Saint Teresa of Calcutta
by VP
Posted on Friday September 05, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
"Jesus loves His priests very much and wants them to grow in holiness by
living the priesthood to the full – this simple way will help very
much. Let us pray and ask Our Lady to take care of them as she did of
Jesus.”
-- Mother Teresa of Calcutta ©Mother Teresa Center. Used with Permission.
Our Lady, Holy Name Cathedral, Raleigh NC
Prayer for Priests
Mary, Mother of Jesus, throw your mantle of purity over our priests.
Protect them, guide them, and keep them in your heart.
Be a Mother to them, especially in times of discouragement and loneliness.
Love them and keep them belonging completely to Jesus.
Like Jesus, they, too, are your sons, so keep their hearts pure and virginal.
Keep their minds filled with Jesus, and put Jesus always on their lips,
so that He is the one they offer to sinner and to all they meet.
Mary, Mother of Jesus, be their Mother, loving them and bringing them joy.
Take special care of sick and dying priests, and the ones most tempted.
Remember how they spent their youth and old age, their entire lives serving and giving all to Jesus.
Mary, bless them and keep a special place for them in your heart.
Give them a piece of your heart, so beautiful and pure and immaculate,
so full of love and humility, so that they, too, can grow in the likeness of Christ.
Dear Mary, make them humble like you, and holy like Jesus.
Amen.
St. Lawrence Justinian, Bishop and Confessor
by VP
Posted on Friday September 05, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
Statue of Saint Lawrence Justinian in the Cathedral of Padua
"BORN at Venice, in 1380, of a noble family, St. Lawrence Justinian at the age of nineteen entered the Congregation of the Canons Regular of St. George of Alga, and became distinguished in his community by his fervor, humility, and other virtues. After having, in consequence, been elected General of his Order in 1433, he was appointed bishop of Venice by Pope Eugenius IV. Here his sanctity shone forth in brilliant colors. He was accustomed to style the poor and unfortunate his "household," and therefore granted them an audience whenever they wished it. He deprived himself personally of all the accessories of his high position, and lived an austerely poor life, in order to amply supply the wants of his adopted family. He became the idol of his flock. He reformed all abuses in his diocese, and equalled, at last, even the Doge in authority. St. Lawrence died in 1455, illustrious for his miracles.
Generous as brave,
Affection, kindness, the sweet offices
Of love and duty, were to him as needful
As his daily bread.
SAMUEL ROGERS.
Favorite Practice: To tend the poor lovingly for the sake of Him whom they represent.
St. Cuthbert, Bishop and confessor
by VP
Posted on Thursday September 04, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
The Journey by Fenwick Lawson, showing the coffin of Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne being carried by 6 monks, eventually to Durham.
"St. Cuthbert, before his death, charged his disciples, that rather than fall under the yoke of schismatics or infidels, they should, when threatened with such a calamity, take with them his mortal remains, and choose some other dwelling. In the year 875, to escape from the Danish pirates, the monks quitted Lindisfarne, and carrying with them that sacred treasure, wandered to and fro for seven years. In 882, they rested with it a Concester, a small town near the Roman wall, now called Chester-le Street. In 995, the fresh inroads of the Danes obliged the bishop to retire with the saint's body to Ripon, and four months after to Durham. The body of the saint remained without the least taint of corruption; and many miracles were wrought at his shrine. This day was appointed to be kept as a yearly memorial of the translation of the body of St. Cuthbert to Durham.
Pray for your country, that God would deliver it from all corruptions. Give no countenance to any of them, by your bad example; but endeavor to be a light to all that sit in darkness. Let the primitive zeal of the saints for God's honor inspire you with some degree of this generous spirit, so as not to permit you in silence to see and hear God and His holy Law brought into contempt. This is what you are obliged to pray for, since you cannot prove yourself faithful to him, whom you serve, if you can be a silent witness of his cause being so often betrayed.
Remember too that no state is secure from the devil's snares. His attempts against Christ Himself in the desert are an instruction that no retirement can depend upon an exemption; but that there is to be expected the greater violence, where there are endeavors to approach the nearest to perfection. If you experience his malice however, be not discouraged. Remember only to go on with fear, without any confidence of yours own strength, but in an entire distrust of yourself. Thus you will certainly defeat the worst designs of the enemy."
The Catholic Year; Or Daily Lessons on the Feasts of the Church By Rev. Fr. John GOTHER
Pope St. Pius X
by VP
Posted on Wednesday September 03, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
Pascendi Dominici Gregis ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS X ON THE DOCTRINES OF THE MODERNISTS
Pope Pius X
is convinced that on the character of the clergy mainly depend the
present welfare and the future hopes of religion. He is convinced that
in modern times the Church needs ministers of more than ordinary virtue,
men who are ever ready to spend themselves for Christ and to suffer
hard things for His sake. Hence he observes with alarm the growth of a
worldly spirit in some of the clergy - disregard for mental prayer,
indifference to spiritual reading, neglect of self-examination
- and he foretells with sorrow what will be the bitter fruits of such
worldliness. Sacred duties will be callously performed, the light of the
faith will be darkened, dangerous novelties will be preferred to sound
doctrine, human wisdom will be substituted for the Word of God, and
pride and contumacy will take the place of the humility and meekness of
Christ."
Source: The Priest of Today, His Ideals and His duties, by Thomas O'Donnell C.M. 1910
"The Pope had very special and peculiar difficulty in dealing with the Catholic Modernists; for Modernism was very insidious in its methods. The Modernists said: there may be difficulties about the dogmas of faith from the point of view of philosophy and historical criticism; they may not be philosophically and historically true; but, even so, their religious value remains, for they can be believed by faith. To the ordinary faithful Faith meant intellectual assent to truths on the authority of the word of God. It seemed, then, as if the Catholic Modernists were not impugning the intellectual truth of the dogmas of faith. But the Modernists meant by Faith the use of dogmas as rules of action; we should live and act, they said, as if Christ were God, as if He had arisen from the dead, as if He were really present in the Blessed Eucharist. There was then an equivocal use of the word "faith".
The true faith of the Church was being undermined. Intellectual assent to the dogmas of faith on the authority of God would be impossible if the dogmas themselves were philosophically or historically false. Thus Modernism was a formula or prescription for an easy imperceptible death to Christianity. But Pope Pius X. intervened, and saved his people from the poisoned prescriptions of the Modernists." The Catholic Book Bulletin, Vol 1 P33-34 1911, Modernism and the Old Faith by Very Rev. Fr. Daniel Goghlan, D.D.
Prayer for Priests (St. Pius X)
O Jesus, eternal High Priest, divine
Sacrificer, Thou who in an unspeakable burst of love for men, Thy
Brethren, didst cause the Christian Priesthood to spring forth from Thy
Sacred Heart, vouchsafe to pour forth upon Thy priests continual living
streams of infinite love.
Live in them, transform them in to
Thee; make them, by Thy Grace, fit instruments of Thy mercy; do Thou act
in them and through them, and grant, that they may become wholly one
with Thee by their faithful imitation of Thy Virtues; and, in Thy name
and by the strength of Thy spirit, may they do the works which Thou
didst accomplish for the salvation of the world.
Divine Redeemer
of souls, behold how great is the multitude of those who still sleep in
the darkness of error; reckon up the number of those unfaithful sheep
who stray to the edge of the precipice; consider the throngs of the
poor, the hungry, the ignorant and the feeble who groan in their
abandoned condition.
Return to us in the person of Thy priests;
truly live again in them; act through them and pass once more through
the world, teaching, forgiving, comforting, sacrificing and renewing the
sacred bonds of love between the Heart of God and the heart of man.
Amen.
St. Pius X (Raccolta 1907, Prayer 614. Rescript in his own hand. March 3, 1905 )
Saint Gregory the Great, Pope and Confessor
by VP
Posted on Wednesday September 03, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
Prayer to Saint Gregory, Pope and Confessor
O invincible defender of Holy Churchʼs
freedom, Saint Gregory of great Renown by that firmness thou didst show
in maintaining the Churchʼs rights against all her enemies, stretch
forth from heaven thy mighty arm, we beseech thee, to comfort her and
defend her in the fearful battle she must ever wage with the powers of
darkness.
Do thou, in an especial manner, give strength in this
dread conflict to the venerable Pontiff who has fallen heir not only to
thy throne, but likewise to the fearlessness of thy mighty heart; obtain
for him the joy of beholding his holy endeavors crowned by the triumph
of the Church and the return of the lost sheep into the right path.
Grant,
finally, that all may understand how vain it is to strive against that
faith which has always conquered and is destined always to conquer:
"this is the victory which overcometh the world, our faith." This is the
prayer that we raise to thee with one accord; and we are confident,
that, after thou has heard our prayers on earth, thou wilt one day call
us to stand with thee in heaven, before the eternal High Priest, who
with the Father and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth world without
end. Amen.
Saint Eucherius of Orleans, Bishop
by VP
Posted on Wednesday September 03, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
"Retirement: God has oftentimes selected from the retirement and silence of the cloister the eminent whom He would place in the Church as a shining light. In retirement it is that the soul collects and concentrates its strength; there it gets attempered, like true steel in the water. Eucherius, of an illustrious family of Orleans, and nephew of Savarius, the bishop of that town, lived retired for some years in the Abbey of Jumieges, which he was edifying but his virtues and never meant to quit, when the inhabitants of Orleans came to draw him, despite all opposition on his side, from his retreat, in order that he might replace his uncle. Their calculations were well founded, for they gained a pastor according to God's own heart. Charles Martel, who was fond of lavishing upon his warriors the property of the Church, found Eucherius wanting in compliance, for the bishop regarded it as the patrimony of the poor. He was driven into exile, and dragged from town to town by the satellites of Charles. The persecution lasted for six years, and Eucherius died, in 793, worn out with fatigue and suffering, though in nowise wroth nor failing in courage, after having borne the episcopal charge for twenty-two years.
Moral Reflection: Nothing softens the soul and weakens piety so much as frivolous indulgence. God has revealed what high store He sets by "Retirement," in these words: "I will lead her into solitude, and I will speak to her heart." _ (Osea 2.14.) Pictorial half hours with the saints by Fr. Auguste François Lecanu
Saint Stephen of Hungary, KING AND CONFESSOR, A.D. 1038.
by VP
Posted on Tuesday September 02, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
St Stephen offers his crown to the Virgin Mary -
Painting behind the altar in the St Stephen basilica in Budapest by Gyula Benczúr:
"ST. STEPHEN was the first King of Hungary. His earliest care on taking the reins of government, was to settle a firm peace with the neighboring nations. He then labored to root out idolatry, and promote the reign of Christ in the hearts of all
his subjects. He invited into his dominions many holy priests and
religious men, who by their exemplary lives and zealous preaching, sowed
the seed of faith, and built many churches and monasteries. It is incredible with what ardor the holy king exhorted his people, especially his domestics, to the practice of all virtues. He provided for the poor throughout his whole kingdom, and took them under his special protection, especially the helpless orphans and widows. He lost no part of his time in vain amusements or idle company; but divided it between the duties of religion, and those of his
station. His alms-deeds, meekness, temperance, patience, and other
virtues, succeeding one another in their victories and repeated heroic
acts, sanctified his whole life, and made it, as it were, one uninterrupted sacrifice to God. There
is no saint whose virtue is not exercised by tribulation. Sickness
deprived St. Stephen of all his children. This affliction he bore with entire resignation, adoring it in the holy will of God; but it weaned his heart more and more from the world.
He endeavoured to redouble his fervour in all his religious exercises,
and directed his devotions and charities principally to obtain a happy
death. St. Stephen laboured for three years under a complication of painful distempers. Perceiving his last hour at length drawing near, he commended his kingdom to the patronage of the Blessed Virgin, and after having received the sacraments of Penance, the Holy Viaticum, and Extreme Unction, he happily expired on the Feast of the Assumption,
1038, being threescore years old. Pray for his nation, that it may be
preserved from errors and sins. Pray for all Christian princes, that
they may encourage justice, virtue, and truth. They have a difficult
charge; and being appointed for the good of all, ought to have the prayers of all." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
"Faith is the strength of Nations: A nation is never more prosperous and powerful than when its members are united in one and the same faith. Errors in religion entail errors and division, and, as a matter of course, weakness in policy.
This was fully understood by Stephen, the Vaivode of Hungary; and hence he did all in his power to continue the work inaugurated by his father for the conversion of Hungary. He often accompanied the missionaries while they were evangelizing, and when Christianity was at length solidly established, sent the monk Anastasius to the Sovereign Pontiff, to obtain full confirmation of what had been accomplished. Sylvester II, confirmed all that had been effected, and conferred on the pious Vaivode the title of "King". Stephen, out of respect, listened standing while the bulls from the head of the Church were being read out. Hungary having become Christian, and having been placed under the protection of the Holy Virgin, was civilized in due course, and has remained one of the most powerful nations in Europe. St. Stephen died in 1038, regretted by the people at large on account of his high courage, and venerated for his virtues.
Moral reflection: "Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." (Psa. cxxvi. 1.)
Pictorial half hours with the saints by Rev. Fr. Auguste François Lecanu
For the Church and Civil Authorities by Archbishop Carroll
We pray Thee, O almighty and Eternal
God, Who through Jesus Christ Hast revealed Thy glory to all nations, to
preserve the works of Thy mercy; that thy Church, being spread through
the whole world, may continue, with unchanging faith, in the confession
of Thy name.
We pray Thee, who alone art good and holy, to endow
with heavenly knowledge, sincere zeal, and sanctity of life our Pope
Francis, the vicar of our Lord Jesus Christ in the government of His
Church; our own bishop ...; all the other bishops, prelates, and pastors
of the Church; and especially those who are appointed to exercise
among us the functions of the holy ministry, and conduct Thy people
into the ways of salvation.
We pray Thee, O God of might,
wisdom, and justice, through whom authority is rightly administered,
laws are enacted, and judgments decreed, assist, with the Holy Spirit of
counsel and fortitude, the President of the United States, that his
administration may be
conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people,
over whom he presides, by
encouraging due respect for virtue and religion;
by faithful execution of the law in justice and
mercy; and by restraining vice
and immorality.
Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress,
and shine forth in all the
proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government;
so that they may tend to the preservation
of peace, the promotion of national happiness,
the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful
knowledge, and may
perpetuate to us the blessings of equal liberty.
We pray for his Excellency the Governor of
this State, for the members of the Assembly,
for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who
are appointed to guard our political welfare; that they may be enabled,
by Thy powerful protection, to discharge the duties
of their respective stations with honesty and
ability.
We
recommend likewise to Thy unbounded mercy all our brethren and fellow
citizens, throughout the
United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge, and sanctified
in the observance of Thy
most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace
which the world cannot give;
and, after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those
which are eternal.
Finally, we pray Thee, O Lord of mercy, to remember the souls of Thy
servants departed who are gone
before us with the sign of faith, and repose in the sleep of peace:
the souls of our parents, relations, and friends;
of those who, when living, were members of this
congregation; and particularly of such as are lately deceased;
of all benefactors who, by their
donations or legacies to this Church, witnessed their zeal for the
decency of divine worship,
and proved their claim to our grateful and charitable remembrance.
To these, O Lord, and to
all that rest in Christ, grant we beseech Thee, a place of refreshment,
light, and everlasting
peace, through the same Jesus, Our Lord and Savior.
Amen.
Saint Raymond Nonnatus, Cardinal and Confessor, A.D. 1240.
by VP
Posted on Sunday August 31, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
"He improved a pious education by learning; and being directed by heaven, entered into a religious Order, which had been then lately founded for the redemption of captives. In this state he gave proof of his wonderful charity, by going into Africa; and having purchased the liberty of many with money, he gave himself in exchange for others, whom he perceived to be in danger of renouncing their faith. He extended his charity likewise to the Mahometans; and having by his preaching converted many, he was cast into prison, and after many torments, had his lips bored, and fastened together with a lock. After a tedious suffering, returning home, he was made a cardinal; but while he accepted the dignity, he renounced the state, living in a private and humble way, till God called him from his captivity to perfect freedom. His death happened in the year 1240, the thirty-seventh of his age.
Pray for all Christians who are in slavery amongst infidels, that
God would give them patience and comfort in their troubles, and
constancy in their faith. If you cannot do them any other charity,
deprive them not of this. Pray for all who are in the worst slavery of sin and vicious passions. If you considered the tyranny of evil spirits, to which these are subject, their misery would move your compassion, and oblige you to importune heaven daily for
their liberty. See if you have no part in this misfortune; and labour
in time to disengage yourself, lest through neglect, your chains be
doubled upon you. If there be difficulty in breaking them, while they
are yet weak, will not this be still greater as they gain strength? And
yet broken they must be, if you think of being for ever happy. (...)" The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Collect for the Feast of Saint Raymond Nonnatus
O God, Who didst make blessed Raymund, Thy confessor, wonderful in delivering Thy faithful held in captivity by the infidels, grant us by his intercession that, being loosed from the bonds of our sins, we may with quiet minds perform those things which are pleasing to Thee. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen. (Source: Saint Andrew Daily Missal by Dom Gaspar Lefebvre, Liturgical Apostolate, 1959.)
Novena Prayer to St. Raymond Nonnatus
Glorious St. Raymond filled with compassion for those who invoke thee and with love for those who suffer, heavily laden with the weight of my troubles, I cast myself at thy feet and humbly beg of Thee under thy special protection. Vouchsafe to recommend it to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and lay it before the throne of Jesus, so that He may bring it to a happy issue. Cease not to intercede for me until my request is granted. Above all, obtain for me the grace of one day beholding my God face to face, and with thee and Mary and the saints praising and blessing for all eternity, Amen
Good St. Raymond pray for us and obtain our request.
Good St. Raymond pray for us and obtain our request.
Good St. Raymond pray for us and obtain our request.
Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be to the Father.
St. Rose of Lima, VIRGIN. A.D. 1617.
by VP
Posted on Saturday August 30, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
"WHEN the faith of Christ began to enlighten the vast regions of America, St. Rose appeared as the first fruits of its canonized saints. From her infancy, her patience in suffering, and love of mortification, were extraordinary. Whilst yet a child, she ate no fruit, fasted three days a week, and on other days took only unsavory herbs and pulse. Every incentive of pride and sensuality was to her an object of abhorrence. She triumphed over self-love by the most profound humility, and the most perfect obedience and denial of her own will. She never disobeyed the orders of her parents in the least thing; but gave proofs of her
scrupulous obedience and invincible patience under all pains, labor,
and contradictions, which surprised all who knew her. To comply more
easily with the vow she had made of holy virginity, she enrolled herself in the third Order of St. Dominic. She wore upon her head a thin circle, studded on the inside with little sharp nails, which wounded her head, in imitation of a crown of thorns. This she did to put her in mind of the Passion of Christ, which she desired to have always in her thoughts. Her ardent love of God appeared most sensibly, when she was in presence of the Blessed Sacrament; and when in receiving it she united her heart to her beloved in that wonderful fountain of his
love. God favored her with many extraordinary graces; but for her
humiliation, she suffered much from her relations, and many severe
interior trials. After long and painful sickness, she died at the age of thirty-one, in the year 1617.
Pray for all under the profession of virginity; that fixing their hearts on their heavenly Spouse, they may be ever ready to go forth to meet him. If you have children under your care, the charge is difficult, and requires particular grace to satisfy its duties. If you see not an early sense of heaven in them, take care that it be not your fault. They are then susceptible of all impressions; and will receive such as are good, if you are diligent in giving them." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
"When St. Rose of Lima went to communion she appeared like an angel; so that the priest was stupefied. If any one asked her what effect the Blessed Sacrament produced in her, she stammered and said she had no words to express them, but that she seemed to pass entirely into God, and was inundated with such joy that nothing in common life could be compared to it. This divine nourishment satisfied and strengthened her to such a degree that when she returned from Church, her step was firm and agile, whereas when she went to Church she was often obliged to stop to take breath, so exhausted was she by fasting, watching, and other mortifications. Her relations at once perceived the effects of the Blessed Sacrament upon her; for as soon as she came home, she went into her room, and remained there till night. In the evening when they asked her to eat something, she replied that she was so full she could not eat anything. Once she passed eight days without eating any thing; and whenever the Blessed Sacrament was exposed for the Forty Hours' adoration, she passed the whole of that time on her knees in adoration."Source: The Blessed Sacrament: or, The Works and the Ways of God by Fr. Frederick William Faber, 1855 p 390
Prayer to St. Rose of Lima
Admirable Saint Rose, you were truly a sweet flower blooming on a rugged soil; you were indeed a rose among thorns, bearing with meekness and patience the stings of envious tongues, and preserving perfect purity and modesty amid the alluring blandishments of a deceitful world. To the sufferings inflicted on you by others you added the voluntary tortures of fasting and watching, of the discipline, of the crown of thorns and of the hair shirt, to subdue the flesh and to make yourself like to your heavenly Spouse.
By the merits which you have thus gained with your divine Bridegroom, obtain for me the grace to bear my afflictions with patience, to remain pure and modest, to be meek and humble, to be faithful to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit, and so to mortify my passions that I may be ever more pleasing and acceptable in the sight of my dear Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Who liveth and reigneth world without end. Amen
Source: The Catholic Girl's Guide: Counsels and Devotions for Girls in the Ordinary Walks of Life, and in Particular for the Children of Mary, Fr. Francis Xavier Lasance, 1906 p 609Saint Fiacre, Confessor
by VP
Posted on Saturday August 30, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
Saint Fiacre. Stained glass window, Notre-Dame, Bar-le-Duc, France, 19th century.
"Sanctify of Labor: Labor, which was imposed on man after the Fall by way of expiation, acts also as a preservative. Virtue and idleness do not dwell under the same roof; assiduous labor leaves no room for vice. This has been well understood by so many founders of religious orders, who enjoined labor on their monks as a positive duty.
St. Fiacre, an Irish monk, having come to France in the seventh century to seek out a solitude, established himself in the forest of Breuil, where he cleared and cultivated a plot of ground the produce whereof sufficed for his own maintenance, and for abundant alms to others. Combining with labor continual prayer and the rigor of penance, he ended by becoming the oracle and apostle of the neighboring regions, and a saint to whom God vouchsafed the gift of miracles. He died in 670, and since then his tomb has always been held in veneration. Princes, kings, prelates, and people have alike honored the poor solitary, who had learned the grand science of labor and prayer.
Moral reflection: Ye who love indolence, ponder well these words of the Great Apostle: "If any man will not work, neither let him eat." (2 Thes. iii. 10.)"
Prayer: Deign, Lord, to raise our souls to Thee, and form our hearts to the cultivation of Christian virtues and to the practice of doing good. We beg Thee, through the intercession of Blessed Saint Fiacre, to grant us the grace to persevere in the way of salvation, so that on the day of eternal justice, Thou may find us worthy of taking our place in the abode of the elect. Amen.
