BIG C CATHOLICS

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

February 8th, is the optional memorial of Saint Jerome Emiliani (1486 - 1537), the 16th century Italian priest who founded the Congregation of Regular Clerics for the care and education of indigent youth. He was born into a noble family, the son of Angelo Emiliani and Eleonore Mauroceni of Venice, Italy. At 15, he joined the army following the death of his father. A careless and irreligious soldier, he was placed in command of Castelnuovo, a fortress high in the Italian Alps. While defending the outpost from an invasion, he was captured and incarcerated. In prison, Jerome reflected on the immoral choices he had made in his life. He regretted his dissolute youth and thinking so little about God. Jerome began to pray, and promised the Blessed Mother that he would devote himself to imitating Christ in all things if she would help him escape. His prayers were answered and he fled to safety. In gratitude, Jerome immediately went to the church in Trevisio where he laid his prison chains

January 31st, is the memorial of Saint John Bosco (1815 – 1888), popularly known as Don Bosco, the 19th century Italian priest, founder, educator and writer, who, as the “Apostle of Youth”, reached out to the marginalized young in establishing religious orders, such as the Salesian Congregation. The Salesians are a community of consecrated brothers and priests that evangelize and educate youth, especially those who are poor and at risk. Don Bosco’s instructional methods departed from the standard of his day in stressing love, kindness, persuasion and authentic religiosity, not strictness and corporal punishments. From an early age, John Bosco knew he was called to the priesthood. When he was 9 years old, he received a series of dreams in which he was told, "You will win friends with kindness and gentleness. You must show people that sin is ugly and goodness beautiful." He once dreamt about stopping a fight between two boys. When separating them didn't work, he used h

December 21st, is the optional memorial of Saint Peter Canisius (1521-1597) the 16th century Dutch Jesuit priest and Doctor of the Church, who played a major role in the Council of Trent and the Counter Reformation. His extensive writing in theology and powerful preaching in defense of orthodoxy won him great renown, and the Church innumerable souls. He wrote three definitive Catechisms in the span of four years explicating the Faith. These were tremendously influential, especially to those in Austria, Bavaria, and Bohemia where Catholicism was most under siege. Although claimed by both the Dutch and German Churches, Canisius is designated the second Apostle of Germany (after Saint Boniface of Mainz). He was born in Wijmegen, Holland, to Jacob Canisius and mother Egidia van Houweningen, who died soon after Peter's birth. His father was Burgomaster of the town. While a student at the University of Cologne studying the arts, civil law and theology, he regularly visited the Carth

December 14th, is the memorial of Saint John of the Cross, (1542-1591) the 16th century Spanish Carmelite priest, mystic-poet, theologian, and Doctor of the Church, who was instrumental in the Counter-Reformation. Born Juan de Yepes He was the youngest child of a poor silk weaver in the village of Fontiberos, Toledo, Spain. From the very start, John yearned for God. His father was of noble birth; he had married much beneath him, and for that offense had been entirely cut off by his family. He took up silk weaving as his livelihood, but did not profit greatly from it. Soon after John was born, his father died, leaving the family in dire poverty. His family was unable to pay for an apprenticeship. John became the servant of the poor in the hospital of Medina, while pursuing his sacred studies. In 1563, at the age of 21 he offered himself as a lay-brother to the Carmelite friars, who, knowing his intellectual gifts, ordained him a priest. He once contemplated entering the Carthusian O

Fr. Charles Irvin Senior Priest Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for today’s readings ) If there is no divine being above us we will be consumed by all that is around us. If Christ in His kingship is removed from our lives we will be at the mercy of any and all forces in this world that are more powerful than our own powers. In the world of philosophers those who reject God or the reality of God are known as nihilists who claim we exist in nothingness. What we think to be real is, they claim, only a construction that we have made in our own minds. The problem with nihilism is that it leads to anarchy, the complete loss of order in a world that they view to be essentially irrational. Tyrants come to power and thrive in such a world view. Our nation’s Founding Fathers recognized the threat and grip of tyrants when they wrote: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, tha

This feast day was instituted by Pope Pius XI on December 11th, in 1925, within the encyclical letter Quas Primas . The Holy Father was responding to the fact that the world was becoming increasingly nationalistic and secular. Governments were claiming more and more allegiance from citizens and attempting to replace God. While nations insult the beloved name of our Redeemer by suppressing all mention of it in their conferences and parliaments, we must all the more loudly proclaim his kingly dignity and power, all the more universally affirm his rights. – Quas Primas , 25 Pope Pius XI, therefore, created this feast to help the faithful to remember that allegiance to Christ is above any allegiance to government of a nation. "The faithful, moreover, by meditating upon these truths, will gain much strength and courage, enabling them to form their lives after the true Christian ideal. If to Christ our Lord is given all power in heaven and on earth; if all men, purchased by his

On October 19th, dioceses in the United States observe the memorial of Saints Isaac Jogues, Jean de Brébeuf and companions, also known as the North American Martyrs. The six Jesuit priests and two laymen from France, were the first martyrs of North American to be officially recognized by the Church. At the expense of their own safety and despite great hardship, they brought Christ to the native population. It is estimated they converted some 7,000 members of the Huron tribe. The Huron’s enemies, the Iroquois waged ruthless wars against the Huron and Algonquian nations as well as the French. Iroquois Mohawk braves brutally tortured and killed the North American Martyrs between 1642 and 1649. In 1534, Jacques Cartier voyaged to the New World where he explored current day Newfoundland and the St. Lawrence River Valley for France. By the 17th century, French Jesuit missionaries were the first to teach the Gospel to the indigenous people living there. Enduring harsh conditions and shif

August 19th, the Church celebrates the Optional Memorial of Saint John Eudes, (1601-1680) the French priest and missionary who founded the Congregation of Jesus and Mary and the Order of Our Lady of Charity. He was born in the village of Ri, in Normandy, France, the son of peasant farmers Isaac and Martha Eudes. At 14, he entered the Jesuit college at Caen. Despite his parents' hopes that he marry, Eudes joined the Congregation of the Oratory of France in 1623. Two years later, he was ordained to the priesthood. During this time, he studied the Christocentric spiritual thought of Cardinal de Bérulle whose desire was "restoring the priestly order to its full splendor". To that end, Eudes became an apostolic missionary, preaching over 100 parish missions, throughout Normandy, Ile-de-France, Burgundy and Brittany. His gifts as a preacher and confessor won him great renown. The founder of the Sulpicians, Father Jean-Jacques Olier called him, "the prodigy of his age&q

August 4th is the Memorial of Saint John Baptist Mary Vianney (1786-1859). He was born May 8, 1786 in Dardilly, France and baptized the same day. He was the fourth of six children to Matthieu and Marie Vianney. During Vianney's youth, the French Revolution forced priests to work in secrecy and Catholicism underground. The future saint was initially catechized and confirmed in private by two nuns who had lost their convent in the violence against the Church. Against many obstacles and difficulties, (including seminary professors who considered him slow) Vianney suffered and struggled to become an exemplary priest. He was ordained in 1815. Shortly afterward, he was assigned to Ars, a town of 230 inhabitants (hence his designation the Curé d'Ars). John Vianney was internationally known for his priestly work and for the spiritual transformation of the community of Ars. People traveled for miles to attend his Masses, hear him preach, and go to confession. Men of all ranks and

July 18th, the Church celebrates the Feast of Saint Camillus de Lellis  (1550-1614). He was born in Bocchianico, Italy to parents from noble families. His father, a mercenary soldier who served in the armies of various monarchs, ignored him. His mother was no match for Camillus' strong will and vitriolic temperament. For a time, he followed in his father's footsteps. Camillus fought for the Venetians against the Turks as a soldier of fortune, and began gambling recklessly. Dismissed by the Venetians for his quarrelsome ways, Camillus briefly joined a band of Spanish adventurers. By the age of 24. he was broken in mind and spirit and completely destitute. Accounts vary as to how and when Camillus acquired a diseased leg. As a Capuchin novice, he could not profess because of it. He immersed himself in caring for the sick, eventually serving as director of St. Giacomo Hospital in Rome. From his confessor St. Philip Neri, Camillus received permission to be ordained after which

Given the growing allure of socialism in certain quarters, we would do well to remember Pope Pius XI's warnings about socialism's total incompatibility with the teachings and mission of the Catholic Church.   In 1931, a group of concerned Catholics approached Pius XI to inquire whether socialism, in a more mitigated form, might be compatible with the Christian worldview. Cannot socialism be "baptized"? they asked. Pius famously answered : Whether considered as a doctrine, or an historical fact, or a movement, Socialism, if it remains truly Socialism, even after it has yielded to truth and justice on the points which we have mentioned, cannot be reconciled with the teachings of the Catholic Church because its concept of society itself is utterly foreign to Christian truth. Pope Pius XI concluded: "Religious socialism, Christian socialism, are contradictory terms; no one can be at the same time a good Catholic and a true socialist."

Since her beginning, the Catholic Church has condemned artificial contraception. The deliberate frustration of the conjugal embrace cripples a major body system, prevents the self-donation of spouses and severs  the unitive and procreative aspects of the marital act. The Catholic Church and every Protestant denomination agreed on the immorality of artificially induced sterility until August 15, 1930, when the Anglican bishops’ Lambeth Conference decreed that the use of birth control could be left to an individual's conscience (Resolution 15). Pius XI This departure in teaching ruptured Christendom's 1,300 year unanimity on sexual morality. In response, Pope Pius XI issued the encyclical Casti Connubii , on December 31, 1930. He wrote: In order that she [the Catholic Church] may preserve the chastity of the nuptial union from being defiled by this foul stain, she raises her voice in token of her divine ambassadorship and through our mouth proclaims anew: any use wh