John the Baptist was born in the late 1st century BC. His parents were St. Elizabeth and Zechariah, a priest. He preached in the wilderness and wore clothes of camel’s hair and ate locusts and wild honey. He also used to baptize people in the Jordan River and used to say that someone far greater than him would come and baptize all of you with Holy Spirit, not water. When Jesus comes to be baptized, John says that Jesus should baptize him, but Jesus refuses and wants John to baptize him. He proclaimed that the kingdom of God was at hand and that people should repent over their sins so that God can forgive them. He rebuked Herod for marrying his brother’s wife, Herodias when he died. Herodias was angry and wanted to put John to death, but Herod did not let her, so instead, he put him to jail. One day, Herodias’s daughter, Salome danced in front of Herod and his guests during a party. Herod was so delighted with her that he told her that she could have anything she wanted in the entire kingdom. Salome went to her mother for advice, and she told her to have John the Baptist’s head on a platter. Herod was shocked, but he had to stick to his promise. He beheaded John and gave it to Salome, who gave it to Herodias. Before John died, he had many disciples who followed him, but soon they became Jesus’s disciples. John said that he must become less, while Jesus should become more. John the Baptist teaches us to be humble when he tells Jesus that he should baptize him. We should all be humble, because it can lead us to good things.
INTERCESSORY PRAYER O St. John the Baptist, you were so humble and meek at heart, help us to be like you in these times of struggle. In Jesus’s name we pray, Amen
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Saint John Fisher was a very intelligent man. He came to be known as a reputable writer and preacher. However, he had spoken out against the king at that time, declaring the king’s divorce and the claim that the king is the supreme head as invalid. He rather believed that the English church was the supreme head. This angered the king and soon because of the actions of Saint John Fisher he was put on trial and executed.
INTERCESSORY PRAYER Dear God, Just as Saint John Fisher was loyal to the English church, help us to be loyal to our catholic church and fulfill our duties as a Christian with joy and dedication. Amen. St. Thomas More was born in London on February 7th, 1478. In 1492, Thomas More entered Oxford, where he learned Latin, Greek, and much more. In 1494, he left Oxford to become a lawyer. Almost as soon as More became a lawyer, he found himself contemplating another path in life. For two years, between 1503 and 1504, Thomas More lived next to a Carthusian monastery and he found himself called to follow their lifestyle of simple piety. He often joined their spiritual exercises. Thomas had four children with his first wife. Once his wife died, he remarried almost less than a month after. Thomas was considered a doting father, and he often wrote letters to his children when he was away on work. He also insisted that his daughters receive the same education as his son. In 1504, Thomas More was elected to Parliament to represent the region of Great Yarmouth, and in 1510 rose to represent London. During his service to the people of London, he earned a reputation as being honest and effective. He became a Privy Counselor in 1514. From 1517 on, Henry VIII took a liking to Thomas More, and gave him posts of ever increasing responsibility. In 1521, he was knighted and made Under-Treasurer of the Exchequer. More became Lord Chancellor in 1529. But soon, Thomas More didn’t enjoy working under the King anymore. After refusing to attend the coronation of Anne Boylen, the New Queen of England, Thomas More was charged with many different crimes, including bribery. Once convicted, he was decapitated. Right before he died, he made a final statement, saying that he was “the king’s good servant, but God’s first.” He is the patron saint of adopted children lawyers, civil servants, politicians, and difficult marriages.
INTERCESSORY PRAYER Holy martyr for the Church, you used your talents to bring God’s love and mercy to earth. Yet you realized that human fame and glory were momentary and fleeting. In your practice of law, you understood and were loyal first to God’s eternal law spoken through the successors of the Apostles. While a servant of the king, you were a servant to the Church first. Help us to see that loyalty to God’s laws must be the first part of our ties and responsibilities with others. Strengthen us to seek out what the church teaches. Give us the wisdom to make the right choice, and the fortitude to carry it out. This I ask through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen… St. Thomas More, Pray for us… At age 7 Aloysius experienced a profound spiritual quickening. His prayers included the Office of Mary, the psalms, and other devotions. At age 9 he came from his hometown of Castiglione to Florence to be educated; by age 11 he was teaching catechism to poor children, fasting three days a week, and practicing great austerities. When he was 13 years old, he traveled with his parents and the Empress of Austria to Spain, and acted as a page in the court of Philip II.
INTERCESSORY PRAYER O Lord, help us to be just like St. Aloysius as he was declared by Pope Benedict to be the patron saint of young students. For his compassion and courage in the face of an incurable disease, Aloysius Gonzaga has become the patron both of AIDS sufferers and their caregivers. Amen. Today’s commemorated saint is Saint Paulinus of Nola. He was born near Bordeaux and was the son of the Roman prefect of Gaul who had many properties in both Gaul and Italy. Paulinus became a lawyer and had many public offices in the Roman Empire and was able to retire with his wife, Therasia at an early age. They tried for many years to have a child but only had a son who died a week after birth. This began Paulinus and Therasia’s life of charity and gave away most of their property. This eventually resulted in Paulinus becoming a priest by the Bishop of Barcelona. He and his wife moved to Nola, gave away most of his remaining property and continued to work for the poor. By popular demand, Paulinus was made bishop of Nola and he guided the diocese for 21 years. Sadly, Paulinus last years were saddened by the invasion of the Huns. A few of his writings include the earliest version of the Christian wedding song.
INTERCESSORY PRAYER Lord, you made Saint Paulinus renowned for his love of poverty. May we who celebrate his witness to the gospel imitate his example of love for others. Through our Lord Jesus, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen St. Romuald grew up in a wealthy and very comfortable environment, where he didn’t learn anything about religion. When St. Romuald was young, he wanted to be well behaved but he chose not to and did what pleased him. When St. Romuald was 20 years old, he saw his father kill one of his relatives in an argument over land. Ashamed by the crime he had experienced, he went to the Monastery of St. Apollinaris to do 40 days of penance for his father. These 40 days proved St. Romuald’s monastic calling, as they became the base for his life as a monk. Peter Urseolus, a political leader was convinced by St. Romuald and Marinus, his teacher, to become a monk. Peter was later canonized as a saint. When Peter joined a French Benedictine monastery, St. Romuald followed his lead and lived in a hermitage for five years. St. Romuald’s father Sergius had followed his son’s course, repenting of his sins and becoming a monk himself. Romuald returned to Italy to help his father, after learning that Sergius was struggling in his vocation. Through his son’s guidance, Sergius found the strength to persist in religious life. After a long life of merit, he died in the monastery of Castro, which he founded in the Marquisate of Ancona.
INTERCESSORY PRAYER O dearest St. Romuald, you prayed for those who did wrong things and still loved them. Help us also to forgive others, in Jesus name we pray amen. Many people find it difficult to fight their addiction, and for 16 years, Matt Talbot’s life revolves around liquor. He was able to win the battle against his addiction, and spent the rest of his life making up for all those lost years, through Christ.
Venerable Matt Talbot was born on May 2, 1856, the second eldest out of twelve children. He began his first job at the age of 12, where he worked at a wine bottling shop. This led to his endless drinking as an early teen. At the age of 28, Matt sought a priest and took confession. He took a three month pledge, where he didn’t touch a drop of alcohol. This was a large struggle, seeing as Matt had been drinking excessively for the last 16 years of his life. The first years of his pledge were difficult, and Matt would begin to pray every time he walked past his former drinking spots. But Matt was able to overcome his addiction, and began to go to Mass daily, do penance, and pray regularly. Matt joined the Secular Franciscan Order, and even though he didn’t get a large salary, he gave large amounts to different missions. Venerable Matt Talbot died at the age of 63 in 1923, after spending a life of prayer to God. He dedicated his life to Jesus after overcoming his addiction, and is considered the patron of men and women struggling with alcohol. INTERCESSORY PRAYER May Matt Talbot’s triumph over addiction, bring hope to our lives and strength to our hearts. May he intercede for all who struggle with an addiction. We ask this in the name of Jesus the Christ, our Great Healer. Amen. St. Joseph Cafasso was born in 1811 on January 15th. He was born as the third of four kids. Cafasso was born with a deformed spine which made him shorter than other kids of his age. This also affected him to have a frail constitution. He had always wanted to become a priest so he made that dream come true and he became a priest. St. Joseph Cafasso died on June 23,1860. At that point he was 49 years old. On April 9, 1948 he was declared patron for all Italian prisoners
INTERCESSORY PRAYER Please intercede for me and mine. Help us to leave our prisons--mine of impatience as I wait for my loved one to return to the practice of the Catholic faith, and the prison of ignorance and unknowing that keeps us from the arms of Jesus and His Church. St John Francis Regis was not like any normal person. He grew up listening to his mother speak of them being eternally damned after the death of Regis’ eldest brother, which made a lasting impression at such a young age. He grew never enjoying any of the pleasures that a child his age would find amusing. He was known to keep to himself and give special regard to Sundays and holidays as special days of reading and devotions at home and at church. He was one of the first students to join the Jesuit founded public school at Beziers, at which he joined a brotherhood devoted in prayer named after the Blessed Virgin. Following his ordination, John Francis made himself readily available to the poor in various French towns. Seeing his great devotion to helping others and his great success in communicating with people, the bishop of Viviers recruited John to work for him, in a time where the people had been deprived of the sacraments for more than 20 years. He lived his years working as a missionary visiting all parts of the diocese, preparing them for a visit by the bishop. Father Regis continued his life as a missionary in the wildest and most desolate parts of France, encountering multiple harsh winters. The last four years of his life were spent preaching and organizing social services, dedicated for prisoners, the sick and the poor. After sensing that his days were coming to an end in the fall of 1640, Fr. Regis settled his affairs and started to prepare for the end. On New Years Eve, 1640, Regis spent most of his day in prayer, with his eyes on the crucifix. That evening, he passed away, at the age of 43. His feast day is celebrated on June 16 as the patron of lacemakers, medical social workers, and illegitimate children.
INTERCESSORY PRAYER O God, whose priest, Saint John Francis Regis, a friend of the poor, the sick, and the wayward, eagerly desired to evangelize the peoples of North America; grant, we ask, that we who serve You in his place may be filled with his same spirit of zeal. Amen. Marie-Marguerite d'Youville, the first native Canadian to be elevated to sainthood, was born October 15, 1701 at Varennes, Quebec. Her father died when she was a young girl, leaving her family of six children in extreme poverty. Marguerite grandfather provided her the means to study with the Ursuline sisters and she obtained good education. Upon her return home, she became an invaluable support to her mother and undertook the education of her brothers and sisters. At age 21, she got married to François You de la Découverte, who was a decadent and immoral man. She soon came to realize that her husband had no interest in making a home life. His frequent absences and illegal liquor trading with the Indians caused her great suffering. She was pregnant with her sixth child when François became seriously ill. She faithfully cared for him until his death in 1730. Four of her six children had died in infancy. She worked hard to support herself and her children, devoted much of her time to the Confraternity of the Holy Family in charitable activities. She provided the education of her two sons, who later became priests. Marguerite died on December 23, 1771 and will always be remembered as a loving mother who served Jesus Christ in the poor. Marguerite was one woman, but this daughter of the Church had a vision of caring for the poor that has spread far and wide. Today, her mission is courageously carried on in a spirit of hope by the Sisters of Charity of Montreal, "Grey Nuns" and their sister communities: the Sisters of Charity of St. Hyacinthe, the Sisters of Charity at Ottawa, the Sisters of Charity of Quebec, the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart (Philadelphia) and the Grey Sisters of the Immaculate Conception (Pembroke).
INTERCESSORY PRAYER St Marguerite d”Youville, during your lifetime you opened your heart and home to every type of human in misery. Listen with compassion to my prayer petition. I count on you to plead with the God of Love to grant the favor I now seek with confidence and trust. Amen. |