Saint of the day and Feast days.

[odhiambo]

Blessed Sebastian of Aparicio
Also known as
Angel of Mexico and as Sebastián de Aparicio Prado
Sebastian was born on 20 January 1502 in La Gudiña, Orense, Spain. His parents were peasants.
As a child, he used to be a shepherd and as a young man, he worked as a hired field hand to help support his family. For a time, he was  also a Gentleman’s valet at Salamanca.
At the age of 31, Sebastian sailed to Puebla, Mexico, where he began working in the fields. Eventually he built roads to facilitate agricultural trading and other commerce.
Sebastian spent 10 years building a 466 mile road from Mexico City to Zacatecas, and conducting the postal and delivery service along the route; the road is, reportedly, still in use today.
Sebastian eventually became very wealthy, but lived simply. He was generous, giving his money freely to the poor.
He was married twice, virginal marriages both times as he never consummated the marriages. The first time he was 60 years; the wife died and he entered into a second virginal marriage for the same reason that drove him to marry the first time in his sunset years which was to provide a respectable life for a girl without even a modest marriage dowry. His second wife also died young.
At the age of 72 Sebastian distributed all his goods among the poor and entered the Franciscans as a brother. He was assigned to a large, 100-member friary at Puebla de Los Angeles south of Mexico City.
Sebastian spent his remaining 25 years begging alms for his brother  Franciscans. Witnesses attest to over 300 miracles he performed in life.
He died on 25 February 1600.
His remains are in the Chapel of the Virgin of the Conquest, Church of Saint Francis of Assisi, Puebla, Mexico and the body is said to be incorrupt.
He was beatified on 17 May 1789 by Pope Pius VI.
Blessed Sebastian
Pray for us!

[Shin]

I should like to learn more about this fellow! He led an interesting life it looks like!

[odhiambo]

I should like to learn more about this fellow! He led an interesting life it looks like!

That, he did!
He reminds me of another saint we have seen on this very thread who was the subject of gossip in his neighborhood as he used to go to drinking houses and leave with a different girl each night.
The loose tongues had no idea that he paid the girls to learn about God.
Talk of 'appearances' and judging others before knowing the full facts 

[odhiambo]

26 February

Today is the Memorial of
Saint Porphyry of Gaza
Among many other saints.

[odhiambo]

Saint  Porphyry of Gaza.
Bishop.
Also called Porphyrius.
Porphyry was born in Thessalonica, Macedonia in 353 A.D. in a wealthy Greek family.
At the age of 25, however, Porphyry left the world for one of the great religious houses in the desert of Skete, Egypt. After five years, he felt drawn to a more solitary life, so he went to reside on the banks of the Jordan in Palestine, where he spent a similar period in the severest of penance and finally, moving on to Jerusalem. Porphyry is most known for his generosity to the poor and for his ascetic lifestyle.
With the help of his friend, Mark, he gave away all of his inheritance, worked as a humble shoe maker for a time. In 393 at age 40, living in Jerusalem, Porphyry was ordained a priest.Three years later and against his will, he was made Bishop of Gaza. The city was a hotbed of paganism which was one of his main challenges. For the next 13 years, Porphyry worked tirelessly for his people. His labors and the miracles which attended them effected the conversion of many. He lived to see his diocese for the most part clear of idolatry.
Porphyry died in 420 or 421
Saint Porphyry
Pray for us!

[odhiambo]

27 February

Today is the Memorial of
Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows
Among many other saints.

[odhiambo]

St Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows
Also known as
Francesco Possenti
Francis Possenti
Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother
Gabriel Possenti
Gabriel Marie Possenti
St Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows was born on March 1, 1838, at Assisi, Italy .His given name was Francis Possenti. He was the eleventh of thirteen children born to his parents. His father was called Sante and his mother was Agnes. The father worked for the local government. Francis was baptized on the day of his birth in the same font in which Saint Francis of Assisi had been baptized.
Shortly after Francis' birth Sante Possenti was transferred to a post at Montalta and thence to Spoleto where, in 1841, he was appointed legal assessor. Here, four members of the family died followed by their mother. Francis was just a little child, hardly four years old.
He was educated first by the Christian Brothers and then by the Jesuits in the town’s college and there excelled, particularly in Latin.
As a child and young man, Francis Possenti was well liked by his peers and had a reputation for great charity. He was also known for the great care he took with regard to his appearance and would spend hours in preparing himself for parties.  He was deeply involved with the social scene of Spoleto and soon earned for himself the nickname of "the dancer". He also had several romantic involvements. In short, Francis at this point in his life, was a youth devoted to the world and society, attending the theatre, chasing women and the hunt.
In 1851 Francis became desperately ill and promised to enter religious life if he recovered. Once he had recovered, his promise was soon forgotten. The same thing happened when he narrowly escaped a stray bullet during a hunting expedition with friends.
In 1853 Francis again fell ill, this time afflicted with a throat abscess. He attributed his healing to the recently beatified Andrew Bobola, SJ. Once more he had promised to enter religious life upon his recovery and this time actually set the process in motion. He applied to join the Jesuits, but for some unknown reason never proceeded. Tragedy struck again when his sister, Mary Louisa, who had cared for Francis after their mother’s death, died of cholera.
After the cholera epidemic that had killed Gabriel's sister ended, Spoleto clergy and civic authorities organized a procession of the ancient icon of the Virgin Mary in Spoleto’s cathedral. Francis attended the procession and as the image passed by him, he felt an interior voice asking why he remained in the world. This event was the galvanizing force behind the first serious steps in Francis’ religious vocation. After the procession he sought the advice of his spiritual director and resolved to enter the Passionist Congregation. As there was no Passionist house near Spoleto, it is most likely that Francis’ choice was based on a personal devotion to the Passion of Christ.
Accompanied by his brother Aloysius, a Dominican friar, Francis set out for the novitiate of the Passionists at Morrovalle.
He arrived at the novitiate on September 19, 1856.
On September 21 that same year he received the habit of the Passionists and the name Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows. The following year Gabriel pronounced his vows. During this time, and indeed until his death, Gabriel’s spiritual life was under the care of his director, Father Norbert of Holy Mary.
In June 1858 Gabriel and the other students moved to Pietvetorina to continue their studies. Gabriel proved an excellent student and his excellence in academic life was only outdone by the great progress he was making in his spiritual life. At the same time Gabriel began to display the first symptoms of tuberculosis.
The news did not worry Gabriel, who was in fact joyful; he had prayed for a slow death so as to be able to prepare himself spiritually. Throughout his illness he remained cheerful and kept up all his usual practices. He was a source of great edification and inspiration to his fellow students, who competed to spend time with him at his deathbed. Gabriel had proved himself an exemplary religious and a perfect follower of the Passionist Rule, being especially devoted to the Virgin Mary.
Before he could be ordained a priest, Gabriel died in the retreat at Gran Sasso in the early hours of February 27th 1862 in the presence of the community, holding close an image of Our Lady of Sorrows and smiling peacefully. Those who were with Gabriel when he died reported that at the moment of death he sat up in bed and his face became radiant as he reached out to an otherwise unseen figure that was entering the room. It was the opinion of Father Norbert that Saint Gabriel had seen the Virgin Mary at the very moment of his death.
Gabriel was buried the day of his death.
The two miracles presented for the beatification of Gabriel were the inexplicable healings of Maria Mazzarella from pulmonary tuberculosis and periostitis and the instantaneous cure of Dominic Tiber from an inoperable hernia. Gabriel was beatified by Pope Pius X on May 31, 1908. Present at the ceremony were his brother Michael, his companion Brother Sylvester and his director Father Norbert. The outbreak of the First World War delayed Gabriel’s canonization for a while, but on May 13, 1920 he was canonized by Pope Benedict XV.
At his canonization, Pope Benedict XV declared him a patron saint of Catholic youth, of students, and of those studying for the priesthood. In 1959, Pope John XXIII named him the patron of the Abruzzi region, where he spent the last two years of his life.
Saint Gabriel
Pray for us!

[odhiambo]

28 February

Today is the Memorial of
Blessed Daniel Brottier
Among many others

[odhiambo]

Blessed Daniel Brottier
Daniel Brottier was born on 7 September 1876, in Ferte-Saint-Cyr in the diocese of Blois , northern France.
 His father was Jean-Baptiste Brottier, a coachman for the Marquis Durfort.  His mother was Herminie (neé Bouthe). He was their second born son.
Even as a young child, Daniel had an idea of what he wanted in life. A story from his childhood recounts that his mother asked him what he would like to be when he grew up. Daniel's answer was, "I won't be either a general or a pastry chef; I will be the Pope!" His mother reminded him that to be the pope, he would first have to become a priest.
Daniel received his First Holy Communion when he was 10 years old. One year later, he enrolled in the junior seminary at Blois.
Daniel was ordained priest on October 22, 1899. There after, he became a professor and worked for three years at the college in Pontlevoy, France.
He very much wanted to be a missionary. With this goal in mind, he joined the congregation of the Holy Ghost Fathers at Orly. He was sent as a vicar to a parish in Saint Louis in Senegal, West Africa, in 1903. It is said that he was rather disappointed that he was assigned to work in a city rather than the rural area of the country.
Notwithstanding, he went to work with a passion. Every week he taught some secondary school students. He founded a center for child welfare. He also published a parish bulletin, The Echo of St. Louis. The harsh climate soon affected his health and he was forced to go back to France.
Even after he had left Senegal, Daniel was asked by Bishop Hyacinthe Jalabert, the Apostolic Vicar of Senegal, to conduct a fund-raising campaign to build a cathedral in Dakar. To this end, Brottier was appointed the vicar general of Dakar, though he was residing in Paris. Daniel worked on this project for seven years over two periods (i.e., 1911–1914 and 1919–1923);  the interlude being a result of the First World War. The so called "African Memorial Cathedral" was consecrated on February 2, 1936.
At the outbreak of the First World War, he was enlisted in the French forces and worked in the Red Cross as chaplain .He was cited six times for bravery, and awarded the Croix de guerre and the Légion d'honneur. He was one of the fortunate few to survive the war. Father Brottier attributed his survival in the front lines to the intercession of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, and built a chapel for her at Auteuil.
After the war, Father Brottier founded the National Union of Servicemen (L'Union Nationale des Combattants), an organization of French veterans of various conflicts.
In 1923, he was named by Cardinal Dubois as director of an institute which provides accommodation and education for orphans, known in French as L'Oeuvre d'Auteuil. Daniel Brottier had an enormous faith in the intercession of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, the Little Flower. Trusting in her intercession he succeeded in expanding the work of Auteuil many times over in the course of 12 years. When he took charge of the facility there were 140 orphans; by the time he died, there were more than 1400.
Father Brottier died, exhausted by his efforts, on February 28, 1936 in the Hospital of Saint Joseph in Paris. Fifteen thousand Parisians attended his funeral mass.
He left behind the reputation of a man of God and a great Christian. Fr. Brottier's body was exhumed in 1962 with a view to his beatification.
It was found perfectly preserved, 26 years after his death.
Daniel Brottier was declared "Blessed" by the Holy Father in Rome on November 25th, 1984.
Blessed Daniel Brottier
Pray for us!

[odhiambo]

2012 is a Leap Year.
No Saint of the Day today.
You are invited to post any of your favourite Saint or their quotes 

[odhiambo]

"The proof of love is in the works. Where love exists, it works great things. But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist"
Pope St. Gregory the Great

[Shin]

That funny February 29th!

[Shin]

'If we wish to have the love of the Divine Heart as our guest, we must empty and detach our heart from its affection for creatures and for ourselves.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

[odhiambo]

Today we start the Month of March traditionally dedicated to Saint Joseph.

[odhiambo]

1 March

Today is the Memorial of
Saint David of Wales
Among many other saints.

[odhiambo]

Saint David aka DeguiI, aka Dewi.
Bishop.
Patron Saint of Wales.
The life story and legends of Saint David are largely based on his biography written by one Rhygyfarch in the late 11th century, long (about 500 years) after the saint's death. We are warned that because it was written so long after the Saint's death, it isn't likely to be very reliable and that most of what we know about Saint David is really legend.
The year of David’s birth is given variously as 454, 487, 520, 542, and 544. His mother was said to be a woman named Non. She later became a nun at the cloister called Ty Gwyn, near Whitesand Bay. She was the daughter of a chieftain in Pembrokeshire, and was reportedly very beautiful. This great beauty unfortunately brought her to the attention of Sandde (Sant), a prince of the adjoining Kingdom of Ceredigion, son of the King of Cardigan, while he was travelling nearby. The prince is said to have forced his passions on the unfortunate Non. Consequently, she conceived Saint David.
Other traditions say Sant and Non were married, and she became a nun later in her life
Non left her family in her pregnancy and gave birth  alone, by the sea.
 The baby was, reportedly, born in the middle of a violent storm at Caerfai, on the coast just south of Mynyw (St. Davids), where a ruined chapel still marks the very spot.
Non named her son, Dewidd, but he was commonly called Dewi from the local Dyfed pronunciation. David is an English version taken from the Latin, Davidus. He was brought up, by his mother, in Henfeynyw (Vetus Rubus) near Aberaeron and, at a young age, was baptized by his maternal cousin, St. Eilfyw.( another account is that David was baptised by Saint Elvis of Munster, and still yet another is that Non's son was baptized at Porth Clais by Saint Ailbhe, who may have been Non's nephew).
David went to school at a local monastery called Hen Vynyw, or Henfynyw, in Cardigan, south of present day Aberaeron. He grew up full of grace.
After Hen Vynyw, he went to an unidentified island (one source says it was the Isle of Wight) to study for the priesthood under a Welsh scribe, Saint Paulinus. A legend says that Paulinus had gone blind from crying so much as he prayed, and that Saint David restored his sight with a gentle touch. Another legend says that an angel told Paulinus to send Saint David out to evangelize the British.
The saint began to travel the country, evangelizing as he went. He is said to have founded twelve monasteries in Southern Wales, though the actual number is disputed. Many miracles are associated with him during this time as a traveling priest. Eventually
he ended his evangelizing travels in Mynyw, or Menevia, in extreme southwest Wales (where Saint David's Cathedral is today) and founded his major abbey there.
By this time, David's fame as a spiritual leader was becoming widespread throughout Britain. He became known as 'the Waterman' - David Aquaticus (Dewi Dyfyrwr) - because he encouraged his followers to live, drink and bathe in cold water. He attracted pupils from many walks of life, including retired monarchs like St. Constantine of Dumnonia. From Mynyw (St. Davids), they spread the Word of God, travelling across the country and especially to Ireland...
This biography continues in the next post...