Blessed Marie Rose Durocher

Many of our greatest saints and holy people knew that they could raise others up by helping to educate them. Eulalie Durocher was one such person. Born on October 6, 1811, at Saint Antoine-sur-Richelieu in Quebec, Canada, she was the youngest of 10 children. Her parents valued education, and her mother, who had studied with the Ursuline Sisters in Quebec City, taught all of her children. Eventually young Eulalie attended a boarding school with the Notre Dame Sisters and began to dream of becoming a nun. She had always been a teenager who did not hesitate to visit the sick and poor in her village and spent much time in prayer at the local church. But poor health and the death of her mother when Eulalie was 18 seemed to mean that a vocation might not be possible. She stepped into her mother’s role, leading the household as best she could.

Her brother, who was a priest, asked Eulalie and their father to come live with him in his rectory so that Eulalie could be a housekeeper for the both of them. For 12 years she served in this role and also taught religion to the parish children while continuing to help the poor and organizing many volunteer activities in the parish. She saw how important education was for the people of Canada and finally, when the local bishop announced he was bringing a group of nuns over from France to live in their area, Eulalie made plans to join the congregation.

But the Sisters of Marseilles were unable to come to Canada. Knowing of her hopes, Montreal Bishop Ignace Bourget asked Eulalie Durocher to found a community of nuns herself in 1843. She and her friends, Melodie Dufresne and Henriette Cere, did so in Longueuil, beginning the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. Under the name Mother Marie-Rose, Eulalie recruited nearly a dozen women for their community in the first year. The group was committed to teaching, and they taught in both English and French so that students could speak both languages. They built four convents and boarding schools with a free day school attached so that all children could receive the same education, regardless of their families' income. By 1849, they had 44 nuns in their group.

Mother Marie-Rose worked hard to make the schools and the congregation a success. Her hard work made her already poor health even more precarious, and at the very young age of 38 she died. Her legacy lived on; by the 1960s, her congregation had more than 277 convents in Canada, the United States, Africa, and South America, where they continue to teach today. Mother Marie-Rose was declared Blessed by Pope John Paul II on May 23, 1982.

[This account of the life and work of Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher is taken from the RCL Benziger Saints Resource.]

O LORD, who didst enkindle in the heart of Blessed Marie Rose Durocher the flame of ardent charity and a great desire to serve the mission of the Church as a teacher: grant us that same active love; that, answering the needs of the world, we may lead our brethren to the blessedness of eternal life; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

St. Bruno, Priest and Founder

St. Bruno founded a religious order, the Carthusians, which is the most demanding, the most strict and the most difficult in which to live – and yet many young men choose it as a way of making a life-long sacrifice for the glory of God.

Born in Cologne, Germany, St. Bruno became a famous teacher at Rheims and an important official the archdiocese. It was a time when many clergy were living lives that were incompatible with their calling, and when Pope Gregory VII brought about reforms, Bruno completely supported it. In fact, he took part in getting his own scandalous archbishop removed from office – of course, the archbishop had his friends, and they made life very difficult for Bruno.

After all this, St. Bruno had the dream of living in solitude and prayer, and persuaded a few friends to join him in a hermitage, and eventually was given some land which was to become famous for his foundation "in the Chartreuse" which described the color of the countryside (yellowish green, and from which comes the word “Carthusian”). The climate, which was desert, mountainous terrain, and inaccessibility guaranteed silence, poverty and small numbers.

Bruno and his friends built an oratory with small individual cells at a distance from each other. They met for Matins and Vespers each day, and spent the rest of the time in solitude, eating together only on great feasts. Their chief work was copying manuscripts.

The pope, hearing of Bruno's holiness, called for his assistance in Rome. When the pope had to flee Rome, Bruno pulled up stakes again, and spent his last years (after refusing becoming a bishop) in the wilderness of Calabria.

He was never formally canonized, because the Carthusians avoided all occasions of publicity. Pope Clement extended his feast to the whole Church in 1674.

Almighty and everlasting God, who dost prepare mansions in heaven for them that forsake the world: we humbly entreat thy boundless mercy; that at the intercession of blessed Bruno, thy Confessor, we may be faithful to vows that we have made, and may obtain, to our eternal salvation, the rewards which thou hast promised to them that persevere unto the end; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Was St. Francis born in a stable?

A very short distance from Chiesa Nuova in Assisi, off an alley leading to the Basilica of Santa Chiara, is a tiny oratory, San Francesco Piccolino, marking the place which tradition has as the birthplace of St. Francis. The original building was a stable, part of a complex of buildings which likely belonged to St. Francis' father, Pietro di Bernardone.

The story is that St. Francis' mother, Lady Pica, was finding her labour to be particularly difficult. Her husband was abroad in France on one of his business trips, and she was at home with only her household staff in attendance. Whether it was her idea, or another's, the thought came that perhaps a walk would be good, and so she set out a short distance to the nearby stable. Apparently it did the trick. The baby hastened his entrance into the world, and ended up being born in the stable.

Whether this is historically accurate, or is simply a pious legend, we can never know for certain. After the death of St. Francis there was an effort (done with the best of motives) to look at his life and to see a certain conformity with the life of Christ. Of course, many aspects of St. Francis' life were very much like those of our Lord's life - his poverty, his preaching of divine love, his receiving of the stigmata. The list could go on.

So, does this story reflect the reality of his birth? Or does it, perhaps, represent a pious attempt to make the saint's life conform to that of Christ in every detail? I don't know for certain, although I tend to believe the tradition attached to this oratory. It would be just like God to work things out like that.

On one of our pilgrimages we offered Mass in San Francesco Piccolino because we were few enough to fit inside. I remember thinking, "If this isn't the place, it should be."

Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos

The priestly zeal of Francis Xavier Seelos took him to many places, but always with the same purpose; namely, to help people know the great love and compassion of God. And not only did he preach, but he put his words into practice, even to the point of risking his own life in caring for the sick and the dying.

Francis Xavier Seelos was born in southern Bavaria in the year 1819. He studied philosophy and theology in Munich as part of his preparation for the priesthood, but while still a student he became fascinated with the missionary work of the Redemptorists, which they were carrying out amongst the German-speaking immigrants in the United States. He arrived in America in 1843 and was ordained in the Redemptorist Church of St. James in Baltimore at the end of 1844. He was assigned for six years to the parish of St. Philomena in Pittsburgh, where he served as an assistant to St. John Neumann, who would become one of our great missionary bishops.

During the several years he was engaged in parish ministry throughout the state of Maryland, Fr. Seelos also had the responsibility of training Redemptorist students for the priesthood. In fact, during this time the Civil War broke out, and he went went to Washington, D.C. to appeal to President Lincoln that his students not be drafted for military service, although eventually some were.

For several years Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos preached in English and in German throughout the Midwest and in the Mid-Atlantic states. Eventually he was assigned to St. Mary of the Assumption Church in New Orleans, where he served faithfully as pastor. In 1867 he died of yellow fever, being only forty-eight years old, having contracted the disease while visiting the sick in his parish. He was described as a priest with a constant smile and a generous heart. He was beatified in 2000, and his cause for canonization is moving forward.

O God, who makest us glad with the yearly feast of blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, thy Priest and Confessor: mercifully grant that, as we now observe his heavenly birthday; so we may follow him in all virtuous and godly living; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

St. Maria Faustina Kowalska

Linked forever to the annual Feast of Divine Mercy on the Octave Day of Easter, along with the Chaplet of Divine Mercy recited by many at 3:00 p.m. each day, is the name of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska.

Born in 1905, the third of ten children, she was baptized as Helena in the Church of St. Casimir in the little village of Świnice Warckie, located in the Polish provincial seat of Lodz.

She worked as a housekeeper before joining the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in 1925, taking the name of Sr. Maria Faustina, and then working as a cook, gardener and porter in three of their houses.

In addition to carrying out her work faithfully, serving the needs of the sisters and the local people, Sister Faustina also had a deeply spiritual interior life, which included receiving revelations mystically from the Lord Jesus, which she recorded in her diary at the request of Christ and of her confessors.

At a time when some Catholics tended to view God as a judge so strict that they might be tempted to despair about the possibility of being forgiven, it was through His revelations to St. Faustina that Jesus chose to emphasize His mercy and forgiveness for sins, as long as they were acknowledged and confessed.

In one of His revelations, our Lord said to St. Faustina, “I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to my merciful heart.” The familiar image of the Divine Mercy, revealed to St. Faustina, shows two rays emanating from Christ’s heart, which symbolize the blood and water poured out after Jesus’ death, representing the healing and sanctifying graces, especially of Baptism and the Eucharist, that flow from the Sacred Heart of Jesus toward mankind.

St. Maria Faustina died of tuberculosis in Krakow, Poland, on October 5, 1938. She was beatified in 1993 by Pope St. John Paul II and he canonized her seven years later.

O GOD who didst endue thy holy Virgin Saint Faustina Kowalska, with grace to witness a holy life: grant that we, after her example and aided by her prayers, may be found ready when the Bridegroom cometh, and enter with him to the marriage feast; through the same Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

St. Francis of Assisi

St. Francis of Assisi was baptized with the name Giovanni (John), but his father, who was a cloth merchant and who had lots of business in France, called him Francis. That's the name that stuck, although it's really a nickname. Francis was born in 1182 in the town of Assisi, and because his father was rather successful, Francis was raised with a love of fine clothes and good times. He led the other young men of the town in enjoying good food and drink, singing, and dancing.

When Francis was 20, he was taken prisoner in a war between Assisi and Perugia. For the year he was a prisoner, during which time he was very sick, he had some religious experiences which began to change him. After his release, he was praying in the decrepit little chapel of S. Damiano outside Assisi, and he heard a voice from the crucifix telling him, "Francis, repair my house, which is falling in ruins." He took the words literally, and he went quickly back to the city, sold his horse and some cloth from his father's shop, and came back to give some of the money to the priest at S. Damiano, and distributed some of it to the poor. Francis also, with his own hands, worked on repairing the little church.

His father was furious at Francis' squandering money on churches and beggars, and hauled him before the bishop to bring him to his senses. As he stood before the bishop, Francis calmly took off all his clothes, gave them to his father (the astonished bishop quickly covered Francis with a cloak), and said that he was now recognizing only his Father in heaven, not his father on earth. His life from this time on was lived without money or family ties.

The 13th century was also a time when the Christian religion was taken very much for granted, and Francis felt the need to return to the original spirit of Christ. This meant living in poverty, and it also meant showing Christ's love to other people. A number of the young men of Assisi, attracted by Francis' example, joined him in his new way of life. In 1209 Francis and his companions went to Rome, where they presented their ideas to Pope Innocent III and received his approval.

They found themselves influencing more and more people, including a young lady named Clare, whom Francis helped to enter a monastery of nuns, and who later began the "second order" of Franciscans, the order for women. Francis travelled to the Holy Land. He also went to Rome in 1223 to present the rule of his order to the Pope, who approved it wholeheartedly. Francis returned to Assisi and began to spend more time alone in prayer, leaving the decisions about his organization to others.

While he was praying on Mt. Alvernia in 1224, he had a vision of an angelic figure, and when the vision disappeared Francis felt the wounds of Christ in his hands, side, and feet. He was careful not to show the stigmata to others, but several close friends reported after his death that Francis had suffered in his body as Christ had suffered on the cross. His last 2 years were lived in almost constant pain and near-blindness. He died in 1226, and 2 years later he was canonized.

O God, who dost ever delight to reveal thyself to the childlike and lowly of heart: grant that, following the example of blessed Francis, and aided by his prayers; we may count the wisdom of this world as foolishness and know only Jesus Christ and him crucified; who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Image: "St. Francis of Assisi"

by Eugène Burnand (1850 – 1921)

The Transitus of St. Francis

The Vigil of the Feast of St. Francis, known as the Transitus, traditionally is celebrated by Franciscans all over the world on October 3rd, and is a night to commemorate the death of the beloved saint.

“Transitus” is a Latin word meaning “passage” or “crossing over.” In every account written of the death of St. Francis, it is remembered that as he crossed over from life on earth to eternal life with the Lord it was an event full of great joy and song.

This is a brief account of his final hours:

“On the eve of his death, the saint, in imitation of his Divine Master, had bread brought to him and broken. This he distributed among those present, asking God’s blessing upon Bernard of Quintaville, his first companion, and Elias, his vicar, as well as all the others in order. “I have done my part,” he said next, “may Christ teach you to do yours.” Then wishing to give a last token of detachment and to show he no longer had anything in common with the world, Francis removed his poor habit and lay down on the bare ground, covered with a borrowed cloth, rejoicing that he was able to keep faith with his Lady Poverty to the end. After a while he asked to have read to him the Passion according to St. John, and then in faltering tones he himself intoned Psalm cxli. At the concluding verse, ‘Bring my soul out of prison’, Francis was led away from earth by ‘Sister Death’, in whose praise he had shortly before added a new strophe to his ‘Canticle of the Sun’.”

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ALLELUIA, Alleluia. Francis, poor and humble, enters heaven rich and is welcomed with celestial hymns. Alleluia.

Our Father Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

O God, you granted our blessed Father Francis the reward of everlasting joy: grant that we, who celebrate the memory of his death, may at last come to the same eternal joy; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Pictured: “St. Francis on his death bed” 

by Eugène Burnand (1850 – 1921)

Holy Guardian Angels

God shows His love to us in many ways, and one of the most comforting and constant expressions of this is that He entrusts each of us to a particular angel, who is our guide and our guardian. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that "the existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls 'angels' is a truth of faith” (n. 328), and it goes on to say (n. 336) "Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life."  Our Lord Himself tells us, "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father" (Matthew 18:10).

From the first instant of our existence until our death, we are surrounded by the protection and intercession of angels, particularly our guardian angel who remains beside each one of us and who stands as protector and shepherd leading us to life with God. We should ask our Guardian Angel for help, and when we are praying for others, we can ask our Guardian Angel to cooperate with the Guardian Angel of another person, to keep them safe and to guide them.

Guardian angels are not lucky charms. They are given to us as God's love. They do battle for us and with us. They are dedicated to the work of doing everything possible to bring us to God.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux, in writing to his spiritual sons (and equally applicable to all of us) says this:

“Be alert in your every action as one should be who is accompanied by angels in all your ways, for that mission has been enjoined upon them. In whatever lodging, in whatever nook or corner you may find yourself, cherish a reverence for your guardian angel. In his presence do not dare to do anything you would not do in mine. Or do you doubt his presence because you do not see him? Would it really help if you did hear him, or touch him, or smell him? Remember, there are realities whose existence has not been proven by mere sight.

Brethren, we will love God's angels with a most affectionate love; for they will be our heavenly co-heirs some day, these spirits who now are sent by the Father to be our protectors and our guides. With such bodyguards, what are we to fear? They can neither be subdued nor deceived; nor is there any possibility at all that they should go astray who are to guard us in all our ways. They are trustworthy, they are intelligent, they are strong — why, then, do we tremble? We need only to follow them, remain close to them, and we will dwell in the protection of the Most High God. So as often as you sense the approach of any grave temptation or some crushing sorrow hangs over you, invoke your protector, your leader, your helper in every situation. Call out to him and say: Lord, save us, we are perishing.”

O Everlasting God, who hast ordained and constituted the ministries of angels and men in a wonderful order: Mercifully grant that, as thy holy angels always serve and worship thee in heaven, so by thine appointment they may help and defend us on earth; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost ever, one God, world without. Amen.

Angel of God, my Guardian dear,

to whom His love commits me here,

ever this day be at my side,

to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.

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Pictured: "Watchmen in the Night" 

by Thomas Richman Blackshear II (b. 1955)

Trinity XVI: "Increase our faith!"

 

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" And the Lord said, "If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this sycamine tree, `Be rooted up, and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you."

- St. Luke 17:5-10

The apostles make their request, and the Lord gives them an answer. “Increase our faith,” they ask of Him, and He responds by speaking about a mustard seed. But Jesus is not saying that the possession of a faith as tiny as a mustard seed would be enough; rather, He is saying that a faith which is as full of life as the mustard seed is, is what they need.

We have all heard many times about how small the mustard seed is, and yet it can grow into something large enough to accommodate birds and their nests. Christ is teaching His apostles that a faith which is a living and growing thing, like the mustard seed when it’s planted in the soil, is the kind of faith which will triumph.

The lesson for the apostles, and for us, is that it is a living and growing faith that will accomplish great things – even wonderful things. Faith is not measured by size; rather, it is defined by how alive it is, and if it is deepening.

Faith is not something we can instill in ourselves. It does not come by our own human effort. Rather, it is a gift from God. But it is a gift that needs to be nurtured. It needs to be fed, and that is our job. How do we do that? Our Lord teaches us how, by telling us a parable.

He tells of a tired servant who comes home after working out in the fields all day, but who then must wait on the master, who seems to be indifferent to the exhaustion of the servant. In fact, the master accepts this service without even a token of thanks or recognition.

Our Lord is making the point that this servant, when he returns from his day’s work, prepares for his master’s comfort before he thinks of his own needs, and he does this without question or complaint, because it is his duty. Therefore, how much more ready, how much more eager, should we be to serve our God, who is very much unlike this master in the parable. We are not slaves, but rather we are children of God – the God who is not a taskmaster, but who is our loving Father. We should be ready and eager to serve Him – and when we have done everything possible, we should say, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.” Like the poor servant in this parable, who did it for an uncaring master – we are poor servants, but we are in service to a caring and loving master, Almighty God!

So here is Christ’s point: “Do you want to increase your faith?” Then serve God, and realize that in your service, you give nothing to God to which He does not already have a claim.

Do you want to increase your faith? Then do not begrudge God your time, and your effort, and your money, and your love. Don’t say that that Mass is too long, or that you don’t have time for adoration, or that you find saying your prayers takes too much effort.

Do you want to increase your faith? Then don’t be stingy with your time or with your resources when you see someone genuinely in need of help. Don’t think that “someone else” will take care of doing something that you should be doing.

Do you want to increase your faith? Then don’t be careless in studying and learning the truth which Christ has revealed to us through His Holy Catholic Church. Don’t ignore those opportunities which come your way to study the Scriptures, to dig deeper into God’s revealed word – to “read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest” everything that God has said to us in the Scriptures and in the unbroken tradition of the Church.

Do you want to increase your faith? Then you need to know that it is something active, something that must be done. It will not happen if you sit back and let someone else do your praying, or your studying, or your charitable work.

Christ gives us words which should be engraved in our hearts: “…when you have done all that is commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.” We have been showered with blessings which we do not deserve, even though we sometimes act as though we do.

Unworthy as we are, let us do our duty – to God, to our families, to our neighbors – and as we do our duty, we will find that we have also increased our faith.

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Image: "Christ Preaching" (La Petite Tombe) ca. 1657 

by Rembrandt van Rijn

Forty-three years ago in Boston...

On October 1, 1979, I was standing on the Boston Common with about 600,000 others. I was a young Episcopal cleric at the time. A Catholic priest friend of mine had encouraged me to go to Boston where Pope John Paul II would be visiting and saying Mass, so I took the train from Providence, Rhode Island, very early in the morning. It was packed with people making the same journey for the same purpose: to take part in the Mass which the Pope would be offering on the Common.

It rained for most of the day, and I was standing in it with no umbrella. An excited community of religious sisters was in front of me, screaming their heads off and waving their signs to no one in particular. I didn't know a single person around me, and after standing in the mud and rain for nearly seven hours, I couldn't imagine ever doing anything like this again.

But then... the Pope arrived. The Mass started. The memory of the long and uncomfortable wait we'd had melted away. I didn't hear anything but his voice.

When he began his sermon, my heart was ready. And when he repeated, "Follow Christ!" that's all I wanted to do, more deeply than ever before. So I made my decision then and there. I would become a Catholic. I didn't know how, and I didn't know when, but for me, to follow Christ meant that I had to become a Catholic.

Little did I know at the time that I was listening to a saint, who would not only welcome me along with my family into the Catholic Church, but who would also allow me to become a Catholic priest. I thank God every day that I heard his words, and that the Holy Spirit urged me to respond.

Follow Christ. No matter where He leads.

St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus

Marie Thérèse Martin was born into a family of very faithful Catholics, and she was the youngest of five daughters. Her father was a watchmaker, and her mother, Zelie, who died when Thérèse was four, was a lace maker.  While still a child she felt the attraction of the cloister, and at fifteen obtained permission to enter the Carmel of Lisieux, taking the name of Sr. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face. 

For the next nine years she lived a very ordinary religious life. There are no miracles or exceptional experiences recorded about her during her lifetime. She attained a very high degree of holiness simply by carrying out her ordinary daily duties with perfect faithfulness, having a childlike confidence in God's providence and merciful love and by being ready to be at the service of others at all times. She also had a great love of the Church and a zeal for the conversion of souls, and she prayed especially for priests.

She died of tuberculosis on September 30, 1897, at the age of 24, and was canonized in 1925. She has never ceased to fulfill her promise: "I will pass my heaven in doing good on earth." Her interior life is known through her autobiography called The Story of a Soul.  In 1997 Pope St. John Paul II declared her to be a Doctor of the Church.

O Lord Jesus Christ, who hast said, except ye become as little children ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven: grant us, we beseech thee, in meekness and lowliness of heart to follow the footsteps of blessed Thérèse thy Virgin; and so at last to come unto thine everlasting kingdom; who livest and reignest with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Jerome just being candid...

St. Jerome - a brilliant scholar and devoted saint - was a man who would not have been known for having social grace. In fact, it's just as well he lived alone in a cave in Bethlehem.

Loner though he was, nonetheless he did venture out amongst people from time to time, and he usually had penetrating observations about the experience, to wit:

On the study of the Hebrew language, oblivious to his insult to a whole people, he wrote, “From the judicious precepts of Quintilian, the rich and fluent eloquence of Cicero, the graver style of Fronto, and the smoothness of Pliny, I turned to this language of hissing and broken-winded words.”

On worldly women, he railed against those who “paint their cheeks with rouge and their eyelids with antimony, whose plastered faces, too white for human beings, look like idols; and if in a moment of forgetfulness they shed a tear it makes a furrow where it rolls down the painted cheek; women to whom years do not bring the gravity of age, who load their heads with other people's hair, enamel a lost youth upon the wrinkles of age, and affect a maidenly timidity in the midst of a troop of grandchildren.”

Even the clergy of Rome didn’t get a break. He said, “All their anxiety is about their clothes.... You would take them for bridegrooms rather than for clerics; all they think about is knowing the names and houses and doings of rich ladies.”

It's little wonder he ended up living in a cave.

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Pictured: Altar in St. Jerome's Cave, 

where we have offered Mass when on pilgrimage.

St. Jerome, Priest and Doctor

Saints are usually remembered for some outstanding virtue or devotion which they practiced, and St. Jerome certainly had many qualities which can lead to holiness, but by his own admission he suffered also from being ill-tempered at times. 

Although he could be scathing in his assessment of others, his love for God was extraordinarily intense. Some of St. Jerome’s reputation for impatience with others was because he considered that anyone who taught error was an enemy of God and truth, and he went after such a person with his mighty and sometimes sarcastic pen.

He was above all a Scripture scholar, translating most of the Old Testament from the Hebrew. He also wrote commentaries which are a great source of scriptural inspiration for us today. He was an avid student, a thorough scholar, a prodigious letter-writer and a consultant to monk, bishop, and pope. St. Augustine said of him, "What Jerome is ignorant of, no mortal has ever known."

His love for scripture led him to the Holy Land because of his desire to see and pray in the places of scripture. It was there that he began work on his greatest achievement, which was the Latin Vulgate version of the scriptures.

He took up residence in Bethlehem, and the cave in which he lived was near the cave in which Jesus was born. It was where he studied and worked for many years, eventually dying there. His body is now in St. Mary Major in Rome.

O God, who hast given us the holy Scriptures for a light to shine upon our path: grant us, after the example of thy servant Saint Jerome and assisted by his prayers, so to learn of thee according to thy holy Word; that we may find in it the light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen. 

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Painting: "St. Jerome" by Jan Massys (1509-1575)

Ss. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels

O Everlasting God, who hast ordained and constituted the services of Angels and men in a wonderful order: mercifully grant that as thy holy Angels alway do thee service in heaven; so by thy appointment they may succour and defend us on earth; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Angels are pure, created spirits. The name angel means servant or messenger of God. Angels are celestial or heavenly beings, on a higher order than human beings. Angels have no bodies and do not depend on matter for their existence or activity. They are distinct from saints, which men can become. Angels have intellect and will, and are immortal. They are a vast multitude, but each is an individual person. Archangels are one of the nine choirs of angels listed in the Bible. In ascending order, the choirs or classes are 1) Angels, 2) Archangels, 3) Principalities, 4) Powers, 5) Virtues, 6) Dominations, 7) Thrones, 8) Cherubim, and 9) Seraphim.

St. Michael
The name of the archangel Michael means, in Hebrew, “who is like unto God?” and he is also known as "the prince of the heavenly host." He is usually pictured as a strong warrior, dressed in armor. His name appears in Scripture four times, twice in the Book of Daniel, and once each in the Epistle of St. Jude and the Book of Revelation. From Revelation we learn of the battle in heaven, with St. Michael and his angels combatting Lucifer and the other fallen angels (or devils). We invoke St. Michael to help us in our fight against Satan; to rescue souls from Satan, especially at the hour of death; to be the champion of the Jews in the Old Testament and now Christians; and to bring souls to judgment.


St. Gabriel
St. Gabriel's name means "God is my strength". Biblically he appears three times as a messenger. He had been sent to Daniel to explain a vision concerning the Messiah. He appeared to Zachariah when he was offering incense in the Temple, to foretell the birth of his son, St. John the Baptist. St. Gabriel is most known as the angel chosen by God to be the messenger of the Annunciation, to announce to mankind the mystery of the Incarnation. The angel's salutation to our Lady, so simple and yet so full of meaning, “Hail Mary, full of grace,” has become the constant and familiar prayer of all Christian people.


St. Raphael
Our knowledge of the Archangel Raphael comes to us from the book of Tobit. His mission as wonderful healer and fellow traveler with the youthful Tobias has caused him to be invoked for journeys and at critical moments in life. Tradition also holds that Raphael is the angel that stirred the waters at the healing sheep pool in Bethesda. "God has healed" is the meaning of his name.

St. Lawrence Ruiz and Companions

The mixed-race child of a Chinese father and a Filipino mother, Lawrence Ruiz grew up in Manila and married a local Catholic girl. They had three children, and lived a simple life on his modest salary as a clerk working for the local parish. What they lacked in material things they more than made up for in their deep Catholic faith. Living something of an anonymous life, known only to their immediate circle of family and friends, life was good but not extraordinary. That is, not until a false accusation was made. And then, life as Lawrence Ruiz and his wife knew it, no longer existed. Everything was turned upside down as he made the nearly-impossible decision to run from his accusers. He was completely innocent, but he paid a very heavy price, which involved leaving his beloved wife and children and the only home he knew.

Lawrence made his way to a ship which was headed for Japan, and his travelling companions were three Dominican priests, a Japanese priest, and a layman who suffered from leprosy. They arrived in Okinawa and made no secret of their Catholic faith. And for that, they were arrested and tortured mercilessly. They were dragged off to Nagasaki, where further sport was made of Lawrence and the others, in an attempt to get them to deny Christ. They remained steadfast in professing their love for God and His Church. Lawrence had already had a false accusation made against him, but this accusation - that he was a Catholic - was an accusation he was happy to confirm, no matter what the consequences. And the consequences were brutal. He and his companions were hung upside down while having heavy stones tied to them; they were held under water until the moment before they would drown; they had wood splinters driven under their fingernails. But through it all, their hearts were filled with love for God and forgiveness for their persecutors.

When they finally died from their tortures, the bodies of Lawrence and his companions were burned and the ashes were thrown into the sea. Their faithful witness, however, fed that great burning fire of God's love, which continues to burn to this day.

Grant us, we pray, Lord God, the same perseverance shown by thy Martyrs Saint Lawrence Ruiz and his Companions in serving thee and their neighbour: even as those persecuted for the sake of righteousness are blessed in thy kingdom; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.