and a mouse
eating together from a same dish;
broom, crucifix, rosary, a heart
Patronage Diocese of Biloxi, Vietnam,
Mississippi, black people, hair
stylists, innkeepers, lottery, lottery
winners, mixed-race people, Peru,
poor people, public education,
public health, public schools, race
relations, social justice, state
schools, television, Mexico, Peruvian
Naval Aviators

Martin de Porres Velázquez, O.P. (December 9, 1579 – November
3, 1639), was a Peruvian lay brother of the Dominican Order who
was beatified in 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI and canonized in 1962
by Pope John XXIII. He is the patron saint of mixed-race people,
barbers, innkeepers, public health workers, and all those seeking
racial harmony.
He was noted for his work on behalf of the poor, establishing
an orphanage and a children's hospital. He maintained an austere
lifestyle, which included fasting and abstaining from meat. Among the
many miracles attributed to him were those of levitation, bilocation,
miraculous knowledge, instantaneous cures, and an ability to
communicate with animals.

Juan Martin de Porres Velázquez was born in the city
of Lima, Viceroyalty of Peru, on December 9, 1579. He was the
illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman, Don Juan de Porres, and Ana
Velázquez, a freed slave from Panama, of African or possibly
part Native American descent. He had a sister named Juana, born two
years later in 1581. After the birth of his sister, the father abandoned
the family.Ana Velázquez supported her children by taking in
laundry. He grew up in poverty and, when his mother could not
support him, Martin was confided to a primary school for two years,
and then placed with a barber/surgeon to learn the medical arts. He
spent hours of the night in prayer, a practice which increased as he
grew older.

Under Peruvian law, descendants of Africans and Native
Americans were barred from becoming full members of
religious orders. The only route open to Martin was to ask
the Dominicans of Holy Rosary Priory in Lima to accept him
as a donado, a volunteer who performed menial tasks in the
monastery in return for the privilege of wearing the habit and
living with the religious community. At the age of 15 he
asked for admission to the Dominican Convent of the Rosary
in Lima and was received first as a servant boy, and as his
duties grew he was promoted to almoner.

Martin continued to practice his old trades of barbering and
healing and was said to have performed many miraculous
cures. He also took on kitchen work, laundry, and cleaning.
After eight years at Holy Rosary, the prior Juan de
Lorenzana, decided to turn a blind eye to the law and permit
Martin to take his vows as a member of the Third Order of
Saint Dominic. Holy Rosary was home to 300 men, not all of
whom accepted the decision of De Lorenzana: one of the
novices called Martin a "mulatto dog", while one of the
priests mocked him for being illegitimate and descended
from slaves

When Martin was 24, he was allowed to profess religious
vows as a Dominican lay brother in 1603. He is said to have
several times refused this elevation in status, which may
have come about due to his father's intervention, and he
never became a priest. It is said that when his convent was
in debt, he implored them: "I am only a poor mulatto, sell
me." Martin was deeply attached to the Blessed Sacrament,
and he was praying in front of it one night when the step of
the altar he was kneeling on caught fire. Throughout all the
confusion and chaos that followed, he remained where he
was, unaware of what was happening around him.

A mid-twentieth century stained glass representation of Martin de Porres in St
Pancras Church, Ipswich with a broom, rosary, parrot and monkey
When Martin was 34, after he had been given the religious habit of a lay brother,
he was assigned to the infirmary, where he was placed in charge and would
remain in service until his death at the age of 59. He was known for his care of
the sick. His superiors saw in him the virtues necessary to exercise unfailing
patience in this difficult role. It was not long before miracles were attributed to
him. Martin also cared for the sick outside his convent, often bringing them
healing with only a simple glass of water. He ministered without distinction to
Spanish nobles and to slaves recently brought from Africa. One day an aged
beggar, covered with ulcers and almost naked, stretched out his hand, and Martin
took him to his own bed. One of his brethren reproved him. Martin replied:
"Compassion, my dear Brother, is preferable to cleanliness."

When an epidemic struck Lima, there were in this single Convent of the Rosary 60
friars who were sick, many of them novices in a distant and locked section of the
convent, separated from the professed. Martin is said to have passed through the
locked doors to care for them, a phenomenon which was reported in the residence
more than once. The professed, too, saw him suddenly beside them without the
doors having been opened. Martin continued to transport the sick to the convent
until the provincial superior, alarmed by the contagion threatening the friars,
forbade him to continue to do so. His sister, who lived in the country, offered her
house to lodge those whom the residence of the religious could not hold. One day
he found on the street a poor Indian, bleeding to death from a dagger wound, and
took him to his own room until he could transport him to his sister's hospice. The
prior, when he heard of this, reprimanded him for disobedience. He was extremely
edified, however, by his reply: "Forgive my error, and please instruct me, for I did
not know that the precept of obedience took precedence over that of charity."The
prior gave him liberty thereafter to follow his inspirations in the exercise of mercy.

Martin did not eat meat. He begged for alms to procure
necessities the convent could not provide.[7] In normal times,
Martin succeeded with his alms to feed 160 poor persons
every day, and distributed a remarkable sum of money every
week to the indigent. Side by side with his daily work in the
kitchen, laundry and infirmary, Martin's life is said to have
reflected extraordinary gifts: ecstasies that lifted him into the
air, light filling the room where he prayed, bilocation,
miraculous knowledge, instantaneous cures and a
remarkable rapport with animals.[3] He founded a residence
for orphans and abandoned children in the city of Lima.[3]

Death and commemoration
The Basilica and Convent of Santo
Domingo, where de Porres is buried,
in Lima, Peru
Martin was a friend of both St. Juan Macías, a
fellow Dominican lay brother, and St. Rose of
Lima, a lay Dominican. By the time he died,
on November 3, 1639, he had won the
affection and respect of many of his fellow
Dominicans as well as a host of people
outside the priory.[5] Word of his miracles had
made him known as a saint throughout the
region. As his body was displayed to allow the
people of the city to pay their respects, each
person snipped a tiny piece of his habit to
keep as a relic. It is said that three habits
were taken from the body. His body was then
interred in the grounds of the monastery.

After De Porres died, the miracles and graces received when he was invoked
multiplied in such profusion that his body was exhumed after 25 years and said to
be found intact, and exhaling a fine fragrance. Letters to Rome pleaded for his
beatification; the decree affirming the heroism of his virtues was issued in 1763
by Pope Clement XIII.
Pope Gregory XVI beatified Martin de Porres on October 29, 1837, and nearly
125 years later, Pope John XXIII canonized him in Rome on May 6, 1962.[8] He is
the patron saint of people of mixed race, and of innkeepers, barbers, public
health workers and more, with a feast day on November 3.
Martin is also commemorated in the Calendar of Saints of the Church of
England on November 3.
He is recognised as Papa Candelo in the Afro-Caribbean-
Catholic syncretist religion, which is practised in places where African
diaspora culture thrives such as Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba,
the United States, and his native Peru.

Iconography Forensic facial reconstruction of Martin de
Porres
Martin de Porres is often depicted as a young
mixed-race friar wearing the old habit of the
Dominican lay brother, a
black scapular and capuce, along with a broom,
since he considered all work to be sacred no
matter how menial. He is sometimes shown
with a dog, a cat and a mouse eating in peace
from the same dish.

Prayer to St. Martin de Porres
For Grace
Most humble Martin de Porres, whose burning charity embraced not
only thy needy brethren but also the very animals of the
field, splendid example of charity, we hail and invoke thee.
From that high throne which thou dost occupy, deign to listen to the
supplications of thy needy brethren that, by imitating thy virtues, we
may live contented in that state in which God has placed us, and,
carrying our cross with strength and courage, we may follow in the
footsteps of our Blessed Redeemer and His most afflicted Mother, to
reach at last the Kingdom of Heaven through the merits of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen.

Black Nazarene
Black Nazarene
Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno
Poóng Itím na Nazareno
Location Quiapo, Manila, Philippines
Date 1606
Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico
Witness Recollect Priests
Basílio Sancho de Santa Justa y
Rufina, S.P., Archbishop of
Manila
Type Wooden statue
Holy See approval Pope Innocent X
Pope Pius VII
Shrine Minor Basilica of the Black
Nazarene
Patronage Quiapo, Manila, Filipino
people, the Philippines
Attributes Dark skin, maroon and gold
vestments, the Cross

The Black Nazarene (Spanish: El Nazareno Negro, Nuestro Padre Jesús
Nazareno, Filipino: Poóng Itím na Nazareno, Hesus Nazareno ) is a life-sized
image of a dark-skinned, kneeling Jesus Christ carrying the Cross enshrined in
the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in the Quiapo district of the City of
Manila, Philippines.
The Black Nazarene was carved by an unknown Mexican from a dark wood in
the 16th century in Mexico and then transported to the Philippines in 1606. It
depicts Jesus en route to his crucifixion. Pope Innocent X granted recognition to
the lay Confraternity of Santo Cristo Jesús Nazareno in 1650 for the promotion of
the devotion to Jesus through the icon. It was housed in several churches near
Manila in the early decades, arriving in Quiapo Church in 1787 where it has been
enshrined ever since. The icon is renowned in the Philippines and is considered
by many Filipino Catholics to be miraculous; its mere touch reputed to cure
disease. It attracts homage by numerous devotees and major processions every
year.

The image (in recent years a composite replica) is brought out of its shrine in
procession three times a year: January 9 (the anniversary of the
icon's translation), Good Friday (the Nazarene's liturgical feast, commemorating
the culmination of the Passion), and December 31 (New Year's Eve, the first day
of its annual novena). The January 9 procession re-enacts the
image's Traslación (literally "transfer") in 1787, or "solemn transfer" to the Minor
Basilica from its original shrine inside Intramuros. The January 9 Traslación is
the largest procession, drawing thousands of devotees thronging to touch the
icon and lasting 20 hours at the most.
The Black Nazarene is venerated by Filipino devotees every Friday. Along with
the Santo Niño, (Child Jesus) it is the most popular object of devotion in the
Philippines. A similar image called Cristo Negro is venerated
in Portobelo, Panama.

Terminology
The image derives its name from "Nazarene", a title of Christ identifying him as a
native of Nazareth in Galilee and from its dark complexion – something
uncommon amongst Philippine depictions of Jesus.
The Traslación procession is taken from the Spanish term for translation, referring
to "passage" or "movement".
Ándas
The image's wooden base is referred to as the peana while its carriage
or carroza used in processions is called the Ándas (from the Spanish andar, "to
move forward"). The term ándas commonly refers to the shoulder-
borne palanquins of religious images and was retained for the icon’s carriage
which replaces the palanquins used in processions up until the late 20th century.

The image enshrined above the high altar of the Minor
Basilica of the Black Nazarene, Manila.
The image was made by an
anonymous Mexican sculptor, and the image arrived in
Manila via galleon from Acapulco, Mexico, on May 31,
1606. Traditional accounts attribute the colour to votive
candles burning before the image, although the most
widespread belief is that it was charred by a fire on the
galleon that brought it from Mexico.
Monsignor Sabino A. Vengco Jr.
from Loyola School of
Theology meanwhile noted that the
image was not charred but in fact dark
through to its core, as it was carved
from mesquite wood. Vengco based
this claim on personal research in
Mexico, where he said the wood was a
popular medium in the period the
image was carved. He also likened it
to Our Lady of Antipolo, another
popular image of similar provenance
and appearance.

My prayer to Jesus of Nazareth:
Lord Jesus of Nazareth please
let the US Embassy speed up my
US VISA and it will arrive in our
place this week. Help me and my
husband that we could go
together to US for the protection
in each of us. AMEN.

VISA GRANTED…GLORY TO GOD..
And All your saints and Angels.

REFERENCES:
 Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuestra_Señora_de_Guía
 St. Expeditus - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online
https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=34
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expeditus
 https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=231
 Lorenzo Ruiz – Wikipedia ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzo_Ruiz
 Jude the Apostle – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jude_the_Apostle
 St. Joseph - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online
 Thérèse of Lisieux – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thérèse_of_Lisieux
 St. Michael the Archangel - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online
 Anthony of Padua – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_of_

 Saint Martin de Porres – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_de_Porres
 Maria Raffaella Cimatti – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Raffaella_Cimatti
 Prayer of Abandonment - Charles de Foucauld - Crossroads Initiative
https://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/.../prayer-of-abandonment-charles-de-
foucauld/
 Saint Philomena – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philomena
 St. Pedro Calungsod - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online
 Feast of the Black Nazarene - SEAsite
 www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Cynthia/festivals/feast_of_the_black_nazarene.htm


Saints in the shrine of ermita metro manila by Julita Cuizon Villegas

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Saints in the shrine of ermita metro manila by Julita Cuizon Villegas

Similar to Saints in the shrine of ermita metro manila by Julita Cuizon Villegas (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Saints in the shrine of ermita metro manila by Julita Cuizon Villegas