St. Ada is a lesser-known early Christian saint venerated primarily in parts of Europe. She lived in the 7th century and is often associated with the Benedictine tradition. Ada was the abbess of a convent in France, most likely in Le Mans, where she devoted her life to the service of God and the care of her fellow sisters. Her leadership and sanctity earned her a lasting reputation of holiness.
Though not much is documented about her life, she is often remembered for her piety and dedication to her monastic community. Ada’s feast day is celebrated on December 4. As with many early saints, details of her life may be scarce, but her example as a religious leader remains significant within the Church.
St. Seraphina, also known as St. Fina, was born in 1238 in San Gimignano, Italy. She is a beloved saint known for her great patience and acceptance of suffering. Fina was afflicted with a severe and debilitating illness at a young age, which left her paralyzed. Despite her immense physical pain and the hardship of her condition, she offered her suffering to God with remarkable grace and trust in His will.
Fina’s devotion to God deepened through her suffering. She lived on a wooden board for several years, as her body was too weak to move. According to tradition, during her illness, she experienced a vision of St. Gregory the Great, who told her that she would pass away on the anniversary of his death, which she did on March 12, 1253.
One of the most well-known miracles attributed to St. Fina happened after her death. As her body was being prepared for burial, white violets bloomed on the board where she lay, and these flowers still bloom every spring in San Gimignano.
St. Fina is honored as a patron of those who suffer from chronic or terminal illnesses, and her story is one of hope, endurance, and trust in God’s providence, even in the midst of great suffering.
St. Rita of Cascia (1381–1457) is a beloved saint in the Catholic Church, known as the “Saint of the Impossible” and a powerful intercessor for difficult situations. Born in Roccaporena, near Cascia, Italy, she faced many challenges throughout her life but is celebrated for her deep faith, patience, and devotion to God.
Key Aspects of St. Rita’s Life:
Marriage and Family Life: At a young age, Rita was married to an abusive man named Paolo Mancini, with whom she had two sons. Despite her husband’s harsh treatment, she maintained a peaceful and forgiving attitude, eventually leading to Paolo’s conversion before his death. After Paolo was murdered in a feud, Rita forgave his killers, even though her sons initially sought revenge. Through her prayers, they also came to forgive, and both died of illness soon after.
Religious Life: Following the deaths of her husband and sons, Rita sought to enter the Augustinian convent in Cascia. Initially, the nuns refused her due to her past association with a violent family feud. However, through prayer and persistence, Rita was eventually accepted. Her life as a nun was marked by deep humility, charity, and mystical experiences.
The Stigmata: Toward the end of her life, Rita received a partial stigmata, specifically a wound on her forehead, said to resemble the wound of Christ from the crown of thorns. She bore this wound for the remaining 15 years of her life, offering her suffering for the love of Christ and the Church.
Legacy: St. Rita is invoked as a patroness of impossible causes, marital difficulties, and those suffering from physical or emotional wounds. Her feast day is celebrated on May 22. Pilgrims visit her shrine in Cascia, and many attest to her miraculous intercessions.
St. Rita’s life is an inspiring example of forgiveness, endurance in suffering, and faith in God’s providence, even in seemingly impossible circumstances.
St.Marianne Cope, O.S.F. is also known as St. Marianne of Moloka’i. She was born in Germany on January 23, 1838 and spent much of her life working in Hawai’i working with lepers on the island of Moloka’i.
She was beatified in 2005 and declared a saint by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012.
Cope was born on January 23, 1838 in Heppenheim, in what was then the Grand Duchy of Hesse. Today, that region is part of Germany. She was baptized Maria Anna Barbara Koob, which was later changed to Cope.
Just a year after her birth, her family emigrated to the United States, settling in Utica. New York. Cope attended a parish school until she reached the eighth grade. By that time, her father had become an invalid and she went to work in a factory to support the family.
Her father died in 1862, and this along with her siblings maturity, permitted her to leave the factory to pursue a religious life. She became a novitiate of the Sisters of the Third Order Regular of Saint Francis based in Syracuse, New York. She took the name Marianne when she completed her formation.
German-speaking immigrants settled in large numbers in her area of New York state, so she became a teacher and later a principal at a school for immigrant children.
Cope also helped direct the opening of the first two Catholic hospitals in central New York. She arranged for students from the Geneva Medical College in New York to work at the hospital, but also stipulated that patients should be able to refuse treatment by them. It was one of the first times in history that the right of a patient to refuse treatment was recognized.
By 1883, Cope had become the Superior General of her congregation. It was at this time she received a plea for help from leprosy sufferers in Hawaii. King Kalakaua himself sent the letter asking for aid in treating patients who were isolated on the island of Moloka’i. The King had already been declined by more than 50 other religious institutes.
Mother Marianne, as she was then known, left Syracuse with six sisters to attend to the sick, and arrived on November 8,1883.
Once arrived, Mother Marianne managed a hospital on the island of O’ahu, where victims of leprosy were sent for triage. The most severe patients were sent to the island of Moloka’i.
The next year, Mother Marianne helped establish the Malulani hospital on the island of Maui.
Her tenure at Malulani hospital did not last as she was soon called back to O’ahu to deal with claims of abuse from the government-appointed administrator there. Upon arrival and following an initial investigation, Mother Marianne demanded that he resign or she would leave. The government dismissed the administrator and gave her full management of the hospital there.
Although Mother Marianne was getting older, he workload only seemed to increase. Soon, she was responsible for orphans of women who had contracted the disease as well as clergy who had contracted the disease while working with lepers.
Eventually, Mother Marianne’s work became a burden on her frail body and she was confined to a wheelchair. Despite this limitation, she continued to work tirelessly. Many noticed that despite all her years of work she never contracted leprosy herself, which many regarded as a miracle in itself.
Mother Marianne passed away on August 9, 1918 and was buried at Bishop Home.
In the years following her death, several miracles were reported in her name. In 1993, a woman was miraculously cured after multiple organ failure following prayers to Mother Marianne. The woman’s subsequent recovery was certified by the Church and Mother Marianne was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on May 14, 2005.
After her beatification, Mother Marianne’s remains were moved to Syracuse, New York and placed in a shrine.
On December 6, 2011, an additional miracle was credited to her and approved by Benedict.
On October 21, 2012, she was officially canonized by Benedict.
St. Julie (Julia) Billiart was born in 1751 and died in 1816. As a child, playing “school” was Julie’s favorite game. When she was sixteen, to help support her family, she began to teach “for real”. She sat on a haystack during the noon recess and told the biblical parables to the workers. Julie carried on this mission of teaching throughout her life, and the Congregation she founded continues her work.
Julie was the fifth of seven children. She attended a little one room school in Cuvilly. She enjoyed all of her studies, but she was particularly attracted to the religion lessons taught by the parish priest. Recognizing something “special” in Julie, the priest secretly allowed her to make her First Communion at the age of nine, when the normal age at that time, was thirteen. She learned to make short mental prayers and to develop a great love for Jesus in the Eucharist.
A murder attempt on her father shocked her nervous system badly. A period of extremely poor heath for Julie began, and was to last for thirty years. For twenty-two of these years she was completely paralyzed. All of her sufferings and pain she offered up to God.
When the French Revolution broke out, Julie offered her home as a hiding place for loyal priests. Because of this, Julie became a hunted prey. Five times in three years she was forced to flee in secret to avoid compromising her friends who were hiding her.
At this time she was privileged to receive a vision. She saw her crucified Lord surrounded by a large group of religious women dressed in a habit she had never seen before. An inner voice told her that these would be her daughters and that she would begin an institute for the Christian education of young girls. She and a rich young woman founded the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.
At Amiens, the two women and a few companions began living a religious life in 1803. In 1804, Julie was miraculously cured of her illness and walked for the first time in twenty-two years. In 1805, Julie and three companions made their profession and took their final vows. She was elected as Mother General of the young Congregation.
In 1815, Mother taxed her ever poor health by nursing the wounded and feeding the starving left from the battle of Waterloo. For the last three months of her life, she again suffered much. She died peacefully on April 8, 1816 at 64 years of age. Julie was beatified on May 13, 1906, and was canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1969. Her feast day is April 8th.
Junior Emperor and emperor called the “Thirteenth Apostle” in the East. The son of Constantius I Chlorus, junior emperor and St. Helena, Constantine was raised on the court of co-Emperor Diocletian. When his father died in 306, Constantine was declared junior emperor of York, England, by the local legions and earned a place as a ruler of the Empire by defeating of his main rivals at the battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312. According to legend, he adopted the insignia of Christ, the chi-rho, and placed it upon his labarum – the military standards that held the banners his armies carried into battle to vanquish their pagan enemies. His purple banners were inscribed with the Latin for “In this sign conquer.” Constantine then shared rule of the Empire with Licinius Licinianus, exerting his considerable influence upon his colleague to secure the declaration of Christianity to be a free religion. When, however, Licinius and Constantine launched a persecution of the Christians, Constantine marched to the East and routed his opponent at the battle of Adrianople. Constantine was the most dominating figure of his lifetime, towering over his contemporaries, including Pope Sylvester I. He presided over the Council of Nicaea, gave extensive grants of land and property to the Church, founded the Christian city of Constantinople to serve as his new capital, and undertook a long-sighted program of Christianization for the whole of the Roman Empire. While he was baptized a Christian only on his deathbed, Constantine nevertheless was a genuinely important figure in Christian history and was revered as a saint, especially in the Eastern Church.
Let’s delve into the inspiring life of St. Marie Amandine, a remarkable missionary who left a lasting legacy of compassion and service. 🌟
Birth and Early Life:
St. Marie Amandine, also known as Pauline Jeuris, was born on December 28, 1872, in Herk-la-Ville, Belgium.
Her upbringing was humble, and she came from a family of seven girls and one boy. Four of the children chose to serve the Lord in church ministries.
Tragically, when Pauline was just 7 years old, she and her siblings lost their parents. A neighbor woman took in the two youngest girls, including Pauline.
A Calling to Serve:
At the age of 15, Pauline became a member of the Secular Order of St. Francis of Assisi.
Her sister Rosalie entered the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM) in Antwerp and took the name Marie Honorine. Only after Marie Honorine left to serve as a missionary in Sri Lanka did Pauline decide to become a Franciscan Missionary of Mary herself (her sister Mathilde followed suit).
In religious life, Pauline became known as Sr. Marie Amandine.
Missionary Work in China:
Sr. Marie Amandine was sent to study nursing in Marseilles, France, before being assigned to China.
In the mission of Taiyuan-Fu, China, she cared for over 200 orphans, many of whom were sick. She also tended to patients from outside the orphanage.
Her nursing skills, learned in Marseille, allowed her to provide essential care despite challenging conditions.
A Joyful Disposition:
Sr. Marie Amandine was not only known for her excellent work ethic but also for her cheerful disposition.
She sang and laughed throughout the day, earning her the nickname “The European sister who is always singing” among the Chinese.
When one of her fellow Sisters fell ill, Sr. Amandine cared for her tirelessly, even while fulfilling her regular nursing duties.
Martyrdom and Canonization:
Tragically, Sr. Marie Amandine, along with six other Sisters, was imprisoned for her faith during the Boxer Rebellion.
On July 9, 1900, all seven of them were martyred in Taiyuan-Fu, China.
Pope St. John Paul II canonized Sr. Marie Amandine and the other martyrs on October 1, 2000.
St. Marie Amandine’s feast day is July 9. Her life reminds us that even in challenging circumstances, joy and compassion can shine brightly. 🙏🌟
!Statue of St. Marie Amandine in Bataan, Philippines
St. Junípero Serra, originally named Miguel José, was born on November 24, 1713, in Petra, Majorca, Spain. His parents, Antonio Nadal Serra and Margarita Rosa Ferrer, were farmers. Baptized at St. Peter’s Church in Petra on the same day, Junípero would go on to become a renowned figure in the history of California.
In his early years, Serra attended the primary school run by the Franciscans in Petra. At the age of 15, his parents entrusted him to a cathedral canon in Palma, where he began attending philosophy classes at the Franciscan monastery of San Francisco.
Serra took his first step toward religious life when he became a novice at the Convento de Jesús near Palma on September 14, 1730. A year later, on September 15, he made his profession and chose the name Junípero in honor of St. Francis’ companion. Serra pursued his studies in philosophy and theology at the Convento de San Francisco. The exact date of his ordination to the priesthood remains unknown, but it is believed to have occurred in December 1738. In 1742, he earned his doctorate in theology from the Lullian University in Palma. Shortly after, in January 1749, he was appointed the primary professor of theology at the university and was called to serve as an Indian missionary in America.
Accompanied by Francisco Palóu, Serra set sail for America on April 13, 1749. They arrived in Vera Cruz, Mexico, on December 7, 1749. Instead of using the provided horses, Serra chose to walk the 250 miles from Vera Cruz to Mexico City. On January 1, 1750, they reached San Fernando College, having spent the previous night at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Within six months, Serra responded to an urgent call for volunteers for the Sierra Gorda missions. He joined the mission and spent his time between 1750 and 1758 overseeing the construction of a church, promoting religious and economic development, and learning the Otomí language to effectively teach the Pame Indians. Serra’s leadership led to the building of mission churches in the other four towns as well.
Afterward, Serra was assigned to the college of San Fernando, where he held various positions, including choir director, master of novices, college counselor, and confessor. He also preached missions as a home missionary in different cities in Mexico. In 1767, he was appointed the president of the ex-Jesuit missions of Baja California.
Serra’s enthusiasm and dedication to spreading the faith led him to volunteer for expeditions to Upper California in 1768. He embarked on the journey and reached Loreto on April 1, where he oversaw the establishment of 15 missions, from San José del Cabo to Santa María. Serra’s efforts continued as he founded nine missions in Upper California, including San Diego, San Carlos, San Antonio, San Gabriel, San Luis Obispo, San Francisco, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Clara, and San Buenaventura. He also participated in the founding of Presidio Santa Barbara.
Throughout his missionary work, Serra faced health challenges, including leg and foot issues, which required him to be carried on a stretcher during certain parts of his journey. Despite his physical afflictions, he dedicated the next 15 years of his life to evangelizing in Upper California.
Serra passed away on August 28, 1784, at Mission San Carlos, where he was buried in the church he had constructed. By the end of 1784, the number of baptized Indians at the first nine missions had reached 6,736, with 4,646 Christianized Indians residing in them.
Junípero Serra was known for his zeal, optimism, and devotion to his converts. He fought for the freedom of the Church against royal interference and played a significant role in the establishment and expansion of missions in California. His beatification process began in 1934 and concluded in 1949. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on September 25, 1988, and later canonized by Pope Francis on September 23, 2015. Junípero Serra is widely recognized as the Apostle of California, with numerous monuments and memorials commemorating his legacy along the Camino Real.
Imagine being able to sit at the feet of the apostles and hear their stories of life with Jesus from their own lips. Imagine walking with those who had walked with Jesus, seen him, and touched him. That was what Polycarp was able to do as a disciple of Saint John the Evangelist.
But being part of the second generation of Church leaders had challenges that the first generation could not teach about. What did you do when those eyewitnesses were gone? How do you carry on the correct teachings of Jesus? How do you answer new questions that never came up before?
With the apostles gone, heresies sprang up pretending to be true teaching, persecution was strong, and controversies arose over how to celebrate liturgy that Jesus never laid down rules for.
Polycarp, as a holy man and bishop of Smyrna, found there was only one answer — to be true to the life of Jesus and imitate that life. Saint Ignatius of Antioch told Polycarp “your mind is grounded in God as on an immovable rock.”
When faced with heresy, he showed the “candid face” that Ignatius admired and that imitated Jesus’ response to the Pharisees. Marcion, the leader of the Marcionites who followed a dualistic heresy, confronted Polycarp and demanded respect by saying, “Recognize us, Polycarp.” Polycarp responded, “I recognize you, yes, I recognize the son of Satan.”
On the other hand when faced with Christian disagreements he was all forgiveness and respect. One of the controversies of the time came over the celebration of Easter. The East, where Polycarp was from, celebrated the Passover as the Passion of Christ followed by a Eucharist on the following day. The West celebrated Easter on the Sunday of the week following Passover. When Polycarp went to Rome to discuss the difference with Pope Anicetus, they could not agree on this issue. But they found no difference in their Christian beliefs. And Anicetus asked Polycarp to celebrate the Eucharist in his own papal chapel.
Polycarp faced persecution the way Christ did. His own church admired him for following the “gospel model” — not chasing after martyrdom as some did, but avoiding it until it was God’s will as Jesus did. They considered it “a sign of love to desire not to save oneself alone, but to save also all the Christian brothers and sisters.”
One day, during a bloody martyrdom when Christians were attacked by wild animals in the arena, the crowd became so mad that they demanded more blood by crying, “Down with the atheists; let Polycarp be found.” (They considered Christians “atheists” because they didn’t believe in their pantheon of gods.) Since Polycarp was not only known as a leader but as someone holy “even before his grey hair appeared”, this was a horrible demand.
Polycarp was calm but others persuaded him to leave the city and hide at a nearby farm. He spent his time in prayer for people he knew and for the Church. During his prayer he saw a vision of his pillow turned to fire and announced to his friends that the dream meant he would be burned alive.
As the search closed in, he moved to another farm, but the police discovered he was there by torturing two boys. He had a little warning since he was upstairs in the house but he decided to stay, saying, “God’s will be done.”
Then he went downstairs, talked to his captors and fed them a meal. All he asked of them was that they give him an hour to pray. He spent two hours praying for everyone he had every known and for the Church, “remembering all who had at any time come his way — small folk and great folk, distinguished and undistinguished, and the whole Catholic Church throughout the world.” Many of his captors started to wonder why they were arresting this holy, eighty-six-year-old bishop.
But that didn’t stop them from taking him into the arena on the Sabbath. As he entered the arena, the crowd roared like the animals they cheered. Those around Polycarp heard a voice from heaven above the crowd, “Be brave, Polycarp, and act like a man.”
The proconsul begged the eighty-six-year-old bishop to give in because of his age. “Say ‘Away with the atheists'” the proconsul urged. Polycarp calmly turned to the face the crowd, looked straight at them, and said, “Away with the atheists.” The proconsul continued to plead with him. When he asked Polycarp to swear by Caesar to save himself, Polycarp answered, “If you imagine that I will swear by Caesar, you do not know who I am. Let me tell you plainly, I am a Christian.” Finally, when all else failed the proconsul reminded Polycarp that he would be thrown to the wild animals unless he changed his mind. Polycarp answered, “Change of mind from better to worse is not a change allowed to us.”
Because of Polycarp’s lack of fear, the proconsul told him he would be burned alive but Polycarp knew that the fire that burned for an hour was better than eternal fire.
When he was tied up to be burned, Polycarp prayed, “Lord God Almighty, Father of your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have received knowledge of you, God of angels and powers, of the whole creation and of the whole race of the righteous who live in your sight, I bless you, for having made me worthy of this day and hour, I bless you, because I may have a part, along with the martyrs, in the chalice of your Christ, to resurrection in eternal life, resurrection both of soul and body in the incorruptibility of the Holy Spirit. May I be received today, as a rich and acceptable sacrifice, among those who are in you presence, as you have prepared and foretold and fulfilled, God who is faithful and true. For this and for all benefits I praise you, I bless you, I glorify you, through the eternal and heavenly High Priest, Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, through whom be to you with him and the Holy Spirit glory, now and for all the ages to come. Amen.”
The fire was lit as Polycarp said Amen and then the eyewitnesses who reported said they saw a miracle. The fire burst up in an arch around Polycarp, the flames surrounding him like sails, and instead of being burned he seemed to glow like bread baking, or gold being melted in a furnace. When the captors saw he wasn’t being burned, they stabbed him. The blood that flowed put the fire out.
The proconsul wouldn’t let the Christians have the body because he was afraid they would worship Polycarp. The witnesses reported this with scorn for the lack of understanding of Christian faith: “They did not know that we can never abandon the innocent Christ who suffered on behalf of sinners for the salvation of those in this world.” After the body was burned, they stole the bones in order to celebrate the memory of his martyrdom and prepare others for persecution. The date was about February 23, 156.
In His Footsteps: When faced with challenges to your Christian life, try a version of Polycarp’s prayer of martyrdom: “Lord God Almighty, Father of your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have received knowledge of you, God of angels and powers, of the whole creation and of the whole race of the righteous who live in your sight, I bless you, for having made me worthy of this day and hour, I bless you, because I may have a part, along with the martyrs, in the chalice of your Christ, to resurrection in eternal life, resurrection both of soul and body in the incorruptibility of the Holy Spirit. For this and for all benefits I praise you, I bless you, I glorify you, through the eternal and heavenly High Priest, Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, through whom be to you with him and the Holy Spirit glory, now and for all the ages to come. Amen.”
Prayer: Saint Polycarp, sometimes Christ seems so far away from us. Centuries have passed since he and the apostles walk the earth. Help us to see that he is close to us always and that we can keep him near by imitating his life as you did. Amen
Although little is known about St. Simon Stock’s early life, legend has it that the name Stock, meaning “tree trunk,” derives from the fact that, beginning at age twelve, he lived as a hermit in a hollow tree trunk of an oak tree. It is also believed that, as a young man, he went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land where he joined a group of Carmelites with whom he later returned to Europe. Simon Stock founded many Carmelite Communities, especially in University towns such as Cambridge, Oxford, Paris, and Bologna, and he helped to change the Carmelites from a hermit Order to one of mendicant friars. In 1254 he was elected Superior-General of his Order at London. Simon Stock’s lasting fame came from an apparition he had in Cambridge, England, on July 16, 1251, at a time when the Carmelite Order was being oppressed. In it the Virgin Mary appeared to him holding the brown scapular in one hand. Her words were: “Receive, my beloved son, this scapular of thy Order; it is the special sign of my favor, which I have obtained for thee and for thy children of Mount Carmel. He who dies clothed with this habit shall be preserved from eternal fire.
It is the badge of salvation, a shield in time of danger, and a pledge of special peace and protection.” The scapular (from the Latin, scapula, meaning “shoulder blade”) consists of two pieces of cloth, one worn on the chest, and the other on the back, which were connected by straps or strings passing over the shoulders. In certain Orders, monks and nuns wear scapulars that reach from the shoulders almost to the ground as outer garments. Lay persons usually wear scapulars underneath their clothing; these consist of two pieces of material only a few inches square. There are elaborate rules governing the wearing of the scapular: although it may be worn by any Catholic, even an infant, the investiture must be done by a priest. And the scapular must be worn in the proper manner; if an individual neglects to wear it for a time, the benefits are forfeited. The Catholic Church has approved eighteen different kinds of scapulars of which the best known is the woolen brown scapular, or the Scapular of Mount Carmel, that the Virgin Mary bestowed on Simon Stock. His feast day is May 16th.
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