Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives. Each saint the Church honors responded to an invitation from God to use his or her unique gifts. God calls each one of us to be a saint. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintofDay/default.asp Religion & Spirituality 2009 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss en-us Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:00:00 -0500 webdev@americancatholic.org Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:00:00 -0500 720 webdev@americancatholic.org FeedForAll v2.0 (2.0.1.0) http://www.feedforall.com http://www.americancatholic.org/Webmasters/buttons/SaintofDay/SaintofDay1.gif http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintofDay/default.asp Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives. 98 96 Didacus is living proof that God "chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong" (1 Corinthians 1:27). http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1192 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod1172009 Nicholas and his three companions are among the 158 Franciscans who have been martyred in the Holy Land since the friars became custodians of the shrines in 1335. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1191 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod1162009 Barney Casey became one of Detroit's best-known priests even though he was not allowed to preach formally or to hear confessions! http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1190 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod1152009 The name of St. Charles Borromeo is associated with reform. He lived during the time of the Protestant Reformation, and had a hand in the reform of the whole Church during the final years of the Council of Trent. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1189 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod1142009 "Father unknown" is the cold legal phrase sometimes used on baptismal records. "Half-breed" or "war souvenir" is the cruel name inflicted by those of "pure" blood. Like many others, Martin might have grown to be a bitter man, but he did not. It was said that even as a child he gave his heart and his goods to the poor and despised. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1188 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod1132009 The Church has encouraged prayer for the dead from the earliest times as an act of Christian charity. "If we had no care for the dead," Augustine noted, "we would not be in the habit of praying for them." Yet pre-Christian rites for the deceased kept such a strong hold on the superstitious imagination that a liturgical commemoration was not observed until the early Middle Ages, when monastic communities began to mark an annual day of prayer for the departed members. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1187 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod1122009 The earliest certain observance of a feast in honor of all the saints is an early fourth-century commemoration of "all the martyrs." In the early seventh century, after successive waves of invaders plundered the catacombs, Pope Boniface IV gathered up some 28 wagonloads of bones and reinterred them beneath the Pantheon, a Roman temple dedicated to all the gods. The pope rededicated the shrine as a Christian church. According to Venerable Bede, the pope intended "that the memory of all the saints might in the future be honored in the place which had formerly been dedicated to the worship not of gods but of demons" (On the Calculation of Time). http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1186 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Sun, 01 Nov 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod1112009 Wolfgang was born in Swabia, Germany, and was educated at a school located at the abbey of Reichenau. There he encountered Henry, a young noble who went on to become Archbishop of Trier. Meanwhile, Wolfgang remained in close contact with the archbishop, teaching in his cathedral school and supporting his efforts to reform the clergy. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1185 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Sat, 31 Oct 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod10312009 Tragedy and challenge beset today's saint early in life, but Alphonsus Rodriguez found happiness and contentment through simple service and prayer. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1184 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod10302009 Life in second- and third-century Jerusalem couldn't have been easy, but St. Narcissus managed to live well beyond 100. Some even speculate he lived to 160. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1878 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod10292009 Jude is so named by Luke and Acts. Matthew and Mark call him Thaddeus. He is not mentioned elsewhere in the Gospels, except, of course, where all the apostles are referred to. Scholars hold that he is not the author of the Letter of Jude. Actually, Jude had the same name as Judas Iscariot. Evidently because of the disgrace of that name, it was shortened to "Jude" in English. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1182 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod10282009 Dominicans honor one of their own today, Blessed Bartholomew of Vicenza. This was a man who used his skills as a preacher to challenge the heresies of his day. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1181 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod10272009 Contardo Ferrini was the son of a teacher who went on to become a learned man himself, one acquainted with some dozen languages. Today he is known as the patron of universities. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1180 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Mon, 26 Oct 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod10262009 God's plan in a person's life often takes unexpected turns which become life-giving through cooperation with God's grace. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1179 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Sun, 25 Oct 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod10252009 The "spiritual father of Cuba" was a missionary, religious founder, social reformer, queen's chaplain, writer and publisher, archbishop and refugee. He was a Spaniard whose work took him to the Canary Islands, Cuba, Madrid, Paris and to the First Vatican Council. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1178 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Sat, 24 Oct 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod10242009 It has been said the Christian saints are the world's greatest optimists. Not blind to the existence and consequences of evil, they base their confidence on the power of Christ's redemption. The power of conversion through Christ extends not only to sinful people but also to calamitous events. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1177 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Fri, 23 Oct 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod10232009 Peter was a contemporary of well-known 16th-century Spanish saints, including Ignatius of Loyola and John of the Cross. He served as confessor to St. Teresa of Avila. Church reform was a major issue in Peter's day, and he directed most of his energies toward that end. His death came one year before the Council of Trent ended. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1176 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Thu, 22 Oct 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod10222009 Despite his best efforts to live in prayer and solitude, today's saint found it difficult to achieve his deepest desire. People were naturally drawn to Hilarion as a source of spiritual wisdom and peace. He had reached such fame by the time of his death that his body had to be secretly removed so that a shrine would not be built in his honor. Instead, he was buried in his home village. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1175 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod10212009 If anyone knew rejection, ridicule and disappointment, it was today's saint. But such trials only brought Maria Bertilla Boscardin closer to God and more determined to serve him. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1884 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod10202009 Isaac Jogues (1607-1646): Isaac Jogues and his companions were the first martyrs of the North American continent officially recognized by the Church. As a young Jesuit, Isaac Jogues, a man of learning and culture, taught literature in France. He gave up that career to work among the Huron Indians in the New World, and in 1636 he and his companions, under the leadership of John de Brébeuf, arrived in Quebec. The Hurons were constantly warred upon by the Iroquois, and in a few years Father Jogues was captured by the Iroquois and imprisoned for 13 months. His letters and journals tell how he and his companions were led from village to village, how they were beaten, tortured and forced to watch as their Huron converts were mangled and killed. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1173 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod10192009 Luke wrote one of the major portions of the New Testament, a two-volume work comprising the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. In the two books he shows the parallel between the life of Christ and that of the Church. He is the only Gentile Christian among the Gospel writers. Tradition holds him to be a native of Antioch, and Paul calls him "our beloved physician" (Colossians 4:14). His Gospel was probably written between A.D. 70 and 85. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1172 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod10182009 Born in Syria, Ignatius converted to Christianity and eventually became bishop of Antioch. In the year 107, Emperor Trajan visited Antioch and forced the Christians there to choose between death and apostasy. Ignatius would not deny Christ and thus was condemned to be put to death in Rome. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1171 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Sat, 17 Oct 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod10172009 We learn compassion from allowing our lives to be influenced by compassionate people, by seeing life from their perspective and reconsidering our own values. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1170 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod10162009 Teresa lived in an age of exploration as well as political, social and religious upheaval. It was the 16th century, a time of turmoil and reform. Her life began with the culmination of the Protestant Reformation, and ended shortly after the Council of Trent. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1169 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod10152009 The most reliable information about this saint comes from his enemy St. Hippolytus, an early antipope, later a martyr for the Church. A negative principle is used: If some worse things had happened, Hippolytus would surely have mentioned them. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1168 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod10142009 Margaret Mary was chosen by Christ to arouse the Church to a realization of the love of God symbolized by the heart of Jesus. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1167 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod10132009 Born into a poor Italian family, young Seraphin lived the life of a shepherd and spent much of his time in prayer. Mistreated for a time by his older brother after the two of them had been orphaned, Seraphin became a Capuchin Franciscan at age 16 and impressed everyone with his humility and generosity. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1166 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod10122009 Today we honor a woman who submitted to God's will throughout her life--a life filled with pain and suffering. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1932 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Sun, 11 Oct 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod10112009 Today's saint grew up in an important family in 16th-century Spain, serving in the imperial court and quickly advancing in his career. But a series of events--including the death of his beloved wife--made Francis Borgia rethink his priorities. He gave up public life, gave away his possessions and joined the new and little-known Society of Jesus. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1530 webdev@americancatholic.org Religion & Spirituality Sat, 10 Oct 2009 05:00:00 -0500 sod10102009