Saint of the day and Feast days.

[odhiambo]

     “Oh how long since would the world have been destroyed, had not Mary sustained it by her powerful intercession”
 St Fulgentius.

 

Feast of all Saints.

[Shin]

'Perfection of life consists in drawing close to God. Heaven is the possession of God. In heaven God is contemplated, adored, loved. But to attain heaven it's necessary to be detached from what is earthly. What is the life of a Carmelite if not one of contemplating, adoring and loving God incessantly? And she, by being desirous for that heaven, distances herself from the world and tries to detach herself as much as possible from everything earthly.'

St. Teresa of the Andes

[odhiambo]

July 17
 
Today is the Feast day of
Saint Alexis of Rome
Among many other saints.

[odhiambo]

Saint Alexis of Rome
Also known as:
Alexius of Rome.
Man of God.

Alexius was the only son of Euphemian, a rich, Christian, Roman Senator and his wife Aglae. Even as a child, Alexis was known for his charity. He wanted to dedicate his life to God, but his parents wanted him to marry and they went ahead and arranged a marriage for him to a wealthy Roman girl. To please his parents, Alexis married the girl. On their wedding day, however, the two parted company by mutual consent. He left Rome secretly and went to Syria. For seventeen years, Alexis lived in abject poverty and great holiness in a shack adjoining a church dedicated to Mary in Edessa.
Then, a miracle happened.
A statue of Our Lady spoke revealing him to the people of Edessa as the “Man of God”. Alexis fled back to his home. His own father, not recognizing the bedraggled beggar as his son, gave him a job and a place to live under a staircase in his home.
Humbly, uncomplainingly and completely unrecognized by them all, Alexis lived in his father’s home for another seventeen years.
At his death, his autobiography was found on his body. Then, and only then, was his identity revealed.
He was honored as a saint and his home, such as it was, converted into a church.
Another version of his life has him dying in Edessa.
Saint Alexis is the patron of Alexian Brotherhood, a congregation that serves the sick.
He is also the patron of beggars, pilgrims, and the sick.
In liturgical art, Saint Alexis is represented by a dying man with a letter in his hand, a man lying beneath a staircase or a man lying on a mat.
Saint Alexis of Rome,
Pray for us!

[odhiambo]

“Pride is an illusion, a lie and a theft. And since it is a truth of faith that we are nothing, he who esteems himself and thinks that he is someone is a seducer who deceives himself”
St John Eudes.

Feast of all Saints

[odhiambo]

July 18
 
Today is the Feast day of
Saint Frederick
Among many others.
 

[odhiambo]

Saint Frederick
Bishop, Martyr.
Also known as Saint Frederick of Utrecht, or Frederick of the Netherlands.
Frederick was born the grandson of King Radbon of the Frisians. He was educated by the priests at Utrecht, Holland, and he himself also became a priest. He was known for his holiness and learning.
About the year 825, Frederick was appointed bishop of Utrecht. He worked hard to put the see in order and to reform the clergy. He sent a group of missionaries under the leadership to Saint Odulphus to evangelize the pagans in the northern part of Utrecht. Frederick also opposed incestuous marriages, especially among the nobility. He incurred the enmity of the Empress Judith, when he openly chastised her for her immoral and adulterous lifestyle.
On 18 July 838 the Saint was stabbed to death in a church, during Mass in Maastricht, Flanders by assassins. The crime was blamed on the Empress. It was, however, more than likely that the pagans from Walcheren, were the culprits. Many of them deeply resented his missionary activities in their area.
In liturgical art, he is represented by a bishop pierced by two swords or, a
bishop being stabbed by two men.

Saint Frederick,
Pray for us

[Shin]

Flanders, the Netherlands, Utrecht. . . The more I learn about the saints the more I learn about history and geography too. . . All the old states of the Holy Roman Empire. . . It's all quite interesting really, if only I had been taught the history of the saints in school, history would have been so interesting.

[Shin]

I am glad there is a St. Fredrick, it's a good name no? 

[odhiambo]

Flanders, the Netherlands, Utrecht. . . The more I learn about the saints the more I learn about history and geography too. . . All the old states of the Holy Roman Empire. . . It's all quite interesting really, if only I had been taught the history of the saints in school, history would have been so interesting.

I just find the old names confusing 

[odhiambo]

I am glad there is a St. Fredrick, it's a good name no? 

Yes, Frederick is a good name. There are not many saints with that name I know but today's saint is not the only Saint Frederick. There is another one who was Bishop of Liege, in Belgium. Feast day May 27 

[martin]

It looks like he followed in the footsteps of St John the Baptist. Preaching against immorality can make one very unpopular. St Thomas Moore preached by his silence in refusing to condone adultery and ended up beheaded.
What will be in store for us who refuse to condone unnatural vice when the world tells us we should be accepting. A good time to win the martyrs crown I'm thinking. 

[odhiambo]

It looks like he followed in the footsteps of St John the Baptist. Preaching against immorality can make one very unpopular. St Thomas Moore preached by his silence in refusing to condone adultery and ended up beheaded.
What will be in store for us who refuse to condone unnatural vice when the world tells us we should be accepting. A good time to win the martyrs crown I'm thinking. 

For a while I used to wonder what the world is coming to with men marrying men and women marrying women and all of it legally in some countries. These people coming out boldly to fight "for their rights"
Then I told myself, there is this question of "free will" that the Creator, in His wisdom, gave each and every one of us. We each choose our destiny in life.  Heart breaking but , c'est la vie! 

[odhiambo]

July 19
 
Today is the Feast day of
Saint Justa and Rufina.
Among many other saints.

[odhiambo]

Saint Justa and Saint Rufina
Martyrs.
Justa is also known as Justin.
 
Justa and Rufina were sisters who lived during the reign of Emperor Dioclatian, a time of persecution of Christians. The sisters were potters in Hispalis, Hispania. (Modern Seville, Spain). A rich pagan wanted to buy their pots to be used in pagan ceremonies. When the girls learnt how their pots were to be used, they refused to sell them. Their stock was then maliciously desroyed by pagans. The sisters retaliated by destroying the image of a pagan godess. They were then denounced as Christians, tortured and then executed.
Justa died on the rack while Rufina was strangled to death and their bodies burnt. Other sources say they were fed to the lions.
The two sisters are the patron saints of Seville, Spain.
Saint Justa,
Pray for us!
Saint Rufina,
Pray for us!

[Shin]

I used to ask for St. Justa's help with the virtue of justice in the past, this brings back memories.

St. Justa, pray for us! St. Rufina, pray for us!