Saint Saturninus, Bishop and Martyr
by VP
Posted on Saturday November 29, 2025 at 04:00AM in Saints
Impotence of the Demon: St. Saturninus, having been sent by the Pope St. Fabian into Gaul, together with St. Denis, in order to plant the faith there, established his see at Toulouse, and thence directed his efforts into the adjacent regions. The number of the Christians had already become considerable. The holy missionary was accustomed to pass every day near the foot of the Capitol, which contained a temple famous for its oracles. Now, as the latter had become mute, the pagans attributed this to the presence of the Christians, and especially to that of the bishop; they therefore dragged him to the Capitol in order to force him to adore their gods, or else to restore speech to the oracles. "Your gods," said Saturninus to them, "are only demons, and how can you expect that I shall adore them that dread me, and whom my mere presence reduces to silence?" At this reply the people became enraged beyond measure; Saturninus was horrible maltreated; he was trans-pierced with a lance, and then tied to the tail of an untamed bull, that tore him to pieces. This occurred about the year 250 of the Christian era.
Moral reflection: The spirit of darkness is only to be feared by those who yield consent to his suggestions. "Resist the devil," says St. James, "And he will fly from you." (James iv. 7.) Source: Pictorial half hours with the saints. Transl de Auguste Francois Lecanu (1865)
ST. SATURNINUS, MARTYR: UNDER the Emperor Maximian, having suffered a long imprisonment and many torments, both of racks
and fire, he was at length beheaded for his faith in Christ. Give
thanks for his victory: pray for all who at this time suffer for justice or faith; and while you have before you the example of those
who have given their lives for Christ, fail not to shew some more than
usual patience in whatever you have to suffer this day. It can be no
advantage to you to honour the martyrs, if you receive your trials with the impatience of unbelievers. To have the faith of a Christian, and suffer as one who believes not, cannot be the way to a crown. Put your souls, therefore, in a good disposition, whether for present troubles, or whatever are to come. Pray for patience, submission, and courage; they are the gifts of God; and as he has granted them to others, so the like mercy is open to you, if you persevere in asking with a firm hope in God; if you do not despair, because of your own weakness, nor expect to go through your sufferings without trouble. While you honour the memory of a martyr, suffer something as a martyr." The Catholic Year by Fr John Gother
St. Stephen the Younger, MARTYR, A.D. 764.
by VP
Posted on Friday November 28, 2025 at 03:00AM in Saints
"HAVING lived from his youth in a solitude, and by his perfect life invited many to place themselves under his conduct, at the age of forty he renounced this charge, and shut himself up in a small cell without any roof, where, under the weight of many chains, he raised up his soul to God by prayer and penance. He used to say to such as desired him to be more moderate: Believe me, children, strait is the way, and narrow is the gate that leads to life. This was at the time when the Emperor Constantine Copronymus, resolving to destroy all holy images, and all who approved them, sent to this holy hermit to subscribe to their condemnation. But he answering freely, that he would give his blood, rather than dishonour the picture of Jesus Christ, his master, he was taken out of his cell, kept six days without any thing to eat, had false crimes forged against him, was banished, then recalled and dragged from place to place. Afterwards he was cast into prison, with above three hundred religious, for the same cause, and at length ordered to be beaten through the streets of Constantinople. This was executed with such cruelty, that he died under their hands, in the eighth century; and his fellow-prisoners were all put to death on the same account.
You behold a variety of martyrs in Christ's Church. Some suffer all torments, rather than worship idols, and give God's honour to stocks; others suffer the same torments, rather than dishonour the images of Christ. You see in this your duty: not to give God's honour to any thing created; and yet to have an honour for whatever belongs to God. Avoid therefore both extremes, of Idolatry and profaneness. Be not your own idol, by immoderate self-love and pride; let not the world, nor riches, nor pleasure be your idol, by giving your heart to them, which God demands to himself. Never profane God's holy name, nor his house, by any unbecoming behaviour in that holy place, nor any thing holy, by raillery or disrespect: but let God be in earnest a God to you. To Him be all honour, praise, and glory, from all his creatures. Amen." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Saint Catherine Laboure
by VP
Posted on Thursday November 27, 2025 at 04:00AM in Saints
"O Mary! Conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee."
"It is true, that the day of triumph announced by the venerated Montfort, appears far distant; one might says that the kingdom of God on earth is more compromised than ever. The wicked make unexampled efforts to demolish the social edifice; they are numerous, powerful and possessed of incalculable resources. But for the Church, when all seems lost, then is her triumph at hand. God sometimes permits the malice of men to exceed all bounds, that His power may be the more manifest when the moment of their defeat arrives.
All the united efforts of the Church's enemies in the course of ages, all their errors, hatred and violence directed against her, the Spouse of Christ, are now concentrated in what is termed the Revolution - that is, anti-Christianity reduced to a system and propagated throughout the world, it is Satan usurping the place of Jesus Christ.
But He who has conquered the world, and put to flight the prince of the world, will not permit Himself to be dethroned. He will reign, and even now, before our eyes, is His kingdom being prepared, by the mediation of the Immaculate Mary, of whom the promise was made that she should crush the serpent's head, and to whom alone belongs the privilege of destroying all heresies arising upon earth." The miraculous medal : its origin, history, circulation, results by M. Aladel C.M.
Saint Peter of Alexandria, Bishop, Martyr.
by VP
Posted on Wednesday November 26, 2025 at 04:00AM in Saints
TO DIE TO ONE'S SELF. St. Peter governed the Church of Alexandria during the persecution of Diocletian. The fragments of his works which are still preserved show that this saintly pastor combined great learning with eminent virtue; and the sentence of excommunication that he was the first to fulminate against Meletius and Arius, and which, despite the united efforts of powerful partisans, he strenuously upheld, proves that he possessed as much sagacity as zeal and firmness. But his most assiduous care was employed in safeguarding his flock against the dangers arising out of persecution. He never ceased repeating to them, that, in order not to fear death, it was needful to begin by dying to one's self, renouncing one's own will, and detaching one's self from all things. The shortcomings of those who were in love with the world or their own will afforded proof indeed that he was in the right. St. Peter gave an example of such noble detachment by undergoing martyrdom with great intrepidity in the year 311.
MORAL REFLECTION.-"How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!" says our Savior; because they are bound to earth by the strong ties of their riches.-(Mark x. 23.) Half Hour with the Saints by Abbe Auguste Lecanu
Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin and Martyr, A.D. 302
by VP
Posted on Tuesday November 25, 2025 at 04:00AM in Saints
"A NOBLE virgin of Alexandria; who in her youthful years sought satisfaction in the study of virtue, and in improving her mind in Christian learning. She became so inflamed with a zeal for truth, that meeting the emperor Maximinus II. she reproached him with injustice and cruelty, for persecuting the innocent Christians. By her reasoning she also triumphed over an assembly of the most acute philosophers; and persuaded them to sacrifice their lives for Christ, though they had undertaken, by the emperor's order, to reason her out of her faith. Upon which, Maximinus being enraged, and finding that no reasons or flatteries could prevail, commanded her to be scourged, to be kept in prison without friends or food, and to have her body torn on a wheel. Her constancy overcoming these torments, she was at length beheaded, and so finished a glorious martyrdom, in the year 302. In this saint, all virgins and other Christians have a lesson to condemn their reading of plays
and romances, and all their usual vanities, which only dissipate and
weaken their minds; and to encourage them to a better study, whereby
they may come to the knowledge of God and themselves, and discover those ways, which lead to happiness.
St. John of the Cross, Confessor, Doctor, A.D. 1591.
by VP
Posted on Monday November 24, 2025 at 04:00AM in Saints
Saint John of the Cross, by Zurbaran
"Live in faith and hope, though it be in darkness, for in this darkness God protects the soul. Cast your care upon God for you are His and He will not forget you. Do not think that He is leaving you alone, for that would be to wrong Him." St. John of the Cross.
"THIS saint was born near Avila in Spain. From his tender years, he showed great devotion to the Blessed Virgin, and was preserved from many dangers through her intercession. He had so great a love of suffering, that he slept on a hollow board and wore a rough hair shirt, besides practicing severe fasts, and almost incredible mortifications. His constant prayer was to be allowed to suffer, and be despised for his Savior's sake. He embraced the reformed Order of barefooted Carmelites; and his example and exhortations inspired the religious with a perfect spirit of solitude, humility, and mortification. Almighty God, to purify his heart, allowed him to pass through most severe trials of spiritual dryness and desolation: but, after some time, rays of light, comfort and divine sweetness scattered these mists, and filled his soul with heavenly delights. This comfort was succeeded by other trials of various kinds, which this holy servant of God endured with invincible constancy, always rejoicing when he shared the cross of his Redeemer. It had always been his prayer that he might die in humiliation and contempt; and his prayer was granted. He died at Ubeda in the year 1591, being forty-nine years old.
The spirit of Christianity is the spirit of the cross. To attain to the pure love of God we must live and die in the spirit of the cross. Our divine Redeemer merited the graces,
which we receive, by suffering for us: and it is by suffering with him,
that we are best prepared for his graces. This all the saints assure us by their own example. But in the divine
love, they found a recompense, which amply repaid them for all their
sufferings. Impatience and dejection make ill impressions on all who witness these infirmities. Be careful to prevent them, and by your good example in your sufferings, endeavor to teach others how to suffer. Be watchful in suppressing the first motions of fretfulness and impatience, and pray for the true spirit of a Christian." The Catholic Faith by Fr. John Gother
St. Clement I, Pope and Martyr, A.D. 100
by VP
Posted on Sunday November 23, 2025 at 04:00AM in Saints
"He was a disciple of St. Peter, and commended by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Philippians. He was the third bishop of Rome, after St. Peter, took great care for recording the acts of the martyrs; and for his zeal in gaining many to the Christian faith, was banished by order of the emperor Trajan into Chersonesus. There he found great numbers of Christians, condemned to work in the quarries by the same
emperor. To these he was a great comfort, instructing and relieving
them under their severe labours. For which, complaint being made of him to the emperor, he was, by his command, thrown into the sea, where he finished a glorious martyrdom, in the year 100.
Pray for the present bishop of Rome; that in zeal and holiness, he may be a true follower of his primitive predecessors. Pray for all in affliction. And since this is a difficult trial, be careful not to bring any into trouble. Treat all with sweetness and compassion; and ever choose rather to make others easy by your condescendence, than suffer by your roughness and severity. Endeavor to compose differences, as St. Paul advises, by reference, rather than bring your neighbor to the expense and trouble of law-suits, which are seldom conducted without unchristian heats and the breach of charity. But above all, see that you bring no trouble to your own doors, by your prodigality, intemperance, or other vices. Many families have been ruined by those, whose duty it was to be their support: and who can imagine what their sin must be, who by their disorders, entail misery on their children to generations? Consider whether by your irregularities, you do not rob your wife and children. For however you may call what you have your own, it is no otherwise your own, than for those purposes for which God has bestowed it. Pray for grace to understand this, that for the support of pride, vanity, ambition, or intemperance, you be not cast out among thieves and persecutors." Source:The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
A Vision of the Trinity appearing to Pope Saint Clement
Saint Cecilia, Patron Saint of Music, Virgin and Martyr, A.D. 230
by VP
Posted on Saturday November 22, 2025 at 04:00AM in Saints
Saint Cecilia, Public Domain
"Let's pray to Saint Cecilia on her feast day, so that music in our churches will once again be an instrument of elevation to God, not a profanation of the sacred." Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Nov. 22. 2020.
"A noble virgin of Rome; who being instructed in the faith of Christ, gave her heart to Him from her tender years, chose Him for her spouse, and took holy resolutions of living ever a virgin. But being afterwards, against her will, given in marriage to Valerian, a heathen, she informed him of her resolutions; likewise of her being in custody of an angel. This strange language surprising Valerian, he promised to acquiesce in her proposals, upon condition that he might see the angel. Being baptized for this end, he saw the angel, and was so confirmed in the Christian faith, that soon after, he suffered martyrdom for the same, together with his brother Tiburtius, who had been gained to Christ, by the discourse of St. Cecilia. Upon this, she was apprehended; and having stood out with constancy against all the arguments of the governor, she was commanded to be burnt. The flames, however, not touching her, an executioner was ordered to behead her; who, after three strokes, leaving her half dead, she, on the third day, gave up her soul to the heavenly spouse, under Alexander the emperor, in the year 230. Pray for all in the state of virginity; especially those, who by vow have engaged themselves to God; that He would be their protector, and deliver them from all snares and violence.
Pray for those, who have any thoughts of changing their state; that they may advance nothing in it, but by consulting Heaven, and taking the advice of those,
whom God has placed over them for their direction, and by whom He
speaks to them. Pray for a clean heart; and that you may be preserved
from all that might defile it. Have courage under such trials and
temptations, as fall to your portion. While you are ever on your guard to resist, yet submit with as much patience to the trouble, as you would desire to do to the torments of a persecutor. If you can hold out without dejection, and glorify God in your sufferings, the devil, envious of your good, will leave you in peace." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
"In the early Church. We known very little concerning the music of the primitive Christian Church. On account of many circumstances that Church was restricted in its religious manifestations, for the greater part of the first three centuries was a time of bitter persecution, when Christians worshiped God in secret and in peril of their lives. Tertullian tells us, however, that in his day psalms were sung in the divine service, and the pagan Pliny knew that Christians honored their God before dawn by the chanting of hymns. The extensive use of music in church ceremonies came later, and is to be largely attributed to St. Ambrose, the great Bishop of Milan, who introduced the singing of psalms "after the manner of the East." Under the fostering care of our Church sacred music developed most wonderfully during the succeeding centuries.
St. Jerome, who seldom failed to criticize when criticism was needed, speaks of singers of his day in words to which some of our modern choirs and church soloists may well hearken: "Let the servant of God sing in such manner that the words of the text rather than the voice of the singer may cause delight, and that the evil spirit of Saul may depart from those that are under its dominion, and may not enter into those who make a theater of the house of the Lord." Can it be possible that the prophetic soul of the Saint foresaw the evils of some of the church music of today, wherein hymns to the Blessed Sacrament are chanted to the dulcet strains of "Juanita," and the sublime words of the Credo are sung to the liveliest melodies of Offenbach?
(...)
The Gregorian Chant: This is the distinctive song of the Church, the interpreter in melody of her prayerful devotion. It is so called from its great founder, St. Gregory the Great, and is also known by the names of Plain, Roman or Choral Chant. It is a grave melody, usually solemn in nature, sung in unison, that is, without harmonizing parts, set to the rhythm of the words, and without strictly measured time.
As a prayer is an utterance by the believing heart, expressing its faith, so the chant, which is the more solemn mode of liturgical prayer, owes to faith its power and its beauty.
(...)
The Beauty of the Chant: As regards the tone used, the ecclesiastical chant is full of variety, for it was created for the purpose of beautifying the Church's services, which are of many kinds. Adoration, thanksgiving, supplication, sorrow, joy, and triumph find in the Gregorian tones their fitting expression. The melody accommodates itself to the word and phrase, to the spirit of the Church, and to the nature of the prayer and praise which are being offered to God. Whether it be the Gloria, the jubilant song of the Angels - The Sanctus, in which we here on earth join in adoration with the celestial spirits - the Agnus Dei, the appeal for mercy addressed to Him Who has taken away sin - the Libera, which is the intercessory prayer for the faithful departed - in each of these the spirit of the words and the devotion of the Church are brought out clearly by the grand and simple melodies of the Gregorian Chant. How beautiful in its solemn and reverential strains is the Preface of the Mass, in which the priest offers the Church's thanksgiving and homage before the throne of God! How replete with sadness and sorrow is the chant of the Lamentations in the office of Holy Week! How expressive of fear and desolation are the mournful notes of the "Dies Irae"! All there varying moods of the Church's praise and prayer are portrayed in the Gregorian Chant without any of the artifices of vocal or instrumental harmonizing that are employed in secular music. Its melodies have sprung from the minds of Saints, singing from the Spirit of God." The Externals of the Catholic Church: Her Government, Ceremonies, Festivals by Rev. Fr. John F. Sullivan 1917
St. Felix of Valois, Confessor, A.D. 1212.
by VP
Posted on Thursday November 20, 2025 at 05:00AM in Saints
"He was of the blood royal of France, educated in great piety, and while as yet a child, accustomed to give alms to the poor, This charity grew up with him; so that being now a youth. He several times stripped himself to cover the naked, and sent from his table the choicest dishes to feed the hungry. Being come to maturity, he made the study of heaven his chief business; and having received holy orders, so to prevent his succession to the crown, he retired into a desert, where he lived in prayer and penance. After some time, being found by St. John of Matha, he with him laid the foundation of the Order of Trinitarians, for the redemption of captives, which by his zeal and good example was very much advanced. In this method of holiness and charity, he lived to the year 1212, when he gave up his soul to God.
If children are under your care, accustom them to good; that the seed
sown in their tender years may bring forth good fruit, for your comfort
and their salvation. Children brought up too nicely, make nice men; and
in this have a double difficulty in coming up to the mortification required by the Gospel. If your lot be in the higher ranks, learn how to employ your money and time. This saint now enjoys the reward of what he employed so well. If you abuse all to serve your vanity and corruption, is there not in this an intolerable misuse of blessings? And what recompense can you then expect, but to be cast forth into the exterior
darkness? It is a reproach to Christianity, that among such numbers,
who are blessed with plenty, there are so few who make a christian use of it,
by referring it to the Giver.
Pray for all in captivity and prison. You have no compassion, if you refuse them this charity; but do more, if you can. Pray for all who are slaves to sin. Help them by your advice and good example: you save your own soul by delivering theirs. But if by your discourse or ill example, you draw any into snares, or chains, you act the part of an infidel, and can have no hopes of salvation." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
"Felix, happy lover of charity, teach us the worth, and also the nature, of this queen of virtues. It was she that attracted thee into solitude in pursuit of her divine Object; and when thou hadst learnt to find God in himself, she showed him to thee and taught thee to love Him in thy brethren. Is not this the secret which makes love become strong as death, and daring enough, as in the case of thy sons, to defy hell itself? May this love inspire us with every sort of devotedness; may it ever remain the excellent portion of thy holy Order, leading it to adapt itself to every new requirement, in a society where the worst kind of slavery, under a thousand forms, reigns supreme." By Dom Prosper Guéranger
Saint Edmund Arbishop of Canterbury, confessor, A.D. 1242
by VP
Posted on Thursday November 20, 2025 at 01:00AM in Saints
"ST. EDMUND was born of pious parents at Abingdon in Berkshire. Of his devout mother he learnt from a child, to fast on all Fridays on bread and water. He grew up under her care in all Christian virtues: and was so dutiful to her, as never by word or look to contradicted her inclinations. He performed the first part of his studies at Oxford, in which he gave early indications of great genius. Retirement and prayer were his delight, and he sought no companions, but those of the like inclinations. From Oxford he was sent to study at Paris, whence he was recalled by the sickness of his mother, who gave him her blessing on her deathbed, and recommended to him the care of his brother and two sisters. Edmund neglected nothing that might benefit his own soul: he shunned the vanities of youth, dreaded pleasures, waged a perpetual war with idleness, frequented churches, and wholly addicted himself to prayer, fasting, and study. His chief care was to preserve his purity without spot or stain; which by the counsel of a holy priest he dedicated by vow to God, under the patronage of the most Blessed Virgin Mary. Her intercession, he declared at his death that he had experienced to be so powerful, that he had never called on her without finding assistance in his temptations, comfort in his afflictions, and relief in his necessities.
Returning to Paris he there finished his studies, and was ordained priest. He came back to England, and taught for some years at Oxford. He preached with great zeal and fruit, converted many sinners, and formed many excellent men of prayer. Being chosen to fill the see of Canterbury, he submitted after much resistance, and received the episcopal consecration. This dignity, however, made no alteration in his humble sentiments or behavior. His chief employment was to inquire into and relieve the necessities of his flock, and he soon acquired the reputation of a primitive pastor. His zeal raised him many adversaries, and finding it impossible to remedy great abuses, he retired into France, where he soon after died the death of the just, on the sixteenth of November, 1242.
St. Edmund was a great proficient in divine love, because he learned perfectly to die to himself. Pray for the like spirit of self-denial. Pray for your country: and let the many disorders you observe in it, oblige you to importune heaven for remedy. Can you be silent, when so many souls are carried away by vice and error? This is the punishment of sin. Pray for mercy; and be careful not to add to the scourge by your own disorders and sins." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
