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ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY INTO HEAVEN - 15th Aug

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 Open the portals! The Queen is approaching. Lift up, O eternal gates!” The endless parade of the blessed crowded about the wide-open gates of heaven.      There was tense expectancy, such as one finds along a line of march as a parade approaches. A roadway of clouds billowed the pathway from an uncorrupted grave to an incorruptible      throne. At last, borne by Angels, the lovely Mother arrives, the first Assumption Day, the Assumption of Mary.      The heavenly throng gasps with admiration. The celestial singers burst into song. The Angels hurry to and fro to catch a glimpse of her and to tell their companions of her beauty.      Jesus waits at the open entrance, throws His arms about His Mother, leads her triumphantly and happily to the very throne of the heavenly Father,      who leans forward and places solemnly and smilingly upon her beauteous head the crown, as the Holy Spirit, heavenly Spouse of the Virgin Mother casts warmth and light upon the      newcomer. Mary’s death was
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SAINT OF THE DAY ASSUMPTION OF BVM - 15th Aug

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 The Assumption of Mary was formally declared as a dogma in 1950 by Pope Pius XII. The Holy Father wrote, “By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ,      of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God,      the ever-Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” The Assumption glorifies God.      It honors the Virgin Mary who is worthy of veneration and emulation precisely because of her unique role in God's loving plan of salvation.      Early Christians referred to Mary as "the Second Eve". Her "Yes" to the Lord is the counter to the "no" of Eve. This woman who was preserved from sin to become the living tabernacle,      the home of Jesus, is raised into heaven by God. The most important fact is that Mary was taken up into heaven in the first place.      It shows what is in store fo
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VIGIL OF THE ASSUMPTION OF OUR MOTHER - 14th Aug

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 Vigils were kept on the evening before each feast day from the earliest days of the Church. On that evening all of the faithful would gather together to prepare themselves and      their dispositions for the feast they were about to celebrate. This might also include listening to readings from the Bible or a sermon on the topic by a Priest.      Mass would then be celebrated on the feast day and the fast would be broken. The Vigil of the Assumption would have been one of the Church's most important vigils.     “Of the glory and felicity of the Saints in the beatific vision St. Paul says with Isaiah that neither has mortal eyes seen, nor ears heard, nor can it enter into the heart of man      what God has prepared for those who love Him and who hope in Him. If on this account the glory even of the least of the Saints is ineffable,      what shall we say of the glory of the most blessed Mary, since among the Saints She is the most holy and She by Herself is more like to her Son than
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SAINT OF THE DAY S MAXIMILAN KOLBE (1894-1941) - 14th Aug

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 Maximilian was born in Poland and in his childhood, Our Mother appeared to him in a dream holding a white crown and a red crown.      He later related, “She asked if I was willing to accept either of these crowns. The white one meant that I should persevere in purity, and the red that I should become a martyr.      I said that I would accept them both.” At the age of 16, he entered the Franciscan Order. He was sent to study in Rome where he was ordained a priest in 1918.      Fr. Maximilian returned to Poland in 1919 and began spreading the Immaculate movement of Marian consecration. In 1927, he established an evangelization center near Warsaw and the      Friars utilized the most modern printing and a monthly magazine with a circulation of over one million. Maximilian started a radio station and he was a      true “Apostle of the Mass Media.” Maximilian was a ground-breaking theologian. His insights into the Immaculate Conception anticipated the Marian theology of the Second Vatican 
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DORMITION OF OUR MOTHER - 13th Aug

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 Death of Our Mother took place in the presence of the Apostles, except Saint Thomas. Like her divine Son, she rose again and ascended to heaven on the third day after her death.      The holy Apostles called the two maidens who had assisted the Queen to anoint the body of the Mother of God with highest reverence and wrap it in the winding-sheets before it      should be placed in the casket. The refulgence issuing from it barred and blinded them in such a manner that they could neither see nor touch the body.      In fear and reverence the maidens left the room; Then St. Peter and St. John entered the oratory and perceived the effulgence and they heard the celestial music of the angels,      who were singing: “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.” From that time on many of the faithful expressed their devotion toward the most blessed Mary and from them      they were handed down to be repeated by us. The Apostles took upon their shoulders the sacred body and the tabernacle
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OUR MOTHER OF EL CISNE (ECUADOR) - 12th Aug

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 After founding the city of Loja, Ecuador in 1548, the Spanish colonized a mountain area, The Swan.     In 1594, a drought and plague of rats destroyed crops in the region. Threatened with famine in addition to pressure from the Spanish,      the local Indians had decided to emigrate in search of a better land, when an apparition of the Virgin changed their minds. A young native woman herding sheep to pasture met with      a most lovely Lady crowned with fragrant roses who stayed with her, conversing about God while the flock grazed. The people built the church, and rains fell.     October 12, 1594, was the apparition date and the end of the drought. The natives of El Cisne commissioned a statue from Diego de Robles of Quito. Carved of oak,      the statue of the Virgin holding the Child in her left hand and a scepter in her right. The statue was canonically crowned on September 8, 1930.      A new shrine begun in 1934 was consecrated on August 12, 1979, attended by a crowd of regional
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S JANE FRANCES DE CHANTAL (1572-1641) - 12th Aug

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 Jane Frances was wife, mother, nun and founder of a religious community in France. At 21 she married Baron de Chantal, by whom she had six children.      At her castle she restored the custom of daily Mass, and was seriously engaged in various charitable works. Jane's husband was killed after seven years of marriage,      and she sank into deep dejection for four months at her family home. Jane managed to remain an insolent housekeeper. When she was 32, she met St. Francis de Sales who became her      spiritual director. She wanted to become a nun but he persuaded her to defer this decision. After three years Francis told her of his plan to found an institute of women which      would be a haven for those whose health, age or other considerations barred them from entering the already established communities. There would be no cloister,      and they would be free to undertake spiritual and corporal works of mercy. They were primarily intended to exemplify the virtues of Mary at th
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S CLARE OF ASSISI (1194-1253) - 11th Aug

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 S CLARE OF ASSISI (1194-1253)     Clare’s father was a count and died when the girl was very young. After hearing St. Francis of Assisi preach in the streets, Clare confided to him her desire to live for God,      and the two became close friends. On Palm Sunday in 1212, her bishop presented Clare with a palm, which she apparently took as a sign. With her cousin Pacifica, Clare ran away to      enter religious life. She eventually took the veil from St. Francis at the Church of Our Mother of the Angels in Assisi. Clare founded the Order of      Poor Ladies and led it for 40 years. Everywhere the Franciscans established themselves throughout Europe depending solely on alms, forced to have complete faith on God.      Clare’s mother and sisters later joined the Order. Clare was humble, merciful, charming, optimistic, chivalrous, and every day she meditated on the Passion of Jesus.      Once when her convent was about to be attacked, she displayed the Sacrament in a Monstrance     at the
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INSTITUTION OF THE ORDER OF OUR MOTHER OF MERCY (SPAIN) - 10th Aug

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 St. Peter Nolasco was born in 1189 at Mas-des-Saintes-Puelles, near Castelnaudary, Languedoc, France. At the age of 25 he took a vow of chastity and signed over his vast estates      to the Church. The Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Peter, to Raymund of Pennafort, his confessor and to the king. She desired the establishment of the Mercedarian Religious Order.      Its members would seek to free Christian captives and offer themselves, if necessary, as an exchange. The complete name of this order is the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary for      the Ransom of Captives. The king went to the Cathedral for a Mass celebrated by the Bishop of Barcelona. St. Raymund went up into the pulpit     and narrated his vision. The king sought the blessing of the Bishop for the plan and the Bishop bestowed the habit on St. Peter and two others who vowed to give themselves      as a hostage. The Order was legally constituted at Barcelona by King James of Aragon was established in Spain and later approve
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S LAWRENCE (225-258) - 10th Aug

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 As deacon in Rome, Lawrence was charged with the responsibility for the material goods of the Church, and the distribution of alms to the poor.      When Lawrence knew he would be arrested like the Pope, he sought out the poor, widows and orphans of Rome and gave them all the money he had on hand, selling even the sacred      vessels to increase the sum. When the prefect of Rome heard of this, he imagined that the Christians must have considerable treasure. He sent for Lawrence and he replied that      the Church was indeed rich. “I will show you a valuable part. But give me time to set everything in order and make an inventory.”      After three days he gathered a great number of blind, lame, maimed, leprous, orphaned and widowed persons and put them in rows.      When the prefect arrived, Lawrence simply said, “These are the treasure of the Church.” He was a Roman deacon under Pope St. Sixtus II. Four days after this Pope was put to death,      Lawrence and four clerics suffered mar
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BOMBED MOTHER MARY, NAGASAKI (JAPAN) - 09th Aug

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 On 1571, the port of Nagasaki was established by Portuguese traders, Jesuit missionaries, and a wealthy convert, Omura Sumitada. Most of its inhabitants were Catholic.      But in 1587, Japanese     nationalist leader banned missionaries. For the next three centuries, Nagasaki's Catholic community was repeatedly suppressed and persecuted.      After the Japanese government revoked its ban on     Christianity in 1873, many exiles returned to Nagasaki and began building a Cathedral. Consecrated in 1914, but not completed until 1925,      the handmade brick Cathedral was the largest Catholic Church in Asia. In 1929, a wooden statue of the Immaculate Conception, carved in Italy was placed over the Altar.      On August 9, 1945, the U.S. aircraft Bockscar dropped an atomic bomb that destroyed much of Nagasaki, killing over 70,000 people and leveling the Cathedral while Priests were      hearing confessions. That fall, Trappist monk recently discharged from military service, found the b
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S TERESA BENEDICTA OF THE CROSS (1891-1942) - 09th Aug

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 Born into a prominent Jewish family in Poland, Edith abandoned Judaism in her teens. As a student at the University of Göttingen, she became fascinated by phenomenology,      an approach to philosophy. A brilliant philosopher who stopped believing in God, earned a doctorate in philosophy in 1916. Edith Stein was so captivated by reading the      autobiography of Teresa of Avila that she began a spiritual journey that led to her Baptism in 1922. Twelve years later she imitated Teresa by becoming a Carmelite,      taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She continued as a university teacher until 1922 when she moved to a Dominican school in Speyer;      her appointment as lecturer at the Educational Institute of Munich ended under pressure from the Nazis. After living in the Cologne Carmel (1934-38),      she moved to the Carmelite monastery in Echt, Netherlands. In retaliation for being denounced by the Dutch Bishops, the Nazis arrested all Dutch Jews who had become Christians. 
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OUR MOTHER OF KUEHN (BELGIUM) - 08th Aug

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 The crops were poor; there was much sickness, but the Virgin would not let her people plead in vain. She knew what hunger, poverty and pain was. She would help. Fervently,      confidently, lovingly, the people gathered at Mary’s little shrine and asked their Mother for aid. Suddenly the image of Mary     smiled and a sweet voice begged them to erect a Church in her honor and to build it on this spot. Our Mother promised that on the morrow she would show them where and how.      The dimensions of the Church are said to have been marked out with a line which is still visible. It reminds us of when Our Lord returned to Galilee with His first disciples,      and Jesus and His Mother were invited to a wedding at Cana, near Nazareth. Mary understood and was prepared to relieve the anxiety for the guests. When the chief steward,      who did not know where the wine had come from, tasted the water made wine, he went to the bridegroom, exclaiming in surprise,      “Every man first sets forth
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S DOMINIC (1170-1221) - 08th Aug

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 Born in old Castile, Spain, he was trained for the priesthood by a priest-uncle, studied the arts and theology, and became a canon of the Cathedral at Osma,      where there was an attempt to revive the apostolic common life described in the Acts of the Apostles. On a journey through France with his Bishop,      he came face to face with the then virulent Albigensian heresy at Languedoc. The Albigensians held to two principles—one good, one evil—in the world. All matter is evil.      Hence, they denied the Incarnation and sacraments. They abstained from procreation and took a minimum of food and drink.     The inner circle led what some people regarded as a heroic life of purity and asceticism not shared by ordinary followers.      Dominic sensed the need for the Church to combat this heresy, and was commissioned to be part of the preaching crusade against it.      He saw immediately why the preaching was not succeeding: the ordinary people admired and followed the ascetical heroes of
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OUR MOTHER OF SCHIEDAM (HOLLAND) - 07th Aug

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 This statue of our Mother of Schiedam is located in Holland. A merchant, who had stolen this image embarked with the intention of selling it at a fair price.      Mysteriously he could never get away from the port. Alarmed at this prodigy, he restored the image which he had taken away and it was solemnly translated to the Church of      St. John the Baptist. It was at the shrine of Our Mother of Schiedam that the mystic, Saint Lidwina spent whole nights in prayer and was drawn toward the Mother of God and prayed a      great deal before this miraculous image. The Mother of God revealed to her the extent of suffering Christ would ask her to endure but likewise assured her through her grace and      intercessory power. The Blessed Virgin Mary was true to her word as was Saint Lidwina in accepting the will of God in imitation to Our Mother’s Fiat.      Saint Lidwina prayed much despite her suffering, and was particularly devoted to the Eucharist and willingly bore her anguish for the lov
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S CAJETAN (1480-1547) - 07th Aug

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 Cajetan was born in 1480 of persons of the first rank among the nobility of the territory of Vicenza, in Lombardy. His father died when he was two years of age and he was      predisposed to piety by his mother. Cajetan studied law in Padua, receiving his degree in civil and canon law. In 1506 he worked as a diplomat for Pope Julius II,      with whom he helped reconcile the Republic of Venice. But he was not ordained a priest until the year 1516. With the death of Pope Julius II, Cajetan withdrew from the papal court.      He founded in 1522 a hospital for incurables. His interests were more devoted to spiritual healing than the physical kind, and joined the "Oratory of Divine Love",      a confraternity in Rome. A new congregation "Theatines" was canonically erected and the order grew at a fairly slow pace. He founded a bank to help the poor and offer an      alternative to usurers. It later became the Bank of Naples. Cajetan died in Naples And his remains are in
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OUR MOTHER OF COPACABANA (BOLOVIA) - 06th Aug

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 Among the passengers of a ship lost in a storm near Rio de Janeiro, were some Brazilian pilgrims returning from a visit to the shrine of the Virgin of Copacabana in Bolivia.      They called upon the Virgin to intercede for them and they were landed safely on the Brazilian shores. In token of gratitude,      they called the spot Copacabana and it has since become one of the world’s favorite resorts. The missionaries who came with the Spanish conquerors naturally planted the Cross in      all large Incan centers and a Church was built in Copacabana. In the year 1581, a young Indian lad, Francisco desired earnestly that his town be dedicated to Our Mother.      In secret, he started to construct a statue of the Virgin and Child to be presented to the village. Finally after months of disappointments and successes,      he finished his labor of love, Our Mother of Copacabana – a Virgin with all of the features of his own race, in her arms an Infant.      The Virgin, Our Mother of Copacaba
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TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD - 06th Aug

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 The Transfiguration of Christ is the culminating point of His public life, as His Baptism is its starting point and His Ascension its end.      Mount Tabor was the site of the revelation. On July 22, 1456, Crusaders defeated the Turks at Belgrade. News of the victory reached Rome on August 6,      and Pope Callistus III placed the feast on the following year. A Church first raised there in the 4th century was dedicated on August 6. At His Transfiguration,      Christ showed his disciples the splendor of his beauty, to which he will shape and color those who are his: ‘He will reform our lowness configured to the body of his glory’      (Phil. 3:21) The Transfiguration also echoes the teaching by Jesus that God is not "the God of the dead, but of the living".      Although Moses had died and Elijah had been taken up to heaven centuries before, they now live in the presence of the Son of God,      implying that the same return to life can apply to all who face death and have fa
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OUR MOTHER OF THE SNOWS (TUTICORIN) - 05th Aug

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 The history of Shrine Basilica of Our Mother of Snows is closely connected with the history of the conversion of the Paravars of the Pearl Fishery Coast.      Once the Paravars of Pearl Fishery Coast had a sharp dispute with the Muslims of this area regarding the right of Pearl Fishing. The leaders of Parava villages requested the      Portuguese to rescue them from the cruelties of the Muslims and they were routed. As a token of gratitude to their redeemers,      the Paravars from about 22 villages numbering about 30,000 embraced Christianity in the year 1535-37. In October 1542, St. Francis Xavier arrived on the shores of the Pearl      Fishery Coast to catechize them and strengthen them further in their faith. The beautiful statue of Our Mother of Snows has always been looked upon as a miraculous one,      as many miracles are said to have occurred in the Shrine from the time of its installation at St. Paul’s Church. In 1582, through the efforts of the Jesuits,      a Church dedica
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DEDICATION OF BASILICA OF MARY MAJOR - 05th Aug

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 The Church Universal commemorates the consecration of the four great Roman Basilicas, the Mother Churches of Christendom, viz., St. John Lateran, St. Peter, St. Paul Outside the Walls,      and St. Mary Major. By means of these feasts the Church seeks to link all Christians with the Holy See. This feast commemorates the miracle of the snowfall that occurred during      the night of August 4-5 in the year 358 on the site where the Basilica now stands. The Virgin Mary appeared in a dream to two faithful Roman Christians,      the patrician John and his wife, as well as to Pope Liberius asking that a Church be built in her honor on the site where snow would fall on the night of August 4-5.      Pope Liberius traced the outlines of the Church in the snow and the first Basilica was built on that site. It was completed about a century later by Pope Sixtus III,      after the Council of Ephesus in 431 during which Mary was declared to be the Mother of God. During the pontifical Mass,      th
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OUR MOTHER OF DORDRECHT (HOLLAND) - 04th Aug

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 Our Mother of Dordrecht, in Holland was built by Saint Sauters in about the year 1300, on the spot designated by an Angel who was sent by the Blessed Virgin.      Saint Sauters planned on building the Church when she only had three small coins in her purse. The saint afterward received the crown of martyrdom in the same Church where the      shrine was erected, as Saint Sauters had been murdered by the builders of the Chapel out of greed. There is a legend that Saint Sauters rose from the dead after her murder.      There is a painting of Saint Sauters in the Church of Saint Nicholas holding a Church in her hands as she looks up at a statue of the Blessed Virgin holding the Infant Jesus      on her right arm. To render her memory more celebrated, God caused a fountain to flow, after her death, which, through the intercession of the Saint and recourse to Mary,      cured fevers. The healing water soothes troubled minds, brings relief to aching brows and strength to weakened limbs as Ma
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S JOHN MARY VIANNEY (1786-1859) - 04th Aug

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John Vianney was a man with vision; he wanted to become a priest. But he had to overcome his meager formal schooling, which inadequately prepared him for seminary studies.      His failure to comprehend Latin lectures forced him to discontinue. But his vision of being a Priest urged him and after a lengthy battle with the books, John was ordained.      As Pastor of the parish at Ars, John encountered people who were indifferent and quite comfortable with their style of living. His vision led him through severe fasts and less sleep.      His work as a confessor is John Vianney’s most remarkable accomplishment. Unless a man was dedicated to his vision of a priestly vocation,      he could not have endured this giving of self day after day. Many people look forward to retirement but John had no thoughts of retirement. As his fame spread,      more hours were consumed in serving God’s people. Even the few hours he would allow himself for sleep were disturbed frequently by the devil. In 192
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OUR MOTHER OF BOWS (LONDON) - 03rd Aug

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 Our Mother of Bows was a shrine in London. In the year 1071, Mary’s image there had been carried away by a storm, together with more than 600 houses.      It fell uninjured with such violence that it broke into the pavement and sunk into the earth and it was never possible to draw it out. There is a Church currently in London named      St. Mary-le-Bow that was constructed in 1080 by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Church of Saint Mary-le-Bow takes its name from the Norman arches or bows,      which were considered a novelty. There is a saying that to be a true Londoner one must be born within hearing distance of the bells of Saint Mary-Le-Bow.      It is now an Anglican Church.
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S PETER JULIAN EYMARD (1811-1868) - 03rd Aug

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 Born in La Mure d'Isère in France, Peter Julian's faith journey drew him from being a priest in the Diocese of Grenoble to joining the Marists to founding the Congregation of      the Blessed Sacrament. In addition to those changes, Peter Julian coped with poverty, his father's initial opposition to Peter's vocation, serious illness,      a Jansenistic overemphasis on sin and the difficulties of getting diocesan and later papal approval for his new religious community. His years as a Marist,      including service as a provincial leader, saw the deepening of his Eucharistic devotion, especially through his preaching     of Forty Hours in many parishes. Inspired at first by the idea of reparation for indifference to the Eucharist,      Peter Julian was eventually attracted to a more positive spirituality of Christ-centered love. Members of the men's community, which Peter founded,      alternated between an active apostolic life and contemplating Jesus in the Euchar
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OUR MOTHER OF ANGELS, ITALY - 02nd Aug

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 Our Mother of Angels is located six hundred yards from the city of Assisi, in Italy. It was a desolate locality, and apparently an unsettled one where robbers and the lawlessness      flourished, for the Benedictines who had lived at the monastery felt it was too hazardous to remain there. They abandoned the monastery, relocating to Mount Subasio,      which was a fortified monastery. The original Chapel is thought to date from the 4th Century, and was built by holy hermits who had come from the Valley of Josaphat.      They brought relics of the Blessed Virgin with them to the region when they constructed the Chapel. When St. Francis chanced to come upon the little abandoned Chapel of Our Mother      of Angels in the year 1208, it was almost completely hidden in shrubs and brush. St. Francis entered the hidden Church which measured only twenty-two feet by thirteen feet,      and saw the ancient fresco that had been placed above the main altar. It was an image of the Assumption of the
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S PETER FABER, SJ (1506-1546) - 02nd Aug

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 Faber was born to a peasant family in the village of Villaret in France. He went to Paris to pursue his education and had Francis Xavier and Ignatius Loyola became roommates      at the University of Paris and are all recognized by the Jesuits as founders of the Society of Jesus. He became a master of the Spiritual Exercises was the first of the companions      to be ordained. Peter Faber had a gentle spirit and a tendency to be very hard on himself. Ignatius proved to be the perfect mentor for him,      and Faber eventually became the master of the Spiritual Exercises. While hard on himself, Faber was gentle with others and became a gifted pastor of souls, winning others for Jesus.      Faber was sent to Germany in 1541, where he found the state of the Church in disarray. He worked for the renewal of the Church a person at a time,      leading many in the Spiritual Exercises. Princes, prelates, and priests would especially find Peter Faber a gentle source of instruction and guidance
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S ALPHONSUS MARY LIGUORI (1696-1787) - 1st Aug

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 Born to the nobility, Alphonsus was a child prodigy; he received his doctorate in law from the University of Naples. He had his own legal practice by age 21,      and was soon one of the leading lawyers in Naples,     though he never attended court without having attended Mass first. As he matured and learned more and more of the world, he felt a call to religious life.      He studied theology, and was ordained at age 29.     He founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer at Scala, Italy in1732. Appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Sant’Agata de’ Goti, Italy by Pope Clement XIII in 1762.      Worked to reform the clergy and revitalize the faithful in a diocese with a bad reputation. When he was the Bishop, one of Alphonsus’s priests led a worldly life,      and resisted all attempts to change. He was summoned to Alphonsus, and at the entrance to the Bishop‘s study he found a large crucifix laid on the threshold.      When the priest hesitated to step in, Alphonsus quietly said,
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31st Jul - OUR MOTHER OF THE SLAIN (PORTUGAL)

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 Our Mother of the Slain is located at a Cistercian monastery in Ceica, near Lorban, in Portugal. It is piously believed that this image was brought directly from heaven to be      given to the Abbot John, who was the uncle of King Afonso I. King Afonso I, the Conqueror was the first King of Portugal. He spent 46 years waging war against the Moors in order      to drive the invaders from his land. Before the battle of Ourique, when Afonso was to meet an army of five Moorish kings,      he prayed that God would give him the strength to defeat his enemies. In his dream a mysterious old man entered his tent and advised him that it was God’s will that he would be      victorious in the coming war against the Moors. Afterward, he was awakened by his guard, who told him there was an old man waiting outside who wished to speak to him.      King Afonso bade him enter and was started to see it was the old man from his dream. The old man instructed the king to leave his camp that night,      wit
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31st Jul ST IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA (1491-1556)

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 St. Ignatius was born in 1491 at Loyola of a family of minor nobility in northern Spain. As a young man Ignatius was inflamed by the ideals of courtly love and knighthood and      dreamt of doing great deeds. But in 1521, Ignatius was gravely wounded in a battle with the French. While recuperating, Ignatius experienced a conversion.      Reading the lives of Jesus and the saints made Ignatius happy and aroused desires to do great things. Ignatius realized that these feelings were clues to God’s direction for him.      Over the years, Ignatius became expert in the art of spiritual direction. Ignatius was a true mystic. He centered his spiritual life on the essential foundations of the Trinity,      Christ, and the Eucharist. His spirituality is expressed in the Jesuit motto, Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam—“For the Greater Glory of God.” He collected his insights, prayers,      and suggestions in his book the Spiritual Exercises, one of the most influential books on the spiritual life ever writ
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30th Jul - OUR MOTHER OF GRAY, FRANCE (1602)

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 The shrine of Our Mother of Gray is located near Besancon in Northern France. The statue of Our Mother of Gray is made of an oak tree from Montaigu,      has a black colour and is only 14.5 centimeters tall. About five centuries ago, on a hill near Montaigu, a pious person placed a small statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary upon an      old oak tree. The tree itself is crested one of the hills in the diocese of Malines. Soon the faithful began to come in crowds from throughout the region,      for there were miraculous healings and various miracles granted to the pilgrims who invoked Mary under the name of Our Mother of the Oak.      In the year 1602 a small wooden Chapel was built on the hill of Montaigu. The oak upon which the statue of Our Mother had once been displayed was now cut up into small pieces and      carved by a local craftsman into statues of the same image. These statues were presented as a mark of respect to patrons of the shrine.      Even the wood of the oak was almost
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30th Jul - ST PETER CHRYSOLOGUS (380-450)

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 Peter was an adult convert to Christianity, Deacon, Priest and Bishop of Ravenna, Italy in 433. He fought paganism and the Monophysite heresy, enforced reforms,      and built several Churches. Preacher with such language skills, he was given the name Chrysologus, referring to his golden word. 176 of his sermons have survived;      it is the strength of these beautiful explanations of the Incarnation, the Creed, the place of Mary and John the Baptist in the great plan of salvation,      that led to his being proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1729 by Pope Benedict XIII. "Prayer, mercy and fasting: These three are one, and they give life to each other.      Fasting is the soul of prayer; mercy is the life blood of fasting. Let no one try to separate them; they cannot be separated. If you have only one of them or not all together,      you have nothing. So if you pray, fast; if fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. When you fast, se
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29th Jul - OUR MOTHER OF DELIVERANCE (SPAIN)

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 During the Spanish wars which occasioned the people to seek refuge in the New World, a looting soldier carried off a statue from one of the shrines in Madrid.      The image was a beautiful little statue that depicted Mary cuddling at her breast the Infant Jesus whom she was lovingly nursing. A poor peasant returning from the fields after      making a visit to the shrine, recognized the statue in the possession of the drunken soldier. He bought the statue for a small sum of money and carried it home to enshrine it in      his humble cottage. It chanced that this man’s wife was nearing childbirth so daily the couple knelt before the statue begging the Mother of God to give the expectant      mother a safe delivery. He named the statue the Mother of Safe Deliverance.
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29th Jul - ST MARTHA

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 Martha, Mary and their brother Lazarus were evidently close friends of Jesus. He came to their home as a welcomed guest. The sisters felt free to call on Jesus at their brother’s      death. Martha was an active sort of person. On one occasion, she prepared the meal for Jesus and possibly his fellow guests should pitch in to help with the dinner.      Yet, she was not an “unrecollected activist.” The evangelist is emphasizing what our Lord said on several occasions about the primacy of the spiritual: Do not worry about your life,      what you will eat or drink or about your body, what you will wear. But seek first the kingdom and his righteousness;      “One does not live by bread alone” (Lk.4:4); Martha’s great glory was her simple and strong statement of faith in Jesus after her brother’s death.      “Jesus told her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who believes in me will never die.      Do you believe this?’ She
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28th Jul - THE SIEGE OF RHODES, VICTORY THROUGH OUR MOTHER’S INTERCESSION

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 The Siege of Rhodes began with a tremendous bombardment on the tower of Saint Nicholas. Grand Master Pierre D’Aubusson was not intimidated as he asked:      “What is more sacred than to defend the Faith? What is happier than to fight for Christ?” Fighting with broken blades and notched axes, the Knights of Saint John continued to hold      the breach, cutting down any who approached them, until a huge Janissary rose up and hurled a spear with all his might directly at the Grand Master.      A miracle is exactly what they got. Suddenly there appeared in the sky “a refulgent Cross of gold, by the side of which stood a beautiful woman clothed in garments of dazzling white,      a lance in her hand and a shield on her arm, accompanied by a man dressed in goatskins and followed by a band of heavenly warriors armed with flaming swords.”      It was the glorious figures of Saint John the Baptist, the Patron Saint of the Order of Saint John, Saint Michael the Archangel brandishing his unsheat
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28th Jul - ST ALPHONSA MUTTATHUPADATHU (1910-1946)

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 Annakkutty was born in Kudamaloor village to Joseph and Mary Muttathupadathu in 1910. She was baptized on 27 August 1910 under the patronage of Saint Anna. Anna’s mother died     when she was young, so her maternal aunt raised her. She had her schooling in Arpookara and Muttuchira. An accident in 1923 left her permanently disabled.      She joined the Poor Clares in Bharananganam in 1927 and took the name Alphonsa. She made her final profession in 1936. Her life was one of suffering. She died on 28 July 1946,     aged 35. She was buried at Bharananganam in the Diocese of Palai. She was proclaimed Blessed by Pope John Paul II in Kottayam on the 8th of February 1986.      She was canonized on the 12th of October 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI. With that Canonization, the Church in India presents its first Saint to the veneration of the faithful of the      whole world. Faithful from every part of the world have come together in a single act of thanksgiving to God in her name.      Pope Bened
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27th Jul - OUR MOTHER OF FAITH, GRAVELINES (FRANCE)

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 In the country of Liege and the small town of Dinant, there were two magnificent oaks near a home belonging to the lord of Celles.      One of the two old trees was grounded in the year 1609 for lumber.     The worker who inspected the tree found in the interior a small statue of the Mother of God enthroned on three iron bars. Apparently, at some time in the distant past,      some pious Christian soul had placed the holy image in a hollow of the oak, as if in a niche. Then, over a period of time,      the opening the tree had made while it was still young gradually closed, and as it grew, the tree hid in its womb the precious figure. To honour the Virgin,      the statue was subsequently displayed on the other oak, once again behind an iron grating, by order of Baron of Celles. In this new sanctuary,      the Mother of God was honored with the title of Our Lady of Faith. A priest of the Society of Jesus had recently been sent to Gravelines. He worked diligently to cultivate souls,   
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27th Jul - BLESSED MARIA GRAZIA TARALLO (1866-1912)

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 Born in Italy to Leopoldo Tarallo and Concetta Borriello, Maria was raised in a pious family, and received a Christian education. She made a private vow of virginity at age five      in front of a statue of the Blessed Mother. Made her First Communion at age 7, and received Confirmation at 10. Feeling drawn to religious life, at 22 she wanted to enter a convent,      but her family opposed it, hoping she would marry; however, the young man who had proposed to her died before the wedding. Entered the monastery of the Sisters Crucified Adorers      of the Eucharist in Barra in June 1891, taking the name Sister Maria of the Passion. Student of the Servant of God Maria Pia Notari. Served as Novice Mistress and as spiritual      guide to her sisters, worked in the kitchen and laundry, and as porter. Known for her life of charity, deep prayer, and devotion to her Congregation and the Eucharist.      She called herself, "My name is Sr. Maria of the Passion and I must resemble the Master
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26th Jul - OUR MOTHER OF GRACE (ITALY)

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 In 1672 the Blessed Virgin told a shepherd boy that she wished to be venerated at a certain place in the beech woods near Castelluccio in central Italy,      whereupon the child discovered a terracotta Madonna affixed to one of the trees there. The 7" Madonna of the Beech was moved to a wayside shrine, and then,      in 1722, to its own mountain sanctuary. Until 1964 a caretaker lived in the hermitage there. Since then a volunteer opened the Chapel only in summer on Sundays.      In 1975 the sacred image was stolen and replaced with a copy. Since 1756, an annual pilgrimage on Ascension Day brings the image to the town and back again,      and on St. Anne's feast day, July 26, a procession goes to the site of the beech tree, recently fallen. The sanctuary's holy card doesn't seem to depict the terracotta image.      It may represent one of the paintings of Lorenzo Pranzini, who decorated the interior of the chapel in the 1800s.
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26th Jul - SS JOACHIM & ANNE

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 Saint Anne was born in Bethlehem and married Joachim of Nazareth, both descendants of David. Joachim is described as a rich and pious man,      who regularly gave to the poor and to the synagogue. The parents of the Blessed Virgin, who, apparently, first lived in Galilee, came later on to settle in Jerusalem.      However, the high priest rejected Joachim and his sacrifice, as their childlessness was interpreted as a sign of divine displeasure. Joachim consequently withdrew to the      desert where he fasted and did penance for forty days. Angels then appeared to both Joachim and Anne to promise them a child. Joachim later returned to Jerusalem and embraced      Anne at the city gate. There was ancient belief that a child born of an elderly mother who had given up hope of having offspring was destined for great things.      It was in the home of Joachim and Ann where the Virgin Mary received her training to be the Mother of God. Thus, devotion to Ann and Joachim is an extension of the
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25th Jul - OUR MOTHER OF ZOCUECA (SPAIN)

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 Charles Napoleon Robitaille, a salesman traveled the roads in and around Quebec. During the winters he would have to cross frozen rivers and it was in the winter while trying      to cross the Saguenay River that the ice broke under the weight of his horse and sleigh. Pulled beneath the surface of the icy waters, Charles was alone and completely helpless.      Knowing he was dying, he implored the Blessed Virgin Mary to save him. Charles miraculously survived and managed to escape from the river with his life.      He knew the Virgin had assisted him and so to honor Mary and her recent apparition at Lourdes, he asked Louis Jobin to create a huge statue of the Blessed Virgin sculpted in the      image of Our Lady of Lourdes. He envisioned the statue in the heights overlooking the mouth of the river. The statue Jobin sculpted became known as Notre-Dame du Saguenay.      The finished statue is an impressive 35 feet high and weighs 3 tons. On the right side of the base of the statue, the
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25th Jul - ST APOLLINARIS OF RAVENNA'

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 James is the son of Zebedee and Salome, brother of St. John the Apostle and may have been Jesus' cousin. He is called "The Great" simply because he became an Apostle.  He was an apparent disciple of St. John the Baptist. He left everything when Christ called him to be a fisher of men. He was present during most of the recorded miracles of Christ.  Preached in Samaria, Judea, and Spain. On January 2 of the year 40 A.D., the Virgin Mary appeared to St. James the Great on the bank of the Ebro River at Caesaraugusta,  while he was preaching the Gospel in Spain. She supposedly appeared upon a pillar Nuestra Seora del Pilar, and that pillar is conserved and venerated within the present Basilica  of Our Lady of the Pillar, in Zaragoza, Spain. Following that apparition, St. James returned to Judea, where he was beheaded by King Herod Agrippa I in the year 44.  He was the first Apostle to be martyred. The pilgrimage to his relics in Compostella became such a popular devotion that
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24th Jul - RZEVSK MOTHER OF GOD (RUSSIA)

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 On Pentecost Sunday, May 26, 1539, a monk named Stephen discovered two holy objects attached to trees at a crossroads near Rzev in northwest Russia. Only one pine was a large iron      cross; on another, an old icon depicting the Holy Mother and Child with St. Nicholas of Myra. Many people witnessed     a supernatural light shining around the trees and experienced healings there. Stephen brought the news to Moscow, where the head of the Russian Church, Metropolitan Joseph,      decided to build two new Churches, one in honor of the Cross of Rzev and the other for the Holy Mother and St. Nicholas. In January, 1541,      the sacred objects were transferred to Moscow for the dedication of the new Churches. The feast of the Rzevsk Mother of God commemorates the icon's return to Rzev.
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24th Jul - BLESSED MARIA MERCEDES PRAT (1880-1936)

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 Maria was baptized on 7 March 1880 and made her First Holy Communion on 30 June 1890. She was a pious child who attended Mass nearly every day. As a devoted student, a painter,      and excelled in needlework, joined the Society of Saint Teresa of Jesus in 1904 in Tortosa. She was assigned     to the motherhouse in Barcelona in 1920. On 19 July 1936, her community was forced by anti-Catholic government authorities to abandon their house and school. Mercedes was arrested     and shot on 23 July 1936 for the crime of being a nun. Finally, at dawn on July 24th, on the road to Rabasada, the firing squad found her with a prayer on her lips.      A few shots rang out. Mortally wounded, she repeated between cries of pain, "Jesus, Joseph, Mary." Her last words were those of the Our Father. To the Sister who closed her eyes,      she seemed "An Angel of Sorrow”. She was Beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1990.
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23rd Jul - INSTITUTION OF THE ORDER OF OUR MOTHER OF PREMONTRE, ENGLAND

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 Saint Norbert was not a particularly pious young man until he had an encounter with God similar to that of St. Paul. While riding through the countryside one bright day in the year      1115, Norbert had not gone far with the sky darkened due to a sudden storm. A bolt of lightning struck the ground near Norbert, causing his mount to rear and throw him to the ground.      Norbert lay unconscious for some time, but when he awoke he went to his knees, calling out, “Lord, what dost thou wish that I should do?” A voice was heard to respond:      “Avoid evil and do good.” At that, Norbert was a changed man, determined to obey the heavenly command. He made a spiritual retreat and became a priest, giving away his estates and      retiring to a life of rural solitude, applying himself to a life of prayer and contemplation. Saint Norbert left his hermitage from time to time to preach in France,      Belgium and Germany, begging for his bread along the way. In time, a few good men were drawn to
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