Ava was the daughter of King Pepin. She was cured of blindness by St. Rainfredis, became a Benedictine nun at Dinart, Hainault, and later was elected Abbess. Her feast day is April 29th.
Saint Ava is a Roman Catholic saint, the daughter of Pepin II of Aquitaine. She was born on the 29th of April 845 AD. She was cured of blindness by Saint Rainfredis before becoming a Benedictine nun. How she became blind, whether from a birth defect or a childhood illness is unknown. Saint Ava’s feast day is the 29th of April, and she is the patron saint of the blind.
Saint Ava presided as a Benedictine nun dianant in the County of Hainaut in what is now known as Belgium. This would have made her a woman of great spiritual and material standing even without the bolstering influence of Saint Rainfredis having cured her of her blindness.
Saint Ava was an abbess by the time of her death, the highest office a woman could hold within the religious hierarchy of the Catholic faith at that time. Her veneration is now relatively obscure.
Saint Ava’s father, King Pepin II, was rumored to have abandoned Christianity and gone to live among the Vikings, worshiping Woden, or Odin as he is more commonly known. Pepin’s reign was largely disastrous, involving ill-advised alliances with Viking warlords and several failed wars that saw him stripped of much of his power and status before his eventual abdication and death abroad from Aquitaine.
St. Catherine Labouré was born in France on May 2, 1806 as the ninth of 11 children to Pierre and Madeleine Labouré.
In 1815, Catherine’s mother passed away, leaving her 9-year-old daughter with the responsibility of caring for the household. After her mother’s funeral, Catherine returned home and picked up a statue of the Blessed Virgin. Holding it close, she said, “Now you will be my mother.”
Growing up, Catherine was known for being a quiet and practical child, though she was extremely devout.
A couple of years after her mother’s death, Catherine experienced a dream of an old priest motioning her to a room of sick people. “It is a good deed to look after the sick. God has designs on you. Do not forget it.”
Years later, during a visit to the Daughters of Charity hospital, Catherine saw a picture of the old priest on the wall. She discovered it was of their founder, St. Vincent de Paul. Catherine immediately knew she would become a member of St. Vincent’s order.
In January 1830, Catherine Labouré entered the novitiate of the Daughters of Charity.
Months later, on July 19, 1830, Catherine woke from her sleep after hearing a child’s voice calling her to the chapel as the Blessed Virgin Mary was waiting for her.
As Catherine approached the chapel, the door swung open revealing a brilliant light. The Blessed Virgin told Catherine she would be given a mission with all the graces necessary to complete it.
Our Lady said, “God wishes to charge you with a mission. You will be contradicted, but do not fear; you will have the grace to do what is necessary. Tell your spiritual director all that passes within you. Times are evil in France and in the world.”
In November 1830, the Blessed Mother visited Catherine a second time during evening meditations. She showed herself inside an oval frame, standing upon a globe with rays of light coming from her hands toward the globe. Around the frame were the words, “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”
Mary asked Catherine to take these images to her father confessor, Father Jean Marie Aladel, telling him they should be placed on medallions. “All who wear them will receive great graces.”
At first, the priest did not believe Catherine, but after two years, he brought her story to the Archbishop. The Archbishop ordered 2,000 medals struck.
The medals were dispersed so rapidly and effectively it was said to be miraculous.
Catherine Labouré spent the next 40 years of her life caring for the elderly, sick and disabled.
On December 31, 1876, Catherine passed away at 70-years-old. Her body was encased in glass beneath the side altar in the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Paris.
Her body was discovered to be incorrupt after being exhumed in 1933. She was beatified by Pope Pius XI on May 28, 1933 and canonized by Pope Pius XII on July 27, 1947.
St. Catherine Labouré is often shown with the Daughters of Charity habit and the Miraculous Medal.
St. Catherine Labouré is the patron saint of the elderly, infirmed people and the Miraculous Medal. Her feast day is celebrated on November 28.
St. Birgitta was the daughter of Uppland’s Lagman, Birger Petersson and his wife, Ingeborg, who was a member of the same clan as the reigning family. Birgitta’s family was pious; her father went to confession every Friday and made long and arduous pilgrimages as far away as the Holy Land.
Birgitta’s mother died, leaving Birgitta, ten years old, Katharine, nine and a newborn baby boy, Israel. The children were sent to their maternal aunt for further education and care. It seems that as a young child, Birgitta had a dream-vision of The Man of Sorrows. This dream was very vivid. Birgitta asked Him who had done that to Him. His answer: ‘All those who despise my love.’ The memory of this dream never left Birgitta and may have even left an indelible mark on her sub-conscious. As was usual during the Middle Ages, Birgitta was married when she was 13 years old to a young man, Ulf Gudmarsson with whom she had eight children, four daughters and four sons, all of them survived infancy, and that was very rare at that time.
When the King of Sweden, Magnus Eriksson married Blanche of Namur, he asked his kinswoman, Birgitta to come and be Lady-in Waiting and to teach the young queen the language and customs of her new country. After her years of service at Court, Birgitta and Ulf made the long pilgrimage to Santiago di Compostela. On the return journey Ulf became dangerously ill in Arras. Birgitta feared for his death and sat all night by his bed praying, and then a bishop appeared to her, promised that Ulf would recover and ‘God had great things for her to do.’ He told her that he was Denis, Patron of France. Ulf recovered and was able to continue his work as Lagman in the province of Närke until early in the year 1344, when he was very ill so Birgitta took him to the monks at Alvastra where he died and was buried. Birgitta remained in a little house near the abbey and she spent along hours in prayer by Ulf’s grave. She said that she ‘loved him like my own body.’ She arranged her affairs among her children and various charities and prayed for guidance. She was 41 years old and in the abbey at Alvastra God called her ‘be My Bride and My canal’. He gave her the task of founding new religious order, mainly for women. He said that the other orders had fallen into decay and this new order would be a vineyard whose wine would revivify the Church. He showed her how her abbey church was to be built, gave directions concerning the clothing and prayers of the nuns, 60 in all, who needed priests as chaplains, 13 priests, 4 deacons and 8 lay brothers. These two communities were to be ruled by an abbess, who was to represent the Blessed Virgin Mary together with the Apostles in the Upper Room in Jerusalem.
King Magnus Eriksson donated a little palace and much land to the new monastery, but almost as soon she had begun altering the palace and organising the work, Christ appeared to her and asked her to go to Rome and wait there until she got the pope to return from France to Rome. She was to be there during the Holy Year 1350. Birgitta left Sweden at the end of 1349 never to return. For the rest of her life she saw visions concerning the reform of the Church, messages to kings and popes and many other persons in high places, directing them to work for the Church. It may be noted that Birgitta never wrote in the first person. She always said the she carried a message from a very High Lord. Although she had longed to become a nun, she never even saw the monastery in Vadstena. In fact, nothing she set out to do was ever realised. She never had the pope return to Rome permanently, she never managed to make peace between France and England, she never saw any nun in the habit that Christ had shown her, and she never returned to Sweden but died, worn out old lady far from home in July 1373. She can be called the Patroness of Failures. In this she was like her Lord. He was also classed as failure as He hung on the Cross. Birgitta was a successful failure as she was canonized in 1391.Birgitta was the only women ever to found a religious Order, Ordo Sanctissimi Salvatoris. It was never a double order but an order primarily for women with permanent chaplains, ruled by an abbess. The brothers had as their head, not a prior but a Confessor General who was responsible for the spiritual business of both convents.
The order spread swiftly throughout Europe with monasteries from Scandinavia right through Europe down to Italy. In modern times is has expanded into five different, juridically independant branches; Spain 1629, Rome 1911, U.S.A. 1970, Mexico at the change of the century. None of these foundations have brothers (except U.S.A. which has one male convent). The last Birgittine father died in Altomünster 1863. She is the patroness of Sweden. Her feast day is July 23.
St. Emma, also known as Emma of Lesum, or Emma of Stiepel, lived in the city that is Bremen today. She is the first female inhabitant of the city to be known by name.
Emma lived in the early 11th century, and was born into the Immedinger family. The Immedingers were Saxon nobility descended from the legendary King Widuking, who fought againt Charlemange.
Emma’s father was a count, and her brother a bishop (Meinwerk of Paderborn). She married Liudger, the son of a Saxon duke. Their marriage resulted in one child, a boy named Imad. He would become bishop of Paderborn in 1051.
Little specific information about St. Emma survives. Legend states that she had a violent temper when she was young.
Emma’s husband made a visit to Russia in 1011, fell ill and died. Following this tragedy, Emma withdrew into her faith. Her temperament became mild. She was a great benefactor of churches, establishing many small parishes. She donated to the Bremen Cathedral. Her concern for the poor was legendary.
After her death, she was buried in a tomb in Bremen Cathedral. her tomb was opened. Her body had turned to dust exception for her right hand, which she used to give gifts. Her intact hand was sent to the abbey of St. Ludger at Werden.
She was venerated as a saint following her death, but there are no official dates for her beatification or canonization. She has two known feast days, December 3, which is the recorded date of her death in 1038, and April 19.
St. Gertrude the Great, or St. Gertrude of Helfta, was born on January 6, 1256 in Germany. She eventually chose to follow the Lord by pursuing a vocation as a Benedictine Nun. Her deep relationship with the Lord in prayer led to her being hailed as a mystic. She was also regarded as a great theologian.
Although little is known about Gertrude’s childhood, it is widely accepted that at just four-years-old, she was enrolled in the Cistercian monastery school of Helfta in Saxony, under the governance of Abbess Gertrude of Hackerborn.
The Cistercian movement was an effort to bring the Benedictine religious community back to a stricter and more faithful adherence to the original “Rule” or way of life encouraged by St Benedict. Some sources speculate that Gertrude’s parents offered their child as an oblate, a lay person especially dedicated to God or to God’s service, while others believe she may have entered the monastery school as an orphan.
St. Mechtilde, the younger sister of the Abbess Gertrude, took care of young Gertrude. Gertrude and Mechtilde had a strong bond that only grew deeper with time, allowing Mechtilde to have a great influence over Gertrude.
Gertrude, known for being charming and able to win people over, entered the Benedictine Order at Helfta and became a nun. She devoted herself to her studies, and received an education in many different subjects. Gertrude was both fluent in Latin and very familiar with scripture and works from the Fathers of the Church, including Augustine.
In 1281, 25-year-old Gertrude experienced her first series of visions that would continue until the day she passed away. Her visions altered her life and she saw this moment as her new birth. Her priorities turned away from secular teachings and focuses more on studying Scripture and theology. Her life became full with this awakening and she was an enthusiastic student, writing for the spiritual benefit of others.
Gertrude once had a vision on the feast of John the Evangelist, described in Gertrude’s writings. As she rested her head near Jesus’ wound on his side, she could hear the beating of his heart. She asked St. John if he, too, felt the beating of Jesus’ Divine Heart on the night of the Last Supper. He told her he was saving this revelation for a time when the world needed it to rekindle its love.
She went on to become one of the great mystics of the 13th century. Along with St. Mechtilde, she practiced what is known as “nuptial mysticism,” seeing herself as the bride of Christ. She embraced charity for both rich and poor, she was a simple woman with a deep solidarity with those not yet ready for the beatific vision, who are still being purified in the state of repose known as purgatory.
Gertrude assisted at the deathbeds and mourned for the loss of both Abbess Gertrude of Hackeborn in 1291 and her dearly loved St. Mechtilde in 1298. Gertrude’s health began to deteriorate, but she continued to only show her love for the Lord.
“Until the age of 25, I was a blind and insane woman… but you, Jesus, deigned to grant me the priceless familiarity of your friendship by opening to me in every way that most noble casket of your divinity, which is your divine Heart, and offering me in great abundance all your treasures contained in it”.
On November 17, 1301, Gertrude passed away a virgin and joined her Bridegroom forever.
Throughout her life, Gertrude produced numerous writings, although only a few still exists today. One of her longest surviving works is Legatus Memorialis Abundantiae Divinae Pietatis (The Herald of Divine Love). Her other standing works include, her collection of Spiritual Exercises and Preces Gertrudianae (Gertrudian Prayers).
The Herald of Divine Love is composed of five different books. Book two is the core of the work, and was written solely by Gertrude. It is a notable piece of writing, because it includes detailed descriptions of Gertrude’s visions and a veneration of Christ’s heart. The other four books are believed to have been composed by other nuns.
Although Gertrude was never formally canonized, Rome approved a liturgical office of prayer and readings in her honor. To separate her from Abbess Gertrude of Hackeborn, Pope Benedict XIV gave her the title, “the Great,” making her the only woman saint to be called, “the Great.”
St. Gertrude the Great is the Patroness of the West Indies and she is often invoked for souls in purgatory. Her feast day is celebrated on November 16.
St. Rosalia, daughter of Sinibald, Lord of Roses and Quisquina, was a descendant of the great Charlemagne. She was born at Palermo in Sicily. In her youth, her heart turned from earthly vanities to God. She left her home and took up her abode in a cave, on the walls of which she wrote these words: “I, Rosalia, daughter of Sinibald, Lord of Roses and Quisquina, have taken the resolution to live in this cave for the love of my Lord, Jesus Christ.” She remained there entirely hidden from the world.
She practiced great mortifications and lived in constant communion with God. Afterward she transferred her abode to Mount Pellegrino, about three miles from Palermo, in order to triumph entirely over the instincts of flesh and blood, in sight of her paternal home. She is said to have appeared after death and to have revealed that she spent several years in a little excavation near the grotto. She died alone, in 1160, ending her strange and wonderful life unknown to the world. Her body was discovered several centuries later, in 1625, during the pontificate of Pope Urban VIII. Her feast day is September 4th.
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini was born as Maria Francesca Cabrini on July 15, 1850 in Sant’ Angelo Lodigiano, Lombardy, Italy. She was born two months premature and the youngest of thirteen children. Unfortunately, only three of her siblings survived past adolescence and Frances would live most of her life in a fragile and delicate state of health.
Frances became dedicated to living a life for religious work from a young age and received a convent education at a school ran by the Daughters of the Sacred Heart. She graduated with high honors and a teaching certificate.
When Frances was 18, she applied for admission to the religious congregation of the Daughters of the Sacred Heart, but was turned down because of her poor health. Instead, a priest asked her to teach at the House of Providence Orphanage in Cadagono, Italy. She taught at the girls’ school for six years and drew a community of women in to live the religious way of life.
In 1877, she became Mother Cabrini after she finally made her vows and took the religious habit, also adding Xavier to her name in honor of St. Francis Xavier.
When the House of Providence Orphanage closed, her bishop asked her, along with six other women from her orphanage in Cadagono, to found the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart to care for the poor children in both schools and hospitals. Frances composed the Rule and Constitution for the religious institute.
In its first five years, the institute established seven homes and a free school and nursery. Frances wanted to continue her mission in China, but Pope Leo XIII urged her to go to the United States, a nation that was becoming flooded with Italian immigrants who needed her help. “Not to the East, but the West,” was his advice to her.
On March 31, 1889, Frances arrived in New York City along with six other sisters ready to begin her new journey. However, right from the beginning she encountered many disappointments and hardships. The house originally attended for her new orphanage was no longer available, but Frances did not gve up, even though the archbishop insisted she return to Italy.
After she refused, Archbishop Michael Corrigan found them housing with the convent of the Sisters of Charity. Frances then received permission to found an orphanage in what is now West Park, New York and now known as Saint Cabrini Home.
Filled with a deep trust in God and endowed with a wonderful administrative ability, Frances founded 67 institutions, including orphanages, schools, and hospitals, within 35 years dedicated to caring for the poor, uneducated, sick, abandoned, and especially for the Italian immigrants. Her institutions were spread out in places all over the United States, including New York, Colorado, and Illinois.
Frances was known for being as resourceful as she was prayerful. She was always able to find people to donate their money, time, and support for her institutions.
In 1909, Frances became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
Eight years later, on December 22, 1917, Frances passed at the age of 67, due to complications from dysentery at the Columbus Hospital, one of her own hospitals, in Chicago, Illinois.
Frances’ body was originally placed at the Saint Cabrini Home, but was exhumed in 1931 as part of her canonization process. Her head is preserved in Rome at the chapel of the congregation’s international motherhouse. One of her arms is at the national shrine in Chicago, and the rest of her body rests at a shrine in New York.
Frances has two miracles attributed to her. She restored sight to a child who was believed to have been blinded by excess silver nitrate, and she healed a terminally ill member of her congregation.
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini was beatified on November 13, 1938, by Pope Pius XI and canonized by Pope Pius XII on July 7, 1946, making her the first United States citizen to be canonized. Her feast day is celebrated on November 13 and she is the patron saint of immigrants.
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a French Roman Catholic Visitation nun and mystic, is greatly recognized for her devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
She was born in 1647 in France as the only daughter of Claude and Philiberte Lamyn Alacoque. Margaret has always shown an intense love for the Blessed Sacrament and preferred silence over typical childhood play. She began practicing severe corporal mortification after her first communion at 9-years-old.
She continued this until rheumatic fever confined her to her bed for four years. After making a vow to the Blessed Virgin Mary to consecrate herself to religious life, Margaret instantly returned to perfect health. In recognition of this favor, Margaret added the name Mary to her baptismal name.
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque experienced visions of Jesus Christ for most of her life, but thought they were a normal part of life and continued to practice austerity.
After the death of her father, Margaret and her family were forced into poverty when a relative refused to hand over the family’s assets. Margaret’s only comfort in life was her frequent visits to pray before the Blessed Sacrament at a local church.
At 17-years-old, Margaret’s family was able to regain control of their assets. Margaret’s mother started encouraging her to become more social, in hopes she would find a suitable husband.
One night, after attending a ball in an evening dress, Margaret had a vision of Christ, scourged and bloody. He accused Margaret of forgetting about him. He showed her that His heart was full of love for her because of the promise she made to His Blessed Mother as a child. After this vision, Margaret was determined to fulfill the vow she made years ago. She entered the Visitation Convent at Paray-le-Monial in May 1671 to become a nun.
St. Margaret Mary was admitted to wearing the religious habit in August 1671 but was not officially admitted to profession until November 1672. Although she was described as humble, simple, kind and patient, Margaret had to prove the authenticity of her vocation.
During her time in this monastery, Margaret received several private revelations of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. These visions showed her the “form of the devotion, the chief features being reception of Holy Communion on the first Friday of each month, Eucharistic adoration during a ‘Holy hour’ on Thursdays, and the celebration of the Feast of the Sacred Heart.” The Lord Jesus requested His love be made evident through her.
In her vision, she was instructed to spend an hour every Thursday night meditating on Jesus’ Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, a practice, known as “The Holy Hour,” that later became widespread.
In December 1673, Jesus appeared to Margaret Mary again, and allowed her to rest her head on His heart. His human heart was to be the symbol of His divine-human love. He revealed to her the wonders of His love. He explained to her that he wished to make these wonders known to all the world, and that He chose her for His work.
Margaret Mary convinced her superior, Mother de Saumaise, her visions were authentic. However, she struggled with convincing others of the validity of her apparitions, even those in her own community. A group of theologians declared her visions delusions and suggested she eat better. Even parents of children she instructed began calling her an imposter.
Margaret eventually gained the support from the community’s confessor, St. Claude de la Colombiere, who declared her visions were genuine. Finally, all opposition from the community, regarding Margaret’s visions, ended in 1683, when Margaret Mary became the assistant to the Superior.
St. Margaret Mary, who later became known as Novice Mistress, led the monastery in observing the Feast of the Sacred Heart privately, and inspired the construction of a chapel built to honor the Sacred Heart.
Margaret Mary died a couple of years later, at the age of 43, on October 17, 1690, while being anointed. She spoke the words, “I need nothing but God, and to lose myself in the heart of Jesus.”
After her death, the devotion to the Sacred Heart was adopted by the Jesuits but remained controversial within the Church. The practice did not become officially recognized until 75 years later.
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque was the topic of discussion long after hear death. People talked about her mission and qualities, her revelations and spiritual maxims and her teachings on the Sacred Heart. On September 18, 1864, Margaret Mary was beatified by Pope Pius IX. When her tomb was opened a few years later, two immediate cures took place and her body laid incorrupt.
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque was officially canonized on May 13, 1920 by Pope Benedict XV and, in 1928, Pope Pius XI upheld the Church’s position regarding the credibility behind her visions of Jesus Christ. He stated Jesus “manifested Himself” to Margaret and the chief features of devotion to the Sacred Heart are “reception of Holy Communion on the first Friday of each month, Eucharistic adoration during a ‘Holy hour’ on Thursdays, and the celebration of the Feast of the Sacred Heart.”
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque is the patron saint of devotees of the Sacred Heart, and those suffering with polio and from the loss of parents. Her feast day is celebrated on October 16. St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a French Roman Catholic Visitation nun and mystic, is greatly recognized for her devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
She was born in 1647 in France as the only daughter of Claude and Philiberte Lamyn Alacoque. Margaret has always shown an intense love for the Blessed Sacrament and preferred silence over typical childhood play. She began practicing severe corporal mortification after her first communion at 9-years-old.
She continued this until rheumatic fever confined her to her bed for four years. After making a vow to the Blessed Virgin Mary to consecrate herself to religious life, Margaret instantly returned to perfect health. In recognition of this favor, Margaret added the name Mary to her baptismal name.
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque experienced visions of Jesus Christ for most of her life, but thought they were a normal part of life and continued to practice austerity.
After the death of her father, Margaret and her family were forced into poverty when a relative refused to hand over the family’s assets. Margaret’s only comfort in life was her frequent visits to pray before the Blessed Sacrament at a local church.
At 17-years-old, Margaret’s family was able to regain control of their assets. Margaret’s mother started encouraging her to become more social, in hopes she would find a suitable husband.
One night, after attending a ball in an evening dress, Margaret had a vision of Christ, scourged and bloody. He accused Margaret of forgetting about him. He showed her that His heart was full of love for her because of the promise she made to His Blessed Mother as a child. After this vision, Margaret was determined to fulfill the vow she made years ago. She entered the Visitation Convent at Paray-le-Monial in May 1671 to become a nun.
St. Margaret Mary was admitted to wearing the religious habit in August 1671 but was not officially admitted to profession until November 1672. Although she was described as humble, simple, kind and patient, Margaret had to prove the authenticity of her vocation.
During her time in this monastery, Margaret received several private revelations of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. These visions showed her the “form of the devotion, the chief features being reception of Holy Communion on the first Friday of each month, Eucharistic adoration during a ‘Holy hour’ on Thursdays, and the celebration of the Feast of the Sacred Heart.” The Lord Jesus requested His love be made evident through her.
In her vision, she was instructed to spend an hour every Thursday night meditating on Jesus’ Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, a practice, known as “The Holy Hour,” that later became widespread.
In December 1673, Jesus appeared to Margaret Mary again, and allowed her to rest her head on His heart. His human heart was to be the symbol of His divine-human love. He revealed to her the wonders of His love. He explained to her that he wished to make these wonders known to all the world, and that He chose her for His work.
Margaret Mary convinced her superior, Mother de Saumaise, her visions were authentic. However, she struggled with convincing others of the validity of her apparitions, even those in her own community. A group of theologians declared her visions delusions and suggested she eat better. Even parents of children she instructed began calling her an imposter.
Margaret eventually gained the support from the community’s confessor, St. Claude de la Colombiere, who declared her visions were genuine. Finally, all opposition from the community, regarding Margaret’s visions, ended in 1683, when Margaret Mary became the assistant to the Superior.
St. Margaret Mary, who later became known as Novice Mistress, led the monastery in observing the Feast of the Sacred Heart privately, and inspired the construction of a chapel built to honor the Sacred Heart.
Margaret Mary died a couple of years later, at the age of 43, on October 17, 1690, while being anointed. She spoke the words, “I need nothing but God, and to lose myself in the heart of Jesus.”
After her death, the devotion to the Sacred Heart was adopted by the Jesuits but remained controversial within the Church. The practice did not become officially recognized until 75 years later.
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque was the topic of discussion long after hear death. People talked about her mission and qualities, her revelations and spiritual maxims and her teachings on the Sacred Heart. On September 18, 1864, Margaret Mary was beatified by Pope Pius IX. When her tomb was opened a few years later, two immediate cures took place and her body laid incorrupt.
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque was officially canonized on May 13, 1920 by Pope Benedict XV and, in 1928, Pope Pius XI upheld the Church’s position regarding the credibility behind her visions of Jesus Christ. He stated Jesus “manifested Himself” to Margaret and the chief features of devotion to the Sacred Heart are “reception of Holy Communion on the first Friday of each month, Eucharistic adoration during a ‘Holy hour’ on Thursdays, and the celebration of the Feast of the Sacred Heart.”
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque is the patron saint of devotees of the Sacred Heart, and those suffering with polio and from the loss of parents. Her feast day is celebrated on October 16.
St. Anastasia, also known as Anastasia of Sirmium and Anastasia the Pharmakolytria or “Deliverer from Potions,” is a Christian saint and martyr who suffered for Christ during the time of Diocletian’s Christian persecutions.
She is one of the seven women commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass.
The “passio,” or suffering of, Anastasia tells that her father was a noble pagan named, Praetextatus and her mother was St. Fausta of Sirmium. Because her mother was a Christian, Anastasia was baptized as an infant and secretly raised with Christian values.
Following the death of her mother, Anastasia’s father gave her in marriage to the pagan Publius, but she preserved her virginity.
During the persecutions of Diocletian, Anastasia visited the prisons and cared for the confessors of faith. She would feed, doctor and ransomed suffering captives. Anastasia’s servant informed Publius; he locked her up and beat her.
Anastasia began secretly corresponding with her adviser, St. Chrysogonus, who had gone to Aquileia. He told her to be brave, be patient and accept the Lord’s will.
After the death of her husband while he was on embassy to Persia, Anastasia distributed her property to those less fortunate and suffering.
She then set off to follow Chrysogonus to Aquileia. Chrysogonus was personally interrogated by Diocletian, but he never renounced his faith. Chrysogonus was ordered to be beheaded and thrown into the sea.
After his death, Chrysogonus appeared to Zoilus, a presbyter who found his relics and foretold the martyrdoms of Ss. Agape, Chione and Irene. He asked Zoilus to send Anastasia to the three sisters as encouragement.
Nine days later, Anastasia visited the sisters just before they were tortured. After they were martyred, Anastasia buried them.
Anastasia spent her time traveling from city to city caring for Christian prisoners. She healed their wounds and relieved their pain. She was given the title “Deliverer from Potions,” because she would often heal many from the effects of poisons and potions.
Anastasia was arrested in Illyricum and taken to the prefect of the district for being Christian. He tried to persuade her to deny her faith and threatened her with torture. Anastasia could not be swayed, so she was given to the pagan priest Ulpian in Rome.
He presented her with the choice between riches or suffering, luxuries or torture devices. She chose torture.
He gave her three days to reconsider. Enamored by her beauty, Ulpian decided he would defile her purity. However, once he went to touch her he was struck blind and his head burst into extreme pain. On his way to his pagan temple, he fell and died.
St. Anastasia, now free, set out to care for imprisoned Christians, along with Theodota, a pious young widow and faithful helper. After Theodota was martyred, Anastasia was caught once again.
She was ordered death by starvation and was starved for 60 days. But Anastasia was not harmed. It is said the martyred Theodota visited her and fed her during this time.
The judge decided the prisoners, including Anastasia and Eutychianus, would be killed by drowning. They all entered a boat with holes in the base, but St. Theodota appeared to them and steered the boat to shore. Once they landed, Anastasia and Eutychianus baptized 120 men.
Following yet another escape, Anastasia was taken to the island of Palmaria. She was staked to the ground with her arms and legs stretched out and burned alive.
St. Anastasia’s relics were taken to Constantinople, where a church was dedicated to her. Later, a hand and her head were transferred to the Monastery of St. Anastasia near Mount Athos.
The entire account of St. Anastasia’s life and tragedies are believed to be purely legendary. All that is certain is a martyr named Anastasia died for her faith in Sirmium and her memory is sacred.
St. Anastasia is the patron saint of martyrs, weavers, and those suffering from poison. Her feast day is celebrated on December 25.
St. Genevieve was a fair and courageous peasant girl who was born around 422 in Nanterre, France, to a man named Severus and a woman named Gerontia.
When Genevieve was only seven-years-old, St. Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre visited Nanterre on his way to Britain. While he was there, many people flocked to receive his blessing. The young Genevieve stood amid a crowd which had gathered around the man of God who singled her out and foretold her future sanctity. At her request, the holy Bishop led her to a church, accompanied by all the faithful, and consecrated her to God as a virgin.
The next day, Germanus asked Genevieve if she had remembered the promise she made to God. She did and proclaimed she would always fulfill it faithfully. He presented her with a cross engraved brass medal to always wear around her neck, as a reminder of the consecration she made of herself to God. He ordered her to never wear any other bracelets, necklaces or jewelry, to avoid falling into vanity.
Encouraged by Germanus, Genevieve dedicated her life to prayer, practices of devotion and a acts of penance. When she was only 15-years-old, she met with the Bishop of Paris and asked to become a nun. From this moment, she also began praying continuously and fasting, eating only twice a week, as a sign of her complete dedication to the Lord.
Following the death of her parents, Genevieve went on to live with her grandmother in Paris and traveled, sharing the faith, performing acts of charity, praying for the sick and prophesying. Her dedicated Christian way of life was filled with the signs of the Holy Spirit working through her.
The signs of the working of the Holy Spirit accompanying this holy young woman included miracles and spiritually inspired predictions. She frequently had visions of heavenly angels and saints. However, when she shared those visions and experiences of the Lord, people began to turn against her. They called her a hypocrite and accused her of being a false visionary. In fact, they were determined to drown her in a lake of fire. However, the Bishop Germanus intervened and silenced those who were accusing her of false statements, and persecuting her.
Genevieve was appointed by the Bishop to look after the welfare of the consecrated virgins. She did so faithfully and helped to lead them into a greater degree of holiness as they grew closer to the Lord Jesus.
Genevieve had a great influence over Childeric, the King of Gaul who overtook Paris. During a time when Paris suffered with great famine, Genevieve traveled by boat to Troyes and brought back several boats full of corn. Although he was a pagan, Childeric respected her and spared the lives of several prisoners on her behalf.
She also had an effect on King Clovis. He listened to her advice and under her request, he granted freedom to several of his prisoners.
When Attila and his army of Huns came upon Paris, the Parisian Christians were prepared to run, but Genevieve spoke to them and convinced them to stay within their homes, fast and pray to the Lord. She assured them they would have the protection of Heaven. Her prediction came true as Attila suddenly changed his path and turned away from Paris.
Genevieve died at 89-years-old on January 3, 512.
Shortly after she was buried, the people built a small church over her tomb, asking for the intercession of Saints Peter and Paul. Although her tomb remains there and can still be seen today, it is empty.
Her relics were encased by St. Eligius in a handmade gold and silver shrine around 630. Over the years, the Normans destroyed the church several times. Once it was rebuilt around 856, St. Genevieve’s relics were returned and miracles began happening, making this church famous all throughout France.
Paris experienced proof of Genevieve’s intercession on many occasions. The most famous occurrence was the miracle of Des Ardens, or the burning fever. In 1129, a violent fever swept through the city, and doctors couldn’t stop the people from dying. The shrine of Genevieve was carried in a procession to the cathedral, and during the ceremony, those who touched her shrine were healed by the power of the Lord. Throughout the whole town, no one else became sick, all the ill recovered and only three people died.
Pope Innocent visited the city the following year and asked that an annual festival be held in commemoration of the miracle every year on November 26. His goal, as is always the case with such practices, was to keep their faith alive by reminding the faithful that the Lord always works in the lives of those who pray and draw close to Him.
St. Genevieve is the patron saint of Paris. She is depicted dressed in a long flowing gown with a mantle covering her shoulders and is often shown with a loaf of bread, representing her generosity toward those in need. Her feast day is celebrated on January 3.
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