St. John Marie Vianney - Feast Day August 4

Feast Day: August 4 

Born: May 8, 1768 :: Died: 1859

John Mary Vianney was born in Lyons, in France. As a child he took care of his father's sheep. He loved to pray but he also loved to play horseshoes. When John was eighteen, he asked his father if he could become a priest. His father was worried because John had become a big help on the family farm but two years later his father agreed.

When he was twenty years old, John studied under Father Balley. The priest was very patient but John became sad when he found it difficult to learn Latin. He then decided to walk sixty miles, which was a very long walk, to the shrine of St. John Francis Regis whose feast we celebrate on June 16. John prayed to St. John Francis for help. After the pilgrimage, he still found his lessons difficult but now he was not sad. He just decided to study harder.

John was finally able to enter the seminary to become a priest. No matter how much he tried, he found his studies quite hard. In the final exams, which were spoken, not written, John had to face a group of teachers and answer their questions. He was very worried and could not complete the test. 

Yet, because John was a holy man, he was full of common sense and understood what the Church taught about the subjects. He knew the right answers when asked what should be done in this case or that. He just couldn't say those answers in the difficult way they were taught in the Latin text books. John was ordained and became a priest anyway. He understood what his job was as a priest and everyone knew he was a good man.

After he became a priest, he was sent to a little parish called Ars. Father Vianney fasted, prayed and did hard penance so that God would save the people of his parish from sin. The people of his parish were not all good. They drank too much liquor, used bad language, worked even on Sundays and never went to Church.

Then God heard Fr. Vianney's prayer and one by one the liquor shops closed down. People slowly started going to Church for Mass and began worshipping God.

God gave John the power to see into people's minds and to know the future. Because of this gift, he converted many sinners and helped people make the right choices in life. 

Hundreds of pilgrims began to come to Ars and St. John Vianney spent twelve to sixteen hours everyday hearing confessions. He really wanted to spend the rest of his life in a monastery as a monk; instead, he stayed forty-two years at Ars and died there in 1859 at the age of seventy-three.

St. George - Feast Day April 23

Saint George Slaying the Dragon - artist Jost Haller 

Feast Day: April 23 
Died: (around) 304

St. George was a favorite soldier in the army of Diocletian, a pagan emperor who did not believe in God. Diocletian was a bitter enemy of the Christians and put to death every Christian he could find.

When George became a Christian, he went to the emperor and scolded him for being so cruel and gave up his position in the Roman army. He first sold everything he had and gave the money to the poor. Then, free to follow Jesus and bearing the shield of faith, he became a loyal soldier for Christ. 

St. George paid a very high price for his bravery. He was cruelly tortured and beheaded at Lydda in Palestine. So boldly daring and cheerful was St. George in declaring his faith that people were filled with courage when they heard about it.

Pictures of St. George usually show him killing a dragon to save a beautiful lady. The dragon stands for wickedness. The lady stands for God's holy truth. St. George kills the dragon because he won the battle against the devil.

The story goes like this … A dragon lived in a lake near Silena, Libya. Whole armies had gone up against this fierce creature, but had died. The monster ate two sheep a day and when he had eaten all the sheep, lots were drawn in local villages, and young women were given as food for the dragon instead of sheep. 

Into this country came Saint George. Hearing the story on a day when a princess was to be eaten, he made the sign of the cross, rode to battle and killed the dragon with a single blow of his lance. 
George then preached a wonderful sermon, and many of the people in that kingdom became Christians. The grateful king gave George a large reward but George distributed it to the poor and rode away. 

Because of his gracious behavior (protecting women, fighting evil, strong faith, strength, bravery, and generosity to the poor), devotion to Saint George became popular in the Europe and he was named the patron of England. His feast day was as popular and important as Christmas.

Many songs and poems were written about this martyr who gave his life for Jesus. Soldiers, especially, have always been devoted to him.

St. Stephen - Feast Day December

Feast Day: December 26 
Born: (around the time of Jesus) :: Died: (around 33)

Stephen's name means crown. He was the first disciple who died for his faith in Jesus. As chapters 6 and 7 of the Acts of the Apostles tells us, Stephen was chosen as a deacon in the early Church. 

Peter and the apostles had found that they needed helpers to look after the care of widows and the poor. So they ordained seven deacons and Stephen is the most famous of these.

God worked many miracles through St. Stephen. He spoke with such wisdom and grace that many people who heard him, became followers of Jesus. The enemies of the Church of Jesus were furious to see how successful St. Stephen's preaching was.

They could not answer his wise arguments, so they laid a plot and got men to lie about him. These men said that he had spoken sinfully against God. St. Stephen faced that great gathering of enemies without any fear. In fact, the Holy Bible says that his face looked like the face of an angel.

Stephen spoke about Jesus, showing that he is the Savior God had promised to send. He scolded his enemies for not having believed in Jesus. At that, they rose up in great anger and shouted at him. 

But Stephen looked up to heaven. He said that he saw the heavens opening and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. His enemies closed their ears and refused to listen to another word. 

Then they dragged St. Stephen outside the city of Jerusalem and stoned him to death. The saint prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" and he fell to his knees but begged God not to punish his enemies for killing him. 

St. Polykarp - Feast Day February 23

Feast Day: February 23 
Born: (around)69 :: Died: 155

St. Polycarp became a Christian when the followers of Jesus were still few. In fact, Polycarp was a disciple of one of the first apostles, St. John. He was also a friend of St. Ignatius of Antioch. 

All that Polycarp learned from St. John he taught to others and he was a well respected Christian leader. He was a new kind of Christian for his time. He was not a Jew and did not know the Old Testament Scriptures; instead he knew well the customs and beliefs of the Apostles. 

Polycarp became a priest and then bishop of Smyrna in present-day Turkey. He was Smyrna's bishop for many years and the Christians loved their holy and brave shepherd. The Churches in Asia Minor chose St. Polycarp to go on their behalf and discuss with Pope Anicetus an important matter - the date of the Easter celebration in Rome.

During that time Christians faced torture and death under Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Polycarp was shown to his enemies by a traitor. When his captors came to arrest him, he invited them first to share a meal with him. 

Then he asked them to let him pray a while. The judge tried to force Bishop Polycarp to

curse Jesus and save himself from death. "For eighty-six years I have served Jesus Christ," answered the saint, "and he has never done me any wrong. How can I curse my King who died for me?"

The soldiers tied St. Polycarp's hands behind his back and placed him on a burning pile but the fire did not harm him. One of the soldiers then stabbed a dagger into his heart and killed him. And so, in the year 155, Polycarp died a martyr. 

He went to be forever with his Divine Master Jesus Christ whom he had served so bravely.

St. Thomas Aquinas - Feast Day January 28

Feast Day: January 28 
Born:1225 :: Died:1274

Thomas was the son of the Count of Aquino and was born in the family castle in Lombardy near Naples, Italy. . Thomas was one of nine children and was very intelligent, but he never boasted about it. He knew that his mind was a gift from God. 

His parents hoped that he would become a Benedictine abbot some day. The family castle was in Rocca Secca, just north of Monte Cassino where the monks lived. Thomas was sent to the abbey for schooling when he was five and he was educated by the Benedictine monks there. When he was eighteen, he went to the University of Naples to finish his studies.

There he met a new group of religious men called the Order of Preachers. Their founder, St. Dominic, was still living. Thomas knew he wanted to become a priest and felt that he was called to join these men. So he secretly joined the Dominican order in 1244.

His parents were angry with him. When he was on his way to Paris to study, his brothers kidnapped him and kept him a prisoner in one of their castles for over a year. During that time, they did all they could to make him change his mind. 

One of his sisters, too, came to convince him to give up his vocation. But Thomas spoke so beautifully about the joy of serving God that she changed her mind. She decided to give her life to God as a nun. After fifteen months, Thomas was finally allowed to follow his call.

St. Thomas wrote so well about God that people all over the world have used his books for hundreds of years. His

explanations about God and the faith came from Thomas' great love for God. He writings touched the hearts of people because he was not trying to impress anyone. He just wanted with all his heart to offer the gift of his life to Jesus and the Church.

St. Thomas is one of the greatest Doctors of the Church and is considered the universal patron of universities, colleges, and schools.

Around the end of 1273, Pope Gregory X asked Thomas to be part of an important Church meeting called the Council of Lyons. While traveling to the meeting, Thomas became ill. He had to stop at a monastery at Fossanova, Italy, where he died. It was March 7, 1274. He was only forty-nine.

St. Agnes - Feast Day January 21

Feast Day: January 21 
Born:292 :: Died: 304

St. Agnes was a Roman girl who loved Jesus so much that she chose only him for her husband. She was very beautiful and when she was just twelve years old, many young men wished to marry her. But as Agnes had given her heart to Jesus, she would always say, "Jesus is my only husband." 

She even turned down the governor's son, who became very angry. He tried to win her affection with gifts and promises but Agnes said to him, "I am already promised to the Lord." Agnes was accused of being a Christian and brought to the governor.

Then she was taken to a Roman temple in Minerva (Athena), and asked to sacrifice to pagan gods. When Agnes was led to the altar, she made the Sign of the Cross. 

The governor tried to scare her by putting her in chains, but even then she refused to turn against God. 

Agnes suffered other tortures. Finally, she was condemned and killed for her faith at the young age of twelve in 304. 

St. Ambrose and other well-known early Church saints have written about this brave girl. Agnes is buried in a cemetery named after her. In 354, Emperor Constantine's daughter built a large church there and had Agnes' body placed under the altar.

St. Macrina - Feast Day January 14

Feast Day: January 14 

Died:(around) 340

St. Macrina, was the grandmother of St. Basil the Great. She helped raise St. Basil and was one of his favourite people. As an adult, he praised his grandmother for all the good she had done for him. He especially thanked her openly for having taught him to love the Christian faith from the time he was very small.

Macrina and her husband paid a high price for being true to their Christian beliefs. During the Roman persecutions of Galerius and Maximinus, Basil's grandparents were forced to go into hiding. They found shelter in the forest at Pontus near their home and somehow managed to escape the Roman soldiers who were looking for them. 

They were always hungry, almost starving and afraid, but they would not give up their faith. Instead, they patiently waited and prayed for the persecution to end. They hunted for food and ate the wild vegetation and somehow managed to live like this for seven years.

During another persecution, Macrina and her husband had all their property and belongings taken from them. They were left with nothing but their faith and trust in God's care for them. St. Macrina died around 340.

St. Macrina survived her husband but the exact year of each of their deaths is not recorded. It is believed that Macrina died around 340. Her grandchild, Basil, died in 379.

St. Andrew the Apostle - Feast Day November 30

Feast Day: November 30

Born / Died: around the time of Jesus 

St. Andrew was born at Bethsaida in Israel. He and his brother, Simon Peter, grew up to become fishermen. And when Andrew heard the great St. John the Baptist preach, he became his disciple. 

When Jesus came to be baptized, John pointed to Jesus and said, "Behold the Lamb of God," Andrew understood that Jesus was greater. At once he left John and followed Jesus. 

Jesus knew that Andrew was walking behind him and turning back, asked why he was being followed. Andrew said that he would like to know where Jesus lived. Jesus warmly invited him to, "Come and see." 

Andrew had been with Jesus only a short while when he realized that this was truly the Messiah and he became the first disciple of Christ. Then Andrew brought his brother Simon (St. Peter) to Jesus. The Lord welcomed him as his disciple too.

At first the two brothers continued their fishing trade and family affairs. But soon the Lord

called them to stay with him all the time. He promised to make them fishers of men, and this time they left their nets for good. St. Andrew went through life leading people to Jesus, both before and after Jesus died.

After Jesus ascended into heaven, St. Andrew preached the Gospel in Greece. There, he was put to death on a saltire cross (x shaped), to which he was tied, not nailed. 

He lived two days in that state of suffering but still found enough strength to preach to the people who gathered around their beloved apostle. 

Hundreds of years later, when the king of Scotland faced a large invading army, he prayed for guidance. A white cloud in the form of a saltire cross floated in the blue sky above him and he won the battle. Saint Andrew was named the patron saint of Scotland and the Saltire became the national flag of Scotland.

St. Andrew is also the patron saint of Russia. 

St. Cecilia - Feast Day November 22

Feast Day: November 22
Born: around 90 :: Died: around 117

Cecilia was a Roman noblewoman who had given her heart to Christ. Under the rich clothes worn by women of high class, Cecilia wore a rough shirt that caused her suffering. She wanted to be able to offer this sacrifice to Jesus, whose bride she intended to be. 

But Cecilia's parents gave her in marriage to a young pagan noble, Valerian of Trastevere. Celia is considered the patroness of music because during the wedding celebration, the lovely bride sat apart, singing a hymn of love to God in her heart and praying for his help. 

When she and Valerian, her husband, were alone, she gathered up courage and said to him: "I have a secret to tell you. You must know that I have an angel of God watching over me. If you let me keep my promise to be Christ's bride only, my angel will love you as he loves me." 

Valerian was surprised and said kindly, "Show me this angel. If he comes from God, I will do as you wish." 

Cecilia said, "If you believe in the one true God and receive the waters of Baptism, then you

will see my angel." Valerian went to Bishop Urban and was received with joy. After he had professed his belief in the Christian religion, he was baptized and returned to St. Cecilia. There by the saint's side, the young man saw the splendid angel.

The angel placed a crown on each of their heads, and offered Valerian a favor and Valerian asked that his brother also be baptized.

Valerian's brother, Tiburtius, learned of the Christian faith from Cecilia. She spoke so beautifully of Jesus that before long, he too was baptized. Together the two brothers performed many works of charity and mercy, like burying dead Christian martyrs.

When they were arrested for being Christians, they went bravely to death rather than give up their new faith in Jesus. St. Cecilia lovingly buried their bodies, before she too was arrested. 

She even converted the officers who tried to make her sacrifice to false gods. When she was put into a fire, it did not harm her. Then they tried to suffocate her and finally, a man was sent to her house to behead her. 

He struck her neck three times, but Cecilia did not die immediately. She lay on the floor unable to move. Yet by holding out three fingers of one hand, and one of the other, she still professed her belief in the Blessed Trinity. 

When her tomb was opened about one thousand five hundred years later in Rome, her body was still found perfect and incorrupt.

St. Luke - Feast Day October 18

Feast Day: October 18

Born:(around the time of Jesus) :: Died:(some years after Jesus)

St. Luke was born in Antioch. He was a gentile doctor who was a good and kind man. He heard about Jesus from the great apostle Paul and soon became a Christian. The Bible calls Luke "the beloved physician."

After becoming a Christian, he went everywhere with St. Paul. Luke was a great help to him in spreading the faith in Greece and Rome. He was with Paul when he was shipwrecked and through other dangers as they traveled from place to place. 

St. Luke wrote two books in the Bible: the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Although he did not meet Jesus while he was on this earth, he wanted people to know and love Jesus like he did.

So he talked to people who knew Jesus. He wrote down all that they had seen Jesus do and heard Jesus say. 

Saint Luke spent time with Mother Mary learning all he could about Jesus from her. From

Mary he heard about how the angel Gabriel appeared to her at the Annunciation. He also heard all about the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem and the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt.

Luke also wrote the story of how the apostles began to teach and spread the good news after Jesus went back to heaven. It is in Luke's book, The Acts of the Apostles that we learn how the Church began to grow and spread.

St. Luke is the patron saint of doctors. We believe he died in Greece. He is one of the four evangelists, or Gospel writers.

St. Ignatius of Antioch - Feast Day October 17

Feast Day: October 17
Born:50 :: Died:107

St. Ignatius of Antioch was born in the year 50 to a pagan family (people who do not believe in God). He later wanted to become a Christian and was converted.

Ignatius was the third bishop of Antioch. This is the city where St. Peter labored before he moved to Rome. It is also the city where followers of Jesus were first called Christians. 

Ignatius was condemned to death by Emperor Trajan who hated the Christians. He was taken from Antioch to the amphitheater in center of Rome. 

This was the place where the Christians who were to die were left in the center of a big ground to be eaten by hungry lions that were let out of their cages.

All around this large ground were seats for the Romans to watch while the lions killed the people and they enjoyed watching the Christians die.

Although St. Ignatius traveled to Rome under military guard, he stopped in Smyrna and Troas. From each of those cities, he wrote letters to the Christian communities. He was the first writer to use the term "the Catholic Church."

He told the churches that he was very happy to die for Jesus so they must not stop him. He

asked them to pray that God would grant him his wish. In this way, like the great St. Paul, he preached the Good News to the people.

When the beloved Ignatius arrived in Rome, he joined the brave Christians who waited in prisons. The day came when the bishop was pushed out into the amphitheater. Two fierce lions devoured him. 

He left the beautiful witness of Christian life and his letters. St. Ignatius died around 107. St. Jerome and St. John Chrysostom both thought of his tomb as near the city gates of Antioch.

Let us find courage in the witness and prayers of St. Ignatius.

St. Paul of the Cross - Feast Day October 20

Feast Day: October 20
Born: 1694 :: Died: 1775

Paolo Francesco Danei or Paul Daneo was born at Ovada, in northern Italy, into a family of merchants. He was a good and pious Christian who practiced his faith.

When he was nineteen years old, Paul decided to become a soldier, but after one year he left the army.

During the summer of 1720 Paul had three visions (in his dreams) about starting a new religious order. He couldn't understand what was happening, so he went to his bishop for guidance. 

The bishop studied his case and believed that the visions were real. He told Paul to go ahead and do what he was being told to do in this special call from God.

Paul spent forty days in prayer and penance. He then started the order called the Barefoot Clerks of the Cross and the Passion (Passionists). 

Paul was joined by his brother John and two other young men. Paul and John were ordained priests by the Pope. Ten years later, they started the first Passionist monastery. 

The Pope approved the new order. He also agreed to the new rule St. Paul added, a short time later. Besides the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, Paul of the Cross added a fourth vow: devotion to the passion of Christ. 

By 1747, the Passionists had three monasteries. They were preaching parish retreats everywhere in Italy. Paul was a preacher of such power that even tough soldiers and bandits cried when they heard his sermons.

St. Paul asked people to imitate the patience of our dear Jesus because this is the height of pure love and to practice heroic goodness through patience that has been strengthened by courage. 

He wanted people to live in such a way that others may see in them Jesus crucified, the model of all gentleness and mercy.

Before he died in 1775, Paul of the Cross also started a congregation of Passionist nuns.

St. Joan of Arc - Feast Day May 30

Feast Day: May 30 

Born: 1412 :: Died: 1431

Joan was born at Greux-Domremy, Lorraine, a little village in France. Jacques d'Arc, her father, was a hard working farmer. Her mother Isabelle Romee was gentle and loving. She taught Joan many practical things. "I can sew and spin as well as any woman," she once said. 

Joan was a shepherdess who loved to pray, especially at the shrines of Our Blessed Mother. This honest little peasant girl was to become a heroine. One day while she was watching her sheep, St. Michael the Archangel, appeared to her and said, "Daughter of God, go save France!"

For three years she heard the voices of saints calling her to action. When she was sixteen, she began her mission.

At that time, there was a war going on between France and England. It was called the Hundred Years' War. England had won so much French land that the king of England called himself the king of France, too. The real French king was weak and fun-loving. He thought the French armies would never be able to save the country.

With his permission, St. Joan led an army into the city of Orleans, which the English had almost captured. In her white, shining armor, this young heroine rode with her banner flying above her. On it were the names of JESUS and MARY.

Joan of Arc's Death at the Stake
Hermann Anton Stalk 

She was hit by an arrow in the great battle of Orleans, but she kept on urging her men to victory. At last they won! St. Joan and her army won more and more battles. The English armies had to retreat.

After the victories, Joan's time of suffering began. She was captured by the Burgundians.
Then she was sold to the English for ten thousand Francs. The ungrateful French king did not even try to save her. She was put in prison and after an unfair trial at Rouen in France, she was tied to a stake and burned to death.

Joan was not even twenty. She had a great horror of fire. Yet she went bravely to her death on May 29, 1431. Her last word was "Jesus." Four hundred and eighty-nine years later, on May 16, 1920, Pope Benedict XV proclaimed Joan a saint.

Reflection: The life of this saint was marked by heroic courage for the sake of the mission that God had entrusted to her. We can call on St. Joan of Arc to help us especially when we need to carry out a very difficult, nearly impossible task.