Paul of the Cross was an Italian Roman Catholic mystic, and founder of the Passionists. In his early years he taught catechism in churches near his home. Paul experienced a conversion to a life of prayer at the age of 19. Influenced by his reading of the "Treatise on the Love of God" by Francis de Sales and the direction he received from priests of the Capuchin Order, it became his lifelong conviction that God is most easily found in the Passion of Christ. When he was 26 years old, Paul had a series of prayer-experiences which made it clear to him that God was inviting him to form a community who would live an evangelical life and promote the love of God revealed in the Passion of Jesus. A legend tells that in a vision, he saw himself clothed in the habit he and his companions would wear. The first name Paul received for his community was "the Poor of Jesus"; later they came to be known as the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ, or the Passionists. His first companion was his own brother, John Baptist. After a short course in pastoral theology, the brothers were ordained to the priesthood by Pope Benedict XIII on 7 June 1727, in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome. After ordination they devoted themselves to preaching missions in parishes, particularly in remote country places where there were not a sufficient number of priests pastorally involved. Paul was known as one of the most popular preachers of his day, both for his words and for his generous acts of mercy.
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Returning to New York, the newly widowed Seton was received into the Catholic Church on March 14, 1805, by Matthew O'Brien, pastor of St. Peter's Church, then the city's only Catholic church. (Anti-Catholic laws had been lifted just a few years before.) A year later, she received the sacrament of confirmation from the Bishop of Baltimore, John Carroll, the only Catholic bishop in the nation. To support herself and her children, Seton had started an academy for young ladies, as was common for widows of social standing in that period. After news of her conversion to Catholicism spread, most parents withdrew their daughters from her school. On July 31, 1809, Seton established a religious community in Emmitsburg dedicated to the care of the children of the poor. This was the first congregation of religious sisters founded in the United States, and its school was the first free Catholic school in America.
Her life was notable for her devotion to the poor and elderly and for her humility and profound silence. Her cause for sainthood was declared upon discovery that her body was incorrupt.
Also see #20.John's father died in 1545, while John was still only around three years old. Two years later, John's older brother, Luis, died, probably as a result of malnourishment due to the poverty to which the family had been reduced. John entered a school for 160 poor children, mostly orphans, to receive a basic education, mainly in Christian doctrine. They were given some food, clothing and lodging. While studying there, he was chosen to serve as an altar boy at a nearby monastery of Augustinian nuns. In Medina he met the influential Carmelite nun, Teresa of Ávila. She was staying in Medina to found the second of her new convents. She immediately talked to him about her reformation projects for the Order. On the night of 2 December 1577, a group of Carmelites opposed to reform broke into John's dwelling in Ávila and took him prisoner. He was sentenced to a term of imprisonment. He was jailed in a monastery where he was kept under a brutal regime that included public lashings before the community at least weekly, and severe isolation in a tiny stifling cell measuring barely 10 feet by 6 feet. John of the Cross is considered one of the foremost poets in Spanish.
John Nepomucene Neumann CSsR was a Catholic immigrant from Bohemia (then part of the Austrian Empire, now in the Czech Republic). He came to the United States in 1836, where he was ordained, joined the Redemptorist order, and became the fourth Bishop of Philadelphia in 1852. In Philadelphia, Neumann founded the first Catholic diocesan school system in the US. Canonized in 1977, he is the only male US citizen to be named a saint. Neumann was born on March 28, 1811,[5] and was baptized in the village church on the same day. He began his education in the town school when he was 6, and was a studious and hardworking child, whose mother called him "my little bibliomaniac" for his love of books and reading. Neumann entered the school in a class of 103 students, of whom less than fifty ultimately completed the six-year gymnasium course. Neumann entered the seminary of the Diocese of Budweis on November 1, 1831. In his second year studying theology, Neumann began to read the reports of the Leopoldine Society on the need for priests in the United States, especially to serve the German-speaking communities there. He kept and wore only one pair of boots throughout his residence in the United States. When given a new set of vestments as a gift, he would often use them to outfit the newest ordained priest in the diocese. Discouraged by conflict as well as anti-Catholic riots and arson of religious buildings, Neumann wrote to Rome asking to be replaced as bishop of Philadelphia, but Pope Pius IX insisted that he continue.
From early childhood, Margaret was described as showing intense love for the Blessed Sacrament, and as preferring silence and prayer to childhood play. Alacoque lost her father at a young age, and the family's assets were held by a relative who refused to hand them over, plunging her family into poverty. During this time, her only consolation was frequent visits to pray before the Blessed Sacrament in the local church. Alacoque received several private revelations of the Sacred Heart, the first on 27 December 1673 and the final one 18 months later. The visions revealed to her the form of the devotion, the chief features being reception of Holy Communion on the first Friday of each month, Eucharistic adoration during a "Holy hour" on Thursdays, and the celebration of the Feast of the Sacred Heart.
Learn MoreThe remains were moved to Mugnano del Cardinale in 1805. There, they became the focus of widespread devotion; several miracles were credited to Philomena's intercession, including the healing of Pauline Jaricot in 1835, which received wide publicity. John Vianney attributed to her intercession the extraordinary cures that others attributed to himself.
At the age of about 13, she took a vow of virginity for Christ's sake. When the Emperor Diocletian threatened to make war on her father, her father went with his family to Rome to ask for peace. The Emperor "fell in love" with the young Philomena and, when she refused to be his wife, subjected her to a series of torments. Finally, the Emperor had her decapitated. The story goes that the decapitation occurred on a Friday at three in the afternoon, as with the death of Jesus.
Learn MoreSaint of Bohemia (Czech Republic) who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia. Later accounts state that he was the confessor of the queen of Bohemia and refused to divulge the secrets of the confessional. On the basis of this account, John of Nepomuk is considered the first martyr of the Seal of the Confessional, a patron against calumnies and, because of the manner of his death, a protector from floods and drowning. At issue was the appointment of a new abbot for the rich and powerful Benedictine Abbey of Kladruby; its abbot was a territorial magnate whose resources would be crucial to Wenceslaus in his struggles with nobles. Wenceslaus at the same time was backing the Avignon papacy, whereas the Archbishop of Prague followed its rival, the pope at Rome. Contrary to the wishes of Wenceslaus, John confirmed the archbishop's candidate for Abbot of Kladruby, and was drowned on the king's orders on 20 March 1393. Some historians believe the vicar's refusal to betray the seal of the confessional might have been the secret reason why Wenceslaus took vengeance on John of Nepomuk as soon as a credible excuse provided the opportunity.
https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/st-john-nepomucen-m-5582Theodore the Martyr refers to the two saints Theodore of Amasea (Theodore the Recruit) and Theodore Stratelates (Theodore the General), two important military saints of the Byzantine period. The two saints are likely identical in origin, the veneration of Theodore of Amasea is ascertained for the late 4th century, while the tradition of Theodore Stratelates develops from that of Theodore of Amasea by the 9th century.
He was devoted to the Infant Jesus and often wrote about and preached on the wonders of the Incarnation and this intensified after the Child Jesus was said to have healed him from a serious illness in 1812. He was made the rector of the Passionist motherhouse in Rome (Santi Giovanni e Paolo) but spent much of his time preaching missions; his vice-rector was Dominic Barberi. Barbieri noted Salvi's strength and evangelic zeal and so requested permission from the order's superior general to send him to England to preach but such permission was denied.
Salvi died at Capranica in Viterbo; his remains are interred in the Passionist church of San Angelo.
One afternoon, Alessandro, the Serenellis' 20-year-old son, made sexual advances to her. When she refused to submit to him, he stabbed her 14 times. She was taken to the hospital but she died while forgiving him. He was arrested, convicted, and jailed. During imprisonment, he repented. After 27 years, he was released from prison and visited her mother to beg forgiveness, which she granted. He later became a lay brother in a Capuchin monastery and died in 1970. Maria was beatified in 1947 and canonized in 1950. She is especially venerated in the Congregation of the Passion (Passionists).
Learn MoreWith the blessing of his Archbishop and the encouragement of John Bosco he began an evening school for boys, a day kindergarten for girls from five to eight years old. Then, the girl's orphanage got under way and, on November 4, 1883, the boys' orphanage. People regarded him as a Saint even when he was still alive. Angelo Paino, Bishop of Messina, later gave this testimony about him: "He was considered a Saint by all people. By this I mean people from all walks of life, social status and religious convictions". On June 30, 1990, the Medical Commission of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints unanimously agreed that the case of Gleida Danese - a young Brazilian girl who was doomed to die because of the rupture of the aorta but who suddenly recovered - had no possible medical explanation.
Her life was notable for her devotion to the poor and elderly and for her humility and profound silence. Her cause for sainthood was declared upon discovery that her body was incorrupt.
Also see #5.Pierre-René Rogue was a French Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Congregation of the Mission – also known as the "Vincentians". Rogue exercised his pastoral duties in his hometown of Vannes and was known for his short stature and devotion to the faith. He was killed after he refused to take the oath of allegiance to the new French government. The townsfolk of Vannes nicknamed him "the wee priest" due to his short stature. The oath of allegiance that the new government proposed caused consternation for the Catholic Church for it required priests to pledge themselves to the government rather than to the church itself.