Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Ss. Vincent and Anastasius, Martyrs
Like the saints whose feasts preceded him in January, St. Vincent, (not to be confused with St. Vincent de Paul), was born in Spain in the 3rd Century. and became archdeacon in Saragoza where Our Lady first appeared in 40 AD. He was a great orator and did more than his share of preaching since […]
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Monday, January 21, 2013
St. Agnes, Virgin, Martyr
Agnes is one of the most glorious saints in the calendar of the Roman Church. The greatest Church Fathers vie with one another in sounding her praise and glory. St. Jerome writes: “All nations, especially their Christian communities, praise in word and writing the life of St. Agnes. She triumphed over her tender age as […]
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Sunday, January 20, 2013
St. Fabian, Pope, & St. Sebastian, Martyrs
Pope Saint Fabian was a layman when elected pope, a position he held from January 10, 236 until his martyrdom on January 20, 250. St Sebastian died in 288 under Diocletian. From the Roman Breviary: Fabian was a Roman, and sat as Pope from the reign of the Emperor Maximian till that of Decius. He […]
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Saturday, January 19, 2013
Comm. of Ss. Marius & Comp., Martyrs; St.Canute, Martyr
St. Marius and Family Their feast does not appear in the Roman calendar until the twelfth century. The Acts of these martyrs are wholly legendary. They give the following details. Marius was a Persian of noble extraction. With his wife, who was also noble-born, and his two sons, Audifax and Abachus, he came to Rome […]
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Friday, January 18, 2013
St. Peter’s Chair at Rome
Eleven years after the Ascension of our Blessed Lord, Saint Peter who had been appointed the head of the Church on earth by Christ Himself, transferred the seat of the Papacy from Antioch to Rome, where he preached the Faith and established his episcopal chair, and there the Bishops of Rome have been ever since […]
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Thursday, January 17, 2013
St. Anthony, Abbot
After St. Paul the Hermit, father of the Anchorites or hermits, the Christmas Cycle honors Saint Antony, father of the Cenobites, who live in common. When he was 18, he retired into the Egyptian desert and led the life of a hermit. The devil, in order to frighten him and drive him from the solitude […]
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Wednesday, January 16, 2013
St. Marcellus I, Pope, Martyr
Nothing of Marcellus’ life before his papacy has survived the centuries. He became Pope at the end of the persecutions of Diocletian in around 308-309. The persecutions had disrupted the Church so much that there had been a gap of over a year with no Pope. Once he was elected, he faced several challenges, including […]
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Tuesday, January 15, 2013
St. Paul the First Hermit, Confessor
Today is the feast of Saint Paul the Hermit, father of hermits, who had St. Jerome for his historian. Having become an orphan at the age of fifteen, he gave up his possessions and retired into a desert where a flourishing palm-tree, a symbol of is virtues (Introit) provided him with food and clothing. He […]
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Monday, January 14, 2013
St. Hilary, Bishop, Doctor of the Church
St. Hilary was Bishop of Poitiers and is a Doctor of the Church, sometimes referred to as the “Hammer of the Arians” (Latin: Malleus Arianorum) and the “Athanasius of the West.” His name comes from the Latin word for happy or cheerful. Hilary was born at Poitiers in 315. His parents were pagans of distinction. […]
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Sunday, January 13, 2013
Feast of the Holy Family
“Is it not right,” says Leo XIII, “that we should celebrate the royal birth of the Son of the Sovereign Father, the House of David, and the glorious names of that ancient lineage? It is more pleasing to us, however, to recall the little House of Nazareth and the humble existence which they led there; […]
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