BIG C CATHOLICS

Fr. Ignatius Manfredonia Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate Bloomington, IN ( Click here for today’s readings ) Today we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints. Who are the saints and exactly how did they get to heaven? In today's first reading, St. John asked this question to the angel who is guiding him and revealing these things to him. John says who are these people wearing white robes? So who are these souls in heaven that we celebrate today? The Feast of All Saints refers to every human person who is in heaven. We know about 9,000 of these souls. The Roman Martyrology lists them by name, however, the great majority of the souls in heaven we don't know… In Saint John's vision he states that there is a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. Now, how do we square that with the gospel when our Lord says that there will be few who will be saved? Our Lord said that many travel down that wide and easy road that leads to

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

Optional Memorial - March 7th Women have always been important witnesses to the faith and to the sacredness and value of human life. On March 7th the Church honors Saints Perpetua and Felicity, two young mothers of the 3rd century who were martyred because they refused to renounce their Christian beliefs. They are mentioned in the first Eucharistic prayer at Mass and where highly venerated by the early Church. Saint Perpetua was born around 181 A.D. She was a 20-year-old married, well-educated noblewoman, who followed the path of her mother and was baptized a Christian. Her co-martyr, Felicity, was an expectant mother and catechumen who according to tradition was Perpetua’s slave. They both suffered at Carthage in the Roman province of Africa during the reign of Emperor Septimus in 203 A.D. After their arrest and imprisonment, Perpetua and Felicity were led to the amphitheater together alongside fellow professed Christians Revocatus, Felicitas, Saturninus, Secundulus and Satur

Feast Day – January 18th  According to popular piety, Saint Prisca, also known as Priscilla, was a child martyr of the early Roman Church. Born to Christian parents of a noble family, Prisca was raised during the reign of the Roman emperor Claudius. While Claudius did not persecute Christians as fervently as other Roman emperors, Christians still did not practice their faith openly. Prisca's parents went to great lengths to conceal their faith, and thus, were not suspected of being Christians. Prisca, however, did not feel the need to take precaution. The young girl openly professed her dedication to Christ, and eventually, she was reported to the emperor. Claudius had her arrested, and commanded her to make a sacrifice to Apollo, the pagan god of the sun. Tradition tells how, Prisca refused, and was tortured for disobeying. Suddenly, a bright, yellow light shone about her, and she appeared luminous like a little star. Claudius ordered that Prisca be taken away to pris

The feast of Saint Sabbas (or Savvas) the Sanctified of Jerusalem is celebrated on December 5th in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. He was born in Cappadocia during the reign of Emperor Justinian in the 6th century. The son of devout parents, from a young age he excelled in the spiritual life, prayer and asceticism. At sixteen, he traveled to Jerusalem, to the Monastery of Euthymius the Great, who sent him to the Monastery of the venerable Theoctistus. Here, he advanced in holiness becoming a mentor and shepherd of many desert monks. He was later blessed to seclude himself in a cave. On Saturdays, he would leave his hermitage and come to the monastery, where he participated in the divine services and broke bread with the brethren. In due course, Sabbas received permission not to leave his hermitage at all, and he endured in the cave for five years. After several years, disciples began to gather around him desiring the monastic life. As the number of monks increased, a lav

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

Historically November 7th is the feast of Saint Willibrord, the 8th century bishop of Utrecht in the Netherlands and Archbishop of Cologne, Germany. He is credited for bringing the Good News of Christ to the pagan Frisians (Germanic peoples living in the Netherlands). As a missionary, confessor and gifted catechist, he spread Christianity throughout the British Isles, Germany and the Netherlands. Willibrord was born in Northumberland, (the northernmost county in England) the son of a godly Englishman named Wilgis, who became a monk, and was a most holy saint. When Willibrord was just twenty, he was already wearing the religious habit. Being accustomed to bearing the yoke of the Lord, he went to Ireland to seek greater perfection in the Faith, studying sacred scripture under Saint Egbert. Somewhere around the age of thirty Willibrord was ordained a priest, and was then sent by St. Egbert to convert the pagans of Friesland, together with eleven companions, men eminent for learning

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

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

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

Feast Day - September 11th The story of most martyrs of the first three centuries is so obscured by legend that it is difficult for us to cull out the historical kernel; this is true of today's saints. Tradition tells us that the brothers Protus and Hyacinth were chamberlains to the holy virgin Eugenia (listed as a martyr on December 25 in the Roman Martyrology) and were baptized along with their patron by Bishop Helenus. They devoted themselves zealously to the study of Sacred Scripture and lived for a time with the hermits in Egypt, illustrious for humility and holiness of life. At a later date, they accompanied Eugenia to Rome and were arrested by Emperor Gallienus (260-268) for their profession of the Christian faith. In no manner could they be persuaded to deny the faith or worship the gods. Accordingly, after an inhuman scourging, they were beheaded on September 11th. Veneration of the two martyrs in the Church of Rome dates to venerable antiquity. Ancient register

Feast Day - August 31st In the latest edition of the Roman Martyrology, the Church has coupled the feast of Saints Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, the two holy men who took the Body of Jesus down from the Cross, helped wrap it in linen cloth and placed it in the tomb. They were both Jews who came to follow Christ at personal great risk. Their devotion to Jesus at the culmination of our Lord's Passion testifies to the charismatic power and transformative nature of Christ’s message and mission. All that is reliably known about these two saints is found in the Gospel passages that mention them. Both were apparently men of authority and means in the first century Jewish community in Jerusalem, and both were respected members of the Sanhedrin there. Each had secretly become a disciple of Jesus, although until His salvific death neither of them spoke publicly about it “for fear of the Jews.” In the Gospel of John, for instance, Nicodemus does indeed approach Jesus in order

On July 20th, the Church celebrates the feast of one of her first bishop/martyrs. Saint Apollinaris was a revered bishop in his day. Popular piety attests that St. Apollinaris was ordained a Bishop by Saint Peter before serving as a missionary in Ravenna during the reign of the Emperor Claudius. Renowned for his powers to heal in Christ's name, he was tortured and imprisoned numerous times for the faith. On July 23, 79, Apollinaris died in prison after being mercilessly beaten for preaching the Good News. Below is Msgr. Paul Guérin's account of Apollinaris' first miraculous healing. "His first miracle was on behalf of the blind son of a soldier who gave him hospitality when he first arrived in the city of Ravenna. When the apostle told him of the God he had come to preach and invited him to abandon the cult of idols, the soldier replied: Stranger, if the God you preach is as powerful as you say, beg Him to give sight to my son, and I will believe in Him. The Saint