St. Bernardine of Siena

St. Bernardine of Siena - Patron of Publicity Agents - May 20th

Bernardine was the son of an Italian governor. Before he was seven years old, his father and mother died, but his good aunt brought him up, and his uncle gave him a good education. He grew to be a tall, handsome boy who was so much fun that all his friends loved to be with him. Yet they knew better than to use any impure words when he was around, for he would not stand for it. Twice when an evil man tried to lead him into sin, Bernardine punched him in the face and sent him running with stones flying after him!

The Saint had a special love for the Blessed Mother, and it was she who kept him pure. Even when he was a teenager, he would talk to her in prayer, as a child talks with his mother. For the poor, he felt pity, and once, when his aunt had not extra food to give a beggar, Bernardine cried, “I’d rather go without food myself than leave that poor man with none!”

Bernardine became a Franciscan priest and soon began his life’s work of preaching. At first, his voice was so hoarse and weak that he could not be heard well. He prayed to Our Lady to change it, and it became clear and strong. Before every sermon, Bernardine read the Holy Bible and prayed before the crucifix. Then after he preached, he knelt again before the crucifix to pray for himself and for those who had listened to him.

In those days, bad habits were ruining both young and old people. “How can I save these lost people by myself?” the Saint cried to the Lord. “With what weapons can I fight the devil?” And God answered, “My holy Name will be enough for you.” So Bernardine spread devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus. He used this Name a great many times in every sermon and had people put it over the gates of the cities, over their doorways-everywhere. With this devotion and devotion to the Blessed Mother, this great Saint converted thousands of people all over Italy.

Let us invoke the Holy Name of Jesus very often. We will realize how powerful it is against every danger we may face.

St. Celestine V

St. Celestine V - Patron of Bookbinders - May 19th

When the father of this Italian Saint died, his good mother brought up her twelve children well, even though they were very poor. “Oh, if I could only have the joy of seeing one of you become a saint!” she used to say. Once when she asked as usual, “Which of you is going to become a saint?” little Peter (who was to become Pope Celestine) answered with all his heart, “Me, Mama! I’ll become a saint!” And he did.

When he was twenty, Peter became a hermit and spent his days praying or reading the Holy Bible. If he was not praying or reading, he would copy books or do some hard work so that the devil would not find him doing nothing and tempt him. Because other hermits kept coming to him and begging him to guide them, he started a new Order.

Peter was an old monk, eighty-four years of age, when he was made Pope. It came about in a very unusual way. For two years, there had been no Pope, because the Cardinals could not decide whom to choose. St. Peter sent them a message to decide quickly, for God was not pleased at the long delay. Then and there, they chose the holy old hermit himself! Poor Peter wept when he heard the news, but he sorrowfully accepted and took the name Celestine V.

He was Pope only about five months. Because he was so humble and simple, everyone took advantage of him. He could not say “no” to anyone, and soon matters were in great confusion. At last, the Saint decided that he had better give up his position as Pope. He did so and then threw himself at the feet of the Cardinals to ask forgiveness for not having been capable of governing the Church. What an impression his humility made on all of them!

St. Celestine hoped to live in one of his monasteries in peace. But the new Pope thought it would be safer to keep him where wicked people could not take advantage of him. The Saint was put in a cell and died there. Yet he was cheerful and close to God. “You wanted a cell, Peter,” he would repeat to himself, “and a cell you have.”

St. Celestine loved to live alone, because he wanted to be closely united to Our Lord. Once in a while, let us stop what we are doing for a few seconds and have a heart-to-heart talk with Jesus.

St. Felix of Cantalice

St. Felix of Cantalice - May 18th

Felix was born of poor Italian farmers, and as a little boy, he used to take his father’s cows out to pasture. He became a shepherd next and when he grew stronger, he took a job ploughing a rich man’s fields. Felix got into the wonderful habit of letting everything he saw remind him of God’s power and goodness. For a while, he thought he might become a hermit, but he finally decided it would be better to join a monastery.

St. Felix was thirty years old when he became a Capuchin brother. He had to beg the Superior to let him enter. The Superior led Felix to a crucifix and asked him, “Can you live your whole life on the cross with Jesus?” The Saint soon proved that he was ready to suffer anything for the love of God. The duty given to Brother Felix was to beg for food for the community. Joyfully he did this hard, humble work daily for forty years in Rome. Even though he was always among people, he never lost the thought of God’s presence, and he was so pure that he said he had not once gazed on a women’s face.

So humble was St. Felix that he hid the penances he performed. When someone noticed that he was walking barefoot, he said, “I can walk faster this way.” Although he could not read or write, St. Charles Borromeo and St. Philip Neri used to go to him for advice. Felix often said that he knew only six letters: fie red ones and one white one. By the five red ones, he meant the five wounds of Our Lord, as he was very devoted to the Passion of Jesus. By the one white letter, he meant the spotless purity of Mary. Indeed, by studying and copying these six “letters,” Felix became a great saint.

A very powerful means to live as the Saints did is to remember that God sees us all the time. If we remember this, we will never do anything displeasing to Him.

St. Paschal Baylon

St. Paschal Baylon - Patron of Eucharistic Congresses and Societies - May 17th

Paschal is a Spanish saint. From the time he was seven until he was twenty-four years old, he worked as a shepherd and never had a chance to go to school. Yet he taught himself to read and write, asking everyone he met to help him. This he did so that he could read from religious books.

Paschal was very honest. If any of his sheep damaged someone’s crops in any way he would make sure the owner was paid for what was lost.

When he was twenty-four, the shepherd became a Franciscan brother. His companions in the monastery found him to be a kind, humble man who willingly did the most unpleasant and hardest chores. He practiced even more mortifications than the strict rule required so that he could overcome his temptations. Yet he was a gay and happy soul whose great joy was to be with Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. He would kneel for hour at a time before the altar without letting his joined hands touch the pew, and he loved to serve one Mass after the other.

Out of some scraps of paper, St. Paschal made himself a little notebook. In it, in nice handwriting, he wrote down some beautiful thoughts and prayers. After he died, a holy Archbishop read some of these and exclaimed, “These simple souls are stealing Heaven from us!”

St. Paschal’s other great love was the Blessed Mother. Every day he said as many Rosaries as he could and he wrote beautiful prayers to our Heavenly Mother.

This humble Saint died with the Rosary in his hands just as the bell rang at the consecration of the Mass. The last word on his lips was the holy name of Jesus.

Let us make it a practice never to pass a church without paying a brief visit to Jesus. He lives there for our love and wants to help us in all our needs.

St. Ubald

St. Ubald - May 16th

When he was only a child, this son of a noble Italian family became an orphan. His uncle, a bishop, took charge of him and gave him a good education. When he finished his schooling, Ubald had the chance to marry any one of a number of lovely noblewomen, but he wanted to dedicate his life to God. He became a priest, and since his virtue was outstanding, the Pope made him bishop of Gubbio, Ubald’s own city.

St. Ubald was so mild and patient that he did not seem to mind any insult. Once a workman repairing the city wall damaged his vineyard very much. The Saint gently pointed it out to him. The workman, who probably did not recognize the bishop, shoved him so hard that he fell into a pile of wet cement and got up all covered with it. Yet he said not one word of complaint and went into his house. The city officials were going to punish the man, but Ubald wanted him to be set free and her himself gave him the kiss of peace.

The holy Bishop did indeed love peace, and he had the courage it takes to keep it. Once, when the people of Gubbio were fighting in the streets, he seemed unafraid of the swords clashing and the rocks flying. Suddenly he fell to the ground. The people stopped fighting at once, for they thought the Saint had been killed. But he got up and showed them that he was not even hurt. Then all together, the people thanked God for having stopped them from doing each other more harm. Another time, when the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa was going to attack the city, St. Ubald went out on the road to talk to him, and he convinced this bold emperor to leave Gubbio alone.

The Saint also had much to suffer from sicknesses. Yet he never spoke about his pains, and if someone tried to show sorrow over them, he would change the subject at once. Even in his last sickness he managed to get up to say Mass and give the people his blessing.

Let us learn from St. Ubald never to give in to anger, and to forgive those who may hurt us in any way.

St. John Baptist de la Salle

St. John Baptist de la Salle - Patron of Teachers - May 15th

This young French Man was studying to become a priest when both his parents died. He had to leave the seminary and go home to take care of the educating his brothers. But while he was teaching and training them, he kept on studying himself. So it was that they turned out to be fine young men, and John Baptist was ordained a priest.

At that time, the noble people of France lived in great luxury, and the common people were terribly poor and ignorant. St. John Baptist felt very sorry for the children of the poor, and began to open schools for them. To provide teachers, he started the Congregation of the Brothers of the Christian Schools.

Although St. John Baptist also taught the children himself, he spent most of his time training the teaching brothers. For them he wrote a rule of life and a book explaining the best way to teach. He was one of the best educators of all time and he believed in teaching in the language of the people, not in Latin, as others did. He grouped the students into classes and made sure they kept silent while the lesson was being explained.

After a while the brothers opened more schools and taught the sons of the working people and nobles, too. Many difficulties faced the new Congregation, but with St. John Baptist’s constant prayer and sacrifices, it continued to grow and to spread everywhere.

To please God and to do well in our studies, we shall be quiet during class and listen to the explanation of the lesson.

St. Boniface of Tarsus

St. Boniface of Tarsus - May 14th

The story of this Saint as it comes to us from tradition, shows God’s infinite goodness and mercy.

In the city of Rome there lived a very beautiful and rich women named Aglae. This lady was so anxious to get attention that three times she paid for special entertainments for all the people. The one in charge of her household was a man named Boniface, and Aglae lived in sin with him. He often got drunk, was impure, and commited many other sins. Yet he was very kind to poor people and to needy travelers.

One day Aglae felt sorry for all the offenses the two of them were giving God. She called Boniface and said, “We have forgotten that we shall some day have to appear before the Lord and answer for our sins. I have heard that whoever honors the relics of martyrs will share in their glory. So you go to the East where there is a persecution and bring me back some relics.”

Boniface made ready to go. “I will do my best to bring you back some relics,” he told Aglae, “but what if my own body should be brought back to you as one of them?” However, she thought he was only joking. Then Boniface set out. On the way, he became a very different man. He began to pray and to do penance, neither eating meat nor drinking wine. To the poor he met he gave away his money.

Boniface went to the city of Tarsus, where the persecution was worse. As soon as he arrived, he went straight to the governor who right then was cruelly torturing about twenty Christians. “Great is the God of the Christians!” cried Boniface. “Pray for me, servants of Christ, that I may join with you in fighting the devil!”

Furious, the Governor ordered his men to torture Boniface in every way. Then he commanded him to be put to death. Just before being beheaded, Boniface asked for a little time in which to pray. Finally his soul passed from this miserable earth to the glory of Heaven. His body was brought back to Rome and Aglae built a church in which it was kept. She herself did penance for fifteen years until she died.

If we have some friend who leads us into sin, we will break off with him or her at once. For the strength to do it, we shall pray and make some mortification.

St. Robert Bellarmine

St. Robert Bellarmine - Patron of Catechists - May 13th

Robert was born in Italy. As a boy, he was not much interested in playing games. He liked to spend his playtime in repeating to his younger brothers and sisters the sermons he had heard and in explaining the lessons in catechism to the little farm children of the neighborhood. Once he had made his first Holy Communion, he used to receive Jesus every Sunday.

Robert’s father hoped to make a famous gentleman out of his son. For this reason, he wanted him to study many subjects and music and art, too. Whenever a song had words that were not nice, Robert would make up holy words of his own. “My voice is no good for singing things that are not pure,” he would say.

It was his great desire to become a Jesuit priest, but his father had quite different plans for him. For a whole year, Robert worked to persuade his father and at last, when he was eighteen, he was permitted to enter the Jesuits. As a young Jesuit, he did very well in his studies and was sent to preach even before he became a priest. When one good women first saw such a young man, not even a priest yet, going up into the pulpit to preach, she knelt down to pray that he would not become frightened and stop in the middle. When he finished his sermon, she stayed kneeling, but now she was thanking God for the magnificent sermon this brilliant preacher had given!

St. Robert Bellarmine became a famous writer, preacher and teacher. He wrote thirty-one important books. Three hours every day he spent in prayer. Because of his great knowledge of sacred matters, he was declared a Doctor of the Church. Yet, even when he had become a Cardinal, he considered the catechism so important, that he himself taught it to his household and to the people.

Let us not miss through our own fault even one religion class, and let us make up our minds to get the best marks in this subject.

Sts. Nereus, Achilleus, Domitilla, and Pancreas

Sts. Nereus, Achilleus, Domitilla, and Pancreas - May 12th

Nereus and Achilleus were Roman soldiers. Out of fear, they carried the cruel commands of the Emperor, until suddenly they gave up this way of life. They were converted to the Christian Faith and left behind them their shields and bloody arrows forever. St. Peter baptized these two new followers of Jesus, who were soon accused of being Christians. Nereus and Achilleus both professed their Faith and again, but they absolutely refused to sacrifice to the false gods of the Romans. For this, they were at last beheaded.

Domitilla was a rich Roman girl who had made up her mind to belong only to Jesus. The young man who had hoped to marry her was furious at her decision. He accused her of being a Christian, and she was put in prison. There she suffered much. When she still would not give up her Faith, she was burned to death.

Pancras was a fourteen-year-old boy who left his rich home to go to Rome. There he was baptized by the Pope himself. Not long after that, he was arrested for being a Christian, but he refused to give up his Faith. In fact, with all the courage of a hero, he offered his head to the executioner to be cut off.

These four young martyrs could have had all the pleasures money can buy. Yet they did not hesitate to give up the joys of the world in order to win the happiness of Heaven, which is much greater and lasts forever.

Let us often think of the happiness which is waiting for us in Heaven. This thought will make it easier to keep God’s law all the time.

St. Antonino

St. Antonino - May 10th

Antonino means “little Anthony,” and this Italian saint was given the nickname because he was a small fellow. Yet even as a lad, he showed that he had a lot of good sense and will power. When he was fifteen, he asked to join a Dominican monastery, but the Superior thought he was too young and small. “I’ll accept you,” he said, “when you know Gratian’s Decree by heart.” This book was several hundred pages long! Antonino accepted the challenge, and one year later, he came back. It would be hard to describe the good Superior’s amazement when he found that Antonino had memorized the whole decree! Needless to say, he was accepted at once.

The new religious, though just sixteen, continued to surprise everyone by the prefect way in which he lived the life in his Order. As he grew older, he was given one important position after another. Finally, Antonino was made the Archbishop of Florence.

“The father of the poor” was the name given this Saint. He never refused to help anyone. When he had no more money, he would give his clothes, his shoes, his furniture or-his one mule. Many times this mule was sold to help someone, then bought back for him by wealthy citizens, only to be sold once again to help someone else!

Often St. Antonino would say, “A successor of the apostles should not own anything except the wealth of virtue.”

We may not have much money to give, but we can always give good example, a good word, and a helping hand. All this and more comes under the practice of charity.