St. Monica - Feast Day August 27

St. Monica (331 AD – 387 AD) 

Feast Day: August 27

St. Monica is the mother of St. Augustine. She always reminds me of a faithful mother who can never bear the thought of her son, the child who has issued forth from her womb, suffering eternal damnation because of his rejection of the Gospel. This painful truth makes her cry and weep intensely. She visits St. Ambrose repeatedly to petition him to intervene in her son’s case. Finally, St. Ambrose famously responds, “woman the child of those tears will never perish” (Confessions, III, 12).  

For 20 years she continues praying, crying and imploring God to save her son. This sentiment embodies the perfect love of a mother and the sweet maternal instinct in a woman who has set her priorities straight. 

It is good for a mother to offer food and other necessities to her children, but their eternal destiny comes first and foremost. It is more important than even the children’s life on this earth. Out of her loving concern for her rebellious son, she travels to Rome, then Milan. 

After her son is baptized into the Catholic Church, she speaks these words to St. Augustine, “Son, for myself, I have no longer any pleasure in anything in this life. What I want here further, and why I am here, I know not, now that my hopes in this world are satisfied. There was indeed one thing for which I wished to tarry a little in this life, and that was that I might see you a Catholic Christian before I died. My God has exceeded this abundantly, so that I see you despising all earthly felicity, made His servant—what do I here?” (Confessions IX, 10).  

Shortly after, she fell ill, and on her deathbed, she says to her two sons, “Lay this body anywhere, let not the care for it trouble you at all. This only I ask, that you will remember me at the Lord's altar, wherever you be” (Confessions IX, 11). 

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. 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.

Letter to Diognetus

The Christians in the world  "Christians are indistinguishable from other men either by nationality, language or customs. They do not inhabit separate cities of their own, or speak a strange dialect, or follow some outlandish way of life. Their teaching is not based upon reveries inspired by the curiosity of men. Unlike some other people, they champion no purely human doctrine. With regard to dress, food and manner of life in general, they follow the customs of whatever city they happen to be living in, whether it is Greek or foreign. And yet there is something extraordinary about their lives. They live in their own countries as though they were only passing through. They play their full role as citizens, but labor under all the disabilities of aliens. Any country can be their homeland, but for them their homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign country. Like others, they marry and have children, but they do not expose them. They share their meals, but not their wives.   They live in the flesh, but they are not governed by the desires of the flesh. They pass their days upon earth, but they are citizens of heaven. Obedient to the laws, they yet live on a level that transcends the law. Christians love all men, but all men persecute them. Condemned because they are not understood, they are put to death, but raised to life again. They live in poverty, but enrich many; they are totally destitute, but possess an abundance of everything. They suffer dishonor, but that is their glory. They are defamed, but vindicated. A blessing is their answer to abuse, deference their response to insult. For the good they do they receive the punishment of malefactors, but even then they, rejoice, as though receiving the gift of life. They are attacked by the Jews as aliens, they are persecuted by the Greeks, yet no one can explain the reason for this hatred. To speak in general terms, we may say that the Christian is to the world what the soul is to the body. As the soul is present in every part of the body, while remaining distinct from it, so Christians are found in all the cities of the world, but cannot be identified with the world. As the visible body contains the invisible soul, so Christians are seen living in the world, but their religious life remains unseen. The body hates the soul and wars against it, not because of any injury the soul has done it, but because of the restriction the soul places on its pleasures. Similarly, the world hates the Christians, not because they have done it any wrong, but because they are opposed to its enjoyments. Christians love those who hate them just as the soul loves the body and all its members despite the body's hatred. It is by the soul, enclosed within the body, that the body is held together, and similarly, it is by the Christians, detained in the world as in a prison, that the world is held together. The soul, though immortal, has a mortal dwelling place; and Christians also live for a time amidst perishable things, while awaiting the freedom from change and decay that will be theirs in heaven. As the soul benefits from the deprivation of food and drink, so Christians flourish under persecution. Such is the Christian’s lofty and divinely appointed function, from which he is not permitted to excuse himself."   From a letter to Diognetus (Nn. 5-6; Funk, 397-401)      Prayer  Father of all holiness, guide our hearts to you. Keep in the light of your truth all those you have freed from the darkness of unbelief. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Prepared by the Spiritual Theology Department of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross   Source: http://www.vatican.va/spirit/documents/spirit_20010522_diogneto_en.html PODCAST: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/catholic-stuff-you-should-know/id412678859?mt=2 Fr. Michael, Byzantine? One of the speakers? Runs the podcast?