Saint Padre Pio

Feb 272010
 

[photograph of Saint Padre Pio]
Also known as

  • Francesco Forgione
  • Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
  • Pio of Pietrelcina

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Born to a southern Italian farm family, the son of Grazio, a shepherd. At age 15 he entered the novitiate of the Capuchin friars in Morcone, Italy and joined the order at age 19. Suffered several health problems, and at one point his family thought he had tuberculosis. Ordained at age 22 on 10 August 1910.

While praying before a cross, he received the stigmata on 20 September 1918, the first priest ever to be so blessed. As word spread, especially after American soldiers brought home stories of Padre Pio following WWII, the priest himself became a point of pilgrimage for both the pious and the curious. He would hear confessions by the hour, reportedly able to read the consciences of those who held back. Reportedly able to bilocate, levitate, and heal by touch. Founded the House for the Relief of Suffering in 1956, a hospital that serves 60,000 a year. In the 1920‘s he started a series of prayer groups that continue today with over 400,000 members worldwide.

His canonization miracle involved the cure of Matteo Pio Colella, age 7, the son of a doctor who works in the House for Relief of Suffering, the hospital in San Giovanni Rotondo founded by Padre Pio. On the night of 20 June 2000, Matteo was admitted to the intensive care unit of the hospital with meningitis. By morning, doctors had lost hope for him as nine of the boy‘s internal organs had ceased to give signs of life. That night, during a prayer vigil attended by Matteo’s mother and some Capuchin friars of Padre Pio’s monastery, the child‘s condition improved suddenly. When he awoke from the coma, Matteo said that he had seen an elderly man with a white beard and a long, brown habit, who said to him: “Don’t worry, you will soon be cured.” The miracle was approved by the Congregation and Pope John Paul II on 20 December 2001.

Born

Died

Venerated

Beatified

Canonized

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Readings

Look what fame he had, what a worldwide following gathered around him! But why? Perhaps because he was a philosopher? Because he was wise? Because he had resources at his disposal? Because he said Mass humbly, heard confessions from dawn to dusk and was-it is not easy to say it-one who bore the wounds of our Lord. He was a man of prayer and suffering. - Pope Paul VI, 21 Febuary 1971, commenting on the life of Padre Pio

And you, Blessed Padre Pio, look down from heaven upon us assembled in this square and upon all gathered in prayer before the Basilica of Saint John Lateran and in San Giovanni Rotondo. Intercede for all those who, in every part of the world, are spiritually united with this event and raise their prayers to you. Come to the help of everyone; give peace and consolation to every heart. Amen! - from the homily of Pope John Paul II at the beatification of Padre Pio

Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have You present so that I do not forget You. You know how easily I abandon You. Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak and I need Your strength, that I may not fall so often. Stay with me, Lord, for You are my life and without You I am without fervor. Stay with me, Lord, for You are my light and without You I am in darkness. Stay with me, Lord, to show me Your will. Stay with me, Lord, so that I hear Your voice and follow You. Stay with me, Lord, for I desire to love You very much and alway be in Your company. Stay with me, Lord, if You wish me to be faithful to You. Stay with me, Lord, as poor as my soul is I want it to be a place of consolation for You, a nest of Love. Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late and the day is coming to a close and life passes, death, judgment and eternity approaches. It is necessary to renew my strength, so that I will not stop along the way and for that, I need You. It is getting late and death approaches, I fear the darkness, the temptations, the dryness, the cross, the sorrows. O how I need You, my Jesus, in this night of exile! Stay with me tonight, Jesus, in life with all its dangers, I need You. Let me recognize You as Your disciples did at the breaking of the bread, so that the Eucharistic Communion be the Light which disperses the darkness, the force which sustains me, the unique joy of my heart. Stay with me, Lord, because at the hour of my death, I want to remain united to You, if not by Communion, at least by grace and love. Stay with me, Lord, for it is You alone I look for, Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more. With a firm love, I will love You with all my heart while on earth and continue to love You perfectly during all eternity. Amen. - Padre Pio’s Prayer After Holy Communion

MLA Citation

  • “Saint Padre Pio”. Saints.SQPN.com. 27 February 2010. Web. {today’s date}. <http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-padre-pio/>

Saint Agnes De

Feb 262010
 

Also known as

  • Anê Lê Thi Thành
  • Bà Ðê

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Married lay woman. Martyr.

Born

Died

Venerated

Beatified

Canonized

Additional Information

MLA Citation

  • “Saint Agnes De”. Saints.SQPN.com. 26 February 2010. Web. {today’s date}. <http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-agnes-de/>

Saint Angela of the Cross Guerrero

Feb 262010
 

[Saint Angela of the Cross Guerrero]
Also known as

  • Angela de la Cruz
  • Angela Guerrero Gonzalez
  • Angela of the Cross Guerrero y González
  • Angelita (family nickname)
  • Maria of the Angels
  • Mother Angela of the Cross
  • Mother of the Poor

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Profile

One of fourteen children born to a poor but pious family; only five of her siblings survived to adulthood. Her father worked as a cook and her mother a laundress in a Trinitarian Fathers convent, and Angela had to quit school at age twelve to work in a shoe factory to help support her family. She made her First Communion at age eight, Confirmation at nine; she prayed the rosary daily, and had a great devotion as a youth to Christ Crucified. Her piety was so obvious that her employer, Antonia Maldonado, brought her to the attention of Father José Torres Padilla. He became her spiritual director when she was 16, and helped discern if Angela had a call to religious life.

She first tried to join the Carmelites, was refused, and when she was finally accepted at age 19, became so sick that she was forced to return to her family. When she recovered, she began caring for cholera victims, and those even poorer than herself. In 1868 she entered the convent of the Daughters of Charity of Seville, Spain, but again her health failed, and she was forced to return to her parents and the shoeshop. In 1871, with Father Padilla’s blessing, she started a plan whereby she lived at home under a particular Rule, yearly renewing her vows.

While in prayer in 1873 Angela received a vision that she understood was calling her to a mission to the poor, and she began keeping a spiritual diary to record what she understood of the life to which God was calling her. Others were attracted to her life, and on 2 August 1875 the Congregation of the Cross was born. The Congregation works with the sick, the poor, orphans, the homeless, finding them food, medicine, housing, and other needs, living solely on alms, and keeping only enough for themselves to continue their work. Though they started with only Mother Angela and three sisters, they had grown to 23 convents during her life, and continue their good works today.

Born

Died

Venerated

Beatified

Canonized

Additional Information

Readings

The nothing keeps silent, the nothing does not want to be, the nothing suffers all. The nothing does not impose itself, the nothing does not command with authority, and finally, the nothing in the creature is practical humility. - Saint Angela

Love and sensitivity to the poor…prompted Saint Angela of the Cross to found her “Company of the Cross” for the most deprived with a charitable and social dimension that made an enormous impact on the Church and society of Seville in her day. Her distinctive traits were naturalness and simplicity, seeking holiness with a spirit of mortification and at the service of God in her brothers and sisters. - Pope John Paul II in his homily at the canonization of Saint Angela

MLA Citation

  • “Saint Angela of the Cross Guerrero”. Saints.SQPN.com. 26 February 2010. Web. {today’s date}. <http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-angela-of-the-cross-guerrero/>

Saint Hedwig, Queen of Poland

Feb 242010
 

[Saint Hedwig holy card]
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Youngest daughter of King Louis I of Hungary. Because she was great-niece to King Casimir III of Poland, she became Queen of Poland in 1382 upon her father‘s death. She was engaged to William, Duke of Austria, whom she loved, but broke off the relationship in order to marry Jagiello, non-Christian Prince of Lithuania, at age 13 for political reasons. She offered her misery in this marriage to Christ, and she eventually converted her husband; Jagiello was later known as King Landislaus II of Poland after the unification of the kingdoms, a union that lasted over 400 years. Noted for her charity to all, but especially the sick and poor, and for a revision of the laws to help the poor.

Born

Died

Beatified

Canonized

Patronage

Additional Information

MLA Citation

  • “Saint Hedwig, Queen of Poland”. Saints.SQPN.com. 24 February 2010. Web. {today’s date}. <http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-hedwig-queen-of-poland/>

Saint Auguste Chapdelaine

Feb 232010
 

[Saint Auguste Chapdelaine]
Also known as

  • Augustus Chapdelaine
  • Father Ma
  • Papa Chapdelaine

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Youngest of nine children born to Nicolas Chapdelaine and Madeleine Dodeman. Following grammar school, Auguste dropped out to work on the family farm. He early felt a call to the priesthood, but his family opposed it, needing his help on the farm. However, the sudden death of two of his brothers caused them to re-think forcing him to ignore his life’s vocation, and they finally approved. He entered the minor seminary at Mortain on 1 October 1834, studying with boys half his age. It led to his being nicknamed Papa Chapdelaine, which stuck with him the rest of his life.

Ordained on 10 June 1843 at age 29. Associate pastor from 1844 to 1851. He finally obtained permission from his bishop to enter the foreign missions, and was accepted by French Foreign Missions; he was two years past their age limit, but his zeal for the missions made them approve him anyway. He stayed long enough to say a final Mass, bury his sister, and say good-bye to his family, warning them that he would never see them again. Left Paris, France for the Chinese missions on 30 April 1852, landing in Singapore on 5 September 1852.

Due to being robbed on the road by bandits, Auguste lost everything he had, and had to fall back and regroup before making his way to his missionary assignment. He reached Kwang-si province in 1854, and was arrested in Su-Lik-Hien ten days later. He spent two to three weeks in prison, but was released, and ministered to the locals for two years, converting hundreds. Arrested on 26 February 1856 during a government crackdown, he was returned to Su-Lik-Hien and sentenced to death for his work. Tortured with and died with Saint Lawrence Pe-Man and Saint Agnes Tsau Kouy. One of the Martyrs of China

Born

Died

Venerated

Beatified

Canonized

Additional Information

MLA Citation

  • “Saint Auguste Chapdelaine”. Saints.SQPN.com. 23 February 2010. Web. {today’s date}. <http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-auguste-chapdelaine/>

Saint Miguel Febres Cordero Muñoz

Feb 082010
 

[Saint Miguel Febres Cordero Muñoz]
Additional Information

  • Francisco Luis Febres Cordero Muñoz
  • Michael Febres Cordero

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Born to a prominent family. Born with an unknown disability, he was unable to stand until age five when he received a vision of Our Lady. At age eight he was miraculously protected from being mauled by a wild bull. In 1863, at age nine, he enrolled in a school run by the Christian Brothers, an Order which had only recently come to Ecuador. Joined the Brothers on 24 March 1868 at age 13.

School teacher at El Cebollar School, Quito, a position he held for 32 years. A gentle, dedicated, and enthusiastic teacher. Wrote his own textbooks, the first at age 17; some were adopted by the government, and used throughout the country. Wrote odes, hymns, discourses on teaching methods, plays, inspirational works, and retreat manuals. Elected to the Ecuadoran Academy of Letters in 1892, followed soon after by the Academies of Spain, France, and Venezuela. Conducted religious retreats, and prepared children for their First Communion. Novice director for his house from 1901 to 1904.

Sent to Europe in 1905 to translate texts from French to Spanish for use by the Order; worked primarily in Belgium. His health began to fail in 1908, and he was transferred to the school near Barcelona, Spain. He continued to work, but slowly, his health continued to fail, and he died there in 1910. In addition to being a religious role model, Miguel is considered a national hero in Ecuador for his success in so many worthwhile areas.

Born

Died

Venerated

Beatified

Canonized

Additional Information

Readings

The heart is rich when it is content, and it is always content when its desires are fixed on God. - Saint Miguel

MLA Citation

  • “Saint Miguel Febres Cordero Muñoz”. Saints.SQPN.com. 11 August 2010. Web. {today’s date}. <http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-miguel-febres-cordero-munoz/>

Saint Claudine Thevenet

Feb 022010
 

[Saint Claudine portrait]
Also known as

  • Mary of Saint Ignatius
  • Mary of Saint Ignatius Thevenet
  • Saint of Lyon

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Raised in a pious family. Two of her brothers were murdered in the excesses of the French Revolution; they went to their deaths forgiving their killers and asking Claudine to do the same. Claudine worked with working class young women around Lyon, France. In 1816, with Father André Coindre, she formed a group that would become the Religious of Jesus and Mary (Sisters of Jesus-Marie) at Lyon in 1818, a teaching order dedicated to educating poor girls. Taking the name Mary of Saint Ignatius, she served as superior of the Sisters. The Order received papal approval from Pope Blessed Pius IX on 31 December 1847, and today runs boarding schools, colleges, and retreat houses in Europe, India and North America.

Born

Died

Venerated

Beatified

Canonized

Additional Information

MLA Citation

  • “Saint Claudine Thevenet”. Saints.SQPN.com. 2 February 2010. Web. {today’s date}. <http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-claudine-thevenet/>

Saint Jean-Théophane Vénard

Jan 312010
 

[Saint Jean-Théophane Vénard]
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Raised in a pious family; one brother became a priest, and was later curator for Theophane’s writings, and another was the bishop of Poitiers, France. Studied at the College of Doue-la-Fontaine, Montmorillon, Poitiers, and the Paris Seminary for Foreign Missions. Ordained on 5 June 1852. Missionary to southeast Asia, leaving on 19 September 1852. Worked fifteen months at Hong Kong, then transferred to West Tonkin (in modern Vietnam).

Christians in the area were being persecuted by order of the ruler Minh-Menh. Just before Theophan’s arrival, new anti-Christian orders had forced priests and bishops to go into hiding in forests and caves. Father Vénard, whose health had never been good, suffered terribly, ministering to his flock by night and, when he could find a secure location, by day for nearly four years. Betrayed by an ostensible parishioner, he was arrested on 30 November 1860. He was tried for the crime of being Christian, and was given ample opportunity to save himself by denying Christ; he declined. He was kept in a cage for several weeks prior to his execution, during which he wrote a series of joyful, consoling letters to his family. One of the Martyrs of Vietnam.

Born

Died

  • beheaded on 2 February 1861 at Ô Cau Giay, Hanoi, Tonkin (in modern Vietnam)
  • his head was stuck on a pole as a warning to others, but was later recovered and preserved as a relic in Tonkin
  • the rest of his body was sent back to his family, and is interred in the crypt of the Missions Etrangères in Paris, France

Beatified

Canonized

Additional Information

Readings

A slight sabre-cut will separate my head from my body, like the spring flower which the Master of the garden gathers for His pleasure. We are all flowers planted on this earth, which God plucks in His own good time: some a little sooner, some a little later. Father and son may we meet in Paradise. I, poor little moth, go first. Adieu. - Saint Theophane in a letter to his father just before his martyrdom

MLA Citation

  • “Saint Jean-Théophane Vénard”. Saints.SQPN.com. 31 January 2010. Web. {today’s date}. <http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-jean-theophane-venard/>

Saint Jerome Lu

Jan 272010
 

[Saint Jerome Lu]
Also known as

  • Hieronymus Lu Tingmei
  • Jerome Lou-Tin-Mei
  • Lu Tingmei Hieronymus
  • Yeilou

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Lay man catechist. One of the Martyrs of China.

Born

Died

Beatified

Canonized

Additional Information

MLA Citation

  • “Saint Jerome Lu”. Saints.SQPN.com. 27 January 2010. Web. {today’s date}. <http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-jerome-lu/>

Saint Agatha Lin

Jan 272010
 

[Saint Agatha Lin]
Also known as

  • Agatha Lin Tchaio
  • Lin Zhao Agatha
  • Jiade

Memorial

Profile

Lay woman. Teacher in a Christian school. Catechist. One of the Martyrs of China.

Born

Died

Beatified

Canonized

Additional Information

MLA Citation

  • “Saint Agatha Lin”. Saints.SQPN.com. 27 January 2010. Web. {today’s date}. <http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-agatha-lin/>
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