St. Veronica

On the Cum Christo Weekend these past three days, I spent what seemed like an extraordinary amount of time - and an extraordinary time - in the chapel praying for other team members as they gave their talks. There is a very moving picture in the chapel that depicts the face of Jesus -- I felt like I could just reach out and touch His face . . . and as I meditated on this picture, I thought of St. Veronica touching His face and wiping off the blood and sweat. St. Veronica be...came my personal Patron for the weekend.

The name Veronica is often said to mean "true image" for true (Latin: vera) and image (Greek: εικόνα), but the etymology is more likely a Latinisation of the Greek Verenice, meaning "bearer of Victory." St. Veronica is known from the devotion of the Stations of the Cross, where in the Sixth Station we meditate on her wiping the face of Jesus with her veil. Legend says that the image of Christ was left on the cloth - two churches in Italy claim to have this relic, but neither has been officially authenticated by the Church. Veronica remains one of the most popular Saints, even thought there is no historical or scriptural evidence of her life and no details known of her beyond the Stations of the Cross.

She is the Patron Saint of photographers. Her feast day is July 22.

St. Ivo

And the one I forgot to post yesterday:

I was talking with Natasha today about meeting with a lawyer and we discussed who would be the patron of lawyers. There are actually several. I like St. Ivo.

St. Ivo lived in the last half of the 13th century. He studied in Paris and Orleans and was a master of both civil and cannon law. A ditty about him, popular in the middle ages went, "St. Ivo was a Breton, a lawyer, but not a thief, which people say is a wonderous thing." He was known for defending the poor free of char...ge, prosecuting noblemen who charged their tenants exorbitant taxes, and trying to settle his cases out of court to save his clients money. He never took a bribe.

After practicing law for about 20 years, he began studying for the priesthood. As a lawyer, he had never turned away a poor client; as a priest he never refused help to the needy. It was said that during a famin, when everyone turned to Ivo for help, his own stores miraculously replenished until the famine was over,
St. Ivo's feast day is May 19.

St. Maurice and the Theban Legion

Since I will not be on line for the next three days, today I will leave you with a legion of spiritual helpers to see you through the weekend - literally a legion.

The Theban Legion, as its name suggests, came from in and around the Egyptian City of Thebes.  They served in the army of co-Emperor Maximian, colleague of the famed hater of Christians, Emperor Diocletian. They were sent by the Emperor to Switzerland to crush a Gallic tribe that had rebelled against Rome.  Before marching into battle, the emperor commanded that every soldier sacrifice to the pagan gods of Rome.  With their chief officer, Maurice, acting as their spokesman, the legion refused as they were all Christians. 

To break their spirit, Maximian had loyal Roman troops kill every tenth Christian Legionnaire.  When the legion continued to stand firm in their faith, The emperor ordered a second decimation. The remaining Christian soldiers would still not obey and were themselves slaughtered. 

St. Maurice and the Theban Legion are the patron saints of armies (fitting patrons for this week of Veteran's Day).  Their feast is Sept. 22.

St. Michael the Archangel

I had a military saint picked out in honor of Veteran's Day, and then got a special request from Shelli for St. Michael -- which also works as he is the patron of paratroopers and police (which would include military police). 

St. Michael is an Archangel - one of nine divisions or orders of angels.  And this would be a good time to point out that angels are NOT the souls of deceased humans, nor will you become an angel when you die.  Angels are purely spiritual beings while humans are spirit and matter - which is why we profess a belief in the 'resurrection of the body.'

The name Michael means "Who is like God?"  When Lucifer chose to try to make himself equal to God, Michael and his army of good angels drove him and his companions out of heaven (Rev 12:7-8).  This is why St. Michael is seen as the protector of the Church and why those who serve to protect others (Police and military) invoke him as their patron.
St. Michael's feast day is Sept. 29.

Pope St. Leo the Great

In the time that I have been doing my "Saint of the Day" posts, I have rarely featured a Saint on his/her feast day . . . but hearing about Pope St. Leo the Great on the radio this morning inspired me.

St. Leo was Pope between 440 and 461.  The commentator on the radio this morning likened him to Pope Francis in that his homilies were very easy to understand and accessible to the common Christian (in other words, you did not have to be a theologian to understand him).  As testament to how much his homilies moved people, he was the first Pope whose homilies were written down and shared - leaving us a legacy of his teaching to this day.  He was also the first Pope to be called "the Great."

One of the best known stories of Pope Leo, is how he faced Attila the Hun when Attila was preparing to sack Rome.  At the request of the emperor, he traveled to northern Italy and met with the Hun, obtaining from him the promise that he would leave Italy and negotiating peace between the Hun and the emperor.  He also saved the inhabitants of Rome when the city was captured by the Vandals.  Although for a fortnight the town had been plundered, Leo's intercession obtained a promise that the city should not be injured and that the lives of the inhabitants should be spared.
Pope St. Leo's feast is Nov 10.

P.S. Source for this information has been NewAdvent.org, Catholic.org and the Son Rise Morning Show on EWTN.  I have used these sources as well as AmericanCatholic.org and the book This Saint's for You by T. Craughwell for most of my posts. 

St. Rose Philippine Duchesne

Since I have a whole family of "Roses" that I honored the other day with my post on Rose of Lima, I will give you another St. Rose of a more recent vintage -- St. Rose Philippine Duchesne.
Rose Philippine was born in France in 1769.  She joined a religious order against her family's wishes when she was a young women.  However, during the French Revolution's Reign of Terror, the Monastery where she was living was shut down and the sisters dispersed.  She continued to live by the Rule of her order at home as she served her family and those suffering from the Reign of Terror, including those imprisoned in the former Monastery.

Once the Catholic Church was again able to operate openly, she tried to reestablish the monastery and later merged with the new order of the Society of the Sacred Heart. In 1818, at the age of 49, she traveled to America to work as a missionary (yes, young ones, there is life after 40!).  She built the first Sacred Heart convent outside of France in a log cabin in Missouri Territory and opened the first free school west of the Mississippi.

In 1841 - now 71 years old - she and other sisters from her order joined the Jesuits in a mission to serve the Potawatomi tribe in eastern Kansas. The children named her Quahkahkanumad, which translates as Woman Who Prays Always. She was only able to stay at the mission for a year before her health forced her to return to the convent in Missouri.  She lived for another decade, dying on Nov 18, 1852. Her feast day is Nov. 18.

Saint Turibius

Building off of yesterday's post on St. Rose of Lima, today we will hear about her Spiritual Director, St. Turibius.  St. Turibius was born in Spain and educated as a lawyer (yes, a lawyer who became a saint!).  He had no intention of a vocation to the priesthood or any thoughts of a career as a missionary, but God had other ideas.  When the Spanish colony of Peru needed an Archbishop, Turibius was chosen as the man for the job.  Although he strenuously objected, King Phillip would not take no for an answer.  He was ordained a priest and then consecrated bishop in record time and sent half-way around the world to his new diocese.

Although his diocese covered eighteen thousand square miles (compare that to Toledo Diocese at 8,222 square miles), St. Turibius made the long and arduous visitation of his diocese three times in the quarter century that he was bishop.  He visited every parish and mission -- traveling by foot the whole way, scaling the Andes and crossing rivers and jungles.  He also had the catechism translated into the two most common native languages and insisted that priests assigned to Indian parishes be fluent in the native tongues to better serve his flock.

St. Turibius is an example for all of us in respecting the rights of native peoples.  His feast day is March 23.