Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Friday following the Second Sunday After Pentecost
Taken from, “Divine Intimacy,” by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D., pp.622-623

PRESENSE OF GOD – O Jesus, grant that I may penetrate the secrets hidden in Your divine Heart.

MEDITATION

1. After we have contemplated the Eucharist, a gift crowning all the gifts of the love of Jesus for men, the Church invites us to give direct consideration to the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the source and cause of all His gifts. We may call the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus the feast of His love for us. “Behold this Heart which has so loved men,” Jesus said to St. Margaret Mary; “Behold this Heart which has so loved men,” the Church repeats to us today, showing us that it is truly “in the Heart of Christ, wounded by our sins, that God had deigned to give us the infinite treasures of His love” (cf. Collect). Today’s liturgy inspired with this thought, reviews the immense benefits we owe to the love of Christ and sings a hymn in praise of His love. “Cogitationes cordis ejus,” chants the Introit of the Mass: “The thoughts of His Heart” – the Heart of Jesus – “are to all generations: to deliver them from death, to feed them in time of famine”. The Heart of Jesus is always in search of souls to save, to free from the snares of sin, to wash in His Blood, to feed with His Body. The Heart of Jesus is always living in the Eucharist to satisfy the hunger of all who long for Him, to welcome and console all those who, disillusioned by the vicissitudes of life, take refuge in Him, seeking peace and refreshment. Jesus Himself in our support of the hard road of life. “Take up My yoke upon you and learn of Me, because I am meek and humble of heart, and you shall find rest for your souls, Alleluia.” It is impossible to eliminate sorrow from our life; yet if we live for Jesus we can suffer in peace and find in the Heart of Jesus repose for our weary soul.

2. Today’s Gospel and Epistle lead us to consider the Sacred Heart of Jesus even more directly. The Gospel (Fn 19, 31-37) shows us His Heart pierced with a lance: “One of the soldiers opened His side with a spear,” and St. Augustine offers this comment: “The Evangelist says...opened, to show us that thereby the door of life was thrown open, through which the Sacraments of the Church flow forth”. From the pierced Heart of Christ, symbol of the love which immolated Him on the Cross for us, came forth the Sacraments, represented by the water and the Blood flowing from the wound, and it is through these Sacraments that we receive the life of grace. Yes, it is eminently true to say that the Heart of Jesus was opened to bring us into life. Jesus once said, “Narrow is the gate...that leadeth to life” (Mt. 7, 14); but if we understand this gate to be the wound in His Heart, we can say that no gate could open to us with greater welcome.

St. Paul, in his beautiful Epistle (Eph 3, 8-19), urges us to penetrate further into the Heart of Jesus to contemplate His “unsearchable riches” and to enter into “the mystery which hath been hidden from the eternity of God”. This is the mystery of infinite, divine love which has gone before us from all eternity and was revealed to us by the Word made flesh; it is the mystery of the love which willed to redeem us and sanctify us in Christ “in whom we have...[free] access to God”.

Again Jesus presents Himself as the door which leads to salvation. “I am the door. By Me if any man enter in he shall be saved.” (Fn 10, 9). This door is His Heart, which, wounded for us, has brought us into life. By love alone can we penetrate this mystery of infinite love, but not any kind of love will suffice. As St. Paul says, we must “be rooted and founded in charity”. Only thus shall we be able “to know...the charity of Christ which surpasseth all knowledge, that [we] may be filled unto all the fullness of God”.

The Martyrdom of St. Paul

The Martyrdom of St. Paul - June 30th

St. Paul is the great Apostle who first persecuted the Christians and then was converted. At the time of his conversion, Jesus had said: I will show him how much he must suffer for Me.”

St. Paul loved Jesus Crucified very much-so much that he became living copy of Our Divine Savior. All his life, during his many missionary trips, St. Paul met troubles and went through dangers of every kind. He was whipped, stoned, shipwrecked, and lost at sea. Many, many times, he was hungry, thirsty, and cold.

Yet, he always trusted in God. He never stopped preaching. “The love of Jesus presses me onward,” he said. In reward, God gave him great comfort and in every suffering.

When St. Paul found out that the Emperor Nero had begun a terrible persecution in Rome, he hurried back to Rome to comfort and encourage the Christians. The thought of the danger did not stop him. Before long, however, he and St. Peter were also put in prison and condemned. They were led out to execution together. As they walked along, these two great heroes of Christ encouraged each other.

At a certain point they were separated. St. Peter was crucified on Vatican Hill, and St. Paul was taken and beheaded near the place where his Basilica now stands. With what faith St. Paul bowed his head to accept the blow! From prison he had written: “Behold, the time of my deliverance is at hand. I have fought the good fight. I have kept the Faith. And there is laid up for me a crown, which the Lord will give me and to all those who love and serve Him.”

When we have some trouble or little cross, let us think of St. Paul, and let us pray to him for patience and more love of God.

St. Peter

St. Peter - June 29th

Peter, the first Pope and the prince of the Apostles, was a fisherman when Jesus invited him to follow Him, saying: “I will make you a fisher of men.” Peter was a simple man who sometimes acted without thinking, but he was generous, honest and very much attached to Our Lord.

This great Apostle’s name was Simon, but Jesus Himself changed it to Peter, which means “rock.” “You are Peter,” Jesus said, “and on this rock I shall build my Church.”


Because he did not pray for strength, he became afraid when Our Lord was arrested. It was then that he committed the sin of denying Our Lord three times, but he repented, and wept over his sin the rest of his life. Jesus forgave Peter and, after His Resurrection, asked him three times: “Do you love Me? Poor Peter! “Lord,” he said, “You know all things. You know I love You.” Then Our Lord said: “Feed My lambs and My Sheep.” He was telling Peter to rule over the whole Church, and after Our Lord went back to Heaven, Peter was the leader of all the Christians.


He went to Rome to live and converted many pagans. When a great persecution began, the Christians begged St. Peter to leave Rome and save himself. He started out, but on the road, he met Our Lord coming in. “Lord, where are you going?” Peter asked. And Jesus answered, “I am coming to be crucified a second time.” Then St. Peter turned around and went back, for he knew that the vision meant he was the one who was to die on the cross. He was taken prisoner and condemned to death by crucifixion. St. Peter asked to be crucified with his head downward, because he said he was not worthy to suffer as Jesus had.


If we have fallen into sin, we should not get discouraged. We should imitate St. Peter by being sorry and loving Jesus more than ever before.

St. Irenaeus - Patron of Gaul

St. Irenaeus - Patron of Gaul - June 28th

Irenaeus was a Greek who was born less than a hundred years after Our Lord died. He had the great privilege of being taught by St. Polycrap, who had been a disciple of St. John the Apostle. Irenaeus once told a friend: “I listened to St. Polycrap’s instructions very carefully, and I wrote down his actions and his words-not on paper, but on my heart.”

After he became a priest, Irenaeus was sent to the French city of Lyons. It was in this city that the Bishop, St. Pothinus, was martyred with a great many other Saints. Irenaeus missed being martyred because he was asked by his brother priests to take an important message from them to the Pope in Rome. In that letter they spoke of Irenaeus as a man full of zeal for the Faith.

When Irenaeus returned to be the Bishop of Lyons, the persecution was over. But there was another danger: a heresy called Gnosticism. The false religion attracted some people by its promise to teach them secret mysteries. Irenaeus studied all its teachings and then in five books showed how wrong they were. He wrote with politeness, because he wanted to win people for Jesus, but sometimes his words were strong, such as when he said: “As soon as a man has been won over by the Gnostics, he becomes puffed up with conceit, and self-importance, and with majestic air of a cock, he goes strutting about.” St. Irenaeus’ books were read by so many people that before too long, the whole heresy began to die out.

St. Irenaeus always remembered what he had been taught by St. Polycrap. We, too, should try to forget whatever evil impressed us, and think, instead, about the good things we have heard or read. If we think well, we will live well.

Blessed Madeleine Fontaine and Her Three Companions

Blessed Madeleine Fontaine and Her Three Companions - June 27th

These four French martyrs were Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. Besides Blessed Madeleine, there were Blessed Frances Lanel, Blessed Teresa Fantou, and Blessed Joan Gerard. They were put to death for their Faith in the bloodiest days of the French Revolution.

First, the four Sisters were arrested because they refused to take an oath that could not be taken without committing a sin. The enemies of the church said that they had found certain papers in the convent which showed that the Sisters had been working against the Revolution. None of this was true, but a wicked judge in the city of Cambrai had Blessed Madeleine, the Superior, condemned to death, together with her three Sisters.

The sisters walked to their execution calmly singing a hymn to the Blessed Mother, “Hail, Star of the Sea.” Sister Madeleine was the last to die. As she came near the guillotine, she cried to the watching crowd: “Listen, Christians! We are the last victims. The persecution is going to stop. The altars of Jesus will rise again in glory!”

Her prophecy came true. The evil man who had judged the martyrs had to stop the executions because people were so angry with him. Six weeks later, he himself was beheaded.

No matter what happens, we should never promise to do something which is forbidden by God’s law.

St. Pelagius

St. Pelagius - June 26th

This boy martyr of Spain lived in the days when the Moors ruled part of his homeland and were fighting the Spanish Christians. Pelagius was only ten when his uncle had to leave him as a hostage with the Moors in the city of Cordova. He would not be allowed to go free until his uncle sent what the Moors demanded.

Three years passed and still the young Christian remained a prisoner. By this time, he was a handsome, lively boy of thirteen, and although many of the other prisoners were men of evil habits, Pelagius was not led to sin by their example. For one so young, he had a strong will and knew how to keep himself good-even in a prison.

The ruler of the Moors heard about the handsome young prisoner and he sent for him. He liked what he saw, and he offered Pelagius his freedom, plus fine clothes to wear, beautiful horses to ride, honor, money-as long as he would give up his Faith and become a Mohammedan like his captors.

“All those things you named mean nothing to me,” answered the boy firmly. “I have been a Christian. I am a Christian now. I shall continue to be a Christian.” Then the ruler tried threatening Pelagius, but neither his promises nor his threats had any effect.

What courage and generosity in this young boy of thirteen! He died a martyr for his Faith. Let us ask ourselves how faithful we are at least to the few little practices of piety our Religion requires of us.

St. William of Monte Vergine

St. William of Monte Vergine - June 25th

William was born in Northern Italy and was brought up by relatives because his parents died when he was a baby. When William grew up, he became a hermit, but when he worked a miracle and cured a blind man, he became famous. He was too humble to be pleased with the people’s admiration, so he went away to live alone on a very high, wild mountain.

Even there, however, men gathered around the Saint and he built a monastery for them dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. People gave the mountain a new name now-the Mountain of the Virgin-because of William’s monastery.

Later the Saint founded other great monasteries, helped by King Roger of Naples. His good influence on this king angered some evil men of the court, and they tried to show William was really an evil man hiding behind a holy habit. They sent a bad women to tempt him to sin. As soon as William what kind of women this visitor was, he worked a miracle and the evil women ran away frightened.

When we are tempted to commit a sin of impurity, we should remember that after that sin we might die and go to hell to suffer forever.

St. John the Baptist

St. John the Baptist - June 24th

John’s parents were Zachary and Elizabeth. Elizabeth was a cousin of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Mary went to visit and help when Elizabeth was old and about to become the mother. When they met, Jesus Who was within Mary, sanctified John, who was not yet born.

At the birth of St. John, his father gave him the name John, as the angel had commanded. John’s mission was to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus. So when he was still a young boy he went into the desert to prepare himself with silence, prayer and penance. Soon crowds started to come to him. He warned them to be sorry for their sins, and to change their lives, he gave them the baptism of repentance. One day, Our Lord Himself came. He wanted to be baptized by St. John to begin making reparation for our sins. On that day, John said to his disciples that Jesus was the Messias for whom they had been waiting. He told them and everyone else to follow Him.
Later on, St. John learned that King Herod had married a woman who already had a husband and a daughter. This king was the son of the King Herod who murdered all those little boys in Bethlehem. St. john told him that it was wrong of him to live with that woman. For this, he was put in prison. He remained a prisoner until Herod had his head cut off to please the daughter of his sinful wife.

St. John’s motto was, “Jesus must become more and more, and I must become less and less.”

We must remember that God is everything and we are nothing. Let us learn from St. John not to look for praise and admiration, but to do everything for the glory of God.

St. Audrey (or Etheldreda)

St. Audrey (or Etheldreda) - June 23rd

St. Audrey was born in England. Her three sisters are also saints. She wanted to be a bride of Christ, but her parents wanted her to marry. Although she gave in to their wishes, she and her husband lived together as brother and sister. Three years later, he died, and Audrey went to live a quiet life of prayer on the island he had given her.

After five years, the saint’s relatives demanded that she marry again, and once more, Audrey gave in. Her second husband was young, and they, too, lived as brother and sister. Audrey spent all her time doing works of mercy. However, when her husband became older and was a powerful king, he wanted her to live as a wife and a queen. She replied that she belonged only to God. He tired hard to make her change her mind, but in the end, he let her become a nun.

Back on her own island, St. Audrey founded a convent and was a very holy superior. Instead of wearing the linen clothes worn by other noble women, she chose rough wool robes for herself. She slept only a few hours and prayed the rest of the night. St. Audrey died at the exact time she said she would, and her body was put into a plain wooden coffin, as she had wanted.

Let us admire this Saint who could have enjoyed all the pleasures of the world and instead gave them all up to make sure she would gain the pleasures of Heaven.

St. Alban

St. Alban - June 22nd

St. Alban was the first martyr of England, his own country. During a persecution of Christians, Alban, though a pagan then, hid a priest in his house. The priest made such a great impression on this kind pagan that Alban received instructions and became a Christian himself.

In the meantime, the governor had been told that the priest was hiding in Alban’s house, and he sent his soldiers to capture him. But Alban changed Clothes with his guest, and gave himself up in his stead. The judge was furious when he found out that the priest had escaped and he said to Alban, “You shall get the punishment he was to get unless you worship the gods.” The Saint answered that he would never worship those false gods again. “To what family do you belong?” demanded the judge. “That does not concern you,” said Alban. “If you want to know my religion, I am a Christian.” Angrily the judge commanded him again to sacrifice to the gods at once. “Your sacrifices are offered to devils,” answered the Saint. “They cannot help you or answer your requests. The reward for such sacrifices is the everlasting punishment of Hell.”

Since he was getting nowhere, the judge had Alban whipped. Then he commanded him to be beheaded. On the way to the place of execution, the soldier who was to kill the Saint was converted himself, an he, too, became a martyr.

Jesus taught us, “Love one another, as I have loved you.” We love our neighbor when, like Jesus and the Saints, we make sacrifices for others.

St. Aloysius Gonzaga

St. Aloysius Gonzaga - Patron of Youth - June 21st


Aloysius, the Patron of Catholic youth, was the oldest son of an Italian marquis. Since he was so full of life, his father planned to make a great soldier out of him, and when he was only five, he took him to an army camp. There little Aloysius marched in parade and even managed to load and fire a gun one day while the camp was at rest! He learned rough language, too, from the soldiers, but when he found out that this talk was shameful, he felt very bad.


As he grew, Aloysius was sent to the courts of dukes and princes. Many sins of dishonesty, hatred, and impurity were being committed in this high society. But the only effect it all had on the Saint was to make him more careful to protect his purity. He fell sick and that gave him a good excuse to stay in his room to pray and read the lives of the saints.


When Aloysius was sixteen, he resolved to leave the world and become a Jesuit, but his father refused his consent. However, after three years, he finally gave in. Once he had entered, Aloysius begged to serve in the kitchen and to wash dishes, because he wanted to practice humility. He would say, "I am a crooked piece of iron and am come into religion to made straight by the hammer of mortification and penance.”

When a terrible disease broke out in Rome, Aloysius asked to be allowed to care for the sick. He who had always had servants to wait on him gladly washed the sick and made their beds. He served them until he caught the sickness himself.


St. Aloysius was only twenty-four when he died. His last words were, “I am going to Heaven.”


The virtue which is outstanding in St. Aloysius is purity. To keep pure we should do what he did, that is, mortify all our senses, and especially our eyes.

Blessed Osanna of Mantua

Blessed Osanna of Mantua - June 20th

This Italian Saint was the oldest child of a large family. Her father had wanted her to marry, but Osanna gave herself entirely to God.

When she was eighteen, Osanna received a wedding ring from Our Lord. Though no one else could see it, she always felt it on her finger. She also felt some of the sufferings Jesus suffered-the crown of thorns, the wound in His side, and the wounds in His hands and feet. She lived at home and served her family in every way, yet she belonged to the third order of St. Dominic and wore the habit of that order.

Strange as it may seem, Osanna was asked by the Duke of Mantua to run the affairs of his kingdom while he was away. She who had never been to school knew how to make the best decisions because she trusted completely in God. And she used her friendship with the Duke to help everyone in any kind of trouble.

A great many of Blessed Osanna prayers were for the church and for Italy. She feared God would send great punishments for the many sins being committed in her time. Yet she was not a gloomy soul. She loved her friends dearly, and people crowded her house to ask her advice and comfort.

A person living in the world can become a saint, if he prays, keeps away from sin and does good deeds. To learn how to live such a holy life, we should read inspiring books.

St. Juliana Falconieri

St. Juliana Falconieri - June 19th

Juliana was the only daughter of a very rich Italian couple. She came in answer to their prayers when they were already growing old. After her father died, her uncle, St. Alexis, helped for mother with her education. St. Alexis was one of the Founders of the Servite Order, the Servant of Mary. Juliana had such a devotion to Our Lady that she decided to become a Servite nun. She and other devout women spent their time in prayer and works of mercy. St. Juliana is considered the Foundress of the Nuns of the Servite Order because she wrote their rule of life.

Never did the Saint lose a chance to help someone. She especially worked to make peace between enemies and to win sinners back to Jesus. Though sick herself, she loved to take care of the sick and to make their sufferings easier to bear. In her own sufferings she was always cheerful. St. Juliana’s great love was Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. Her heart was broken when she could not receive Holy Communion because of the stomach disease that led to her death. But Jesus worked an amazing miracle to reward her devotion. As she lay dying, she asked the priest to lay a Host on a linen over her heart. He did and at that moment she died. The Sacred Host disappeared at the same time, and an image of Jesus on the Cross was found on her skin at the spot where the Blessed Sacrament had disappeared.

St. Juliana wanted to receive Jesus in Holy Communion, even when she could not. And we? Do we go to receive Our Lord in Holy Communion as often as possible?

St. Ephrem

St. Ephrem - June 18th

Ephrem was born in Mesopotamia. He was not baptized until he was eighteen, but right afterwards he could think of nothing but leading a holy life. The thought of appearing before God after death to be judged made him tremble and he wanted to prepare for that judgment by living well. He was naturally quick to become angry, but he gained such a control over himself that people thought of him as a very calm man.

Ephrem became a hermit in a cave near the city of Edessa in Syria. His clothes were just patched rags and he ate only enough to keep alive. His chief work all this time was the writing of spiritual books. So holy and beautiful are these books that St. Ephrem is given the title of “Doctor of the Church.”

He often went to preach in Edessa, and people cried when he spoke about God’s judgment. Because he thought he was a great sinner, he wept all his life for the slight sins he had committed as a child. When St. Bazil met him and asked if he were Ephrem, the famous servant of Jesus, St. Ephrem said, “I am Ephrem who walks unworthily on the way of salvation.” Then he asked and received from St. Bazil much advice on how to live his spiritual life in the best way possible.

St. Ehprem is also called the “Harp of the Holy Ghost,” Because he wrote many beautiful hymns. These hymns were very popular and as people sang them, they learned much about the Faith. In this way, too, Ephrem saved them from falling into heresy.

So humble was this Saint that in his last sickness, he said to his friends: “When I die, treat my body without any respect, in order to show what I am.”

We, too, will be judged after our death. But if we think of our judgment now, we will prepare for it with a good life.

Sts. Teresa and Sanchia

Sts. Teresa and Sanchia - June 17th

These two sisters were daughters of the King of Portugal. Teresa was the older one. She married King Alfonso IX of Spain and became the mother of several children. But this marriage was not valid and it was wrong for Teresa to stay as his wife. Because she loved the king dearly, it was very hard for her to leave him. Yet, she did not want to disobey God’s law, and finally she went back to Portugal.

On her own land, Teresa built a large convent for Cistercian nuns. She herself shared their life fully, even though she did not stay there all the time, for she had to take care of her other property.

Her sister, St. Sanchia, never married. She, too, founded a convent on her land and devoted herself to good works. When she visited her beloved sister, Teresa, and saw what holy life the Cistercian nuns led, she changed her convent into a convent of the Cistercian Order and joined it herself. After Sanchia’s death, St. Teresa took her body back to her own convent. Then, when she had settled quarrels between her children and the Kind of Alfonso’s second wife, she took the veil of a nun in her convent. For almost twenty years, she lived as a very fervent sister. When she died, she was buried beside St. Sanchia.

If we ever make a promise to do something wrong, let us make sure we do not keep it. We cannot offend God to please someone else.

St. John Francis Regis

St. John Francis Regis - June 16th

When he was eighteen, this French Saint entered the Jesuit Order. In the seminary, his love for God and for souls showed in the way he prayed and in his eagerness to teach catechism in the parishes when he could. After he was ordained a priest, St. John Francis began his work as a missionary preacher. He gave very simple talks that came right from his heart. He especially spoke to the poor, ordinary folks, and they came in great crowds to hear him. He spent his mornings praying, hearing confessions, and preaching. In the afternoon, he would visit prisons and hosptials. To someone who said that the prisoners and bad women he converted would not stay good for long, the Saint answered: “If my efforts stop just one sin from being committed, I shall consider them worthwhile.”

Into wild mountain parishes he went in the coldest days of winter to preach his missions. “I have seen him stand all day on a heap of snow at the top of a mountain preaching,” said one priest, “and then spend the whole night hearing confessions.” Sometimes he would start off for a far-away town at three o’clock in the morning with a few apples in his pocket.

Once, on his way to a village, St. John Francis fell and broke his leg. Yet he kept on going, leaning on a stick and on his companion’s shoulder. When he reached the village, he went at once to hear confessions, without letting his leg be treated. At the end of the day, when the doctor looked at it, his leg was found to be completely healed!

St. John Francis died on one of his preaching missions, after falling sick while lost at night in the woods. Just before he died, he exclaimed: “I see Our Lord and His Mother opening Heaven for me!”

God would give us many more blessings and graces if we would forget our own wants and help our parents, family, and friends.

St. Germaine of Pibrac

St. Germaine of Pibrac - June 15th

Pibrac is the little village in France where Germaine was born and spent her life. In fact, her right hand was deformed and helpless. Her father paid little attention to her, and her stepmother did not want her around her own healthy children. So Germaine slept with the sheep in the barn, even in cold weather. She dressed in rags and was laughed at by other children. When she came home at night with the flock of sheep she had tended in the fields, her stepmother often screamed at her and beat her.

Yet this poor girl learned to talk with God and to remember that He was with her all the time. She always managed to get to Mass and she received Holy Communion as often as she could. Her sheep she would leave in care of her Guardian Angel, and never once did one wander away from the staff she planted in the ground.

Germaine often gathered young children around her to teach them their faith and fill their hearts with God’s love. She tried her best to help the poor, too. She shared with beggars the little bit of food she was given to eat. One winter day, her stepmother accused her of stealing bread and chased her with a stick. But what fell from Germaine’s apron was not the expected bread. It was summer flowers!

By now people no longer made fun of Germaine. In fact, they loved and admired her. She could have begun to live in her father’s house, but she chose to keep sleeping in the barn. Then, one morning, when she was twenty-two, she was found dead on her straw bed. Her life of great suffering was over and God worked miracles to show that she was a Saint.

The main virtue of this Saint was patience, she carried her big cross well, because she went to Holy Communion often. In our little sufferings, let us turn to Our Lord in Holy Communion and ask His help.

St. Basil the Great

St. Basil the Great - Patron of Hospital Administrators - June 14th

Basil was born in Asia Minor. His grandmother, father, mother, two brothers and a sister are all saints. He was an excellent student and then a teacher, but his sister, St. Macrina, advised him to give up his high place in the world to become a monk. He settled in a wild spot and there founded his first monastery. The rule he gave his monks was so wise that monasteries in the East have followed it down to our own times. Yet Basil himself was called from his monastery to become an archbishop and a great champion of the true Faith against the Arian heretics.

When the Emperor sent one of his officials, a prefect, to make Basil stop preaching against the Arian heresy, he found he could get nowhere with the Saint. “Are you crazy?” the prefect answered. “Are you not afraid of the Emperor’s anger, or exile, or death?” “No,” said St. Basil. “A man who has nothing does not have to be afraid of losing anything. And you cannot exile me, because the whole earth is my home. As for death, it would be a kindness. One blow would end my life and my sufferings together.” The prefect could not believe his ears. “Never before has anyone dared to talk to me like this,” he said. St. Basil answered, “Perhaps you have not had much to do with Christian bishops!”

The Emperor tried three times to write an order for the exile of the Saint, but each time the pen split in his hand.

Basil always found time to help the poor. He grew very angry with selfish people who refused to give to those in need. “You say you do not have enough for yourselves,” he once exclaimed. “Yet while your tongue makes excuses, your hand accuses you. That ring shinning on you finger declares you to be a liar!” He wanted poor people themselves to help those worse off. “Give your last loaf to the beggar at your door,” he urged, “and trust in God’s goodness.”

We will never be ashamed of being devout and showing our Faith with such actions as blessing ourselves every time we pass a Catholic Church.

St. Anthony of Padua

St. Anthony of Padua - Patron of Finding Articles and of the Poor - June 13th

This very popular saint was born in Portugal and the name given him at Baptism was Ferdinand. At the age of fifteen, he entered the Augustinian Order and spent all his time in prayer and study.

When he was twenty-five, he heard about some Franciscans who had been martyred by the Moors in China. From then on, Ferdinand felt a strong desire to die for Christ. He joined the Franciscans, who had been founded only a little while before, and took the name of Anthony. Then he went off to Africa to preach to the Moors. But he soon became so sick that he had to leave. No one in his new Order knew what a brilliant mind he had, because he kept his talents hidden. So he was sent to a lonely hermitage in Italy, and there he washed pots and pans and did other humble chores.

Our Lord, however, wanted St. Anthony to save many souls by preaching. One day, at a gathering of many priests, it was suddenly discovered that there was no preacher! Anthony was told to get up and give the sermon as best he could. How amazed everyone was when he preached a marvelous sermon, full of wise and holy thoughts! From then on, until he died nine years later, St. Anthony preached all over Italy. He was so popular that people even closed their stores to go to hear him. Often the churches could not hold the crowds and then he would preach out in the open. Heretics, criminals, and sinners of every kind were converted.

Anthony was short and rather plump, but he had such virtue and such a love for sinners that just the sight of him was enough to make many repent and confess their sins.

So many miracles have taken place and so many people have obtained favors by praying to him that St. Anthony is famous as the “Wonder-worker.”

The statue of St. Anthony shows him with Baby Jesus. This is because once the Holy Child appeared to the Saint. Other pictures show him holding a Bible because he knew and loved the Word of God very much.

Like St. Anthony, let us love to pray and work unseen. In this way, we shall not become proud, and God will reward every prayer we say and everything we do for love of Him.

St. John of Sahagun

St. John of Sahagun - June 12th

St. John was born in Sahagun, Spain. He received his education from the Benedictine Monks of his town, and then became a parish priest. He could have lived a very comfortable life in the cathedral parish or in other wealthy parishes, but John wanted to imitate Our Lord’s poverty. He chose to keep charge only of a small chapel, where he offered Mass, preached, and taught catechism. He began to be very hard on himself and to practice real poverty.

St. John next went to the great University of Salamanca, because he realized that he that he needed to know theology better. After four years of study, he became famous as a preacher. Nine years later, after a serious but successful operation, he joined a community of Augustinian Friars. There he was outstanding for his obedience and humility. His beautiful sermons brought about a change in the people of Salamanca. They were always quarreling violently among themselves and often the young noblemen fought each other in revenge. St. John succeeded in ending a great many of these bitter fights and persuading people to forgive. He was not afraid to correct evils, even when the sinners were important people who might take revenge. Once he corrected a powerful Duke for the way he was making the poor people suffer. In anger, the Duke sent two men to kill St. John. But when these two saw the Saint, so calm and holy, they were struck with sorrow and asked his pardon. Then the Duke fell sick, and through the prayers of St. John, he repented his sins and even got better.

It was the graces he received from prayer and from the Holy Mass that gave St. John his special power as a preacher. He said Mass so devoutly that sometimes he had the great privilege of seeing Jesus at the moment of the Consecration.

This Saint was so calm and inspiring because he was holy. If we keep our conscience clean, we, too, will have peace and be very happy.