Every Day In Christian History

 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

 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

 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

 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

 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.

 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

 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

 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

 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,   

 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

 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.

 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

 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

 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

 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.

 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.

 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

 Bridget was born in Sweden in 1303, daughter of the governor. From the time she was a child, she was greatly devoted to the passion of Jesus. When she was only ten,      she had a vision of Jesus on the cross. When she was 14, Bridget married an 18-year Ulf. Like Bridget, Ulf had set his heart on serving God.     They had eight children, of whom one was St. Catherine. Bridget tried to help King Magnus and Queen Blanche lead better lives, however they did not listen to her. All her life,      Bridget had marvelous visions and received special messages from God. In obedience to them, she visited many rulers and important people in the Church.      She explained humbly what God expected of them. After her husband died, Bridget put away her rich clothes and lived as a poor nun. Later,      in 1346, she began the order of the Most Holy Savior, also known as Bridgettines. She still kept up her own busy life, traveling about doing good everywhere she went.      And through all this activity,

 After the German armies had overrun Holland, a great many young Dutchmen fled to escape capture and possible death by the Germans. Many of these young men found a place of hiding in      Overloon. A great many of these refugees who found a hiding place in Overloon, promised the Blessed Virgin they would erect a shrine in her honor if she would help save them.      The battle to free Overloon took place and was fought between the Allied forces and the German army. After suffering heavy losses, the battle resulted in an allied victory freeing      the town of Overloon from German occupation. After the war was over and peace came to the country, the Dutchmen who had been hiding in Overloon got together and built the      promised shrine at Overloon, dedicating it to the Mother of God under the title of Our Mother of Safety or Safe Hiding.

 She is one of the greatest saints of the Bible and an example of God's mercy and grace. She was present with Christ during his public ministry, death and resurrection.      She was certainly a sinner whom Jesus saved, giving us an example of how no person is beyond the saving grace of God. Mary likely watched the crucifixion from a distance along with      the other women who followed Christ during His ministry. Mary was present when Christ rose from the dead, visiting his tomb to anoint his body only to find the stone rolled away and      Christ, very much alive, sitting at the place they laid Him. She was the first witness to His resurrection. After fourteen years, she was allegedly put into a boat by Jews,      along with several other saints of the early Church, and set adrift without sails or oars. The boat landed in southern France,      where she spent the remaining years of her life living in solitude. She is the patroness of converts, repentant sinners, sexual temptation,

 In the year 330 when St. Sanctinus, a disciple of St. Denis, converted the city of Verdun to the True Faith, and later made it an Episcopal city when he became its first Bishop.      He built a Church in honor of Sts. Peter and Paul. This Church was actually named to honor Mary as Mother of God, a title that had     recently been confirmed at the councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon. It was at the council of Ephesus in 431 that Mary was formally affirmed to be Theotokos, “God-bearer.” At Chalcedon,      the nature of Christ was formally defined, teaching that He was God and man, “one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, known in two natures, without confusion,      without change, without division, without separation.” With this definition, Mary was shown to be the Mother of God, and not just of Our Lord in his human nature.      The Church and Our Mother of Verdun was celebrated for numerous miracles.

 Giulio Cesare Russo was born in Brindisi, Kingdom of Naples, to a family of Venetian merchants. He was educated at Saint Mark's College in Venice, and joined the Capuchins in Verona      as Brother Lawrence. He received further instruction from the University of Padua. Lawrence spoke most European and Semitic languages fluently.      He was appointed Definitor General to Rome for the Capuchins in 1596; Pope Clement VIII assigned him the task of converting the Jews in the city. Beginning in 1599,      Lawrence established Capuchin monasteries in modern Germany and Austria, furthering the Counter-Reformation and bringing many Protestants back to the Catholic faith. In 1601,      he served as the imperial chaplain for the army of Rudolph II, Holy Roman Emperor, and successfully recruited Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercoeur to help fight against the      Ottoman Turks. He then led the army during the brief liberation of Szekesfehervar in Hungary from the Ottoman Empire, armed only wit

 Around 1150, Mozarabic Christians built a rude Chapel near the Rumblar River, in southern Spain, at Zocueca. When Alfonso VII reconquered the area in 1155,      people gave thanks to the Virgin at the shrine. In the 1400s it was rebuilt, and from this period the graceful, standing Gothic statue of the Mother and Child seems to date,      although tradition holds it to be older than the first Chapel. During the cholera epidemic of 1681, the people vowed to hold an annual feast in honour of the Virgin,      preceded by a day of fasting, if she would save them. The promise has been kept on August 5 ever since. The Chapel was redecorated in Baroque style in the 1700s.      In 1808, people again thanked the Virgin of Zocueca for her help during the Battle of Bailén, the first Spanish victory against Napoleon. Our Mother of Zocueca was named in 1925,      reigning Alfonso XIII, "Captain General", wearing on his chest the band and Grand Cross of San Fernando that because of such de

 St. Apollinaris, who lived in the first and second centuries, was born in what was then Antioch in today's country of Turkey. He was made Bishop of Ravenna in Italy by St. Peter      himself and was known as a great preacher and evangelizer of people. But like many Christians of his era, his faith made him the target of persecution. He was beaten,      tortured and driven from Ravenna several times, but kept returning, often in secret, to continue spreading the Good News of Jesus. He was said to have worked     many miracles and today his name is invoked against the condition of epilepsy. Artwork often depicts him performing miraculous acts. He is buried in the Basilica of St. Apollinaris      in Ravenna.

 It was on an extremely hot day that July when a shepherd named Giovanni decided to take his sheep to the ponds beyond the peaceful meadows of Amele to give them some relief from      the excessive heat of the day. The ponds had only recently been formed amid the rolling meadows due to the excessive rains of the previous season and Giovanni hoped to give his      sheep a treat of the cool, sweet water he knew he would find there. The sheep suddenly stopped and stood still as they drew near to the water.      Instead of rushing forward to drink as Giovanni had expected, they would not move at all and a few of them bleated and made other strange sounds Giovanni had never heard before.      Anticipating trouble, the shepherd made his way slowly to the edge of the closest pond, and found something odd lying in the water. Moving carefully toward the object,      Giovanni was relieved to find that it appeared to be nothing more than a statue. Drawing it out cautiously, he found that it was a

 Born in Melbourne in 1842 to parents who had emigrated from Scotland, Mary grew up in a family that faced constant financial struggles. As a young woman,      she was drawn to religious life but could not find an existing order of Sisters that met her needs. In 1860 she met Father Julian Woods, who became her spiritual director.      Together they founded a new community of women, the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart. Its members were to staff schools especially for poor children, as well as orphanages,      and do other works of charity. As the congregation grew, so did Mary MacKillop’s problems. Her priest-friend proved unreliable in many ways and his responsibilities for direction      of the Sisters were removed. Meanwhile, Mary had the support of some local bishops as she and her Sisters went about their work. But the bishop in South Australia,      aging and relying on others for advice, briefly excommunicated Mary, charging her with disobedience and dispensed 50 of her

 Our Mother of Victory commemorates the victory of Las Navas, where a signal victory was gained over the Moors by the courageous King Alfonso VIII,      King of Castile. He faced a huge army of warriors who had invaded Spain from Africa. Knights from all parts of Europe gathered in Toledo in response to Pope Innocent’s      proclamation of a new crusade. King Alfonso remained with his reserves and with him were the knights of the military orders. Their concern was only for the salvation of their souls,      the honor of Christendom and the greater glory of God. Above their heads floated the royal banner of Castile, and upon it an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary holding her infant      Son in her lap. The battle began to the sound of trumpets and the fighting was fierce and it seemed the Christians would lose the battle when King Alfonso plowed into the fray      with his reserves. It was at that moment that a great miracle occurred. Mary, Virgin Most Powerful, had claimed that camp, a

 Frederick was born around 780 in Friesland and was a grandson of the Frisian King Radboud. At a young age he was taught at Utrecht by the clergy. After completing his studies,      he was ordained priest and put in charge of converting the remaining heathens in the northern areas of the diocese, but also in areas outside of the diocese.      After the death of Ricfried in 815, Frederick was chosen as Bishop of Utrecht. He was known for his piety and erudition. He was stabbed by two men who were hired by Empress Judith      after the offering of the Mass on 18 July 838, because of Frederick's regular criticism of her dissolute way of life. Shortly after his death,      Frederick was canonized and he is the patron saint of the deaf.

 The sanctuary of Sancta Maria is located on the Piazza di Campitelli in Rome, Italy. There is a precious image that was transported from the portico of the palace of the Roman matron,     Galla Patrizia Seveath, to whom the Virgin herself appeared on 17 July 524. The icon is of 25 centimeters high. The image is known as Our Mother in the Portico.      The Church where the icon was kept was known as Santa Galla Antiqua, and the Church was destroyed by Mussolini under the pretext that the street should be widened.      In the year 1618 the congregation built a new Church known as Santa Maria in Campitelli. Many times, the sacred image of Our Mother of Campitelli has been carried in procession      through the streets of Rome – the people invoking Mary’s protection against pestilence, epidemics and earthquakes.

 Francis came from a leading family in Andalusia, Spain. Perhaps it was his popularity as a student that enabled Francis in his teens to stop two duelists.      He entered the Friars Minor in 1570, and after ordination enthusiastically sacrificed himself for others. His care for the sick during an epidemic drew so much admiration that he      became embarrassed and asked to be sent to the African missions. Instead he was sent to South America in 1589. While working in what is now Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay,      Francis quickly learned the local languages and was well received by the indigenous peoples. His visits to the sick often included playing a song on his violin.      Around 1601 he was called to Lima, Peru, where he tried to recall the Spanish colonists to their baptismal integrity. Francis also worked to defend the indigenous peoples from      oppression. He died in Lima and was canonized in 1726.

 At the time of the Crusades, there were hermits living on Mount Carmel in imitation of Elias. In their midst was a Chapel dedicated to Our Mother. To the medieval members of the Order,     Mary was the Gracious Mother who protected them from danger, who won for them the favor of Christ. The one gift that unites all Catholics to Our Blessed Mother of Mount Carmel is      her scapular. The scapular was given to Saint Simon Stock, Prior General of the Camelite Order, on July 16, 1251. Our Mother appeared to the Saint when there was great danger that      the Order would perish. The works of Saint Simon was the prayer that the Blessed Mother answered Simon’s prayers by giving him the scapular, telling him, “Receive this habit,      this shall be a sign of salvation. Whosoever dies clothed in this shall not suffer eternal fire.” This devotion has since spread all over the world. The Popes John XXII,      Gregory XIII, Sixtus V, Gregory XIV, and Clement VIII, have granted indulgences to tho

 The first atomic bomb was exploded at the Trinity test site on 16 July 1945, near Alamogordo, New Mexico. The coincidence between this date and the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel      has led to a close association between the Catholic anti-war movement and this feast. In 1990, the Rev. Emmanuel Charles McCarthy initiated the 16 July Twenty-Four Hours Day of      Prayer for Forgiveness and Protection with Our Lady of Mount Carmel at Trinity Site in the New Mexico desert. Each year on 16 July a prayer vigil is conducted at Trinity site to      pray for peace and the elimination of nuclear weapons.

 The Christian armies arrived at Jerusalem in 1099 and overjoyed that they had survived to reach their objective. Their joy turned nearly to despair as they ran short of food and      suffered greatly with a plague during the siege of the city. The leaders of the crusade concluded that they could not win without courting the Divine Assistance.      It was agreed by all that they should march together barefoot around the city while singing litanies to the Blessed Virgin Mary. This they did,      as the Jews had done centuries before at Jericho, while praying, fasting, and giving alms. The Turks were finally defeated after what had been a long and difficult siege and the      First Crusade ended with a Christian victory. After the victory, clad in white garments, the crusaders expressed in solemn procession, hymns and prayers,      their gratitude to the Mother of God for giving them this singular victory over the enemies of the Church. The annual celebration in remembrance of the victor

 Bonaventure, Franciscan, theologian, doctor of the Church, was both learned and holy. Because of the spirit that filled him and his writings, he was at first called the Devout Doctor;     but in more recent centuries he has been known as the Seraphic Doctor after the “Seraphic Father” Francis because of the truly Franciscan spirit he possessed. Born in Bagnoregio,      a town in central Italy, he was cured of a serious illness as a boy through the prayers of Francis of Assisi. Later, he studied the liberal arts in Paris.      Inspired by Francis and the example of the friars, especially of his master in theology, Alexander of Hales, he entered the Franciscan Order, and became in turn a teacher of theology      in the university. Chosen as Minister General of the Order in 1257, he was God’s instrument in bringing it back to a deeper love of the way of St. Francis,      both through the life of Francis which he wrote at the behest of the brothers and through other works which defended t

 During the years of the conquest, a shepherd was pasturing his flocks on the site of a camp where Christians had stayed in the earlier wars. He heard a sweet voice calling him and      was attracted to a burning bush where amid the flames he saw a statue of Our Mother. She gave him two messages, one for himself and one for the Bishop. The shepherd took the image      down into the town to tell the Bishop. Then he returned to the field and set up for himself a small hermitage. He sold everything he had and built a tiny shrine for the statue there      and began public prayers to Mary as she had told him to do. So many people joined in the devotions at the simple Chapel that it soon became necessary to build a larger Chapel.      Several miracles added to the impetus of the pilgrimages and the Bishop had a large Church and monastery built at the spot. The monks of Saint Jerome were called in to tend the      shrine. In 1458 King Alfonso V of Aragon, crusading against the Moors made a pr

 Camillus’ mother died when he was a child, his father neglected him, and he grew up with an excessive love for gambling. At 17 he was afflicted with a disease of his leg that      remained with him for life. In Rome, he entered the San Giacomo Hospital for Incurables as both patient and servant, but was dismissed for quarrelsomeness. He accepted work at the      Capuchin friary at Manfredonia, and was one day so moved by a sermon of the superior that he began a conversion that changed his whole life. He came back at San Giacomo and devoted      the rest of his life to the care of the sick, and has been named, along with St. John of God, patron of hospitals, nurses and the sick. With the advice of his friend St. Philip Neri,      he studied for the priesthood and was ordained at the age of 34. He left San Giacomo and founded a congregation of his own. The members of his community bound themselves to serve      prisoners and persons infected by the plague as well as those dying in priva

 At the hospital where Pierina Gilli worked as a nurse aide, early on Sunday, July 13, 1947, saw a woman with white, red, and yellow roses on her breast, who said,      "I am the Mother of Jesus and the Mother of all of you. ... I wish that July 13 be celebrated each year in honor of the Rosa Mystica." There were several such apparitions,      some critical of the clergy, some requesting special observances, some promising blessings through a holy spring. The title "Mystical Rose" first appeared in the Litany of Loreto,      probably written in the 1500s. The new devotion given through Pierina Gilli was aimed primarily at consecrated religious -- sisters, brothers, and priests.      The seer had wanted to join an order, but ill health prevented her. Although the Catholic Church has not recognized the apparitions of Montichiari,      devotion to Our Mother as Rosa Mystica has spread around the world.

 As German king and Holy Roman Emperor, Henry was a practical man of affairs. He was energetic in consolidating his rule. He crushed rebellions and feuds.      On all sides he had to deal with drawn-out disputes so as to protect his frontiers. This involved him in a number of battles, especially in the south in Italy;      he also helped Pope Benedict VIII quell disturbances in Rome. Always his ultimate purpose was to establish a stable peace in Europe. According to eleventh-century custom,      Henry took advantage of his position and appointed as Bishops men loyal to him and he avoided the pitfalls of this practice and actually fostered the reform of ecclesiastical      and monastic life. He was canonized in 1146. He is the Patron of the childless and those rejected by Religious Order.

 In 1840, in a village on the banks of the Dniepr, as Mrs. Kasperov was praying before her old Transylvanian icon late at night, she witnessed the age-darkened faces of the Mother      and Child brighten and become clear. The renovation persisted, soon accompanied by miracles of healing. As devotion to the icon spread, the town of Kherson instituted an annual      procession with it at the Feast of the Ascension. During the Crimean War, the procession moved to the city of Odessa, which remained unharmed. Thereafter,      the Kasperov Icon has made an annual rotation among Odessa, Kherson, and the towns of Nikolaev and Kasperovka. July 12, the icon's last day in Kherson, is celebrated as its feast and      the Wednesday after Easter.

 These two friars were martyred in England in the 16th & 17th centuries for refusing to deny their faith. John Jones was Welsh. He was ordained a diocesan priest and was twice imprisoned for      administering the sacraments before leaving England in 1590. He joined the Franciscans at the age of 60 and returned to England three years later while Queen Elizabeth I was at the      height of her power. Jones ministered to Catholics in the English countryside until his imprisonment in 1596. He was condemned to be hanged,      drawn and quartered. Jones was executed on July 12, 1598. John Wall was born in England but was educated at the English College of Douai, Belgium. Ordained in Rome in 1648,      he entered the Franciscans in Douai. In 1656 he returned to work secretly in England. In 1678 Titus Oates worked many English people into a frenzy over an alleged papal plot to      murder the king and restore Catholicism in that country. In that year Catholics were legally excluded from P

 A 12-year-old shepherdess, Marietta Del Mazza, reported apparitions of the Virgin on July 11, 1536 and days following. When news spread through the region,      along with reports of miracles attributed to the Virgin's intercession, the Bishops of Arezzo and Sansepolcro conducted an investigation and authorized a shrine at the apparition site.      Completed in 1539, the sanctuary was staffed by the Franciscan order at first, then by the Carmelites until 1782. Since 1987 it has been under the jurisdiction of the local Bishop.      The miraculous painting shows the infant St. John the Baptist pointing to the Child Jesus.

 Benedict was born to the Roman nobility and twin brother of St Scholastica. Studied in Rome but was dismayed by the lack of discipline and the easygoing attitude of his fellow      students. He fled to the mountains near Subiaco, Italy, living as a hermit in a cave for three years; reported to have been fed by a raven. Friend of St Romanus of Subiaco who lived      as a nearby hermit; spiritual teacher of St Placid. Benedict’s virtues caused an abbey to request him to lead them. Founded the monastery at Monte Cassino,      where he wrote the Rule of his order. His discipline was such that an attempt was made on his life; some monks tried by poison him, but he blessed the cup and rendered it harmless.      He returned to his cave, but continued to attract followers, and eventually established twelve monasteries. He had the ability to read consciences, the gift of prophesy,      and could forestall attacks of the devil. Destroyed pagan statues and altars, drove demons from groves sacred

 In the year 636, a small group of people standing on the seashore witnessed a ship without 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 oars or sails. The ship, however,      bore a statue of Our Lady. 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 French devotion to Mary.

 Veronica’s desire to be like Christ crucified was answered with the stigmata. Veronica was born in Mercatelli, Italy. When her mother Benedetta was dying she called her five      daughters to her bedside and entrusted each of them to one of the five wounds of Jesus. Veronica was entrusted to the wound below Christ’s heart. At the age of 17,      Veronica joined the Poor Clares directed by the Capuchins. Her father had wanted her to marry, but she convinced him to allow her to become a nun. In her first years in the monastery,     she worked in the kitchen, infirmary and sacristy and also served as portress. At the age of 34, she was made novice mistress, a position she held for 22 years. When she was 37,      Veronica received the stigmata. Life was not the same after that. Church authorities in Rome wanted to test Veronica’s authenticity and so conducted an investigation.      She lost the office of novice mistress temporarily and was not allowed to attend Mass except on Sundays or h

 The Blessed Virgin Mary saved the life of 17th-century Jesuit missionary, Luis de Bolanos, SJ and intervened in a battle between two native tribes,      resulting in the victory of the tribe with the conquerors' aid. The Virgin of Itati became known for her transfigurations, the first of which took place during Holy Week of 1624      and lasted several days. According to Fray Luis de Gamarra, "there was an extraordinary change on her face; she was more beautiful than ever before. "In 1950, a Basilica to enshrine      the image was built with one of the tallest domes in South America, now known as one of the largest Catholic pilgrimage sites in Argentina. On July 16, 1900,      the statue of Our Mother was granted a Canonical Coronation under the pontificate of Pope Leo XIII, who proclaimed the statue as the patron saint of Corrientes.

 ST LEO IGNATIUS MANGIN, SJ AND CHINESE MARTYRS     When the uprising of the “Boxers” (a secret Chinese society who began a persecution of Catholics in 1898) which had begun in Shandong and then spread through Shanxi and Hunan,      also reached South-Eastern Tcheli, which was then the Apostolic Vicariate of Xianxian, in the care of the Jesuits, the Christians killed could be counted in thousands.      Among these were four French Jesuit priests, Leo Mangin, Paul Denn, Remy Isore and Modeste Andlauer and thousands of Chinese lay Christians.      All suffered martyrdom in the month of July 1900. The Boxers broke down the Church doors and confronted the Catholic Congregation. They gave people one last chance to renounce      their faith, but only a few did so. Then the shooting began. Denn intoned the “I Confess” and Mangin pronounced the words of absolution. They were among the first to be killed and      then the attackers fired into the congregation and slashed at people with swords,

 This miraculous icon, also known as the Theotokos of Kazan, was originated in Constantinople in the 13th century before it was taken to Russia. When the Turks took Kazan in 1438,      the icon had been hidden. Ivan the Terrible liberated Kazan in 1552 and the town was destroyed by fire in 1579. The location of the icon was revealed during a dream by the Blessed      Virgin Mary to a ten-year-old girl named Matrona who told the Bishop of her dream but he did not believe her. Matrona and her mother went to the place indicated by the Blessed      Virgin and dug in the ruins what had been a house until the uncovered the icon. It appeared untouched by the flames, with the colors as vivid and brilliant as if it were new on      July 8th in 1579. The Bishop took the icon to the Church of Saint Nicholas, and immediately there was a miracle of a blind man’s sight being restored to him.      Many of the copies are known to be miracle working. There is a Russian feast of Mary under this title as