St. Cyril of Jerusalem

St. Cyril of Jerusalem - March 18th

St. Cyril was born in Jerusalem and at the age of thirty was ordained a priest. He was given the duty of instructing the preparing the people for baptism. Cyril taught in a very clear, simple way that everyone could understand. He often repeated the words of the Holy Bible. Because the words of the Bible are the words of God, they move peoples hearts.

When the Bishop died, Cyril was chosen to take his place. Not long after he became Bishop of Jerusalem, a bright cross appeared in the sky. It was two miles long and reached from Mt. Calvary, where Jesus died, to Mt. Olivet, where Jesus suffered the Agony in the Garden. Perhaps this was a sign of the great persecutions the Church had to suffer in this period.

In St. Cyril’s time, the Emperor Julian, who had given up his Christian faith, said that Jesus had been wrong when He declared that the temple of Jerusalem would not be rebuilt. He decided to try to prove it. So he spent much money and sent all the materials for a new temple. Many people helped by giving jewels and precious metals. Yet St. Cyril was sure that the temple could not be built, because Jesus, Who is God, said so. And sure enough, first a storm, then an earthquake and finally a fire stopped the Emperor, and those with him had given up. God had put an end to their wicked plan!

Let us make up our minds never to read or to listen to anything which is different from what Jesus and His holy Church teach us.

St. Patrick

St. Patrick - Patron of Ireland - March 17th


It is believed that St. Patrick was born in Britain of Roman parents.


When he was sixteen, he was captured by pirates and taken to Ireland. There he was sold as a slave. His owner sent him to tend his flocks on the mountains. St. Patrick had very little food and clothing. Yet every morning, even in rain, snow and ice, he would get up early to pray. A hundred time a day and a hundred times during the night, Patrick prayed to God. His faith thus grew stronger all the time and his love for God increased.


Later, when he escaped from Ireland, he studied to become a priest. But Patrick always felt that he must go back to Ireland to bring that pagan land to Christ. At last his wish came true. He was consecrated a Bishop and sent by the Holy Father to Ireland. How happy he was to bring the good news of the true God to the poor pagans of the land where once he had been a slave!


Right from the start, Patrick suffered much. His relatives and friends wanted him to quit before the pagan Irish killed him. Yet the Saint kept on preaching about Jesus, traveling from one village to the another. He never rested, and he did great penance for these people whom he so loved. Before he died, the whole nation was Christian! And besides bringing the Irish to the Faith, he made them a civilized, learned people.


Despite such great success, St. Patrick never grew proud. He called himself a poor sinner and gave all the praise to God.


Today, we shall perform at least one spiritual work of mercy. For example, we may pray for missionaries in pagan lands.

St. Abraham

St. Abraham - March 16th


St. Abraham was born in Mesopotamia of a rich, noble family. He married because that was what his parents wanted. But immediately after the wedding, he told his wife that he wanted to live and die as a virgin. Then secretly he left home to live only for God. His friends looked for him for seventeen days. They finally found him praying in a little cell outside the city. He begged them to let him stay and at last they gave in.


Abraham’s cell had only one little window, through which he received food and drink. Here he spent all his time. Adoring and praising God, and begging His mercy. All he had was a cloak and a piece of sackcloth to wear and one dish out of which he ate a drank. Ten years after Abraham had left the world, he received all his parents’ fortune. But he gave it to the poor. Many people called upon him for advise. On seeing this, the Bishop ordained Abraham a priest and sent him to preach to people who were enemies of our holy Faith. Abraham would have been happier to stay in his cell, but he obeyed cheerfully.


He was often beaten and insulted by those people. Three times he was sent away, but each time he returned with greater zeal. After three years, the people were finally moved by his meekness and patience. Through the prayers of Abraham, they all received baptism!


When his brother died, St Abraham took upon himself the care of his brother’s only child, Mary. He placed her in a little cell next to his own and instructed her himself. Mary became very pious and dear to God. But after twenty years of this holy life, she was attracted by the world. She ran away to a distant town and there committed many sins. For two years, St. Abraham wept and prayed for her conversion. Finally he found out where she was living, and he went to talk to her. She was so ashamed when she saw him! “Mary,” he said, “what has become of your angelic life and your prayers?” Then, seeing how sorry she was, he comforted her lovingly. He promised her that she would be happy again if she would follow his advice. Poor Mary! She cried and thanked him for coming. She promised to obey perfectly. So Abraham put her on his horse and led her back to her cell. There Mary did great penance and wept for her sins until she died a saint fifteen years later. She was so sorry that she had offended God. And Our Lord showed how pleased He was with Mary’s sorrow for her sins. He gave her the gift of working miracles by her prayers.


St. Abraham lived ten more years after he had led his niece, St. Mary, back to God.


St. Abraham converted the pagans and his niece with his prayers and mortifications. We must pray and offer up little sacrifices when we need graces.

St. Zachary

St. Zachary - March 15th

St. Zachary was a Benedictine monk from Greece who became a Cardinal and then Pope. In his time, there was much fighting all over Italy between one kingdom and another. Pope St. Zachary was the one who kept making peace and saving people from terrible wars. At times he risked his life to do it.

It was because the Saint was so gentle and kind that leaders did what he asked. Even for his enemies he would do favors and give them the kindest treatment possible. He never took revenge on them.

St. Zachary had special care for the churches of Rome. He loved to make them as beautiful as he could, out of love for Jesus dwelling on the altars.

Towards the poor, this holy Pope was a real father. He built big homes for them and for travelers. His loving heart could not bear to see people suffer. Once he heard that some businessmen had bought poor slaves in Rome and were going to sell them in Africa. He called those men and scolded them for being so cruel. Then he paid them the price they were asking for the slaves and set the poor slaves free.

When St. Zachary died, all the people were saddened to have lost such a good and saintly father.

St. Zachary had much respect for Our Lord’s presence in every church. Let us, too, have respect for the House of God and never talk or joke in church.

St. Matilda

St. Matilda - March 14th

St. Matilda was the daughter of a German count. When she was still quite young, her parents married her to a nobleman named Henry, who became King of Germany.

As Queen, Matilda lived a life of prayer and virtue. Everyone who saw her realized how pure and humble and good she was. She loved to visit and comfort the sick and to help prisoners. Her holy husband saw all the good she was doing, and decided to help her.

When King Henry died, St. Matilda suffered very much. He died very suddenly, and the poor Queen decided then and there to live for God alone. So she called the priest to offer Mass for him and then gave him all the jewels she was wearing. She promised to give up the things of the world from then on.

Although she was a saint, Matilda made a big mistake: she favored her son Henry more than his brother, in the struggle to see who would be king. But she was very sorry for having done this and she made up for it by accepting great sufferings all the rest of her life.

After years spent in practicing charity and penance, St. Matilda died a peaceful, holy death and was buried beside her good husband.

From St. Matilda, let us learn to offer up little sufferings to make up for our sins.

St. Euphrasia

St. Euphrasia - March 13th


St. Euphrasia was born of a saintly and noble parents. Her father died when she was only five years old. Her mother, who is also named St. Euphrasia, took her to Egypt. There they lived in a large house near a convent of good and holy nuns.


Euphrasia begged her mother to let her serve God in the convent in which the holy nuns lived. Her good mother cried with joy. Soon afterwards, she took the child to the convent and put her in the care of the Abbess. The Abbess asked Euphrasia if she would be able to leave behind all her riches and comforts. She asked the girl is she thought she could live a life of sacrifice for Jesus. The young girl answered right away that she would be happy to do anything, as long as she could stay in the house of God. So the Abbess accepted her.


When her mother died, the Emperor reminded Euphrasia that her parents had promised her in marriage to a rich young senator. Of course Euphrasia wanted to belong to no one but Jesus. So she wrote a respectful letter to the Emperor. In it she said: “I belong to Jesus, and I cannot give myself to anyone else. My only desire is that the world should forget about me completely. I humbly beg Your Majesty to take all the riches my parents left me and give them to the poor. I ask Your Majesty to free all the slaves of my family and to cancel all the debts people own me.”


The Emperor thought her letter was so beautiful that he read it out loud to all the senators. Then he did everything she had asked.


For her generosity, God showered Euphrasia with special favors and graces. On her part, she thought only of becoming a saint. And she succeeded. The devil tempted her very much, especially with temptations of impurity, but Euphrasia prayed harder than ever. She made even more sacrifices than usual. That is why she was always victorious over the devil. She grew holier every day until God called her home to Heaven.


It is all right to be happy with the nice clothes and many good things we have. But we should never forget that all these things are nothing compared to what we shall have in Heaven-if we live as Jesus wants us to live.

St. Gregory the Great

St. Gregory the Great - Patron of England and Teachers - March 12th


St. Gregory was born in Rome of noble parents. His father was a senator and his mother was a saint, St. Celia. Gregory studied philosophy and while still young, became Governor of Rome.


When his father died, he turned his large house into a monastery. For several years he lived as a good and holy monk. Then Pope Pelagius made him one of the seven deacons of Rome, and when the Pope died, Gregory himself was chosen to take his place. The humble Saint did not want that honor at all. He was so holy and wise, however, that everyone knew he would be a good Pope. Gregory even tried to disguise himself and hide in a cave, but he was found and consecrated Pope, anyway.


For fourteen years he ruled the Church. He was one of the greatest Popes the Church has ever had, even though he always was a sickly man. St. Gregory wrote many books and preached to the people constantly. He cared for people all over the world. Indeed, he considered himself everyone’s servant. He was the first Pope to use the title “Servant of the servants of God.” Now, all the Popes use this title.


St. Gregory took special, loving care of poor people and strangers. Every day he used to feed them a good dinner. Once the Lord Himself came, dressed like one of the Saint’s poor guests. This Jesus did to show St. Gregory how pleased He was with his charity.


Once, when Gregory was still a monk, he saw some blonde boys up for sale in the slave market of Rome. He asked where they were from and was told that they were from England. The Saint felt a great desire to go to England to bring the Faith to those pagans. When he became Pope, one of the first things he did was to send some of his best monks to convert the English to Christ.


The last years of this holy Pope’s life were filled with terrible sufferings, yet he continued working for his beloved Church until the very end.


Every morning let us make the resolution to do at least one good deed of charity during the day.

St. Eulogius of Spain

St. Eulogius of Spain - March 11th

St. Eulogius belonged to a very famous family of Spain. He was educated by wonderful Christian teachers. While he learned his lessons, he also learned from their example to be virtuous. Even when he grew up, he kept on studying. When he finished he knew many things. He knew much about the Holy Bible. But best of all, he was a man full of a desire to bring God’s message to everyone. As a priest, he became himself the head of a famous school. Everyone admired and loved St. Eulogius because he was humble, kind and very close to God.

At this time the Mohammedans were ruling Spain. They were terrible enemies of Christianity. At first they tried to make the people give up their Faith. When the people refused, the Mohammedans began to put them to death.

Eulogius and his Bishop were put in prison along with many other good Christians. In the prison, Eulogius read the Holy Bible out loud all the time to the other prisoners. In this way he filled them with great courage. They did not feel afraid to die for Our Lord. During this time, St. Eulogius also wrote a book encouraging Christians to die rather than give up their holy Faith.

The Saint himself wanted to be a martyr more than anything else. Instead, he was let out of prison. As soon as he was free, St. Eulogius began to preach and he converted many.

The Mohammedans were so angry with Eulogius that they arrested him again. In front of the judge, he bravely declared that Jesus is God. When they condemned him to death, Eulogius thanked God! Very willingly he offered up his life for Jesus.

We are all proud of our country’s war heroes, and we dream of doing the great deeds they did. Let us be very proud of the heroes of our Faith, too, and try to be like them.

Forty Martyrs of Sebaste

Forty Martyrs of Sebaste – March 10th


Under the Emperor Licinius, these martyrs suffered at Sebaste in Armenia. When all the soldiers of their legion were commanded to offer sacrifice to the gods, these forty heroes bravely refused. They said they would willingly die for their country but they would never commit the sin of offering sacrifice to false gods. In punishment, they were stripped of their clothes and lowered into a little pond. It was winter time and very cold. They were to be left there all night to freeze to death. "It will be a terrible night," they exclaimed, ""but it will win us a happy eternity!"


The pagans kept trying to persuade them to give up their faith in the true God. If they would, they could jump into a warm bath prepared nearby. At last, one soldier gave in to the temptation. But no sooner did he enter the warm bath than he died!


A pagan guard had a vision right then of blessed spirits descending from heaven with thirty-nine crowns. He was converted himself, and casting of his clothes, he joined the other thirty-nine. So the number of forty martyrs was complete again, and the Church honors these brave heroes of Christ as saints.


Let us admire the courage of these soldiers and learn from them how to bear without complaining the heat or the cold.

St. Dominic Savio

St. Dominic Savio - Patron of Choir Boys - March 9th


St. Dominic Savio was born in Italy in 1842. One day when he was just four, he disappeared and his good mother went looking for him. She found the little fellow in a corner praying with his hands joined and his head bowed. Already he knew all his prayers by heart. At five, he was an altar boy. When he was seven, he received his First Holy Communion. On that solemn day he chose a motto: "Death, but not sin!" And he kept it always.


"A teenager such as Dominic, who bravely struggled to keep his innocence from baptism to the end of his life, is really a saint," said Pope St. Pius X.


Yes, Dominic was an ordinary boy with an extraordinary love for God.


At the age of twelve, Dominic entered the school run by St. John Bosco. Don Bosco examined his first and at the end of the questions, Dominic asked, "What do you think of me?"


"I think you’re good material," answered the priest, with a big smile.


"Well, then," said Dominic, "you are a good tailor, so if the material is good, take me and make a new suit out of me for Our Lord!"


Everyone in the school soon saw from the way he prayed that this boy was different. He greatly loved all the boys and even though he was younger, he used to worry about them. He was afraid that they would lose the grace of God by sinning.


One day, a fellow brought a magazine full of bad pictures to school. In a minute, a group of boys had gathered around him to see it. "What’s up?" wondered Dominic and he, too, went to look. Just one peek was enough for him. He grabbed the magazine and tore it to pieces! "Poor us!" he cried in the meantime, "Did God give us eyes to look at such things as this? Aren’t you ashamed?"


"Oh, we ere just looking at these pictures for the fun of it," said one boy.


"Sure, for fun," answered Dominic, "and in the meantime you’re preparing yourselves to go to hell!"


"Oh, what’s so wrong about looking at these pictures anyway?" another fellow demanded.


Dominic had a ready answer. "If you don’t see anything wrong," he said sadly, "this is even worse. It means you’re used to looking at shameful things!"


No one said anything after that. They all realized that Dominic was right.


Another time he stopped a terrific stone-throwing fight between two angry boys. Holding up a little crucifix between them, he said, ‘Before you fight, look as this and say, ‘Jesus Christ was innocent and He died forgiving His murderers. I am a sinner, and I am going to hurt Him by not forgiving my enemies.’ Then you can start-and throw your first stone at me!"


The two boys were so ashamed of themselves that they made up and promised to go to confession, besides.


One day Dominic began to feel sick and was sent home to get better. There he grew worse, instead, and received the last Sacraments. He was only fifteen then but he did not fear death. In fact, he was overjoyed at the thought of going to Heaven. Just before he died, he tried to sit up. "Goodbye," he murmured to his good father. Suddenly his face lit up with a smile of great joy and happiness. "I am seeing such wonderful things!’ he exclaimed. Then he spoke no more, for he had gone to Heaven.


Let us make Dominic’s motto, "Death, but not sin" our motto, too.