St. Anthony & Our Lady of Fatima

St. Gerard Majella Feast date: Oct 16 On October 16, we celebrate the feast of St. Gerard Majella. St. Gerard was born the son of a tailor on April 6, 1726. He grew up about fifty miles south of Naples in Muro Lucano, Italy in a large, poor family. When St. Gerard was only 12, his father Dominic Majella entered eternal rest. Upon the death of his father, his mother, beholden to poverty, sent St. Gerard away to live with his uncle. St. Gerard thereafter became an apprentice to a tailor. This tailor treated him well; however, the foreman treated him…

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Feast date: Oct 16 On Oct. 16, Roman Catholics celebrate the life of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, the French nun whose visions of Christ helped to spread devotion to the Sacred Heart throughout the Western Church. Margaret Mary Alacoque was born in July of 1647. Her parents Claude and Philiberte lived modest but virtuous lives, while Margaret proved to be a serious child with a great focus on God. Claude died when Margaret was eight, and from age 9-13 she suffered a paralyzing illness. In addition to her father’s death as well as her illenss, a struggle over…

St. Teresa of Avila Feast date: Oct 15 On Oct. 15, Roman Catholics celebrate the Spanish Carmelite reformer and mystic St. Teresa of Avila, whose life of prayer enriched the Church during the 16th century counter-reformation. Teresa Sanchez Cepeda Davila y Ahumada was born in the Castilian city of Avila during the year 1515,  the third child in a family descended from Jewish merchants who had converted to Christianity during the reign of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Her father Alphonsus had become an ardent Catholic, with a collection of spiritual books of the type his daughter would later compose…

St. Callistus I Feast date: Oct 14 Pope Callistus I is celebrated in churches throughout the world as a saint and martyr on October 14. The saint caused a major controversy, including a schism that lasted almost two decades, by choosing to emphasize God’s mercy in his ministry. However, the early Pope’s model of leadership has endured, and his martyrdom in the year 222 confirmed his example of holiness. Because no completely trustworthy biography of Pope Callistus I exists, historians have been forced to rely on an account by his contemporary Hippolytus of Rome. Although Hippolytus himself was eventually reconciled…

St. Edward the Confessor Feast date: Oct 13 St. Edward was born in 1003 as the son of the Duke of Normandy and nephew of King Edmund Ironside of England. He grew up in exile in Normandy from the age of 10 when the Danes gained control of England, and the early experience of loss, coupled with his earnest religious piety, caused him to renounce worldly ambition and devote himself to the love of God. On the death of the Danish king, Canute, in 1042, he was called to the throne of England, which he accepted dutifully and held until 1066. His…

Nuestra Senora del Pilar (Our Lady of the Pillar) Feast date: Oct 12 The first Marian apparition in history appeared to Saint James the Apostle, the brother of Saint John the Evangelist, on the bank of the river Ebro in Saragossa, Spain. Unlike every other recorded apparition, this one took place during the earthly life of the Mother of God.   According to tradition, she had promised Saint James that when he needed it most in his difficult mission to the pagans in today’s Spain, she would appear to him to encourage him.   In the year 40 A.D., while praying…

Pope Saint John XXIII Feast date: Oct 11 Born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli at Sotto il Monte, Italy on 25 November 1881, Pope John XXIII was elected Pope on October 28, 1958. He died June 3, 1963 in Rome and was beatified by Pope John Paul II on September 3, 2000. Angelo was the fourth child of 14, born to pious parents. His religious education was entrusted to his godfather, who instilled in him a deep love and admiration of the mystery of God. He entered the minor seminary in 1892 at the age of 11, became a Secular Francsican in 1896 and in 1901 he entered…

St. Francis Borgia Feast date: Oct 10 Francis Borgia was born October 28, 1510 in Gandia, Valencia, Spain as the son of the Duke of Gandia, the great grandson, from his father’s side, of Pope Alexander VI, the notorious Borgia pope, and from his mother’s side, the great grandson of King Ferdinand of Aragon.Francis’ grandmother joined her daughther in a convent of Poor Clares after the death of her husband and held a pious influence in the court of the Borgia, to which Francis is indebted. It was with these two women that holiness penetrated into the scandalous lineage of the Borgia family.Francis…

St. Denis Feast date: Oct 09 Saint Denis was a missionary and the first bishop of Paris. He was killed for his Christian faith by pagans on what is known as the “Montmartre” – the mount of martyrs –  in 258, along with Eleutherius and Rusticus, a priest and a deacon.  He is the patron saint of France.  

St.Thais Feast date: Oct 08 Saint Thais was a penitent woman of Egypt in the fourth century. While little is known of her life, she was a sinful woman converted by a monk, perhaps Paphnutius of Thebes, who then lived three years in a narrow cell in most profound penitence. It is said that she was a courtesan, and the monk entered her chamber to convert her. She acknowledged belief in God, and the monk exhorted her to repentance. She burned all her worldly goods, and lived in an enclosed cell as a penance. After three years she was removed,…