Saint of the day and Feast days.

[martin]

"Sweet Lord, you are meek and merciful." Who would not give himself wholeheartedly to your service, if he began to taste even a little of your fatherly rule? What command, Lord, do you give your servants? "Take my yoke upon you," you say. And what is this yoke of yours like? "My yoke," you say, "is easy and my burden light." Who would not be glad to bear a yoke that does no press hard but caresses? Who would not be glad for a burden that does not weigh heavy but refreshes? And so you were right to add: "And you will find rest for your souls." And what is this yoke of yours that does not weary, but gives rest? It is, of course, that first and greatest commandment: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart." What is easier, sweeter, more pleasant, than to love goodness, beauty, and love, the fullness of which you are, O Lord, my God?"

St. Robert Bellarmine from "On the Ascent of the Mind to God."

St. Robert Bellarmine ora pro nobis.

[odhiambo]

"Sweet Lord, you are meek and merciful." Who would not give himself wholeheartedly to your service, if he began to taste even a little of your fatherly rule? What command, Lord, do you give your servants? "Take my yoke upon you," you say. And what is this yoke of yours like? "My yoke," you say, "is easy and my burden light." Who would not be glad to bear a yoke that does no press hard but caresses? Who would not be glad for a burden that does not weigh heavy but refreshes? And so you were right to add: "And you will find rest for your souls." And what is this yoke of yours that does not weary, but gives rest? It is, of course, that first and greatest commandment: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart." What is easier, sweeter, more pleasant, than to love goodness, beauty, and love, the fullness of which you are, O Lord, my God?"

St. Robert Bellarmine from "On the Ascent of the Mind to God."

St. Robert Bellarmine ora pro nobis.

Beautiful!
St. Robert Bellarmine,
Intercede for us!

[James - a humble servant]

Clearly, what God wants above all is our will which we received as a free gift from God in creation and possess as though our own. When a man trains himself to acts of virtue, it is with the help of grace from God from whom all good things come that he does this. The will is what man has as his unique possession.

- Saint Joseph of Cupertino ( 1603 - 1663 )
Memorial day September 18

[odhiambo]

Clearly, what God wants above all is our will which we received as a free gift from God in creation and possess as though our own. When a man trains himself to acts of virtue, it is with the help of grace from God from whom all good things come that he does this. The will is what man has as his unique possession.

- Saint Joseph of Cupertino ( 1603 - 1663 )
Memorial day September 18

You are right James.
Today is the Memorial of
Saint Joseph of Cupertino.
Among many other Saints

[odhiambo]

Saint Joseph of Cupertino.
Also known as the Flying Friar
Joseph was born on 17th June 1603 in Cupertino, Italy.
His father was a carpenter. Joseph never knew his father as he died before he was born, leaving the family destitute.
As a child, he was reportedly, a slow learner and because of that he was not well educated.
 It is reported that he could hardly read or write, but his love for God was great. He used to pray the rosary frequently.
When he was 17 years old, decided to join the religious life.
His lack of education hampered him at first but he was eventually accepted by the Conventual Franciscans at Grattela near Cupertino. He was ordained in 1628.
Joseph lived a life of poverty and prayer.
God blessed him with several gifts among them the gift of healing and that of levitation.
Here I would like to quote from an account of the first time that this happened.

“ On 4th October 1630, the town of Cupertino held a procession on the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi. Joseph was assisting in the procession when he suddenly soared into the sky, where he remained hovering over the crowd.
When he descended and realized what had happened, he became so embarrassed that he fled to his mother's house and hid...”
This was the first of many 'flights' which earned him the nickname of ' the flying saint'
The Saint is said to have had a smell about him; the sweet smell of purity;
not only that, he could also smell a sinful person and would tell the person that they smelt bad and should go wash themselves, in confession, that is!
What a gift!
Even within the religious life, there is found the ungodly. Some monks became jealous of Joseph who was then accused of claiming to do miracles, and of attracting undue attention to himself by his ' flights'.
He was summoned to appear before the Inquisition, detained for several weeks but eventually released having been found completely without fault.
Joseph died on the evening of 18th September 1663 at Ossimo, Italy. He was  buried in the chapel of the Conception, Ossimo.
He was beatified on  24 February 1753 by Pope Benedict XIV and canonized on 16 July 1767 by Pope Clement XII.

Saint Joseph of Cupertino.
Pray for us!

[odhiambo]

I mentioned Saint Joseph’s learning disability. It is said that he would study just a small section of what needed to be covered because that was all he could master; he would then pray that he be tested on the section he had managed to study.
I was reminded when reading this of my own experience many years ago.
It was the eleventh hour for an all important examination, an oral examination, and I did not like oral examaminations.
I had a few hours of study after evening meal , the eve of the examination,
I sat down to read and was at a loss where to start; there was just too much to cover in a short time.I did what our Saint of the day did.I settled on a topic, prayed that this would be it, read till around midnight and went to sleep.
Next morning I went for the examinations.My heart was racing, I was anxious and apprehensive. When it was time, I went in and within minutes I became confident, collected, and even smiling.The case I was assigned was exactly what I had been reading just a few short hours earlier. Need I say more!
Some may say it was luck, but I know better.
God really does care!

[odhiambo]

Love God! He in whom this love reigns is rich although he does not perceive it.

Saint Joseph of Cupertino.

[James - a humble servant]

Today is also: St. Juan Macias (1585?1645) [M]
Spanish-born Peruvian, Dominican cooperator brother, worker among
the poor, miracle-worker, friend of St. Martin
de Porres (Nov. 3), canonized 1980.  

[odhiambo]

Today is also: St. Juan Macias (1585?1645) [M]
Spanish-born Peruvian, Dominican cooperator brother, worker among
the poor, miracle-worker, friend of St. Martin
de Porres (Nov. 3), canonized 1980.  

St. Juan Macias.
Pray for us!

[odhiambo]

September 19
Today is the feast day of
Our Lady of La Salette

[odhiambo]

Today is also the Memorial of
Saint Januarius
Among many other Saints

[odhiambo]

Saint Januarius
Bishop
Martyr
Saint Januarius is also known as Gennaro. He was born in Bonevento, Naples in Italy. Januarius had a friend called Socius who was a deacon. During the persecutions of Christians by Diocletian in Naples, Socius and other deacons were arrested. While visiting these imprisoned deacons, Saint Januarius was himself arrested. He was urged to stop preaching conversion and to offer incense to idols if he wanted to escape torture, but he refused. He was tortured together with six other Christians, then thrown to wild animals, When the animals were released into the arena where these Christians were, history was once again repeated; the animals came and lay down quietly at their feet! These happenings were powerful witnessing and thousands of people were converted. Eventually Bishop Januarius and his companions were decapitated. This was on 19th September 305. A church was built to honor the memory of Saint Januarius.
A miraculous occurrence associated with Saint Januarius is that of liquefaction of his blood. Every year, on his feast day and on anniversaries of miracles attributed to him, Saint Januarius blood which had been preserved, reportedly melts and is like the blood of one still living!
Saint Januarius
Pray for us!

[odhiambo]

September 19
Today is the feast day of
Our Lady of La Salette

Our Lady of LaSalette
On 19th of September 1846 in France, on the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to two young shepherds, Melanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud. They were out on the mountain of La Salette looking after cattle.
This was a period marked with corruption, greed and worldliness. Our Lady appeared surrounded by light; she was sad and gave warnings about the chastisements that would hit the world.
She complained about people not keeping the commandments, about the apathy for religion and she disclosed the punishment that the world would receive if we do not amend our ways.
This is how Melanie described the encounter.
“I had seen from a hill that our cows were lying down placidly chewing the cud. I went down and Maximin started to climb upwards.
Suddenly I saw a beautiful light, much brighter than the sun and I felt full of tremendous loving wonder and respect. In that light I saw a very beautiful woman with her head resting in her hands. The lady stood up and said: ‘come nearer children, do not be afraid, I am here to tell you great news"
Our Lady gave the children a message which  she asked them to make it public.
This was the apparition of Our Lady of La Salette, which made the two children known world-wide.
In 1851, five years after the apparitions at La Salette, the Bishop of the diocese, as well as most of the clergy declared the apparition as authentic and divine in origin.
Our Lady of LaSalette,
Pray for us

[odhiambo]

Today, let us remember the following two saints:
1: Blessed Maximin Giraud.
2: Saint Eustachius and His Family.

[odhiambo]

Blessed Maximin Giraud.
Maximin Giraud was born at Corps, on 26th August 1835. Corps is a small town in the South of France. Maximin‘s mother died when he was 17 months old and his father remarried.
From an early age, Maximin was always out exploring the streets of Corps, or roaming the countryside with his goats and his dog.
On 19th of September, on the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, the Virgin Mary appeared to Maximin, then just a child of eleven years old.
He was in the company of Melanie Calvat, a 15 year old girl. They were out looking after cattle.
As per yesterday’s post, Melanie tells it this way:
“ I had seen from a hill that our cows were lying down placidly chewing the cud. I went down and Maximin started to climb upwards.
Suddenly I saw a beautiful light, much brighter than the sun and I felt full of tremendous loving wonder and respect. In that light I saw a very beautiful woman with her head resting in her hands. The lady stood up and said: ‘come nearer children, do not be afraid, I am here to tell you great news"
This was the now well known apparition of Our Lady of La Salette.
3 years after the apparition, Maximin’s half brother, his step mother and his father, all died. His uncle, a brother to his mother became his guardian
Maximin died on 1st March 1875 aged 40 years.
Blessed Maximin Giraud.
Pray for us!

[odhiambo]

Saint Eustachius
Eustachius was a Roman general named Placidus.
He served in the army of the emperor Trajan. One day while hunting a stag in Tivoli near Rome, Placidius saw a vision of Jesus between the antlers of the stag.
He converted to Christianity and got baptized together with his wife and two sons.
He took the name Eustachius.
Saint Eustachius received a prophecy that he would suffer for Christ.
A series of calamities then followed, comparable only to that of Job in the Old Testament.
He was denounced as a Christian so he lost all his property and was reduced to abject poverty.
He was separated from his wife and children; in fact they were all separated from each other, none knowing what had happened to the others.
When Rome was under attack, Eustachius was recalled to duty by Trajan, to help repel the barbarians from Rome .After the victory,  he was reunited with his family with the understanding that he would sacrifice to idols in thanksgiving for the military victory, but he refused.
The emperor was enraged and ordered the family thrown to the lions.
This was done but the lions did not harm them.
They were then martyred together by being cooked to death in a brass pot in 188.
Saint Eustachius
Pray for us!