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GiFT at Home: SAINT CIRCLE
Did you know there is a Catholic Saint for almost everyday?
Catholic Saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives. Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts. God calls each one of us to be a saint...how are you like them?
Resources
Visit the link below at Catholic Online to explore the Saint of the Day. The site also offers over 5,000 biographies on saints, resources and more! http://www.catholic.org/saints/sofd.php
You can also try the Saint of the Day at American Catholic.org for info about each saint, including audio! click
There's an app for that!! You can download the Saint of the Day for your iPhone at americancatholic.org
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Our May Saints
5/1 – St. Joseph the Worker
5/14 – St. Matthias, Apostle
5/10 – St. Damien of Molokai
Born in Belgium, on January 3, 1840, he joined the Sacred Hearts Fathers in 1860. In 1864, he was sent to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he was ordained. For the next nine years he worked in missions on the big island, Hawaii. In 1873, he volunteered to work in the leper colony on Molokai. Damien cared for lepers of all ages, including children. He announced he was a leper in 1885 and continued to build hospitals, clinics, and churches, and some six hundred coffins. He died on April 15, on Molokai. "Not without fear and loathing," Pope Benedict underlined, "Father Damian made the choice to go on the island of Molokai in the service of lepers who were there, abandoned by all. So he exposed himself to the disease of which they suffered. With them he felt at home. The servant of the Word became a suffering servant, leper with the lepers, during the last four years of his life."
4/16 – St. Bernadette
Bernadette Soubirous was born in 1844 the eldest daughter of a poor family, and struggled with ill health her whole life. Her fame began at age 14 in Lourdes, with a series of sightings of a young woman now known to be the Blessed Virgin Mary. The apparition appeared eighteen separate times, occasionally giving the girl small bits of encouragement, and most famously, pointing her to the source of the healing spring waters at the grotta of Masabielle. The Lourdes apparition asked for the shrine to be built at the site and is now one of the most popular Christian pilgrimage spots. Today four to six million pilgrims annually travel to the Marian shrine at Our Lady of Lourdes. Let us remember those who are suffering or ill that they may be healed.
4/25 – St. Mark
St. Mark wrote the second Gospel of the New Testament, probably in Rome sometime before the year 60 A.D.; he wrote it in Greek for the Gentile converts to Christianity. Both he and his mother, Mary, were highly esteemed in the early Church, and his mother's house in Jerusalem served as a meeting place for Christians. St. Mark was associated with St. Paul and St. Barnabas (who was Mark's cousin) on their missionary journey through the island of Cyprus. He was in Rome with St. Peter and St. Paul. Tradition ascribes to him the founding of the Church in Alexandria. His Gospel is a record of the life of Jesus as seen through the eyes of the Prince of the Apostles. St. Mark is the patron saint of notaries.
4/29 – St. Catherine of Sienna
Catherine had her first vision of Christ when she was age five or six, saying that Jesus smiled at her, blessed her, and left her in ecstasy. At age seven she vowed chastity. She became a Dominican tertiary when she was 16, and continued to have visions of Christ, Mary, and the saints. St. Catherine was one of the most brilliant theological minds of her day, although she never had any formal education. She persuaded the Pope Gregory XI to go back to Rome from Avignon, in 1377. In 1375 Our Lord give her the Stigmata, which was visible only after her death. St. Catherine's letters and a treatise called "a dialogue" are considered among the most brilliant writings in the history of the Catholic Church. She died when she was only 33.
3/03 – St. Katharine Drexel
Born in 1858, into a prominent Philadelphia family, Katharine dedicated her life and fortune to the work and spiritual well-being of black and Native Americans. Katharine founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Black and Native American peoples, whose members would work for the betterment of those they were called to serve. Mother Drexel took part in opening the first mission school for Indians, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Other schools quickly followed - for Native Americans west of the Mississippi River, and for the blacks in the southern part of the United States. At her death there were more than 500 Sisters teaching in 63 schools throughout the country. She had dedicated her whole life to her faith and servicing the oppressed.
Patrick was a humble, pious, gentle man, whose love and total devotion and trust in God should be a shining example to each of us. As a boy of fourteen, he was captured and taken to Ireland as a slave to herd and tend sheep. Ireland at this time was a land of Druids and pagans. Here he learned the language and practices of the people who held him. It was during this time in his life that he turned to God in prayer. He escaped around the age of twenty and began studying for the priesthood. He was sent to Ireland and began preaching the Gospel. He and his disciples preached and converted thousands including kings, and their entire kingdoms to Christianity. Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Trinity, and it has been associated with him and the Irish since that time!
3 /19 – St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary
There is much we wish we knew about Joseph, where and when he was born, how he spent his days, when and how he died. What we do know is that he was "a righteous man" (Matthew 1:18). He was obedient to whatever God asked of him without knowing the outcome. When the angel came to Joseph in a dream and told him the truth about the child Mary was carrying, Joseph immediately and without question or concern for gossip, took Mary as his wife. When the angel came again to tell him that his family was in danger, he immediately left everything he owned, and fled to a strange country with his young wife and the baby. He waited in Egypt without question until the angel told him it was safe to go back (Matthew 2:13-23). Joseph is the patron of the universal Church, fathers, carpenters, and social justice.
2/03 – Saint Blaise
St. Blaise is the patron saint of wild animals because of his care for them and of those with throat maladies. His protection of those with throat troubles apparently comes from a legend that a boy was brought to him who had a fishbone stuck in his throat. The boy was about to die when Saint Blaise healed him.
Follow in his footsteps:
Take time as Saint Blaise did to find out how you can help wild animals. Find out what is being done to support and protect the wildlife in your area. There is wildlife everywhere, even in cities. Even a birdfeeder can help God's creatures survive.
2/10 – Saint Scholastica
St. Scholastica, twin sister of St. Benedict, consecrated her life to God from her earliest youth. She founded and governed a monastery of nuns, about five miles from that of St. Benedict. The most commonly told story about her is that she would, once a year, go and visit her brother at a place near his abbey, and they would spend the day worshiping together and discussing sacred texts and issues.
2/21 – Saint Peter Damian
1/04 – Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
Saint Elizabeth of Seton founded the first American religious community for women, the Sisters of Charity. She opened the first American parish school and established the first American Catholic orphanage. Elizabeth was born in 1774, raised as Episcopalian, married at 19, became a penniless widow with five children at 30. She suffered great trials of sickness, misunderstanding, the death of loved ones (her husband and two young daughters) and the heartache of a wayward son. Three basic points led her to become a Catholic: belief in the Real Presence, devotion to the Blessed Mother and conviction that the Catholic Church led back to the apostles and to Christ.
1/21 – Saint Agnes
St. Agnes was a Roman girl who was only thirteen years old when she suffered martyrdom for her Faith. Her love for the Lord was very great and she hated sin even more than death! Since she was very beautiful, many young men wished to marry Agnes, but she would always say, "Jesus Christ is my only Spouse." She is the patron saint of chastity, gardeners, and girls.
1/28 – Saint Thomas of Aquinas
St. Thomas Aquinas is the patron saint of all universities and of students. He was one of the greatest and most influential theologians of all time. When he was seventeen, St. Thomas renounced the things of this world and resolved to enter the Order of St. Dominic. He was a brilliant student and proponent of natural theology. His influence on Western thought is considerable, and much of modern philosophy was conceived as a reaction against, or as an agreement with his ideas, particularly in the areas of ethics, natural law, metaphysics, and political theory.
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12/6 St. Nicholas
St. Nicholas was a historic 4th-century saint and Greek[5] Bishop of Myra (part of modern-day Turkey). He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and thus became the model for Santa Claus. He is remembered and revered among Catholic and Orthodox Christians. Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, thieves, children, and students in many countries all over the world.
12/12 Our Lady of Guadalupe
From Our Lady of Guadalupe we learn two important lessons, one of faith and one of understanding. The first lesson is that God has chosen Mary to lead us to Jesus. No matter what critics may say of the devotion of Mexican descendants) o Our Lady of Guadalupe, they owe their Christianity to her influence. If it were not for her, they would not know her son, and so they are eternally grateful. The second lesson we take from Mary herself. Mary appeared to Juan Diego not as a European Madonna but as a beautiful Aztec princess speaking to him in his own Aztec language. If we want to help someone appreciate the gospel we bring, we must appreciate the culture and the mentality in which they live their lives. By understanding them, we can help them to understand and know Christ.
12/13 St. Lucy
Lucy's name means "light". Shrouded in the darkness of time, this brave woman who lived in Sicily lost her life in the persecution of Christians in the early fourth century. Her veneration spread to Rome so that by the sixth century the whole Church recognized her courage in defense of the faith.
Prayer to St. Lucy:
Saint Lucy, you did not hide your light under a basket, but let it shine for the whole world, for all the centuries to see. We may not suffer torture in our lives the way you did, but we are still called to let the light of our Christianity illumine our daily lives. Please help us to have the courage to bring our Christianity into our work, our recreation, our relationships, our conversation -- every corner of our day. Amen
11/10 St. Leo the Great
He was an Italian aristocrat, and is the first pope of the Catholic Church to have been called "the Great". He is perhaps best known for having met Attila the Hun in 452, persuading him to turn back from his invasion of Italy. He is also a Doctor of the Church. During a Christmas sermon titled "Christian, Remember your Dignity" Leo appears to articulate a fundamental and inclusive human dignity and equality: The saint, the sinner, and the unbeliever are all equal as sinners, and none is excluded in the call to "happiness":
“Our Savior, dearly-beloved, was born today: let us be glad. For there is no proper place for sadness, when we keep the birthday of the Life, which destroys the fear of mortality and brings to us the joy of promised eternity. No one is kept from sharing in this happiness. There is for all one common measure of joy, because as our Lord the destroyer of sin and death finds none free from charge, so is He come to free us all. Let the saint exult in that he draws near to victory. Let the sinner be glad in that he is invited to pardon. Let the gentile take courage in that he is called to life.”
11/15 St. Albert the Great
Albert was a German Dominican friar and a bishop, who achieved fame for his comprehensive knowledge of and advocacy for the peaceful coexistence of science and religion. He was among the first and greatest of the natural scientists, gaining a reputation for expertise in biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, geography, metaphysics, and mathematics. He is one of only 33 persons honored as a Doctor of the Church.
11/17 St. Elizabeth of Hungary
St. Elizabeth was born in Hungary in 1207, the daughter of Alexander II, King of Hungary. At the age of four she was sent for education to Germany, to whose infant son she was betrothed. As she grew in age, her piety also increased by leaps and bounds. In 1221, she married Louis of Germany and in spite of her position at court began to lead an austerely simple life, practiced penance, and devoted herself to works of charity. She was Widowed at 20, relinquished her wealth to the poor, built hospitals, and became a symbol of Christian charity in Germany and elsewhere after her death at the age of 24.
Some of our October Saints
10/2— St. Francis of Assisi
St. Francis is the patron saint of animals and the environment. St. Francis felt that nature and all God’s creations were part of his brotherhood. He spent his life following all that Jesus did and said joyfully living a life completely devoted to prayer and spreading the Good News.
“Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
10/7 – Our Lady of the Rosary
Our Lady of the Rosary is a title for the Blessed Virgin Mary in relation to the rosary. The rosary’s constant repetition of words helps create an atmosphere in which to contemplate the mysteries of God. We sense that Jesus and Mary are with us in the joys and sorrows of life. We grow in hope that God will bring us to share in the glory of Jesus and Mary forever. We honor Mary by praying the rosary.
10/18 - St. Luke
St. Luke is the writer of the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. Luke's inspiration and information for writing came from his close association with St. Paul. Luke loved the poor, wanted the door to God's kingdom opened to all, respected women, and saw hope in God's mercy for everyone.
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Some of our September Saints
9/21- St. Matthew
St. Matthew is one of the twelve Apostles and the author of the First Gospel.
9/23- St. Padre Pio
Francesco, later called Padre Pio was ordained to the priesthood in 1910. Padre Pio welcomed all giving spiritual direction through the administration of the sacrament of Penance.
9/27- St. Vincent de Paul
St. Vincent was dedicated to serving the poor. He is the patron saint of Charity.