Memorial Today we celebrate the Queenship of our Blessed Mother, a recognition of the announcement of Gabriel to Mary when he said that her Son will be given by God, the Most High, the throne of David and his Kingdom with have no end (Luke 1:32,33). In the early years of the Church the queenship …
Today, August 21, is the memorial of Pope St. Pius X. Born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto in 1835, he was the son of Giambattista Sarto, a mailman, and Margherita Sanson, a dressmaker. At age 11, he felt called to the priesthood. He studied at the seminary of Padua, Italy, and was almost always at the …
Today, August 20, is the memorial of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. Doctor of the Church. Born to the French nobility in 1090 in Burgundy, France, Bernard was the brother of Saint Humbeline and Blesseds Guy, Gerard, and Nivard. At age 22, fearing the ways of the world, he, four of his brothers, and 25 friends …
Today, August 19, is the memorial of Saint Ezequiel Moreno. Patron saint of cancer patients. Ezequiel was a Spanish Augustinian Recollect who was assigned as a missionary to the Philippines. He was born in 1848 in La Rioja, Spain. His first mission was in Calapan, Oriental Mindoro. He was later transferred to Las Piñas. This …
Today, August 18, is the memorial of the Blessed Carmelite Martyrs of Rochefort. The three Discalced Carmelites were Frenchmen: Fr. Jean-Baptiste Duverneuil (Leonard in religious life) was born in 1737, other accounts contend it was 1759; Fr. Michel Louis Brulard was born in 1758; Fr. Jacques Gagnot (Hubert of St. Claude in religious life) was …
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Today, August 17, is the memorial of Blessed Angelo Agostino Mazzinghi. Carmelite provincial and reformer. Angelo Agostino was born in 1385 in Florence, Italy. He became a Carmelite in 1413 and was ordained priest. He served successively as superior of the Order’s monasteries in Le Selve, Frascati, and his native Florence. He was the first …
Today, August 16, is the memorial of Saint Roch. Patron saint invoked against epidemics and plagues. Popularly known as San Roque, he was a French nobleman who early developed a sympathy for the poor and sick; reported to have been born with the image of a red cross on his breast. Orphaned at age 20, …
Today, August 14, is the memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe. Maximilian was born in 1894 in Poland and became a Franciscan Conventual. He contracted tuberculosis and, though he recovered, he remained sickly all his life. In 1906, the Blessed Virgin appeared to him in a vision. She offered him a white crown and a red …
Today, August 13, is the memorial of the Blessed Claretian Martyrs of Barbastro. The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) witnessed the killings of priests, nuns, religious, and Catholic lay leaders through Spain. Among those killed were 51 Claretians, most of them young seminarians who just arrived at the Claretian community in Barbastro to finish the final …
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Today, August 12, is the memorial of Blessed Isidore Bakanja. Carmelite martyr. Isidore was born in 1887 in Bokendela, Congo. He was a member of the Boangi tribe. The young Isidore had to work as a bricklayer and farmer in order to survive. He was converted to Christianity in 1906. He was working in a …