Every Day In Christian History

 The present Gothic cathedral in Bruges was built in 1225 and is famous for its 400-foot-tall brick tower.      Inside is where the real treasures are kept. It is reported that a lock of Our Mother’s hair is Preserved given by a Syrian Bishop, named Mocca.      This shrine is said to have its famous relic of the Holy Blood which is the center of pilgrimage.      The precious relic was brought from Palestine by Thierry of Alsace on his return from the second crusade. From 1150 this relic has been venerated with much devotion.

 Benedicta was an Italian who received the jewel of good Christian formation from      her devout parents. Always a devoted youngster, she received the gift of a profound mystical experience at age twenty,      which left her with the desire to pursue a vocation as a religious. However, her parents preferred strongly that she marry.      Benedicta bowed to their wishes, and married in 1816. They lived together for two years as man and wife. In 1818, the couple agreed to live together chastely,      dedicated to God. At this same time, they took Benedicta's younger sister Martha into their home to nurse her through her final fight with cancer.      When Martha died, in 1825, the two entered religious orders, Benedicta joining the Ursuline Congregation,      and Giovanni the order founded by St Jerome Emiliani. Eventually, Benedicta was able to found the Congregation of the Benedictine Sisters of Providence.      The guiding charism of her order is their focus on the education of you

 The Statue was taken to Flanders and hidden away by a Catholic family to protect it      from profanation in 1454. This family received numerous graces and blessings. They were reconciled to the Church as a result.      In 1623 a Spanish captain was given the Statue with instructions to place it into the hands of Archduchess Isabella.      The day the ship arrived, Isabella won a battle against the Hollanders. The Princess sent the Statue back to Brussles,      providing the necessary funds for a sanctuary. The townspeople greeted the Statue enthusiastically with a procession and placed it in the Chapel,      but when the victory became known, the sanctuary was dedicated to Our Mother of Good Success.      The statue is of the Blessed Mother standing with her Divine Child reclining on her right arm, His feet supported by the left hand of His Mother who holds a      large key and a rosary.

 Salvator was born during Spain’s Golden Age when politics, and wealth were flourishing. Ignatius of Loyola founded the Society of Jesus in 1540.      Salvator’s parents were poor. At the age of 21, he entered the Franciscans as a brother and was soon known for his asceticism,      humility, and simplicity. As cook, porter, and later the official beggar for the friars in Tortosa, he became well known for his charity.      He healed the sick with the Sign of the Cross. When crowds of sick people began coming to the friary to see Salvator, the friars transferred him to Horta.      Again, the sick flocked to ask his intercession. He told them to examine their consciences, go to confession, and to receive Holy Communion worthily.      He refused to pray for those who would not receive those sacraments. The public attention given to Salvator was relentless.      The crowds would sometimes tear off pieces of his habit as relics. Two years before his death, Salvator was moved again,      this

Fathers of the Franciscan order were sailing along the coast of Flanders,      when a terrible tempest arose, which sank the vessel, with its 300 hundred passengers. The two Fathers had sufficient presence of mind to seize hold of a plank,      upon which they were tossed to and fro upon the waves, for three days and nights. In their danger, their whole recourse was to St. Joseph,      begging his assistance in their sad condition. The Saint appeared in the habit of a young man of beautiful features,      encouraged them to confide in his assistance and as their pilot, conducted them into a safe harbor. Desirous to know their benefactor,      he told them he was St. Joseph, and advised them daily to recite the Our Father and Hail Mary seven times, in memory of his seven Dolours or griefs,      and of his seven Joys and then disappeared.     1. ST. JOSEPH, by the SORROW with which Your heart was pierced at the thought of a cruel separation      from Mary and by the deep JOY that You fel

 Joseph was Jesus' foster-father and Mary's husband.      Joseph was given the great privilege of taking care of God's own Son, Jesus, and his Mother Mary. Joseph was poor all his life.      He had to work very hard in his carpenter shop, but he did not mind.      He was happy to work for his little family. He loved Jesus and Mary so much that whatever the Lord wanted him to do, Joseph did at once,      no matter how difficult it was. He was humble and pure, gentle and wise. Jesus and Mary loved him and obeyed him because God had placed him as the head of their family.      What a joy for Joseph to live with the Son of God himself. Jesus obeyed him, helped him, and loved him.      It is believed that Joseph died peacefully in the arms of Jesus and Mary. Pope Pius IX proclaimed St. Joseph the patron of the Universal Church.

 The Church of Loreto has been adorned by the Popes,      who have often come here on a pilgrimage like the common faithful. The miraculous statue of the Madonna is thirty-three inches high;      it is carved in cedar wood, covered with magnificent drapery, and placed on an altar glittering with precious stones.      The place which it occupies is covered with plates of gold.      The beautiful litany of Our Mother of Loreto was the votive offering with which a celebrated Florentine composer Barroni, repaid a miracle of the Blessed Virgin.      This composer was all at once lost his hearing; after having exhausted the succor of art without success,      he invoked Mary and set out on a pilgrimage to Our Mother of Loreto. There he was cured and in his gratitude to the Holy Madonna,      he composed a chorus and performed for the first time in 1737. The front area of the Church was constructed during the pontificate of Pope Sixtus V in 1586,      and it was he who founded the order of Kn

 Cyril was born when a new phase was beginning for Christians and the Church was persecuted by the emperors earlier. Thousands of Christians had been martyrs.      In 315, Emperor Constantine recognized Christianity as a legal religion. There was confusion about what Christians believe and don't believe.      There were many false teachings called "heresies." Some priests and bishops became brave defenders of Church teaching. One such bishop was Cyril of Jerusalem.      When St. Maximus, bishop of Jerusalem, died, Cyril was chosen to take his place. Cyril was the bishop of Jerusalem for 35 years.      The reign of Emperor Julian the apostate began in 361. Julian decided to rebuild the famous Temple of Jerusalem. So he spent much money and sent all the      materials for a new Temple. Cyril felt that the Temple could not be built, because Jesus had said so. First a storm, then an earthquake, then a fire stopped the emperor.      He finally abandoned the project. St. Cyril

 During the difficult times, Bishop Lynch, Bishop of Clonfert was forced to leave Ireland.       He traveled about Europe and finally came to Hungary in 1654. He was kindly received by Bishop John Pusky, Bishop of Gyer,      and eventually became Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese. Ten years later Bishop Lynch planned to return to his native land. Almighty God prevented this;      during his dying hours he gave to the Bishop of Gyer his only material treasure, the picture of the Madonna of Ireland. Soon after, as a memory of the Irish Bishop,      the picture of Our Mother was hung on the wall of the Cathedral at Gyer. Years passed. On the feast of St. Patrick,      while large numbers of the faithful were present in the Cathedral, an awe-inspiring event took place.      A bloody sweat was observed to come over the figure of the Blessed Mother in the picture. Drops of blood fell onto the Infant Jesus; as the bleeding continued for 3 hours.      In the archives of the Cathedral of Gyer, th

 Patrick was born in 5th century in Britain to Roman parents. When he was 16,      he was captured by pirates and taken to Ireland. There he was sold as a slave. His owner sent him to tend his flocks on the mountains.      Patrick had very little food and clothing. Yet he took good care of the animals in rain, snow and ice. Patrick was so lonely on the hillside that he turned often      in prayer to Jesus and his Mother Mary. Patrick's trust in God grew stronger all the time. Later, when he escaped from Ireland,      he studied to become a priest. But Patrick always felt that he had to go back to Ireland to bring that pagan land to Christ. At last his wish came true.      He became a priest and then a bishop. It was in the reign of Pope Celestine I that Patrick went back to Ireland. He travelled from one village to another.      He seldom rested, and he performed great penances for those people whom he so loved. Before he died, the whole nation was Christian.

 Our Mother of the Fountain at Constantinople was built by the Emperor Leo in the      year 460 in thanksgiving for the Blessed Virgin’s having appeared to him on the margin of a spring to which he was charitably leading a blind man and foretold to him      that he would be emperor. Leo found the lake and did as he was instructed. As soon as the blind man’s eyes were anointed, he received his sight.      Leo became emperor a short time later and then built a large and beautiful Church in honor of the Blessed Virgin at that place just outside the Golden Gate near      the Seven Towers district. Many miracles began to occur there through the intercession of the Mother of God.      When this Church was damaged by earthquakes and subsequent wars but people experience miraculous healings.

 Clement was the ninth child of the Germanic Hofbauer.      His father died when Clement was six years old. The young man felt a call to the priesthood, but his family was too poor to afford his education.      Apprentice and journeyman baker at a monastery at Bruck when hermitages were abolished by the Emperor. Clement worked as a baker in Vienna, Austria.      During the third pilgrimage to Rome, he joined the Redemptorists. He studied at the University of Vienna, and at Rome and ordained in 1785,      and assigned to Vienna. Missionary to Warsaw, Poland, he introduced the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer to Poland. There they encountered numerous      German-speaking Catholics who had been left priestless by the suppression of the Jesuits. From there he sent Redemptorist missionaries to Germany and Switzerland.      Clement and his companions were imprisoned in 1808 when Napoleon suppressed religious orders,      then expelled to Austria. Persecution followed Clement and there

In the year 911, the city of Chartres was miraculously delivered from the siege laid to      it by Rollo, Duke of the Normans; for as he was on the point of taking the city, Bishop of Chartres, mounted on the top of the ramparts,      holding a relic of Our Mother as an ensign, which struck such terror in the camp, that all retreated in disorder; In memory of this fact,      the meadows of the gate of Drouaise are called the meadows of the fugitives. In 1857 the underground shrine was restored and a new statue carved of stone placed in it.       So, Our Mother is still Our Mother of the Underground. And how fitting today that she has such a title;      for so many of our Communist-domineered people must certainly worship in secret, they are of the “underground”, so to say, and have a Mother also thus titled.

 Louise was born near Meux, France and she was educated by the Dominican nuns at Poissy. She desired to become a nun but on the      advice of her confessor, she married Antony in 1613. After Antony's death in 1625, she met St. Vincent de Paul, who became her spiritual adviser.      She devoted the rest of her life to working with him. She helped direct his Ladies of Charity in their work of caring for the sick, the poor,      and the neglected. In 1633 she set up a training center, of which she was Directress in her own home, for candidates seeking to help in her work.      This was the beginning of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. She took her vows in 1634 and attracted great numbers of candidates.      She travelled all over France establishing her Sisters in hospitals, orphanages, and other institutions. By the time of her death in Paris,      the Congregation had more than forty houses in France. Since then they have spread all over the world. She was canonized b

 Our Mother de la Breche, at Chartres, where a procession takes place every year,      in thanksgiving Our Mother for having delivered the city, when besieged by heretics in the year 1568. It was during this siege that the image of Our Mother,      placed upon the Drouaise gate could not be injured by the cannon and musket balls which the besiegers fired at it,      and the marks of which are still seen at two or three inches from the image. About the altar are there were numerous cannon-balls of stone which were relics of the siege.      Entering the large annex on the right the visitor would see a still more curious relic of the siege.      The men of the Huguenot army were the greatest soldiers in Europe yet were they miraculously blinded by a manifest miracle.      The defenders of Chartres placed above the gate of Drouaise the statue of Our Mother de la Breche against which the enemy fired many shots from      cannon but without being able to ever hit it. The statue remained whole

 Matilda was born in Germany, the daughter of a German count. When she was still quite young,      her parents arranged her marriage to a nobleman named Henry. Soon after their marriage, Henry became king of Germany. As queen,      Matilda lived a simple lifestyle with times for daily prayer. Everyone who saw her realized how good and kind she was.      She loved to visit and comfort the sick. She helped prisoners. Matilda did not let herself be spoiled by her position, but tried to reach out to people in need.      The couple were happily married for twenty-three years. After King Henry’s death, the queen suffered the loss very much. She decided then and there to live for God alone.      She favoured her son Otto, in the struggle to be king. After years spent in practicing charity and penance, Matilda died peacefully.

 A tradition records that this image spoke to St. Gregory the Great in the year 593.      The humility of the purest Mary was the dawn of grace, the pure beginning of all creatures, the superior over them all, the prodigy of the divine perfections,      the center of His love, the sphere of the omnipotence of God who called God her Son and was called by Him His mother,      she nevertheless humbled herself to the lowest place in all creation. A creature should not seek the honor which does not belong to it although the Highest      in his infinite kindness accepts it and considers Himself under obligation to one who practices it in that way. But she, most admirably exceeding all this,      while deserving all exaltation and majesty,      humbled herself more than all other creatures and sought neither honor nor exaltation. Thus Mary, holding worthily the dignity of Mother of God,      annihilated herself, and by this very humility deserved anew and in justice to be raised to the domini

 Leander was born in Spain and his own family was heavily influenced by Arianism, but he himself grew up to be a fervent Christian. He entered a monastery as a young man and spent three years      in prayer and study. At the end of that tranquil period he was made a Bishop. For the rest of his life he worked strenuously to fight against heresy.      He saw to help reinforce the faith of his people an antidote against the heresy of Arianism, which denied the divinity of Christ.      By the end of his life, Leander had helped Christianity flourish in Spain at a time of political and religious upheaval.      The death of the anti-Christian king in 586 helped Leander’s cause. He and the new king worked hand in hand to restore orthodoxy and a renewed sense of morality.      Leander succeeded in persuading many Arian Bishops to change their loyalties. After his death, he is honoured as the Doctor of the Church.

 Saint-Maur-des-Fosses is a city that is a suburb of Paris, France. The image of Our Mother of Miracles was found when the sculptor,      named Rumold, was going for work. The Abbey, located in a loop of the Marne just before it joined the Seine, became an important pilgrimage site when the relics of      St. Maurus were found to be effective in healing those who suffered from gout and epilepsy. Due to this sudden popularity,      the name of the Abbey was changed to St. Maurus of the Moats. In the draught year of 1137, all of Western Europe was without rain.      The monks of the Abbey led a procession of the relics of St. Maurus, and at the conclusion of Mass there was a violent thunderstorm which brought rain to the region.      The miraculous statue of Our Mother of Miracles had been venerated since 1328 because of the miraculous circumstances and of its creation.      It is now kept at the Church of St. Nicholas in St. Maurus of the Moats.

 Orione was born in Pontecurone, Italy. At 13 years of age he entered the Franciscan Friary but he left after one year owing      to poor health. He was a pupil of St. John Bosco in Turin for 3 years. He was present at St. Bosco's death, and was cured of his illness during the funeral.      He studied at the seminary in Tortona, Italy. While still a layman and student, he opened San Luigi House at San Bernardino, a home for the poor,      homeless and abandoned. He was ordained in 1895. He founded the Hermits of Divine Providence congregation, the Ladies of Divine Providence,      and an orphanage in Rome under the patronage of Pope Pius X. To administer the houses of his congregations, Luigi travelled visiting houses in Wales, Brazil,      the United States, and throughout Italy. His body was found to be intact at its first exhumation in 1965. It had been exposed to the veneration of the faithful on      26 October 1980 - the day in which Pope John Paul II inscribed him Blessed an

 The statue of the Miraculous Mother of Taggia, originally called the Sacred Heart of Mary, depicts the Virgin with her heart in her hand,      wearing a red robe and sky-blue mantle trimmed in gold. It was a gift from the sculptor Salvtore Revelli to his city in 1851. The statue is made of scagliola,      a material similar to gesso. The eyes are of enameled crystal, blue with a transparent cornea. The first movement of the eyes occurred March 11, 1855 near the end of      a week of prayer for the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. The miracle continued for some days, witnessed by many: men, women,      children, and Priests. The pastor, Don Stefano Semeria, informed the Bishop, who went to Taggia and began a canonical proceeding that gathered some 120 testimonials.      On June 1, 1856, the statue of the Mother of Miracles was solemnly crowned and a decree promulgated recognizing the miracles.

 Eulogius lived in the ninth century in Spain. His family was well-known and he received an excellent education.      His Bible-reading helped him love the Word of God. He wanted to bring God's message to everyone. When he grew up, he became a Priest and the head of a famous school.      At this time the Muslims had taken over Spain. At first they tried to make the people give up their faith. When the people refused to change their religion,      they were put in prison. Some were even killed. Eulogius and his Bishop were put in prison along with many other Christians.      In the prison, Eulogius read the Bible out loud to encourage the prisoners. As they listened, they no longer felt afraid to die for Jesus.      During this time, St. Eulogius wrote a book encouraging Christians to die rather than give up their holy faith.      The saint himself wanted to be a martyr more than anything else. Instead, he was let out of prison. As soon as he was free, Eulogius began to preach and h

 The city of Viterbo is located at the foot of Mount Cimino in the province of Rome.      There was a man named Mastro Baptist who was a very God-fearing devotee of the glorious Virgin Mary. He hired a painter named Monetto in the year 1417 to paint an      image on a tile of the Virgin Mary holding her Son in her arms. Mastro Baptist then lovingly laid the tile on an oak tree that stood at the edge of his vineyard,      near the road leading to Bagnaia. The image remained there for about 50 years under cover of the oak’s branches,      and after a while only a few women who passed by ever stopped to say a prayer. Pier Domenico Alberti, whose hermitage was at the foot of Palanzana,      went around the countryside and the nearby towns of Viterbo, saying, "Among Bagnaia and Viterbo there is a treasure." Many people, driven by greed,      started digging there but found nothing and asked for an explanation from the hermit. Domenico then brought them under the oak tree chosen by

 Marie was born in Metz, France. When she was 15, her parents separated and she moved to Paris with her mother and brother,      only to see her mother die of cholera shortly afterwards. Her father sent her to live with relatives whose great interests proved to be money and pleasure.      In 1836 she attended the acclaimed Lenten sermons delivered at the Cathedral of Notre Dame by Abbe Henri Lacordaire who would later enter the Order of Preachers.      Marie envisaged Christ as the universal liberator and his kingdom on earth established as a peaceful and just society. She was truly converted,      and she was seized by a longing to devote all her strength to the knowledge and achievement of all that is good. The following year,      she met another preacher at another Lenten series, Abbe Theodore Combalot. Under his direction, she founded the Religious of the Assumption in 1839.      Progressively, she channelled all her energy and gifts in tending and extending the Congregation.     

 About the year 1112, Blessed Vitalis established he Abbey of Savigny in honor of the Blessed Mother.      Initially, Vitalis had gone into the forest of Savigny to become a hermit. His fame for sanctity drew disciples to him. These disciples needed shelter from the elements,      and soon Vitalis found those crude structures had become a kind of monastery requiring of life. One of the monks was known to have a deep and tender devotion to      the Blessed Mother and while he was saying Mass in honor of our Mother, he beheld the Virgin’s hand making the sign of the Cross over the Chalice at the consecration      of the wine. At the same time a deliciously sweet odor surrounded the monk. Mary’s presence was frequently experienced at this shrine,      particularly during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and numerous miracles were wrought, prayers answered and graces bestowed for the asking.

 Frances was born at Rome and her parents were of high rank. They overruled her desire to become a nun,      and at the age of twelve, she married a Roman noble. During the forty years of their married life they never had a disagreement.      While spending her days in retirement and prayer, she attended promptly to every household duty, saying, "A married woman must leave God at the Altar to find Him in      her domestic cares;". Her ordinary food was dry bread. Secretly she would share good food with beggars. During the invasion of Rome, in 1413, her husband was banished,      his estates confiscated, his house destroyed, and his eldest son taken as a hostage. Frances saw in these losses only the finger of God, and blessed His holy name.      When peace was restored, her husband recovered his estate. After her husband's death, at the age of 52, She founded the institute known as the Oblates.      She lived always in the presence of God, and amongst many visions was give

 All her lovely life long, Mary lit candles of the ten principal virtues which the Gospels attribute to her; namely:  purity,      prudence, humility, faith, piety, obedience, poverty, patience, charity, compassion; candles which Our Mother lit to illuminate the pathway the children of      God must travel to their eternal date with Him. Mary lit a candle of purity on the day of her Immaculate Conception and kept it trimmed and aglow until the Angel      escorted her to Paradise. She lit the candle of obedience and submission to God’s will, “Behold the Handmaid of the Lord.       Be it done to me according to your word.”  Vowed to virginity, She did not doubt God’s promise that She should become the mother of His Son;      She knew it to be possible with God. Hope filled Mary’s heart on the first Holy Saturday,      when the Apostles and disciples were mortally afraid that the cold tomb would not give up its dead. Mary lit the candle of charity.      At a time when might was right and

 John was born in Portugal and his parents were poor, but deeply Christian. John was a restless boy.      For a while he was a shepherd, then a soldier, then a storekeeper. He grew up working as a shepherd in the Castile region of Spain. He led a wild and misspent youth,      and travelled over much of Europe and north Africa as a soldier in the army of Charles V, and as a mercenary.      He fought through a brief period of insanity and peddled religious books and pictures in Gibraltar, though without any religious conviction on himself.      In his 40′s he received a vision of the Infant Jesus who called him John of God. To make up for the misery he had caused as a soldier,      he left the military, rented a house in Granada, Spain, and began caring for the sick, poor, homeless and unwanted. He gave what he had, begged for those who couldn't,      carried those who could not move on their own, and converted both his patients and those who saw him work with them. He became a frien

 Vila Vicosa is a Portuguese village in the district of Evora.      There is the Shrine of Our Mother of the Conception which is also known as the Stellar Patroness. The Church is located outside the medieval walls of the town’s castle.      The present Church is the results of the reform of King Sebastian in the year 1569. The people of Portugal believe that they were the first in the world to accept      the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception. The image of Our Mother at Vila Vicosa was proclaimed Patroness of Portugal on 25th March 1646.      Since that time no Portuguese monarchs of the House of Braganca ever again adorn the royal crown on their heads.

 Perpetua and Felicity lived in Carthage, North Africa, in the 3rd century.      It was the time of the fierce persecution of Christians by Emperor.  22-year-old Perpetua was the daughter of a rich nobleman. While growing up,      she had received everything she wanted. But she realized that she loved Jesus and her Christian faith more than anything the world could offer.      For this she found herself a prisoner on the way to execution. Perpetua's father was a pagan. He did everything possible to persuade his daughter to give up her      Christian faith. He tried to convince her of the importance of saving her life. But the woman would not give in, even though she knew that she would have to      leave behind her husband and baby. Felicity, Perpetua's Christian maid, had been a slave. She and Perpetua were great friends.      They shared their belief in and love for Jesus. Felicity, too, was willing to sacrifice her life for Jesus and for her faith.      For this she also fou

 The Shrine of Our Mother of Nazareth is found in the village of Nazare on the Atlantic coast      in Portugal. Indeed, the village is named after this miraculous statue of the Blessed Mother and the Christ Child that was brought to the area many centuries ago.      This miraculous image was carved by the hands of St. Joseph, the foster-father of Christ, while in the very presence of the Infant Jesus and the Mother of God.      Later, the faces and hands of the images were painted by St. Luke the Evangelist. This remarkable image is still preserved in a Church where it can be viewed by anyone,      and the story surrounding it is a fascinating one. The statue of Our Mother of Nazareth came from the Holy Land where it was one of the oldest images ever venerated by      Christians. Many notable figures came to visit Our Mother of Nazareth including Vasco de Gama, who came as a pilgrim before setting out for India. St. Francis Xavier,      the Apostle of the East, went on pilgrimage to Ou

 Sylvester was born to the nobility and one of the first 12 followers of St. Francis of Assisi,      and first priest in the Franciscan Order. Sylvester once sold Francis stone to rebuild a church. A short while later, he saw Francis and Bernard of Quintavalle      distributing Bernard's wealth to the poor. Sylvester complained that he had been poorly paid for the stone, and asked for more money. Francis obliged.      But the handful of money soon filled Sylvester with guilt. He sold his possessions, began a life of penance, and joined Francis' community.      A holy and prayerful man, Sylvester travelled with Francis, and became his advisor. It was Sylvester and Clare who answered Francis' query with the response that he      should serve God by going out to preach rather than by devoting himself to prayer. In a city involved in a civil war, Francis ordered Sylvester to drive the devils out.      At the city gate Sylvester cried out, "In the name of almighty God and b

 Dedicated to Our Mother of Good Help has been the sanctuary for seamen leaving Montreal for      the seven seas. Over the entrance is an inscribed message, “If the love of Mary is gravened in your heart, forget not a prayer in passing.”      Our Mother of Good Help is a beautiful little Church. When St. Marguerite Bourgeoys returned from France in 1673, she brought a wood statue of Our Mother of Good Help.      It can still be seen in the reliquary for when the Church burnt in 1754, the statue was saved from the fire. The mortal remains of St. Marguerite were interred in the      sanctuary of the Church at the feet of the statue which she herself had brought from France. The Chapel is also known as the Sailor’s Church.      There are votive offerings, carved ships, models of sailing ships suspended from the vault of the Chapel in thanksgiving to the Blessed Virgin for her assistance in      their safe return from the sea.

 John Joseph was born on the Island of Ischia, Italy. From his earliest years he was given to prayer      and virtue. So great was his love of poverty that he would always wear the dress of the poor, though he was of noble birth. At the age of 16,      he entered the Order of St. Francis at Naples, instituted in Spain by St. Peter of Alcantara. Throughout his life, he was given to the greatest austerity:      he fasted constantly, never drank wine, and slept but three hours each night. In 1674 he was sent to found a friary at Afila, in Piedmont;      and he assisted with his own hands in the building. Much against his will, he was raised to the priesthood.      As superior, he always insisted upon performing the lowliest offices in the community. In 1702 he was appointed Vicar Provincial of the Alcantarine Reform in Italy.      He was favoured in a high degree with the gift of miracles, people of every condition being brought to him in sickness.      His zeal for souls was such that ev

 Late one afternoon during the 13th century, a solitary fisherman was fishing off the harbor of Marseille.      Before he became aware of it, a terrific storm burst upon him. His boat tossed around like a shell, and filled with water faster than he could bail it out. The fisherman thought of the family he would never see again and cast a despairing look at the city.      Through the gloom, he suddenly saw a solitary figure of a Mother, dressed in white, standing firmly on the very top of the rock. She seemed to be extending      her hand as if she would help him to the shelter and safety of the harbour. At once it came to him that the Mother so calmly defying the wind could only be the      Blessed Mother, so he prayed to her to help him. Almost immediately his boat ceased its wild tossing, righted itself and pushed by a friendly gust of wind,      raced into the calm water of the harbour until it drove onto the shore at the very foot of the mountain.      Stepping onto the shore, the

 Casimir, born the son of the king of Poland, was filled with exceptional values. As a teenager, Casimir lived a highly disciplined, even severe life,      spending a great part of the night in prayer and dedicating himself to lifelong celibacy. When nobles in Hungary became dissatisfied with their king,      they prevailed upon the king of Poland, to send his son to take over the country. Casimir obeyed his father.      The army he was supposed to lead was clearly outnumbered by the enemy; some of his troops were deserting because they were not paid. At the advice of his officers,      Casimir decided to return home. His father was irked at the failure of his plans, and confined his 15-year-old son for three months.      The lad made up his mind never again to become involved in the wars of his day. He returned to prayer and study, maintaining his decision to remain celibate even      under pressure to marry the emperor’s daughter. He reigned briefly as king of Poland during his fathe

 In the year 636, a small group of people standing on the seashore witnessed a ship      without oars or sails came into the harbor of Bolougne. It finally came to rest in the estuary, seemingly of its own accord. One of the witnesses boarded the boat      and confirmed that there was no one aboard, and that the vessel had no rudder, oars or sails. The ship, however, bore a statue of Our Mother.      Taking hold of it to bring it to land, a voice was heard saying, "I choose your city as a place of grace." The citizens welcomed Mary to their city by erecting      to her a shrine which reached its height of glory in the 12th Century. In modern times,      four exact replicas of Our Mother of Bolougne toured France for more than seven years as a symbol of devotion to Mary.      The dedication of a new Church built in honor of Our Lady of Boulogne was consecrated in the year 1469 by Bishop Chartier of Paris.      The image represents the Mother with the Child in her arms, standin

 Between May 13 and October 13, 1917, three children,      ortuguese shepherds from Aljustrel,      received apparitions of Our Mother at Cova da Iria, near Fatima, a city 110 miles north of Lisbon. At that time, Europe was involved in an extremely bloody war.      Portugal itself was in political turmoil, having overthrown its monarchy in 1910; the government disbanded religious organizations soon after.      At the first appearance, Mary asked the children to return to that spot on the thirteenth of each month for the next six months.      She also asked them to learn to read and write and to pray the rosary “to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.”      They were to pray for sinners and for the conversion of Russia, which had recently overthrown Czar Nicholas II and was soon to fall under communism.      Up to 90,000 people gathered for Mary’s final apparition on October 13, 1917. Less than two years later, Francisco died of influenza in his family home.      He was bu

 The election of Fr. Claudio Acquaviva, SJ (1543-1615) as the 5th General in the 4th General Congregation.      He was only 37 years of age and a Jesuit for only l4 years. He was General under 8 Popes. He had been a fellow Novice with St. Stanislaus Koska.      Acquaviva was born in Atri, Abruzzo, from a noble family illustrious at the court of Naples for its patronage of humanist culture.      He had heard of the Society of Jesus through his friendship with Fr. Francis Borgia and Fr. Juan de Polanco. He was particularly impressed by the works of the      Early Companions during the Plague in 1566 and decided to join the Order at the age of 24. With the blessing of Pope Pius V he asked the then Superior General,      Fr. Francis Borgia, to be admitted to the novitiate. After completing his studies, he was very soon given positions of important responsibility,      his administrative gifts marking him out for the highest posts. He soon became the Provincial Superior of Naples and then o

 John Sullivan was born into a prominent family. His Protestant father was a brilliant barrister      who would later become Lord Chancellor of Ireland. His mother was a Catholic from a land-owning family. As was the custom of the time,      the boys in the family were baptized in the father’s Protestant faith, and the girls were baptized as Catholics. At the age of 11, John was sent to Portora Royal School.      The excellent student then attended Trinity College, Dublin, where he studied the Classics. He later studied law and for a time practiced as a barrister.      After his father’s death, his father’s inheritance gave him a measure of financial independence. He traveled Europe extensively,      especially spending time taking walking tours of Macedonia, Greece, and Asia Minor. He spent several months in one of the Orthodox Monasteries on Mount Athos,      even contemplating entering as a monk. To the surprise of his family, John Sullivan was received into the Catholic Church at t

 The shrine of Our Mother of Laon was erected into a Cathedral and founded by St. Remigius,      Archbishop of Rheims, about the year 500. Miracles were wrought there and in the year 1395, there was seen on the steeple the picture of a crucifix,      the wounds of which bled. One other unusual aspect of the Cathedral is that there are sixteen carved bullocks carved in stone.      Once some of the stones were being hauled up the slope for use in the construction of the Church, at one point the animals hauling the wagon could go no      further under the strain of the load. A huge ox appeared at that moment and assisted them in moving the load up into position but then disappeared as quickly as      it had appeared. Much of the stained-glass is original, there is a beautiful rose window. It depicts the Blessed Virgin seated on a throne with her Divine Child between      St John the Baptist and the Prophet Isaiah.

 Kuriakose was born of pious and devout Catholic parents of Syro-Malabar Church, at Kainakary, Kerala, India.      After his early schooling in the native village and priestly studies under Fr. Thomas Palackal at Pallippuram, he was ordained priest at the age of 24.      In 1831, co-operating with Fr. Thomas Palackal and Fr. Thomas Porukara, he founded the first indigenous religious congregation for men,      now known as the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI). It was after the death of his senior companions in the foundation that Fr. Kuriakose made the religious profession      in 1855. Starting seven religious houses, including the first one at Mannanam, in different parts of Kerala, the new Congregation made great strides in the spiritual      renovation of the Syro-Malabar Church. Seminaries for the education and formation of the clergy, introduction of annual retreats for priests and people,      a publishing house for the propagation of Catholic doctrine, a house for the dying a

 In the small central chamber of the crypt, a crowned Virgin surrounded by angels.      Several of the Byzantine icons in southern Italy and Sicily are venerated under the title Our Mother of Constantinople. The most celebrated is in the cathedral at Bari.      It was crowned in 1772. Another such icon is at Monte Vergine at Trier in Germany. Monte Vergine is a very famous Benedictine sanctuary in the Campanian region of Italy;      its religious history goes back to pre-Christian times, when there was a temple of Cybele there. A chapel of the Blessed Virgin was built in the seventh century,      and in 1119 St. William of Vercelli founded the monastery that still exists, high up on the mountain. In the church is a large icon of the Mother and Child,      “of Constantinople”, said to have been brought to Italy by King Baldwin of Jerusalem, and came into the possession of the monastery in 1310.      The dark figures strike out in a conspicuous manner from the gold background.

 These seven Saints lived in the thirteenth century. They were all from Florence, Italy.      Each had a great love for Mary, the Mother of God. They were active members of a confraternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The way they came to be founders of the      Servite Order is remarkable. On the feast of the Assumption, while the seven men were deep in prayer,      the Blessed Mother appeared to them. She inspired them to leave the world and to live alone with God. After several years of living as hermits,      they went to their Bishop. They asked him for a rule of life to follow. The Bishop encouraged them to pray and to ask for guidance from Mary.      Mary appeared to the men carrying a black habit. At her side was an angel bearing a scroll with the words "Servants of Mary" written on it.      In this vision, the Blessed Mother said that she had chosen them to be her servants. She asked them to wear a black habit.      This was the habit they started to wear in 1240. The

 On the night of the Feast of the Annunciation 24th March 1400, some shepherds tending their flocks were attracted by a bright light coming from the Chapel of      Saint John the Baptist near Chalons. They saw a thorn bush fully engulfed in flames, and they discovered a statue of the Blessed Virgin standing unharmed      in the midst of the flames. In fact, though the fire burned brightly, the branches and leaves of the thorn bush were unaffected by the flames.      The miracle continued all that night and into the next day, and news of the miracle spread quickly.      Mobs of people crowded around the burning bush that was so reminiscent of the one witnessed by Moses on Mount Horeb. The Bishop of Chalons, Charles of Poiters,      also witnessed the burning bush and the miraculous statue unaffected by the fire. When the flames finally did die down,      the Bishop reverently took the statue and carried it in his own hands to the nearby Chapel of Saint John. Our Mother of the Thorn beca

 Joseph was the fourth of five children and nephew of St. John Cafasso. His father died when Joseph was three years old. He studied at the Salesian Oratory in Valdocco,      Italy and St. John Bosco was one of Giuseppe's spiritual directors. He entered the diocesan seminary of Turin,      Italy and ordained at the age of 22. He became spiritual director of the Turin seminary. He was appointed Rector of      the Consolata Shrine at the age of 29 and remodelled the shrine, and made it a source for spiritual renewal throughout the Diocese.      He founded the Consolata Missionary Priests and Brothers in 1901. The first missionaries reached Kenya in 1902.      In 1910, he founded the Consolata Missionary Sisters for women with a missionary vocation. Pope John Paul II in 1990 beatified him.      As he was dying, his lips uttered, "From Heaven I will do more for you than I did here on earth.

 During the middle ages, the site of the Chapel was occupied by lepers and one of them sculpted a statue of the Blessed Mother with the Infant in her arms.      The leper was healed at once and several miracles had been attributed to the image. The king of France and all the lords of his army, with their attendants,      entered Bourbourg. The Bretons began to plunder the Church. A barbarian stood upon an altar with the intent of forcing out a precious stone that was in the      crown of an image of Our Mother. As he reached to steal the stone, the image suddenly turned about, and the robber in his fright fell from the altar and was instantly struck      dead. Another aggressor came with a similar intent of robbing the image; but all the bells began a peal without any one touching them, for no one could have rung them,      the bell-ropes being drawn up and fastened. On account of these miracles, the Church was visited by large crowds. St. Peter Canisius, SJ in 1580 spent his life prea