Monday 6th May 2024

Home » saints » Recent Articles:

Catholic Heroes… St. Cuthbert

March 17, 2014 saints Comments Off on Catholic Heroes… St. Cuthbert

By CAROLE BRESLIN The Melrose Abbey in Scotland, which is located about 30 miles south-southeast of Edinburgh, attracts more visitors than just about any other attraction in Scotland. Although mostly in ruins now, the abbey boasts a museum and other sites of interest, such as the embalmed heart of Robert the Bruce. Mel Gibson revived interest in him with the making of Braveheart. Three miles to the east of this abbey, there was once another Melrose Abbey founded by St. Aidan and later there was also the abbey of which St. Cuthbert served as prior for a brief period of time. St. Cuthbert, claimed by some Irishmen to be from their country, more likely was born in the Lowlands of…Continue Reading

Catholic Heroes . . . St. Nicephorus

March 10, 2014 saints Comments Off on Catholic Heroes . . . St. Nicephorus

By CAROLE BRESLIN At the end of the patrician age, iconoclasm reared its ugly head in the Christian community. Iconoclasm “rejected as superstition the use of religious images and advocated their destruction . . .occasioned by the rise of Islam which considers all sacred images idolatrous” (Modern Catholic Dictionary, Fr. John A. Hardon, p. 263). In defending the true teaching of the Church, St. John Damascene nearly lost his life. However, some decades later, the iconoclasts gained more recognition and again sought to destroy the sacred images in use at the time. Eventually, the Second Council of Nicaea in 787 clearly defined the teaching that sacred images were permissible and to be venerated. Largely through the efforts of St. Nicephorus,…Continue Reading

Catholic Heroes . . . St. Colette

March 3, 2014 saints Comments Off on Catholic Heroes . . . St. Colette

By CAROLE BRESLIN There was a child, comely in appearance, sweet of disposition, and a joy for the parents to behold. The father was a carpenter, the head of this small but devout family. They observed the religious practices of their time, bringing up their small child to know and appreciate the centuries-old traditions. This holy family was pleasing to God and edifying for the faith community. Similar to the Holy Family, the child brought many closer to God by her example and her work. In northwestern France near the English Channel there is an abbey, the Corbie abbey, that still stands today. The carpenter at this abbey, Robert Boellet, and his wife, Marguerite Moyon, had longed for many years…Continue Reading

Catholic Heroes . . . St. Angela De Foligno

February 24, 2014 saints Comments Off on Catholic Heroes . . . St. Angela De Foligno

By CAROLE BRESLIN One of the most recent canonizations to take place in the Catholic Church is that of St. Angela de Foligno, which occurred on October 11, 2013. Although her feast day has been set for January 4 — the day of her death — the 1956 edition of Butler’s Lives of the Saints (reprinted in 1981) records her memorial as February 28. The common practice in the Church is to celebrate the day when the holy ones enter into eternity, unless another feast or solemnity is already on the liturgical calendar for that day. Thus the day for remembering Angela was moved from February to January. St. Angela is one of those saints, like St. Augustine, who gives…Continue Reading

Catholic Heroes . . . St. Peter, Pope

February 17, 2014 saints Comments Off on Catholic Heroes . . . St. Peter, Pope

By CAROLE BRESLIN “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church” (Matt. 16:18; Mark 8:27). As I was looking at a replica of the Vatican, whose architecture is in the shape of a key in a keyhole, I realized that Christ really did build His Church on St. Peter. Deep in the recesses of St. Peter’s Basilica are the relics of St. Peter. There is no other church in all of Christendom that can claim to be built on St. Peter. There is little known about Peter’s early life except that he was born in Bethsaida, a small town near Lake Genesareth. More of his history, however, can be gained from the passages in Scripture that…Continue Reading

Catholic Heroes… St. Claude De La Colombière

February 10, 2014 saints Comments Off on Catholic Heroes… St. Claude De La Colombière

By CAROLE BRESLIN The devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, paired with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, has become one of the most popular devotions for Catholics. Although the Sacred Heart had been part of the tradition of the Church for centuries, it never was promoted to the extent it is today until a young nun was urged by Christ Himself to do so. The instructions she received brought her great turmoil until our Lord promised to send her a priest who would be her guide in response to His requests. This priest was a humble Jesuit, St. Claude de la Colombière. Another saint in the long line of French saints, Claude was born in Saint-Symphorien d’Ozon in…Continue Reading

Catholic Heroes… St. Cyril Of Alexandria

February 3, 2014 saints Comments Off on Catholic Heroes… St. Cyril Of Alexandria

By CAROLE BRESLIN Over the 2,000-year history of Christianity, the Catholic Church has only recognized 35 persons as doctors of the Church. A doctor of the Church is one whose writing or preaching is outstanding for guiding the faithful in all periods of the Church’s history. Such well-known saints as St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Therese of Lisieux, and St. Francis de Sales are doctors of the Church. In the beginning there were four men from the Western Church and four from the Eastern Church who were considered doctors of the Church. St. Gregory the Great, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, and St. Jerome were from the West and St. John Chrysostom, St. Basil, St. Gregory Nazianzen, and…Continue Reading

Catholic Heroes . . . St. Blaise And The Candles

January 27, 2014 saints Comments Off on Catholic Heroes . . . St. Blaise And The Candles

By CAROLE BRESLIN Candles have a deep and lovely history in the Catholic Church. Candles have an aura of peace and quiet. They represent the light of the world, Jesus Christ, in many of our liturgical celebrations. In the early days of February, the Church celebrates two feasts regarding candles. On February 2, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord begins with the Blessing of Candles Procession. On February 3, St. Blaise, bishop and martyr, has an optional memorial Mass. Many centuries ago, about the time of the 11th century, the blessing of the candles to be used in the liturgy for the following year took place on this day. It is reminiscent of the Light of the World…Continue Reading

Catholic Heroes… St. Angela Merici

January 20, 2014 saints Comments Off on Catholic Heroes… St. Angela Merici

By CAROLE BRESLIN In 15th-century Europe, women were not seen and rarely heard. Education was reserved for men or for the cloistered women in the convents, but certainly not for young women of the laity. Young women who had no family were placed in a most precarious situation. Then through a providential series of incidents, the Lord prepared a young maiden to begin the work of educating and caring for young women. Long before the “women’s liberation movement,” which in reality is Marxism cloaked in a different name, Angela Merici empowered women to help other young women forge their way in safe environments. On March 21, 1474, Angela Merici entered the world, the second daughter of a faithful Catholic family.…Continue Reading

Catholic Heroes… St. Agnes

January 13, 2014 saints Comments Off on Catholic Heroes… St. Agnes

By CAROLE BRESLIN Throughout the history of the Church, the personal pronoun used when referring to the Church has been “she.” Frequently we pray for Holy Mother Church. Thus, in similarity to the wedding feast of eternity in Heaven, we have the priests who are in some sense “married” to the Church. Perhaps this is one reason why women are not called to the priesthood. Yet it would seem that women are called to a much higher dignity to which men can never hope to aspire: becoming the bride of Christ Himself. Thus some orders have their nuns wear a wedding gown on the day of their final profession. Some women saints have had mystical marriages with Christ, one such…Continue Reading