Saints Archives

Pray, Hope, Don’t Worry

Audio Prayer for the intercession of St.Padre Pio

“Pray, pray to the Lord with me, because the whole world needs prayer. And every day, when your heart especially feels the loneliness of life, pray. Pray to the Lord, because even God needs our prayers.”

— St. Pio of Pietrelcina

St. Matthew, the tax collector, the apostle, the martyr for Christ….

St. Matthew, one of the twelve Apostles, is the author of the first Gospel.Son of Alphaeus, he lived at Capenaum on Lake Genesareth. He was a Roman tax collector, a position equated with collaboration with the enemy by those from whom he collected taxes. Jesus’ contemporaries were surprised to see the Christ with a traitor, but Jesus explained that he had come “not to call the just, but sinners.” Matthew’s Gospel is given pride of place in the canon of the New Testament, and was written to convince Jewish readers that their anticipated Messiah had come in the person of Jesus. He preached among the Jews for 15 years; his audiences may have included the Jewish enclave in Ethiopia, and places in the East.

Listen to none other than Mark Hart the Bible Geek about the great work of St. Matthew…of course, the Gospel according to St. Matthew

Personal note, my favorite Matthew passage (from Chapter 25): “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.‘ Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

The feast of St. Hildegard, Come Holy Spirit…. – Discerning Hearts

800+ years later,
it still holds up….
now that’s the work of
the Holy Spirit!

The feast of St. Hildegard, Come Holy Spirit….

800+ years later,
it still holds up….
now that’s the work of
the Holy Spirit!

“…and the virgin’s name was Mary”….The feast of the Holy Name of Mary

Ave Maria…the invocation of the name of Mary is a powerful prayer…Ave Maria…every time we say it we cry out to our Mother. What mother doesn’t rush to the aid of her child when he or she cries out her name? Hail Mary. Not just a name, but a supreme gift of grace to us all…the gift of a mother who loves unconditionally, who loves always, who loves each and every one of her children given to her by God. Hail Mary, when we say it we unlatch the door and allow our mother in, when we say it we pick up the phone and converse with the greatest of human counselors, when we say it we acknowledge the reality of the presence of the “Woman” clothed with the Sun, with the moon under her feet, crowned with the stars who labors to see all of her children “birthed” into heaven. Mary….Mary….Mary. The Holy Name of….Mary.

This has become for me a very precious feast day. Once, when I was traveling on a personal pilgrimage alone, I was feeling achingly isolated, rejected and lost, literally thousands of miles from home. A terrible darkness had shrouded over me emotionally and spiritually. In a very poignant and unexpected way, Our Lady made her presence known to me on this date. It would involve an encounter with a little woman from Africa who looked like my grandmother and spoke no English, and a long plane ride home..this coming together would grow into a gentle, loving exchange between strangers…I didn’t realize it, but it was what my broken “pierced” heart had been aching for. Without fanfare or expectation, out of nowhere came the name of Mary, literally…a moment which illuminated for me the bright light of the Blessed Mother’s presence, and not just at that particular moment in time. Like the brightest star in the night sky, it became clear to me that she had been there truly, truly guiding me all along, even in the darkest moments of doubt and pain. That she had not, and would never, “leave me alone”. That I was indeed responding to HER call and in turn she had responded to mine. Mary. It was she who traveled with me on that journey and who would continue to do so in the days and years ahead. Mary.

Well, the entirety of this story is really for another time, I just wanted to share with those who may read this, that I, unqualified and without hesitation, with my whole unworthy heart, love Our Blessed Mother…I love “Mary”. I hope and pray you do too. If not, listen today for her name…call out to the one who is waiting…she WILL race to your aid. Mary. She is your mother, a gift to us all from her Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. A precious, precious gift. Do not toss her aside. She will never, ever leave you alone.

Father, in the video below, talks about the orgin of this feast day… it’s really quite a lovely homily.

St. John Eudes….It’s all about the heart!!!!!

St. John Eudes, the great disciple of the two hearts of Jesus and Mary….it is ALL about the heart!

He believed in the unity of the hearts of Jesus and Mary and wrote:”You must never separate what God has so perfectly united. So closely are Jesus and Mary bound up with each other that whoever beholds Jesus sees Mary; whoever loves Jesus, loves Mary; whoever has devotion to Jesus, has devotion to Mary.”

We “heart” St. John Eudes!
May this great lover of the two hearts, pray for us!

IP#110 Thomas Craughwell – Saints Preserved on Inside the Pages

What is a relic? What are the categories? Why is this an important part of our rich Catholic tradition? But more than the clinic response to these questions, Thomas Craughwell once again points us to the power of grace found in the lives of the saints whose relics we venerate. I love his Tom’s work and talking with him about these extraordinary aspects of our tradition.

“Long before there were cameras and videos to record for posterity, relics had become the visible reminder of great, heroic and holy lives—remembrances of heroes of the faith. Saints Preserved: An Encyclopedia of Relics gives an account of the lives of those heroes and provides renewed inspiration for Christians everywhere who face many of the challenges that were a part of the lives of the saints.” —Cardinal Donald Wuerl, co-author of The Mass and author of The Catholic Way

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:00 — 42.7MB) | Embed

Find out more about the book here

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

St. Mary MacKillop, Australia’s first saint

On this date, in 1909, a remarkable woman died…Mother Mary MacKillop. Her story is almost as wild as the outback she grew up in. Born the oldest of 7 children, her parents sojourn to Australia alone would have been quite the tale. Taken as a whole, the life of St. Mary MacKillop should have been the “Australia” movie made recently, instead of that Baz Lurhman never-ending epic thing. Her life was filled with adventure, struggle, suffering, persecution (she was even excommunicated at one point, but later completely exonerated), joy, triumph, and, to be sure, a great deal of faith, hope and love.

She was foundress of the School Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart (known affectionately as the Brown Joeys). She and her community were dedicated to the education of the poor. Think about that…Australia…late 1800’s…former criminal colony…poor…outback…wow, what a challenge (not to mention the big heavy brown habits). And of course, throw Pope Leo XIII into the story as well (St. Katherine Drexel and St Therese the Little Flower can tell you about him); now HERE is the movie that should be made! I wonder who could play her…maybe Emily Blunt. Anyway…she is Australia’s ONLY saint (recognized as a saint October 2010). Let’s pray for more…her homeland can use more right now. Acutally, we all could use more heroes of virtue right now. You can read more about her here.

It seems appropriate to honor her life with this production done by an Australian confirmation student. It’s a little hard to read sometimes, but I think it would make St. Mary MacKillop smile.

(and I think she would have smiled at the use of Beyonce too…reclaiming the temporal order. Way to go kid!)