St. Francis Caracciolo, Confessor, A.D. 1608.
by VP
Posted on Wednesday June 04, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
"In his earliest years, he shewed a disposition to virtue. He received an excellent education. His childhood was pious, his youth virtuous. When he had attained his twentieth year, he was afflicted with a leprosy. His long illness led him to reflect seriously on the vanity of all earthly things, and the happiness of those who dedicate themselves entirely to God; and he resolved, if God should restore him to health, to bid adieu to the world, and live only for God and the service of his neighbour. He recovered from his illness; and went through a regular course of theology, and received the holy order of priesthood. He entered a confraternity of pious persons, who prepared criminals for death, and procured comforts for prisoners; and in these charitable occupations he acted with the greatest zeal, during the remainder of his life.
The charity of St. Francis Caracciolo to his neighbour was most exemplary. Before his religious profession he sold all his property, and distributed in charity all the money produced by the sale. He was a strict observer of every rule of his Order, perfectly obedient to his superiors, and a model of humility to all. He constantly refused all ecclesiastical dignities, and ever preserved the strictest purity. He was inflamed with ardent devotion towards the B. Sacrament., and would spend almost whole nights in adoration before it. He was also remarkable for great devotion to the holy Mother of God.
His virtues were rewarded with the sublime gift of contemplation; several miracles were wrought by him, and he often foretold future events. A short time before his decease, kneeling before an altar of the B. Virgin, at Loretto, he humbly begged to be dissolved, and to be with Christ; and it was revealed to him that God granted his prayer. Having finished his devotions, he proceeded to a house of his Order, and exclaimed as he entered it; "This is the place of my mortal rest." He received the holy sacraments with exemplary devotion, and expired on the 4th of June, in the year 1608.
Thus was this active and humble servant of God called to enter into the joy of his Lord. When he lay on his deathbed, did he regret that he had resigned the riches and honours of the world for the love of God and his neighbour? Certainly not. Pray that you may live in his holy spirit, and in the exercises of those virtues which led him securely to eternal felicity." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Saints Charles Lwanga and Companions: Faithful unto Death
by VP
Posted on Tuesday June 03, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
"In 1879 Catholicism began spreading in Uganda when the White Fathers, a congregation of priests founded by Cardinal Lavigerie were peacefully received by King Mutesa of Uganda. The priests soon began preparing catechumens for baptism and before long a number of the young pages in the king’s court had become Catholics. However, on the death of Mutesa, his son Mwanga, a corrupt man who ritually engaged in pedophilic practices with the younger pages, took the throne.
When King Mwanga had a visiting Anglican
Bishop murdered, his chief page, Joseph Mukasa, a Catholic who went to
great length to protect the younger boys from the king’s lust, denounced
the king’s actions and was beheaded on November 15, 1885. The 25 year old Charles Lwanga, a man
wholly dedicated to the Christian instruction of the younger boys, became
the chief page, and just as forcibly protected them from the kings advances.On the night of the martyrdom of Joseph
Mukasa, realizing that their own lives were in danger, Lwanga and some
of the other pages went to the White Fathers to receive baptism. Another
100 catechumens were baptized in the week following Joseph Mukasa’s death.
The following May, King Mwanga learned
that one of the boys was learning catechism. He was furious and ordered
all the pages to be questioned to separate the Christians from the others.
The Christians, 15 in all, between the ages of 13 and 25, stepped forward.
The King asked them if they were willing to keep their faith. They answered
in unison, “Until death!” "
Catholic News Agency, used with Permission
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
O God, by whose providence the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the
Church: Grant that we who remember before you the blessed martyrs of
Uganda, may, like them, be steadfast in our faith in Jesus Christ, to
whom they gave obedience even unto death, and by their sacrifice brought
forth a plentiful harvest; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and
reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end,
Amen
OUR FATHER
Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done, on earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
HAIL MARY
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.
GLORY BE
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it
was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen.
O Jesus, our Lord and Redeemer, through your passion and death, we adore and thank Thee.
Holy Mary, Mother and Queen of Martyrs, Obtain for us sanctification through our sufferings.
Holy Martyrs, followers of the suffering Christ, obtain for us the grace to imitate Him.
St.
Joseph Balikuddembe, first Martyr of Uganda, who inspired and
encouraged Nephytes, obtain for us a spirit of truth and justice.
St. Charles Lwanga, patron of the Youth and Catholic Action, obtain for us a firm and zealous faith.
St. Matthias Mulumba, ideal Chief and follower of Christ meek and humble, obtain for us a Christian gentleness.
St. Dionysius Sebuggwawo, zealous for the Christian Faith and renowned for your modesty, obtain for us the virtue of modesty.
St. Andrew Kaggwa, model Catechist and teacher, obtain for us a love of the teaching of Christ.
St. Kizito, child resplendent in purity and Christian joy, obtain for us the gift of joy in our Lord.
St. Gyaviira, shining example of how to forgive and forget injuries, obtain for us the grace to forgive those who injure us.
St. Mukasa, fervent catechumen rewarded with the Baptism of your blood, obtain for us perseverance unto the death.
St.
Adolfus Ludigo, conspicuous by your following of our Lord's spirit of
service to others; obtain for us a love of unselfish service.
St.
Anatoli Kiriggwajjo, humble servant preferring a devout life to wordly
honours; obtain for us to love piety more than earthly things.
St. Ambrosius Kibuuka, young man full of joy and love of your neighbour; obtain for us fraternal charity.
St.
Achilles Kiwanuka, who for the sake of Christ detested vain
superstitious practices; obtain for us holy hatred of superstitious
practices.
St. John Muzeeyi, prudent councilor, renowned for the practice of works of mercy; obtain for us a love of those works of mercy.
Blessed
Jildo Irwa and Blessed Daudi Okello who gave up your lives for the
spread of the Catholic Faith; obtain for us the zeal of spreading the
Catholic Faith.
St. Pontaianus Ngondwe, faithful soldier, longing for
the martyr's crown; obtain for us the grace to be always faithful to
our duty.
St. Athanasius Bazzekuketta, faithful steward of the royal treasury; obtain for us a spirit of responsibility.
St. Mbaaga, who preferred death to the persuasions of your parents; obtain for us to follow generously divine grace.
St. Gonzaga Gonza, full of sympathy for prisoners, and all who were in trouble; obtain for us the spirit of mercy.
St. Noe Mawaggali, humble worker and lover of evangelical poverty; obtain for us love of evangelical poverty.
St.
Luke Baanabakintu, who ardently desired to imitate the suffering Christ
by Martyrdom; obtain for us a love of our motherland.
St. Bruno
Serunkuuma, soldier who gave an example of repentance and temperance;
obtain for us the virtues to repentance and temperance.
St. Mugagga, young man renowned for your heroic chastity; obtain for us perserverance in chastity.
Holy Martyrs, firm in your fidelity to the true Church of Christ; help us to be always faithful to the true Church of Christ.
Let us pray
O
Lord Jesus Christ, who wonderfully strengthened the Holy Martyrs of
Uganda St. Charles Lwanga, Matthias Mulumba, Blessed Jildo Irwa, Blessed
Daudi Okello and their Companions; and gave them to us as examples of
faith and fortitude, chastity, charity, and fidelity; grant, we beseech
you, that by their Intercession, the same virtues may increase in us,
and that we may deserve to become propagators of the true faith. Who
lives and reigns world without end. Amen
St. Charles Lwanga
and the Martyrs of Uganda, we come to you asking your prayers of
intercession on behalf of all who suffer from the unjust exercise of
authority. May you who were so cruelly persecuted for your faith in
Jesus Christ intercede for all who are oppressed, that they might be
comforted by the Divine Mercy and empowered by the gift and grace of
fortitude. May justice be the goal of all people and may all who are
called by the name Christian join together in works of redemption
directed at the sins and the structures of sin that afflict our
communities. Amen.
Saint Clotilda, Queen and Widow
by VP
Posted on Tuesday June 03, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
St. Clotilda praying at the foot of Saint Marc's Tomb. Public domain
"The Mission of the Christian Woman: If death has entered the world through the guilt of a woman, woman has, on the other hand, oftentimes been invested with the mission of bringing salvation to the world. It suffices to mention Deborah, Judith, the incomparable Mary, Mother of God; and, coming down to our own times, Genoveva and Clotilda, to the latter of whom France owes Christianity. Being the wife of Clovis, who was a pagan, like the rest of his people, she urged her husband to become a Christian, and each day entreated Heaven to grant his conversion. Heaven came to her assistance. When he was on the point of losing the battle of Tolbiac and his troops had already begun to fly, a sudden thought recurred to the mind of Clovis, and he exclaimed: "God of Clotilda! if Thou givest me the victory, I will become a Christian." God vouchsafed to grant him the victory, and Clovis was true to his word. let not this great boon, however, allow us to forget the other virtues of Clotilda, - her humility, piety, resignation, love for the poor, her austerities, and zeal for religion. She died at Tours in 543, having had a revelation of her death thirty days beforehand, while praying at the tomb of St. Martin. Moral reflection: St. Peter traces out the mission of the Christian woman, "To win the heart of those that believe not the word." (1 Peter 3. 1.). Pictorial half hours with the saints, by Abbe Auguste François Lecanu
Prayer:
Hail, gentle and loving St. Clotilde, sweet illustrious Queen of the Franks, who by thy faith and perseverance in the Lord didst convert thy husband and made France for many centuries a venerable stalwart of the Catholic faith, I implore thy powerful intercession in this my great need. Assist me, holy St. Clotilde, from thy height of glory in heaven. Thou, who during thy earthly sojourn, didst drink deeply from the Saviour's chalice of sorrows, have pity on my dire distress, especially . . . (Here make your intention). Grant also that through my sorrows I may, like thee, purify my faith and never lose hope in the mercy of God. Amen.
Saint Pothinus, Martyr
by VP
Posted on Monday June 02, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
Saint Pothin ; Vitraux de Lucien Bégule (1901), Église Saint-Irénée.
"ARDOUR FOR MARTYRDOM. - St. Pothinus had founded at Lyons one of the first churches in the whole of Gaul; the body of Christians was already numerous and making great progress, when the pagan priests, alarmed for their gods, excited a tumult among the people. Pothinus was then more than ninety years old, and had almost lost the use of his limbs; but in order to proceed to the presence of the judge, he suddenly summoned up strength. The blasphemies of the thronging multitude accompanied his steps. "What is this God of the Christians?" asked one. "You will know Him, if worthy of it," replied the old man. At this firm and bold answer, the anger of the people knew no bounds. Pothinus was loaded with blows, and beaten down with the missiles hurled at him; he was, however, snatched from their violence, and taken to prison, where, after two days, he expired. This happened in the year 177. Forty-seven other martyrs, who had been arrested at the same time, underwent various tortures. Cemented thus with the blood of its founders, the Church of Gaul became indestructible.
MORAL REFLECTION. Even thus did the Apostles rejoice "that they were accounted worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus." (Acts v. 41.)" Pictorial Half Hours with the Saints, Abbe Lecanu
St. Pamphilus, MARTYR, A.D. 309.
by VP
Posted on Sunday June 01, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
"A PRIEST of great learning and sanctity, and particularly honoured by the historian Eusebius. He led a most austere life, retired from the world and its company. He was apprehended by order of Urbanus, the cruel governor of Palestine, and most inhumanly tortured with iron hooks. When the governor could no longer bear the horror of his own cruelty, he ordered the martyr to be cast into prison, to wait the coming of a new governor. Urbanus was succeeded by Firmilian, who passed sentence of death upon St. Pamphilus. He was beheaded on the 16th of February, in the year 309.
When you consider the torments of the martyrs, and then reflect how every peevish word, uneasy humour, and trifling contradiction, is too much now for your patience; have you not reason to blush and be confounded at your weakness, and think that on these days of martyrs you ought to ask for a better spirit, that you may approach something nearer to what you honour in them. O God, help this sinful, and yet proud impatient clay. Give us strength from heaven, for of ourselves we have none.
If you are united with the martyrs in faith, show your faith to be like theirs; that is, let it be accompanied with constancy and courage. You have frequent opportunities of trying it in public, when the irreligious, profane, and sinful discourses of others oblige you to espouse the cause of virtue and truth, for preventing ill impressions upon the hearers. You have as many trials of it when the difficulties of life, the obstinancy of temptations, and your own weakness overwhelm you. It is here that your faith must come to your assistance. What is your faith, if it be only vigorous in time of peace, and sinks in time of difficulties? This is not the faith of the martyrs.
Begin the month by a hearty oblation of yourself, and all under your care to Almighty God. Beg His blessing and protection; ask grace for the amendment of past failings, and let these put you upon resolutions of being more watchful, and avoiding all occasions of sin." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
