BIG C CATHOLICS

Optional Memorial - September 19th Saint Januarius is the 4th century bishop of Beneventum, who together with his companions (his deacons Socius and Festus, and his lector Desiderius), was martyred in the persecution of the Emperor Diocletian in c. 305. Beheaded at Puteoli, their bodies were reverently interred in the neighboring cities. Eventually the remains of St. Januarius became the prized possession of the city of Naples. St. Januarius, Bishop Martyr, and the Miracle of His Blood St. Januarius is known for the miracle of the liquefaction of his blood, which, according to popular piety, was saved by a woman named Eusebia just after the saint’s martyrdom. At least three times a year, on September 19, (St. Januarius’ feast day) December 16, (The celebration of his patronage of the city and the archdiocese) and the Saturday before the first Sunday of May, (the memorial of the reunification of his relics) thousands gather in Naples Cathedral in hopes of witnessing St. Jan

Memorial - September 9th There are not many who would willingly make themselves slaves, but Saint Peter Claver, the 17th century Jesuit priest and missionary did. What is particularly noteworthy about this young Spaniard’s servitude in the New World is that he took it upon himself willingly, declaring himself , "the slave of the slave." Popular piety holds, in addition to his prodigious efforts, he worked tremendous miracles like raising people from the dead and prophesying the future deaths of others. Peter Claver was born in Verdu, Spain, in 1581. Although the family line was one of the oldest and most distinguished in that country, by the time Claver was born, his own family consisted of impoverished farmers. Nevertheless, he entered the Jesuit college of Barcelona and soon entered the Jesuit novitiate in 1602. It was while studying philosophy that he was inspired by the college’s doorkeeper, the future saint Alphonsus Rodriguez to become a missionary in the New W

Feast Day - September 4th The life of Saint Rose of Viterbo was brief. Much of what we know about her comes from the documents used in her canonization. Born in the spring of 1233 at Viterbo, capital of the patrimony of Saint Peter, she was a remarkably devout girl, completely devoted to God. At that time, the emperor Frederick II was oppressing the Church, and many were faithless to the Holy See. In response, Rose sought Jesus in His tabernacle, listened to pious sermons, contemplated God's love, fasted and prayed. Strict mortifications were her greatest delight. She is perhaps one of the youngest people ever to be credited with performing a miracle. Several sources testify that she raised her maternal aunt from the dead when she was barely three years old. By the age of seven, Rose’ reputation for sanctity and miraculous aptitudes had spread widely. Her father forbid Rose from making public expressions of her Faith, and she was momentarily consigned to being a recluse, l

Feast - August 26th The image of Our Lady of Częstochowa, also known as the Black Madonna, was traditionally believed to have been painted by Saint Luke the Evangelist on a cypress wood panel from a table used by the Holy Family in Nazareth. It was said to have been brought from Jerusalem by Saint Helen and was enshrined in Constantinople for 500 years. It was given to a Greek princess married to a Ruthenian nobleman and it was housed in the royal palace at Belz in the Ukraine for the next 600 years. Art historians believe it is a Byzantine icon of the Hodigitria type dating from the 6th - 9th Century. The image was brought to Poland in 1382 by Ladislaus of Opole who rescued the painting from Belz while escaping an attack by the Tartars who had damaged the painting with an arrow. On his way to Silesia, Ladislaus stopped to rest in the town of Częstochowa near the church on Jasna Góra (Bright Hill). He believed that it was Our Lady’s desire for her image to remain in Częstochow

July 24th is the optional memorial of Saint Charbel Makhlouf. He was born in the mountain village of Biqa-Kafra, Lebanon, the fifth child of a poor Maronite Family on May 8, 1828. Charbel exhibited preternatural spiritual abilities at an early age especially contemplation, prayer and solitude. At 23, over his parent’s objections, he entered the monastery of Our Lady of Lebanon and became a novice. After two years of novitiate, in 1853, he entered the Monastery of Saint Maroun. Ordained a priest in 1859, he spent sixteen years there, totally dedicated to Christ, performing his priestly and monastic duties in an exemplary way. He practiced self sacrifice, ministering with an undivided heart before receiving permission from his superiors to live in the hermitage of Saints Peter and Paul. Charbel's companions at the hermitage were Christ, as encountered in the Scriptures and in the Eucharist, and the Blessed Mother. The Eucharist became the center of his life. He consumed the Br

(While many saints are canonized by the Church, most are known only to God.) The process of documenting the life and virtues of a holy man or woman cannot begin until five years after his or her death; this insures that the person has an enduring reputation for sanctity among the faithful. The pope may waive the waiting period. The bishop of the diocese in which the person died can petition the Holy See to allow the initialization of a Cause for Beatification and Canonization. If there is no objection by a department of the Roman Curia, permission is communicated to that bishop. When the cause begins, the individual is called a “Servant of God.” Testimony about the life and virtues of the person are gathered, and his or her writings are examined. This documentary phase of the process can take years and concludes with the judgment of a diocesan tribunal and the decision of the bishop that the heroic virtues of the servant of God have or have not been demonstrated. The resul

Optional Memorial – July 18th St. Camillus' mother was nearly sixty years old when he was born [in 1550]. As a youth, he gave himself to the sinful pleasures of this world. His conversion dates from the feast of the Purification, 1575. Two attempts to join the Capuchin Order were frustrated by an incurable sore on his leg. In Rome, Camillus was placed in a hospital for incurables; before long he was put in charge due to his ability and zeal for virtue. There, he provided the sick every kind of spiritual and bodily aid. At the age of thirty-two he began studying for Holy Orders and was not ashamed of being numbered with children. After ordination to the holy priesthood he founded a congregation of Regular Clerics, the "Ministers to the Sick." As a fourth vow the community assumed the duty of caring for the plague-ridden at the risk of their lives. With invincible patience Camillus persevered day and night in the service of the sick, performing the meanest and most

Fr. Charles Irvin Senior Priest Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for today’s readings ) When it comes to facing failures in life, the farmer in today’s Gospel parable sounds a lot like many of us. We work hard, and only sometimes succeed. Most of the best things that we give to others are not by them well received. Most of what we want to plant in the lives of those around us doesn’t “take”; it doesn’t become rooted and permanently planted in their lives. All of us have to deal with failure, those areas where the best we’ve given to others comes up lacking, falling short of our hopes, our dreams, and our great expectations. There are some biblical commentators who suggest that the parable of Jesus we just heard was autobiographical. That may well be true. Jesus certainly had to face a whole lot of apparent failure. He knew full well the pain of failure: •  He was born and raised in Nazareth and his own hometown folks rejected Him. •  His own Hebrew countrymen rejec

Mention the name “Saint Anthony” in a roomful of Catholics, and you are likely to be regaled with story after story of things, people and pets that have been found, often in what seem to be miraculous circumstances, through his intercession. And although this saint is the patron of lost items and a thaumaturgist, or miracle worker, many people may not realize that he is also a Doctor of the Church who had a burning desire to imitate Christ in all things and be martyred for the faith. St. Anthony of Padua was neither born in Padua nor with the name Anthony. He first saw the light of day in Lisbon, Portugal in 1195 and was baptized Ferdinand by his powerful and well-to-do parents, who were devout Catholics. At the age of 15, young Ferdinand joined the Augustinian Order, totally forsaking the wealth and power that could have been his by reason of his family’s standing in society. But he did not remain with that order. In 1220, the mutilated corpses of the five Franciscan protomarty

May 13th is the optional memorial of Our Lady of Fatima, the title given to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary in the apparitions which occurred between May 13th and October 13th, 1917, at Cova da Iria, near the town of Fatima, Portugal, to three poor shepherd children. Lucia de Jesus Santos and Francisco and Jacinta Marto. Our Lady told the children that she had been sent by God with an urgent message for humanity. At that time, World War I was raging, and Europe was being torn apart by violence and bloodshed. Our Lady promised that God would grant peace the world over should her call for prayer, reparation and consecration to her Immaculate Heart be honored. The Blessed Virgin emphasized to the seers and to the world at large, "If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace." However, if it were ignored and people did not cease offending God, a far worse war would befall mankind, during which innumerable souls would be lost. That conflict, World

Fatima: The Apparition that Changed the World , (published 2017, by Tan Books, Charlotte, NC, 133 pages) the third book from writer, speaker, psychologist and blogger, Jean Heimann, M. A., recounts the appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary, between May 13 and October 13, 1917, at Cova da Iria, near Fatima, Portugal, to three poor shepherd children. Lucia de Jesus Santos and Francisco and Jacinta Marto. Mary told the children that she was sent from heaven by God with an urgent message for humanity. At that time, World War I was raging, and Europe was being torn apart by violence and bloodshed. Our Lady promised that God would grant peace the world over should her call for prayer, reparation and universal consecration to her Immaculate Heart be honored. The Blessed Virgin emphasized to the seers and to the world at large, "If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace." However, if it was ignored, a far greater conflict would occur. War, O

The story of Saint Peregrine Laziosi is actually one of two healings—the first occurring when he was a young man, and the second when he was in his mid-60s. Had the first healing not taken place, the second might not have, either. St. Peregrine was born around the year 1260 in Forli, Italy, the only son of an affluent and politically active family. Forli was part of the Papal States at the time, and was the center of a medieval partisan conflict over who should rule in Italy. The Ghibelline faction, of which the Laziosi family was a part, supported the the Holy Roman Emperor, while the Guelphs supported the popes. Because of its stand, Forli was under interdict and Peregrine himself was strongly anti-Catholic. In an attempt to reconcile their differences, Pope Martin V sent St. Philip Benizi, the head of the Servite Order, to Forli to act as a mediator between that city and the pontiff. Peregrine was 18 and inclined to hotheadedness when St. Philip arrived, to the point where he

EWTN has a site, accessible through its faith listings, which examines everything one could want to know about Our Lady's miraculous appearance to three young children in Fatima, Portugal in 1917. 100 Years of Fatima , presents the events surrounding the apparitions, the seers, Mary's urgent message to the world and developments since showing how the apparitions changed both the course of the children's lives and the history of the 20th century. A selection from the site : In the year 1917, in a mountainous region at the center of Portugal, the Mother of God appeared six times to three young children. Elsewhere on the continent the “Great War” raged, that would cost Europe an entire generation, over 37 million lives. Besides sending her own sons to die (in France and North Africa) Portugal was in political chaos at home. There was a dizzy succession of governments following a revolution in 1910. The monarchy had been replaced by a republic, with a new liberal constitut

April 29th, is the memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena (1347 – 1380), the 14th century virgin, visionary and Doctor of the Church. Catherine di Benincasa was born the twenty-fifth child of Giacomo and Lapa di Benincasa in Siena, Italy. At the age of 6, she began to experience mystical visions including seeing angels. She consecrated her virginity to Christ when she was just 7 years old. Catherine defied her family’s plans to give her away in marriage by cutting her hair short and repulsing her future husband. Catherine's mother would eventually relent. With her family’s blessing, she became a Dominican tertiary at 16, where her visions of Christ, Our Lady and the saints continued. Two years later, she would join the Dominican third order, spending her days in seclusion and prayer. By the time Catherine was 23, Christ answered her prayer to take her heart and give her His own. The Lord Jesus appeared to her holding in his hands a human heart, bright red and shining. He opened

April 26, 2017 Devotion to the Mother of Good Counsel is associated with a miraculous icon. The image [pictured above] is found in a church in Genazzano, a town thirty miles south-east of Rome. The church, dedicated to the Mother of Good Counsel, was built there in the 4th century. In 1356, it was given over to the Augustinians. Restoration started in 1467, when a widow, Petruccia, sold all her belongings to help finance the project. However, funds ran out before the task was completed. That same year, the residents of Genazzano heard a beautiful melody emanating from heaven. As they looked up, they saw a white, shining cloud that descended on the Church of the Mother of Good Counsel. The cloud gradually vanished, revealing a beautiful painting of Our Lady tenderly holding her Divine Son in her arms. Immediately, Mary began to cure the sick and grant countless graces. The news spread throughout the country. Two Albanians from Scutari appeared in the town with the following

The example of this 8th century saint should reassure anyone who thinks that great or grandiose deeds are necessary for a sanctified life. Saint Stephen of Mar Saba (725-794), whose feast day is March 31st, lived a quiet, unassuming and prayerful existence, but his service to others through contemplation and works led to him being an exemplar of holiness and peace. He ministered for half a century within the community of Mar Saba, a monastery established by Saint Sabas in the 5th century. His witness of heroic virtue and selfless love illustrates the extraordinary power of God’s grace to transform and ennoble ordinary life. A nephew of Saint John Damascene, one of the most learned men of his time, young Stephen was introduced to monastic life at the age of ten. From then until he reached the age of 24, he received instruction from his uncle, upon whom's death he became both a monk and an ordained priest. Stephen’s spiritual insight was especially evident in the charitable guid

The Fifth Sunday of Lent (A) April 2, 2017 By Msgr. Bernard Bourgeois Ezekiel 37:12-14; Psalm 130; Romans 8:8-11; John 11:1-45 "Untie him and let him go."  (John 11: 44)  Nearing the end of the season of Lent, the Church this Sunday is knocking at the door of Holy Week (which begins next Sunday, April 9, with Palm Sunday), seeking entrance to the events that together form the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is the annual reminder of God’s love for His people! During Holy Week, the faithful will visit the Upper Room during the Passover. At this meal, Jesus takes bread and wine and declares it to be His body and blood, which will be poured out for the many. Good Friday is the next stop on the journey. Kneeling at the foot of the cross, the people of God will adore that wood on which their Savior died. The story does not end there! At the Easter Vigil Mass, the people will stand in awe and wonder at the empty tomb. Jesus is risen! Alle

February 15th is the feast of St. Claude de la Colombiere (1641-1682), the 17th century Jesuit priest, preacher and missionary to England. He is best known as the confessor and spiritual advisor to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque to whom our Lord revealed the treasures of his Sacred Heart. In the course of Christ’s appearances to her, Margaret Mary was overcome with anguish and uncertainty. Jesus promised her "my faithful servant and perfect friend" to assist her in carrying out her divine mission. That "faithful servant" would arrive a short time later in the person of Father Colombiere. He would reassure Margaret Mary as to the vision’s authenticity. Due to his support, Margaret Mary’s superior came to believe, and devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was soon promulgated throughout France. Claude de la Colombière was born the third child of Bertrand and Margaret de la Colombière in in St. Symphorien d'Ozon, France. His family was pious and of high standin

Today marks the first apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1858 to fourteen-year-old Saint Bernadette Soubirous. Our Lady’s message to humanity stressed devotion to God through Christ, ceaseless prayer, penitence and forgiveness. Three revelations in particular are worth pondering. One concern’s doctrine. The others speak to our earthly pilgrimage and our destiny, if we persevere in love. On February 18th, our Lady began her message telling Bernadette, "I do not promise to make you happy in this life but in the next." On February 24th, Mary asked for penance and prayer for the conversion of sinners. The next day, the feast of the Annunciation, Mary stated, "I am the Immaculate Conception." The liturgical feast of Our Lady of Lourdes was initially celebrated on February 11th. It was approved by Pope Leo XIII, and first granted to the Diocese of Tarbes in the year 1890. Less than twenty years later, on November 13, 1907, his successor, Pope Saint Pius X pro

February 11th, the Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. Three years before our Lady's appearance, in the apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Over the course of eighteen apparitions between February 11th – July 16, 1858, our Lady revealed to the shepherdess Bernadette Soubirous, that she was the "the Immaculate Conception." Here is Father Pius Parsch's account of the events: The many miracles which have been performed through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin at Lourdes prompted the Church to institute a special commemorative feast, the "Apparition of the Immaculate Virgin Mary." The Office gives the historical background. Four years after the promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception (1854), the Blessed Virgin appeared a number of times to a very poor and holy girl named Bernadette. The actual spot was in a grotto on the bank of the Gave River near Lour