St. Urban of Langres

On this last day of November, I would like to acknowledge Wikipedia and catholic.org/saints - where most of my source material comes from.

As we move from one month of celebration to the next, today we will celebrate the Patron Saint of wine, wine makers and vine growers. St. Urban of Langres was born around the year 327 in France. He was consecrated the Bishop of Langres, France in 374. Soon afterwards, political turmoil erupted and he was driven from his house. St. Urban hid from his persecutors in a vineyard.

The vine dressers hid the bishop and in turn he catechized them and converted them to Christianity. Those same vine dressers then assisted the Bishop move from one town to another via their vineyards where he was able to minister to his people while in hiding. Due to this work, and to Urban’s devotion to the Holy Blood, he developed great affection to all the people in the wine industry, and they for him. His feast day is April 2.

Cheers! 🍷

St, Hippolytus

We are winding down to the end of our November Month of Saints and I still have not done a couple that Tonya asked for - so today we discover the only Anti-pope to be named a Saint.

Hippolytus was born around 170 AD and was one of the most important theologians of Rome of his time. However, he came into conflict with the Popes of his time and headed up a schismatic group as a rival Bishop of Rome, or Anti-Pope. He opposed the Roman Popes who softened the penitential system to accommodate the large number of new pagan converts.

Under the persecution of Emperor Maximinus Thrax, both Hippolytus and Pope Pontian (the authentic Pope at the time) were exiled together in 235 to Sardinia, likely dying in the mines. While in exile, prior to his death, Hippolytus was reconciled to the Church. His feast day is August 13.

St. Catherine Laboure

Today is the feast day of St. Catherine Laboure. Catherine was born in the Burgundy region of France in 1806. Her mother died when Catherine was nine years old. It is said that after her mother's funeral, Catherine picked up a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary and kissed it saying, "Now you will be my mother." As a child she was observed to be devout and of a somewhat romantic nature.

As a young woman, Catherine became a member of the nursing order founded by Saint Vincent de Paul, the Daughters of Charity. Three times in 1830 the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Catherine, who then was a twenty-four year old novice. In one of these visions, Mary showed Catherine an image of a medallion that she wanted to have made. The only person that she told about these visions was her Spiritual Director.

After two years of investigation and observation, the priest took the information to his Archbishop who approved and commissioned the medallions. The medallions, known as The Miraculous Medal, became one of the most popular Catholic sacramentals. Although the dogma of the Immaculate Conception had not yet been promulgated, the slogan on the medal, "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee" helped to popularize the idea. -- I have heard that St. Bernadette was wearing a Miraculous Medal at the time that she had her own visions of the Virgin Mary.

Catherine spent the rest of her life caring for the aged and infirm. She died in 1876 at the age of 70. Only upon her deathbed did she speak fully of the apparitions to one of her superiors. She is patron of the Miraculous Medal, infirmed people and the elderly.

St. Philip Neri

For my Uncle Phil -

Today we will explore the joyful life of St. Philip Neri. Philip was born in 1515 in Florence, Italy, the son of Nobility. He had a playful sense of humor and considered a cheerful disposition to be more Christian than a melancholy one. "A joyful heart is more easily made perfect than a downcast one."

At the age of 18, he was sent to his uncle, Romolo, a wealthy merchant, to help him with his business. His family also hoped that he would inherit his uncle's fortune. Soon afterwards, Philip had a religious conversion and no longer cared for the things of this world. In 1533, he decided to move to Rome. Once there, he began his missionary work among the poor and the sick that earned him the title "Apostle of Rome."

In 1548. along with his confessor, he founded the Confraternity of the Most Holy Trinity of Pilgrims and Convalescents  to minister to the needs of the thousands of poor pilgrims who flocked to Rome, especially in jubilee years, and also to relieve the patients discharged from hospitals but who were still too weak for labor. In 1551, Philip was ordained a priest and considered going to India as a missionary. He was dissuaded by friends who saw that there was abundant missionary work to be done right there in Rome.

He settled at the Hospital of San Girolamo della Carità, where he and his companions founded the institute with which his name is more especially connected, that of the Oratory. The scheme at first was no more than a series of evening meetings in a hall (the Oratory), at which there were prayers, hymns, and readings from Scripture, the church fathers, and the Martyrology, followed by a lecture or by discussion of some religious question proposed for consideration. Members undertook mission work throughout Rome, notably preaching sermons in different Churches every evening. Philip sometimes led “excursions” to other churches, often with music and a picnic on the way.

Philip Neri died on May 25, 1595 at the age of 79. He is a Patron Saint of Rome,  US Special Forces, Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest,  laughter, humor, joy - among other things. His feast day is May 26.

Basil, Fool for Christ

So today I am going in a little different direction with my Saint story. Today's Saint is from the Russian Orthodox tradition - we are going ecumenical.

St. Basil the Blessed is the patron of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. He is also known as Basil, Wonderworker of Moscow or Basil, fool for Christ.

Basil was born in 1468 or 1469 - the son of serfs. According to tradition, he was born on the portico of the local church. He was apprenticed to a shoemaker in Moscow. However, he soon chose the eccentric lifestyle of being a Fool for Christ. He went naked, weighed down with chains, lived on the streets and begged for his food. He would sometimes shoplift from market stalls and give the food to the poor in order to shame the wealthy who should be caring for the poor. He rebuked Ivan the Terrible for not paying attention to the church and for his behavior toward the poor.

Among his strange actions would be to attack a market stall, for no apparent reason, destroying or scattering the food or drink that was being sold. He would not run away, but would submit as the merchants grabbed him and beat him soundly. He would then thank God and go on his way. Upon closer examination, it would be found that the goods being sold were second-rate or of poor quality but were being sold for full price. People began to see Basil as a holy fool, a righter of wrongs.

When he died in 1552 (or 1557), he was not buried in a pauper's grave but in the churchyard of the new church built by Tsar Ivan to commemorate his victories at Kazan and many priests and hierarchs attended his funeral. The church was named Trinity Church, but so many pilgrims came to pray at Basil's grave that it soon became known as St. Basil's.

St. Basil is venerated in the Russian Orthodox Church - his feast day is August 2.

Blessed Martyrs of Guadalajara

Well, I've missed a few days of Saint posts - but seeing as the other big thing that happens in November is Thanksgiving, I hope you will be understanding. To make it up, today I give you three for the price of one. The three Blessed Carmelites of Guadalajara were the first of thousands of martyrs of the Spanish Civil War, most of whom will never be known.

Sister Mary Pilar of Saint Francis Borgia was born Jamie Martine Garcia in 1877. She loved life and had a kind and gentle disposition. Her older sister entered the Carmelite order when Jamie was 15, but Jamie had no desire at that time to join. Five years later, she was ready and followed her sister into religious life. In the cloister, she prayed constantly for those in the world and was devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She was 58 at the time of her martyrdom.

Sister Marie Angel of Saint Joseph was born Marciana Valtierra Tordesillas in 1905. Her mother died when she was three and she became her father's consolation. From the time of her First Communion, she desired to become a religious. But she was needed at home to care for her aging father and an invalid Aunt and so was not able to enter the cloister until she was 24. In the cloister, she desired to serve others unnoticed. She was known for her childlike simplicity and her ability to make the other sisters laugh. She made her solemn profession just two years before her death.

The youngest of the three, Sister Teresa of the Child Jesus. was born in 1909 and named Eusebia Garcia y Garcia. From the age of nine, her confessor allowed her to make a private vow of chastity for a year at a time. Having read St. Therese of Lisieux' autobiography , Eusebia was inspired to join the Carmelite order, which she did at the age of 16. She found it very difficult to be separated from close family ties, but she offered up this separation as a holocaust to the Lord. With a strong and ardent nature, she found it hard to be meek and patient, but she strove to emulate her patroness. She was only 27  . . .

On the evening of July 22, 1936, the priest who served the Carmelite Nuns of the Monastery of St. Joseph distributed communion to them telling them to receive it as Viaticum knowing that this could be their final communion. The city of Guadalajara had fallen into the hands of the Spanish Reds and the city had been turned into an inferno of violence, pillaging and bloodshed. The priest and the nuns hoped to find refuge with friends. These three sisters, along with their prioress and another nun, spent the night hiding in the basement of a local hotel. The next day, the two other sisters moved to a boarding house, but there was no room for Pilar, Angel and Teresa. They planned to make their way to the nearby home of friends. As they made their way through the city, they were somehow recognized by a group of Red Army members who opened fire on the sisters. Sister Mary Angel was hit through the heart and killed instantly. Sister Mary Pilar was severely injured. Police in the employ of the Republic took the injured nun to the Red Cross. She died later that day in the hospital, forgiving her killers with her final breath.

Sister Theresa was not hit by any of the bullets. She took refuge in a doorway where she was approached by a soldier pretending concern for her safety. The soldier and several companions led her away with intentions for more than just her death. Fearlessly she rebuked her tormentors and resisted their demands to pledge allegiance to the Republic and to Communism. She shouted, "Viva, Christo Rey!" before being shot in the back.

The feast day of the Blessed Martyrs of Guadalajara is celebrated by the Carmelite Order on July 24.