Mother Teresa, in full St. Teresa of Calcutta, original name Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic congregation of women dedicated to the poor, particularly to the destitute of India. She was the recipient of numerous honours, including the 1979 Nobel Prize for Peace. The daughter of an ethnic Albanian grocer, she went to Ireland in 1928 to join the Sisters of Loreto at the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary and sailed only six weeks later to India as a teacher. She taught for 17 years at the order’s school in Calcutta (Kolkata). In 1946 Sister Teresa experienced her “call within a call,” which she considered divine inspiration to devote herself to caring for the sick and poor. Mother Teresa adopted Indian citizenship. In 1952 she established Nirmal Hriday (“Place for the Pure of Heart”), a hospice where the terminally ill could die with dignity. Her order also opened numerous centers serving the blind, the aged, and the disabled. Under Mother Teresa’s guidance, the Missionaries of Charity built a leper colony, called Shanti Nagar (“Town of Peace”), near Asansol, India. In 1962 the Indian government awarded Mother Teresa the Padma Shri, one of its highest civilian honours, for her services to the people of India. In 1979 she received the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work, and the following year the Indian government conferred on her the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian honour. A worsening heart condition forced her retirement. At the time of Mother Teresa’s death, her order included hundreds of centers in more than 90 countries with some 4,000 nuns and hundreds of thousands of lay workers. Within two years of her death, the process to declare her a saint was begun, and Pope John Paul II issued a special dispensation to expedite the process of canonization. She was canonized by Pope Francis I on September 4, 2016. Although Mother Teresa displayed cheerfulness and a deep commitment to God in her daily work, her letters (which were collected and published in 2007) indicate that she did not feel God’s presence in her soul during the last 50 years of her life. The letters reveal the suffering she endured and her feeling that Jesus had abandoned her at the start of her mission. Continuing to experience a spiritual darkness, she came to believe that she was sharing in Christ’s Passion, particularly the moment in which Christ asks, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Despite this hardship, Mother Teresa integrated the feeling of absence into her daily religious life and remained committed to her faith and her work for Christ.
INTERCESSORY PRAYER Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, you allowed the thirsting love of Jesus on the Cross to become a living flame within you, and so became the light of His love to all. Obtain from the Heart of Jesus (here make your request). Teach me to allow Jesus to penetrate and possess my whole being so completely that my life, too, may radiate His light and love to others. Amen. Immaculate Heart of Mary, Cause of Our Joy, pray for me. Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, pray for me.
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Saint Rose had a desire to help and pray for the poor even from a young age. She began a life of penance in her parents’ house and was very generous to the poor. At the age of 10 years, she became a Secular Franciscan and soon began preaching in the streets about sin and the sufferings of Jesus. There was a time in Rose’s native city, Viterbo, when there was a revolt against the pope. When Rose sided with the Pope, she and her family were exiled from the city. She was only allowed to return once the victory was on the Pope’s side. When Rose was 15 years old, she tried to found a religious community but it failed. As a result, she returned to a life of prayer and penance in her father’s home. She died in 1251 and was canonized in 1457 as the patron saint of people in exile, people rejected by religious orders, Fransiscan youth, Viterbo, and florists.
INTERCESSORY PRAYER Saint Rose, you led a strong faithful life at a very young age. Help us live life with God as you did. Pray for us to be generous and kind as you were. Amen. Born near the middle of the sixth century into a noble Roman family, Gregory received a classical education in liberal arts and the law. He also had strong religious formation from his devout family, particularly from his mother, Silvia, also a canonized saint. By around age 30, Gregory had advanced to high political office in Rome, during what was nevertheless a period of marked decline for the city. Some time after becoming the prefect of the former imperial capital, Gregory chose to leave the civil administration to become a monk during the rise of the Benedictine order He returned to Rome after six years of service as the Papal representative to the eastern Church and empire. Rome faced a series of disasters caused by flooding in 589, followed by the death of Pope Pelagius II the next year. Gregory, then serving as abbot in a monastery, reluctantly accepted his election to replace him as the Bishop of Rome. Despite this initial reluctance, however, Pope Gregory began working tirelessly to reform and solidify the Roman liturgy, the disciplines of the Church, the military and economic security of Rome, and the Church's spreading influence in western Europe. In undertaking these works, Pope Gregory saw himself as the “servant of the servants of God.” He was the first of the Bishops of Rome to popularize the now-traditional Papal title, which referred to Christ's command that those in the highest position of leadership should be “the last of all and the servant of all.”
Even as he undertook to consolidate Papal power and shore up the crumbling Roman west, St. Gregory the Great maintained a humble sense of his mission as a servant and pastor of souls, from the time of his election until his death. INTERCESSORY PRAYER Father, you guide your people with kindness and govern us with love. By the prayers of Saint Gregory give the spirit of wisdom to those you have called to lead your Church. May growth of your people in holiness be the eternal joy of your shepherds. Through Christ our Lord, Amen. Blessed John Francis Burte was born in Rambervillers, France. At age 16, Blessed John Burte became a Franciscan and taught theology to young friars, monks that are devoted to religious life. He later became the guardian of a large convent in Paris until he was arrested and kept captive. During this time, the Civil Constitution of the Clergy required all priests to take an oath which forced them to deny their faith. Blessed John Francis Burte along with bishops, priests and other religious victims refused to take an oath and therefore they were killed. Although their martyrdom spans several years, they are all later known as the victims of the French Revolution or as Blessed John Francis Burte and his Companions because they all gave their lives for the same belief.
INTERCESSORY PRAYER O God, help us through the intersection of Blessed John Francis Burte to remain strong in our faith especially during difficult times. Help us to turn to you and seek your guidance. Amen. St Giles was born to a wealthy noble family in Athens Greece. He was very deep in his faith from a young age. When his parents died, he gave all their money to the poor, and lived on as a hermit in God’s name.
St Giles conducted many miracles, and he became famous throughout Greece. To avoid the fame and adulation, he left Greece for France in c. 683, where he lived in a cave in an extremely impoverished lifestyle. Much to his chagrin, St Giles became known throughout France as well as a miracle worker, and many followers gathered outside the cave. The king of France built a monastery in honor of St Giles, so the followers would have a place to stay. A small town grew around the monastery, and St Giles established hospitals for all of the sick and crippled who were brought to him to be healed. Therefore, St Giles became the patron saint of the physically disabled. Even after his death around 724, people still came to pray at the monastery where he had been enshrined. INTERCESSORY PRAYER O God, we beseech You to grant us through the merits and intercession of St. Giles to flee from the vanity and praise of this world, to carefully avoid all occasions of sin, to cleanse our hearts from all wickedness by a sincere confession, to leave this world in Your love and rich in good works, and to find You gracious on the day of judgment. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. St. Joseph of Arimathea was a 1st century saint who is most known for being the disciple of Jesus who buried him in his own tomb. He was a stern follower of Jesus Christ, and despite being a wealthy Israelite, he was known as a good and just man who was seeking the kingdom of God. Though he was a high priest and a member of the Sanhedrin, he did not adhere to the condemnation of Jesus and was most likely not present from the meeting that sentenced Jesus to death. Joseph was deeply troubled by the Crucifixion of his Master and decided that he should do his part by providing the burial place for Christ’s body. His faith and love for Jesus Christ was so deeply rooted that he became unmindful of the dangers and gained the courage to boldly ask Pilate the permission to bury Jesus’ body. Many biblical historians believe that Joseph fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy that the Messiah would be buried in the grave of a rich man. His feast day is celebrated on August 31 as the patron saint of undertakers, morticians, and funeral directors.
INTERCESSORY PRAYER Dear Lord Jesus, we pray for the intercession and guidance of Saint Joseph of Arimathea, that we will see clearly as he did and not be spiritually blind as so many of his brethren were. Amen. Euphrasia Eluvathingal was born on 17 October 1877 in a Syro-Malabar Catholic Nasrani family in Kattoor, Irinjalakuda, Thrissur district, in Kerala. Rosa was the eldest child of wealthy landowner Cherpukaran Antony and his wife Kunjethy. She was baptized on 25 October 1877 in Our Lady of Carmel, Forane Church, Edathiruthy to pray the Rosary and to participate in the Qurbana. At the age of nine, Rosa is said to have experienced an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which led her to make a commitment never to marry, and to commit her entire life to God. When she was ten, she entered the boarding school attached to the first indigenous Carmelite community in the Syro-Malabar Church, founded by Saints Kuriakose Elias Chavara and Leopold Beccaro in 1866 at Koonammavu in Ernakulam District. As she grew older, Rosa wanted to enter the Sisters of the Mother of Carmel, who followed the Rule of the Third Order of the Discalced Carmelites. Her father opposed this, as he wanted to arrange a marriage for her with the son of another prosperous family in the region. Seeing her resolve, her father eventually relented and accompanied her to the convent. In 1897, Mar John Menachery, the first native Bishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Thrissur, established a Carmelite Convent in Ambazakad. On 9 May, he brought all five inmates from Koonammavu who belonged to his diocese. The next day Rosa was received as a postulant, taking the name Sister Euphrasia of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and was admitted to the novitiate of the congregation on 10 January 1898. Her constant poor health, however, threatened her stay in the convent, as the superiors considered dismissing her. Euphrasia is said to have had a vision of the Holy Family, at which point the illness she had long felt ceased. Euphrasia made her solemn profession on 24 May 1900, during the blessing of the newly founded St. Mary's Convent, Ollur, or Chinna Roma. After she took her perpetual vows, she was appointed assistant to the Novice Mistress. Though frail in health, in 1904 Euphrasia was appointed Novice Mistress of the congregation. She held this position for nine years until 1913, when she was made Mother Superior of the convent, where she was to live the rest of her life, serving as Mother Superior until 1916. She endeavored to lead a life of constant prayer and of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, becoming known to many people as the Praying Mother.] Euphrasia spent much of her day in the convent chapel before the Blessed Sacrament, to which she had a strong devotion. She also nourished a great love and devotion for the Virgin Mary. Euphrasia died on 29 August 1952 at St. Mary's Convent. Her tomb has become a pilgrimage site as miracles have been reported by some of the faithful.
INTERCESSORY PRAYER O God, loving father, we sincerely thank your great benevolence, for the very gift of St. Euphrasia who attained sanctity through constant prayer and ascetic life. Saint Euphrasia, dearly beloved daughter of Mother Mary, we entrust to you, each one of us, Mother Church and the whole world. Help us to offer our sufferings at the foot of the cross, and to progress in life's journey trusting in divine providence. Teach us to seek the Kingdom of God and his justice. Guide us to grow in the love of God and love of others through prayer and a life of mortification. In all the critical situations of life especially in this particular need. St. Euphrasia, we plead your intercession. Amen. Not much is known about Saint Bartholomew the Apostle. The name “Bartholomew” means “son of Talmai” or “son of the furrows”. Saint Bartholomew is one of Jesus’s twelve apostles as mentioned in the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) and in the book of Acts from the bible. Jesus spoke of Saint Bartholomew saying “Here is a true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him” (John 1:47). When he asked Jesus how he knew him, Jesus replied saying, “I saw you under the fig tree” (John 1:48). To this, Bartholomew answered, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel” (John 1:49). Hearing this, Jesus said “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this” (John 1:50). Bartholomew did indeed “see greater things”. He was one of those Jesus to appeared on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias after Jesus’s resurrection (John 21:1-14). He was also a witness to Jesus’s ascension (Acts 1:4, 12, 13). Afterward, it is said that Saint Bartholomew went on a mission to preach in India and then, with the apostle Jude (Thaddeus), preached in and brought Christianity to Armenia. There are three different accounts of Saint Bartholomew’s death in Armenia: The first one speaks of him being beaten unconscious, then being tossed into a sea and drowning, the second one states that he was crucified upside down, and the third saying that he was skinned alive and beheaded, in which all three versions the saint became a an honorable martyr. Saint Bartholomew’s martyrdom is commemorated on September 11th and his feast day is August 24th. He is known as the patron of plasterers.
INTERCESSORY PRAYER O Jesus, Saint Bartholomew's greatest desire was to know the truth. When first informed about You, his initial reaction was, "How can anything good come from Nazareth?" But as soon as he met You, he wanted to become one of Your disciples. You said of him, "Here is a man in whom there is no deception." I ask him to pray against the deceptions that are influencing me and the people I know. Help us to experience Your affirmation when we are honest, give us courage to resist lying as a means of self-protection, and inspire our minds to recognize the truth when we hear it. Saint Bartholomew, pray for us. Amen. St. Sabina was born in the 1st century AD in Rome to Herod Metallarius. She was converted to Christianity by her Syrian slave, Serapia. During the Christian persecution in Rome by the Emperor, Serapia was murdered for her faith. After her death, Sabina took her remains and buried them in her family tomb. It is believed that Sabina was murdered for her faith about a month later. When questioned she said Christ is my God, I adore Him and serve Him; to Him alone I must sacrifice, Her humble confession of faith obtained for her the grace of martyrdom; she was beheaded and all her goods confiscated. She was later canonized as a saint and her feast day is on August 29. In 430, her relics were taken to Aventine Hill to a basilica on the site
INTERCESSORY PRAYER O St. Sabina, you were in a time where Christianity was persecuted and ridiculed, but you still believed in God. Help us to be like you in these times, to not give up on God and to pray daily. We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen ! St. Augustine of Hippo was born on November 13, in 354 AD. He was born in Thagaste in Africa. He is also recognized as Saint Augustine. Saint Augustine was a theologian, philosopher, and the bishop of Hippo Regius. His writings influence people of philosophy. He was one of the most important people of the Latin Church. His memorial is celebrated on the day of his death, August 28th. Augustine is known as the patron saint of printers, brewers, theologians. Right before the death of St.Augustine, a German tribe had him converted to Arianiam, The German tribe besieged Hippo in the spring of 430, when Augustine became very ill. They tried to heal him by doing a miracle and this took place during the siege. Soon after he died, the Germans lifted up the siege of Hippo, but when they returned back to the city they burned it. They burned everything except St.Augustine's library and cathedral , which they didn’t bother. St. Augustine's body was moved to Cagliari, by the bishops expelled from Africa. In 720 AD, the remains of St. Augustin was moved again by Peter, bishop of Pavia. In January of 1327, Pope John XXII appointed the Augustian guardians of the tomb of Augustine, which was made again in 1362 and carved with bas-reliefs of scenes from Augustine’s life. In 1842, a small piece of St.Augustine's right arm was secured from Pavia and returned to Annaba.
INTERCESSORY PRAYER O Lord my God, I believe in you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Insofar as I can, insofar as you have given me the power, I have sought you. I became weary and I labored. O Lord my God, my sole hope, help me to believe and never to cease seeking you. Amen. |