BIG C CATHOLICS

Saint André Bessette was a 19th century French Catholic religious brother with the Congregation of the Holy Cross. He experienced ill-health throughout his life and consigned himself in humility to serve the sick and the poor. Bessette knew suffering. He too was sick and poor. Perhaps this explains his insights into God. There is so little distance between heaven and earth that God always hears us. Nothing but a thin veil separates us from God. — St. André Bessette ______________________________________ Prayer for St. Saint André Bessette’s Intercession Lord our God, friend of the lowly, who gave your servant, Saint Andre Bessette, a special devotion to Saint Joseph and a deep commitment to the indigent and the afflicted, help us through his intercession to follow his example of prayer and love and so come to share with him in your glory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, reigns with you and with the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

January 6th is the optional memorial of Saint André Bessette. God raised up this poor, uneducated, sickly man to be a model of holiness and obedience. Brother André was born Alfred Bessette on August 9, 1845, near Quebec, Canada. When he first entered the Congregation of the Holy Cross, he was of such poor health that they weren't sure what job he could do, so, they made him the doorkeeper. Brother André like to say: "When I joined this community, the superiors showed me the door, and I remained forty years." It was as a doorkeeper that he came into contact with the poor and the sick and commenced his ministry as a healer. More and more people started coming to Brother André and his guidance was always the same. He told them to pray especially to Saint Joseph. Brother André had a great devotion to the foster father of Our Lord and he extolled others to seek St. Joseph's intercession. Soon, Brother André’s reputation for piety and as a healer grew, and people trav

January 5th the Church observes the memorial of the 19th century Redemptorist Bishop John Neumann, the fourth bishop of Philadelphia. His life was marked by incessant travel, service and compassion. John Nepomucene Neumann was born on March 28, 1811, in Bohemia [now the Czech Republic] to a poor but religious family. As a young seminarian, he longed to be a missionary priest in America. Traveling to the United States, Neumann looked for a bishop to ordain him. He mastered Italian, Spanish, English, French and Gaelic besides speaking his native German and Bohemian. Neumann's early priesthood was difficult and lonely, working with poor farming immigrants near Buffalo and Niagara Falls, New York. Eventually, he found companionship among the Redemptorists, a religious order that ministered to the German-American population. Neumann professed his priestly vows and five years later, owing to his remarkable leadership abilities and vast pastoral skills, became the Redemptorist Order’

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton was the first person born in America to be named a saint. Her road to sainthood was paved with difficulties that sound quite modern in their familiarity. Before founding her Order and what would eventually become the parochial school system, she was a loving wife and mother to five children. If I had to advise parents, I should tell them to take great care about the people with whom their children associate… Much harm may result from bad company, and we are inclined by nature to follow what is worse than what is better. — St. Elizabeth Ann Seton ______________________________________ Prayer for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton’s Intercession Almighty ever-living God, who crowned with the gift of true faith Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton's burning zeal to find you, grant by her intercession and example that we may always seek you with diligent love and find you in our daily service with sincere faith. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your only Son, who live

Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Provincial Superior, La Salette Missionaries of North America Hartford, Connecticut ( Click here for today’s readings ) I always hesitate to announce that the homily that I am about to give will be short, but I’ll risk it. This will be a short homily. I hope you will fill in the blanks by pausing to ponder the questions raised along the way. All of us Christians are disciples of Christ. Even those of us who are cradle Catholics at some point “became” disciples in a personal way. Something led us to that moment. That was our star of Bethlehem. Or, to compare our experience to that of St. Paul, that was our road to Damascus. Can you remember what that was? A person? A place? A thing? An event? The Magi found him, rejoiced, and laid their gifts before him. Paul rejoiced and gave his life to Christ. At some point, we found him, and rejoiced. What gifts did we bring then? What gifts do we bring now? The Magi came to “do him homage.” (The word “h

Memorial - January 4th  If you ever had an opportunity to attend Catholic school in the United States, you have Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton to thank for it. After her husband’s death, she founded the first American religious community for women the Sisters of Charity, the first American parish school, and the first American Catholic orphanage, all while raising her five children. A daughter of the American Revolution, she was born in August of 1774, two years before the Declaration of Independence. Her mother, a staunch Episcopalian, taught her the value of prayer and Scripture. At the age of 19, Elizabeth married the love of her life, a handsome wealthy businessman named William Seton. Following the birth of their fifth child, he lost his business, filed for bankruptcy and became deathly ill with tuberculosis. In a final attempt to save her husband's health, the Setons sailed for Italy where William had business friends who could help care for him. During her husband's f

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux was the 12th century French abbot, a prolific spiritual writer, counselor to popes, and Doctor of the Church who reformed the Cistercian Order. He was especially devoted to the Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ and was instrumental in the spread of this most solemn and powerful of devotions. The sweet Name of Jesus produces in us holy thoughts, fills the soul with noble sentiments, strengthens virtue, begets good works, and nourishes pure affection. All spiritual food leaves the soul dry, if it contain not that penetrating oil, the Name Jesus. — St. Bernard of Clairvaux __________________________________ Prayer to the Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ O good Jesus, according to Thy great mercy, have mercy on me. O most merciful Jesus, by that Precious Blood which You did willingly shed for sinners, I beseech You to wash away all my iniquities and to look graciously upon me, a poor and unworthy sinner, as I call upon Your Holy Name. Therefore,

January 3rd the Church celebrates the optional memorial of the Most Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus. The Church reveals to us the wonders of the Incarnate Word by singing the glories of His name. The name of Jesus means Savior; it had been foretold in a dream to Saint Joseph together with its significance and to the most Blessed Virgin Mary at the time of the Annunciation by the Archangel Gabriel. Devotion to the Holy Name is deeply rooted in the Sacred Scriptures, especially in the Acts of the Apostles. It was promoted in a special manner by St. Bernard, St. Bernardine of Siena, St. John Capistrano and by the Franciscan Order. It was extended to the whole Church in 1727 during the pontificate of Innocent XIII. January has traditionally been dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus Our Savior. Fr. Pius Parsch observes, "This feast marks no progress in the development of the Church year. It merely embellishes the occasion just observed when the Child received the Name Jesus as had b

From a Sermon by Saint Gregory Nazianzen, Bishop Two bodies, but a single spirit Basil and I were both in Athens. We had come, like streams of a river, from the same source in our native land, had separated from each other in pursuit of learning, and were now united again as if by plan, for God so arranged it. I was not alone at that time in my regard for my friend, the great Basil. I knew his irreproachable conduct, and the maturity and wisdom of his conversation. I sought to persuade others, to whom he was less well known, to have the same regard for him. Many fell immediately under his spell, for they had already heard of him by reputation and hearsay. What was the outcome? Almost alone of those who had come to Athens to study he was exempted from the customary ceremonies of initiation for he was held in higher honor than his status as a first-year student seemed to warrant. Such was the prelude to our friendship, the kindling of that flame that was to bind us toget

On January 2nd the Church celebrates the memorial of Saint Basil the Great and Saint Gregory Nazianzen, bishops and doctors. Both men were from Cappadocia (central turkey) and followed the monastic way of life for some years. Together with Saint Gregory of Nyssa, they are known as the Cappadocian Fathers and venerated widely for their contributions in both the Eastern and Latin Churches. _________________________________________________ The old saying goes that “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” If ever there were a saint who proved that proverb to be true, it was St. Basil the Great.  His grandmother, Macrina, was a saint who suffered persecution under the Romans, and of his nine brothers and sister, two of them, Gregory of Nyssa and Macrina (the younger), also became saints. Another brother, Peter, became a bishop.  No doubt this combined influence also caused him, as a youth, to take an abiding interest in the poor by organizing famine relief and working in a soup ki