Saint of the day and Feast days.

[Patricia]

"He is The Bread sown in the virgin, leavened in the Flesh, molded in His Passion, baked in the furnace of the Sepulchre, placed in the Churches, and set upon the Altars, which daily supplies Heavenly Food to the faithful."

Beautiful quote!!

[Shin]

Truly! 

[odhiambo]

August 2

Today is the Feast of
Saint Eusebius of Vercelli
Among many other saints

[odhiambo]

Saint Eusebius.
Bishop of Vercelli
Eusebius was born of a noble family on the island of Sardinia, Italy, around the year 283. His father died a martyr for the faith in prison in Sardinia. While still an infant, his mother brought him to Rome where he grew up. He studied in Vercelli, a city of Piedmont and was ordained a priest there. When the See of Vercelli became vacant,
he was unanimously elected Bishop, by both clergy and lay Christians.
In 354, Eusebius, together with Bishop Lucifer of Cagliari, was sent by Pope Liberius to the Emperor Constantius, to ask him to call a council to settle the differences between Catholics and Arians.
The following year when a Council was held in Italy, under the influence of the Emperor Constansius and the Arian heretics, with the intention of condemning Saint Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, Saint Eusebius courageously declined, demanding instead, that all bishops present sign the Nicene Creed before considering the Athanisius' case. With Saint Dionysus of Milan, as well as Lucifer of Cagliari, he adamantly refused to sign the condemnation of Athanasius.
The Emperor was livid. He banished Eusebius, to Scythopolis in Palestine in the custody of Arian Bishop Patrophilus. There, Eusebius was persecuted and subjected to numerous humiliations by the Arians. He was moved first to Cappadocia, and then to Upper Thebaid in Egypt, where he continued his uncompromising opposition to Arianism.
In 361, Emperor Constansius died. His successor Emperor Julian the Apostate, permitted the exiled bishops to return to their sees. Eusebius returned from exile in time to attend a council at Alexandria in 362 that marked his return to active ministry. He returned to Vercelli, where he continued to combat Arianism, concertedly with Saint Hilarion of Poitiers.
Eusebius died on 1 August 371 in Vercelli, Italy. He was one of the authors of the Athanasian Creed. A manuscript copy of the Latin Gospels he is reputed to have copied, Codex Vercellensis, is said to be the oldest such manuscript in existance.
Saint Eusebius of Vercelli,
Pray for us!
Ref:
Dictunary of Saints by John J. Delaney.

[odhiambo]

 August 3
 
Today is the feast day of
Saint Waltheof of Melrose
Among many other Saints

[odhiambo]

Saint Waltheof of Melrose.
Also known as Walthen.
Waltheof was born in 1100 in England. He was the 2nd son of Simon, Earl of Huntingdon. His mother was Matilda or Maud, niece of William the Conqueror.
Following the death of his father, his mother was given in marriage by King Henry I to St David I, King of Scotland. In the court of King David, Waltheof came under the influence of Aelred, master of the royal household.
Even as a boy, Waltheof had an inclination to religion. He would build churches and monasteries with stones while his brother, Simon, would build castles and play with toy soldiers. Not surprisingly, therefore, when Waltheof grew up, he chose the religious life.
He left Scotland and became an Augustinian  canon at Nostelle Monastery in Yorkshire England in 1130. Four years later in 1134, he was named Abbot of Kirkham,
 when he experienced a vision of Christ and saw the Christ Child in his hand instead of the Host  while saying Mass.
Hungry for a stricter rule, Waltheof became a Cistercian monk at Wardon, Bedforshire. Four years later, he was named  Abbot of Melrose abbey which had just been founded by King David.
The Saint became known for his austerities, his kindness to the poor, and was credited with performing miracles.
In 1154, Waltheof was named archbishop of Saint Andrews but he refused that honor.
 
St Walteof died of natural causes, at an old age, on 3 August 1160.
In liturgical art, Saint Waltheof is  depicted as a Cistercian kneeling by a block of stone at sunrise, sometime as one restoring sight to a blind man.
 
Saint Waltheof,
Pray for us!

[Shin]

Isn't that quite a memorable and striking image? Kneeling on a block of stone at sunrise. . .

Restoring sight to a blind man.  ..

St. Waltheof of Melrose, pray for us. . .

St. David of Scotland, pray for us.  . .

Building churches and monasteries with stones as a child. . .

A vision of the Christ Child instead of the Host. . .

[odhiambo]

Isn't that quite a memorable and striking image? Kneeling on a block of stone at sunrise. . .

Restoring sight to a blind man.  ..

St. Waltheof of Melrose, pray for us. . .

St. David of Scotland, pray for us.  . .

Building churches and monasteries with stones as a child. . .

A vision of the Christ Child instead of the Host. . .

Yes, he was a holy man.

[odhiambo]

August 4

Today is the Feast day of
Saint John Baptist Mary Vianney
Among many other saints.

[odhiambo]

Saint John Baptist Mary Vianney
Patron Saint of Parish Priests
Also known as the "Cure of Ars".

Saint John Baptist Mary Vianney was born in the village of Dardilly in France on 8 May, 1786. He was given the name of Jean -Batiste Marie Vianney. He was the 4th of six children (eight by other accounts) born to his parents, Matthieu Vianney and Marie Beluze, who were poor farmers but very devout Catholics. He was baptized on the same day he was born. Note that the Saint was born just before the French Revolution. He grew up as a farmhand without receiving any formal education.  At the age of 13, he received his First Communion secretly in a farm where work continued in order to avoid suspicion. The Church was being persecuted at this time.
John worked as a shepherd until the age of 18, when he began training for the priesthood.  He had a great deal of difficulty with his studies, especially Latin which he kept failing. He was eventually ordained because of his goodness and the intervention of Abbe Bailey the Parish Priest of Ecully. After he was ordained, he was assigned to Ecully. In 1818, he was assigned to the parish of Ars, a village not very far from Lyons. It was in exercising his duties as the parish priest of this remote village that Saint John Vianney became known throughout France and the Christian world.
His main mission was conducted in the confessional. Towards the end of his life, he spent sixteen to eighteen hours a day administering the Sacrament of Penance to the thousands who flocked to Ars. He helped to found “La Providence”, a home for orphaned and destitute children.
John was gifted with discernment of spirits. He read souls and was able to reclaim thousands of lapsed Catholics.
He built a shrine to Saint Philomena which became a popular site of pilgrimage. He used to suffer diabolical attacks.
Saint John died at the aged 73 on 4 August 1859 at Ars, France of natural causes. He was buried in the basilica of Ars.
He was beatified on 8 January 1905 by Pope Saint Pius X; canonized on 31 May 1925 by Pope Pius XI.

Saint John Baptist Mary Vianney,
Pray for us!

[odhiambo]

Some years ago I read a memorable book on the life of this Saint.
"The Village Priest", great reading.

[odhiambo]

“Anything we do without offering it to God, is wasted”

St John .Vianney.

[wings]

Saint John Baptist Mary Vianney
Patron Saint of Parish Priests
Also known as the "Cure of Ars".

Saint John Baptist Mary Vianney was born in the village of Dardilly in France on 8 May, 1786. He was given the name of Jean -Batiste Marie Vianney. He was the 4th of six children (eight by other accounts) born to his parents, Matthieu Vianney and Marie Beluze, who were poor farmers but very devout Catholics. He was baptized on the same day he was born. Note that the Saint was born just before the French Revolution. He grew up as a farmhand without receiving any formal education.  At the age of 13, he received his First Communion secretly in a farm where work continued in order to avoid suspicion. The Church was being persecuted at this time.
John worked as a shepherd until the age of 18, when he began training for the priesthood.  He had a great deal of difficulty with his studies, especially Latin which he kept failing. He was eventually ordained because of his goodness and the intervention of Abbe Bailey the Parish Priest of Ecully. After he was ordained, he was assigned to Ecully. In 1818, he was assigned to the parish of Ars, a village not very far from Lyons. It was in exercising his duties as the parish priest of this remote village that Saint John Vianney became known throughout France and the Christian world.
His main mission was conducted in the confessional. Towards the end of his life, he spent sixteen to eighteen hours a day administering the Sacrament of Penance to the thousands who flocked to Ars. He helped to found “La Providence”, a home for orphaned and destitute children.
John was gifted with discernment of spirits. He read souls and was able to reclaim thousands of lapsed Catholics.
He built a shrine to Saint Philomena which became a popular site of pilgrimage. He used to suffer diabolical attacks.
Saint John died at the aged 73 on 4 August 1859 at Ars, France of natural causes. He was buried in the basilica of Ars.
He was beatified on 8 January 1905 by Pope Saint Pius X; canonized on 31 May 1925 by Pope Pius XI.

Saint John Baptist Mary Vianney,
Pray for us!

[Shin]

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[odhiambo]

August 5
Today we celebrate the
Dedication of the Basilica of St Mary Major in Rome.

[odhiambo]

Dedication of the Basilica of St Mary Major in Rome.

The Church commemorates the consecration of the four great Roman basilicas, called the Major Basilicas.
 There are just four of this type in the world and  all are found in Rome. They are:
1: Saint John Lateran Basilica.
2:Saint Peter’s Basilica
3:The Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls.
4: The Basilica of Saint Mary Major
These four great basilicas, were called
Patriarchal Cathedrals in memory of the firsts centers of the Church.
 St John Lateran representing Rome, the See of Peter.
 St Paul Outside the Walls, represented the See of Alexandria.
St Peter’s Basilica represented the See of Constantinople.
The Basilica of St Mary Major represented the See of Antioch.
Today we commemorate the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, also known as:
Liberian Basilica and the Basilica of Our Lady of the Snows.
This is the largest Church in Christendom honoring God through Mary. According to Tradition, here is how the Church came to be built.
 A wealthy Roman couple had no children. They wanted to pledge their entire fortune to the Mother of God. Our Lady must have been in favor of this noble plan. She appeared in a dream to the couple, John and his wife as well as to the pope, Pope Liberius. She asked them to build a church in her honor where the snow would fall on the night of August 4-5. True to the vision, a sudden midsummer snowfall occurred on the night of 4 August 355. Pope Liberius went and traced the outlines of the church in the snow, and the first basilica was built on that site.
Following the Council of Ephesus in 431, in which Mary was declared Theotokos, i. e., “Mother of God”, Pope Sixtus III, in commemoration of this victory over Nestorius,  rebuilt the Liberian Basilica and dedicated it to Santa Maria Maggiore, i. e., St Mary Major. This is what the Church commemorates today.
The  basilica is located on the summit of the Esquiline Hill in Rome. It is called the Basilica of Saint Mary Major (Latin: Basilica Sancta Mariæ Majoris) because it is the largest church in Rome dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Hail Mary conceived without sin.
Pray for us who have recourse to thee.