St. Anthony & Our Lady of Fatima

St. Peter Claver Feast date: Sep 09 On Sept. 9, the Catholic Church celebrates St. Peter Claver, a Jesuit missionary who spent his life in the service of African slaves brought against their will to South America during the 17th century. Peter Claver was born into a farming family in the Spanish region of Catalonia during 1581. He studied at the University of Barcelona as a young man, and joined the Jesuits as a novice at the age of 20. While studying philosophy in Tarragona, Peter developed a friendship with an older Jesuit lay brother, Alphonsus Rodriguez. Although Alphonsus spent…

The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Feast date: Sep 08 The Catholic Church celebrates today the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary on its traditional fixed date of September 8, nine months after the December 8 celebration of her Immaculate Conception as the child of Saints Joachim and Anne. The circumstances of the Virgin Mary’s infancy and early life are not directly recorded in the Bible, but other documents and traditions describing the circumstances of her birth are cited by some of the earliest Christian writers from the first centuries of the Church. These accounts, although not considered authoritative…

St. Cloud Feast date: Sep 07 On Sept. 7, the Catholic Church honors the memory of Saint Clodoald, popularly known as Saint Cloud, who escaped from violent political intrigue to pursue holiness as a monk and priest. Born in 522, Clodoald was the grandson of the Frankish King Clovis I, whose conversion to orthodox Christianity – rather than the Arian heresy – made him the first Catholic ruler of present-day France. After Clodoald’s father Clodomir was killed in 524, he and his brothers Theudovald and Gunthar were raised by their grandmother Queen Clothilde, whom the Church now honors as St….

Blessed Thomas Tzugi Feast date: Sep 06 Born to nobility and educated by the Jesuits of the Arima province around 1571, Thomas entered the Jesuit order upon the completion of his schooling at around 17 years old. He quickly developed a reputation for his excellent preaching and evangelical zeal.   He was exiled to the island of Macao during a persecution of Christians, yet he managed to return to Japan in disguise and continue his priestly ministry.   He was recaptured and sentenced to death, yet he refused to seek his freedom through his family’s political connections.   He was…

St. Teresa of Kolkata Feast date: Sep 05 The Church celebrates on Septermber 5 the feast of Mother Teresa, a universal symbol of God’s merciful and preferential love for the poor and forgotten. Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on August 26, 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia, the youngest of three children. She attended a youth group called Sodality, run by a Jesuit priest at her parish, and her involvement opened her to the call of service as a missionary nun. She joined the Sisters of Loretto at age 17 and was sent to Calcutta where she taught at a high school….

Saint Boniface I, Pope Feast date: Sep 04 Though few details are known of Boniface’s early life, he was elected Pope on December 28, 418. He is believed to have been ordained a priest by Pope Damasus I (366-384) and to have served as representative of Innocent I at Constantinople (c. 405). Boniface was highly esteemed for his charitable and learned personality, which were clearly seen and lived through the service of his priestly duties. At the death of Pope Zosimus in 418, two Popes were elected, Boniface and Eulalius. They were sent away from Rome by the emperor until the difficulty would be…

Saint Gregory the Great Feast date: Sep 03 St. Gregory the Great, a central figure of the medieval western Church and one of the most admired Popes in history, is commemorated in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Catholic liturgy today, September 3. Born near the middle of the sixth century into a noble Roman family, Gregory received a classical education in liberal arts and the law. He also had strong religious formation from his devout family, particularly from his mother, Silvia, also a canonized saint. By around age 30, Gregory hadadvanced to high political office in Rome, during what…

Martyrs of September Feast date: Sep 02 The September Martyrs are a group of 191 faithful Christians who were martyred at the hands of the French Revolution on September 2 and 3, 1792. After refusing to take an oath in support of the civil consititution of the clergy, an act condemned by the Vatican which placed Catholic priests under the authority and control of the state, these priests and religious brothers and sisters were imprisoned in a Carmelite convent and then massacred in the space of two days by bloodthirsty revolutionary mobs. They were beatified on October 17, 1926 by…

Saint Beatrice da Silva Meneses Feast date: Sep 01 St. Beatrice was born to Portuguese nobility in Cuerta, Portugal, in 1424.  She was the daughter of the Count of Viana, and the sister of Saint Amadeus of Portugal. She was raised in the household of the future Queen Isabel of Portugal and spent some time in her royal court in Castile following the Queen’s marriage to John II. She soon got tired of the empty life at court and joined a Cistercian convent in Toledo.  She lived at the convent until 1484, when she answered a summons from God to…

Saint Aristides Feast date: Aug 31 Not much is known about the life of St. Aristides, excpet that he lived during the second century and was an avid confessor of the faith and Athenian philosopher. He wrote an Apologia for Christianity, which he presented to Emperor Hadrian in 125. His text was included in a work by Sts. Barlaam and Josaphat. His feast day is August 31. Printed with permission from Catholic-Defense.