BIG C CATHOLICS

The Feast of Saint Andrew, one of the twelve apostles selected by Our Lord, is November 30th. Andrew has the distinction of introducing his brother Peter to Jesus, saying, "We have found the Messiah." Overshadowed henceforth by his brother, Andrew nevertheless appears again in the Gospels as introducing souls to Christ. After Pentecost, Andrew took up the apostolate on a much wider scale, and is said to have been martyred at Patras in southern Greece on a cross which was in the form of an "X". This type of cross is known as a "St. Andrew's cross." Andrew did not belong to the inner circle of the apostles, Peter, James and John, and the evangelists record nothing extraordinary concerning him [John 6:8]; but tradition extols his great love for the Cross and for the Savior. The Church distinguishes him in the Mass [his name occurs in the Canon and in the Libera since the time of Pope Saint Gregory I] as well as in the Divine Office. The story of hi

According to the 1962 Missal of Saint John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, November 28th is the feast day of Saint Saturninus, the early 3rd century bishop. missionary and martyr. Saturninus lived heroic virtue in imitation of Christ. The first named prelate in Gaul, he is called the Apostle to the Gauls. ________________________________________ The Life and Holy Martyrdom of St. Saturninus  Saturninus went from Rome, by direction of Pope Fabian, about the year 245, to preach the faith in Gaul. He fixed his episcopal see at Toulouse, and thus became the first Christian bishop of that city. There were but few Christians in the place. However, their number grew fast after the coming of the Saint; and his power was felt by the spirits of evil, who received the worship of the heathen. His power was felt the more because he had to pass daily through the capitol, the high place of the heathen worship, on the way to his own church. One day a great multitude was ga

November 25th is the optional memorial of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, the brilliant 4th century apologist and virgin, whose arguments and courageous witness for the Faith won many souls for Christ. Popular piety memorializes her heroic virtue and holy death. She is the patron of apologists and philosophers. ______________________________________ The account of her martyrdom is legendary and defies every attempt to cull out the historical kernel. Old Oriental sources make no mention of her. In the West her cult does not appear before the 11th century, when the crusaders made it popular. She became the patroness of philosophical faculties; she is one of the "Fourteen Holy Helpers" [invoked against disease]. The Breviary offers this: Catherine, virgin of Alexandria, devoted herself to the pursuit of knowledge; at the age of 18, she surpassed all her contemporaries in science. Upon seeing how the Christians were being tortured, she went before Emperor Maximin, upbraid

On November 24th the Church celebrates the memorial of Saint Andrew Dung-Lac, a 19th century Vietnamese priest and companions, who lost their lives for the Faith. St. Andrew was one of 117 people who were martyred in Vietnam between 1820 and 1862. The last of these martyrs were 17 laypersons, one of them a 9-year-old, executed in 1862. The suffering they endured was barbaric. Christianity came to Vietnam through the Portuguese. Jesuits opened the first permanent mission at Da Nang in 1615. They ministered to Japanese Catholics who had been driven from Japan. The emperor Minh-Mang, banned all foreign missionaries and commanded Vietnamese Catholics to renounce their religion by trampling on a crucifix. Their churches were destroyed and catechesis forbidden. Christians were branded on the face with the words ta dao (false religion) and Christian families and villages were destroyed. Like the priest holes in Ireland during English persecution, many Catholics were offered sanctuary

Father Miguel Pro was a courageous witness to the Faith during his government’s brutal oppression of Catholicism. His magnanimity in death earned him the crown of martyrdom and renown among Mexican Catholics and those across the world. On November 23rd, the Church celebrates his remarkable devotion and example. ______________________________________ José Ramón Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez, also known as Blessed Miguel Pro, the eldest son of Miguel Pro and Josefa Juarez, was born in Guadalupe, Mexico, on January 12, 1891, into a wealthy family. His father was a mining executive in the state of Zacatecas. As a young boy, he was distinguished for his great sense of humor and personal piety. He wrote comics, played the guitar and was especially attuned to the poor. These qualities would help him immensely throughout his priestly ministry. Miguel was particularly close to his older sister, who joined a cloistered convent. This prompted him to discern his own calling to religious life.

November 23rd, is the optional memorial of Pope Saint Clement I, also known as Clement of Rome, the 1st century pontiff and martyr who was converted by Saint Peter [possibly along with Saint Paul] and ordained by the same. A seminal figure in early Christianity, he served as the forth Bishop of Rome and is considered the first Apostolic Father of the Church. Saint Clement of Alexandria called him an apostle; and Rufinus, (the monastic theologian and translator) almost an apostle. Clement accompanied Saint Paul to Philippi and was a companion of the latter, with Sts. Luke and Timothy, in many of his missionary journeys. St. Paul ranks him among those whose names are inscribed in the book of life. Clement's letter to the Corinthians is a precious treasure from the apostolic period. In his letter (1 Clement) dated around 95 AD to the Christian community in the Greek city of Corinth, he responds to a dispute in which presbyters of the Corinthian church were deposed. He asserts the

Memorial - November 22nd  When Saint Augustine famously said, "One who sings prays twice," he may have been thinking of the early Church martyr most often associated with music. Saint Cecilia has often been depicted in art with either an organ or a viola since at least the time of the Renaissance. She is the patron saint of music and musicians, and especially those engaged in the composition and performance of sacred hymns. Much of her story is actually legend, and authentic material related to her life is scarce. We know that she was a Christian woman of high rank who was martyred in either the 2nd or 3rd century. The daughter of patrician Roman Christians, she was given in marriage to a rich young nobleman, Valerian of Trastevere, despite desiring to remain a virgin. By the designs of Providence, her innocence was preserved. There was a feast in her honor celebrated in the Church as early as 545, and at least one church was dedicated in her name in the late 4th cen

On November 18th, the Church celebrates the dedication of the two great Roman basilicas of St. Peter at the Vatican and of St. Paul-outside-the-Walls. The basilica of St. Peter stands on the site of the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles, where stood Nero's circus. It was here that St. Peter was executed. St. Paul-outside-the-Walls, at the other end of the city, is built near where St. Paul was martyred. ____________________________________ Today's feast is a spiritual journey to two holy tombs, that of St. Peter and that of St. Paul in Rome. These two basilicas, marking the place of each apostle's holy martyrdom, are the common heritage and glory of Christendom; it is, therefore, easily seen why the whole universal Church solemnly observes their dedication. Abbot Herwegen makes the following observations on St. Peter's in Rome. The Eternal City has two principal churches, St. John Lateran and St. Peter's. Since ancient times the Lateran basilica, the mothe

Historically November 14th is the feast of St. Lawrence O'Toole the Archbishop of Dublin during the takeover of Ireland by the Normans and King Henry II. His efforts in the peace process and his frustration with King Henry probably caused his early death. He is highly honored at Eu in Normandy, France, where he died. Laurence O'Toole was born at Castledermot, Kildare, Ireland, 1128. Laurence’s family had been ousted from their ancient throne by Dermot MacMurrough who was the representative of the usurping line. Dermot was a violent, war-loving, vocal man hated by strangers and feared by his own people. (It was he who would invite King Henry II of England to come and take possession of Ireland.) Nevertheless, Laurence's father had many soldiers, servants, land, and cattle. At age 10, Laurence was sent to Dermot as a hostage to guarantee his father's fidelity to the new order. For a time, he lived in Dermot's castle, until the day his father refused to obey an

The history of these holy martyrs, also referred to as the Quattuor Coronati , is very confusing. The Roman Martyrology has this: "At Rome on the Via Lavicana the day of the death of four holy martyrs, the brothers Severus, Severianus, Carpophorus, and Victorinus. Under Emperor Diocletian they were scourged to death with lead rods. Their names were first made known many years later through a divine revelation. As no one knew their names previously, the annual feast day (November 8th) to their honor was celebrated under the title: The Four Crowned Brothers. The designation was retained even after the revelation." The Basilica of the Four Crowned Martyrs also contains the relics of five sculptors who under Diocletian refused to make idols or to venerate sun-god pictures. Reports say they were scourged, placed in led coffins and submerged in a stream (c. 300). According to Christian legend, they were named Claudius, Castorius, Simphorianus and Nicostratus, and were secretl

Today the Church celebrates all the saints, canonized and beatified, as well as those known only to God who are in heaven enjoying the beatific vision. During the early centuries the saints venerated by the Church were all martyrs. Later Popes set November 1st as the day for remembering the saints' holy example. The Commemoration of All Saints was first celebrated in the Eastern Church. The feast was initially observed in the West starting in the 8th century. The Roman Martyrology mentions that the current date was first promulgated by Gregory IV (827-844) and that he extended this observance to the whole of Christendom. It seems certain, however, that Pope Gregory III (731-741) preceded him in this. Meanwhile, in Rome, on May 13th, there was the annual commemoration of the consecration of the basilica of St. Maria ad Martyrs (or St. Mary and All Martyrs). This was the former Pantheon, the temple of Agrippa, dedicated to the gods of paganism, to which Boniface IV had translat

Feast Day - October 28th  However meagre in details is the history of these glorious apostles, we learn from their brief legend how amply they contributed to this great work of generating sons of God. Without any repose, and even to the shedding of their blood, they "edified the body of Christ"; and the grateful Church prays to our Lord today: "O God, through the work of the apostles you have spoken your Word of love, your Son, into our world's deafness. Open our ears to hear; open our hearts to heed; open our will to obey, that we may proclaim the good news with our lives." St. Simon is represented in art with a saw, the instrument of his martyrdom. St. Jude's square points him out as an architect of the house of God. St. Paul called himself by this name; and St. Jude, by his Catholic Epistle, has also a special right to be reckoned among our Lord's principal workmen. But our apostle had another nobility, far surpassing all earthly titles: bein

October 25th in England is the feast of the Forty Holy Martyrs of England and Wales (in Wales this is a memorial), a group of forty men, women, religious, priests, and lay people, canonized by Pope Paul VI on October 25, 1970. Their martyrdoms span the years 1535 to 1679. Four distinct waves of persecution occurred. The first followed the passing of the First Act of Supremacy (1534) when Henry VIII broke with Rome. John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, and Henry’s chancellor, Sir Thomas More, were executed in 1535 along with several religious. The second wave came after 1570. Pope Pius V, believing that Queen Elizabeth I, the daughter of Anne Boleyn, was illegitimate and had no right to the throne, issued a papal bull Regnans in excelsis excommunicating her and absolving all her subjects from allegiance to her and her laws. This was a real dilemma for Catholics especially if they were asked the infamous "bloody question": if there was an invasion from the Pope, which would

According to the 1962 Missal of Saint John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, October 25th is the feast of Saints Chrysanthus and Daria. As husband and wife they carried on an active apostolate among the noble families of Rome during the 3rd century. Denounced as devout Christians, they would undergo various tortures before being buried alive in a sandpit in the year 283. According to legend these two saints belonged to the nobility. Daria received baptism through the efforts of her husband Chrysanthus. In Rome they brought many to the faith, for which cause they were cruelly martyred. Chrysanthus was denounced as a Christian to Claudius, the tribune’s leader. Chrysanthus' attitude under torture so impressed Claudius that he and his wife, Hilaria, two sons, and many of his soldiers became Christians, wherein the Emperor had them all slain. Chrysanthus was sewn inside an ox's hide and placed where the sun shone hottest. Taken to a house of ill-fame, Daria was

The Roman Martyrology includes these twin brother martyrs for October 25th. Saint Crispin was a Roman noble and brother of Saint Crispinian with whom he evangelized Gaul in the middle of the 3rd century. They worked from Soissons, preached in the streets by day and made shoes by night. The group's charity, piety and contempt of material things impressed the locals, and many converted in the years of their ministry. They were martyred in Rome in 286 by torture and beheading, under emperor Maximian Herculeus, being tried by Rictus Varus, governor of Belgic Gaul and an enemy of Christianity. A great church was built at Soissons in the 6th century in their honor; Saint Eligius ornamented their shrine. This feast was immortalized by Shakespeare in his play Henry V, (Act 4, Scene 3). The king gave a rousing speech (called "Saint Crispin's Day) extolling his troops on the eve of the Battle of Agincourt, fought on this day in 1415: This story shall the good man teach his s

Commemoration - October 21st According to a legend that appeared in the 10th century, Ursula was the daughter of a Christian King in Britain and was granted a three-year postponement from a marriage she refused to a pagan prince. With ten ladies in waiting, each attended by a thousand maidens, she set on a voyage across the North Sea, sailed the Rhine to Basle, and then went to Rome. On their return, they were massacred by pagan Huns at Cologne in 451 when Ursula refused to marry their chieftain. According to another account, America was settled by British colonizers and soldiers after Emperor Magnus Clemens Maximus conquered Britain and Gaul in 383. The ruler of the settlers, Cynan Meiriadog, called upon King Dionotus of Cornwall for wives for the settlers. Dionotus sent his daughter Ursula, who was to marry Cynan, with eleven thousand noble maidens and sixty thousand common women. Their fleet was shipwrecked and the women were enslaved or murdered. The legends are pious fi

Historically October 20th is the feast of Saint Irene, the legendary 7th century Portuguese nun martyred in defense of her chastity in 653. Her shrine called the "Santarem," (Portuguese for "Saint Irene") has played a key role for the great quality and beauty of the Catholic Faith that the Portuguese people have lived. Irene, a most beautiful and chaste girl, was murdered before she reached the age of 20. Her noble and God-fearing parents, wishing to prepare her both spiritually and intellectually to assume her rightful position in society, sent her to a convent school and then arranged for a monk to tutor her privately at home. An assiduous pupil and devout believer, the only times Irene left the safety of her house was to attend mass or to pray in the sanctuary dedicated to Saint Peter on his feast-day. On one of these occasions, a young nobleman named Britald happened to see her and fell desperately in love with her. Every time she went out he waited to ca

Memorial - October 19th It has been said that the Catholic Church in North America sprang from the blood of martyrs, and the story of Saint Isaac Jogues and his companions is certainly proof of that. Jogues was born in France in 1607, and missionary zeal soon led the young priest to the New World in 1636, where he worked with the Huron natives under the direction of Fr. John de Brebeuf his fellow Jesuit and mentor. The Huron Indians, however, were not the only native peoples he encountered. The Iroquois were traditional enemies of the Huron and sworn enemies of the French. Consequently, when the Iroquois captured and held Father Jogues and his companions for thirteen months, they were imprisoned and tortured cruelly. Their fingers were cut, chewed, and burned off, and they were forced to watch the mutilation and killing of their Christian converts as a violent punishment. Father Jogues, with the help of the Dutch, was finally able to escape and return to France. He was grant

Saint Luke came from Antioch, was a practicing physician and one of the initial converts to Christianity. He accompanied Saint Paul, who converted him, on his missionary journeys and was still with him in Rome when St. Paul was in prison awaiting death. We hear no more of him afterward and nothing is known of his final years. The Church venerates him as a Martyr. The Gospel he authored is principally concerned with salvation and mercy; in it are preserved some of our Lord's most moving parables, like those of the lost sheep and the prodigal son. Dante calls St. Luke the "historian of the meekness of Christ." It is also St. Luke who tells us the greater part of what we know about our Lord's childhood (as relayed by Our Lady). The Evangelist considered his Gospel and the Book of Acts to be one account in two parts. In Acts of the Apostles, we follow Luke's journey in Christian ministry. Much of Acts is written in the third person. However, occasionally, Luke c

Memorial - October 17th On this day, the Church commemorates one of the most significant Apostolic Fathers of Christian antiquity, who lived less than a century after Christ. Saint Ignatius of Antioch, (c. 35 – 107) a disciple of the Apostle John, was the third Bishop of Antioch (a city in present day Turkey) from 70 to 107, the date of his martyrdom. Tradition holds Ignatius, as a child, was blessed by Our Lord. He is patron of the Catholic Church in the eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. Ignatius is credited with coining the term 'Catholic' in reference to the universal Church. "Wherever Jesus Christ is", he observed, "there is the Catholic Church" (Smyrnaeans, 8:2). He is best known for the seven letters he wrote to six early Christian communities and to Saint Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, defending orthodoxy, urging unity and warning against heresy as he journeyed to his death from Antioch to Rome — a treasure passed down from the 1st century