St. Frances Cabrini

St. Frances Cabrini Feast date: Nov 13 On November 13, the universal Church honors St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, an Italian missionary who spent much of her life working with Italian immigrants in the United States. Mother Cabrini, who had a deathly fear of water and drowning, crossed the Atlantic Ocean more than 30 times in service of the Church and the people she was serving. St. Frances Cabrini, from a young age, longed to be a missionary in China, but God had other plans for her. Orphaned in Italy before she was 18, she joined the Sisters of the Sacred Heart…

St. Josaphat

St. Josaphat Feast date: Nov 12 Today, on the day of his martyrdom, Nov. 12, Roman Catholics and some Eastern Catholics remember St. Josaphat Kuntsevych, a bishop and monk whose example of faith inspired many Eastern Orthodox Christians to return to full communion with the Holy See. Other Eastern Catholics, including the Ukrainian Catholic Church, celebrate St. Josaphat’s feast day on Nov. 25. Born in 1580 in the western Ukrainian region of Volhynia, John Kuntsevych did not become “Josaphat” until his later life as a monk. He also was not initially a full member of the Catholic Church, born to…

St. Martin of Tours

St. Martin of Tours Feast date: Nov 11 On Nov. 11, the Catholic Church honors St. Martin of Tours, who left his post in the Roman army to become a “soldier of Christ” as a monk and later bishop. Martin was born around the year 316 in modern-day Hungary. His family left that region for Italy when his father, a military official of the Roman Empire, had to transfer there. Martin’s parents were pagans, but he felt an attraction to the Catholic faith which had become legal throughout the empire in 313. He received religious instruction at age 10, and…

Pope St. Leo the Great

Pope St. Leo the Great Feast date: Nov 10 Nov. 10 is the Roman Catholic Church’s liturgical memorial of the fifth-century Pope Saint Leo I, known as “St. Leo the Great,” whose involvement in the fourth ecumenical council helped prevent the spread of error on Christ’s divine and human natures. St. Leo intervened for the safety of the Church in the West as well, persuading Attila the Hun to turn back from Rome. Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians also maintain a devotion to the memory of Pope St. Leo the Great. Churches of the Byzantine tradition celebrate his feast…

Dedication of St. John Lateran

Dedication of St. John Lateran Feast date: Nov 09 The feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran is celebrated by the entire Church. It marks the dedication of the cathedral church of Rome by Pope Sylvester I in 324. This church is the cathedra (or chair) of the bishop of Rome, who is the Pope. A Latin inscription in the Church reads: “omnium ecclesiarum Urbis et Orbis mater et caput.” Translated, this means, “The mother and head of all churches of the city and of the world.” The basilica was originally named the Archbasilica of the…

St. Godfrey of Amiens

St. Godfrey of Amiens Feast date: Nov 08 St. Godfrey was the son of Frodon, a prominent citizen in a small town. He was raised from the age of 5 in the Benedictine abbey of Mont-Saint-Quentin where his godfather Godefroid was abbot. He immediately donned a Benedictine habit and lived as a tiny monk, and took his vows when he came of age. He was ordained a priest by bishop Radbod II of Noyon. In 1096, he was made Abbot of Nogent-sous-Coucy, in the diocese of Rheims, in the province of Champagne. When he arrived, the place was overrun by weeds, and housed only six…

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity Feast date: Nov 08 St. Elizabeth of the Trinity was born Elizabeth Catez in Bourges, France, in 1880. Her father, a military captain, died when she was only seven, leaving her mother to raise Elizabeth and her sister, Marguerite.   Elizabeth was a very lively girl and a gifted pianist, but was very stubborn and experienced fits of rage. However, even in her strong temperament she had a great love for God, and an early attraction to a life of prayer and reflection. She visited the sick often and taught catechism to children.   Against her…

St. Engelbert of Cologne

St. Engelbert of Cologne Feast date: Nov 07 St. Engelbert, was born in Berg around the year 1185 to Engelbert, Count of Berg and Margaret, daughter of the Count of Gelderland. He studied at the cathedral school of Cologne and, while still a boy, was made provost of the churches of St. George and St. Severin at Cologne and of St. Mary’s at Aachen, as it was a common abuse in the Church at the time to appoint the children of nobles to such positions. In 1199 he was elected provost of the cathedral at Cologne. He led a worldly life,…

St. Leonard of Noblac

St. Leonard of Noblac Feast date: Nov 06 St Leonard of Noblac was a Frank courtier, and during a certian invasion which they were losing, the Queen suggested to Leonard that he invoke the help of God to repel the invading army. He did, and the tide of battle turned, naming Clovis victorious. Saint Remigius, bishop of Rheims then used this miracle to convert the King, Leonard, and a thousand of thier followers to Christianity. Following his conversion, St. Leonard refused the offer of a See from his grandfather, King Clovis I. He then began a life of austerity, sanctification, and preaching. His desire…

Saint Jean-Theophane Venard

Saint Jean-Theophane Venard Feast date: Nov 06 On November 6, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Jean-Théophane Vénard, a French missionary to Vietnam who was martyred for the faith. Famous for having inspired St. Therese of Lisieux, who said of St. Jean-Théophane that he was someone who had lived her own image of a martyr and missionary, St. Jean was born in France, became a priest in the Society of Foreign Missions, and was sent to Vietnam. Due to the persecutions of the anti-Christian emperor Minh-Menh, priests were forced to hide in the forest and live in caves. They…

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