Saint of the day and Feast days.

[odhiambo]

Ah well, St. John Bosco appreciates that you made the trip no doubt, console yourself with that!   

 

Thanks Shin. That is indeed consoling. 

[odhiambo]

 8th December.

Today is the Feast of the
Immaculate Conception

[odhiambo]

The Immaculate Conception
The Church teaches us that from the very instant of her conception in Anna's womb, Mary was in union with God, her soul was flooded with his love, she was in a state of sanctifying grace.
This unique privilege of Mary's, the first step in our redemption, we call her Immaculate Conception.
This is what we are commemorating today.
Many people , even Catholics, confuse the Immaculate Conception of Mary in her mother's womb, with what occurred at the Annunciation, that is , the Incarnation of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was defined as a dogma binding on Catholics by Pope Pius IX in the papal bull Ineffabilis Deus (1854).
This article of faith is founded upon Scripture and upon the constant Tradition of the Church. Since God Himself had announced form the beginning of the world that Mary was destined “to crush the head” of the infernal serpent through her Divine Son, she could not have began her life on earth by being wounded herself by his poisonous bite and subject to his power. At Annunciation, the Archangel Gabriel called her “full of grace because she was never deprived of sanctifying grace and so it follows that she possessed this grace at the moment of her conception.
The Fathers and writers of the Church compare Mary to the ark of Noah which alone escaped the universal deluge.
We Catholics are blessed indeed to have The Blessed Virgin as Our very own mother, given to us by none other than her own Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, at a very critical time too, a time when he was dying on the Cross.
O Mary conceived without sin.
Pray for us who have recourse to thee!

[Patricia]

After a while I consoled myself that it was not meant to be. Some consolation  Sad

Ah, Odhiambo it is the thought that counts and the effort you took to get there. I am sure St John Bosco saw that and blessed you for it! 

We Catholics are blessed indeed to have The Blessed Virgin as Our very own mother, given to us by none other than her own Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, at a very critical time too, a time when he was dying on the Cross.

The greatest treasure Catholics possess after Christ is our Blessed Mother! While earthly men give away their treasures to their children on their death beds, Jesus gave us our Mother as the richest of inheritances!! 

[odhiambo]

The greatest treasure Catholics possess after Christ is our Blessed Mother! While earthly men give away their treasures to their children on their death beds, Jesus gave us our Mother as the richest of inheritances!!  

Amen to that !

[Shin]

A little pilgrimage!

I am hoping I stumble across some more saints' writings about the Immaculate Conception now that I have my eyes out for them.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

[odhiambo]

9th December

Today is the Feast day of
Saint Juan Diego
Among many other saints

[odhiambo]

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

Amen!

[odhiambo]

Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin.
Little is known about the life of Juan Diego before his conversion.
It is, however, generally believed that he was born in 1474 with the name "Cuauhtlatoatzin" which means, "the talking eagle", in Cuautlitlán, Mexico.
When he was 50 years old he was baptized by a Franciscan priest, Fr Peter da Gand, one of the first Franciscan missionaries. On 9 December 1531, when Juan Diego was on his way to morning Mass, the Blessed Mother appeared to him on Tepeyac Hill, the outskirts of what is now Mexico City. She asked him to go to the Bishop and to request in her name that a shrine be built at Tepeyac, where she promised to pour out her grace upon those who invoked her. The Bishop, who did not believe Juan Diego, asked for a sign to prove that the apparition was real. On 12 December, Juan Diego returned to Tepeyac. Here, the Blessed Mother told him to climb a nearby hill and to pick the flowers that he would find in bloom. He obeyed, and although it was winter, he found roses flowering. He gathered the flowers and took them to Our Lady who carefully placed them in his mantle and told him to take them to the Bishop as "proof". When he opened his mantle, the flowers fell on the ground and there remained impressed, in place of the flowers, an image of the Blessed Mother, the apparition at Tepeyac.
With the Bishop's permission, Juan Diego lived the rest of his life as a hermit in a small hut near the chapel where the miraculous image was placed for veneration. Here he cared for the church and the first pilgrims who came to pray to the Mother of Jesus.
From the moment of the apparition, Juan began a life dedicated to prayer and the practice of virtue and boundless love of God and neighbour.
Juan Diego died on May 30, 1548 aged 74 years, and was buried in the first chapel dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe.
He was beatified on 6 May 1990 by Pope John Paul II in the Basilica of Santa Maria di Guadalupe , Mexico City .
Saint Juan Diego
Pray for us!

[Shin]

This is a very holy story.. I think there might be an Audio Sancto sermon on it..

Great miracles and gigantic miraculous conversions..

[odhiambo]

10th December

Today is the Memorial of
Blessed Adolph Kolping
Among many other saints

[odhiambo]

Blessed Adolph Kopling.
Adolph Kolping was born on December 8, 1813, in Kerpen, a small town west of Cologne , Germany. He was the fourth child of Peter and Anna Maria Kolping.  His father worked as a shepherd and had a small farm but the family was poor.
Later in his writings, Father Kolping expressed it thus:
"My parents were quiet and honest people who found it difficult to maintain and provide for their family. They wanted to make sure of one thing - a good education for their children, so we were never allowed to absent ourselves from school."
He was, however, not able to continue with his education for long. Because of poverty, Adolph had to drop out of school at the age of 13, after his basic elementary education. He was apprenticed in Kerpen to a master shoemaker by the name of Meuser.
After completing his apprenticeship, he spent some ten years, travelling around from one place to another like all journeymen did. (A journeyman was a trader or crafter who had completed an apprenticeship.)
He worked in various workshops in the area to attain experience as a cobbler. Finally he was taken on by one of the most famous shoemakers in Cologne. He held this job for some time, but finally, through the generosity of a well to do lady, he was able to begin his studies.
Although older than his classmates, he went back to school,  beginning studies at the "Marzellen" gymnasium in 1837, in Cologne .
After only three and a half years of schooling, he passed the final exam in 1841.
Next he wanted to study theology.
After theological studies in Munich and Bonn, as well as at the diocesan seminary in Cologne, Adolph Kolping was ordained a priest on the thirteenth of April in 1845, in the church of the Minor Rite in Cologne.
His father, unfortunately, died on the very eve of his ordination and sadly did not witness this long awaited occasion.
His first position as a priest was in Wuppertal-Elberfeld. There he saw the poverty of the workers caused by industrialization and the social change it brought with it.  He was shocked by the living conditions of most people there.
In Elberfeld he got to know an organization for journeymen which had been founded a short time before by the teacher Johann Gregor Breuer. He was elected President of this association. Kolping recognised the organisation as being a way of overcoming social problems.
Kolping next came to Cologne where on May 6, 1849 he founded the first catholic jouneymen's association, the predecessor of today's Kolping  family. The idea of self-help and community help quickly spread through Europe and beyond.
Adolph died on 4 December 1865 at Cologne, Germany. He was buried in the Church of the Minor Friars, Saint Maria Empfängnis, Cologne.
Adolph Kolping's beatification ceremony took place in Rome on October 27, 1991. Today his life's work continues in more than 60 countries around the world.
Blessed Adolph Kolping,
Pray for us!

[Shin]

From cobbler to seminarian! What a journey!

I love reading about old professions like this.

Good evening odhiambo!

I hope folks listen to the sermon about Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego. It's quite moving.

I always get a laugh out of St. Juan's little trip around the side of the hill. 

[odhiambo]

From cobbler to seminarian! What a journey!

I love reading about old professions like this.

Good evening odhiambo!

I hope folks listen to the sermon about Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego. It's quite moving.

I always get a laugh out of St. Juan's little trip around the side of the hill. 

Hello Shin!
Yes, I listened to the sermon last time and I enjoyed it very much. I hope too that others have done the same.

[odhiambo]

11th December

Today is the Memorial of
Pope Saint Damasus I
Among many other saints.

[odhiambo]

Saint Damasus1
Damasus was born in Rome about the year 304. His parents were Spaniards. The father was named Antonius and the mother’s name was Laurentia.  He grew up in the service of the church of the martyr Saint Laurence. His father was a priest and served in this church. Damasus became a deacon in the same church.
Damasus was elected Pope on 1 October 366 to succeed Saint Liberius under whom he had served as a deacon.
He was however bitterly opposed by Ursinus. Emperor Valentinian  1 put down Ursinus opposition and exiled him. His supporters accused Damasus of immorality, a charged that was proved false by a Roman synod. This anti-pope faction continued to disturb the piece of the Church for more than 12 years.
Saint Jerome described Damasus as “an incomparable man”
It was during Damasus pontificate that Emperor Theodosius 1 in the East and Emperor Gratian in the West, decreed Christianity the official religion of the empire in 380 and were united in their efforts against the Arians.
A scholar, Pope Damasus1 published the Canon of the Sacred Scriptures and authenticated the books of the Bible as decreed by a council of Rome in 374.
Damasus was St.Jerome’s patron, and he requested that Jerome begin his translation and commentaries on the Bible, resulting in the Vulgate.
Damasus developed the Roman liturgy. He restored churches and tombs, composing inscriptions for them.
He died in Rome on December 11, 384.
Pope Saint Damasus,
Pray for us!