SAINT JEROME EMILIANI
SAINT JEROME-Scripture
SAINT JOHN-Beloved Apostle
SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIZER-Precursor
SAINT JOHN BERCHMANS-Model
SAINT JOHN BOSCO
SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM-Great
SAINT JOHN CLIMACUS-Exemplary
SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS-Outstanding
SAINT JOHN DAMASCENE-Scholar
SAINT JOHN GUALBERT-Exemplary
SAINT JOHN VIANNEY-Exemplary
SAINT JOSEPH-Patron
SAINT JULIA BILLIART-Faithful
SAINT JULIUS I-Pope
SAINT JUSTIN MARTYR-Great

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SAINT JEROME EMILIANI-
Religious Founder and Patron of Orphans/1486-1537/
Feast:Feb.8-#52

fr:Dear Saint,you went from a life of worldliness to a life of total concern 
for the welfare of orphans and abandoned children.So anxious were 
you about their spiritual well-being as well,that you were the first to teach 
such children our Holy Faith by means of set questions and answers.
*You undoubtedly realized that for the unlettered this is the best system to 
receive and retain the truths of Faith.

St:In my youthful exuberance and chase after vanities,I became a 
Venetian soldier and took part in a local war.I was taken prisoner and 
through Mary's special intervention set free.I then began a new kind of 
life,a total Christian life,
Christ-centered and expressing itself in compassion.
*Our Lord showed concern for children and said:"
Let the children come to Me.
" Yet there are still very many children who are materially poor.
And how many others are spiritually deprived and neglected! 
Yet think of all the money that is spent and all the energy that is 
expended on luxuries,entertainments,and frivolous pursuits!

fr:You were ordained a Priest when you reached the age of thirty-seven.
But then without delay you threw yourself fully into the work that is 
connected with your name.
You established the very first orphanage and then many others,as well 
as a hospital and a house for fallen women.

St:When God wants you to do something,you can count on receiving 
whatever you need to get the work done.
After a while I considered it important to obtain full-time cooperators 
who were also Religious.
So I founded the Congregation of Clerics Regular of Somascha.

fr:You died as you had learned to live.There was an epidemic 
and naturally you were min-istering to the sick.
You too became a victim of the plague and while transporting a victim 
to a place of burial you yourself died.

pr:Dearest Jesus,be to me not a Judge but a Savior.

fr:Dear Saint,you know that even in our age which prides itself on being 
enlightened,many children are still abused and abandoned,subjected to 
abominable living conditions and given intolerable bad example.
*Pray that parents may recognize their privilege of bringing up 
"children of God" 
who should become followers of Jesus,Son of God and Son of Mary.

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SAINT JEROME-
Scripture Scholar and Eminent Translator/342-420/
Feast:Sept,30-#27

fr:Dear Saint,the mere mention of your name makes us think gratefully of 
your extraordinary knowledge of,scholarship in,and love for 
Holy Scripture.Your outstanding achievement was the translation of the 
Bible into Latin from the original tongues.
*You are in a sense responsible for the great advance in Bible study 
among Catholics,and your very perceptive maxim is widely quoted and 
endorsed:"Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ."

St:I was born in a small town near Dalmatia and gifted by God with a 
keen mind and a love for study.I learned Greek and Latin at Rome but 
became worldly-minded for a time.
*Thanks to God's mercy,however,I overcame this lapse and finally 
accepted Baptism,becoming a member of Christ's Body and gaining a 
spiritual rebirth.I withdrew to a desert of Syria for four years,leading a 
life of sacred study and holy contemplation.

fr:At that time you also learned Hebrew and then went on to Antioch 
where you were ordained a Priest.Then at the invitation of 
Pope Damasus you produced the famous translation of the 
Bible known as the Vulgate and acknowledged by the Church as the 
only "authentic" translation.
*You also wrote many Biblical commentaries in which you made use of a 
wide range of linguistic and topographical materials to attain the meaning 
of the sacred text.You were also a master of the art of letter writing.

St:I must confess that I was a restless traveler as well as a restless student.
That was my nature and God was patient with me.I ultimately settled in 
Bethlehem,where most of my biblical work was done.
*Yet God gave me the grace to be aware that to put His word into 
practice is better than simply to read it.Hence,
I tried to stay in union with the Lord through prayers like this:

pr:0 Lord,show Your mercy to me and gladden my heart,
I am like the man on the way to jericho who was overtaken by robbers,
wounded,and left half-dead:
O Good Samaritan,come to my aid.I am like the sheep that went astray:
O Good Shepherd,seek me out and bring me home in accord with Your will.
Let me dwell in Your house all the days of my life and praise 
You for evet and ever with those who are there.

fr:Dear Saint,how grateful we should be to you for,as it were,
"opening the Holy Scriptures" for us and making them better understood 
and loved by us.
*Inspire us to take God's Word seriously and put it into practice in our 
lives.
Help Scripture scholars to interpret that Word with the aid of the Church,
so that they will impart to all the true message of the Bible.

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SAINT JOHN-
Beloved Apostle and Witness to the Divine Word/1st century/
Feast: Dec.27-#05

fr:Dear Saint,your name means "Yahweh is gracious." 
You were Christ's beloved disciple and you stressed the Divinity of the 
Word of God Who became Man.
*You have recorded for us more words of the God-Man than any other 
evangelist.
What a treasury of thoughts you have left us in your writings!

St:I am sometimes pictured as a sweet spineless person resting lazily on 
Christ's breast.
Yet do not forget that my brother James and I were nicknamed 
"sons of thunder" by the Master,and assisted by our mother we urged 
Christ to give us high positions in His Kingdom.
This was before we knew the substance of our Lord's spiritual teachings,
and I regret making such a foolish request.
*However,I do not regret stressing the fact that Christ,in Holy Communion,
truly gives us His Body and Blood.How mistaken are those who claim 
that bread and wine are mere symbols at the Eucharist,
and that the Mass is a mere dead memorial honoring Christ as we honor 
prominent presidents with statues and feasts.

fr:Dear Saint,your entire Gospel and other writings are virtually a prayer 
of adoration and love.
Therefore,it is easy to put in the form of prayer some of your inspired 
words.

pr:Heavenly Father,we proclaim what was from the beginning,
the Word of Life,which we have heard,seen,and touched.
What we have seen and heard we proclaim,that we may have fellowship 
with the Father and with His Son,
Jesus Christ.God is Love,and he who abides in love abides in God,
and God in him.

fr:Dear Saint,you were a true self-giving lover,not a selfish lover 
who in reality has no love at all.In our day,regrettably,
there seem to be many of the latter type.
*Teach us to express our love for God in constant obedience to His will,
in a self-sacrificing way.
Make us also prove our love for God by practical service of 
and selfless love for our neighbor.Such charity shows,as you recalled,
that we are true disciples of Jesus Christ Who went about doing good.

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SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIZER-
Precursor of Christ/1st century/Feast:June 24-#03

fr:Dear Saint,cousin of our Divine Lord,can any greater praise be given 
you than that of the Son of God become Man? "There is no man born of 
woman greater than John." 
*You yourself witnessed to Jesus when still in the womb,when Mary the 
true Christ-bearer visited Elizabeth.Humble and self-effacing,
you prepared the way for Jesus Who is the Way,the Truth,and the Life.

St:Like Mary,what can I do but repeat:He Who is mighty has done great 
things in me.
So my soul proclaims the greatnees of the Lord.It was my privilege to 
see the Holy Spirit descend like a dove and come to rest upon Jesus.
*I am also grateful to have died as a martyr,as a witness murdered by 
Herod Antipas whom I had reprimanded for his adulterous life.

fr:Dear Saint,you did not leave us any formal prayer composed by you,
but how prayerful--as praise of the Son of God--are your words.

pr:My Lord and my God,
I am a voice in the desert;make straight the way of the Lord.
I am not the Messiah.
The One Who is to come after me,the strap,
of Whose sandal I am not worthy to unfasten,He is the Messiah.
Look! there is the Lamb of God.This is God's chosen One.
He ranks ahead of me because He was before me.
I baptize only with water.(Jn 1:1-36)

fr:Dear Saint,how greatly we need to heed your call and follow your 
example today.
Pray for us that by our conduct and our words we may lead others to 
the Way,the Truth,and etenlal Life.

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SAINT JOHN BERCHMANS-
Model of Simplicity and Obedience/1599-1621/
Feast:Nov.20-#63

fr:Dear Saint,the simplicity and singlemind-edness of your life are 
evident in the words you uttered on your deathbed.
Clasping your Crucifix,your Rosary,and your Religious Rule,you 
exclaimed:"These are my three treasures.
With these I will gladly die."*You thus showed how a deep love for 
Christ,Mary,and your Religious vocation enabled you to attain sanctity 
by your fidelity in the everyday duties of your Religious and student life.

St:God was good and brought me into a family of devout Catholics.
After my mother's death,my father became a Priest and two of my 
brothers and sisters became Religious.
I grew up with the idea that God's will was manifested to me in the 
legitimate commands of parents and superiors.and I combined the 
external obedience to these with submission to the interior guidance of 
the Holy Spirit.

fr:The Holy Spirit (and probably Saint Ignatius) prompted you to continue 
your studies in Mechlin where the Jesuits had established a new college.
At the age of eighteen,you travelled to Rome on foot for further studies.
*Your teachers regarded you as very talented.After three years of 
impeccable conduct as a scholastic,you were asked to engage in a 
public debate.
But you were stricken from an undiagnosed sickness and were called to 
heaven at the age of twenty-one.

St:I was always devoted to Jesus the Priest-Victim Whose sacrifice on the 
Cross is not merely remembered but as it were broadcast in a living 
manner in the Mass.
I also spent much time in adoration before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

fr:There is a captivating simplicity about your holy life.
You did well any work entrusted to you,
and you did it for God's glory and the sanctification of souls.

St:Simplicity is the mark of Christ's teaching and practice.
How simple and understandable is the "Our Father" which He gave us.
It tells us that God is our infinitely loving Father and we must honor Him,
work for the establishment of His Reign in us,and always do what is 
His will.
We must pray for our needs of body and soul,
and forgive those who have offended us.

fr:You mean that Jesus teaches us our fundamental obligations by the 
words of the prayer that give honor to God and at the same time ask for 
His help.

pr:My Lord,You know that You are all I ever had,
and all I have now in this life.
Do not abandon me,
my Lord jesus.

fr:Dear Saint,you know that in our day obedience has become something 
of a forgotten virtue.Everyone emphasizes doing one's own thing.
*Teach us how to reconcile this desire for self-fulfillment with obedience 
to God's will.Make us truly know ourselves so that we can give 
wholehearted obedience to the vocation that God has given each of us,
which will result in our truest and most legitimate fulfillment.

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SAINT JOHN BOSCO-
Apostle of Youth and Patron of Editors/1815-1888/
Feast:Jan.31-#76

Follower:Dear Saint,the tone of your whole life of sanctity was dictated 
by your sincere and Christian love for youth.
And it was by a life-long ministry to youth that you attained holiness.
*Born only two months after the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of 
Waterloo,you lived in Piedmont,Italy.
Your country was still reeling from the after-effects of the Napoleonic 
wars and just starting to feel the pernicious (as well as beneficial) 
side-effects of the Industrial Revolution.

St:I was fortunate to have a devout mother who early taught me love for 
God and helped me get educated even though we were very poor.
I was thus able to receive and embrace God's call to the Priesthood.
*Once ordained,I soon became aware of the sad plight of countless city 
youths who were burdened with destitution,devoid of home influence,
and deprived of religious instruction.You would call them 
"juvenile delinquents." 
But to me they were children of God and I set up houses called Oratories 
where they had the opportunity to practice Religion-- 
but were never forced to do so.

fr:It has been said that your guiding principle was love and respect for 
each boy as a person.
You thus evolved a system of preventive rather than repressive discipline.
*You sought to make things attractive and you were an enlightened 
innovator in education.You also set up printing presses,wrote pamphlets 
about the Faith,and had the boys print them.In this way,they helped 
spread the Good News and at the same time learned a trade.

St:I always had great devotion to that mildest of men,
Saint Francis de Sales.
So I called those who came to help me Salesians.
In time,they formed a Congregation.
*Then I was aided by Saint Mary Mazzarello in taking care of homeless 
girls.
Out of this came the Daughters of Mary,
Help of Christians.

fr:You had unshakable trust in God.This gave rise to your calm approach 
to any problem.
You always stressed the one thing necessary,as is shown by your motto:
"Give me souls and keep the rest."

St:God was also good in giving me a love for the Blessed Virgin.
She was the source of help in many situations.

pr:Mary,powerful Virgin,you are the mighty and glorious protector of the 
Church.
In the midst of our anguish,our struggles,and our distress,defend us 
from the Power of the enemy,and at the hour of our death receive 
our soul in heaven.

fr:Dear Saint,you know how many of our youth today are still suffering 
from the effects of religious ignorance,destitution,and loss of family ties 
as well as from the unrelenting bad example given in the media.
*Help them to turn to Christ and His Mother and change their lives.
Teach us all to show them the kind of love you showed to such youth 
in your day.

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SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM-
Great Orator and Outstanding Bishop/349-407/
Feast:Sept.13-#28

fr:Dear Saint,you were a towering figure in antiquity and a living 
influence in your own time.
The title "Chrysostom" means golden mouth,and it was given you on 
account of the eloquence and glory of your preaching.
*In a time when the spoken word was as effective as the printed word 
has become in our day,you gave your hearers "books" filled with 
instruction,information,advice,warning,and consolation.

St:I was born in Antioch and received excellent instruction in oratory.
However,
I learned greater wisdom while I lived a contemplative life outside the city.
*Some serve God in retirement,in what is termed the contemplative life.
Others are called to serve as shepherds of souls.But both have the same 
obligation to live in prayerful union with God.

fr:I recall that you were made a Bishop of the great city of Constantinople 
and spoke out fearlessly against the immorality of prominent people in 
your diocese.As a result,you underwent persecution,exile,and physical 
and mental sufferings.
You bore them all with wonderful patience and for the love of the 
Crucified Savior.

St:As many have rightly said,we can win more souls for Christ by 
prayerful aceptance of sufferings than by eloquent preaching or by 
natural ability.
For God brings much good out of sufferings of every kind.

pr:0 God,loose,remit,and forgive my sins against You,whether in word,
in deed,or in thought; and whether they are willingly or unwillingly,
knowingly or unknowingly committed,forgive them all.
For You are good and You love all human beings.

fr:Dear Saint,Pope Pius X proclaimed you Patron of Preachers,
not because of your powers as an orator but because of the humble 
and loving heart that underlay all your preaching.
*Teach us to give ourselves to God with a similar humble and loving 
heart and to proclaim His Good News to others through our words and 
actions.

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SAINT JOHN CLIMACUS-
Exemplary Religious and Scholarly Hermit/579-649/
Feast:Mar.30-#31

fr:Dear Saint,we call you "Climacus" because you wrote a very famous 
book entitled The Ladder(Climax) to Heaven,which describes the thirty 
degrees to religious perfection.
*You were a Palestinian,but unlike another Palestinian--the rich young 
man of the Gospel-you acepted Christ's call.
Giving up your possessions,you followed Him more closely.

St:I chose to live a solitary life at the foot of Mount Sinai where so many 
Divine things took place,where Moses received the Ten Commandments.
I remained there for forty years in loving union with God,
meditating on the Scriptures and praying for my fellow human beings.
*Eventually other hermits in the area begged me to become their head.
I really did not want to assume the office of Abbot but I did so only 
because 
I came to the conclusion that it was what God willed.

fr:As a result,your holiness became widely known.
Pope Gregory the Great wrote to ask for your prayers and he also sent 
useful things for the hospital which stood near Mount Sinai.
It was altogether natural,then,that you should write a book containing 
hints for ascending the Mountain of Christian Perfection.

St:I tried to set down simple,short admonitions adding examples 
which are greater strmulants than abstract reasonings.
For instance,it is of the utmost importance to live in union with God.
*This does not mean,however,that we must recite prayers all day long.
We can obtain the same effect by renewing our intention,in our work 
and in all circumstances,to do all things and suffer all things out of love 
for God and the good of souls.

pr:Prayer is a holy violence which we use with God.
The fruit of prayer is mastery over the passions and over the enemies of 
our salvation.
Do not become weary or give in to sloth,but be strong in your combats.
Call constantly on the Heavenly King for help,and you will have 
God Himself as a Teacher in your prayer.

fr:Dear Saint,Many moderns are human-centered and earth-centered 
without being God-centered first.
Even when they believe in God,they live as if they didn't.
*Inspire all of us to see God in all things and to fulfill His holy will 
every day.
Help us to cultivate a solid prayerlife which will be of great help in our 
ascent on the Ladder to Heaven.

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SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS-
Outstanding Mystical Writer and Doctor/1542-1591/
Feast:Dec.14-#54

fr:Dear Saint,you are more renowned for your mystical writings than for 
your life.
Even non-Christians are attracted by your literary prowess and your 
deep spirituality.
*Your holiness shines through every page of your writings.
One of your guiding principles was:"Live in the world as if only 
God and your soul were in it; then your heart will never be made captive 
by any earthly thing."

St:Actually--as you know--I attained no renown during life but only 
after death.
And the secret of my spiritual success is the grace of God and devout 
parents.
From them I learned the special devotion to the Crucified Lord and 
His Mother that helped me throughout life.

fr:We also know your great love for the compassionate Savior 
Who so greatly loved the poor,which you showed even as a youth by 
serving the ailing poor in a hospice.
*After your studies,you became a Carmelite 
and practiced great austerities,inspired by the all-holy One Who died on 
the Cross for sinners.

St:Shortly after being ordained a Priest I had the great privilege of 
meeting the extraordinary Saint Teresa of Avila,who was some thirty 
years older than I.
Although she sought my help in her reform movement,it was she who 
inspired me both for my own sanctification and for the reform of the 
Carmelites.

fr:You were the first member of the Reformed Order of Carmelite Friars.
You were engaged in many works as superior,prior,and vicar general,
but you managed to remain always in loving union with your 
Divine Master.
*You also suffered much at the hands of some of your more irascible 
brothers in religion.
But through it all you remained jmperturbable and forgiving.

St:my conduct was guided by Christ on the Cross.
It was only fitting that I should carry my little cross in union with Him..
Christ overshadowed the world with love and compassion--and it was 
through the Cross that He did so..
I  felt that I as His follower should do likewise.

pr:My God,You still will not take away what You have given me in 
Your only Son,Jesus Christ.In Him,
You have given me all that I desire.You will,therefore,no longer delay 
--and this is my joy --Provided that I wait for You....Mine are the heavens,
mine is the earth and mine are the peoples;mine are the just and mine are 
the sinners;mine are the angels;mine is the mother of God --God 
Himself is mine,for me--for mine is Christ and everything is for me.

fr:Dear Saint,self-renunciation and love of the Cross are the hallmarks of 
your spirituality.
They are two characteristics which are foreign to the modern mentality.
*Teach us to cultivate these two traits in our lives and to move others to 
do likewise so that we may spread the knowledge and love of the 
Crucified to our contemporaries.

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SAINT JOHN DAMASCENE-
Scholar,Hymnologist,and Preacher/c.650-c.750/
Feast:Dec.4-#32

fr:Dear Saint,you are known as the last of the Fathers of the Church.
Born in Damascus (whence the name Damascene),
you gave up a lucrative post at the court of the Mohammedan Ruler to 
become a priest-monk and live in obscurity.
*However,because of the turbulence of your epoch,you found it 
necessary to go about preaching and defending the Faith.As a resuit,
you are said to have written over 100 books.
One of these is entitled An Exposition of the Orthodox Faith and has been 
favorably compared with the great Summa of Saint Thomas Aquinas.

St:One of the problems I encountered and strove to eliminate was the 
movement that wanted to do away with images of Christ,Mary,
and other Saints.
This was called Iconoclasm.After reflecting on this point before God,
I set down all the arguments against it in three Discourses.
I pointed out that it is perfectly clear that we do not adore a picture which 
represents someone we want to remember,talk with,honor,and invoke in 
prayer.
With God's help,this pernicious movement was stamped out.

fr:Your writings on the Iconoclast controversy even today form the 
substance of the Church's teaching on images.
You were also a zealous collector of the thought of the Fathers who 
went before you.
*However,you are probably best remembered for your contributions to 
Christian worship.
You wrote many fine hymns including two Easter hymns that are still 
popular today:"Come You Faithful,Raise the Strain" and 
"The Day of Resurrection,,Earth Tell It Out Aloud."

St:I enjoyed writing hymns.
It is an excellent way by which the faithful can participate in the Lord's 
worship and at the same time be instructed in the Faith.
I am glad there is now more music in the Mass of the Roman Rite.

fr:You effectively defended the doctrine of the Real Presence in the 
Eucharist.
And you proclaimed the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin long before 
it was defined as a dogma of the Faith.
*This is what I especially like about you--your great devotion to Mary 
the Mother of God and to her pious parents,Saints Joachim and Ann.

St:It is sad that many Christians and even some Catholics have given up 
devotions to the Blessed Queen of heaven.This is all the more lamentable 
inasmuch as Mary has shown her great love for human beings and her 
desire to help by her many apparitions and miraculous interventions in 
the last few centuries.
*I wholeheartedly urge all Catholics to pray to her--as I did in prayers 
like the following.

pr:Hail Mary,hope of Christians,hear the Prayers of a sinner who loves 
you tenderly,who honors you in a special way,and who places in you 
the hope of salvation.
I owe you my life.You obtain for me the grace of your Divine Son.
You are the sure pledge of my eternal happiness.
Deliver me from the burden of my sins,take away the darkness of my 
mind,uproot the earthly affections of my heart,defeat the temptations of 
my enemies,and rule all the actions of my life,
so that with you as guide I may arrive at the eternal bliss of heaven.

fr:Dear Saint,thank you for your inspiring prayer.
Inspire us to say it often and entrust ourselves to our heavenly Mother 
all the days of our life.
*Help us to spread this devotion to others and to make use of images to 
grow in knowledge and love of Christ,
Mary,and the other Saints.

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SAINT JOHN GUALBERT-
Exemplary Religious and Zealous Reformer/990-1073/
Feast:July 12-#33

fr:Dear Saint,it has been said that the reformed Benedictine congregation 
which you founded was the most powerful single instrument in achieving 
the reforms of the eleventh century.
*All of this was set in motion by your conversion in unusual 
circumstances.In one graceladen instant,you changed from an uncaring 
nobleman to a dedicated servant of God and your fellow human beings.

St:That is true.My only brother Hugo,whom I loved,had been murdered.
In my anguish and fury,
I vowed to kill his murderer and found the occasion for it on a Good Friday.
*I cornered the murderer and drew my sword for the kill.But he fell on 
his knees and said:"By the Passion of Jesus Christ spare my life.
" This touched me so deeply that my revenge was swept away.
I embraced him,and went to a church to pray for him.

fr:What a grace it was for you and for the murderer! 
What you did shows clearly that you had learned to appreciate 
the sacrifice of Christ Who prayed for His executioners and all sinners:
"Father,forgive them." And you then became a Benedictine,
trying to atone for your worldly life.
*But after a while you sought greater solitude.
You visited a hermitage at Camaldoli and settled at Valle Ombrosa in 
Tuscany.
There you were joined by others and built a small monastery in which 
you observed the primitive Rule of Saint Benedict.

St:Such was my remorse over my former way of life that I would not 
accept even Minor Orders.
I strove to be kind to the poor and sent none away without some kind of 
alms.
*I never forgot how kind God had been toward me in bringing about my 
conversion and letting me enjoy a true Religious Life.
I thus founded many monasteries insisting on the observance of what 
should be demanded of genuine Religious.I also worked for the spiritual 
welfare of the lay people who lived in the vicinity.

pr:My soul has thirsted for the strong living God.
When shall I appear before Him?

fr:Dear Saint,pray that we also may experience a true spiritual renewal of 
Religious Life in our day.
May Religious refrain from living merely as social workers to the neglect 
of their own sanctification.
*Teach them to follow our Lord's example and the fundamental rule 
He proposed to us:"For them I sanctify and sacrifice Myself."

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SAINT JOHN VIANNEY-Exemplary Shepherd of Souls/
1786-1859/Feast:Aug.4-#72

fr:Dear Saint,your life is a shining example of the fact that more things 
are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.
By dint of assiduous prayer and rigorous mortifications,you were 
instrumental in effecting the conversion of an entire village and untold 
thousands who flocked to you.
*Born three years after the French Revolution,you were forced to 
practice your faith secretly for a time.
You decided to become a Priest but found studies difficult.
Ultimately,you were ordained (at twenty-nine) more because of your 
learning.
Yet your practical knowledge of life and the Faith was incalculable.

St:I must admit that my heart sank when I was appointed pastor of Ars,
a small village permeated with religious indifference and neglect.
But I never lost trust in God.
*His grace led me to spend many hours 
in prayer for my people,to do penance,to start teaching the children,
and to preach powerfully against the vices besetting the town.

fr:Thousands came to hear your divinely inspired sermons and to seek 
forgiveness and guidance in your confessional,
which became a "spiritual hospital." 
The devil expressed his hatred for you in fiery ways,
but you repelled him with prayer and mortification.
*Yours was a miraculous life,manifesting the power of God's grace 
when it finds no obstacle in a soul.
You were a model of humility coupled with absolute confidence in God.

St:What you praise in me is in reality a praise of God.
On your coins you have the expression "In God we trust!" 
If the majority of your people did that and became truly animated by the 
Spirit of God,your people would become outstanding in the world.
*This renown would be yours not because you possess powerful nuclear 
powers of destruction but because you would be "armed" with the 
all-powerful love of God that is poured into souls by the Holy Spirit Who 
is given to us.

fr:You also had a lifelong devotion to the Mother of God.
This reminds us that we are truly the children of the greatest of all 
mothers,the one above all women glorified.
*Some of your fellow Clergy were envious of you and called you a 
fanatic,an ignoramus,a charlatan and even a madman.
You forgave them,but your Bishop said 'I wish that all my clergy had a 
little of that madness in them."

pr:Behold me,O my God.I come to adore You,to praise,thank,
and love You,and to keep You company with all the Angels.

fr:Dear Saint,you know that our age sets a high price on knowledge of 
all kinds.
But it sets little store on fidelity to commitments resuiting from that 
knowledge.
*Teach us the knowledge that you had --the Wisdom of the Saints.
Grant that this simple and practical Wisdom will make us faithful to our 
vocation in life and bring us to loving union with the 
"Simple Man of Nazareth."

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SAINT JOSEPH-
Patron of the Universal Church/1st century/Feast: Mar.19-#02

fr:Dear Saint,so many things are unique in Jesus the God-Man,
in Mary His Mother,and also in you,in your life and role.
From all eternity you were chosen by God to be the breadwinner of the 
Holy Family,the protector of Jesus and Mary.
*Your marriage was unique and you were only the foster father of Jesus.
Not even one word spoken by you was preserved for us; we know very 
little about your life,and even less about your death in the presence of 
Jesus and Mary.
We are told that you were a just man,which means you were righteous 
in everything.
And you displayed unwavering obedience to God's will for you.

St:I have to thank God forever because He granted me the unbelievable 
privilege of being the head of a family in which one was the 
Son of God and another was the Mother of God.
You call me a "carpenter," but in my time on earth many carpenters had 
a great diversity of jobs.
*In the eyes of my countrymen,my marriage was a very ordinary one 
and very modest was my calling.But the way I see it now,it was sublime.
I now have the privilege of seeing God face to face and share in 
heavenly bliss.
*I also realize that I can intercede for people who are still on earth.
However lowly may be the function of people on earth,they must keep 
in mind that God likes to have them as members of the heavenly family 
forever.

pr:It is good to give thanks to the Lord,to sing Praise to Your Name,
Most High,
To proclaim Your kindness at dawn and Your faithfulness throughout 
the night.
The just man shall flourish like the palm tree,like a cedar of Lebanon 
shall he grow.
They that are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts 
of our God.(Ps 92:2-3,13-14)

fr:Dear Saint,teach us to be faithful to our state of life.
Obtain for us humility,self-ef-facement,and willingness to bear crosses.
Enable us to accomplish every work,no matter how humble,
out of love for God and fellow human beings.

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SAINT JULIA BILLIART-
Faithful Religious and Founder/1751-1816/Feast:Apr.8-#71

fr:Dear Saint,after your holy death the Bishop of Namur said in 
admiration of you:
"Mother Julia was one of those persons who can do more for the 
Church of God in a few short years than others can accomplish in a 
century." 
This is an apt summary of the kind of life you led and the goal of all 
your actions.
*From your earliest years you were endowed by God with a wonderful 
intelligence and a profound inclination to holiness.
You took a vow of chastity at fourteen but had to defer becoming a 
Religious in order to help your parents who were very poor.

St:The Lord was very good to me.
This did not mean that He would not permit me to undergo sufferings.
In fact,he wanted me to follow Him bearing a heavy cross,but one which 
He-- as He always does when we accept our cross unreservedly -- 
made light.
*I was twenty-two years old when I witnessed the attempted murder 
of my beloved father,and became paralyzed in the process.

fr:Instead of becoming discouraged and inactive,you became even more 
fervent and engaged in a spiritual battle with the Jacobins,who during the 
French Revolution initiated the Reign of Terror.
Your friends,the sixteen Nuns of Compiegne,were martyred at the 
guillotine.
*When calm was restored,you founded the Congregation of the 
Sisters of Notre Dame,who are well known in Europe and in the 
United States.

St:I was helped by God's grace and by Father Joseph Varin.He founded 
the "Society of the Fathers of the Faith," which took the place of the 
Jesuit Order which had been suppressed.

fr:The Notre Dame Sisters are known for their role as educators and for 
their work of giving religious instruction to children of very poor parents.
*One striking event in your life occurred at the end of a retreat preached 
by a Father Enfantin,of the "Fathers of the Faith." 
You were suddenly and completely cured of the paralysis which you 
had borne without complaint for twenty-two years.

St:After that,God gave me the means to consolidate and expand my 
Congregation and its works.
I worked hard to preserve what I considered to be willed by God,
namely,the typically modern character of the Institute.

pr:Dear Lord,there seems to be no room for me on earth.Please find a 
little corner in heaven for me where I can be at Peace!

fr:Dear Saint,you know the difficulties that beset many Orders and 
Congregations in our day.Vocations are scarce,morale is low,goals are 
in a state of flux,and operating costs are high.
*Pray for our Religious.Teach them to rely on supernatural rather than 
natural means.
Help them to effect a true renewal,founded on assiduous prayer,
unwavering faith,and total fidelity to God and the Order.

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SAINT JULIUS I-
Pope and Defender of the Faith/?-352/Feast:April 12-#21

fr:Dear Saint,those of us who have a special devotion to the Saints owe 
you a debt of gratitude.
For it was during your pontificate that the practice of keeping a catalogue 
of the feast days of Saints came into vogue.
*A Roman by birth,you were the Vicar of Christ from 337 to 352.
During this particularly trying period,you defended the one true Faith 
and protected orthodox Bishops.
*Christians were now free to practice their religion in the Roman Empire,
but the Arian heretics went about attacking the true defenders of 
Church teaching.

St:Yes,Arians had even begun to deceive the Emperor Constantine.
When he died,his Empire was divided among his three sons:
Constantine,Constantius,and Constans.
*Among those who suffered at the hands of the Arians and were 
defended by me were Saint Marcellus of Ancyra and Saint Athanasius,
powerful upholder of Christ's Divinity and Bishop of Alexandria.

fr:When you became Pope,the Arian Bishop of the East sent three 
deputies to accuse Athanasius of error.An investigation was held and he 
was declared innocent.
*The Arians then asked you to assemble a Council at Rome (341).
Once again Athanasius was found guiltless.

St:The Arians,however,refused to accept that verdict.Therefore,
I asked Emperor Constantius to convoke a Council at Sardica.
This Council also confirmed what had been solemnly proclaimed at the 
great General Council of Nicaea.
*I then wrote a letter to the Oriental Arian Bishops imploring them to 
accept the Apostolic Tradition which proclaims the right of the 
Holy See to be consulted.They had admitted this right in theory but 
slighted it in practice.
They remained in the main unmoved.

pr:May almighty God and His Son,our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
grant you His grace forever in recompense for your marvellous 
faith...May there abide for you and for those who come after you,
here and hereafter,the better things which eye has not seen,ear has not 
heard,nor the heart of man perceived but which God has prepared for 
those who love Him,through our Lord Jesus Christ,
in Whom to God almighty be glory forever and ever.

fr:Dear Saint,thank you for helping us recall the claims of the Pope in 
those early days of the Church.
How safe we Catholics are since we do not base our belief on Scripture 
alone privately interpreted.Rather we rely on Holy Scripture,
Tradition,and the guidance and interpretation of the Magisterium 
(Teaching Office) of the Church.
*Grant that Christians may accept and live by the Creed which we 
proclaim every Sunday at Mass.
Pray for a renewal faith and truly Christian conduct in our dry.

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SAINT JUSTIN MARTYR-
Great Philosopher and Saintly Theologian/100-165/
Feast:June 1-#15

fr:Dear Saint,you were born about the year 100 and became a 
wonderful light,casting out much darkness in that century.
At a time when the science of the defense of the Faith was so vitally 
needed,you became the first Christian Apologist.
*You started out as a lover of natural wisdom,a philosopher using reason 
alone.
For many years you sought true light,and you finally found it in 
Jesus Christ,the Light and the Life of all human beings for time and for 
eternity.

St:Unfortunately,I did not have the privilege of meeting any one of the 
Apostles.
However,since I lived in Palestine,I came in contact with the living 
tradition that came down from the Apostles and the saintly lives of many 
of their followers.
I also had the inspired and inspiring Gospels and Letters.Finally,
I received God's grace so that I embraced Jesus as my Savior.

fr:Upon your conversion you began your life of bearing public witness 
to Christ as an Apologist-one who defends the truth of the Faith before 
the people of the world.
*How greatly we need today religious teachers like yourself who are 
well-versed in philosophy (both ancient and modern) and at the same 
time are well acquainted with the Word of God (the inspired Scriptures) 
through dedicated study and assiduous prayer.

St:That is true.People must learn to reason correctly,seek proper 
information about Christ,
His teaching,His commission to teach all nations,and His entrusting of 
such instruction to the Teaching Authority of the Church which He 
founded.
*Not by bread alone does a person live but by every word that comes 
from the mouth of God.And this is transmitted to all people by the 
Church,the Bride of Christ.

fr:Dear Saint,you have also left us one of the earliest accounts of the 
celebration of the Eucharist as well as the text of an early 
Eucharistic Prayer.
The following prayer tells us the main purposes of the Eucharist.
May we also use it to sum up the main purposes of our life.

pr:We pray together for ourselves,for him who has just been enlightened,
and for all others in whatever place they may be,that we may obtain the 
knowledge of the truth,the grace to practice virtue,and the power to keep 
the commandments,so that we may deserve eternal salvation.

fr.Dear Saint,you clearly proved your faith and love for the Divine Master 
by openly disseminating Christian revelation,although you knew full well 
that you thereby risked being put to death.
Obtain for us the grace to follow you in your witness.
Grant us a love of Jesus and of the Faith that will impel us to give 
ourselves constantly that Jesus may be known and loved all over the 
world.

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