Every Day In Christian History

 For a whole year the town of Calais in France was besieged by the English who had lost many troops during the siege. Starvation finally forced the French to consider giving up but      the English King, Edward III, would not accept their surrender unless six citizens of Calais came before him bare-headed, bare-footed, dressed in rough shirts and each with a halter      about his neck. The entire population prayed to Our Mother of Calais which had been damaged during the war. This shrine had been built by the English while they had possessed that      city, of which they had been masters for 210 years. No one wanted to give his life in such a manner. Finally, a nobleman stepped forward and offered his head as a ransom to the      English king so that the city of Calais should be spared. Five others then volunteered, all dressed as the king had demanded. When they stood before the irate king he angrily      reminded them of the losses he had suffered through their stubbornness; then he

 The people we honour today gave up their lives for Christ. They were martyred because they were followers of the Lord Jesus. By the year 64, Emperor Nero's human rights violations      had reached proportions beyond description. When a fire broke out in Rome on July 16, it was commonly believed that the emperor himself was responsible. As two-thirds of Rome lay      in ruin, resentment grew. Nero became fearful. He needed a scapegoat and blamed the fire on the Christians. Tacitus, a well-known historian, recorded that the Christians suffered      cruel deaths. Some were fed to wild beasts. Others were tied to posts and became human torches that lit the Roman streets. The exact number of heroes is not known, but their gift      of witness and their lives made a lasting impact on the people. Nero's was the first persecution by a Roman emperor, but not the last. And the more the Church was persecuted,      the more it grew. The martyrs had paid the price so that all who would com

 Located about two leagues from Acqe in Glascony is the shrine containing a miraculous image of Our Lady of Buglose. The original shrine was burned and completely destroyed by the      Huguenots and the statue of Our Mother was hidden in a marsh. The exact location of the statue was eventually forgotten.Years later, a shepherd led his herd into the marshes and      observed that one of his oxen did not go with the others but went into an area of the marsh alone and began to bellow in a strange manner. The shepherd climbed a tree to see      what was happening and saw the ox was licking an unknown object that was half buried in the mud. Not understanding the mystery, he ran into town to bring others back with him to      see what had happened. When the shepherd returned, the statue of the Blessed Virgin holding the baby Jesus in her arms had been revealed. It was respectfully removed from the water      and the Bishop desired to take the image to his Church in Pouy. He placed the statue

 Peter, the first Pope, was a fisherman from Galilee. Jesus invited him to follow him, saying: "I will make you a fisher of men." This great apostle's name was Simon,      but Jesus changed it to Peter, which means "rock." "You are Peter," Jesus said, "and on this rock I will build my Church." When Jesus was arrested, Peter became afraid.      It was then that he committed the sin of denying Our Lord three times. Fear for his safety got the best of him. But Peter repented totally. He wept over his denials for the rest of      his life. Jesus forgave Peter. After his resurrection, he asked Peter three times: "Do you love me?" "Lord," Peter answered, "you know all things. You know that I love you."      Jesus truly did know! Peter was so right. Jesus said kindly: "Feed my lambs. Feed my sheep." He was telling Peter to take care of his Church because he would be ascending into heaven.     Jesus left Peter

 This present-day custom of reciting the Angelus is a short practice of devotion in honor of the Incarnation, repeated three times each day morning, noon, and evening,      at the sound of the Church bell. The institution of the Angelus occurred on 28 June in 1456 by Pope Callistus. The Turks had been threatening Europe and it was the Pope’s request      that the faithful recite the Angelus for the safety of Christendom against the Turks and for peace. The Angelus was first recited about sunset, a general practice throughout Europe      in the first half of the 14th century, recommended by Pope John XXI. The morning Angelus seems to have started somewhat later, again, for peace. The recitation of the midday      Angelus began sometime in the 15th century; it was called the “Peace Bell.

 Irenaeus was a Greek who had the great privilege of being taught by St. Polycarp, who had been a disciple of St. John the Apostle. Irenaeus once told a friend: "I listened to      St. Polycarp's instructions very carefully. I wrote down his actions and his words, not on paper, but on my heart." After he became a Priest, Irenaeus was sent to the French city      of Lyons. It was in this city that the Bishop, St. Pothinius, was martyred along with a great many other saints. Irenaeus was not martyred at that time because he was asked by his      brother priests to take an important message from them to the Pope in Rome. In that letter, they spoke of Irenaeus as a man full of zeal for the faith. When Irenaeus returned to be      the Bishop of Lyons, the persecution was over. But there was another danger: a heresy called Gnosticism. This false religion attracted some people by its promise to teach them secret      mysteries. Irenaeus studied all its teachings and then in five

 The name of Our Mother of Perpetual Help derives from one of the most famous of all pictures of Mary, an icon of the 14th century painted on walnut wood perhaps in Crete;      from where it was thought to have been stolen by an Italian merchant and brought to Rome. It was venerated, famous for miracles in the Roman Church of St. Matthew,      in charge of the Irish Augustinians for a century, when the church was destroyed by fire. The picture was saved and in 1866 it was set up in the Redemptorist Church of St. Alphonsus.      In the following year, it was crowned. Since then numberless copies and reproductions of the icons have gone all over the world, some of them themselves wonder-working.      Two angels in the picture, Michael and Gabriel are showing the instruments of the passion to the Child, who clings to the Mother’s hand, shaking loose a sandal.      The Mother reassuringly holds tightly to the Child’s hand. One cannot look at the picture without being struck by the anxious,

 Cyril was born in Alexandria, Egypt. His uncle, Theophilus, was the Patriarch. His uncle meant well, but he had a bad temper and could be stubborn at times.      Archbishop Theophilus was responsible for sending John into exile in 403. But the emperor brought the famous Bishop back to his Archdiocese of Constantinople.      Cyril was influenced by his uncle's prejudice of John, and agreed when he was sent into exile. When his uncle died in 412, Cyril became the Archbishop.      He was very clear about his love for the Church and for Jesus. He was a brave man in confusing times and preached what the Church taught. He was honest and straightforward.      He was not looking for praise or positions. However, Cyril could be impulsive and stubborn at times. He wanted to express the truths of the Church with his preaching and writing,      and he did. But when he became upset, what he said was not always easy to follow. Yet Christians were grateful for his many wonderful qualities. Cyril

 The Church of St. Thomas of Mylapore contains Mary’s shrine. The Apostle St. Thomas came to India in 52 AD. The Church was built by St Thomas. According to tradition,      there was a huge log that had washed down the river to a place where it blocked the water and caused massive flooding. The king was at a loss to remove the blockage,      but having heard that St Thomas was a miracle worker, asked him for his assistance. St. Thomas prayed and then touched the log, which made it so light that the king’s men were      suddenly able to easily pull it from the river. The king, in thanksgiving, gave the massive log to St Thomas, who used the wood he obtained from it to construct his Church.      Due to his success making converts to the true Faith, he was persecuted and finally martyred in the year 72 AD. St. Thomas is buried at the shrine of Our Mother of Mylapore.      The good people knew that they were Christians, and nothing more; but they had Mary as their Mother, and she cleared t

 These four French martyrs were Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. Besides Madeleine, there were Frances Lanel, Teresa Fantou, and Joan Gerard. They were put to death for      their Faith in the bloodiest days of the French Revolution.     In 1794, the four Sisters were arrested because they refused to take an oath that could not be taken without committing a sin. The enemies of the Church said that they had found      certain papers in the convent which showed that the Sisters had been working against the Revolution. None of this was true, but a wicked judge in the city of Cambrai had B Madeleine,      the Superior, condemned to death, together with her three Sisters. The sisters walked to their execution calmly singing a hymn to the Blessed Mother,      “Hail, Star of the Sea.” Sr. Madeleine was the last to die. As she came near the guillotine, she cried to the watching crowd, “Listen, Christians! The persecution is going to stop.      The Altars of Jesus will rise again in g

 Mary's divine Motherhood was proclaimed at the Council of Ephesus in 431. Various names are used to describe Mary's role as mother of Jesus. She is called "Mother of God" which      translates the more accurately stated Greek term "Theotokos" or "Birth giver of God." The Council of Ephesus attributed to Mary the title, Mother of God. This needs to be read      against the Council's declaration that in Christ there are two natures, one divine and one human, but only one person. Indeed, according to the Council the Holy Virgin is the Mother      of God since she begot according to the flesh the Word of God made flesh. Mary's Divine Motherhood was not the object of an independent or exclusive Dogmatic declaration.      The statement is embedded in texts defining the person and natures of Jesus Christ. Thus, the Dogma of Divine Motherhood becomes an integral part of the Christological Dogma.      This does not diminish its definitive and bindi

 S DOMINGO HENARES DE ZAFRA CUBERRO (1766-1838)     Domingo was born in the city of Cordoba. He was baptized in the parish of St. Bartholomew on December 21 of the same year. He took the habit of a Dominican friar in the convent of      Santa Cruz la Real in Granada on August 30, 1783 and professed a year later. Assigned to the missions of Puerto Rico, Cuba, Mexico and the Philippines, he landed in 1786.      He joined the courses of the University of St. Tomás de Manila, in which he completed his studies, while he taught Humanities. At the end of 1789,      he was ordained a priest and assigned to the Missions of Tonkin. In 1802, he was consecrated Bishop. He was arrested and detained on June 9, 1838.      After several interrogations, he was sentenced to death. The King passed the sentence and was beheaded. He was declared Blessed by Leo XIII, May 27, 1900. Canonized,      by John Paul II, June 19, 1988.

 The shrine of Our Mother of Clos Evrard is in the city of Trier in Germany founded before the time of Christ on the bank of the Moselle River.      An image of the Blessed Virgin was fastened to an oak tree by a wine-dresser, who wished to honor Mary; but Our Mother ordered him to build a small hut in her honour.      The miracles wrought here caused this hut first to be changed into a little Chapel, and finally into a Church which was dedicated to Our Mother of Clos Evrard in 1449.      The city of Trier is also the location of the famous cathedral of Trier which has the unique privilege of having among its precious relics the Robe of Christ,      the Holy Coat as it is called. It is the garment over which the soldiers cast lots during the Crucifixion of Christ. The relic was sent to Trier by the Empress St. Helena and there      is an ancient document of Pope Sylvester written to the Church of Trier which mentions the garment. The relic was placed inside an ornate reliquary in a Cha

 Jesus called John the greatest of all those who had preceded him: “I tell you, among those born of women, no one is greater than John….” But John would have agreed completely with      what Jesus added: “Yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” (Lk. 7:28). John spent his time in the desert, an ascetic. He began to announce the coming of the Kingdom,      and to call everyone to a fundamental reformation of life. His purpose was to prepare the way for Jesus. His baptism, he said, was for repentance. But one would come who would      baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. John was not worthy even to untie his sandals. His attitude toward Jesus was: “He must increase; I must decrease” (Jn. 3:30). John was humbled      to find among the crowd of sinners who came to be baptized the one whom he already knew to be the Messiah. “I need to be baptized by you” (Mt. 3:14). But Jesus insisted,      “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness” (Mt. 3:15)

 Justinian the Great, was a Byzantine Emperor who reigned from the year 527 until 565 AD. His great desire was to restore the lost western half of the ancient Roman Empire to his      control to reunite it with the Byzantine Empire in the east. He was largely successful. Justinian never fought personally, in any of his campaigns, for he had a talented and      capable general named Belisarius to lead his armies. Belisarius took the opportunity to gather his own forces and regroup, returning to attack the Vandals as they hesitated and      eventually drove them from the field of battle. Belisarius then went on to take Carthage and the last Vandal army was defeated and the conquest of North Africa completed.      Emperor Justinian was known as a great builder of monuments and Churches and Our Mother of Justinienne was built in honor of the Blessed Virgin in Carthage.

 Thomas Garnet was born in Southwark, England as the son of an Oxford don. Because Catholic colleges had been turned over to aggressive Protestants,      young Thomas went to the continent in 1593 to attend the newly opened Jesuit college at Saint Omer. A storm in the English Channel caused Thomas and his companions to be captured by      the English Navy who tried to force them to accept Elizabeth's religion. After months of abuse, they escaped. Later Thomas returned to England as a Jesuit. His uncle,      Fr. Henry Garnet, was superior of all Jesuits in England, and in charge of the entire network of priests working secretly among the Catholics who had refused to take the oath of      Supremacy. Thomas Garnet worked near Warwickshire for six years, but his ministry ended with the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot.      The Jesuit martyrs of this time were known for their intelligence, joy, humour, and for their deep understanding of martyrdom as apostolic. The gallows is the best p

 At Narni in Italy, there is a shrine to Our Blessed Mother. The image spoke to Blessed Lucy, to whom Mary gave the Infant to hold, while Lucy venerated the Mother and Child.      Born in 1476, Blessed Lucy lived in the town of Narni in Italy. As a small child, she preferred religious articles to toys, sharing the former as well as the latter with her      playmates. At the age of five Lucy experienced her first vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary. When she was seven years old, she visited an uncle in whose home a picture of angels      was painted on the ceiling. Lucy secretly went there to pray. She was favored by a heavenly vision of Our Mother, who gave Lucy her Divine Son to hold. Our Lord gave Lucy a ring,      and St. Dominic, who was also present in the vision, gave Lucy a scapular to wear at that time. As she grew older, Lucy's family wished her to marry; at Lucy’s objection,      the Blessed Mother appeared to her and bade her be wedded and imitate her in the life at Nazare

 John Fisher (1469-1535) was an English Catholic bishop and theologian. Fisher was also an academic, and eventually served as Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.      Fisher was executed by order of Henry VIII during the English Reformation for refusing to accept the king as Supreme Head of the Church of England and for upholding the Catholic      Church's doctrine of papal primacy. He was named a cardinal shortly before his death.     Thomas More (1478-1535) was a famous lawyer and writer. Thomas' wife, Jane, died very young. More was left with four small children. He was married again,      to a widow. Thomas made home life enjoyable for his family because he was so pleasant to be with. Thomas often asked poorer neighbours in to dinner, too. Yet few could have      imagined how deeply spiritual Thomas really was. He prayed long hours into the night and performed penances, too. Thomas held important government positions. For three years,      he was lord chancellor, ano

 At Grand Cairo in Egypt is seen a miraculous fountain which Our Mother obtained by her prayers when she fled to Egypt with St. Joseph and the Divine Child,      to escape Herod’s wicked designs. This journey was so arduous that the very angels were struck with wonder when they beheld the Savior required to make it.      At Matarieh the Blessed Virgin, Our Mother of Matarieh, washed the swaddling clothes of the Infant Jesus and bathed him. It still displays miraculous powers.      Matarieh is five miles Northeast of Cairo; here grew also the famous balsam trees, the oil of which was used in Baptism. The city is called the “City of the Fountain”      in remembrance of Our Lord Jesus Christ who used it as a bath. People still call it the Holy Fountain and at the Feast of the Epiphany a vast number of people are said to flock      there from all nations to wash themselves in its water. Our Lady told Mary of Agreda, “Do not wonder that my most holy Son and I journeyed so far in order to ga

 At Grand Cairo in Egypt is seen a miraculous fountain which Our Mother obtained by her prayers when she fled to Egypt with St. Joseph and the Divine Child,      to escape Herod’s wicked designs. This journey was so arduous that the very angels were struck with wonder when they beheld the Savior required to make it.      At Matarieh the Blessed Virgin, Our Mother of Matarieh, washed the swaddling clothes of the Infant Jesus and bathed him. It still displays miraculous powers.      Matarieh is five miles Northeast of Cairo; here grew also the famous balsam trees, the oil of which was used in Baptism. The city is called the “City of the Fountain”      in remembrance of Our Lord Jesus Christ who used it as a bath. People still call it the Holy Fountain and at the Feast of the Epiphany a vast number of people are said to flock      there from all nations to wash themselves in its water. Our Lady told Mary of Agreda, “Do not wonder that my most holy Son and I journeyed so far in order to ga

 In the year 1034, Robert the Magnificent, Duke of Normandy was sailing to England. He was suddenly assailed by a violent storm, and at the height of the danger he promised to      build three Chapels and devoted to the Blessed Virgin if he returned safely to his lands. The storm ended at once and the prince immediately returned home to take care of his vow.      He built one of the Chapels near his castle and dedicated it to Our Mother of Mercy. Another he built near Caen, which he called Notre-Dame de la Deliverance,      and the third he built on the plateau overlooking Honfleur, which was named Notre Dame de Grace. This Chapel near Honfleur soon became a busy place of pilgrimage.      The Chapel partially collapsed, and the sea swallowed part of the cliff near the Church during a violent earthquake in 1538. Only a section of one wall,      the Altarand the statue of the Virgin Mary remained standing, but such was the devotion of the people to this special place that many pilgrims c

 Pacheco was born in Ponte di Lima, near Braga, Portugal. As a youth, he heard of the exploits of missionaries in Japan and dreamed of imitating them.      While at the Jesuit school in Lisbon, he also watched the annual departure of the Jesuit missionaries and this further strengthened his resolve to be one and thus he decided to      join the Society in 1585. His request to go to the missions was only granted seven years later and his first stop was Goa, India where he continued his studies. He then went on      to Macau to further continue his studies before being ordained.     Fr Pacheco finally set forth for Japan in 1604 and spent four years in the capital of Osaka, Miyako before taking up his next appointment as head of the Jesuit college in Macau.      In 1614, he returned to Japan and became vicar general to Bishop Luis de Cerqueira, and was based in Nagasaki until the promulgation of the shogun’s decree in 1614 banishing all      foreign missionaries and forbidding Japanese C

 The cradle of the order of the Servants of Mary began at Monte Senario in the year 1233 in the city of Florence, Italy, by a group of Hermits now known as the Seven Holy Founders.      They were sons from different wealthy families, and they retired from the world for a life of prayer and devotion to the praises of Mary. Leaving La Camarzia, a suburb of Florence,      the seven went to Monte Senario in the region of Tuscany. Uncertain of what way of life to follow, they turned to Our Lady in prayer and supplication and she appeared to them on the      Feast of the Assumption in the year 1240. From that day, the seven were known as the Order of Servants of Mary. Members of the order take solemn vows to especially honor the      Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The sorrows are the prophecy of Simeon, the flight into Egypt, the loss of the Holy Child at Jerusalem,      meeting Jesus on his way to Calvary, standing at the foot of the Cross, Jesus taken down from the Cross and the

 Your heart pumps about 100,000 times a day to keep your lifeblood flowing through you. For this reason, it has become a symbol for our very selves.      The heart also is a symbol for love, perhaps because it seems to beat faster when we are in love. The biblical image of the heart means the depth of our selves where we decide for      or against God. God, who always speaks to us using our own experiences, has chosen our symbol of the heart to represent Jesus. The heart of Jesus was a human heart like ours.      It stopped beating the day Jesus was crucified. According to the Gospel of John 19:34, after Jesus had died a soldier made sure of his death by piercing his side with a lance.      Blood and water ran out. Jesus’ pierced heart became a sign of the completeness of his love for us, a love that compelled him to die for us and that prompted him to remain with us      in the bread and wine of the Eucharist. The physical heart of Jesus is the symbol of the total love of Jesus, divin

 St. Agnes of Montepulciano was born into a noble family in Italy in about the year 1268. Agnes was no more than four years old when she began seeking solitude where      she could pray privately for many hours to Jesus, whom she already loved. At the age of nine Agnes entered the convent and began living under the rule of St. Augustine.      The sisters she lived with soon recognized that St. Agnes appeared more like an angelic spirit than a human being. She lived an austere life on bread and water.      Agnes was absorbed in prayer while seemingly unaware that she was suspended nearly two feet above the ground or violets, lilies or roses would be found growing up through the      stones where St. Agnes had just prayed. The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Agnes and told her that she would one day found a large monastery based on faith in the Most High and      undivided Trinity. Agnes was known to have experienced several visions during her life. Mother Mary likewise vouchsafed Agnes

 Five Jesuits, including Thomas Whitbread, the Provincial Superior, were falsely accused of plotting to assassinate King Charles III and overthrow the government.      They were themselves the victims of a plot hatched by the infamous Titus Oates, a man whom the provincial had refused to accept into the Society. No plot against the king was ever      planned, but the plot against the Jesuits was all too successful. Whitbread was a native of Essex but he attended the Jesuit college at Saint-Omer in Flanders.      He entered the Society at the age 17 and was ordained at the age 27. Two years later he returned to England and enjoyed a fruitful apostolate of more than 30 years.      In 1678, during the first year of his term as provincial superior of the Jesuits in England, Father Thomas Whitbread visited the communities on the continent that trained Catholics      from England. At Saint-Omer he encountered Titus Oates, a student at that school who asked the provincial to be admitted into

 In 1380 there lived a good old man named Solomon near Lesneven. He was a simple man of the woods and slept in the open under an oak tree where the Chapel of Our Mother of the      Forest was built. Solomon loved to swing from the branches of a tree that hung over the fountain, all the while singing his praises to “Ave Maria!” at the top of his lungs.      He was commonly known to one and all as “The Fool of the Wood.” One day the villagers found the old man in the snow dying of exposure. They tried to help him, but it was too late      for their kindness, as the old man soon died with the words “Ave Maria” on his lips. The fool of the wood had finally gone to his Queen in Heaven. He was buried in an out-of-the-way      place in Lesneven, for he had no family to mourn him. When spring came, a snow-white lily rose from the outcast’s grave, and on the delicate petals of the lily, in letters of gold,      the words “Ave Maria!” could be seen. The grave was opened, and it was soon discover

 Cafasso was born in Piedmont, Italy, of peasant parents. He studied at the seminary at Turin, and was ordained at a the age 22. He continued his theological studies at the seminary      and university at Turin and then at the Institute of St. Franics, and despite a deformed spine, became a brilliant lecturer in moral theology there. He was a popular teacher,      actively opposed Jansenism, and fought state intrusion into Church affairs. He succeeded Luigi Guala as Rector of the Institute in 1848 and made a deep impression on his young      priest students with his holiness and insistence on discipline and high standards. He was a sought-after confessor and spiritual adviser, and ministered to prisoners,      working to improve their terrible conditions. He met Don Bosco in 1827 and the two became close friends. It was through Joseph's encouragement that Bosco decided his vocation was      working with boys. Joseph was his adviser, worked closely with him in his foundations, and c

 Our Mother of Aix la Chapelle, built by Charlemagne in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary was consecrated by the Pope Leo II in the year 804.      The bronze doors of the Church are surmounted by regal lion heads. The elegant Choir of the Church is filled with marvelous stained glass windows. One of the chapels of the      Cathedral has immeasurable treasures for the Christian world, as Charlemagne took pride in securing for the Cathedral as many important relics from the Holy Land and Rome.      This pious practice was continued by his successors and it explains why the Cathedral is so treasured by the Christian world. These relics are the cloak of the Blessed Virgin,      the swaddling clothes of the Infant Jesus, the loin cloth worn by Our Lord on the Cross, and the cloth on which lay the head of St. John the Baptist following his beheading.      The last time the four great relics were displayed was the year 2007.

 This French saint was eighteen, he entered the Jesuit order. In the seminary, John's love for God and his vocation showed in the way he prayed.      He was also eager to teach catechism in the parishes when he could. After he was ordained a priest, Regis began his work as a missionary preacher.      He gave very simple talks that came right from his heart. He especially spoke to the poor, ordinary folks. They came in great crowds to hear him.      He spent his mornings praying, performing the sacrament of Reconciliation and preaching. In the afternoon, he would visit prisons and hospitals.      To someone who said that the prisoners and bad women he converted would not stay good for long, the saint answered: "If my efforts stop just one sin from being committed,      I shall consider them worthwhile." Regis journeyed to wild mountain parishes even on the coldest days of winter to preach his missions. Sometimes he would start off for a far-away      town at three o'cl

 The statue of Our Mother of the Taper (candle) was one reason why England was known as Mary’s Dowry. The original statue of Our Mother was found on the Welsh coast,      standing near the sea. It was a simple little statue of the Blessed Virgin, her Son on her arm, with a burning taper in her other hand. Devotion to the image of Our Mother of the      Taper began immediately. A bronze statue was commissioned and blessed in 1986. Pope John Paul II lit a blessed taper he had placed in the statues hand.

 Albertina was born in Sao Luis, Imarui, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Her grandparents immigrated from Schoppingen, Germany to Brazil and brought with them their three children,      one of who was Johann Hermann, who would become Albertina's father. Johann married Elisabeth Schmoller and the couple had nine children.      They were a pious farming family that attended Church regularly and lived out their faith in their daily lives. At the age of nine, she made her First Communion,      an experience she described as the most beautiful day of her life. She also had special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Aloysius Gonzaga, a model of purity.      On June 15, one of her father's employees, tried to rape her. She fought back, but when the attacker realized he would fail and she would identify him,      he grasped her by the hair and slit her throat with a knife. He tried to cover up his crime by blaming it on another man and then fled, but was arrested.      He confessed to

 Arras is famous for a miracle that occurred in the year 371 which is recorded by St. Jerome. In that time, there was a great famine in the region and the inhabitants of Arras      turned to the Blessed Virgin Mary in prayer, begging for relief. The famine was relieved in a miraculous way, as something like white wool, mixed with heavy rain,      fell from heaven at Arras. This substance was found to be in reality heavenly bread, commonly called Manna. Some remains of this Manna were to be seen in the Church     dedicated to Mary’s honor.

 Born in Igolomia near Kraków, Poland as the eldest of four children in a wealthy family, he was christened Adam. During the 1864 revolt against Czar Alexander III,      Adam’s wounds forced the amputation of his left leg. His great talent for painting led to studies in Warsaw, Munich, and Paris. Adam returned to Kraków and became a Secular Franciscan.      In 1888, when he founded the Brothers of the Third Order of Saint Francis, Servants to the Poor, he took the name Albert. They worked primarily with the homeless,      depending completely on alms while serving the needy regardless of age, religion, or politics. A community of Albertine sisters was established later.      Pope John Paul II beatified Albert in 1983, and canonized him in 1989. Pope John Paul II later said that he found great spiritual support for his own vocation in the life      of St. Albert, whom he saw as an example of leaving behind a world of art, literature, and theatre to make a radical choice for the priestho

 The shrine in Brabant in the duchy of Louvain, is a replacement of the one below Mount Garizim, Israel. A small Christian community settled there; and on several occasions,      they suffered greatly at the hands of the Samaritians. In 474 the emperor gave Mount Garizim to the Christians and built a Church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin.      A shepherd boy originally found the statue of Our Mother after it had apparently fallen from a niche cut in an old oak tree. The statue was mysteriously too heavy for him to      lift alone, so he ran to find his master, and have him return to help him replace the statue in its place in the old oak. In 1306 the Blessed Virgin Mary moved the hearts of      the people by causing four drops of blood to flow from the eyes of the statue. This revived the faith of the people and increased their fervor.      A small Chapel was built beneath the tree in 1602. From that time there were many miracles as Our Mother seemed to demonstrate her appreciation by

 The first Messenger of the Sacred Heart appears, edited by Fr. Henry Ramiere, SJ. Eventually there were 73 editions in 44 languages.     The Apostleship of Prayer was set up in 1844 by a group of Jesuit seminarians at Vals, France. Because they knew missionary work lay before them, they were frustrated and impatient.      Eager to join the missions in India and America, they failed to see how their dull study routines would make them better missionaries. In response, their spiritual director,      Fr. Francois Xavier Gautrelet, S.J., held a conference. He emphasized that the salvation of souls was a supernatural goal and could therefore be achieved most effectively through      supernatural means. Addressing his younger Jesuit brothers, he said, "Be apostles now, apostles of prayer! Offer everything you are doing each day in union with the Heart of      our Lord for what he wishes: the spread of the Kingdom for the salvation of souls." Gautrelet taught these seminarians to o

Herman was a mystic and was well educated and from his earliest youth he spent all of his free time praying to the Blessed Virgin at the local Church.      Once he innocently offered an apple to a statue of Our Lord and a hand was extended and the apple was accepted. One bitterly cold winter’s day, he was walking barefoot into Church,      the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to him to inquire why he was going about barefoot in such freezing weather. The Blessed Virgin pointed to a stone nearby,      instructing him to look under it. He promptly obeyed, and found four pieces of silver, just what he would need to purchase new shoes. On another occasion,      Herman saw the Blessed Virgin high up in the tribune, conversing with the Child Jesus and St. John. He longed to join them but sadly realized there was no way for him to do so.      Suddenly Herman found himself at their side and began conversing with the Infant Jesus.

 Gaspar was born in Rome and received his education as a Collegio Romano and was ordained priest at the age of 32. Shortly after this, Rome was taken by Napoleon's army,      and he, with most of the clergy, was exiled for refusing to deny his allegiance to the Holy See. He returned after the fall of Napoleon to find a wide scope for work,      as Rome had for nearly five years, been almost entirely without priests and sacraments. In 1815, Gaspar founded the Congregation of the most Precious Blood with the approval      of Pope Pius VII. The kingdom of Naples was in those days a nest of crime of every kind; no one's life or property was safe, and in 1821 the pope asked Gaspar to found six houses      there. He was very happy to do this, but he had many difficulties to overcome before it was accomplished. In 1824, the houses of the congregation were opened to young clergy who      wished to be trained specially as missionaries. In his lifetime, their work covered the whole of It