Saint Matthew Feast Day - 21 September

Quoted from Catholic Culture [1]:

At the time that Jesus summoned him to follow Him, Matthew was a publican, that is, a tax-collector for the Romans. His profession was hateful to the Jews because it reminded them of their subjection; the publican, also, was regarded by the pharisees as the typical sinner. St. Matthew is known to us principally as an Evangelist. He was the first to put down in writing our Lord's teaching and the account of His life. His Gospel was written in Aramaic, the language that our Lord Himself spoke.

St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist

No one was more shunned by the Jews than a publican, who was a Jew working for the Roman enemy by robbing his own people and making a large personal profit. Publicans were not allowed to trade, eat, or even pray with others Jews.

One day, while seated at his table of books and money, Jesus looked at Matthew and said two words: "Follow me." This was all that was needed to make Matthew rise, leaving his pieces of silver to follow Christ. His original name, "Levi," in Hebrew signifies "Adhesion" while his new name in Christ, Matthew, means "Gift of God." The only other outstanding mention of Matthew in the Gospels is the dinner party for Christ and His companions to which he invited his fellow tax-collectors. The Jews were surprised to see Jesus with a publican, but Jesus explained that he had come "not to call the just, but sinners."

St. Matthew is known to us principally as an Evangelist, with his Gospel being the first in position in the New Testament. His Gospel was written to convince the Jews that their anticipated Messiah had come in the person of Jesus.

Not much else is known about Matthew. According to tradition, he preached in Egypt and Ethiopia and further places East. Some legends say he lived until his nineties, dying a peaceful death, others say he died a martyr's death.

In the traditional symbolization of the evangelists, based on Ezech. 1:5-10 and Rev. 4:6-7, the image of the winged man is accorded to Matthew because his Gospel begins with the human genealogy of Christ.

Patronage: Accountants; bankers; bookkeepers; customs officers; security guards; stock brokers; tax collectors; Salerno, Italy.

Symbols and Representation: Angel holding a pen or inkwell; bag of coins; loose coins; halberd; inkwell; king; lance; man holding money; man holding money box and/or glasses; money bag; money box; purse; spear; sword; winged man; young man; book; man sitting at a desk.

[1] https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2020-09-21, bold fonts original.

Feast Of Seven Sorrows Of Our Blessed Lady - 15 September

Quoted from Pierced Hearts [1]:

The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows falls on September 15; however, the prayers honoring the seven sorrow of Our Lady can be said anytime throughout the year. The devotion is similar to the Rosary, in that it consists of seven "mysteries" to be meditated on. These are the seven sorrows of Mary, the great piercings that she received throughout her life with Jesus her Son.

In our meditation on the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady, we should pray to imitate the virtues and dispositions of Our Blessed Mother, especially during her moments of greatest suffering. We should seek to learn from her the value and power of redemptive suffering. Suffering becomes redemptive only through the Incarnation, Passion and Resurrection of Jesus. Because of this, each one of us can offer our sufferings as a gift to the Lord, uniting them with those of the His Son. When we do this, our sufferings, just like those of Jesus, redeem and bring grace to souls because they are united with His. We look to our Blessed Mother to show us how to do this most perfectly. She, more than any other creature, suffered in perfect union and communion with her Son. These sufferings, united with Christ's, helped redeem the world. We look to her for aid, comfort and an example.

Each Sorrow is meditated upon while praying 1 Our Father and 7 Hail Mary's.

The First Sorrow of Mary: The Prophecy of Simeon at the Presentation in the Temple (Lk 2:22-35)

1. When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord

2. Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

3. He took Jesus up in his arms and blessed God and said, "Lord, now let thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word;

4. for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples.

5. And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him;

6. and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against"

7. (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed."

The Second Sorrow of Mary: The Flight into Egypt (Mt 2:13-21)

1. When the Magi had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream

2. He said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him."

3. Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod.

4. Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage.

5. He sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under.

6. But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt.

7. "Rise, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead." And he rose and took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel.

The Third Sorrow of Mary: The Loss of Jesus in the Temple (Lk 2:41-50)

1. Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom;

2. When the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem.

3. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the company they went a day's journey,

4. They sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances; and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking him.

5. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

6. His mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously."

7. He said to them, "How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"

The Fourth Sorrow of Mary: Mary Encounters Jesus on the Way of the Cross (John 19:1; Luke 23:26-32)

1. So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross.

2. And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.

3. And there followed him a great multitude of the people, and of women who bewailed and lamented him.

4. But Jesus turning to them said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.

5. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never gave suck!'

6. For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?"

7. And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull).

The Fifth Sorrow of Mary: Jesus Dies on the Cross (Mark 15:22; John 19:18, 25-27; Mark 15:34; Luke 23:46)

1. And they brought him to the place called Gol'gotha (which means the place of a skull).

2. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.

3. Standing by the cross of Jesus were his Mother, and his Mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

4. When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!"

5. Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your Mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

6. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, "E'lo-i, E'lo-i, la'ma sabach-tha'ni?" which means, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

7. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!" And having said this he breathed his last.

The Sixth Sorrow of Mary: Jesus Is Taken Down From the Cross (John 19:31-34, 38; Lam 1:12)

1. In order to prevent the bodies from remaining on the cross on the sabbath, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

2. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him;

3. but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.

4. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.

5. After this Joseph of Arimathe'a, who was a disciple of Jesus, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus.

6. Pilate gave him leave. So he came and took away his body.

7. "Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow.

The Seventh Sorrow of Mary: Jesus is Laid in the Tomb (Matthew 27:59; John 19:38-42; Mark 15:46; Luke 27:55-56)

1. Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud,

2. Nicodemus also, who had at first come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds' weight.

3. They took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.

4. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb where no one had ever been laid.

5. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, as the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. And Joseph rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.

6. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and saw the tomb, and how his body was laid.

7. Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

The Promises:

According to the visions of St. Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373) our Blessed Mother promises to grant seven graces to those who honor her and draw near to her and her Son every day by meditating on her dolors (sorrows) and entering into her grief.

"I will grant peace to their families."

"They will be enlightened about the divine Mysteries."

"I will console them in their pains and will accompany them in their work."

"I will give them as much as they ask for as long as it does not oppose the adorable will of my divine Son or the sanctification of their souls."

"I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy and I will protect them at every instant of their lives."

"I will visibly help them at the moment of their death-- they will see the face of their mother."

"I have obtained this grace from my divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to my tears and dolors will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness, since all their sins will be forgiven and my Son will be their eternal consolation and joy."

[1] https://www.piercedhearts.org/treasures/devotions/other_prayers/our_lady_sorrows.htm#:~:text=The%20Feast%20of%20Our%20Lady%20of%20Sorrows%20falls,September%2015%20in%201913%20by%20Pope%20Pius%20X.

Nativity Of The Blessed Virgin Mary - 8 September

Quoted from Franciscan Media [1]:

The Church has celebrated Mary’s birth since at least the sixth century. A September birth was chosen because the Eastern Church begins its Church year with September. The September 8 date helped determine the date for the feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8.

Scripture does not give an account of Mary’s birth. However, the apocryphal Protoevangelium of James fills in the gap. This work has no historical value, but it does reflect the development of Christian piety. According to this account, Anna and Joachim are infertile but pray for a child. They receive the promise of a child who will advance God’s plan of salvation for the world. Such a story, like many biblical counterparts, stresses the special presence of God in Mary’s life from the beginning.

Saint Augustine connects Mary’s birth with Jesus’ saving work. He tells the earth to rejoice and shine forth in the light of her birth. “She is the flower of the field from whom bloomed the precious lily of the valley. Through her birth the nature inherited from our first parents is changed.” The opening prayer at Mass speaks of the birth of Mary’s Son as the dawn of our salvation, and asks for an increase of peace.

[1]  https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/nativity-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary/

Beheading Of Saint John The Baptist - 29 August

Quoted from Aleteia [1]:

While St. John the Baptists’ birthday is celebrated on June 24 each year, his death (and beheading) is celebrating on August 29.

Why is that?

According to the St. Andrew Daily Missal, August 29 was chosen because it was the day when his head was discovered.

He was put to death at about the time of the Pasch, a year before Christ’s Passion, but the feast of his death is kept today, the anniversary of the finding of his head at Emesa in Syria in 452.

The Catholic Encyclopedia fills in some of the gaps of this story.

What became of the head of the Precursor is difficult to determine. Nicephorus (I, ix) and Metaphrastes say Herodias had it buried in the fortress of Machaerus; others insist that it was interred in Herod’s palace at Jerusalem; there it was found during the reign of Constantine, and thence secretly taken to Emesa, in Phoenicia, where it was concealed, the place remaining unknown for years, until it was manifested by revelation in 453. In the many and discordant relations concerning this relic, unfortunately much uncertainty prevails; their discrepancies in almost every point render the problem so intricate as to baffle solution.

Eastern Christians have similar traditions, except they celebrate a feast on February 24, called the “First and second finding of the Honorable Head of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist of the Lord, John.”

Some Eastern Christians even celebrate a “Third Finding” of his head, after it had been hidden for many years.

Regardless of whether these claims are true or not, the Church continues to celebrate the Passion of John the Baptist on August 29, honoring his commitment to the truth and his role as a “forerunner” to Jesus Christ.

[1] https://aleteia.org/2021/08/29/why-is-the-passion-of-john-the-baptist-celebrated-on-august-29/, quoted without bold type and italics.

Saint Augustine Feast Day - 28 August

Quoted from the Augustinians [1]:

Bishop and Doctor

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Saint Augustine, one of the great founders of monasticism in the Western Church, bishop, theologian, preacher, writer and doctor of the Church. None of these titles, though accurate, would please him, however, as much as the simple one he used to describe himself: 'servant of God'. For whatever we achieve in life, whatever gifts and talents we have been given, are of little value unless they lead us, as they did Augustine, to know, love, and serve God ever more deeply.

Augustine was born in Tagaste, Souk-Ahras, Algeria on November 13, 354 to Patricius, a pagan, and Monica, a fervent Catholic. He was endowed with abundant human and intellectual gifts as well as an inquisitive mind and a passionate spirit, all of which brought him great pain at times, while leading him to great discoveries about himself, life, and God, as well. Through the generosity of a family friend he was able to do studies beyond the basic course in his hometown, and became an accomplished rhetorician and teacher in Africa and later in Rome and Milan. Though he had been admitted to the catechumenate of the Catholic Church by his mother as a child, he did not find satisfaction in the Church during adolescence and young adulthood, and instead was drawn to other forms of spiritual expression, especially in the Manichean sect and later in astrology. Finally, he embraced skepticism. In retrospect, however, he was able to discern various moments of spiritual growth or conversion until a final climactic moment when he decided to embrace Christ fully in the Catholic Church. He had already separated from the woman with whom he had lived for many years and who bore him a son, and was preparing for marriage with another, but his conversion, he felt, required that he abandon altogether any possibility of marriage and commit himself instead to a life of chastity as a celibate 'servant of God'. Following baptism in Milan in 387, together with his son and some friends, he returned with them to his hometown of Tagaste to begin a monastic life. Against his personal wishes, he was ordained priest in Hippo in 391, and became bishop of that See in 397, all the while continuing in his monastic lifestyle.

Augustine was a prolific writer, an accomplished preacher, a monastic leader, a theologian, pastor, contemplative, and mystic. He died on August 28, 430 at almost 76 years of age, as North Africa was being invaded by the Vandals and the Church there was being devastated. His remains were taken to Sardinia and later to Pavia, Italy, where they are now preserved in the Basilica of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro. 

[1] https://www.augustinian.org/news/feast-day-of-st-augustine-august-28, quoted without bold, italics and large fonts.

Saint Bartholomew Feast Day - 24 August

Quoted from Wikipedia [1]:

Bartholomew (Aramaic: ܒܪ ܬܘܠܡܝ; Ancient Greek: Βαρθολομαῖος, romanized: Bartholomaîos; Latin: Bartholomaeus; Armenian: Բարթողիմէոս; Coptic: ⲃⲁⲣⲑⲟⲗⲟⲙⲉⲟⲥ; Hebrew: בר-תולמי, romanized: bar-Tôlmay; Arabic: بَرثُولَماوُس, romanized: Barthulmāwus) was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Most scholars today identify Bartholomew as Nathanael or Nathaniel, who appears in the Gospel of John (1:45–51; cf. 21:2).

Bartholomew the Apostle, detail of the mosaic in the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, 6th century

New Testament references.

The name Bartholomew (Greek: Βαρθολομαῖος, transliterated "Bartholomaios") comes from the Imperial Aramaic: בר-תולמי bar-Tolmay "son of Talmai" or "son of the furrows". Bartholomew is listed in the New Testament among the Twelve Apostles of Jesus in the three Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and in Acts of the Apostles.

Eusebius of Caesarea's Ecclesiastical History (5:10) states that after the Ascension, Bartholomew went on a missionary tour to India, where he left behind a copy of the Gospel of Matthew. Tradition records him as serving as a missionary in Mesopotamia and Parthia, as well as Lycaonia and Ethiopia in other accounts. Popular traditions say that Bartholomew preached the Gospel in India and then went to Greater Armenia.

Mission to India

Two ancient testimonies exist about the mission of Saint Bartholomew in India. These are of Eusebius of Caesarea (early 4th century) and of Saint Jerome (late 4th century). Both of these refer to this tradition while speaking of the reported visit of Saint Pantaenus to India in the 2nd century.[15] The studies of Fr A.C. Perumalil SJ and Moraes hold that the Bombay region on the Konkan coast, a region which may have been known as the ancient city Kalyan, was the field of Saint Bartholomew's missionary activities. Previously the consensus among scholars was against the apostolate of Saint Bartholomew the Apostle in India. The majority of the scholars are skeptical about the mission of Saint Bartholomew the Apostle in India. Stallings (1703), Neander (1853), Hunter (1886), Rae (1892), Zaleski (1915) are the authors who supported the Apostolate of Saint Bartholomew in India. Scholars such as Sollerius (1669), Carpentier (1822), Harnack (1903), Medlycott (1905), Mingana (1926), Thurston (1933), Attwater (1935), etc. do not support this hypothesis. The main argument is that the India that Eusebius and Jerome refer to should be identified as Ethiopia or Arabia Felix.

In Armenia

Saint Bartholomew Monastery at the site of the Apostle's martyrdom in historical Armenia, now ruinous

Along with his fellow apostle Jude "Thaddeus", Bartholomew is reputed to have brought Christianity to Armenia in the 1st century. Thus, both saints are considered the patron saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church. According to tradition, he is the 2nd Catholicos-Patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Christian tradition has three stories about Bartholomew's death: "One speaks of his being kidnapped, beaten unconscious, and cast into the sea to drown. Another account states that he was crucified upside down, and another says that he was skinned alive and beheaded in Albac or Albanopolis, near Baku, Azerbaijan or Başkale, Turkey."

The most prominent tradition has it that Apostle Bartholomew was executed in Albanopolis in Armenia. According to popular hagiography, the apostle was flayed alive and beheaded. According to other accounts, he was crucified upside down (head downward) like St. Peter. He is said to have been martyred for having converted Polymius, the king of Armenia, to Christianity. Enraged by the monarch's conversion, and fearing a Roman backlash, King Polymius's brother, Prince Astyages, ordered Bartholomew's torture and execution, which Bartholomew endured. However, there are no records of any Armenian king of the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia with the name "Polymius". Current scholarship indicates that Bartholomew is more likely to have died in Kalyan in India, where there was an official named "Polymius".

The 13th-century Saint Bartholomew Monastery was a prominent Armenian monastery constructed at the site of the martyrdom of Apostle Bartholomew in Vaspurakan, Greater Armenia (now in southeastern Turkey).

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartholomew_the_Apostle, quoted without bold fonts and references.

Dedication Of Saint Michael The Archangel - 29 September

Quoted from Inside The Vatican [1]:

All three archangels (Michael, Gabriel and Raphael) are now venerated in a common feast on September 29, which used to be St. Michael’s feast alone. “MI-CA-EL” means “Who is like to God?” Such was the cry of the great archangel when he smote the rebel Lucifer in the conflict of the heavenly hosts, and from that hour he has been known as “Michael,” the captain of the armies of God, the type of divine fortitude, the champion of every faithful soul in strife with the powers of evil.

Michael was the protector of the Israelites, especially in the days of their captivity in Babylon. “Michael, the great prince,” the Old Testament prophet Daniel calls him, “guardian of your people” (Dan 12:1). In the New Testament Book of Revelation, St. John speaks prophetically of the final victory of Michael and his regiments against the army of the great dragon, Satan. After a mighty struggle, Michael casts the enemy down to earth (Rev 12:7-9). Since Christ’s coming, the Church has ever venerated St. Michael as her special patron and protector. She invokes him by name in her confession of sin, summons him to the side of her children in the agony of death, and chooses him as their escort from the chastening flames of purgatory to the realms of holy light. Lastly, when Antichrist shall have set up his kingdom on earth, it is Michael who will unfurl once more the standard of the Cross, sound the last trumpet, and binding together the false prophet and the beast, hurl them for all eternity into the burning pool.

The Archangel Michael defeating Satan (oil on canvas) by Guido Reni (1575-1642)

Churches dedicated to St. Michael in the Middle East date from as early as the fourth century. In the West, veneration of Michael became widespread, particularly after his apparition around AD 500 in a cave in Mount Gargano, southeast Italy. The archangel revealed to the local bishop, St. Lawrence of Siponto, that he should erect a shrine there in honor of the archangel himself and all other angels. After St. Lawrence did so, “Mount Santangelo” soon became a noted place of pilgrimage.

St. Michael also figures in the annals of Pope St. Gregory the Great. During the pestilence that struck Rome in the year 590, Gregory organized a great penitential procession through the streets of the Eternal City to beg God to withdraw the plague. Tradition says that when the march passed by the massive tomb of Emperor Hadrian, St. Michael appeared on its summit sheathing his sword, and the epidemic ceased. Today Hadrian’s fortified tomb is called the Castel Sant’Angelo — Castle of the Holy Angel — and for centuries it has been topped by a statue of St. Michael, dressed in the armor of a Roman soldier, returning his sword to the scabbard.

The other major Western shrine of the archangel is the famous Mont St. Michel, a rocky outcropping off the coast of Brittany, France, where the bishop of Avranches established a Benedictine monastery in AD 708, again on the advice of the Archangel Michael. In Cornwall, too, near the city of Penzance, there is a little offshore island resembling Mont St. Michel, which in medieval times was likewise the site of a Benedictine monastery that became an English place of pilgrimage.

Pope Leo XIII had the soldier-angel in mind when, in 1886, he ordered that a prayer to St. Michael and several other prayers be recited by priest and faithful at the end of every Low Mass. On May 18, 1890, twenty years after the Capture of Rome had deprived the Pope of the last vestige of his temporal sovereignty, and the papal residence at the Quirinal Palace had been converted into that of the King of Italy, a much longer prayer to St. Michael was approved for use, and we cite this here:

“O glorious Archangel St. Michael, Prince of the heavenly host, defend us in battle, and in the struggle which is ours against the Principalities and Powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against spirits of evil in high places (Eph 6:12). Come to the aid of men, whom God created immortal, made in his own image and likeness, and redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of the devil (Wis 2:23-24, 1 Cor 6:20).

“Fight this day the battle of the Lord, together with the holy angels, as already thou hast fought the leader of the proud angels, Lucifer, and his apostate host, who were powerless to resist thee, nor was there place for them any longer in Heaven. But that cruel, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil or Satan, who seduces the whole world, was cast into the abyss with all his angels (Rev 12:7-9).

“Behold, this primeval enemy and slayer of man has taken courage. Transformed into an angel of light, he wanders about with all the multitude of wicked spirits, invading the earth in order to blot out the name of God and of his Christ, to seize upon, slay and cast into eternal perdition souls destined for the crown of eternal glory. This wicked dragon pours out, as a most impure flood, the venom of his malice on men of depraved mind and corrupt heart, the spirit of lying, of impiety, of blasphemy, and the pestilent breath of impurity, and of every vice and iniquity.

“These most crafty enemies have filled and inebriated with gall and bitterness the Church, the spouse of the Immaculate Lamb, and have laid impious hands on her most sacred possessions (Lam 3:15).

“In the Holy Place itself, where has been set up the See of the most holy Peter and the Chair of Truth for the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety, with the iniquitous design that when the Pastor has been struck, the sheep may be scattered. Arise then, O invincible prince, bring help against the attacks of the lost spirits to the people of God, and bring them the victory. Amen.”

[1] https://insidethevatican.com/magazine/culture/st-michael-the-archangel-september-29/

Immaculate Heart Of Mary - 22 August

Quoted from The Marian Room [1]:

Today is the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. On this happy occasion, it is fitting to hear about this feast from Dom Prosper Gueranger. In Dom Prosper’s book, The Liturgical Year, he states:

He alone who could understand Mary’s holiness could appreciate her glory. But Wisdom, who presided over the formation of the abyss, has not revealed to us the depth of that ocean beside which all the virtues of the just and all the graces lavished on them are but streamlets. Nevertheless, the immensity of grace and merit by which the Blessed Virgin’s supernatural perfection stands quite apart from all others gives us a right to conclude that she has an equal super-eminence in glory which is always proportioned to the sanctity of the elect. Whereas all the other predestined of our race are placed among the various ranks of the celestial hierarchy, the holy Mother of God is exalted above all the choirs, forming by herself a distinct order, a new Heaven, where the harmonies of Angels and Saints are far surpassed. In Mary God is more glorified, better known, more loved than in all the rest of the universe. On this ground alone, according to the order of creative Providence which subordinates the less to the more perfect, Mary is entitled to be Queen of Earth and Heaven. In this sense, it is for her, next to the Man-God, that the world exists.

The great theologian, Cardinal de Lugo, explaining the words of the Saints on this subject, dares to say: “Just as, creating all things in his complacency for His Christ, God made Him the end of creatures, so with due proportion, we may say He drew the rest of the world out of nothing through the love of the Virgin Mother so that she too might thus be justly called the end of all things.” As Mother of God, and at the same time His first born, she had a right and title over His goods. As Bride she ought to share His crown. “The glorious Virgin,” says Saint Bernardine of Sienna, “has as many subjects as the Blessed Trinity has. Every creature, whatever be its rank in creation, spiritual as the Angels, rational as man, material as the heavenly bodies or the elements, Heaven and Earth, the reprobate and the blessed, all that springs from the power of God, is subject to the Virgin. For He who is the Son of God and of the Blessed Virgin, wishing, so to say, to make His Mother’s became, God as He is, the servant of Mary. If then it be true to say that every one, even the Virgin, obeys God, we may also convert the proposition, and affirm that every one, even God, obeys the Virgin.”

The empire of Eternal Wisdom comprises, so the Holy Spirit tells us, the heavens, the earth, and the abyss: the same then is the appanage of Mary on this her crowning day. Like the divine Wisdom to whom she gave Flesh, she may glory in God. He whose magnificence she once chanted, today exalts her humility. The Blessed one by excellence has become the honour of her people, the admiration of the Saints, the glory of the armies of the Most High. Together with the Spouse, let her, in her beauty, march to victory. Let her triumph over the hearts of the mighty and the lowly. The giving of the world’s sceptre into her hands is no mere honour void of reality: from this day forward she commands and fights, protects the Church, defends its head, upholds the ranks of the sacred militia, raises up Saints, directs Apostles, enlightens doctors, exterminates heresy, crushes Hell.

Let us hail our Queen, let us sing her mighty deeds. Let us be docile to her. Above all, let us love her and trust in her love. Let us not fear that, amid the great interests of the spreading of God’s Kingdom, she will forget our littleness or our miseries. She knows all that takes place in the obscurest corners, in the furthest limits of her immense domain. From her title of universal cause under the Lord, is rightly deduced the universality of her providence, and the masters of doctrine show us Mary in glory sharing in the science called of vision by which all that is, has been, or is to be, is present before God. On the other hand, we must believe that her charity could not possibly be defective: as her love of God surpasses the love of all the elect, so the tenderness of all mothers united, centered upon an only child, is nothing to the love with which with Mary surrounds the least, the most forgotten, the most neglected of all the children of God, who are her children too. She forestalls them in her solicitude, listens at all times to their humble prayers, pursues them in their guilty flights, sustains their weakness, compassionates their ills, whether of body or of soul, sheds on all men the heavenly favours of which she is the treasury.

Let us then say to her in the words of one of her great servants: “O most holy Mother of God, who has beautified Heaven and Earth, in leaving this world you have not abandoned man. Here below you lived in Heaven. From heaven you converse with us. Thrice happy those who contemplated you and lived with the Mother of life! But in the same way as you dwelt in the flesh with them of the first age, you now dwell with us spiritually. We hear your voice, and all our voices reach your ear, and your continual protection over us makes your presence evident. You visit us. Your eye is upon us all, and although our eyes cannot see you, O most holy One, yet you are in the midst of us, showing yourself in various ways to whoever is worthy. Your immaculate body come forth from the tomb hinders not the immaterial power, the most pure activity of that spirit of yours which, being inseparable from the Holy Ghost, breathes also where it wills. O Mother of God, receive the grateful homage of our joy, and speak for your children to Him who has glorified you: whatever you ask of Him, He will accomplish it by His divine power. May He be blessed forever!”

Let us honour the group of Martyrs which forms the rear-guard of our triumphant Queen. Timothy, who came from Antioch to Rome, Hippolytus, Bishop of Porto, and Symphorian, the glory of Autun, suffered for God at different periods and at different places, but they gathered their palms on the same day of the year, and the same Heaven is now their abode. “My son, my son,” said his valiant mother to Symphorian, “remember life eternal. Look up and see Him who reigns in Heaven. They are not taking your life away, but changing it into a better.”

Let us admire these heroes of our faith, and let us learn to walk like them, though by less painful paths, in the footsteps of our Lord, and so to rejoice Mary.

[1] https://themarianroom.com/august-22-the-immaculate-heart-of-mary/, quoted without hyperlinks.

The Assumption Of The Blessed Virgin Mary - 15 August

Quoted from Franciscan Media [1]:

On November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII defined the Assumption of Mary to be a dogma of faith: “We pronounce, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma that the immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory.” The pope proclaimed this dogma only after a broad consultation of bishops, theologians and laity. There were few dissenting voices. What the pope solemnly declared was already a common belief in the Catholic Church.

We find homilies on the Assumption going back to the sixth century. In following centuries, the Eastern Churches held steadily to the doctrine, but some authors in the West were hesitant. However by the 13th century there was universal agreement. The feast was celebrated under various names—Commemoration, Dormition, Passing, Assumption—from at least the fifth or sixth century. Today it is celebrated as a solemnity.

Scripture does not give an account of Mary’s assumption into heaven. Nevertheless, Revelation 12 speaks of a woman who is caught up in the battle between good and evil. Many see this woman as God’s people. Since Mary best embodies the people of both Old and New Testaments, her assumption can be seen as an exemplification of the woman’s victory.

Furthermore, in 1 Corinthians 15:20, Paul speaks of Christ’s resurrection as the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Since Mary is closely associated with all the mysteries of Jesus’ life, it is not surprising that the Holy Spirit has led the Church to believe in Mary’s share in his glorification. So close was she to Jesus on earth, she must be with him body and soul in heaven.

[1] https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/assumption-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary/

Feast Of Saint Clare Of Assisi - 12 August

Quoted from Franciscan Media [1]:

In 1253, Clare’s health began to deteriorate. With August’s scorching temperatures, she was closer and closer to the end. As always, the late summer heat drove the papal entourage from Rome to the refreshing heights of Perugia. It would not be long until these dignitaries heard the news echoing from hill to hill in the Valley of Spoleto: Madonna Chiara was dying.

Pope Innocent IV understood the meaning of the moment. His nephew, Cardinal Rainaldo, accompanied him on the journey to the little cloister. This pope, whose attempt at a Rule for the women had been politely rejected by San Damiano’s sisters, arrived to see its famous abbess. She received him with utter respect and humble gratitude.

How wonderful was this? The successor of St. Peter was under her roof! He asked the crucial question: What was her deathbed wish? She was ready with her answer. Would he place his signature and seal on her Rule? No question would ever be raised about its force and power if he were to comply with this one wish. Her plea was uttered with all the force of a soul bent on completing its earthly mission.

What followed was a touching 24-hour drama. Cardinal Rainaldo gave his approval by signing the actual parchment upon which the text was inscribed. Normal protocol would have required that a new manuscript be prepared in the pope’s secretariat. However, it was clear that there was not enough time if the pope was to grant her wish before her final hour. His choice was to expedite the legal process.

Using the manuscript already signed by Cardinal Rainaldo, he added his own signature and date. To this was added his impressive seal. As he ordered it to be sent back to Assisi, he may have reflected that it would serve one monastery and one monastery only. No great harm done, therefore, in acceding to the dying wish of a respected abbess. Besides, it was a work of mercy that might win heavenly favor for him in an hour of need. Assisi’s newest saint would surely intercede for him after death.

A friar-messenger was dispatched to bring it back to Assisi with all possible speed. When the document was placed in her hands, Clare took hold of the beautiful papal seal, affixed with golden cords and hanging from the scroll. Later, an eyewitness would write on that parchment, “Blessed Clare touched and kissed this many times out of devotion.”

This elation expressed her utter relief and joy. She had succeeded in creating a perpetual witness to the first inspirations of the Poor Sisters and their covenant with Francis and his Lesser Brothers. Like her Divine Master, she could now say, “It is finished.”

Visions of the Vigil

The extraordinary papal about-face that took place in those August days was not the only miraculous event witnessed by the women keeping vigil with Clare in her final days. Those who were present would later recall other dramatic signs that they sealed in memory.

A nun in the Monastery of San Paolo shared an exceptional vision. In it she and her sisters were at the side of Clare, who lay in a beautiful bed. They grieved with the distraught sisters keeping vigil. Then a woman of great beauty appeared at the head of the bed and assured the sisters that Clare’s victory was assured and that she would not die without seeing “the Lord and his disciples.” The fact that nuns of San Paolo had such vivid experiences of Clare’s final days hints at a relationship that had blossomed over the years since her Eastertide sojourn in 1212.

Sister Benvenuta of Lady Diambra and Sister Anastasia heard Clare speaking softly at one point but to no one in particular. Worried that Clare was trying to express a need or discomfort, they asked to whom she was speaking. The answer was, “I am speaking to my soul.” Later, the words they heard were recorded. Clare was, in fact, expressing the kind of hope that replaces fear with her trust in God to escort her over death’s threshold as a mother guides a frightened child. Sister Filippa reported that Clare made a final confession and she marveled at what was told by the dying saint.

https://www.franciscanmedia.org/st-anthony-messenger/august-2021/st-clare-light-of-assisi/

The Transfiguration Of Our Lord - 6 August

Quoted from oblates.org [1]:

Because of the unusual event that the Feast of the Transfiguration this year falls on the 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time, today’s Gospel is the same as the one we heard on the Second Sunday of Lent. St. Francis de Sales challenges us to be transfigured in Christ through our daily activities:

At the Transfiguration Jesus showed us a spark of eternal glory. While the Prophet said, “I will never forget you…I have carved you on the palm of my hand,” Jesus went further and said, “I will never forget you, since I bear your name engraved in My Heart.” At the Transfiguration Jesus shows His flaming Heart of love for us.

Like the apostles who wanted to remain in Jesus’ presence, we too must do likewise. So little by little let us leave behind all our affections for lowly things and aspire to the happiness that Our Lord has prepared for us. Where could we give better witness to our fidelity to God than in the midst of things going wrong?

There is a real temptation to become dissatisfied with the world and depressed about it when we have of necessity to be in it. Yet we will always encounter difficulties in the “busyness” of the world. To think that we can be holy without suffering is a delusion. Where there is more difficulty, there is more virtue. However, if we stumble, with trust and confidence in God’s mercy, let us put ourselves back on the path of virtue.

Be like the honeybee. While you are carefully making the honey of holiness, at the same time make the wax of your worldly affairs. If our Lord finds honey sweet, so does the wax honor Him, since it is used to make the candles that give light to those around us. Let us focus on always being transfigured in Christ. What we will do and become as we experience the lovable Heart of our Master aflame with love for us!

(Adapted from the writings of St. Francis de Sales)

[1] https://www.oblates.org/salesian-sunday-reflection-feed/transfiguration-of-the-lord-august-6-2023-1

Feast Of Saint Dominic - 4 August

Quoted from Wikipedia [1]:

 

Feast

8 August

4 August (pre-1970 General Roman Calendar)

Quoted from Miles Christi [2]:

The feast day of St. Dominic is celebrated on August 8. Known for his self denial, apostolic zeal, and holiness, St. Dominic (Dominic de Guzman) was born in 1170 and ordained as a priest at age 24. In 1216, St. Dominic established separate women and mens orders, the Order of Preachers, which later became known as the Dominicans.

The aim of the Dominicans is to proclaim the Word of God by preaching, teaching and example, while sustained by common life. Known as a joyful friar, St. Dominic conveyed enthusiasm for the gospel. People came to St. Dominic because he offered them hope.  

St. Dominic was instrumental in the formation of another saint – St. Ignatius. One of the books read by St. Ignatius during his recovery and conversion was written by a Dominican friar. Upon learning of the life of St. Dominic, St. Ignatious promptly developed a devotion to him, declaring, “St. Dominic did this, therefore, I have to do it.” 

Along with establishment of the Order of Preachers, St. Dominic is associated with preaching on the daily devotion to praying of the Holy Rosary. During the time the Albigensian heresy, which believed that adultery, fornication, and suicide were praiseworthy; there is no heaven, no hell, no moral code, St. Dominic went from town to town preaching the TRUTH through the Word of God. Having little luck in converting the Albigenses, St. Dominic prayed fervently to Our Blessed Lady for direction and help. In Prouille, France, 1208, The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in an abbey to St. Dominic, instructing him in the prayers of the Angelic Psalter, to be later known as the Holy Rosary. The late Dominican, Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, who was a teacher of Pope John Paul II when he was a student at the Angelicum in Rome, stated: “Our Blessed Lady made known to St. Dominic a kind of preaching till then unknown; which she said would be one of the most powerful weapons against future errors and in future difficulties.”

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Dominic

[2] https://www.mileschristi.org/feast-day-of-st-dominic/, italics original.

Saint Ignatius Of Loyola - 31 July

Quoted from Christianity.com [1]:

Top 10 Events in the Life of Ignatius

1. Ignatius was born in 1491 in a castle at Loyola in the Basque region of Spain. The youngest of 13 children, his mother died when he was very young, and his eldest brother, Juan Perez, died fighting in the “Italian Wars.”

2. In 1508, Ignatius became a page for a relative, Juan Velázquez de Cuéllar, treasurer of the kingdom of Castile.

3. In 1517, he became a knight for Antonio Manrique de Lara, Duke of Nájera and Viceroy of Navarre.

4. In 1521, Ignatius suffered a broken leg from a cannonball in Pamplona and began an extended time of treatment and recovery.

5. In 1522, Ignatius was well enough to leave his family and make a holy pilgrimage to Montserrat, where he confessed his sins and left his weapons with the statue of the Virgin Mary. In an extreme version of asceticism, he then chose to live as a homeless beggar for a time.

6. While living in a cave in Manresa, Ignatius had many visions and wrote his first work, The Spiritual Exercises. This is a series of prayers, meditations, and practices aimed at stretching and conditioning the soul. Ignatius compares the spiritual life to that of an athlete and promotes a life of training through spiritual disciplines.

7. After a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Ignatius returned to Europe, where he studied to improve his education in Barcelona. There he studied Latin and theology. During this time, Ignatius caught the attention of the Spanish Inquisitors as a possible heretic. He was imprisoned and interrogated but was eventually released. He would have other encounters with the Spanish Inquisition.

8. Ignatius furthered his education in Paris, and there, he took the name Ignatius and developed a following of like-minded souls. Eventually, he and his followers would take vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience.

9. In 1539, Ignatius formed the Society of Jesus with Peter Faber and Francis Xavier. In 1540, they gained the approval of the Pope. Eventually, there would be Jesuits in major cities across Europe, living according to the order’s vows and serving the dying through hospice care, advocating for the poor, caring for orphans, and opening schools.

10. Ignatius of Loyola died in Rome on July 31, 1556, at 64 years old, likely dying from malaria. He was beatified in 1609 by Pope Paul V, canonized in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV, and declared patron of all spiritual retreats by Pope Pius XI in 1922. His annual feast day is July 31.

[1] https://www.christianity.com/wiki/people/what-you-should-know-ignatius-of-loyola.html, quoted without hyperlinks, bold type and large fonts, italics original.

Saint James The Greater Feast Day - 25 July

Quoted from Christianity.com [1]:

Saint James the Greater was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus and the brother of St. John the Evangelist (Mark 1:19-20). James and John, along with the Apostle Peter, were part of Jesus’ “inner circle,” witnessing key events that the other apostles did not witness (Mark 5:35-43; Matthew 17:1-8, 26:36-46).

After James was martyred, legend places his remains in Spain, where they are supposedly enshrined in a cathedral known as the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

Since the Middle Ages, people have walked from certain starting points across Europe to his tomb along pilgrimage routes that have become known as the Way of St. James.

Who was St. James the Greater?

James the Greater was the son of Zebedee and Salome and the brother of John the Evangelist. Scripture recounts that after calling Simon Peter and Andrew to be his first disciples, Jesus then called James and his brother John to follow Him (Mark 1:16-20). Upon being summoned by Jesus, the brothers immediately left everything behind to follow Christ (Mark 1:20).

James and John were believed to have fiery tempers. In fact, Jesus nicknamed them the “sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17) perhaps because of the zealous temperament the brothers showed in wanting to destroy a Samaritan village that had refused to show Jesus hospitality (Luke 9:51-56); or because of their brazen request to be seated on the right and left of Jesus in heaven (Mark 10:35-40).

The Apostle James the Greater is not to be confused with the other Apostle James, referred to as James the Lesser. To distinguish between the two, it’s believed that James the Greater was given his title simply because he was either taller or older than James the Lesser.

Some believe that James the Greater was Jesus’ cousin, noting that there is evidence in Scripture of their mothers being sisters (Matthew 27:55-56; Mark 15:40-42; John 19:25). Whether Jesus and James were related or not, James —along with his brother John and the Apostle Peter—were Jesus’ three most trusted disciples. As part of Jesus’ “inner circle,” these three apostles were allowed to know His identity and power more extensively than the other disciples.

In particular, Jesus gave James the Greater, John, and Peter the privilege of witnessing three key moments in His ministry:

The raising of Jairus’ recently deceased daughter (Mark 5:35-43),

The transfiguration of Jesus (Matthew 17:1-8), and

Jesus’ agony in the garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-46).

The Death of James the Greater and the Legend of His Remains

James the Greater was the first apostle to be martyred and the only apostle aside from Judas Iscariot whose death is recorded in the Bible (Acts 12:1-2). Scholars believe that King Herod Agrippa ordered the beheading of James in 44 A.D. in Jerusalem.

The Bible is silent as to the resting place of James’ remains. However, a medieval legend holds that James the Greater had preached in Spain during his lifetime and that, after his death, his remains were transported to Spain for burial. In the ninth century, the tomb of St. James (known as Santiago in Spanish) was believed to have been rediscovered in Spain. Those remains were later enshrined in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia (northwestern), Spain, where they remain today.

[1] https://www.christianity.com/wiki/people/who-was-st-james-the-greater-what-is-the-way-of-st-james.html, quoted without hyperlinks, bold type and large fonts.

Saint Mary Magdalen Penitent - 22 July

Quoted from Catholicism.org [1]:

In order to know what great love is, one should study the beautiful penitent, who washed the feet of Jesus with the water of her tears, and dried them with the towel of her hair.

Saint Mary Magdalen’s audacity, her courage, her eagerness, gave Christian love a true impetus in all the saints that followed her. She was an outstanding girl, the love-flamings of whose heart, the love-anguishings of whose soul, consoled Our Lord when He needed comfort most ­ when His feet were pierced by nails, His head by thorns, and His heart by man’s ingratitude.

God would gladly make the world for the love one girl can give. Our Blessed Lady is God’s perfect maiden. But next to Our Lady, Saint Mary Magdalen is the girl in the life of Our Lord whom He most loved. She was His overwhelming favorite, because her love was the kind that never counts the costs. Her bright eyes were always full of tears ­ for Jesus alive and sitting at a feast, for Jesus dead and laid in a tomb.

How Saint Mary Magdalen first met Jesus, we are told in the Gospel of Saint Luke. Saint Mary Magdalen learned that Jesus was dining, one night, at the house of Simon, a Pharisee, and without waiting for an invitation or an introduction of any kind, she burst through the guests to get to Him. Her only thought was to show Jesus how thorough her love had made her sorrow and her repentance, for Mary Magdalen, the daughter of a rich and noble family, was reputed a great sinner.

Never once did she think of the reproaches and rebukes which the Jews would heap upon her, in the house of a Pharisee. The Pharisees believed that all sinners remained sinners; they believed that all except themselves were sinners. Unmindful of their scorn, Saint Mary Magdalen knelt behind Our Lord while He was seated in this house full of bearded misogynists, and washed His feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. And, kissing His feet, she anointed them with precious ointment.

Tears and kisses, the highest priced oils that money could buy, and hair which was her crown ­ these were her substitutes for words. And they were a thousand times more eloquent.

When Simon, the Pharisee who had invited Jesus to dinner, complained within himself saying: “This man, if He were a prophet, would surely know who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth Him, that she is a sinner,” Our Lord quickly defended Saint Mary Magdalen.

“Simon,” He said, “I have something to say to thee. . . . I entered into thy house, thou gavest Me no water for My feet, but she with tears hath washed My feet, and with her hair hast wiped them. Thou gavest Me no kiss; but she, since she came in, hath not ceased to kiss My feet.”

And then Our Lord uttered His glorious tribute: “Wherefore I say to thee: Many sins are forgiven her because she hath loved much.” And turning, Jesus said to Saint Mary Magdalen, “Thy sins are forgiven thee.”

[1] https://catholicism.org/mary-magdalen.html

Saint Vincent de Paul Confessor - 19 July

Quoted from Britannica [1]:

St. Vincent de Paul, (born April 24, 1581, Pouy, now Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, France—died September 27, 1660, Paris; canonized 1737; feast day September 27), French saint, founder of the Congregation of the Mission (Lazarists, or Vincentians) for preaching missions to the peasantry and for educating and training a pastoral clergy. The patron saint of charitable societies, St. Vincent de Paul is primarily recognized for his charity and compassion for the poor, though he is also known for his reform of the clergy and for his early role in opposing Jansenism.

Educated by the Franciscans at Dax, France, he was ordained in 1600 and graduated from the University of Toulouse in 1604. He was allegedly captured at sea by Barbary pirates and sold as a slave but eventually escaped. He spent a year in Rome to continue his studies and then went to Paris, where he remained permanently. He placed himself under the spiritual guidance of the celebrated cardinal Pierre de Bérulle, who entrusted him with the parish of Clichy.

After founding the Congregation of the Mission in 1625, Vincent de Paul established in and around Paris the Confraternities of Charity—associations of laywomen who visited, fed, and nursed the sick poor. The wealth of these women, many of noble family, aided him in establishing the foundling and other hospitals. With St. Louise de Marillac he cofounded the Daughters of Charity (Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul) in 1633. The association was patterned after the Confraternities of Charity and was the first noncloistered religious institute of women devoted to active charitable works.

[1] https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, quoted without bold font and hyperlinks.

Commemoration Of Blessed Virgin Of Mount Carmel - 16 July

Quoted from Learn Religions [1]:

According to the traditions of the Carmelite order, on July 16, 1251, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock, a Carmelite. A hermit by nature, Simon Stock had became a Carmelite during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land from England. It was upon his return to England that Simon received his vision of the Virgin Mary while in Cambridge, England. During the vision, she revealed to him the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, popularly known as the "Brown Scapular."  The words she spoke were: 

Receive, my beloved son, this scapular of thy Order; it is the special sign of my favor, which I have obtained for thee and for thy children of Mount Carmel. He who dies clothed with this habit shall be preserved from eternal fire. It is the badge of salvation, a shield in time of danger, and a pledge of special peace and protection."

This was a transformative moment for Simon Stock, and in the following years he transformed the Carmelite order from one of hermits to one of mendicant friars and nuns that lived in social service to the poor and sick. He was elected Superior-General of his order in 1254 CE. 

A century and a quarter later, the Carmelite order began to celebrate the day of Simon's vision, July 16, as the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

[1] https://www.learnreligions.com/feast-our-lady-of-mount-carmel-542476, quoted without hyperlink.

The Most Precious Blood Of Our Lord Jesus Christ - 1 July

Quoted from Wikipedia [1]:

The Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ is a feast, which has been in the General Roman Calendar from 1849 to 1969. It is focused on the Blood of Christ and its salvific nature.

...

... Pope Pius officially included the Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the General Roman Calendar, for celebration on the first Sunday in July, that is the first Sunday after 30 June, which is the anniversary of the liberation of the city of Rome from the insurgents.

In reducing the number of feasts fixed for Sundays, Pope Pius X assigned the date of 1 July to this feast. In 1933, Pope Pius XI raised the feast to the rank of Double of the 1st Class to mark the 1,900th anniversary of Jesus's passion. In Pope John XXIII's 1960 revision of the General Roman Calendar, it was made a Class I Feast (see General Roman Calendar of 1960).

The feast was removed from the General Roman calendar in 1969, "because the Most Precious Blood of Christ the Redeemer is already venerated in the solemnities of the Passion, of Corpus Christi, of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and in the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. But the Mass of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ is placed among the Votive Masses".

The feast nonetheless continues to be celebrated as a solemnity in calendars of some religious orders such as the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ, and the Adorers of the Blood of Christ. Furthermore, it is celebrated by parishes and communities that observe the 1962 Calendar. The whole month of July is still kept dedicated to the Most Precious Blood.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_the_Most_Precious_Blood, quoted without hyperlinks and references, bold type original.

The Visitation Of Our Blessed Lady - 2 July

Quoted from Lean Religions [1]:

The feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary celebrates the visit of Mary, the Mother of God, with the child Jesus in her womb, to her cousin Elizabeth. The visit took place when Elizabeth was herself six months' pregnant with the forerunner of Christ, Saint John the Baptist.

At the Annunciation of the Lord, the angel Gabriel, in response to Mary's question "How shall this be done, because I know not man?" (Luke 1:34), had told her that "thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren: Because no word shall be impossible with God" (Luke 1:36-27). The evidence of her cousin's own near-miraculous conception had called forth Mary's fiat: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word." It is thus appropriate that the very next action of the Blessed Virgin that Saint Luke the Evangelist records is Mary's "making haste" to visit her cousin.

[1] https://www.learnreligions.com/visitation-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-542483, quoted without hyperlinks, italics original.

Saints Peter And Paul Apostles Feast Day - 29 June

Quoted from Catholic News Agency [1]:

On June 29 the Church celebrates the feast day of Sts. Peter & Paul. As early as the year 258, there is evidence of an already lengthy tradition of celebrating the solemnities of both Saint Peter and Saint Paul on the same day. Together, the two saints are the founders of the See of Rome, through their preaching, ministry and martyrdom there.

Peter, who was named Simon, was a fisherman of Galilee and was introduced to the Lord Jesus by his brother Andrew, also a fisherman. Jesus gave him the name Cephas (Petrus in Latin), which means ‘Rock,’ because he was to become the rock upon which Christ would build His Church.

Peter was a bold follower of the Lord. He was the first to recognize that Jesus was “the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” and eagerly pledged his fidelity until death. In his boldness, he also made many mistakes, however, such as losing faith when walking on water with Christ and betraying the Lord on the night of His passion.

Yet despite his human weaknesses, Peter was chosen to shepherd God's flock. The Acts of the Apostles illustrates his role as head of the Church after the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ. Peter led the Apostles as the first Pope and ensured that the disciples kept the true faith.

St. Peter spent his last years in Rome, leading the Church through persecution and eventually being martyred in the year 64. He was crucified upside-down at his own request, because he claimed he was not worthy to die as his Lord.

He was buried on Vatican hill, and St. Peter's Basilica is built over his tomb.

St. Paul was the Apostle of the Gentiles. His letters are included in the writings of the New Testament, and through them we learn much about his life and the faith of the early Church.

Before receiving the name Paul, he was Saul, a Jewish pharisee who zealously persecuted Christians in Jerusalem. Scripture records that Saul was present at the martyrdom of St. Stephen.

Saul's conversion took place as he was on his way to Damascus to persecute the Christian community there. As he was traveling along the road, he was suddenly surrounded by a great light from heaven. He was blinded and fell off his horse. He then heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He answered: “Who are you, Lord?” Christ said: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”

Saul continued to Damascus, where he was baptized and his sight was restored. He took the name Paul and spent the remainder of his life preaching the Gospel tirelessly to the Gentiles of the Mediterranean world.

Paul was imprisoned and taken to Rome, where he was beheaded in the year 67.

He is buried in Rome in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.

In a sermon in the year 395, St. Augustine of Hippo said of Sts. Peter and Paul: “Both apostles share the same feast day, for these two were one; and even though they suffered on different days, they were as one. Peter went first, and Paul followed. And so we celebrate this day made holy for us by the apostles' blood. Let us embrace what they believed, their life, their labors, their sufferings, their preaching, and their confession of faith.”

[1] https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/sts-peter-and-paul-501

Nativity Of Saint John The Baptist - June 24

Quoted from Wikipedia [1]:

The Nativity of John the Baptist is a high-ranking liturgical feast, kept in the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglicanism, and Lutheranism. The sole biblical account of the birth of John the Baptist comes from the Gospel of Luke.

Christians have long interpreted the life of John the Baptist as a preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ, and the circumstances of his birth, as recorded in the New Testament, are miraculous. John's pivotal place in the gospel is seen in the emphasis Luke gives to the announcement of his birth and the event itself, both set in parallel to the same occurrences in the life of Jesus.[1]

The sole biblical account of the birth of John the Baptist comes from the Gospel of Luke. John's parents, Zechariah or Zachary — a Jewish priest — and Elizabeth, were without children and both were beyond the age of child-bearing. During Zechariah's rotation to serve in the Temple in Jerusalem, he was chosen by lot to offer incense at the Golden Altar in the Holy Place. The Archangel Gabriel appeared to him and announced that he and his wife would give birth to a child, and that they should name him John, a name which was unfamiliar in Zechariah and Elizabeth's families....

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nativity_of_John_the_Baptist, quoted without hyperlinks and references.

Sacred Heart Of Jesus Feast Day - 16 June

Quoted from Learn Religions [1]:

The date of the Feast of Corpus Christi was set at the request of Christ Himself, Who appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque on June 16, 1675.

The Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is celebrated on the Friday after the octave (eighth day) of the Feast of Corpus Christi. The traditional date of Corpus Christi is the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, which falls one week after Pentecost Sunday. Thus, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus falls 19 days after Pentecost, which is seven weeks after Easter.

In those countries, such as the United States, where the celebration of Corpus Christi is transferred to the following Sunday, the Feast of the Sacred Heart is still celebrated 19 days after Pentecost.

Since the date of Pentecost Sunday depends on the date of Easter, which changes every year, the Feast of the Sacred Heart falls on a different date each year as well.

[1] https://www.learnreligions.com/when-is-the-feast-of-the-sacred-heart-541617, quoted without hyperlinks.

Saint Anthony Of Padua - 13 June

Quoted from Franciscan Media [1]:

The gospel call to leave everything and follow Christ was the rule of Saint Anthony of Padua’s life. Over and over again, God called him to something new in his plan. Every time Anthony responded with renewed zeal and self-sacrificing to serve his Lord Jesus more completely.

His journey as the servant of God began as a very young man when he decided to join the Augustinians in Lisbon, giving up a future of wealth and power to be a servant of God. Later when the bodies of the first Franciscan martyrs went through the Portuguese city where he was stationed, he was again filled with an intense longing to be one of those closest to Jesus himself: those who die for the Good News.

So Anthony entered the Franciscan Order and set out to preach to the Moors. But an illness prevented him from achieving that goal. He went to Italy and was stationed in a small hermitage where he spent most of his time praying, reading the Scriptures and doing menial tasks.

The call of God came again at an ordination where no one was prepared to speak. The humble and obedient Anthony hesitantly accepted the task. The years of searching for Jesus in prayer, of reading sacred Scripture and of serving him in poverty, chastity, and obedience had prepared Anthony to allow the Spirit to use his talents. Anthony’s sermon was astounding to those who expected an unprepared speech and knew not the Spirit’s power to give people words.

Recognized as a great man of prayer and a great Scripture and theology scholar, Anthony became the first friar to teach theology to the other friars. Soon he was called from that post to preach to the Albigensians in France, using his profound knowledge of Scripture and theology to convert and reassure those who had been misled by their denial of Christ’s divinity and of the sacraments.

After he led the friars in northern Italy for three years, he made his headquarters in the city of Padua. He resumed his preaching and began writing sermon notes to help other preachers. In the spring of 1231 Anthony withdrew to a friary at Camposampiero where he had a sort of treehouse built as a hermitage. There he prayed and prepared for death.

On June 13, he became very ill and asked to be taken back to Padua, where he died after receiving the last sacraments. Anthony was canonized less than a year later and named a Doctor of the Church in 1946.

[1] https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-anthony-of-padua/

Corpus Christi Feast Day - 8 June

Quoted from EWTN [1]:

What does the Solemnity of Corpus Christi celebrate?

Also known as the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, this feast honors Jesus Christ, Really, Truly and Substantially Present under the appearances of bread and wine. This Presence happens through the change which the Church calls transubstantiation (“change of substance”), when at the Consecration of the Mass, the priest says the words which Christ Himself pronounced over bread and wine, “This is My Body,” “This is the chalice of My Blood,” “Do this in remembrance of Me.”

Quoted from Catholic News Agency [2]:

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is also known as the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, which translates from Latin to "Body of Christ." This feast originated in France in the midthirteenth century and was extended to the whole Church by Pope Urban IV in 1264. This feast is celebrated on the Thursday following the Trinity Sunday or, as in the USA, on the Sunday following that feast.

This feast calls us to focus on two manifestations of the Body of Christ, the Holy Eucharist and the Church. The primary purpose of this feast is to focus our attention on the Eucharist. The opening prayer at Mass calls our attention to Jesus' suffering and death and our worship of Him, especially in the Eucharist.

At every Mass our attention is called to the Eucharist and the Real Presence of Christ in it....

[1] https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/seasons-and-feast-days/corpus-christi-14356, original large fonts reduced, and changed bold type to regular type.

[2] https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/solemnity-of-the-most-holy-body-and-blood-of-christ-270

Trinity Sunday - 4 June

Quoted from Learn Religions [1]:

Trinity Sunday is a moveable feast celebrated a week after Pentecost Sunday. Also known as Holy Trinity Sunday, Trinity Sunday honors the most fundamental of Christian beliefs—belief in the Holy Trinity. The human mind can never fully understand the mystery of the Trinity, but we can sum it up in the following formula: God is three Persons in one Nature. There is only one God, and the three Persons of God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—are all equally God, and They cannot be divided.

Quoted from Catholic Link [2]:

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, called “Trinity Sunday,” is celebrated one week after Pentecost. This feast was made universal in 1911. Prior to 1911, there were private devotions, certain liturgical prayers and prefaces, and hymns in the liturgy.

There was an Office of the Holy Trinity written by Bishop Stephen of Liege in the 10th Century, but there was not a universal feast of the entire Church until Pope John XXII instituted one as a second-class feast in the 14th Century. In 1911, Pope St. Pius X elevated the feast to first-class.

After the first Pentecost, the doctrine of the Trinity was given to the entire world through the ministry of the Apostles, led by the Holy Spirit. And so, Trinity Sunday, rightly follows Pentecost Sunday in the Church calendar.

[1] https://www.learnreligions.com/what-is-trinity-sunday-542485, quoted without hyperlinks.

[2] https://catholic-link.org/what-is-trinity-sunday-catholic/

The Queenship Of Mary - 31 May

Quoted from Wikipedia [1]:

Queenship of Mary is a Marian feast day in the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church, created by Pope Pius XII. On 11 October 1954, the pontiff pronounced the new feast in his encyclical Ad caeli reginam. The feast was celebrated on May 31, the last day of the Marian month. The initial ceremony for this feast involved the crowning of the Salus Populi Romani icon of Mary in Rome by Pius XII as part of a procession in Rome.

In 1969, Pope Paul VI moved the feast day to August 22, the former Octave day of the Assumption in order to emphasize the close bond between Mary's queenship and her glorification in body and soul next to her Son. The Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Church states that "Mary was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen of the universe, that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son" (Lumen gentium, 59).

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_of_Heaven, quoted without hyperlinks, references, italics original.

Pentecost Sunday - 28 May

Quoted from Catholic News Agency [1]:

Pentecost always occurs 50 days after the death and resurrection of Jesus, and ten days after his ascension into heaven. Because Easter is a moveable feast without a fixed date, and Pentecost depends on the timing of Easter, Pentecost can fall anywhere between May 10 and June 13.

...

In the Christian tradition, Pentecost is the celebration of the person of the Holy Spirit coming upon the Apostles, Mary, and the first followers of Jesus, who were gathered together in the Upper Room.

A "strong, driving" wind filled the room where they were gathered, and tongues of fire came to rest on their heads, allowing them to speak in different languages so that they could understand each other. It was such a strange phenomenon that some people thought the Christians were just drunk - but Peter pointed out that it was only the morning, and said the phenomenon was caused by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit also gave the apostles the other gifts and fruits necessary to fulfill the great commission - to go out and preach the Gospel to all nations. It fulfills the New Testament promise from Christ (Luke 24:46-49) that the Apostles would be "clothed with power" before they would be sent out to spread the Gospel.

...

It was right after Pentecost that Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, preached his first homily to Jews and other non-believers, in which he opened the scriptures of the Old Testament, showing how the prophet Joel prophesied events and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

He also told the people that the Jesus they crucified is the Lord and was raised from the dead, which "cut them to the heart." When they asked what they should do, Peter exhorted them to repent of their sins and to be baptised. According to the account in Acts, about 3,000 people were baptised following Peter's sermon.

For this reason, Pentecost is considered the birthday of the Church - Peter, the first Pope, preaches for the first time and converts thousands of new believers. The apostles and believers, for the first time, were united by a common language, and a common zeal and purpose to go and preach the Gospel.

[1] https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/36152/everything-you-need-to-know-about-pentecost

Saint Bede Feast Day - 27 May

Quoted from Catholic News Agency [1]:

The Catholic Church will celebrate the feast of St. Bede on May 25. The English priest, monk, and scholar is sometimes known as “the Venerable Bede” for his combination of personal holiness and intellectual brilliance.

Bede was born during 673 near the English town of Jarrow. His parents sent him at a young age to study at a monastery founded by a Benedictine abbot who would later be canonized in his own right as St. Benedict Biscop. The abbot's extensive library may have sparked an early curiosity in the boy, who would grow up to be a voracious reader and prolific writer.

Later, Bede returned to Jarrow and continued his studies with an abbot named Ceolfrid, who was a companion of St. Benedict Biscop. The abbot and a group of other monks instructed Bede not only in scripture and theology, but also in sacred music, poetry and the Greek language.

Bede's tutors could see that his life demonstrated a remarkable devotion to prayer and study, and Ceolfrid made the decision to have him ordained a deacon when he was 19. Another Benedictine monk and future saint, the bishop John of Beverley, ordained Bede in 691.

He studied for 11 more years before entering the priesthood at the age of 30, around the beginning of the eighth century. Afterward, Bede took on the responsibility of celebrating daily Mass for the members of his Benedictine community, while also working on farming, baking, and other works of the monastery.

As a monk, Bede gave absolute priority to prayer, fasting and charitable hospitality. He regarded all other works as valueless without the love of God and one's neighbor. However, Bede also possessed astounding intellectual gifts, which he used to survey and master a wide range of subjects according to an all-encompassing vision of Christian scholarship.

Bede declined a request to become abbot of his monastery. Instead, he concentrated on writing, and produced more than 45 books –  primarily about theology and the Bible, but also on science, literature, and history. He also taught hundreds of students at the monastery and its school, which became renowned throughout Britain.

During Bede's own lifetime, his spiritual and intellectual gifts garnered wide recognition. His writings on scripture were considered so authoritative that a Church council ordered them to be publicly read in English churches. Some of the most illustrious members of English society made pilgrimages to his monastery to seek his guidance, and he was personally invited to Rome by Pope Sergius.

Bede, however, was unfazed by these honors. Perhaps inspired by the Benedictine monastic ethos, which emphasizes one's absolute commitment to the monastic community, he chose not to visit Rome, or to travel any significant distance beyond the Monastery of Sts. Peter and Paul in Jarrow, during his entire adult life.

Instead, the world came to him – through the visitors he received, according to the Benedictine tradition of hospitality, and through his voluminous reading. And Bede, in turn, reached the world without leaving his monastery, writing books that were copied with reverence for centuries and still read today. He is one of the last Western Christian writers to be numbered among the Church Fathers.

But Bede understood that love, rather than learning, was his life's purpose. “It is better,” he famously said, “to be a stupid and uneducated brother who, working at the good things he knows, merits life in heaven, than to be one who –  though being distinguished for his learning in the Scriptures, or even holding the place of a teacher – lacks the bread of love."

Bede died on the vigil of the feast of the Ascension of Christ in 735, shortly after finishing an Anglo-Saxon translation of the Gospel of John. Pope Leo XIII declared him a Doctor of the Church in 1899.

[1] https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-bede-the-venerable-466

Ascension Thursday - 18 May

Quoted from Wikipedia [1]:

The Solemnity of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, also called Ascension Day, Ascension Thursday, or sometimes Holy Thursday, commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. It is one of the ecumenical (shared by multiple denominations) feasts of Christian churches, ranking with the feasts of the Passion and Pentecost. Following the account of Acts 1:3 that the risen Jesus appeared for 40 days prior to his Ascension, Ascension Day is traditionally celebrated on a Thursday, the fortieth day of Easter, although some Christian denominations have moved the observance to the following Sunday....

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_the_Ascension, quoted without bold type, hyperlinks and references.

Feast Day Of Saint Phillip And Saint James - 11 May

Quoted from thenalc.org [1]:

May 1 has been kept as the feast day of St. Philip and St. James since ca. 560 when on May 1 the supposed remains of the two saints were interred in the new Church of the Holy Apostles in Rome....

To acknowledge the twentieth-century dedication of May 1 to labor and the working classes, Pope Pius XII in 1955 made May 1 the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, and shifted the feast of Philip and James to May 11; the present Roman calendar (1969) moved the commemoration of the two apostles to May 3, closer to the original date.

Quoted from My Catholic Life! [2]:

In the sixth century, Pope Pelagius I traveled to Constantinople and brought the relics of the Apostles Philip and James back to Rome, placing them in what is today called the Church of the Holy Apostles. It is for this reason that we honor these two Apostles together with one feast.

Quoted from Loyola Press [3]:

Philip and James were both apostles, and both served Christ faithfully during the very early days of the Church.

Philip seems to have been an enthusiastic person. He was the one who brought his friend Nathanael to Jesus, insisting to Nathanael that he had found the person about whom Moses had written. Some years later it was Philip who made arrangements, with the help of Andrew, to have a group of Greek Gentiles brought to Jesus. ... Philip also had a practical, down-to-earth mind. He was the apostle who commented that it would take a considerable amount of money to feed a crowd of more than 5,000 hungry men, women, and children. It was Philip who asked to see the Father when Jesus spoke about him at the Last Supper.

James was the son of Alphaeus and seems to have been born in Caesarea. He is mentioned less frequently in the New Testament than Philip is. Sometimes James is called the Less, which might be a hint that he was a short person or else that he was younger than the other apostle named James.

After Jesus’ death James continued to preach the Gospel and is believed to have become the first bishop of Jerusalem. Assuming that James and the first bishop of Jerusalem are one and the same person, then he met his death as a martyr in that city about the year a.d. 62. Tradition identifies James as the author of the epistle associated with his name.

[1] https://thenalc.org/worship-resources/festivals-commemorations/st-philip-and-st-james-apostles-may-1/

[2] https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/may-3-saints-philip-and-james-apostles/

[3] https://www.loyolapress.com/catholic-resources/saints/saints-stories-for-all-ages/saints-philip-and-james/