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mother cabrini

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

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saint martin de porres

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.

 

Dining With The Saints

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day of the dead

All Souls Day

 November 2nd is All Souls Day, or Day of the Dead as it’s commonly called in Mexico, where it’s one of the most important religious events of the year. Mexicans travel miles to take food and flowers to the graves of their departed relatives. As morbid as this sounds, it’s usually a day of great celebration, as families reunite, catch up on gossip, and eat and drink together. Altars are set up in private homes, elaborately decorated with candles, photos of their dead relatives, skulls, crosses, huge bouquets of flowers, fresh fruit of all kinds, and Pan de Muertos, breads flavored with orange flower water and shaped into skulls and bones. Tomales, chicken mole, chunks of Mexican chocolate, even cans of soda, beer, and cigarettes are left at the altar in honor of the departed.

 

To celebrate your own All Souls Day, Mexican style, you might like to try this elegant chicken dish made with almonds, raisins, and hot and sweet spices. It’s a lot simpler than many of the Mexican mole sauces often cooked with chicken, but it’s hauntingly delicious with a great depth of flavor. I’ve adapted the recipe from one in The Art of Mexican Cooking, by Diana Kennedy.

 

Braised Chicken with Almonds, Raisins, and Jalapenos

 

(Serves four)

 

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 large chicken (about 3 ½ pounds), cut into serving pieces

Salt

1 medium onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

A few large thyme sprigs, leaves chopped, plus extra leaves for garnish

A few large marjoram sprigs, leaves chopped, plus extra leaves for garnish

1 fresh bay leaf

3 cloves, ground to a powder

3 allspice, ground to a powder

½ cup white wine

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 cup chicken broth

½ cup raisins

½ cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted

8 small new potatoes, peeled and cut in half

2 or 3 canned jalapeno chilies, sliced

 

Choose a large casserole, fitted with a lid. Pour in the olive oil and get it nice and hot over medium heat. Add the chicken pieces and brown them on both sides. Season with salt and add the onion, garlic, carrots, thyme, marjoram, cloves, and allspice. Sauté a minute or so longer, just to blend these flavors and soften the vegetables. Add the white wine and the vinegar and let it bubble for about a minute or so to burn off the alcohol. Add the chicken broth and bring it to a boil. Turn the heat to low, cover the casserole, and simmer for about 30 minutes. Now add the raisins, almonds, potatoes, and the sliced jalapenos. Continue simmering, covered, until the chicken and the vegetables are very tender, about 30 minutes longer. Garnish with the extra marjoram and thyme leaves. Serve hot.

by Erica De Mane

w.ericademane.com

 

 

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all_saints_day

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

Novenas for October

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saint jude

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

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stgerard

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

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teresa_of_avila by gerard

SAINT TERESA OF AVILA

 Also known as “Teresa of Jesus”

 Doctor of the Church

Founder of the Order of Discalced Carmelites

 1515 – 1582

Feast Day: October 15

Patron of: Spain, Naples, Spanish “Military Service Corps.”, Catholic Writers, Lace Makers, People in religious orders

Invoked Against: Bodily ills, Fires of Purgatory, Headaches, Heart Ailments

Symbols: Flaming arrow, Book, Crucifix, Receiving a message from a dove

 

“There are more tears shed over answered prayers than over unanswered prayers.”

                                                                        Saint Teresa of Avila

             Denounced to the Inquisition, labeled a disobedient gadabout by the Papal Nuncio, and a troublemaker by her superiors in the Carmelite order, Teresa of Avila was one of the most brilliant minds of her generation.  In her day, the only other woman to equal her celebrity was Elizabeth I of England, and today, the writings of Saint Teresa continue to influence scholars, political reformers and spiritual teachers of every religion.

            Born into a Spain that had only recently expulsed its Muslim and Jewish populations, Teresa de Cepeda y de Ahumada was the granddaughter of a “converso”, a Jew who had been forced to convert to Catholicism to avoid exile or death. After changing his religion, her grandfather bought himself a knighthood and moved from his native Toledo to Avila. His son married a wealthy farmer’s daughter and had nine children, the third one being Teresa. Traumatized by the humiliation his family had suffered at the hands of the Inquisition, Teresa’s father was insistent that his children devote themselves solely to serious studies.  Her mother secretly loved romance novels, an addiction she passed on to her lively and charismatic daughter. As a young child, Teresa and one of her brothers were enamored with tales of the early Christian martyrs. They ran away from home, intending to go to North Africa to be sacrificed for their beliefs by the Moors. When an Uncle brought them back, they changed their game, pretending to be hermits living outside the city walls. Teresa enjoyed a happy and indulged childhood until the death of her mother when she was 14 years old. She writes in her autobiography that she frequently lied to her father about her social life and because he loved her so much he believed her.  When it became obvious to him that his daughter cared too much for new clothes, secret romances and flirting, he sent her away to live in an Augustinian convent as a boarder. To her surprise, after the initial shock of living away from her family, Teresa found she enjoyed convent life which at that time had an atmosphere far less rigid than the one her father had imposed at home.  When Teresa fell ill, she returned to her family to convalesce for 18 months. 

             By the time she was twenty years old, Teresa realized that she would have to choose between marriage and becoming a nun. Many of her brothers had opted for exciting lives of adventure, becoming conquistadores in the New World. Staying home and tending a household did not present an interesting future for Teresa. When her father refused to consent to her joining a religious order, she ran away to the local Carmelite Convent of the Incarnation.

            Life at the Convent of the Incarnation was far from the routine of contemplation and prayer adhered to by the founding hermits of the original Carmelite religious order. These nuns had luxurious suites and wore perfume and jewelry. They traveled freely back and forth to their homes, had parties and entertained liberally in the convent’s parlor. Many had “devotos”, gentlemen callers who visited them to allegedly give spiritual advice. Convents depended on dowries gifted them by their postulants, and those who donated more wealth held more prestige. Many of the nuns had no real religious calling, nor a desire to devote time to spiritual matters. Since a large portion of Spain’s male population had gone to the New World to make their fortunes, a generation of unmarried women were left behind with few other options.

                   Within a year of her profession, Teresa fell ill again and had to return home for treatment. An uncle gave her a book to pass the time about spiritual exercises of the Middle Ages, Francisco de Osuna’s “Third Spiritual Alphabet”. Teresa was fascinated with it and later wrote that the notion of quiet, interior prayer was a revelation to her, as she suffered from chronic “noise in the head”. At one point in her illness Teresa was declared dead.  Though they dug a grave for her, her father forbade anyone to bury her in it. She awoke three days later in a state of paralysis. She credits the intercession of Saint Joseph with her eventual cure from this particular illness.

                        It took three years for her to recover enough to return to the convent, but due to inadequate medical treatment, she never truly regained her health. Instead of continuing her spiritual exercises of mental prayer, she convinced herself that since hers was an unexamined, frivolous life, she was unworthy to address God with such familiarity.  Passing this off as an act of humility, for 18 years she lived a happy social life in the convent. When her father died his confessor warned Teresa that she was on a dangerous spiritual path and strongly advised her to return to quiet meditation. She has said that sitting quietly for one hour was virtually impossible for her, “This intellect is so wild that it doesn’t seem to be anything else than a frantic madman no one can tie down.” She used penitents Mary Magdalen and Saint Augustine of Hippo as her inspiration until she began to welcome her quiet time. Gradually withdrawing from all social interaction, Teresa heard clear interior instructions and began to see visions. Her less devout friends at the convent were suspicious of her self imposed seclusion and fits of rapture, attributing it to demonic possession. A Jesuit priest they called to investigate these phenomena insisted that Teresa’s visions were genuinely from God and advised her to start each day by asking God to direct her to do what was most pleasing to Him. Though such admired religious figures as the mystic Peter Alacantara and Saint Francis Borgia agreed with the holiness of Teresa’s experiences, she was continually the subject of ridicule and gossip from her former friends. When she complained of this situation in one of her inner conversations with Christ, he said to her, “But Teresa, that’s how I treat all of my friends.” She answered back, “No wonder you don’t have many of them.”

            In 1557 she experienced her most famous rapture.  An angel appeared to her and repeatedly thrust a flaming arrow into her heart. She declared “he left me on fire with a great love of God…” Teresa became inflamed with a desire to truly serve God by leading a pure life. She longed to embrace the original Carmelite Rule of humility, poverty and prayer.

Against incredible opposition she founded a reformed convent consisting of herself, her niece and three other novices. Connection to the outside world was kept at a minimum, silence was maintained throughout the day and the nuns were clothed in habits of rough wool. Because they wore sandals instead of shoes they were known as the Discalced (unshoed) Order of Carmelites.

Officials of the Carmelite Order were appalled at Teresa’s disobedience in appealing to higher church authorities to start her order. She had been a nun for 25 years and had amassed a group of powerful allies, priests and bishops from the Jesuit, Dominican and Franciscan orders. Her fellow sisters in the Convent of the Incarnation accused Teresa of practicing a form of vanity by imposing such a strict atmosphere on the town of Avila.  Fearing this little convent without a dowry would drain them for financial support, they wanted the group expelled from the town.

            Because of its founder’s wealthy admirers, the new monastery of Saint Joseph’s was allowed to stay.  Teresa remained in seclusion for five years, developing a Constitution of reforms that she felt were necessary in order to follow a truly spiritual life. Always surrounded in controversy, Teresa’s confessors felt that they themselves might someday need protection against possible investigations by the Inquisition. They ordered her to write her autobiography and then keep journals on her mystical visions and interior communications.  The first of these writings, “Autobiography” was written before 1567. A copy of it was passed around among the nobility. Many wealthy women, responding to the directness and humor in its prose, as well as its honest portrayal of life in the upper classes, identified with its author and clamored to sponsor other reformed monasteries. “The Way of Perfection”, a book she wrote for her own nuns about prayer, introduced her spiritual philosophy to the outside world. When the Father General of the Carmelites inspected her experimental monastery, he so greatly admired what she had achieved that he asked her to start similar houses for men. The great Spanish Saint, John of the Cross, joined her in this venture.

             Teresa traveled all over Spain to found more convents and monasteries, braving ice storms, searing sun, filthy inns, thieves and her own ill health. The severest challenge to her work came from inside the church itself. Considering the abuse an outspoken, part Jewish woman with mystical visions could suffer in 16th Century Spain, it is amazing that she never faltered in her mission. She insisted that the love of God had so taken hold of her that He enabled her to continue her work as a reformer. The Discalced Carmelites were formally separated from the Calced Carmelites and given their own constitution in 1580. Her final book, “The Interior Castle”, written in 1577 is her masterpiece. Using the image of a crystal castle of transparent rooms, Teresa guides the soul inward to discover the voice of Christ.

            Exhausted, Teresa died of her many ailments on October 4, 1582. Because the reform of the Gregorian calendar was enacted the next day, her official day of death became October 15. 

            In art, Teresa is frequently shown with a book of her writings, sometimes she is communing with the dove of the Holy Spirit, signifying her divine guidance. The flaming arrow is from her rapture and because it pierced her heart, she is the patron of heart ailments. As a writer and headache sufferer, she is invoked against headaches. In her visions she saw herself in Purgatory so she is invoked against its fires. Carmelite nuns made lace, so she is a patron of lace makers. Because she traveled all over Spain and gave it some of its greatest literature, she is the patron of that country. Her spirit of reform makes her the patron of the Spanish Military Corps.

Prayer to Redeem Lost Time by Saint Teresa of Avila

 

O my God! Source of all mercy! I acknowledge Your sovereign power.

While recalling the wasted years that are past,

I believe that You, Lord, can in an instant turn this loss to gain.

Miserable as I am, yet I firmly believe that You can do all things.

Please restore to me the time lost, giving me Your grace,

Both now and in the future, that I may appear before You in “wedding garments”.

Amen

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

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Saint Francis of Assisi

 Founder of the Franciscan Order: Friars Minor, The Poor Clares, The Third Order of Saint Francis

 1182-1226

Feast Day: October 4

Patron of: Italy, San Francisco, Animals, Ecology, Merchants, Nature, Tapestry Workers, Peace

Invoked: against dying alone, for harmony

Symbols: Preaching to birds, receiving stigmata, communing with crucifix

 

            “Go, Francis and repair my house which as you see, is falling into ruin.”

                        From the crucifix on the crumbling wall of San Damiano

          

             Reviled, ridiculed, and considered a raving madman by his contemporaries, Francis of Assisi turned his back on the comfortable world of his birth to revitalize the message of Christ. By the time of his death, his holiness was universally recognized and he had shaken the staid convictions of church and political officials to their core. Today,  his simple message of love for God, the earth and all its creatures makes him revered by Catholics and nonCatholics alike.

            Born Giovanni Bernadone  in the prosperous hill town of Assisi, he was a spoiled and indulged young man given to dressing well, playing pranks and carousing with friends.  His father, a wealthy cloth merchant, met his French mother during a business trip to Provence. This is why Giovanni was nicknamed “Francesco”( “the Frenchman”). On a boastful lark at the age of twenty he fought in a minor war against the neighboring town of Perugia. Everything changed when the enemy captured him and he spent a year in prison. When his father finally ransomed him home, Francis was ill with malaria and debilitated. Forced to endure months of quiet bed rest in order to recover, he found it hard to resume his old ways. Neither his friends nor his father’s business held much interest for him.

            In an effort to regain his former life, Francis made an attempt to fight for the Papal States  under Walter de Brienne. Equipped with the finest armor, he met a shabbily clad knight along the way and on a whim exchanged clothes with him. That night in a dream,  a voice told him to turn back and serve “the Master rather than the man.”  After his father and friends ridiculed him for his desertion, he roamed the countryside alone, in a state of spiritual crisis. One day, as he was wandering, Francis came upon a leper whose sores initially revolted him. However, instead of turning away, Francis leapt from his horse, gave the leper all his money and then kissed his hand. Thus began what he later called his conversion. It also began his daily ritual of visiting hospitals, leper colonies and meditating in the crumbling church of San Damiano..

            Just beyond the walls of Assisi, San Damiano had been deserted by the town’s faithful and was tended by a single elderly priest. In 1205, while Francis was praying in front of the crucifix, he heard a voice, “Go, Francis and repair my house which as you see, is falling into ruin.” Looking around at the decaying structure, Francis interpreted this request literally. He hurried to his father’s shop, bundled up as much fabric and drapery as he could carry and sold it in the marketplace in order to buy building supplies. His father was furious and dragged him to the city consuls, not only to recover the money for the fabric, but to force Francis to denounce his inheritance as well. At this meeting Francis insisted that he was a servant of God and should not be judged by a civil court. He relinquished the gold and stripped himself of all his belongings. Handing them to his father he said, “From now onwards, I can turn to God and call him my father in heaven!” He left Assisi dressed in the garments of a hermit.

            Although he was now penniless, Francis was still intent on keeping his promise to rebuild San Damiano.  He begged for stones and alms in the street, and the townfolk considered him a madman. He did eventually complete his task; however, and Francis went on to repair other churches including Santa Maria degli Angeli, known as the Porziuncola. Considered by Francis to be “one of the holiest places on earth”, this little chapel was originally erected in 353 by hermits from the Valley of Josaphat.  It housed relics of the Virgin Mary and became known as Our Lady of the Angels because people reported hearing the sound of singing angels  coming from inside at night. Francis, who had a deep connection to the Virgin Mary, built himself a hut near her church  and would pray for her intercession in giving him earthly direction. On February 24, 1209, while at mass, he heard the Gospel of Matthew 10:9, where Jesus told his followers,  “And going, preach, saying The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand… Freely have you received. Freely give. Take neither gold nor silver nor brass in your purses…nor two coats, nor shoes nor a staff…Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves...” Francis  immediately cast off what few possessions he had until he was dressed only in the coarse woolen tunic of the poor.. He set out to Assisi to preach penance, brotherly love and peace. His manner was so warm and sincere that, instead of scoffing at him, people listened to what he had to say with fascination. Here before them was the most Christlike man they had ever seen. The Porziuncola  filled with his followers. By the end of that year, a small community of eleven men was following Francis and the simple Rule he wrote adapting the precepts of the gospel.

            In the summer of 1210, Francis and his companions traveled to Rome to seek the blessing of the Pope for this new order of Friars Minor. Papal ecclesiastical advisors declared that the Rule of the Order, though taken solely from Christ’s command, was impractical and unsafe and Francis’ request was rejected. That night Pope Innocent III had a dream of Francis holding up the Lateran Church with his shoulder. The next morning the pope immediately requested an audience with Francis and approved his mission. Upon the Friars’ return to Umbria, the Benedictine Order attempted to give them the Porziuncola for their monastery. Francis only accepted the use of the property. He strongly felt that their Order must always live in holy poverty, never owning anything. Even their name, Friars Minor (Little Brothers) reminded the men to them to never exalt themselves above anyone.

            The first Friars Minor traveled throughout Italy, joyfully preaching by day and sleeping in haylofts at night. Forbidden to take money, they supported their mission by working with laborers in the fields or begging for their meals. Having proved themselves adept at local peace making and sowing contentment, many of the Italian city states invited them to preach and set up small communities within their borders. Missions were sent to Spain, Germany, Hungary and France. Without trying to be revolutionaries, Francis and his followers completely changed the way the Church reached people. Because he truly believed that all of nature was wondrous and all creatures sacred to God, Francis introduced a new way of looking at the world, one accessible to rich and poor alike. His own order attracted a socially diverse group of men and spawned an affiliated women’s order with Saint Clare of Assisi. He later drew up a rule for laity who desired to associate themselves with the Friars Minor. This order of Franciscan Tertiaries, or the Third Order of Saint Francis, exists today with worldwide membership from the Catholic, Episcopal and Anglican Churches. Members follow the rules of humility, charity and voluntary poverty to this day.

            Francis was a true mystic. It was said that birds would quiet down and listen when he preached, and there are many tales of his ability to communicate with animals. When the citizens of Gubbio were being terrorized by a man-eating wolf, for example, Francis went up in the hills to find it. Upon seeing the vicious animal he made the sign of the cross and invited the wolf to come to him. The wolf docilely lay at his feet and Francis made a pact between the wolf and citizens of Gubbio; in exchange for being regularly fed by the town, the wolf would leave its residents in peace. Both sides agreed and Gubbio was freed from this menace.

            Francis’ life of sacrifice and self deprivation put an incredible strain on his body. When he prayed, the light he saw in his raptures was so intense that it caused him  to continuously weep. His followers feared for his eyesight, but he said he could not resist being in the presence of such a brilliant light. His devotions became more and more extreme and in August of 1224 Francis retired to the secluded mountain of La Verna for a 40 day retreat before the Feast of Saint Michael. He devoted most of his meditations to the wounds and suffering of Christ. At dawn on September 14, after a night of prayer, he had a vision of a Seraphim angel, nailed to a cross, flying at him.  When the vision vanished, his body bore the stigmata of the crucified Christ. He bore these in secrecy for the last two years of his life. They were visible upon his death in October of 1226.

             The contributions of Francis of Assisi were not limited to religion. A great writer and poet, “Canticle of the Sun”  his masterpiece inspired by Saint Clare, was written in his native Italian. Writing in a language other than Latin was uncommon at the time and it set the groundwork for the poetry of Dante Aligheri, a great admirer of Francis. Publicly acclaimed as a saint in his own lifetime, Francis of Assisi is one of the most documented lives of the Middle Ages. There are numerous biographies written by his followers within decades of his death.  The Basilica of Saint Francis, commissioned by the city of Assisi two years after his death, is considered one of the most important monuments of Europe. Giotto, Cimabue and Simone Martini, the greatest artists of their day, decorated the interior with scenes from the saint’s life. Assisi itself, exudes such an air of peace and love from having the presence of such a graceful being in its midst, that it remains an important site for pilgrims devoted to the memory and teachings of “Il Poverello” (“The Little Poor Man”) known as Saint Francis. 

            Because of his extensive travels through Italy, his great love of his native land and his important writings in Italian, Saint Francis is the patron saint of Italy. He is the patron of merchants and tapestry workers because of his father’s business. Since he is best known as one who lived in and greatly loved nature and all creatures, he is the patron of ecology, animals and nature. In art, he is depicted conversing with animals, sometimes with the wolf of Gubbio, most often with birds or receiving the stigmata. In 1223 Francis invented the Christmas manger, today a common sight in Catholic homes and churches.

Blessing of Saint Francis of Assisi

 

May the Lord bless you

and keep you;

may the Lord show his face to you

and have compassion on you!

May he turn his face to you

and give you peace!

Amen

 

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

 

 

Dining With The Saints

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Roses for St. Therese of Lisieux

 

“Love proves itself by deeds, so how am I to show my love? Great deeds are forbidden me. The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love.”

 This is a quote from St. Therese of Lisieux. St. Therese loved flowers and saw herself as the ‘little flower of Jesus’. She became associated especially with roses.  To celebrate the feast day of St. Therese on October 1st, devout Catholics often scatter rose petals. Here’s a more potent way to celebrate this much loved Saint.

 

Rose Liqueur

 

1 packed cup cleaned, organic red rose petals

3 cups unflavored vodka

¼ cup kirsch

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 tablespoon rose syrup (available at Middle Eastern food shops and at some supermarkets)

 Place the rose petals in a quart jar. Add 1 cup of the sugar and then pour in the vodka and the brandy or cognac. Seal the jar tightly and place it in a dark place for about 2 weeks.

 Now strain the liqueur through a fine strainer or a layer of cheesecloth. Pour it into a clean quart jar and add the remaining sugar and the rose syrup. Seal it up and let it sit until the sugar is dissolved, about 2 days.

Now you can store the liqueur in wine or brandy bottles sealed with a cork, but let the rose liqueur age for 2 months before drinking it.

 “Dining With The Saints” is a monthly column written by chef and foodwriter Erica DeMane who can be found at EricaDemane.com

 

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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