BIG C CATHOLICS

Optional Memorial - July 21st His name was Giulio Cesare Russo, and he was born at Brindisi in the kingdom of Naples in 1559. Educated in Venice at the College of St. Mark, he entered the Capuchins and took the name Lawrence. Finishing his studies at the University of Padua, he showed a flair for languages, mastering Hebrew, Greek, German, Bohemian, Spanish, and French, and showed an extraordinary knowledge of the text of the Bible. He is the greatest linguist among the Doctors of the Church. While still a deacon, St. Lawrence of Brindisi became known as an excellent preacher and after his ordination startled the whole of northern Italy with his amazing sermons. Sent into Germany by the pope to establish Capuchin houses, he became chaplain to Emperor Rudolf II and had a remarkable influence on the Christian soldiers fighting the Muslims when they were threatening Hungary in 1601. Through his efforts, the Catholic League was formed to give solidarity to the Catholic cause in Eu...

Our Lady of Knock  Our Lady of Knock was seen by 15 residents of Knock, a poor, small village in County Mayo, Ireland, on Aug. 21, 1879, outside of the Church of St. John the Baptist. St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist accompanied her; there was also an altar with a lamb and cross on it. In this apparition, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to all present but remained silent. A prayer to Our Lady of Knock includes the words, “Our Lady of Knock, Queen of Ireland, you gave hope to your people in a time of distress and comforted them in sorrow.” Pray for us Our Lady. Our Lady of La Salette  Two children, Maximin Giraud and Mélanie Calvat, reported seeing “a beautiful lady” weeping bitterly on the mountain of La Salette in the French Alps in 1846. Through the children, she gave her message of reconciliation to the world and insisted that this message be made known to all her people. She was crying, and around her neck was a crucifix, with a hammer and pincers ...

Charlie Gard is an 11 month old baby in the UK who suffers from a genetic disorder known as mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome. His condition is caused by a disruption in the mitochondria, the part of the cell that provides energy to his muscles, kidneys and brain. There is a new treatment available which is a nucleoside bypass therapy, which could potentially repair Charlie’s mtDNA and help it synthesize again by providing him the naturally occurring compounds that his body cannot now produce. Charlie's Situation is Dire "According to press accounts, Charlie is terminally ill at this point. His parents have raised more than $1 million to try an experimental treatment to help him, but hospital officials—backed by British and European courts—have forbidden his parents to take him from the London hospital where he currently is." [ Source ] England's National Health Service has repeatedly denied Charlie this potentially lifesaving treatment despite the pleas ...

July 20, 2017 Saint Anne Novena - Day 4 Glorious Saint Anne, I kneel in confidence at your feet, for you also have tasted the bitterness and sorrow of life. My need, the cause of my request, is… (State your intention here.) Good Saint Anne, you who did suffer much during the twenty years that preceded your glorious maternity, I beseech you, by all your sufferings and humiliations, to grant my prayer. I pray to you, through your love for your glorious spouse Saint Joachim, through your love for your immaculate child, through the joy you did feel at the moment of her happy birth, not to refuse me. Bless me, bless my family and all who are dear to me, so that some day we may all be with you in the glory of heaven, for all eternity. Amen. Pray for us, St. Anne, that we may be worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen. O Lord, God of our Fathers, who bestowed on Saints Joachim and Anne this grace, that of them should be born the Mother of your incarnate Son, grant, thro...

Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Provincial Superior, La Salette Missionaries of North America Hartford, Connecticut ( Click here for today’s readings ) The three Parables we heard today all speak about growth of one kind or another, and so they also imply some level of patience. This dovetails perfectly with the first reading, from Wisdom, especially its concluding phrase, “You gave your children good ground for hope that you would permit repentance for their sins.” From that perspective, it might seem almost as if, in the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds, that the weeds will be given time to become wheat—impossible in nature, but possible in this kind of imagery, not so different really from other Scriptures, such as Ezekiel’s vision of dry bones being covered with flesh and returning to life. When Jesus explains the Parable, however, we see that the patience on the landowner’s part is just to allow the wheat to mature. The wheat has had only to survive whatever threat might ha...

Optional Memorial - July 20 Early accounts report that Saint Apollinaris was ordained Bishop by Saint Peter himself and sent as a missionary bishop to Ravenna during the reign of the emperor Claudius. Renowned for his powers to heal in the name of Christ, he was exiled, tortured and imprisoned for the faith, and [at last] martyred. [ Source ] The Life and Heroic Martyrdom of St. Apollinaris Apollinaris came to Rome from Antioch with the prince of the apostles, by whom he was consecrated bishop, and sent to Ravenna to preach the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. He converted many to the faith of Christ, for which reason he was seized by the priests of the idols and severely beaten. At his prayer, a nobleman named Boniface, who had long been dumb, recovered the power of speech, and his daughter was delivered from an unclean spirit; on this account a fresh sedition was raised against Apollinaris. He was beaten with rods, and made to walk barefoot over burning coals; but as the...

July 19, 2017 Saint Anne Novena - Day 3 Beloved of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, mother of the Queen of Heaven, take us and all who are dear to us under your special care. Obtain for us the virtues you instilled in the heart of her who was destined to become Mother of God, and the graces with which you were endowed. O model of Christian womanhood, pray that we may imitate your example in our homes and families, listen to our petitions, (State your intention here.) Guardian of the infancy and childhood of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, obtain the graces necessary for all who enter the marriage state, that imitating your virtues they may sanctify their homes and lead the souls entrusted to their care to eternal glory. Amen. Pray for us, Saint Anne, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen. O Lord, God of our Fathers, who bestowed on Saints Joachim and Anne this grace, that of them should be born the Mother of your incarnate Son, grant, through the prayers...