Tuesday 20th August 2019

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Catholic Heroes… St. Mariam Baouardy

August 15, 2019 saints Comments Off on Catholic Heroes… St. Mariam Baouardy

By CAROLE BRESLIN In the Bible, there are numerous references to Galilee with about 80 in just the New Testament. Galilee is an area in northern Israel and it includes the city of Nazareth, Mt. Tabor, and the site of the Sermon on the Mount. In John 1:46. Nathaniel responds to Philip, who told him of Jesus, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Some recall this as, “Can anything good come out of Galilee? The answer was yes then and it was yes in the nineteenth century. Good can come out of Nazareth. On January 8, 1846 a girl was born in the city of Ibillin, a small village between Nazareth and Haifa. Her parents, George Baouardy and Mariam…Continue Reading

Catholic Heroes . . . St. Joseph Of Cupertino

August 8, 2019 saints Comments Off on Catholic Heroes . . . St. Joseph Of Cupertino

By CAROLE BRESLIN Now that the school year is about to begin, students — especially Catholic students — will find recourse to their favorite patron saint of studying. Some may choose St. Thomas Aquinas or St. Augustine of Hippo. For those students who find it difficult to retain what they read and write about it, perhaps this saint will encourage them: St. Joseph of Cupertino. He was frequently called the village idiot. However, by God’s Providence, he became not only a priest but one of the most amazing levitating saints in the history of the Church. Joseph was born in Cupertino, a village about ten miles southeast of Rome, on June 17, 1603. His father had contracted so many debts…Continue Reading

Catholic Heroes . . . St. John Vianney

August 1, 2019 saints Comments Off on Catholic Heroes . . . St. John Vianney

By CAROLE BRESLIN During these challenging times in the Church and with the dangers of religious becoming secularized, the Church has a shining example of a holy and sanctifying priest in the Curé of Ars, the patron saint of priests. The Curé of Ars, also known as St. John Vianney, was not particularly brilliant and almost did not become a priest, but he had a love of both God and neighbor that led him to heroic practices to win souls for the Kingdom of God. On May 8, 1786, Matthieu Vianney and Marie Beluze brought their newborn baby straight to the church to be baptized in Dardilly, near Lyons, France. He was the fourth of six children. His baptismal name…Continue Reading

Catholic Heroes… Servant Of God Brother Marcel Nguyen Tan Van

July 25, 2019 saints Comments Off on Catholic Heroes… Servant Of God Brother Marcel Nguyen Tan Van

By CAROLE BRESLIN For most Americans, North Vietnam has had negative connotations, ever since the Vietnam War when Communists from the North invaded South Vietnam. Nevertheless, it is inspiring that some heroic men and women from there sacrificed a great deal to persevere in their faithfulness to the Catholic Church. In a suburb of Hanoi, the national capital of the then North Vietnam, there lived a tailor. His wife, who worked in the rice paddies, was a devout Catholic. Together they had three children — the oldest and the youngest were girls and the middle child was a boy. They named him Joachim Nguyen Tan Van. Nguyen was the family name, Tan indicated his generation and Van was his given…Continue Reading

Catholic Heroes . . . St. Bridget

July 18, 2019 saints Comments Off on Catholic Heroes . . . St. Bridget

By CAROLE BRESLIN One of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta’s most quoted sayings would fit with this column’s saint, “God hasn’t called me to be successful. He has called me to be faithful.” What encouraging words for anyone seeking to do God’s will, knowing that the cross, the setbacks, and the obstacles are all part of working for the Kingdom of God. St. Bridget of Sweden experienced all of these in her lifetime. St. Bridget, a descendant of Swedish royalty, was born on June 13, 1303, in the province of Uppland, north of Stockholm on the Baltic Sea. Her father, Birger Persson, came from the Finsta family, which possessed great wealth and influence. Birger acted as governor and judge while being…Continue Reading

Catholic Heroes . . . Sts. Louis And Azelie-Marie Guerin Martin

July 11, 2019 saints Comments Off on Catholic Heroes . . . Sts. Louis And Azelie-Marie Guerin Martin

By CAROLE BRESLIN The Lord sends the Church the men and women who are needed to keep her holy in times of trouble. Among these are: St. Francis of Assisi, St. John of the Cross, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Faustina, and the first married couple ever to be canonized together: Louis and Azelie-Marie (Zelie) Martin. Their feast day is July 12. Pope Benedict beatified them in 2008 and Pope Francis canonized them on October 18, 2015. Louis Martin, the third of five children, was born August 22, 1823 in Bordeaux, France. His father came from a long line of soldiers. His parents, Pierre-Francois Martin and Marie-Anne-Fanny Boureau, baptized him Louis Joseph Aloys Stanislaus Martin and, of all his siblings,…Continue Reading

Catholic Heroes… St. Nazaria March y Mesa

July 4, 2019 saints Comments Off on Catholic Heroes… St. Nazaria March y Mesa

By CAROLE BRESLIN Throughout the 2,000-year history of the Church, there have been periods of great conversions followed by a waning of the faith among future generations. After the initial persecution of the Church during the few hundred years following Christ’s crucifixion and death, the Church grew rapidly. In Latin America, the Catholic Church expanded rapidly after the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego. Millions were baptized in a short time. However, after a few hundred years, the fervor faded and the Protestants came to draw Catholics into their sects. Not a few priests and religious sought to re-evangelize, catechize, and serve the peoples of Latin America during this crisis. One of these was a lady,…Continue Reading

Catholic Heroes… Blessed Vasyl Velychkovsky

June 27, 2019 saints Comments Off on Catholic Heroes… Blessed Vasyl Velychkovsky

By CAROLE BRESLIN Many Christians make pilgrimages to Europe and the Holy Land and to Mexico City to see the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. For those who do not wish to leave the North American continent, there are popular destinations in Canada and the United States, such as St. Joseph Oratory of Mount-Royal begun by Brother André and the Basilica of Sainte Anne de Beaupré in Quebec. In Libertyville, northwest of Chicago, the National Shrine of Maximilian Kolbe has lovely grounds and overnight accommodations. In addition there is the National Shrine of Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Md., just ten miles north of Gettysburg. The lesser-known shrine at St. Joseph’s Ukrainian Catholic Church holds the remains of Blessed…Continue Reading

Catholic Heroes… St. Joseph Of Anchieta

June 20, 2019 saints Comments Off on Catholic Heroes… St. Joseph Of Anchieta

By CAROLE BRESLIN At the delta of the Benevente River on the coast of Brazil lies the city of Anchieta. With a population of 30,000, it is about 200 miles northeast of Rio de Janeiro. Famous for its long sandy beaches, Anchieta houses the Espirito Santo state government offices which overlook the Atlantic Ocean. More than four centuries old, this building once served as a Jesuit school and held the body of St. Joseph of Anchieta before his remains were transferred back to Portugal. Like St. Peter of St. Joseph of Betancur, Joseph Anchieta was also born in the Canary Islands. His family was wealthy and lived in San Cristobal de La Laguna on Tenerife, the largest of the Canary…Continue Reading

Catholic Heroes . . . St. Marcellin Joseph Benedict Champagnat

June 13, 2019 saints Comments Off on Catholic Heroes . . . St. Marcellin Joseph Benedict Champagnat

By CAROLE BRESLIN The end of the 18th century in France was a time of persecution for the Catholic Church with many priests and religious driven from convents and rectories, and others put to death. As more and more priests were martyred, the Church searched for good young men to replace them. In the history of the Church, there have been men who seemed unable to fulfill the role, but nonetheless became great saints, such as St. Joseph of Cupertino and the Curé of Ars, who studied with St. Marcellin Champagnat — another seemingly unqualified candidate for the priesthood. Marcellin was the ninth of the ten children of Jean-Baptiste and Marie Therese Chirat Champagnat. He was taken to the church…Continue Reading