Saint of the day and Feast days.

[odhiambo]

Saint John before the Latin Gate.

John, as we know, was the younger brother of the apostle James. The two ware sons of Zebedee ,a fisherman of Galilee. Their mother's name was Salome who is believed to be a sister of Jesus' mother Mary. Remember in the Bible how this holy woman, driven by the love of her two sons, approached Jusus and pleaded for them?

Here is the relevant quatation:

“Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached him with her sons and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something.
He said to her, "What do you wish?" She answered him, "Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom."
Jesus said in reply, "You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?" They said to him, "We can."
He replied, "My cup you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father."
(Matt. 20:20-23).

“My cup you will indeed drink…” Jesus assured them. From this reply, it seems that the two brothers were both destined to die myrtrs . James, was the first of the apostles to die and he was martyred as Jesus had predicted. During the reign the Roman emperor Domitian(81-96), John was living in Ephesus. He had moved there shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 A.D. One day, by order of the Roman emperor Domitian, John was apprehended, bound and brought in chains to Rome. He was condemned to die a most horrible death. He was to be taken to the Latin Gate and thrown into a large pot of boiling oil.
John was not afraid, on the contrary, he welcomed the sentence. Did his Beloved Master not tell him how it would end with him? He was ready and willing.
He was cruelly scourged first, then seized and thrown into the pot of boiling oil. Then behold, a miracle! The Saint did not die. He stepped out of the death pot more refreshed than when he had been hurled in!

One would have thought that this miracle would have made a believer of anyone, but no, not Emperor Domitian, the man who “was the first of the emperors to deify himself during his lifetime by assuming the title of "Lord and God"”. He exiled Saint John to the small Greek Island of Patmos.
“Because I proclaimed God’s Word and gave testimony to Jesus”(Rv. 1:9)

Saint John,
Pray for us!

[Patricia]

“My cup you will indeed drink…” Jesus assured them. From this reply, it seems that the two brothers were both destined to die martyrs .

I wonder about the mother's reaction to this assurance and if she even understood it then.  She wanted her sons to have an important place in God's kingdom and in a way God granted that request, but not quite in the way she wanted it.  Just my thought about it. What a blessing to have both sons martyred!!  I've heard to be careful what you pray for , your prayers may be answered. 

[Shin]

Yes, I've heard the same thing! 

[Shin]

St. John is my favorite apostle.

'And he said to them: You are from beneath, I am from above. You are of this world, I am not of this world.

Therefore I said to you, that you shall die in your sins. For if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sin.'

John 8:23-24

'Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world. If any man love the world, the charity of the Father is not in him.'

1 John 2:15

'For all that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh and the concupiscence of the eyes and the pride of life, which is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world passeth away and the concupiscence thereof: but he that doth the will of God abideth for ever.'

1 John 2:16-2:17

'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.'

John 1:1

[odhiambo]

May 7

Today is the Feast day of
Saint Stanislaus
Among many other saints

[odhiambo]

Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów ( 1030-1078)
Bishop, Martyr.


Also known as
Saint Stanis?aw or
Saint Stanislas,

Stanis?aw was born on July 26, 1030 in a village in southern Poland. He was the only son of noble and pious parents. The parents were advanced in age before they had him and he was born in answer to their prayers. To show their gratitude to God for prayers answered, Stanislas’s parents educated him for the Church at a cathedral school in the then capital city of Poland. He was duly ordained a priest and when the Bishop of Cracow died later in 1072, Stanis?aw was elected his successor. He accepted the office reluctantly and only because the Pope wished it. Boleslas II was then King of Poland. Stanislas encouraged him to establish Benedictine monasteries to aid in the Christianisation of Poland. All was well at first but soon, there was conflict. The exact details of the events of the struggle are uncertain. Apparantly the King “outraged the whole kingdom by carrying off the wife of one of his nobles”

No one, except the Saint rebuked the King.
“Having commended the matter to God, he went down to the palace and openly rebuked the king for his crime against God and his subjects, and threatened to excommunicate him if he persisted in his sin”

Now, as it happened, the Bishop had purchased for the diocese a piece of land from a man named Piotr (?Paul ?Peter) who had since died. In retaliation for the public rebuke and to slander the name of the Saint, the King forced the nephews of the deceased to swear that their uncle had never been paid for the land bought by the bishop for the Church. Stanislas found himself alone in truth, all having forsaken him. Undaunted, he promised the King that within three days, he would bring the dead owner of the land, to whom he had given the money, to witness for him.
The King and the court laughed at the request, but he granted him the three days. Stanislas turned to his God and Master. He spent the three days in ceaseless prayers and tears, entreating God to come to his rescue. On the material day, the third day, he dressed in full bishop's regalia, went with a procession to the cemetery where Paul had been buried three years earlier. He had Paul’s grave dug up until his remains were discovered. Then, before a multitude of witnesses, Stanis?as bade Paul rise, and, behold, Paul arose!

The risen man was brought before King Boles?aw to testify on Stanis?aw's behalf. The dumbfounded court heard Paul reprimand his relatives and testify that Stanis?as had indeed paid for the land. Unable to give any other verdict, the King dismissed the suit against the Bishop.
The dead man was once more laid to rest as he preferred to live on the other side.

After this incident, the King repented , for a while, and behaved as was expected of him. Soon, however he was back to his old ways. The Bishop’s remonstrations fell on deaf ears. Consequently, the Bishop excommunicated King Boles?aw. This did not go down well with the King who now sought to kill him.

On May 8, 1079, (? April 11 1079) Stanislas was celebrating Mass at the chapel of Saint Michael in Cracow. The King sent three of his knights to execute him, Each in turn came out, saying they had been scared by a light from heaven. King Boleslav the Bold then “rushed in and slew the Saint at the altar with his own hand”
He was 48 years old..

Stanislaus was canonized by Pope Innocent IV in 1253.
He is the Patron Saint of Poland.

Saint Stanislaus,
Pray for us!

[odhiambo]

I loved reading about Saint Stanislaus.
 Notice the three days he requested before the stunning miracle.

[Patricia]

Unfortunate King Boleslav, who never repented after being rebuked by the good Saint, and went on to commit murder. 

[odhiambo]

Unfortunate King Boleslav, who never repented after being rebuked by the good Saint, and went on to commit murder. 

It seems that after the murder of Saint Stanislaus, the king also met his own waterloo. There was a rebellion against him sparked by the cruel murder of the bishop. He fled the country to Hungary with his wife and son. There he was apparently poisoned and died young at about 40 years of age. I only hope that he had had time to repent his past deeds.

[Shin]

I'll have to share this story with my father, perhaps he'll tell it to the Polish culture club. 

[odhiambo]

I'll have to share this story with my father, perhaps he'll tell it to the Polish culture club. 

Polish Culture club?

[odhiambo]

May 8
Today we commemorate
The Apparition of St. Michael the Archangel.

[odhiambo]

The Apparition of St. Michael the Archangel.

Saint Michael, whose name means Who is like God, is the prince of the faithful Angels; the leader of those angels who remained faithful to God following Lucifer’s revolt .We as Christians, look on Saint Michael as the guardian and protector of God’s Holy Church. In the same way that he opposed Satan in the celestial war, he is now ranked against him here on earth as Satan is the sworn enemy of the Church.

A number of apparitions of Saint Michael have been recorded., for instance, we are told that he made a dramatic appearance over the mausoleum of Emperor Hadrian( r 117-138) in Rome, in answer to an appeal during an outbreak of plaque. The plaque stopped and ever since, the mausoleum has been called the castel Sant’Angelo in his honor.

Another apparition is that which occurred to Saint Ausbert, bishop of Avranches in France. led to the construction of Mont-Saint-Michel in the sea, a famous site of pilgrimage.

The apparition of Saint Michael, that we are celebrating today, commemorates the appearance of the Archangel to a man called Gargan in the year 492 in Southern Italy.
It so happened that one day Gargan had taken his cattle to pasture along the countryside near Mount Gargano. For no apparent reason, one of the bulls bolted off and hid in a cave on the mountain. To try and scare it out of the cave, an arrow was shot into the cave but it boomeranged and wounded the archer!
Following this extraordinary occurrence, the people went to consult the bishop of the region. He ordered three days of fasting and prayers. After three days, the Archangel Saint Michael appeared to the bishop. He explained that the cave where the bull had taken refuge was under his protection, and that God wanted it to be consecrated under his name and in honor of all the Holy Angels.
This was duly accomplished.

Today’s feast day was thus instituted by the Church in honor of Saint Michael the Archangel, to thank God for His goodness for availing to us his protection.

Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -
by the Divine Power of God -
cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits,
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.

I smiled when I read the following about Saint Michael from SQPN:

“Born

* wasn’t

Died

* hasn’t" 

[Shin]

I'll have to share this story with my father, perhaps he'll tell it to the Polish culture club.  

Polish Culture club?

Yes, he is the professor overseeing it as his college. He likes to promote Polish culture, and feels it's neglected in the states. He's pure blooded that heritage.



Pierrogis, kielbasa, Polish books, famous Polish people, Polish people to come speak to the club, etc. he is always on the lookout for these for the club.  

Well the latter I mean. 

[odhiambo]

I'll have to share this story with my father, perhaps he'll tell it to the Polish culture club.  

Polish Culture club?

Yes, he is the professor overseeing it as his college. He likes to promote Polish culture, and feels it's neglected in the states. He's pure blooded that heritage.



Pierrogis, kielbasa, Polish books, famous Polish people, Polish people to come speak to the club, etc. he is always on the lookout for these for the club.  

Well the latter I mean. 

I get the picture

[odhiambo]

9 May

Today is the Feast day of
Saint Gregory of Nazianzus
Among many other Saints.