Today, July 31, is the memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Founder of the Jesuits (Society of Jesus). In 1491, Ignatius was born to the Spanish nobility. He was the youngest of 12 children. He was a page in the Spanish court of Ferdinand and Isabella. In 1517, he became a soldier. He was wounded …
Herod the tetrarch heard of the reputation of Jesusand said to his servants, “This man is John the Baptist.He has been raised from the dead;that is why mighty powers are at work in him.” Now Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prisonon account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip,for …
Today, July 30, is the memorial of Saint Peter Chrysologus. Doctor of the Church. Around the year 380, Peter was born in North-Central Italy. Through Pope St. Sixtus III’s appointment, Peter became bishop of Ravenna, Italy. He fought paganism and the Monophysite heresy, enforced reforms, and built several churches and ornate altars in his see. …
Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue.They were astonished and said,“Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?Is he not the carpenter’s son?Is not his mother named Maryand his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?Are not his sisters all with us?Where did this man get all this?”And …
Today, July 29, is the memorial of Saint Martha. Patron saint of hotel-keepers. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was a friend of Jesus, and hostess to Him in her house. She was witness to Jesus’ resurrection of her brother, Lazarus. …
Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Maryto comfort them about their brother [Lazarus, who had died].When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,she went to meet him;but Mary sat at home.Martha said to Jesus,“Lord, if you had been here,my brother would not have died.But even now I know that whatever you ask of …
Today, July 28, is the memorial of Saint Pedro Poveda. Founder of the Teresian Institute. Born in 1874 in Linares, Spain to a pious family, Pedro felt an early call to the priesthood. He entered the seminary in Jaen, Spain in 1889, then the seminary of Guadix, Grenada, Spain. He was ordained in 1897. He …
Jesus said to his disciples:“The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,which a person finds and hides again,and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchantsearching for fine pearls.When he finds a pearl of great price,he goes …
By Rev. Fr. Bernard Roosendaal, O.Carm.July 26, 2013 Introduction Titus Brandsma was a typical European, even more a typical Dutch, with an inborn western culture. He was an intellectual, deep religious and a man with his heart at the right place. He was kept connected with that umbilical cord of the Old and New Testament …
Today, July 27, is the feast of Blessed Titus Brandsma. Patron saint of the Philippine Province of the Order of Carmelites. Born in the Netherlands in 1881, Titus was a Carmelite priest, philosophy professor, journalist, educator, and orator. In 1935 he wrote against anti-Jewish marriage laws, which brought him to the attention of the Nazis. …