"Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus, make us saints!" (Prayer composed and frequently recited by the Saint) Joseph was the eldest of 12 children. Born in Piedmont, he was ordained for the Diocese of Turin in 1811. Frail health and difficulty in school were obstacles he overcame to reach ordination. During Joseph’s lifetime, Italy was torn by civil war while the poor and the sick suffered from neglect. Inspired by reading the life of Saint Vincent de Paul and moved by the human suffering all around him, Joseph rented some rooms to nurse the sick of his parish and recruited local young women to serve as staff. In 1832, at Valdocco, Joseph founded the House of Providence which served many different groups (the sick, the elderly, students, the mentally ill, the blind). All of this was financed by contributions. Popularly called “the University of Charity,” this testimonial to God’s goodness was serving 8,000 people by the time of Joseph’s beatification in 1917. To carry on his work, Joseph organized two religious communities, the Brothers of St. Vincent de Paul and the Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul. Joseph, who had joined the Secular Franciscans as a young man, was canonized in 1934. PRAYER to St. Joseph BenedictO God, who have taught your Church to keep all the heavenly commandments by love of you as God and love of neighbor; grant that, practicing the works of charity after the example of blessed Benedict Joseph, we may be worthy to be numbered among the blessed in your Kingdom. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (from The Roman Missal: Common of Holy Men and Women—For Those Who Practiced Works of Mercy) Turin is a land of Saints, and most of them have one thing in common- charity. Turning our attention from the famed Don Bosco, from St. Luigi Orione and St. Joseph Cafasso, we now turn our attention to a Saint which has inspired these later generations of Saints to flourish- St. Joseph Benedict Cottolengo. Our ministry is blessed to have a relic of his bones, “ex ossibus”.
“We can think, for example, of Blessed Maria Gabriella Sagheddu, who offered her life for the unity of Christians.” (Pope Francis, Gaudete et Exsultate, 5) With these words, Pope Francis brings into our attention the example of Blessed Maria Gabriella Sagheddu, who accepted the call of Christ to pray for the unity of Christians, something very difficult nowadays, as they not only persist in their own versions of the Faith, but also dabble in worldliness in varying degrees. Let us pray that we may also heed this call of Christ to pray for unity in the Church, beginning in the hearts and minds of everyone. Our ministry has been blessed to receive from her monastery a relic of her incorrupt flesh, “ex corpore”, through the good graces of their monastic foundation here in the Philippines. Maria Sagheddu was born to large family of modest means on the island of Sardinia in 1914. At the age of 21, she entered a Trappist convent and took the name Maria Gabriella. The extreme poverty suffered by the community only led them to foster a spirit of sacrifice and abandonment to divine providence, all for the love of God. One sister of the community had this final request on her deathbed: “Please wipe my lips. I’m going off to kiss the bridegroom.” A year after Maria entered the convent, her abbess announced that the sisters would take part in the “Prayer of Unity Octave,” eight days of prayer asking God to bring an end to divisions in Christianity. Immediately after the announcement, a 78-year-old sister named Mother Immacolata approached her abbess with the request to offer the remainder of her life as an oblation for Christian unity: “I’ve come to ask your permission to offer to the good Lord the little bit of time I have left. It’s truly a worthy cause!” Exactly one month after the octave concluded, Mother Immacolata died. With this example before her, Maria Gabriella followed suit. The next year when the octave was announced, Maria Gabriella asked for and received permission to offer her life for the cause of Christian unity. Almost immediately afterward, she feel ill and was eventually diagnosed with tuberculosis. Her suffering increased dramatically, but so did the joy she radiated. A year later Sr. Maria died, having revealed her sacrifice only to a handful of confidantes including her abbess and her spiritual director. At the time of her death, her Trappist sisters discovered that Maria Gabriella’s Bible was particularly worn at John 17 – which contains Christ’s prayer that “they may be one” (John 17:20 and 22). It’s pretty amazing that someone who did nothing but pray has become the Church’s patroness for ecumenism. What is even more amazing is that growing up in Sardinia she had never met a non-Catholic Christian. She only knew that some Christians were separated from the Catholic Church, and that this grieved the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Although Maria was a complete unknown in life, God chose to exalt this humble soul after her death. After many of her sisters at the convent reported receiving messages in their dreams from Sr. Maria Gabriella and witnessed other heavenly signs, her abbess took the unprecedented step of having a biography of Sr. Maria published. Within a few years, visitors of various denominations were making pilgrimages to Maria Gabriella’s grave. When her grave was opened in 1957, Maria’s body and clothing were found incorrupt — a naturally inexplicable state for someone who died of tuberculosis. PRAYER to Blessed Maria GabriellaO God, eternal Shepherd, who inspired Blessed Maria Gabriella, virgin, to offer her life for the unity of all Christians,
grant that through her intercession, the day may be hastened in which all believers in Christ, gathered around the table of Your word and of Your Bread, may praise you with one heart and one voice. Grant us also the favor of (state your intention) which we ask of You through her intercession. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen. NOTE: Since April 18 falls on Holy Thursday, we have found it opportune to publish it at an earlier date. (The Custodian) When one adores the Eucharist, one will naturally find it easier to recognize His presence in the poor and the lowly. This is the example which today's commemoration of Blessed Savina Petrilli has shown us. Our ministry has a precious relic of her bones,”ex ossibus”, graciously given by the motherhouse of her congregation at Siena. At the age of ten, Savina Petrilli, of Siena, Italy, read a biography of Saint Catherine of Siena that instilled in her a lasting devotion to this saint. Savina thereafter aspired to imitate Catherine's devotion to the Eucharist, the Passion of Christ, and the Church. Following her First Holy Communion at the age of twelve, Savina became a frequent communicant. As a teenager, she was a very active member of a Marian sodality, the Children of Mary. At the age of eighteen, she had the opportunity to meet (Blessed) Pope Pius IX, who, upon learning that she was a native of Siena, commented that she should walk in Saint Catherine's footsteps. Savina saw in this remark a sign from heaven that inspired her to found a new religious congregation. She confided her plan to her dying sister Emilia, who in turn promised to assist in its accomplishment by her prayers in heaven. Savina's congregation received papal approbation in 1877 with the title, the Sisters of the Poor, devoted to the care of the needy. Mother Savina died of cancer on April 18, 1923. PRAYER to Blessed SavinaO Jesus, brother of the lowly,
you gave to Blessed Savina Petrilli a burning love for the Eucharist, an unshakable fidelity to the Gospel, and a motherly tenderness towards the little ones by giving life to the family of the Sisters of the Poor. Grant us her devotion to the Eucharist, her appreciation of the (common) priesthood of the faithful, and her apostolic zeal, a living mirror of the love for the Church by St. Catherine of Siena. Give us a meek and humble heart like Yours, so that we may be eternally a gift of grace to our brothers and sisters, and grant us by her intercession, what we ask for in faith and confidence. Amen. Oftentimes, one of the last things which we can describe a young person is that they are “holy”. We tend to attribute to the young an attitude of recklessness and carelessness which makes them easier to fall into sin. However, this isn't the case with many young saints: short though their lives may be, they have gained merits not only for themselves, but also for others in the spirit of victimhood and sacrifice, as seen in the example of St. Gemma Galgani. (NB: The Passionist Order celebrates her Feast on May 16, which is also the traditional feast of the Saint before the Second Vatican Council.) Our ministry is blessed to have a relic of her body "ex corpore" graciously granted by the Passionist Nuns of her Shrine at Lucca. “Do you desire to love me? Learn to suffer first. Suffering teaches one how to love.” (Jesus to St. Gemma in a vision) Beyond the appearances there is an extraordinary Saint: a mystic in continuous and affectionate dialogue with Jesus; a contemplative saint who prays simply like a child and deeply like a theologian. She withdraws the most terrible difficulties by making herself to be helped by her Guardian Angel. A young girl, she maintains her soul candid and she compelled herself to an immaculate life. Gemma is born in Borgonuovo of Camigliano (Lucca) on 12th March 1878. While he receives the Confirmation in the Church of Saint Michael in Foro, Jesus asks her for the sacrifice of her mother. At the age of eighteen she is submitted, without anaesthesia, to a painful operation to the foot and on Christmas of the same year she makes her vow of chastity. Soon Gemma remains orphaned, nearly abandoned, in the most terrible misery. When she is twenty, Gemma refuses a wedding proposal, for being "all of Jesus". During this year she recovers miraculously from a spinal disease and the mystical experiences begin. As she is healed miraculously, in the city she is called "a child of miracles". She talks with her Guardian Angel and also gives him delicate assignments, like taking post to Rome to her spiritual director. "I give the letter, I have just finished, to the Angel, she writes. It is here beside me waiting for him". And the letters mysteriously reached the addressee without being handled by the post of the Reign. In June 1899 Christ gives her the stigmata. In the same year, during the mission in Saint Martino, Gemma knows the Passionist fathers who introduce her to the Giannini’s. Received like a daughter in this wealthy and devout house she passes her life between house and Church. But the shocking manifestations of her holiness go beyond the walls of the bourgeois house. She produces conversions, foretells future events, and falls in ecstasy. When she prays, she sweats blood; on her body, beside the signs of the nail, the plagues of the flagellation appear. Here she knows Father Germano who will direct her spiritual life. Soon people know that her black gloves and her dark and high-neck dress hide the seals of the Passion. These stigmata opened, painful and bleeding, every week on Friday evening. In front of her the scientists cannot hide their embarrassment. Some spiritual directors, too cannot explain the extraordinary young girl: they suspect mystification, hysteria, they ask for tests, they want proofs of obedience. Gemma, although enduring extreme physical pains and moral tests, does not say anything, or better, she always says Yes. She does not ask for anything, or better, she asks Jesus for more pain for herself and conversion and salvation for the others. In 1901, at the age of 23, according to Father Germano’s will, Gemma writes the Autobiography, “the notebook of my sins”. In the following year she offers herself to God as victim for the salvation of the sinners. Jesus asks her to found a monastery of cloistered Passionists in Lucca. Gemma answers with enthusiasm. In the month of September of the same year she becomes ill seriously. Her life is marked deeply by pain. The darkest period of her life has started. The consequences of the sin weigh heavily on her body as well as on her soul. In 1903, on Saint Saturday, Gemma Galgani dies at 25 years, pressed by pain, but asking for more pain until the end. In 1903 Pope St. Pius X signs the Decree of foundation of the Passionist Monastery in Lucca. In 1905 the cloistered Passionists begin their presence in Lucca, and meet the ancient desire that Jesus expressed to Gemma. Father Germano, spiritual director of Gemma, wrote the first biography for Gemma in 1907. The canonical processes for the acknowledgment of her holiness start. In 1933 Pius XI includes Gemma Galgani into the Blessed souls of the Church. In 1940 Venerable Pius XII will raise Gemma Galgani to the glory of the Saints and to show her as model of the universal Church for her heroic practise of the Christian virtues. PRAYERSPrayer to Jesus for a specific favor written by St. Gemma
Behold me at Your most holy feet, O dear Jesus, to manifest to you my gratitude for the continual favors which You have bestowed upon me, and still wish to bestow upon me. As many times as I have invoked You, O Jesus, You have made me content; I have often had recourse to You and You have always consoled me. How shall I express myself to You, dear Jesus? I thank you! Yet one more grace I desire of you, O my God, if it would be pleasing to You (here mention your request). If you were not omnipotent, I would not make this request. O Jesus, have pity on me. May your most holy will be done in all things" Prayer to St. Gemma often recited by the Passionists Oh St. Gemma, how compassionate was your love for those in distress, and how great your desire to help them. Help me, also in my present necessity and obtain for me the favor I humbly implore, if it be profitable for my soul. The numerous miracles and the wonderful favors attributed to your intercession instill in me the confidence that you can help me. Pray to Jesus, your Spouse, for me. Show Him the stigmata which His love has given you. Remind Him of the blood which flowed from these same wounds, the excruciating pain which you have suffered and the tears which you have shed for the salvation of souls. Place all this as your precious treasure in a chalice of love and Jesus will hear you. Amen. Today, we remember the feast of a Franciscan nun known for being an excellent manager: she managed the temporal and spiritual lives of her nuns, while making sure she also managed her path to holiness. Oftentimes, leaders and managers are often seen in a negative light, but with the example of St. Crescentia, may we be reminded that to be placed above others in rank is in essence, to be placed at the bottom to be first to serve and care for others. Our ministry has relics of wood from her coffin and canvas that was found inside her coffin. Crescentia was born in 1682, the daughter of a poor weaver, in a little town near Augsburg. She spent play time praying in the parish church, assisted those even poorer than herself and had so mastered the truths of her religion that she was permitted to make her first Holy Communion at the then unusually early age of 7. In the town she was called “the little angel.” As she grew older, she desired to enter the convent of the Tertiaries of Saint Francis. But the convent was poor, and because Crescentia had no dowry, the superiors refused her admission. Her case was then pleaded by the Protestant mayor of the town to whom the convent owed a favor. The community felt it was forced into receiving her, and her new life was made miserable. She was considered a burden and assigned nothing other than menial tasks. Even her cheerful spirit was misinterpreted as flattery or hypocrisy. Conditions improved four years later when a new superior was elected who realized her virtue. Crescentia herself was appointed mistress of novices. She so won the love and respect of the sisters that, upon the death of the superior, Crescentia was unanimously elected to that position. Under her, the financial state of the convent improved and her reputation in spiritual matters spread. She was soon being consulted by princes and princesses; bishops and cardinals too sought her advice. And yet, a true daughter of Francis, she remained ever humble. Bodily afflictions and pain were always with her. First it was headaches and toothaches. Then she lost the ability to walk, her hands and feet gradually becoming so crippled that her body curled up into a fetal position. In the spirit of Francis she cried out, “Oh, you bodily members, praise God that he has given you the capacity to suffer.” Despite her sufferings she was filled with peace and joy as she died on Easter Sunday in 1744. She was beatified in 1900 and canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2001. Prayer composed by St. CrescentiaGrant, O God, that love and suffering may grow hand in hand in me, so that I may love you more and more with the cheerful disposition which is the fruit of love. O Lord, only grant me love for you, and I shall be rich enough. I desire only that you leave me to my nothingness and that you alone, if I may say so, be all in all and loved and honored by everybody. I wish to take pleasure in nothing but only in you and your love. Amen.
Today, our Church remembers a Saint who is characterized by his love for the youth in society: his example is a clear reminder for all of us to put our energies and talents in forming the next generation of young people to be of greater service to God and to their society, to be leaven of the world which is already so broken by pride and self-interest. On 16 October 2016, Pope Francis added seven new witnesses to the catalogue of saints. Among them was St Lodovico Pavoni (1784-1849) from Brescia in Northern Italy. Lodovico Pavoni realized that the education of young people was the most urgent need of his time. The figure of Pavoni is of a saint who made a great impact by his work on behalf of youth and persons most in need of support (deaf, disabled, orphans, and the poor) while also contributing to the renewal of contemplative life. His story is very relevant in this jubilee year, because the founder of the Sons of Mary Immaculate was an authentic witness of God's mercy to the younger generation. LODOVICO PAVONI was born to a noble family, in Brescia, on September 11, 1784, in a time of profound political and social upheavals. Ordained a priest on February 21, 1807, he devoted himself to the education of the poor youth. For them, in 1812, he founded an oratory; and, for their sake, he gave up the possibility of an ecclesiastical career, which seemed paved for him when the Bishop Nava called him to be his Secretary (1812) and appointed him Canon of the Cathedral (1818). Feeling deeply questioned by the situation of many teenagers who, left to themselves and forced to work in morally dangerous environments, were losing the values and Christian principles learned in the Oratory, Lodovico Pavoni offered them a home, a family and a job, opening in 1821 the Institute of St. Barnabas. He wanted it as a “College of Arts” in which the welfare intervention was completed by an articulate educational project, based on the centrality of the person being educated and on tenderness, what later came to be called “preventive method.” He also understood that to offer his young people a decent future, it was necessary to teach them a profession that would make them autonomous and socially useful. That is why eleven craft workshops were opened at St. Barnabas, among those the Typography stand out as the first graphic school in Italy, which soon became a real Publishing House. He also received in the Institute deaf people, whom he loved with preference, because “being in greatest need, have more right to the concerns of charity.” For the peasant he projected an agricultural farm at Saiano in Franciacorta, twelve kilometers away from Brescia. In order to provide continuity and prosperity to his works, he founded, on December 8, 1847, the Congregation of the Sons of Mary Immaculate, whose members − priests and consecrated brothers − could be directly inserted into the same mission and share “a life perfectly in common.” Lodovico Pavoni died in Saiano, where he had gone to rescue his boys, on April 1, 1849, the last of the “Ten Days” of Brescia. Pius XII, recognizing his heroic virtues in 1947, called him “another precursor of St. Philip Neri ... a forerunner of St. John Bosco ... a perfect emulator of St. Joseph Cottolengo.” On April 14, 2002, in the solemn setting of St. Peter’s Square in Rome, he was beatified by Pope John Paul II, who also established his annual memorial on May 28. A miracle occurred in Brazil made it possible for Fr. Lodovico Pavoni to be declared saint by Pope Francis, on October 16, 2016, in a solemn celebration, also at St. Peter’s Square in Rome. Currently the Congregation of the Pavonians continues the charism of its founder in education, publishing apostolate (Àncora publishing house) and pastoral in Italy, Spain, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Eritrea, Burkina Faso and Philippines. There are many reasons why Pavoni can be considered a precursor. Long before Don Bosco or Don Murialdo, Pavoni saw in the phenomenon of juvenile neglect one of the great dramas that characterized the age of transition between the old regime and industrialized society. He understood that the only way of redemption was through holistic education of the person. Religious education was his fundamental objective, but Pavoni saw professional training as the way that best covers all aspects of the person. The centrality of the Christian faith, love for each person, the importance of work as an instrument of human and social development, clear rules within an organization but implemented as in a family, attention to personal relationship and recourse to reason rather than imposition – these are the components of a plan that aims to equip young people with the necessary tools to develop a balanced personality and to recognize their social role before the impact of the social situation drives them inexorably to the margins. PRAYER to St. LodovicoWe implore you, Father, source of life and joy;
through the intercession of Saint Lodovico Pavoni, with confidence we ask for the grace of... (mention the grace you are praying for) May your all-powerful love grant our prayer and make us more like your faithful servant, who gave joy and hope to the young and the poor. May our dearest Mother Mary present You our petitions; she obtained the first miracle in Cana through Jesus, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Our Church has always been filled with numerous examples of holiness, not only in the Roman-Latin ritual family, but as well as in other Rites of the Catholic Church. Recently, there has been a sparked interest in the saints of the Eastern Rites, and it is fitting today to remember St. Rafqa, who is a Maronite nun, and is second in fame to another Maronite, St. Charbel in Lebanon. Our ministry is blessed to have relics of the clothing “ex indumentis” of both Sts. Rafqa and Charbel. "O Christ, I unite my sufferings to yours, my pains with your pains, as I look at your head crowned with thorns." St Rafqa Al-Rayes Rafqa was born in Lebanon on 29 June 1832, on the feast of Saint Peter and Paul. She was named Boutrossieh (the feminine name of Peter). Her mother died when she was 7 years old, and her father struggled financially. He sent Boutrossieh away to work as a servant for 4 years in Damascus. When she returned home she found her father had remarried. At 14, her stepmother and her aunty were arranging for her to marry, but she did not want to marry. She wished to become a nun and went straight to the Convent of Our Lady of Liberation at Bikfaya. Her father and stepmother tried to persuade her to come back home, but she refused and asked the mistress of novices to excuse her from seeing them and she agreed. They returned home and never saw her again. On 9 February 1855, on the feast of Saint Maroun, Boutrossieh commenced her novitiate (the period of training and preparing someone for the religious institute) at the convent in Ghazir. She took her temporary vows on 19 March 1862. She was assigned to be in charge of the kitchen service in the Jesuit school in Ghazir, where she spent seven years. In 1860, some Jesuit priests invited Boutrossieh and another nun to assist them in their mission in Deir El Kamar. It was a time of civil unrest. One day while walking the streets, she noticed a little Maronite boy being chased by soldiers, wanting to kill him. Boutrossieh hid him under her religious robe. Civil unrest made it dangerous to remain and forced Boutrossieh back to Ghazir. She established a school at the request of Antoun Issa, he wanted her to come to his town to educate the girls. This school grew to have up to 60 girls, and Boutrossieh stayed there for 7 years, fulfilling this mission. After the Marian Order where Boutrossieh belonged was dissolved, she entered the convent of Saint Simon in Ayto. In 1872 she took her perpetual vows of obedience, chastity and poverty and took the name Rafqa after her mother. She was an example to her fellow sisters, always in prayer and silent in hard work. The sisters worked manual labour, harvesting vegetables and grain, they also cultivated silkworms and sewed vestments for the churches. After 14 years at this convent Rafqa felt that she was called to bigger sacrifices. She asked to be closer to God and to share in Jesus’ passion. God answered her prayers immediately. That night she felt a terrible headache which quickly spread to her eyes. She suffered this way silently for 12 years, and it caused her to lose her sight. Her superior sent her to be examined by many doctors, all which concluded they could not do anything to help her. An American physician was consulted and he decided that surgery was necessary for Rafqa. Rafqa refused aesthetic, and offered up the pain. During the surgery the doctor accidently pulled her whole eye out. Rafqa didn’t complain, instead she continued to pray, repeating “I join my sufferings to yours, my Jesus.” Rafqa even thanked the doctor after his mistake. The pain was in her left eye, and surgery did not help, gradually she became blind and her eyes continued to haemorrhage. She did not let this suffering isolate her from the other sisters. Rafqa continued to work, spinning wool and cotton and knitting stockings for the other sisters and participating in prayer. One day Rafqa commented to the Mother Superior of great pain in her waist. Her body was weakening and she was eventually bedridden, although she was still able to use her hands and she thanked God for this as she used her hands to work. Rafqa died on 23 March 1914, and was buried in the convent’s cemetery under the oak trees. She was canonized on 10 June 2001 by Pope John Paul II. We remember a remarkable woman, who lived a humble life. Although she suffered, she never complained and continued to give thanks for the opportunity to share in Christ’s passion. We ask for the intercession of Saint Rafqa for all those who are suffering, may the Lord comfort them. Like St Rafqa may we be able to join our suffering with Jesus’ suffering on the cross. (Taken from the “Living Maronite” website) Prayer to St. RafqaWe ask you, Saint Rafqa, to spread joy in our world and comfort those who are suffering. Teach us to pray with faith in Jesus Christ. Medicine was unable to cure you, so you healed the sick by enduring sorrow and sharing in the Mystery of Redemption of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
We ask you to intercede for our intentions (state them) and for all the sick, to fill our hearts with joy and love and to guide us to follow in your example. May we glorify with you, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen. Today, we remember a holy woman who lived holiness in two dimensions, that is in marriage and in religious life. The story of St. Benedetta is very inspiring and challenging, especially for those in marriage and religious life. Our ministry is blessed to have a relic of her clothes “ex indumentis”. “When God wants something, He does not fail to find the appropriate means.” -Saint Benedetta Cambiagio Frassinello Saint Benedetta Cambiagio Frasinello was born on 2 October 1791 in Langasco (Genoa) Italy; she died on 21 March 1858 in Ronco Scrivia in Liguria. She was wife, religious and foundress. She let the Holy Spirit guide her through married life to the work of education and religious consecration. She founded a school for the formation of young women and also a religious congregation, and did both with the generous collaboration of her husband. This is unique in the annals of Christian sanctity. Benedetta was a pioneer in her determination to give a high quality education to young women, for the formation of families for a "new Christian society" and for promoting the right of women to a complete education. Call to marriage, then to religious life From her parents Benedetta received a Christian formation that rooted in her the life of faith. Her family settled in Pavia when she was a girl. When she was 20 years old, Benedetta had a mystical experience that gave her a profound desire for a life of prayer and penance, and of consecration to God. However, in obedience to the wishes of her parents, in 1816, she married Giovanni Frassinello and lived married life for two years. In 1818, moved by the example of his saintly wife, Giovanni agreed that the two should live chastely, "as brother and sister" and take care of Benedetta's younger sister, Maria, who was dying from intestinal cancer. They began to live a supernatural parenthood quite unique in the history of the Church. Congregation founded by wife, who is supported by her husband Following Maria's death in 1825, Giovanni entered the Somaschi Fathers founded by St Jerome Emiliani, and Benedetta devoted herself completely to God in the Ursuline Congregation of Capriolo. A year later she was forced to leave because of ill health, and returned to Pavia where she was miraculously cured by St Jerome Emiliani. Once she regained her health, with the Bishop's approval, she dedicated herself to the education of young girls. Benedetta needed help in handling such a responsibility, but her own father refused to help her. Bishop Tosi of Pavia asked Giovanni to leave the Somaschi novitiate and help Benedettain her apostolic work. Together they made a vow of perfect chastity in the hands of the bishop, and then began their common work to promote the human and Christian formation of poor and abandoned girls of the city. Their educational work was of great benefit to Pavia. Benedetta became the first woman to be involved in this kind of work. The Austrian government recognized her as a "Promoter of Public Education". She was helped by young women volunteers to whom she gave a rule of life that later received ecclesiastical approval. Along with instruction, she joined formation in catechesis and in useful skills like cooking and sewing, aiming to transform her students into "models of Christian life" and so assure the formation of families. Benedictine Sisters of Providence Benedetta's work was considered pioneering for those days and was opposed by a few persons in power and by the misunderstanding of clerics. In 1838 she turned over the institution to the Bishop of Pavia. Together with Giovanni and five companions, she moved to Ronco Scrivia in the Genoa region. There they opened a school for girls that was a refinement on what they had done in Pavia. Eventually, Benedetta founded the Congregation of the Benedictine Sisters of Providence. In her rule she stressed the education of young girls. She instilled the spirit of unlimited confidence and abandonment to Providence and of love of God through poverty and charity. The Congregation grew quickly since it performed a needed service. Benedetta was able to guide the development of the Congregation until her death. On 21 March 1858 she died in Ronco Scrivia. Her example is that of supernatural maternity plus courage and fidelity in discerning and living God's will. Today the Benedictine Nuns of Providence are present in Italy, Spain, Burundi, Ivory Coast, Peru and Brazil. They are at the service of young people, the poor, the sick and the elderly. The foundress also opened a house of the order in Voghera. Forty years after the death of Benedetta, the bishop separated this house from the rest of the Order. The name was changed to the Benedictines of Divine Providence who honour the memory of the Foundress. She was beatified by John Paul II on 10 May 1987, and was canonized on 19 May 2002 by the same Pope. (Official biography taken from the Vatican website) Prayer of St. John Paul II to St. BenedettaThroughout your life, O sweet Santa Benedetta,
you have endeavored to faithfully fulfill the will of God, by always looking at the crucified Christ, who is the example of perfect obedience to Heavenly Father. At the demanding school of the Cross, both in conjugal union and in religious life, you witnessed to the "Loving Providence of God", who provides for the needs of his children. Help us to be inspired by your spirituality and your example, to walk generously in the path you have traced and to be able to witness to the younger generations the beauty of a life entirely spent for the Lord and for our brothers. (Based from the discourse of St. John Paul II, 20 May 2002) On this day, the Church remembers the great Polish bishop St. Zygmunt Felinski, who always served his flock and stood for his faith in imitation of the Good Shepherd. Our ministry is blessed to have a relic of his body "ex corpore" encased in an ordinary medal. “Blessed are those who, will be found in their hour of trial with Mary under the cross” (St. Zygmunt, 1874) St Zygmunt Szczesny Felinski was born on 1 November 1822 to Gerard Felinski and Eva Wendorff, in Wojutyn, Volinia (present-day Ukraine), then Russian territory. He was the third of six children, of whom four survived. Felinski was raised with faith and trust in Divine Providence, love for the Church and for Polish culture. His father died when he was 11 and in 1838 the Russians exiled his mother to Siberia for "involvement in patriotic activity" that is, working for farmers' rights. Felinski studied mathematics at the University of Moscow (1840-44) and in 1847 went to the Sorbonne University and the Collège de France in Paris to study French literature. He was in touch with all the important Polish emigrants and took part in the unsuccessful Revolt of Poznan. In 1851 he returned to Poland. He entered the diocesan seminary at Zytomierz and studied at the Catholic Academy of St Petersburg. He was ordained a priest on 8 September 1855 and assigned to the Dominican Fathers' Parish of St Catherine of Siena in St Petersburg until 1857, when the Bishop appointed him spiritual director of the Ecclesiastical Academy and professor of philosophy. In 1856 he founded a charitable organization for the poor, and in 1857, the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary. On 6 January 1862, Pope Pius ix appointed Fr Felinski Archbishop of Warsaw and he was consecrated on 26 January 1862 in St Petersburg. He arrived in Warsaw on 9 February 1862. The Russians had brutally suppressed the Polish uprising in this city in 1861. On 13 February 1862, the new Archbishop reconsecrated the Cathedral of Warsaw, which had been desecrated by the Russian troops. Three days later he opened all the churches with the solemn celebration of the "Forty Hours" Devotion. Zygmunt Felinski was Archbishop of Warsaw in the turbulent period from 9 February 1862 to 14 June 1863. Unfortunately, he met with distrust on the part of some, even clergy, since the Russian Government had led people to believe that he was collaborating secretly with the Government. The Archbishop always showed clearly he was at the service of the Church alone and strove to eliminate government interference in the internal affairs of the Church. In reforming the diocese he regularly visited all the parishes and charitable organizations on order to address their needs better. He reformed the syllabus of the Ecclesiastical Academy of Warsaw and of the diocesan seminaries, giving a new impetus to the spiritual and intellectual development of the clergy. He took steps to obtain the release of priests in prison and he encouraged them to proclaim the Gospel publicly, to catechize their parishioners, to open parish schools and to educate a new generation that would be devout and honest. He also cared for the poor and opened an orphanage in Warsaw that he entrusted to the Sisters of the Family of Mary. Archbishop Felinski strove to prevent the nation from making rash moves and, as a protest against the Russians' bloody repression of the "January Uprising" in 1863, resigned from the Council of State and wrote to the Emperor Alexander ii, urging him to put an end to the violence. He likewise protested against the hanging of Fr Agrypin Konarski, a Capuchin and chaplain of the "rebels". His courageous actions soon led to his exile to Siberia. On 14 June 1863, he was deported to Jaroslavl, where he spent the next 20 years, deprived by the Tsar of all contact with Warsaw. Yet he managed to organize works of mercy for his fellow prisoners, especially the priests, and somehow succeeded in collecting enough funds to build a Catholic church. The people were impressed by his spirituality and nicknamed him the "holy Polish Bishop". Archbishop Felinski was released on 15 March 1883 and Leo XIII transferred him from the See of Warsaw to the titular See of Tarsus. For the last 12 years of his life he lived in semi-exile, serving as parish priest in south-eastern Galizia at Dzwiniaczka, among farmers of Polish and Ukrainian origin. As chaplain of the public chapel of the local manor, he undertook an intense pastoral work. He set up the first school and a kindergarten in the village at his own expense. He also built a church and convent for his Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary, and found the time to prepare for publication the works he had written in exile. He died in Kraków on 17 September 1895 and was buried there on 20 September; the following month his mortal remains were translated to Dzwiniaczka, and in 1920, to Warsaw. Here, on 14 April 1921, they were solemnly interred in the crypt of St John's Cathedral where they are venerated today. John Paul II beatified him in Kraków, Poland, on 18 August 2002. Benedict XVI canonized him on 11 October 2009. (Official biography taken from the Vatican website) Prayer to St. ZygmuntToday, the Church remembers one of the great promoters of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and of being a victim soul (one who offers their life as a reparation for their own sins and of others) especially for the clergy, Blessed Mary (Marie) of Jesus Deluil-Martiny. Our ministry is blessed to have a relic of her bones- "ex ossibus", which we reverently care for in our Custody. Marie Deluil-Martiny was born in Marseilles, France, on May 28, 1841, and was baptized the same day. The eldest of five children, she inherited from her father, a deeply Christian lawyer, the courage that allowed her to overcome the difficulties of life. From her mother she received an ardent faith combined with a great gentleness of heart. Nevertheless she had a proud and domineering temperament. When the time came for her first Communion, to ensure her proper preparation her parents sent her as a boarder to the Visitation Convent in Marseilles. One day during recreation, Marie all of a sudden stopped her playing and, taking a friend aside, said, «Imagine, Angelique, at this very moment the Blood of Jesus is flowing at the Altar for the world!» And for several moments she remained absorbed by this thought that had flashed across her mind. Marie made her first Communion on December 22, 1853, and received the sacrament of Confirmation on January 29, 1854 at the hands of Saint Eugene de Mazenod, the bishop of Marseilles. Around the age of 15, while still at school, she gathered together a group of students called the «Oblates of Mary,» that she thought of as a little religious order, complete with rule, novitiate, and profession. The group was discovered by the Superiors and dissolved. At the end of her studies, Marie made a retreat that was decisive for her vocation. «Jesus Christ is the only One to love,» she wrote in her journal. «At my death, I would like to have loved no one but Him. ... To live properly in the world, I must abhor sin and flee its occasions, hate the world and what is of the world ... Come and follow me, Jesus said. O God, how beautiful these words are! ... It is mine if I want it!» It was around this time that she had the grace of meeting the Curé d'Ars, Saint John-Marie Vianney, and of speaking to him about her vocation. She felt very clearly that Jesus was calling her to be entirely His, and so refused several proposals of marriage. The first Saturday of September, 1867, Marie was in prayer in a church when Jesus spoke to her: «I am not known, I am not loved... I wish to make souls for Myself who understand Me... I am a torrent that wants to overflow and whose waters can no longer be held back!... I wish to make Myself cups so as to fill them with the waters of My love... I am thirsty for hearts who appreciate Me and who enable Me to fulfill the goal for which I am here! I am insulted, I am desecrated. Before the end of time, I want to be compensated for all the insults I have received... I want to distribute all the graces that have been refused...!» Marie was deeply saddened by the world's refusal of Jesus. She wrote, «The world no longer wants Him. Today, some blush at Him, while others hate Him and scorn Him. They try to chase Him from hearts and from society. To these dishonors, scorn, and satanic profanities, let us answer loud and clear: He must reign!» On December 8, 1867, Marie made, with the permission of Father Calage, the vow of virginity. In September 1868, in front of a statue of the Virgin of La Salette in tears, she received this inspiration: «The Blessed Virgin wants victims who, in union with her pierced Heart and with Jesus sacrificed, interpose themselves between the crimes of men and the Justice of God...» The following month, she made this beautiful prayer: «O Jesus, receive me from the hands of the Most Blessed Virgin and offer me with You, sacrifice me with You... I offer myself for this sacrifice as much as You wish and my weakness allows... I will consider all the crosses, all the sufferings that Your Providence sends me as proofs that You have accepted my humble offering.» At the start of 1869, Marie put into writing a complete summary of her future work: «Just as Mary on Calvary, united to the Eternal Priest, offered her Divine Son, and then renewed this offering through the hands of Saint John, the Daughters of the Heart of Jesus, united with all the priests in the world, will offer the Eucharistic Jesus sacrificed on every altar. They will especially offer the Blood and Water that came forth from the divine wound of the Sacred Heart. They will be the adorers of the Eucharist solemnly exposed in the chapels of their convents, and will dedicate themselves to surrounding Him with the most profound signs of respect and love. This will be their life, their reason for being...» It took time for God's plans for Marie to unfold fully. Finally, the moment came for them to be realized. But the political situation made a foundation in France impossible. Therefore, with the help of a Belgian prelate, Monsignor Van den Berghe, she founded the Society of the Daughters of the Heart of Jesus in Berchem-lez-Anvers, Belgium, on June 20, 1873. Taking the name Mother Marie of Jesus, she took the veil and a white habit on which were embroidered two red hearts surrounded by thorns. In the spirit of Our Lord's message to Saint Margaret Mary, the goals of the new institute were the following: to make reparation for the sins committed against the Heart of Jesus, to offer Him a continual thanksgiving for all the graces He continues to lavish on the world, and to offer to the Most Holy Trinity the precious Blood of Jesus Christ so that His reign might come in the world. The best way to realize these aims would be the cloistered life, centered on the divine office and adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Every day, the nuns of the new institute would recite the seven last words of Jesus on the Cross, words of Redemption and a source of holiness for souls. To compensate for man's ingratitude for divine graces, they would recite the Magnificat several times a day. Wanting to open the doors of religious life to those whose health could not endure the austerities of older orders, Mother Marie of Jesus placed less emphasis on bodily penances than on interior mortification and renunciation through obedience. She preferred the mortifications that appear on their own: «The sufferings caused by heat or cold,» she wrote, «are good windfalls for a mortified soul. To say nothing on these occasions is a precious mortification, because no one sees or notices it; everything is for Jesus alone.» Our Lady had told her: «For the future institute, the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the celestial offering of the Divine Victim sacrificed on the Altar, will compensate most excellently for the corporal mortifications that some constitutions can no longer bear.» The constitutions of the new institute were approved in 1876 and, on August 22, 1878, the foundress and the first four Religious made their perpetual vows. Mother Marie of Jesus still had a desire to plant the institute in her native land. In June 1879, a foundation was established at «La Servianne,» the property she had inherited from her parents, close to Marseilles. From then on, Mother Marie of Jesus' life was divided between the administration of her convents and a voluminous correspondence. Her natural kindness was enriched with a mother's tenderness; her solicitude watched over every detail of her Daughters' lives. If one of them was sick, she would spend entire nights by her bedside, caring for her with her own hands, suggesting pious thoughts to her. She wrote to one of her Daughters: «Isn't it ridiculous for us to spend our time thinking about ourselves, admiring ourselves, or complaining, getting upset over our little troubles which seem so big to us, limiting ourselves by groaning over our misfortunes, when the great plans of God and the salvation of souls are calling us, when we have a God to love and serve, and souls to help and save? We are like a man who, in the middle of a terrible fire that is burning down his house, and that is going to kill his mother, his father, his children, instead of hurrying to put it out, is in a corner wailing that his clothes got soiled from carrying buckets of water, and is busy picking off, with lamentations, each bit of ash that got on his clothes. Oh! That is what we do when, in the midst of this unhappy world that is trying to burn down the Church and that insults Jesus Christ Our Lord, we spend our time complaining about our ills or our own trials, etc. We shrink in on ourselves when we could expand in embracing God, and become saints by serving His cause through our renunciations and sacrifices. A good flap of the wings and, with the aid of grace, let us rise up, let us leave the earth—above all, leave ourselves—and no longer see anything but Jesus!» In November 1883, Mother Marie of Jesus hired an assistant gardener, twenty-one year old Louis Chave, to pull him out of poverty. But soon, he showed himself to be lazy, rude, and demanding, and moreover, was involved with the anarchists. On February 27, 1884, Ash Wednesday, he waited in ambush on the grounds of La Servianne, in a spot the Religious passed during their recreation. He sprang out and, as the Superior spoke a kind word to him, grabbed her head and shot her twice at point-blank range with a revolver. Wounded in the carotid artery, Mother Marie of Jesus collapsed, murmuring, «I forgive him... for the Institute!» She died shortly thereafter. Buried in the family vault, then transferred to Berchem in 1899, her body was exhumed on March 4, 1989 for her beatification. It was found intact and flexible. Today, the Congregation of the Daughters of the Heart of Jesus has convents in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and a foundation in Croatia. After the foundress' death, the influence of her community led to the establishment of «the Association of Victim Souls,» which has had thousands of members, including Saints Pius X and Maximilian Kolbe, and Blesseds Charles de Foucauld, Columba Marmion, Edouard Poppe and Marie-Joseph Cassant. During the beatification of Marie Deluil-Martiny, on October 22, 1989, Pope John Paul II summarized her spiritual journey in these words: «At a very early age, she was moved by the world's offenses against Jesus' love and Society's all too frequent refusal of God. At the same time, she discovered the greatness of the gift Jesus gave the Father to save mankind, the abundance of love that radiates from His Heart, the fruitfulness of the blood and water that flow from His open side. She was convinced that she must participate in the redemptive suffering of the Crucified in a spirit of reparation for the sins of the world.» (Biography copied with permission from the Abbey of St. Joseph de Clairval, France) Prayer of Blessed Mary of Jesus"Allow me, my sweet Master,
to give myself to you and your adorable heart by your own hands. Receive and accept thus this gift of mine, the total and unconditional surrender that your Grace makes me offer You with all of myself: my heart, my soul, my mind, my will, my freedom, my thoughts my affections ... everything that interests me, belongs to me or is dear to me, for the present and the future, for time and eternity. Make me and all that you want. Use me, render me useless to a corner, console me, pardon me, I have nothing else to see, nothing to desire or prefer, but You. Here I am thrown today like a small drop of water in the ocean of love of the Sufferings of your Heart, O Jesus, to be rolled and carried by Your sacred waves according to the order of Your will, forever . In exchange for the acts of humility that I offer you, give me the grace to never take my offering back: to love you without reservation and without ceasing and to perfectly fulfill your holy will. " |
![]() "All the Saints of God are there to protect me, to sustain me and to carry me. Indeed, the communion of Saints consists not only of the great men and women who went before us and whose names we know. All of us belong to the communion of Saints, we who have been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we who draw life from the gift of Christ’s Body and Blood, through which he transforms us and makes us like himself. Yes, the Church is alive – this is the wonderful experience of these days. "
(Pope Benedict XVI, Homily on the Mass of Inauguration to the Petrine Ministry, 24 April 2005) NOTE:This ministry does not entertain requests nor for information to obtain the relics which appear in this website. Guide For Relic ClassificationWe strive to provide English translations of the terminology used to label relics. However, there may be a need to consult the original term to avoid confusion.
Please go to this page for a short guide to relic classification. Instagram Feed/BlogArchives
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