SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER

 1506 – 1552

            The life of Saint Francis Xavier, a brilliant intellectual who had to learn how to trust like a child, is an illustration of the power of grace. His special novena, The Miraculous Novena of Grace, is a tool for welcoming clarity and synchronicity into our lives. It helps us surrender control to a higher power. As he attained ever more grace through prayer, Saint Francis Xavier matured from being an earnest, sheltered college professor to becoming a man at home any place in the world, able to converse in any language, with people of all levels of society.

             Born into a noble family in Aragon, Spain, Francis Xavier grew up in a castle, the youngest of six children. He was doted upon by his family, and his father was delighted when he showed an early ability to write well. Francis Xavier was then set upon an intellectual path and sent to the University of Paris to complete his education. There he displayed a considerable aptitude for philosophy, and it was thought he might even become one of the world famous professors at the Sorbonne. His life changed course, however, when he met an older student named Ignatius Loyola. Though he took an instant dislike to Loyola, Francis Xavier eventually joined his new order of priests, the Society of Jesus, which was devoted to spreading Christ’s message abroad. Saint Francis Xavier became one of the six original Jesuits and was sent to Goa in India, where the Portuguese had a colony. When he arrived there he realized how horribly degrading the European influence was on the native culture. Slavery, prostitution, thievery, and gambling were practiced openly. His beautifully written and voluminous collection of letters detailing his life in Goa and the degradation of the local people are still studied today. Though Francis Xavier was of noble birth, he was still able to relate to and emphasize with the lowest-born individual. He was frequently seen chatting with prostitutes, members of the underworld, and beggars in the street. He had a miraculous ability with languages and spoke various dialects of Indian with relative ease. His theory was to teach the simplest people first. Children loved him, as did prisoners and the outcasts of society, among whom he lived. As he devoted himself fully to his mission, Francis Xavier’s gifts magnified. He is credited with the ability to speak in tongues, quiet stormy seas, heal the hopelessly ill and predict the future.

             Using Goa as a base, Francis Xavier went on to convert hundreds of thousands of people in the Far East. He was the first missionary to reach Japan, in 1544. It was his dream to go on to China, but he died, worn out from his ceaseless work, on the island of Chang-Chuen-Shan. He was forty-six years old. His body was put in quicklime and returned to Goa, where it is enshrined in an uncorrupt state. He is considered a protector by the Paravas, the indigenous people whom he saved from being decimated by both the Europeans and the higher-caste Indians. Not only is he the patron saint of foreign missions; but after his death, he often became the patron of newly discovered regions of the world.

 Feast Day: December 3

 Patron Saint of: Australia, Borneo, China, Japan, Pakistan, Foreign Missions, Sailors, Tourists

 Invoked Against: Hurricanes, Plague

(Painting by Jose de Alzibar                Mexico   18th Century)  

The Miraculous Novena of Grace

Most amiable and most loving Saint Francis Xavier, in union with you I reverently adore the Divine Majesty. I rejoice exceedingly on account of the marvelous gifts which God bestowed upon you. I thank God for the special graces he gave you during your life on earth and for the great glory that came to you after your death. I implore you to obtain for me, through your powerful intercession, the greatest of all blessings, that of living and dying in the state of grace. I also beg of you to secure for me the special favor I ask in this novena. In asking this favor, I am fully resigned to the Divine Will. I pray and desire only to obtain that which is most conducive to the greater glory of God and the greater good of my soul. 

Amen.

(Here you may mention the grace, spiritual or temporal that you wish to obtain).

 (Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, one Glory Be).

 There are two times a year when the Miraculous Novena of Grace is considered especially powerful: from March 4 to March 12 and from November 25 to December 3.

Say this novena nine times in a row for nine days in a row.

Excerpted from the book: “Novena: The Power of Prayer” by Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua.

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini

“Mother Cabrini” 

1850-1917

            The miracles attributed to Mother Cabrini are ongoing. In the chapel that holds her remains in New York City, there is a constantly changing collection of plaques, gifts, thank-you cards, and written testimonials to answered prayers by those who have invoked her for help. She is the first American citizen ever to be named a saint, and there are three major shrines to her in the United States. Having lived among the world’s forgotten citizens and the working poor, she is especially known for her intercession in relieving the small everyday burdens and disappointments that can sometimes seem insurmountable.

             She was born Maria Francesca Cabrini in the Lombard region of Italy. She lived on a farm, the youngest of thirteen children, only four of whom survived adolescence. When she was twenty years old, both her parents died in a smallpox epidemic. Due to her own ill health, she was turned down by two convents that she tried to join. Qualified as a schoolteacher, in 1880 she was sent to Codogno to run a small orphanage. There she founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, the first group of missionary nuns. She took the name Frances Xavier after her idol, Saint Francis Xavier, patron of the missions. It was her dream to continue his work in Asia by opening up a mission in China. After her orphanage was closed, she went to Rome and surprised many by having the rule of the order she founded authorized by the Pope in so little time. When he learned of her desire to be sent to China, he pointed out the unmet need in America, particularly New York City, where more than fifty thousand newly emigrated Italians lived in the filthy slums. With six nuns, Mother Cabrini arrived in America in 1889, only to be told by the archbishop of New York to go home. Instead, they moved into the Italian ghetto and opened an orphanage.  Within a few short years, Mother Cabrini’s order opened a multitude of orphanages, schools, hospitals, and nurse’s homes throughout the United States, Central America, Argentina, Brazil, France, Spain, England, and Italy, all catering to the displaced and destitute.

            Mother Cabrini was gifted with an innate business sense which made her extremely successful at raising money. Thought of as a somewhat difficult personality, she was very tenacious. This is perhaps due to the nature of her ministry. She lived among the lost and abandoned and even administered to the most violent offenders in Sing-Sing prison. Her experiences with the diverse groups of people she came in contact with softened her nature. Her character mellowed and she became less narrow in her judgments. In 1909 she became an American citizen. Just as Mother Cabrini evolved as a person, she is evolving as a saint. Though she is the patroness of immigrants, orphans, displaced persons and hospital administrators, she is invoked for absolutely anything. Indeed, her popularity as an intercessionary force is growing. Mother Cabrini died of malaria on December 22, 1917, and was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1946. Her body lies on view at the Saint Frances Cabrini Shrine in New York City.

 Her Feast Day is the anniversary of her Beatification: November 13

 Patron Saint of: Immigrants, Orphans, Displaced Persons, Hospital Administrators

Novena to Mother Cabrini

 O loving Savior, infinitely generous, seeking only our interest, from your Sacred Heart came these words of pleading love: “Come to me all you that labor and are burdened and I will refresh you.” Relying on this promise of your infinite charity, we come to you and in the lowliness of our hearts earnestly beg you to grant us the favor we ask in this novena, through the intercession of your faithful servant Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, Amen.

Say this novena nine times in a row for nine days in a row.

Excerpted from the book, “Novena: The Power of Prayer” by Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua

SAINT MARTIN DE PORRES

 1579 – 1639

Feast Day: November 3

Patronage: Peru, barbers, black people, hairdressers, hotel-keepers, inter-racial justice, jurists, mixed race people, poor, public health, public schools, racial harmony

Invoked: against mice and rats

 “Compassion my dear brother is preferable to cleanliness. Reflect that with a little soap I can easily clean my bed covers but even with a torrent of tears I would never wash from my soul the stain that my harshness toward the unfortunate would create.”

                                             Martin de Porres

            As a mixed race man born in Peru, Saint Martin de Porres is a representative of three continents; his mother was of African descent, his father was from Spain and he himself was born in the New World. A highly esteemed healer and friend to all living creatures, Martin is one of the most popular saints in Latin America.

            Born in Lima, Peru, Martin was the illegitimate child of a  Spanish knight and a freed black woman from Panama, whose family had been African slaves. Dark complexioned like his mother, he was not legally recognized by his father until he was older. He and his sister shared a poor and neglectful childhood and at the age of 12 he was apprenticed to a barber so that he might have a trade. In those days, in addition to cutting hair, barbers performed surgery, mixed medicines and were much sought out for cures of every ailment.

            Deeply religious, it was Martin’s habit to pray as he mixed his herbal healing potions and it was said that he healed as many with his prayers as with his herbs. He met with great success in his new profession but in his desire to serve God with childlike humility, he routinely gave all his money to the poor. By the age of 15 he wanted to become a foreign missionary and decided to enter the Dominican Rosary Convent as a Third Order Tertiary or Lay Brother. He chose to perform the lowliest house chores, all the while meditating on the Passion of Christ, a subject of much fascination for him.  As a farm laborer and gardener, Martin developed a deep attunement to nature. Animals flocked to him and he in turn,  showed them a respect and kindness which bewildered his European brothers.

            Since the majority of the Dominican priests were from Spain, they had little experience with people from other cultures. Believing in the superiority of their own civilization, they were basically in the New World to administer to the newly arrived soldiers and merchants from their own country. During a plague Martin quietly taught them the true meaning of Christian charity when he volunteered to help out in the infirmary. He ceaselessly nursed African slaves, the native population and Spanish nobility with the same grace and ardor. Because of the spectacular success of his treatments,  he was installed as head of the infirmary, a job he claimed to be unworthy of. When the infirmary was overcrowded with the sick, Martin was told not to admit anyone else. He found an Indian bleeding to death from a knife wound, immediately took him in and treated him. Martin’s Superior chastised him for this open disobedience of his order and Martin replied, “Forgive my error, and please instruct me, for I did not know that the precept of obedience took precedence over that of charity.”  Martin was then given the liberty to follow his own decisions on treating patients. Martin proved to add such a valuable contribution to his religious community that at the insistence of his prior, racial stipulations were abolished so that he could be made a fully professed brother in the Dominican Order.

            As a priest, Martin put his missionary instincts to work, traveling through the city to tend the sick of Lima. He was particularly devoted to improving the lot of the poor and the racially oppressed. Having great practical instincts, he opened hospitals and orphanages, raising money from the newly wealthy Spanish elite. Because of his ability to budget and allocate the charitable donations he was given, Martin was promoted to almoner of the monastery at a time when it was floundering for financial support. He amassed steady donations totaling $2000 per week, an astounding sum at that time, to cover its operating expenses as well as the daily tradition of feeding the hungry that Martin began. Every afternoon at 12 he had the gates of the monastery opened so that he could distribute food to anyone who needed it. Regardless of the number of people waiting, no one was ever turned away.

            His charity extended to the animal kingdom and he inaugurated the first shelter for stray cats and dogs. It was his sincere belief that all creatures were equally loved by God so all were deserving of his compassion and servitude. When his prior ordered poison to be set out to end the innundation of rats and mice the monastery was suffering from, Martin went out to the garden and softly called the rodents out of their hiding places. He reprimanded them for invading the monastery and promised to feed them every day out in the garden  if they would stay away from the building. Thus both sides kept to this agreement and Saint Martin is still invoked to prevent infestations of these pests.

            If Martin’s great love for animals seemed inexplicable to his Spanish brethren, they grew to accept it as just another proof of his sanctity. He ceaselessly prayed and enjoyed menial tasks because they enabled him to keep his silent union with God. Martin’s wisdom which seemed to come from a source deep within him, was much sought after. Archbishops and students of religion came to him for spiritual guidance and direction. This was no doubt a difficult role for him, since he preferred a life of humility and anonymity. In the chapel, he would go so deeply into meditation that he would levitate off the ground. His intuitive abilities enabled him to read minds and slip through locked doors. Like other mystical saints, he was gifted with bi-location, the ability to be in two places at once, transcending all laws of time and space. Spanish traders who knew him from Lima reported meeting him in the Philippines and Japan. An African slave who Martin treated in Peru, told Martin that he was extremely happy to see him again and asked how his voyage was. When he was told by another brother that Martin never left Lima in his life, the slave vehemently disagreed. He insisted that Martin had come to the slaves in the hull of the boats as they were transported in irons, offering consolation and comfort.

            By the time of his death of a high fever, Martin de Porres was a great celebrity in Lima. The poor considered him a folk hero and called him “The Father of Charity” and he was honored by the upper classes for his good works and ability as a healer. His funeral was open to the entire city and was attended by the noblemen, ex-slaves and religious authorities who he had served and advised with equal respect in life. After his death, Martin maintained the love of the Peruvian people and his cult is particularly strong in South America.

             In art, Saint Martin de Porres is depicted in a Dominican habit with a broom, little animals at his feet as a reminder of the life of humility he led, doing menial work and his love for all of God’s creatures. The dove of the Holy Spirit is also present stressing the divine wisdom Martin had.. He carries a cross because of his devotion to Christ’s Passion. Since Martin was of mixed race, he is the patron of racial harmony. Because he began his life as a barber, barbers and hairdressers claim him. He is the patron of jurists because so many important people came to him.

Prayer to Saint Martin de Porres

                                To you Saint Martin de Porres we prayerfully lift up our hearts

                                              filled with serene confidence and devotion.

                                            Mindful of your unbounded and helpful charity

                          to all levels of society and also of your meekness and humility of heart,

                                            we offer our petitions to you. (Request here)

            Pour out upon our families the precious gifts of your solicitous and generous intercession.

                     Show to the people of every race and color the paths of unity and of justice.

                               Implore from our Father in heaven the coming of His kingdom,

                                              so that through mutual benevolence in God

                        men may increase the fruits of grace and merit the rewards of eternal life.

                                                                          Amen

Excerpted from: “Saints:Ancient and Modern” by Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua.

ALL SAINTS DAY

 When a Catholic is baptized, he or she is given a saint’s name, and that saint becomes his or her patron. Also, at confirmation, a saint’s name is selected as one’s confirmation name, preferably that of a saint one would wish to emulate.

 This is a general novena to invoke the intercession of your particular saint. Novenas to your patron saint can be done at any time, but they are most appreciated on your saint’s feast day. If that day is unknown to you, or you do not have a patron, November 1 has been set aside as the Day of All Saints. On this day patron saints are thanks for their protection and are asked to become more present in our lives.

 The Feast of All Saints was first observed in May 609 in order to rededicate the Pantheon in Rome from a pagan temple devoted to a myriad of gods to a church known as the Blessed Mother and the Martyrs (now called Santa Maria Rotonda). Even in these early times there were thousands of saints, too many for the official calendar, and it was felt that there should be a day dedicated to them. Attendance at the ceremony was so great that the food and wine for the festivities were depleted before the celebration began. The May feast was then moved to November 1, when food supplies were more ample after the harvest.

 It is said that when we honor the saints we honor ourselves. By sending them love and admiration, an amplified, magnified form of love and grace is received in return. On All Saints’ Day, the patrons can be prayed to individually or the saints can be universally invoked. Since the saints have had a human existence, meditating on and reflecting on their natures and lives offers the hope of improving or perfecting one’s own way of being. The saints intercede for us as a group, and with such powers, it would be impossible for prayers to go unanswered. So long as it is in accordance with God’s will, it is the desire of the saints to aid in the fulfillment of God’s wishes.

 Here the image used to illustrate the novena for All Saints represents a vision that the warden of the Church of Saint Peter was purported to have had one year after the first All Saints’ Day. After he went from altar to altar imploring the help of each saint, he sat down in rapt ecstasy. Then he saw an endless procession of saints, representing every race being led  by the angel before the throne of Christ and the Virgin Mary. They sang their thanks to God for the honor done them by those on earth and they prayed for the entire world. Then the angel instructed the warden to tell the Pope what he had seen and commanded him to establish the day after the Feast of All Saints as a day for the departed souls, so that those who had no one to pray for them would be remembered as a group. Thus, the Day of All Souls is on November 2.

 The Day of All Saints is November 1

Novena to Your Patron Saint

Glorious Saint ____, my beloved patron, you served God in humility and with confidence on earth. Now you enjoy his beatific vision in heaven. You preserved until death and gained the crown of eternal life. Remember now the dangers and confusion and anguish that surround me in my needs and troubles, especially (mention your request) Amen.

 Say this novena nine times in a row for nine days in a row.

Excerpted from the book “Novena: The Power of Prayer” by Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua

SAINT JUDE

First Century

Saint Jude, “Helper of the Hopeless”, is one of the most invoked saints of our century. He is the saint of the impossible, and it is said that he never fails to bring relief to those in desperate need. We turn to Saint Jude when all else fails. The flame of the Holy Spirit always burns over his head. He is a powerful presence, ever ready to step in and take control of a desperate situation. Because he was ever faithful to Christ and with him at the very beginning, he is in an especially exalted state of grace and can easily negate all common trials and tribulations.

 Jude Thaddeus was one of the original Twelve Apostles. Brother of James the Lesser and a cousin of Jesus, he grew up with Christ and played with him as a child. He is venerated in France and in Rome, where his relics are located; but devotion to Saint Jude all but disappeared in the Middle Ages. Because he was often confused with Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed Christ, no one ever invoked Saint Jude for anything. This is why he became the saint of the impossible. In order to have people invoke him, he helped those in the most difficult circumstances. When a request is granted, the person praying must publish his thanks to Saint Jude. This way, more people will know to call on him. Daily and weekly newspapers are filled with small ads thanking him for his intercession.

 In his time, Saint Jude Thaddeus was known for his greatness of heart. It is said that he was so kindly and spiritual in nature, he glowed. He traveled through Edessa, Mesopotamia, and Pontus preaching Christianity. Abgar, the king of Edessa, was quite impressed with him. Since this king suffered from leprosy, he was anxious to meet Jesus so that he might be cured. He invited Jesus to come and share his kingdom. When he was told that this was not possible, he commissioned an artist to draw Christ’s portrait. The artist was so intimidated by the glow in Christ’s eyes, he could not draw. Christ took a linen cloth and impressed it on his own face. His image came off on it, perfectly rendered. Saint Jude took this portrait back to King Abgar, who rubbed it on his body and was cured of his leprosy. This is the large image that Saint Jude wears around his neck in art.

 Saint Jude is associated with Saint Simon, with whom he traveled to Persia. They were subjects of great curiosity and popularity among the people of the places they traveled. They frequently outwitted court magicians and priests, to the amusement of the local kings. Invited to have their losing antagonists executed, as was the custom of the day, the two apostles forbade this, saying they had been sent not to kill the living but to bring the dead back to life. Ultimately, Saint Simon and Saint Jude were martyred in the city of Samir after enraging the local priests. Saint Jude was beaten to death with a club. This is the staff he is always shown with in art.

 Feast Day shared with Saint Simon:  October 28

 Patron saint of: Impossible Causes

Novena Prayer to Saint Jude

Glorious apostle, Saint Jude Thaddeus, I salute you through the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Through his heart I praise and thank God for all the graces he has bestowed upon you. I implore you, through his love, to look upon me with compassion. Do not despise my poor prayer. Do not let my trust be confounded! God has granted to you the privilege of aiding mankind in the most desperate cases. Oh, come to my aid that I may praise the mercies of God! All my life I will be your grateful client until I can thank you in heaven. Amen.

(Mention your request.)

Saint Jude, pray for us, and for all who invoke your aid.

Say this novena nine times in a row for nine days in a row.

Your request will be granted by the eighth day. Publication of thanks to Saint Jude must be promised.

Excerpted from the book “Novena: The Power of Prayer” by Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua

SAINT GERARD MAJELLA

1726 – 1755

 Saint Gerard Majella is an example of a hidden life revealed. Gardener, porter, tailor, and sacristan, he is known as the “Wonder Worker of the Eighteenth Century” due to the amazing mystical gifts he displayed in the last three years of his very short life. Always humble in his daily duties, Gerard was so intuitive that he could read into the hearts and souls of those around him. There are many novenas to Saint Gerard, but the most popular is the prayer for motherhood. His heightened sensitivity made his prayers for the health of pregnant women, women in labor, and those wanting to conceive children extremely successful. For this reason he is the patron saint of expectant mothers. He is invoked by women hoping to get pregnant as well as for a healthy pregnancy and safe delivery.

 Saint Gerard was born at Muro, south of Naples. According to his mother, he was the perfect child, always devout. His father was a tailor who died when Gerard was twelve. Supporting his mother and three sisters made him very sympathetic to the needs and sorrows of women. He was apprenticed to a tailor who constantly berated him. He then served as a house servant in the home of the bishop of Lacedogna. In poor health, Gerard asked for permission to enter the order of the Capuchin friars but was refused. He returned home, where he spent much of his day in prayer. Because of his mystical gifts and generosity, Saint Alphonsus Liguori, the founder of the Redemptorists, invited him into that order as a lay brother in 1752. Once, while visiting a family, he dropped his handkerchief as he was leaving. A woman picked it up and tried to hand it to him. He told her, “Keep it. One day it will be of service to you.” Although puzzled, she did keep it. A few years later, she faced life-threatening complications while giving birth. Remembering the handkerchief and Saint Gerard’s promise,  she had it brought to her and held it to her womb. Immediately all the complications ceased and she gave birth to a healthy baby. Thus, the miraculous bit of cloth was passed from mother to mother whenever someone was about to give birth. By the time Saint Gerard was canonized in 1904, only a shred was left. This relic is still used today to pass the miraculous grace of Saint Gerard onto other handkerchiefs.

 The greatest challenge of Saint Gerard’s life occurred when he was accused by a young girl of having an affair with another young woman. He never defended himself against the charges and quietly accepted the punishment meted out by his order. A few months later the girl recanted and admitted she made the story up. When asked why he never defended himself, Gerard said that silence is what he felt was required in the face of unjust accusations. He had always accepted his fate in life and saw no reason to change his behavior now.

 In art Gerard Majella is shown with lilies for purity. His charity, obedience, and selfless service also make him the patron saint of lay brothers. He was twenty-nine years old.

 Feast Day: October 16

 Patron Saint of: Expectant Mothers and Lay Brothers

Invoked Against: Infertility

Prayer for Motherhood

O good Saint Gerard, powerful intercessor before God and Wonder Worker of our day, I call upon you and seek your aid. You who on earth always fulfilled God’s design, help me to do the holy will of God. Beseech the Master of Life, from whom all paternity proceeds, to render me fruitful in offspring, that I may raise up children to God in this life and heirs to the Kingdom of His glory in the world to come.

 Amen.

Dear Mother Mary, speak to Jesus for me.

Say this novena nine times in a row for nine days in a row.

 Excerpted from the book “Novena: The Power of Prayer” by Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua

SAINT THERESE OF LISIEUX

Doctor of the Church

 Also Known as: Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, The Little Flower

 1873 – 1897

Feast Day: October 1

Patron of: France, Russia, Vietnam, aids patients, concerns of children, florists, foreign missions, pilots, religious freedom in Russia, tuberculosis patients,

Invoked: for a loving atmosphere

 “...My vocation is love! Yes I have found my place in the Church….in the heart of the Church, my Mother, I shall be love.”

                           Therese of Lisiuex

            Considered the greatest saint of modern times, Therese of Lisieux lived and died in obscurity. A Carmelite nun who never rose above novice, she spent her days performing routine chores and dying just a few miles from where she was brought up. Hers was an interior life and she quietly developed a system of living that has since attracted hundreds of millions of devotees around the world.

            Born Therese Martin into an upper middle class family in Normandy, France, she was the youngest of five sisters. The Martin family were happy and pious as both parents had wanted religious vocations before they met and married. When Therese was four her mother died of breast cancer and the family moved to the town of Lisieux to be near extended family. Raised by her older sisters, Therese was outgoing and extremely spoiled. She later admitted that she refused to do any chores and the slightest rebuff of what she wanted would reduce her to hysterical fits and tears. When her eldest sister joined the local Carmelite convent, Therese, nine years old,  requested to follow her. She had decided that she wanted to become a saint. The Mother Superior advised her that the earliest she could enter would be at the age of 16. When a few months later, Therese fell gravely ill, her bedside was surrounded by concerned relatives.  According to her later writings she was instantly cured when she saw the statue of the Virgin Mary in her room smile at her. 

            The religious atmosphere of her home absorbed her three older sisters, by the time she was 14 years old they had all joined the convent. Her remaining sister, Celeste enjoyed babying Therese and made their father leave gifts in Therese’s shoes for Christmas, a custom enjoyed by only very young French children. As Therese raced home from church to receive her gifts, the girls overheard their father saying how glad he was that this would be the last year for something so silly. Instead of bursting into tears at this slight, Therese reported that her heart filled with an incredible warmth. She felt the presence of Jesus and suddenly was able to identify fully with her father’s feelings. Without acknowledging that she had heard the remark, she ran and received her gifts with enthusiasm. She declared that this was the point of her “conversion”. Shortly after she decided that she too would like to become a nun. Since she was far too young, the convent refused her. Steeling her resolve she petitioned the bishop. When he also refused her, her father decided to take his two remaining daughters on a pilgrimage to Rome to visit the Christian sites. This was one of the happiest experiences of her short life. Together with her sister, they saw where the early martyrs died and happily touched relics of the saints. While at an audience for Pope Leo XIII, Therese burst out of her seat and requested permission to join the Carmelites. She was told by him that it all depended on the will of God. Upon her family’s return to France, Therese was admitted to the Carmelite Order. Despite the fact that she was only fifteen years old, the Vicar General had seen in her the steely resolve needed to endure such a difficult life of sacrifice.

            According to Therese, all her romantic and pious notions of the sentimental holiness of convent life ended upon her admittance. For one thing, her beloved father had suffered a series of debilitating strokes and because she was a cloistered nun, she could not see him. For another, her daily routine consisted of hours of prayer interspersed with menial labor. She felt her prayers were not being heard and would often fall asleep grief stricken in a state of “spiritual dryness”.  She also knew that the life of a cloistered nun devoted to prayer was far from the active life of a great saint or martyr, instead, she came face to face with her personal failings and weaknesses. Feeling like a very little being she pictured herself as a small child being carried by Jesus. She later asked someone, “Why would I fear a God who made himself so small for me?”  She discovered that if she could not stand another nun, she would ask Jesus to become part of her and he would show her how to love that person. She began to apply this approach to everything in life, to food she could not stand, to chores she disliked, to being uncomfortable and cold in the convent. By accepting the reality of her own weaknesses and offering herself to God so that he could work through her, she began to see God as love personified and wrote,  “It is not so essential to think much as to love much.” Noting that everyone has their special talents and abilities, Therese decided that her special devotion would be to love. “…My vocation is love! Yes I have found my place in the Church….in the heart of the Church, my Mother, I shall be love.”

            Since the Carmelites had convents all over the world, Therese had the dream to travel to Viet Nam to be a missionary, welcoming possible martyrdom, she felt a strong desire to act as an apostle. Instead, she was diagnosed with tuberculosis and forced to remain in her convent. Her sister had been elected Prioress of their house and then asked Therese to sacrifice her desire to being a full fledged nun in order to allay fears that the Martin sisters were taking over the convent. Therese never advanced above the role of novice and lacked the privileges of the other nuns. She insisted that God would not give her the desire to be a saint if it were an impossible achievement. She became obsessed with finding a way to holiness by living a small and hidden life.

            By 1896 her health was deteriorating and she was ordered by her sister to write  a book of memories detailing her spiritual life. This is a common Carmelite exercise of self examination. As she approached her own death doubts began to plague her. She worried that there was no after life, that all the future held for her was a “nothingness of being”. In this spiritual autobiography “The Story of A Soul”, Therese details the development of her “Little Way”.  She realized that since great deeds were forbidden to her due to her personal circumstances, she would scatter small loving deeds, a smile, a kind thought, like flowers. By the end of her life, her devotion to love and her willingness to make small daily sacrifices had reconciled her to looking forward to her death. She knew that no act, no matter how small, was insignificant. Her wish was to spiritually come back to earth, to work without rest until the end of the world. When one of her sisters visited her on her deathbed and cried about how much she would miss her, Therese said “I will spend my heaven doing good on earth. After my death, I will let fall a shower of roses.”

            After her death in 1897, her memoir, “A Story of A Soul” was printed and sent out among the Carmelite sisters. This story had great appeal for Catholics struggling to find holiness while living everyday lives. It became a major best selling book all over France and has since been translated into over 60 languages. People everywhere felt an intense connection with Therese, her doubts and solution to accepting the life one is given made her a saint for modern times. Pilgrimages to Lisieux began and miraculous healings were reported. During World War I it was common for French infantrymen to carry her picture in their wallets. She was canonized in 1925 and declared a Doctor of the Church for her writings in 1997.  Devotion to her philosophies continue to grow. Her relics have visited the four corners of the world. Wherever they go, an outpouring of visitors numbering in the tens of millions come to be in their presence. These visits are used as opportunities to educate about the “Little Way”of Therese.   

            In art, Saint Therese is depicted holding a crucifix as roses, signifying graces fall from her hands. It is said that all who invoke her know their prayers will be answered when they see roses as a sign. She is the patron of foreign missions because of her interests in being a missionary and because of the fact her relics have visited so many countries of the world. The Carmelites have had a long time presence in Russia, their convent in Siberia has administered to exiled rulers from East Germany and Poland for centuries. Tensions with the Orthodox Church have made the advances of Roman Catholicism difficult there. It is thought that the Orthodox and Roman churches could be reconciled by enacting on Therese’s simple theories of divine love. Because of her dream to work in Viet Nam, she is patron of that country. She is also the secondary patron of France for her writings in French and for the love her countrymen have for her.  She is the patron of AIDS sufferers as well as tuberculosis, since she like many with these diseases have been cut off in the prime of life. Since it was her great dream to travel she is the patron of pilots.

Novena to Therese of the Child Jesus

O little Therese of the Child Jesus,

Please pick for me a rose from the heavenly

gardens and send it to me as a message of love.

O little flower of Jesus,

ask God today to grant favors

I now place with confidence in your hands…

(Mention specific request)

Saint Therese, help me to always believe as you did,

in God’s great love for me,

So that I might imitate your “Little Way” each day.

Amen

Say this novena nine times in a row for nine days in a row.

 Excerpted from the book “Saints: Ancient and Modern” by Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua

Saint Raphael

 Archangel

                       Because angels have never had a human existence, their attributes are in the purest forms. There are seven archangels that sit before the throne of God, exalted above all others. Of these, three are mentioned in the Bible as interacting the most with humanity: Raphael, Gabriel and Michael. While entire nations invoke Michael, and Gabriel has a very specific purpose, the archangel Raphael is most effectively invoked when we are at our most human. Raphael, whose name means “Remedy of god,” might also be known as the angel of everyday life. For example, we pray to Saint Raphael in hopes of meeting a life partner, before we take a trip, or to heal our illnesses. He is known for infusing even the smallest, most mundane daily events with peace and happiness.

             It was Raphael who healed the earth after the fallen angels who were cast out of heaven landed on it. In ancient times there was a small body of water akin to a pond, called Probatica. Those with devastating illnesses could go there and wait in the water as an angel of the Lord came down and, moving the water over the afflicted, healed them. That angel was Raphael. Raphael’s relationship with humankind is such that he also sees to it that scientific knowledge is brought to its highest level. It was Raphael who instructed Noah on how to build the ark and King Solomon on how to build the great temple.

             One of the most famous stories of Raphael’s intervention is told in the Bible Book of Tobit. The story is significant because in it, Rapahel is petitioned by disparate people, but in a wholly loving fashion he managed to bring them all together in the most joyous of outcomes. Tobit, having gone blind and thus unable to travel with his son Tobias across the desert, called on Raphael to accommodate his son. Meanwhile, on the other side of the desert was a woman named Sara who also had been praying to Raphael for relief, because she’d lost seven husbands, all of whom died on their wedding nights, victims of a demon. Raphael, disguising himself as a man named Azariah, guided Tobias in his travels. Upon reaching their destination, the angel, as Azariah, pointed Sara out to Tobias and suggested that she would make a wonderful wife. He further advised Tobias on how to defeat the demon by praying for three days, burning the innards of a fish they had caught, and thinking of God on his wedding night. Tobias and Sara were blessed with a most happy marriage, and the demon was expelled into the desert. Raphael even restored Tobit’s sight. In responding to their prayers to him, Raphael was able to guide them all to a higher level of life. For this reason, prayers are said to Raphael in order to find a life partner that is on an equal spiritual level.

             Saint Raphael is also the patron of travelers; we ask him not only for a safe journey, but for a more enlightened one. He is always depicted leading Tobias, who is carrying the fish. The original feast day of Raphael is October 24, but his day was changed to the Feast of the Archangel, which he shares with Gabriel and Michael, on September 29.

 Saint Raphael is the patron Saint of: Travelers, the Blind, the Sciences, Healing

He is invoked for: Happy Meetings

Novena to Saint Rapahael

Glorious archangel Saint Raphael, great prince of the heavenly court, you are illustrious for your gifts of wisdom and grace. You are a guide to those who journey by land or sea or air, consoler of the afflicted and refuge of sinners.

I beg you, assist me in all my needs and in all the sufferings of this life, as you once helped the young Tobias on his travels. Because you are the “medicine of God”, I humbly pray you to heal the many infirmities of my soul and the ills that afflict my body. I especially ask of you the favor (mention your request) and the great grace of purity to prepare me to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Say this novena nine times in a row for nine days in a row.

Excerpted from the book “Novena: the Power of Prayer” by Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua

Saint Gabriel

Archangel

Communications of all kinds – in particular, consolation and guidance – are the basic attributes of the archangel Gabriel. His earthly visitations always portend a major change in human history. Islam credits the archangel Gabriel with dictating the Koran to the prophet Mohammed. Not only does the angel Gabriel, as a divine messenger, announce a coming event; he is also known to explain the meaning of the news, and to those who are frightened he offers consolation. It was Gabriel who remained with Christ on the eve of his crucifixion, giving him the fortitude to face his fate. The name Gabriel means “Strength from God” and thus he is invoked for courage.

The first mention of Gabriel the Archangel is in the Book of Daniel. In it, Gabriel visits the prophet Daniel, interpreting his dreams and explaining his visions to him. After Daniel prays for Israel, Gabriel goes to him and, by touching him, communicates the prophecy that “seventy weeks” of years would elapse before the coming of the Savior. The ancient Jews viewed the Archangel Gabriel as a judgmental figure, who meted out punishments. They believed that it was he who buried Moses, as well as leveled the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

It is assumed that it was the Archangel Gabriel who appeared to Saint Joachim to instruct him on the coming birth of his daughter, Mary. To the priest Zechariah he announced the coming birth of John the Baptist. When Zechariah scoffed at the angel because he and his wife were too old to be parents, Gabriel struck him dumb until the child was born. Gabriel is particularly devoted to Jesus and the Blessed Mother and his celestial intervention occurs throughout their earthly lives. The greatest visitation of Gabriel is known as the Annunciation. He visited the fourteen-year-old Mary and told her that she would soon give birth to the Divine Savior. When Mary asked how this could be possible, since she was still a virgin, he carefully explained the role of the Holy Spirit in Christ’s creation. It is said that the beauty expressed by Mary as she resigned herself to the will of God made the angel tremble. Saint Gabriel is known as the “Angel of the Incarnation” because he was present when “the Word was made flesh”. As he spoke to Mary, Jesus was created in her body. Gabriel then went on to comfort and reassure Joseph that this was indeed an act of God, so that he would stand by Mary. When the baby Jesus was born, it was Gabriel who spread the news of his birth to the shepherds in the surrounding region.

As Saint Raphael guides us on earth and Saint Michael meets us in death, Saint Gabrrl is the angel who selects souls from heaven to be given birth in the material world. He spends the nine months that the baby is forming instructing that soul on what he or she will need to know on earth. Because of his willingness to teach and to ensure that we understand the information he imparts, Saint Gabriel is the patron of parents and teachers. His role as a heavenly messenger also makes him the patron of postal workers and those in the communications industry. His feast has been changed from March 24 to the Feast of the Archangel, September 29.

Saint Gabriel, Archangel is the patron saint of: Communications Industry, Postal Employees, Parents, Teachers

NOVENA TO SAINT GABRIEL, ARCHANGEL

Saint Gabriel the Archangel, I venerate you as the Angel of the Incarnation, because God specially appointed you to bear the messages concerning the God-Man to Daniel, Zechariah, and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Give me a very tender and devoted love for the Incarnate Word and his Blessed Mother, more like your own.

I venerate you also as the “Strength from God”, because you are the giver of God’s strength, consoler and comforter chosen to strengthen God’s faithful and teach them important truths. I ask for the grace of a special power of the will to strive for holiness of life. Steady my resolutions; renew my courage; comfort and console me in the problems, trials and sufferings of daily living, as you consoled our Savior in his agony and Mary in her sorrows and Joseph in his trials. I put my confidence in you.

Saint Gabriel, I ask you especially for this favor: (mention your request). Through your earnest love for the Son of God made man and for his Blessed Mother, I beg of you, intercede for me that my request may be granted, it it be God’s holy will.

Pray for us, Saint Gabriel the Archangel. That we may be worthy of the promises of Christ.

Say this novena nine times in a row for nine days in a row.

 Excerpted from the book, “Novena: The Power of Prayer”  by Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua.

Novena App