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 …
Today, August 11, is the memorial of Saint Clare of Assisi. Foundress of the Order of Poor Clares. Patron saint of television. Clare’s father was a count who died when she was a child. Her mother was the countess Blessed Orsolana. After hearing Saint Francis of Assisi preach in the streets, Clare confided to him …
Today, August 10, is the feast of Saint Lawrence. Patron saint of cooks and comedians. Lawrence was a deacon born in AD 225 in modern-day Spain. The pagan prefect of Rome thought the Church had a great fortune hidden away. So he ordered Lawrence to bring the Church’s treasure to him. The saint gathered all …
Today, August 9, is the memorial of Saint Edith Stein (Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross). Carmelite martyr and convert to Catholicism. Born in 1891, Edith was the youngest of seven children in a Jewish family. She lost interest and faith in Judaism by age 13. She was a brilliant student and philosopher with an …