Saint of the Day

Saint Rapahel was born  in 1835 as Joseph, son of Andrew and Josepha Kalinowski in present day Lithuania.  Saint Raphael felt a call to the priesthood early in his life, but decided to complete his education.  He studied zoology, chemistry, agriculture, and apiculture at the Institute of Agronomy in Hory Horki, Russia, and at the Academy of Military Engineering in Saint Petersburg, Russia.  Saint Raphael became a Lieutenant in the Russian Military Engineering Corps in 1857.  During his post he was responsible for the planning and supervised the construction of the railway between Kursk and Odessa.  He was promoted to captain in 1862 and stationed in Brest-Litovsk.  In Bret-Litovsk he started, taught, and covered all the costs of a Sunday school, accepting anyone interested. In 1863 he supported the Polish insurrection. He resigned from the Russian army and became the rebellion's minister of war for the Vilna region.  He only took the commission with the understanding that he would never hand out a death sentence nor execute a prisoner. He was soon arrested by Russian authorities and in June of 1864 he was condemned to death for his part in the revolt.  Fearing they would be creating a political martyr, they commuted his sentence to ten years of forced labour in the Siberian salt mines.  Part of his sentence was spent in Irkutsk where his relics have been moved to sanctify the new cathedral. Upon his release in 1873, he was exiled from his home region in Lithuania. He moved to Paris, France, and worked as a tutor for three years.  In 1877 he finally answered the long-heard call to the religious life, and joined the Carmelite Order at Graz, Austria, taking the name Raphael. He studied theology in Hungary and then joined the Carmelite house in Czama, Poland.   He was ordained on January  15, 1882. Saint Raphael worked to restore the Discalced Carmelites to Poland, and for church unity. He founded a convent at Wadowice, Poland in 1889 and worked with Blessed Alphonsus Mary Marurek. He was a noted spiritural director for both Catholics and Orthodox.  He was considered  an enthusiastic parish priest and spent countless hours with his parishioners in the confessional.  Saint Raphael died in 1907 and was cannonized by Pope John Paul II in 1991. Source: Catholic-forum.com

This feast celebrates the dedication of two of the great basilicas of Rome. Saint Peter’s Basilica was originally built by Constantine in 323.  The basilica was constructed over the tomb of the Peter the Apostle, the Church’s first Pope.  After standing for more than a thousand years, due to structural concerns Pope Julius II ordered it to be torn down.  The new church construction and completion spanned over 200 years it was dedicated on Nov. 18, 1626.  It is considered the most famous church in Chistendom. Saint Paul´s Basilica is located outside the original walls of Rome. It was first built in the fourth century also by Constantine, but was destroyed by fire in 1823. Donations from around the world made the reconstruction possible.  Before the completion of Saint Peter´s Basilica it was the largest church in Rome.  The Basilica was built over St. Paul´s grave.  Pope Pius IX consecrated the Basilica in 1854. These two churches continue to draw millions of faithful pilgrims as well as those from other faiths each year.

In her life Elizabeth manifested such great love for the poor and suffering that she has become the patroness of Catholic charities and of the Secular Franciscan Order. The daughter of the King of Hungary,Andrew II. Elizabeth chose a life of penance and asceticism when a life of leisure and luxury could easily have been hers. This choice endeared her in the hearts of the common people throughout Europe. At the age of four (b. 1207), she was brought to the court of her future husband, Ludwig, landgrave of Thuringia. After her marriage in 1221, she very conscientiously fulfilled her duties both toward her husband and as a servant of God. During the night she would rise from bed and spend long periods at prayer. Zealously she performed all types of charitable acts; she put herself at the service of widows, orphans, the sick, the needy. During a famine she generously distributed all the grain from her stocks, cared for lepers in one of the hospitals she established, kissed their hands and feet. For the benefit of the indigent she provided suitable lodging. After the early death of her husband (in 1227 while on a crusade led by Emperor Frederick II), Elizabeth laid aside all royal dignities in order to serve God more freely. She put on simple clothing, became a tertiary of St. Francis, and showed great patience and humility. Nor was she spared intense suffering. The goods belonging to her as a widow were withheld, she was forced to leave Wartburg. In Eisenach no one dared receive her out of fear of her enemies. Upon much pleading a shepherd of the landgrave permitted her to use an abandoned pig sty. No one was allowed to visit or aid her; with her three children, of whom the youngest was not more than a few months old, she was forced to wander about in the winter's cold. In 1228 she took the veil of the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis at Marburg and there built a hospital with some property still belonging to her. She retained for herself only a small mud house. All her strength and care were now devoted to the poor and the sick, while she obtained the few things she needed by spinning. Young in years but rich in good works, she slept in the Lord in 1231, only twenty-four years old. --The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch Patronage: Bakers; beggars; brides; charitable societies; charitable workers; charities; countesses; death of children; exiles; falsely accused people; hoboes; homeless people; hospitals; in-law problems; lacemakers; lace workers; nursing homes; nursing services; people in exile; people ridiculed for their piety; Sisters of Mercy; tertiaries; Teutonic Knights; toothache; tramps; widows. Representation: A queen distributing alms; woman wearing a crown and tending to beggars; woman wearing a crown, carrying a load of roses in her apron or mantle.  

Margaret was the queen of Scotland and the mother of eight. She was born in Hungary in 1045 to royalty. Her father was Edward Atheling, heir to the English throne, and her mother was Princess Agatha of Hungary. Her family returned to England when she was 10 years old, but the Norman Conquest forced them into exile. By this time, her father had died, and her mother fled with her children. They boarded a ship, which crashed onto the coast of Scotland where her family remained.   Four years later, in 1070, at the age of 25, Margaret married the king of Scotland, Malcolm Canmore, and they had eight children. Her Christian virtue was an important influence on her husband’s reign. She was a model mother, who worked for justice for the poor, improving their conditions, rebuilt churches, invited the Benedictines to Scotland and worked to build strong ties between the Celtic Church and Rome.   She died in 1093, just four days after her husband and one of her sons were killed in battle. She was canonized in 1251 and named patron of Scotland in 1673.

St. Albert the Great is a Doctor of the Church and the patron saint of scientists. The native German joined the newly formed Order of Preachers (Dominicans) in the early 13th century. He earned a doctorate from the University of Paris and taught theology there and in Cologne, Germany.   Albert became known as “Great” because of his intellectual abilities. He was a respected philosopher, scientist, theologian and teacher and well-versed in Arabic culture. One of his students, who later became a great friend and built upon his Scholastic method, was Thomas Aquinas.   He died Nov. 15, 1280.

John Licci is one of the longest living holy men of the Church. His 111 years on this earth in a small town near Palermo, Sicily, were filled with miracles. His mother died during childbirth, and his father was a poor peasant who had to work the fields and was forced to leave John alone as a baby.   One day, a neighbor took the crying baby to her home to feed him. She laid the infant on the bed next to her paralyzed husband, and he was instantly cured.   After the suggestion of Blessed Peter Geremia to enter religious life, John joined the Dominican in 1415 and wore the habit for 96 years, the longest known period known of any religious.   He was ordained a priest and founded the convent of Saint Zita in his hometown, Caccamo. The entire construction is a story of miracles, from the location of the site to the very last wooden beam. For example, a large ox-drawn wagon, filled with materials arrived at the site one day after the workmen ran out of materials. When roofbeams were cut too short, John would pray over them and they would stretch. There were days when John miraculously multiplied bread and wine to feed the workers.   When John and two other Dominicans were attacked by bandits on the road, one of them tried to stab John but his hand withered and became paralyzed. The gang let the brothers go, then decided to ask for their forgiveness. John made the Sign of the Cross over them, and the thief's hand was healed.   His blessings also caused the breadbox of a nearby widow to stay miraculously full, feeding her and her six children, he prevented disease from coming to the cattle of his parishioners, and cured three people, whose heads had been crushed in accidents. Consequently, he is the patron saint of head injuries.   John was born in 1400 and died in 1511 of natural causes.

Francesca (Frances) Cabrini was the first United States citizen to be canonized a saint and is the patron of immigrants. She was born in northern Italy in 1850.  Shewas orphaned by the age of 18 and decided to enter the Sisters of the Sacred Heart.   Frances longed to be a missionary in China but she soon realized that Italian immigrants in the U.S. needed much assistance. She and six other Sacred Heart sisters came to the U.S. in 1889, under the patronage of Archbishop Corrigan of New York. For 28 years, she traveled throughout the country, setting up four hospitals and another 50 orphanages, convents and schools. She eventually became a naturalized U.S. citizen and died in Colorado in 1917. She was canonized in 1946, just as a new immigrant wave began in the United States, following the Second World War.

St. Josaphat was born John Kuncewicz in present-day Ukraine in 1580. He took the name Josaphat after entering the Order of St. Basil (Basilians), and was ordained for the Byzantine rite in 1609.   Josaphat was a remarkable preacher and was named archbishop of Polotsk, Russia, in 1617. Here, he worked for the renewal of the diocese and for the unification of the Ukrainian Church with Rome. He was slain by opponents of his unification efforts in 1623. He was canonized in 1867, the first saint of the Eastern churches.

Bishop; born at Sabaria (today Steinamanger in German, or Szombathely in Hungarian), Pannonia (Hungary), about 316; died at Candes, Touraine, most probably in 397. In his early years, when his father, a military tribune, was transferred to Pavia in Italy, Martin accompanied him thither, and when he reached adolescence was, in accordance with the recruiting laws, enrolled in the Roman army. Touched by grace at an early age, he was from the first attracted towards Christianity, which had been in favour in the camps since the conversion of Emperor Constantine. His regiment was soon sent to Amiens in Gaul, and this town became the scene of the celebrated legend of the cloak. At the gates of the city, one very cold day, Martin met a shivering and half-naked beggar. Moved with compassion, he divided his coat into two parts and gave one to the poor man. The part kept by himself became the famous relic preserved in the oratory of the Frankish kings under the name of "St. Martin's cloak". Martin, who was still only a catechumen, soon received baptism, and was a little later finally freed from military service at Worms on the Rhine. As soon as he was free, he hastened to set out to Poitiers to enrol himself among the disciples of St. Hilary, the wise and pious bishop whose reputation as a theologian was already passing beyond the frontiers of Gaul. Desiring, however, to see his parents again, he returned to Lombardy across the Alps. The inhabitants of this region, infested with Arianism, were bitterly hostile towards Catholicism, so that Martin, who did not conceal his faith, was very badly treated by order of Bishop Auxentius of Milan, the leader of the heretical sect in Italy. Martin was very desirous of returning to Gaul, but, learning that the Arians troubled that country also and had even succeeded in exiling Hilary to the Orient, he decided to seek shelter on tbe island of Gallinaria (now Isola d'Albenga) in the middle of the Tyrrhenian Sea. As soon as Martin learned that the emperor had authorized Hilary's return, Martin ran to him in 361, then became a hermit for ten years in the area now known as Ligugé. A reputation for holiness attracted other monks, and they formed what would become the Benedictine abbey of Ligugé. Preached and evangelized through the Gallic countryside. Many locals held strongly to the old beliefs, and tried to intimidate Martin by dressing as the old Roman gods, and appearing to him at night; Martin continued to win converts. He destroyed old temples, and built churches on the land. When the bishop of Tours died in 371, Martin was the immediate choice to replace him. Martin declined, citing unworthiness Rusticus, a wealthy citizen of Tours, claimed his wife was ill and asking for Martin; when he arrived in the city, he was declared bishop by popular acclamation, consecrated on 4 July 372. Moved to a hermit's cell near Tours. Other monks joined him, and a new house, Marmoutier, soon formed. Rarely left his monastery or see city, but sometimes went to Trier to plead with the emperor for his city, his church, or his parishioners. Once when he went to ask for lenience for a condemned prisoner, an angel woke the emperor to tell him that Martin was waiting to see him; the prisoner was reprieved. Martin himself was given to visions, but even his contemporaries sometimes ascribed them to his habit of lengthy fasts. An extensive biography of Martin was written by Sulpicius Severus. He was the first non-martyr to receive the cultus of a saint.  

Pope Leo the Great is the first Pope whose sermons and letters, many of which were on faith and charity, were preserved in extensive collections. He served as pontiff from 440 until his death in 461. His writing on the Incarnation was acclaimed at the Council of Chalcedon in 451.   Prior to his pontificate, Leo was a deacon and active as a peacemaker in the Roman Empire. He is most remembered for having successfully persuaded Attila the Hun not to plunder Rome. He was not as successful during another attack three years later, however, he managed to save the city from being burnt. He stayed on to help the people rebuild Rome.   He was made a Doctor of the Church in 1754.

This feast is celebrated by the entire Church and marks the dedication of the cathedral church of Rome by Pope Sylvester I in 324. This church is the cathedra (or chair) of the bishop of Rome, who is the Pope. A Latin inscription reads: “omnium ecclesiarum Urbis et Orbis mater et caput”. This translates to: The mother and head of all churches of the city and of the world.   It was originally named the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior. However, it is called St. John Lateran because it was built on property donated to the Church by the Laterani family, and because the monks from the monastery of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Divine served it.

Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity was born Elizabeth Catez in Bourges, France, in 1880. Her father, a military captain, died when she was seven, leaving her mother to raise Elizabeth and her sister, Marguerite.   Elizabeth was a very lively girl and a gifted pianist, but was very stubborn and experienced fits of rage. Nonetheless, she had a great love for God and an early attraction to a life of prayer and reflection. She visited the sick and taught catechism to children.   Elizabeth against her mother's wishes entered the Discalced Carmelite monastery in 1901, at the age of 21.  Though noted for great spiritual growth, she was also plagued with periods of powerful darkness, which led her spiritual director to doubt her vocation. Nonetheless, she completed her novitiate, and took her final vows in 1903. She died only three years later of Addison’s disease, at the age of 26. In her short life as a religious, she was a spiritual director for many, and left a legacy of letters and retreat guides.   She is the patron of people who have lost of parents.

St. Peter Ou was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000 and is one of the Martyrs of China. He was born to a non-Christian family in 1768.   As a young man, he was outspoken, hand had a deep understanding of justice and would come to the defense of the poor and oppressed. He married and ran his own business, a large hotel.   He was one of the first to convert to Christianity after missionaries arrived in his area and took the name Peter at baptism. He enthusiastically preached Christianity to anyone who came by, later becoming a lay leader of the converts in his district, and worked as a catechist.  In 1814, he was imprisoned and tortured in a violent backlash against the faith. Under these conditions, he continued to inspire his fellow prisoners to the faith, and led prayer services in the cells. He was sentenced to death for refusing to step on a crucifix.

St. Jean-Théophane Vénard is one of the Martyrs of Vietnam. He was born in 1829 France and was raised in a pious family. He was ordained for the missions in 1852 and worked for 15 months in Hong Kong, before being transferred to Vietnam. Christians in the area were being persecuted by the ruler Minh-Menh, and just before Fr. Jean-Théophane’s arrival, clergy were forced into hiding. For four years, Fr. Jean-Théophane took great risks by hiding during the daytime and ministering to the people by night. He was eventually betrayed by a parishioner and arrested on Nov. 20, 1860. He was tried and told his life would be saved if he renounced his faith, but he refused. He was kept in a cage for several weeks, during which he wrote joyful letters to his family. “We are all flowers planted on this earth, which God plucks in His own good time: some a little sooner, some a little later,” he wrote to his father in France. “Father and son may we meet in Paradise. I, poor little moth, go first. Adieu.” He was beheaded Feb. 2, 1861. his head was stuck on a pole as a warning to others. But was later recovered and preserved as a relic in Vietnam. The rest of his body rests in the crypt of the Missions Etrangères in Paris. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1988.

Blessed Bernhard Lichtenberg was a martyr of the Second World War. He was born in 1875.  He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Berlin,Germany. He served in the Cathedral of Berlin and was an outspoken critic of the Nazis and their anti-Semitic campaign. He organized protests outside concentration camps, led public prayers for the Jews, and filed complaints against the party. He was arrested for these actions and imprisoned for two years. But this did not deter him. After his release, he resumed his actions and criticisms against the Nazis. He was arrested again and sentenced to the Dachau concentration camp. He never arrived at the camp. He was killed Nov. 5, 1943 on the way to Dachau at the age of 67. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1996.

St. Charles Borromeo is the patron saint of catechists and catechumens and his life and spirituality have inspired many religious orders, including the Scalabrinians, who minister to migrants and displaced peoples. Charles was born in 1538 to an aristocratic family in Italy. As the second son, he was expected to serve the Church. Even though he was in the minor orders, he was named Cardinal Archbishop of Milan and Papal Secretary of State when his uncle, Pope Pius IV, became the new pontiff. Despite his privilege, Charles was not drawn to power and luxury. He lived during the Catholic Reformation, practiced asceticism and reformed his diocese, imposing severe discipline on clergy and laity alike. He served the Archdiocese of Milan until his death in 1584, at the age of 46.

Martin de Porres is the patron saint of social justice and people of mixed race. His father was a Spanish knight and his mother was an Indian from Panama. He was born in Lima, Peru, in 1579. His mixed race made him a half-caste, which meant a loss of privilege in society at that time. At 15, he entered the Dominican friary and eventually took vows as a laybrother. His status as a half-caste led to low-status assignments in the order. He served his community as a barber and farmer. However, it was for his work in the infirmary and his care for the sick, the poor and for animals that he became well known and loved. Despite his low social rank, high-ranking people came to seek his advice. He died in 1639.

The commemoration of all the faithful departed is celebrated by the Church on 2 November, or, if this be a Sunday or a solemnity, on 3 November. The Office of the Dead must be recited by the clergy and all the Masses are to be of Requiem, except one of the current feast, where this is of obligation. The theological basis for the feast is the doctrine that the souls which, on departing from the body, are not perfectly cleansed from venial sins, or have not fully atoned for past transgressions, are debarred from the Beatific Vision, and that the faithful on earth can help them by prayers, almsdeeds and especially by the sacrifice of the Mass. In the early days of Christianity the names of the departed brethren were entered in the diptychs. Later, in the sixth century, it was customary in Benedictine monasteries to hold a commemoration of the deceased members at Whitsuntide. In Spain there was such a day on Saturday before Sexagesima or before Pentecost, at the time of Saint Isidore (d. 636). In Germany there existed (according to the testimony of Widukind, Abbot of Corvey, c.980) a time-honoured ceremony of praying to the dead on 1 October. This was accepted and sanctified by the Church. Saint Odilo of Cluny ordered the commemoration of all the faithful departed to he held annually in the monasteries of his congregation. Thence it spread among the other congregations of the Benedictines and among the Carthusians. Of the dioceses, Liège was the first to adopt it under Bishop Notger (d. 1008). It is then found in the martyrology of Saint Protadius of Besançon (1053-66). Bishop Otricus (1120-25) introduced it into Milan for the 15 October. In Spain, Portugal, and Latin America, priests on this day say three Masses. A similar concession for the entire world was asked of Pope Leo XIII; he would not grant the favour, but ordered a special Requiem on Sunday 30 September 1888. In the Greek Rite this commemoration is held on the eve of Sexagesima Sunday, or on the eve of Pentecost. The Armenians celebrate the passover of the dead on the day after Easter. Source: Catholic Encyclopedia, Copyright 1907  

Solemnity celebrated on the first of November. It is instituted to honour all the saints, known and unknown, and, according to Urban IV, to supply any deficiencies in the faithful's celebration of saints' feasts during the year. In the early days the Christians were accustomed to solemnize the anniversary of a martyr's death for Christ at the place of martyrdom. In the fourth century, neighbouring dioceses began to interchange feasts, to transfer relics, to divide them, and to join in a common feast; as is shown by the invitation of Saint Basil of Caesarea (397) to the bishops of the province of Pontus. Frequently groups of martyrs suffered on the same day, which naturally led to a joint commemoration. In the persecution of Diocletian the number of martyrs became so great that a separate day could not be assigned to each. But the Church, feeling that every martyr should be venerated, appointed a common day for all. The first trace of this we find in Antioch on the Sunday after Pentecost. We also find mention of a common day in a sermon of Saint Ephrem the Syrian (373), and in the 74th homily of Saint John Chrysostom (407). At first only martyrs and Saint John the Baptist were honoured by a special day. Other saints were added gradually, and increased in number when a regular process of canonization was established; still, as early as 411 there is in the Chaldean Calendar a "Commemoratio Confessorum" for the Friday after Easter. In the west, Pope Boniface IV on 13 May 609 or 610, consecrated the Pantheon in Rome to the Blessed Virgin and all the martyrs, ordering an anniversary. Gregory III (731-741) consecrated a chapel in the Basilica of Saint Peter to all the saints and fixed the anniversary for 1 November. A basilica of the Apostles already existed in Rome, and its dedication was annually remembered on 1 May. Gregory IV (827-844) extended the celebration on 1 November to the entire Church. The vigil seems to have been held as early as the feast itself. The octave was added by Sixtus IV (1471-84). -Francis Merseman, from the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright 1907  

While traveling on Church business, St. Foillan was murdered by bandits along with his three companions.  In 653 two years before his death, he had founded a monastery at Fosses in the Diocese of Liege and served as its abbot. He was a well-loved preacher and spiritual director, successfully evangelizing the people in the area, which grew into the modern town of Le Roeulx, Belgium. He served as the spiritual director at the house founded by St. Gertrude. The circumstances that led to his journey to Fosses, however, were not easy. He was born in 7th-century Ireland and was the brother of St. Fursey and St. Ultan. He joined them in England, where they were working as missionaries.  His brothers had established a monastery near Yarmouth. During a war, c. 650, between the Mercians and Anglo-Saxons, the monastery was destroyed and many of the brothers were killed, captured or dispersed. Foillan ransomed back his brothers and travelled to France, where they were welcomed and encouraged in their evangelization by King Clovis II.