St. Anselm

St. Anselm - April 21st

Anselm was born in northern Italy. From his home, you can see the high mountains called the Alps. When Anselm learned from his mother that God is in Heaven, he loved to look up at the very tops of those mountains. Since he was a little boy then, he thought that the mountains were like ladders leading up to the palace of the King of Heaven.

When Anselm was fifteen, he tried to enter a monastery, but his father was against it. Then Anselm became sick and not long after he got better, his mother died. He was still young and rich and clever, and soon he forgot about wanting to serve God. He began to think only of having good times.

Yet, after a while, Anselm became bored with this way of life. He wanted something better, something more important. So he went to visit the holy Abbot Lanfranc of the great monastery of Bec. He became Lanfranc’s very close friend and the and the holy abbot brought him close to God. He also helped Anselm decide to become a monk.

Three years later, Anselm was made the superior. He was a very warm-hearted man who were jealous of him at first became his friends. When he had to leave them to become Archbishop of the great diocese of Canterbury in England, he told them that they would always live in his heart.

The people of England loved and respected Anselm very much. However, the king at this time was the wicked William Rufus. This king persecuted the Saint in every way and even forbade him to go to Rome to ask the Pope’s advice. But Anselm went anyway, and stayed with the Pope until the king died. Then he went back to his diocese in England.

Even in the midst of his many duties, St. Anselm always found time to write important books of philosophy and theology. To please his monks, he also wrong down the many wonderful instructions he had given them about God. He used to say: “Would you like to know the secret of being happy in the monastery is a real Heaven on earth for those who live only for Jesus.”

Let us realize that just having a lot of fun will not make us happy. True happiness can only be found in loving God and helping our neighbor.

St. Agnes of Montepulciano

St. Agnes of Montepulciano - April 20th

This young saint was born of wealthy parents near the city of Montepulciano in Italy.

When she was just nine years old, she begged her mother and father to let her enter a convent. Agnes was very happy living with the sisters, and before too long she was so good a nun that the other sisters were very pleased to have her. She was of good example to all, especially because of the wonderful way she prayed.

When she was only fifteen, Agnes was chosen superior of a whole convent of nuns! The Pope had to give a special permission to let such a young girl be the head of a convent.

Agnes was a very good superior because she was much wiser than most teenagers are. Besides that, she did great penance and was always very sweet and charitable. She truly loved God and her neighbor. God was especially pleased with Agnes and gave her many graces in answer to her prayers. Once He even let her hold the Christ Child in her arms!

Agnes was a sickly women, but she bore her sickness for years with heroic patience. She never complained of felt sorry for herself. Instead, she offered everything to God.

Towards the end of her life, when her sisters saw that she was not going to get better, they were very sad. “If to love me, you would be glad,” said Agnes, “because I am going to enter the glory of Jesus.” She died while she was praying very fervently.

We must always trust that our Heavenly Father will hear our prayers and give us whatever is for our best.

St. Alphege

St. Alphege - April 19th

Alphege is an English saint. He became a monk and after a few years was made abbot of the monastery. When he was thirty years old, he became Bishop of Winchester. He had not wanted this honor, but he accepted it because it was God’s will. And he did much good. He was so kind to the poor that there were no beggars left in his whole diocese. Next he was made archbishop of Canterbury, the most important Church in England.

The year after he came to the city, a group of fierce raiders, called the Danes, attacked. They burned the buildings and killed many people, even women and children. St. Alphege tried to make them stop, but the cruel raiders took him prisoner and carried him off. They told the people of Canterbury that they would have to pay a large amount of money if they wanted to have their Archbishop back.

St. Alphege would not let his poor Christian people pay that much money for him. He said, “It is better to give what we have to the poor than to take from them the little they have.”

When the Saint had been in prison seven months, the men who had captured him became drunk on night. Angry because they had not gotten the money they wanted, they took the holy Archbishop and beat him. Then they stoned him. At last, on killed him with an axe.

Like Our Lord, St. Alphege prayed for his murderers just before he died.

Even in prison St. Alphege did not want people to think of him or sacrifice for him. Let us remember that what we suffer silently for God gains a great reward in Heaven for us.

Blessed Mary of the Incarnation

Blessed Mary of the Incarnation - April 18th

Beautiful Barbara Acarie was a French girl who was married when she was seventeen. God sent her six children, and her home was a happy one. She was a very good wife and mother. All her children, her husband, and her servants, too, learned from her a great love for prayer and works of charity.

Once, when her husband was accused of a crime, Barbara herself saved him. She went to court, and all alone proved that he was not guilty.

Although she was so busy with her own family, she always found time to feed starving people, to teach heretics about the faith, to help the sick and dying, and to encourage sinners to change their ways.

When her husband died, Barbara entered the Carmelite Order. Her three daughters were Carmelites, too. Barbara’s new name as a sister was Sister Mary of the Incarnation. She joyfully worked in the kitchen among the pots and pans. When her own daughter became a superior, Blessed Mary willingly obeyed her. So humble was she that as she was dying, she said: “The Lord forgive me the bad example I have given.” But the truth was that she had only done good all her life.

God gives everyone the grace to become a saint in his state in life. Let us, then, pray so that we will do in life what god wants us to do.

St. Stephen Harding

St. Stephen Harding - April 17th

Stephen was a rich young Englishman who always looked cheerful and calm. He was a good student and learned about literature but especially about how to pray well. Once Stephen and a friend set out for Rome as pious pilgrims. They walked along in silence, thinking about God and praying to themselves. They only spoke when they prayed together.

When they returned, Stephen joined a very poor and holy community of monks. Their abbot was another saint, St. Robert. For a while he served God joyfully, but then the monks in that monastery did not want to live such a hard life any more. So St. Robert and St. Stephen, with twenty other fervent monks, went to start a new monastery in a wilderness in France called Citeaux. Here they lived a life of work and great poverty-to imitate the poverty of Jesus. They kept silence very strictly and were very devout and humble.

When St. Stephen became Superior, he had many troubles. There was so little food that he was forced to go out and beg from door to door. Then over half of the monks fell sick and died. It looked as though the community would come to an end, but St. Stephen prayed with faith. And his prayer was rewarded. God sent to this Cisterian monastery the great St. Bernard with thirty other gentlemen.

When he lay dying, St. Stephen heard those around him whispering that he had nothing to fear. Had he not led a virtuous life of hard labor and love of God? But St. Stephen told them that he was afraid he had not been good enough. That shows us how humble this great saint was.

We cannot get to Heaven only by praying. We have to work, too. That means we have to do every one of our duties without being lazy.

St. Benedict Joseph Labre

St. Benedict Joseph Labre - April 16th

This French saint led a most unusual life. He was the son of a store owner and taught by his uncle, a priest. When the good priest died, Benedict tried to enter a monastery, but he was told he was too young. Then he entered another, but his superiors had to dismiss him because he had become like a shadow on account of his poor health. “God’s will be done,” said Benedict.

While he was gaining back his health, he felt inspired to leave his relatives and his country to live a life of penance in the midst of the world. As a pilgrim, he would travel to the famous shrines of Europe.

Benedict went visiting one church after another. He dressed in rags, with a crucifix over his heart and a rosary around his neck. He slept on the bare ground. They only food he had was what kind people gave him. If people gave him money, he gave it to the poor. In a sack he carried his own Gospel, and medals and holy books to give to others. St. Benedict paid no attention to the beautiful sights in the cities he visited. His only interest was in the churches where Jesus dwells in the Blessed Sacrament.

While he prayed in front of the alter, Benedict was so still and devout that he seemed like an angel adoring God. Hid white, tired face would glow with happiness. He had a great love for our Blessed Mother, too. “Mary, O my Mother!” he would exclaim.

St. Benedict was not interested in taking care of himself. His only thought was to keep Jesus company in church.

When he died at the age of thirty-five, the fame of this poor holy man spread far and wide.

We cannot imitate the poverty of Jesus in the way St. Benedict Joseph did, but we can imitate this Saint’s love for the Blessed Sacrament. Let us go to church often to visit Jesus and to have a heart-to heart talk with Him. Jesus is our best Friend.

St. Lydwina

St. Lydwina - Patroness of Skaters - April 15th

Lydwina means “suffering” and this Saint from Holland spent her whole life suffering for Jesus. As a young teenager of fifteen, she dedicated herself completely to God. Since she was very pretty, she was afraid many young men would want to marry her. So Lydwina asked Jesus to take away her beauty, and He answered her prayer.

One day she went skating with her friends and one of them bumped into her by accident. Lydwina fell hard onto the ice, and that was the beginning of her life of suffering. The pain in her side hurt her so much that she could not stand or sit or lay down. She would ask to be moved from one bed to another, but the pain only grew worse. Crying, Lydwina finally threw herself on her father’s knee, saying she could not stand the pain anymore. But more and more pains came-sores on her face, on her body, blindness in one eye, and at last, she could not even leave her bed at all.

For thirty-eight years, Lydwina suffered. At first she felt very bad, but when a priest told her to think of what Jesus suffered, Lydwina took courage. God comforted her so much that she was brave enough to add more penance herself!

Lydwina was good to everyone who came to her poor little room. It became like a little heaven of happiness. She had a way of winning even hardhearted people and of stopping folks from quarreling.

Lydwina’s special love was for Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. For many years, she seemed to live only on Holy Communion.

A strong soldier of Christ can hold back tears and offer his pain to God.

St. Justin

St. Justin - Patron of Philosophers - April 14th

St. Justin was born in Palestine. His father brought him up as a pagan. When he was a boy, he read poetry, history, and science. As he grew up, he kept on studying, but for one purpose only. He was looking for the truth about God.

One day as he was walking along the shore of the sea, Justin met an old man. They began to talk together and since he looked troubled, the old man asked him what kind of doubts he had. Justin answered that he was unhappy because he had not found anything certain about God in all the books he had read. The old man told him about Our Lord Jesus Christ and encouraged him to pray so that he would be able to understand the truth about God.

St. Justin began to pray and to read the word of God in the Bible, which he grew to love very much. He was also impressed on seeing how bravely the martyrs were dying for the Christian faith.

After learning more about the Christian religion, Justin became a Christian himself. Then he used his great knowledge to explain and defend the Faith with many writings.

It was in Rome that St. Justin was arrested for being a Christian. The judge asked him, “Do you think that by dying you will enter Heaven and be rewarded?” “I don’t just think, “ the Saint answered. “I am sure!” And he died a martyr.

To keep our faith strong, let us make an Act of Faith often. A very short Act of Faith we might repeat from time to time is: “My God, I believe in You.”

Blessed Margaret of Castello

Blessed Margaret of Castello - Patroness of the Right-To-Life Groups - April 13th

Blessed Margaret (1287-1320) was born a hunchback, midget, blind, lame and ugly. When she was six years old, her proud and noble parents walled her up beside a chapel. She could not get out, but could attend Mass and receive the Sacraments. After 14 years of imprisonment, her parents took her to a shrine to pray for a cure. When no cure took place they abandoned her. She eventually became a lay Dominican and spent the rest of her life in prayer and works of mercy. Her charity towards others was unbounded. When she died at age 33, the townspeople thronged to her funeral and demanded that "the saint" be buried in a tomb inside the church. The priest protested, but when a crippled girl was miraculously cured at the funeral, the people had their way. Blessed Margaret is the patron of the Right-To-Life groups.

St. Sabas the Goth

St. Sabas the Goth - April 12th

A tribe of barbarians called Goths had come down into Europe and conquered many lands. Some of the Goths became Christians, and one of these was St. Sabas.

From the time he joined the Church as a young boy, he grew in goodness and humility.

The King of the Goths began a terrible persecution of all the Christians among his subjects. Although Sabas made no secret of his Christian faith, he was not taken prisoner during the first year of the persecution. The next year, the King’s men came to St. Sabas’ town looking for Christians. Some of the people of the town decided to swear that there were no Christians there. But St. Sabas would not stand for that. Without fear he stepped up to the officers and said, “Let no man swear for me. I am a Christian.”

The persecutors asked the people how rich St. Sabas was. When they found out that he was just a poor, simple fellow, they did not think it worthwhile to bother with him, so they let him go.

The third year, the persecution of the Christians was worse than ever. This time St. Sabas was thrown into a river and held down with a pole until he died.

Just before he was put to death, St. Sabas joyfully said to the soldiers, “I see what you cannot see. There are people on the other side of the river ready to receive me into the glory of Heaven.”

When we find it hard to do our duty, let us think of the reward God will give us.