Jmj

On July 14, we members of the Catholic Church family honor, in a special way, the following friends of God -- "saints" and "blesseds" whose souls are now in heaven:

St. Camillus de Lellis of Bucchianico [Camillo] (Italian, soldier, reformed gambling addict, hospital administrator, priest, founded Congregation of the Servants of the Sick [Camellians], died at about age 64 in 1614 [beatified 1742, canonized 1746])
Bl. Kateri Tekawitha of Ossernenon ["Lily of the Mohawk"] (New Yorker [American Indian (father Mohawk, mother Algonquin)], virgin, died near Montreal in Canada at about age 23 in 1680 [beatified 1980]) [On U.S. "particular calendar"]

Bl. Boniface of Savoy (French, Carthusian prior in Italy, bishop of Valence in France, archbishop of Canterbury in England, died in France at about age 63 in 1270 [beatified 1838])
Bl. Caspar de Bono of Valencia [Gaspar] (Spanish, silk merchant, soldier, Minim superior, priest, died at age 74 in 1604 [beatified 1786])
St. Deusdedit of Canterbury [baptized Frithona] (English, Benedictine monk, archbishop, d. 664)
St. Felix of Como (Italian, bishop, c. 390)
St. Francis Solano of Montilla [Francisco] (Spanish, Franciscan priest, missionary to Latin America [especially Peru], had miraculous gift of tongues, died at age 61 in 1610 [beatified 1675, canonized 1726])
St. Heraclas of Alexandria (Egyptian, assistant and successor of theologian/teacher Origen, bishop, died at about age 67 in 247)
Bl. Humbert of Romans (French, civil lawyer, Dominican master general, died at about age 84 in 1277)
St. Idus of Leinster (Irish, disciple of St. Patrick, bishop of Alt-Fadha, 5th century)
St. Justus of Rome (Italian, early martyr)
St. Libert of Saint-Trond (French, Benedictine monk, martyred by barbarian invaders in 783)
St. Marcellinus of Oldensee (English, monk, missionary, died in Holland c. 762)
St. Optatian of Brescia (Italian, bishop for over fifty years, c. 505)
St. Phocas of Sinope (from Asia Minor [now called Turkey], bishop, martyred in 117)
Bl. Richard Langhorne of Bedfordshire (English, lawyer, martyred under Charles II in 1679 [beatified 1929])
St. Toscana of Verona (Italian, widow, nun of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem [Gerosolimitan], died at about age 53 in 1343)
St. Ulrich of Zell (German, empress's page, archdeacon, convent chaplain, Benedictine abbot, died at about age 73 in 1093)
St. William of Breteuil [Guillaume] (French, Benedictine abbot, d. 1130)

If you have anything to share about these holy people, please reply now -- biographical episodes, prayers through their intercession, the fact that one is your patron -- whatever moves you. If you are interested in one of these saints or blesseds and want to find out more about him/her, please ask. Additional information is sometimes available on the Internet.

All you holy men and women, saints of God, pray for us.
God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik ("jfgecik@hotmail.com), July 14, 2004

Answers

-- ("jfgecik@hotmail.com), July 14, 2004.

Great thanks again>> JFG. St. Idus of Leinster (Irish, disciple of St. Patrick, bishop of Alt- Fadha, 5th century) How many disciples of St.Patrick where there and who where they?

Pax christi

-- Andrew m Tillcock (drewmeister7@earthlink.net), July 14, 2004.

I'm sorry, Andrew, but I can't answer that question, since I don't have a list of that kind.
However, I do know that, as the days go by, you will occasionally see, listed on these threads, the names of other disciples of St. Patrick who are revered as "saints" or "blesseds" today.

If you'd prefer not to wait for the threads to be posted, you can browse through the old set of threads, one day at a time, or you can seek a biography of St. Patrick in a Catholic bookstore or library.

You might find something about disciples in the article about St. Patrick in the Internet copy of the old "Catholic Encyclopedia." You can also look at the results of these two Google searches: search 1 and search 2.

God bless you.
John

-- ("jfgecik@hotmail.com), July 15, 2004.

Thank's JFG,after reading this again about St.Patrick i alway's wonder where he really was born,I have heard he was born in Dunbarton, Scotland, Cumberland, England, or in northern Wales. Well i guess from that answer and previous ones you can tell who my patron Saint is.Especially being of Irish/British parents.

Peace.........

-- Andrew m Tillcock (drewmeister7@earthlink.net), July 16, 2004.

Hello John,

I am wondering about Bl. Kateri Tekawitha of Ossernenon ["Lily of the Mohawks"]. I heard about her on Catholic radio and her beatification process. Do you know of any websites where they list the progress of all the Blesseds on their way to being declared Saints? I'd like to follow her process.

Thank you for all your great work and God bless!

-- Emily ("jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), July 28, 2004.

Jmj
Hi, Emily. Thanks very much for your kind words.

You asked, "Do you know of any websites where they list the progress of all the Blesseds on their way to being declared Saints?"
No, I don't. I have my doubts that such a site exists. There is no list of that kind on the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints" page. In my experience, the Congregation is quite silent about its preliminary work, probably sharing information only with very few outsiders. With regard specifically to Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha, I would recommend that you glance at two things:
(1) the following FAQ page: Click here. (2) the middle part of the following page, which tells about a possibly miraculous cure that occurred in the year 2000: Click here.

In the Church's official jargon used in referring to matters of this kind, the people who are "promoting the cause of canonization" of Blessed Kateri -- (i.e., the folks who would like to hear about any favors believed to have been granted by God through Bl. Kateri's intercession -- the official conduits of such information to the Vatican) -- can be reached by calling or writing to the following:

Office of the Vice-Postulator
Father John J. Paret, S.J.
c/o Martyrs' Shrine
136 Shrine Road
Auriesville, New York 12106
Telephone: (518) 853-3153
Fax: (518) 853-3051
E-mail: paret@martyrshrine.org

You might be able to contact those folks to determine whether or not the Vatican is currently investigating the 2000 event or any other alleged miracles attributed to Bl. Kateri's intercession.

Emily, you don't know what a pleasant surprise it was for me to read about your interest in Bl. Kateri, to whom I have had a special devotion for several years. Back in 2000 or 2001, I made a bit of a pilgrimage to visit her birthplace in central New York and her burial place in Canada. It was a beautiful experience!

Now I would like to share a lot of Blessed-Kateri-related links, etc., with you (and other readers) now. (I sure hope that I don't mess up the HTML on this!)

First, here are my favorite artistic renderings of Bl. Kateri:
Click 1
Click 2
Click 3

Next is a photo of her tomb, inside a church that I visited in Kahnawake, an Indian village very near Montreal, Quebec: Click here.

Next is a photo of the front of her U.S. shrine, which I visited in Fonda, New York: Click here.

Other important addresses (street and e-mail) can be found here.

Here are some brief biographies of Bl. Kateri:
#1 ... #2 (top half of page) ... #3 ... #4 ... #5 ... #6 ... #7 ... #8 (top half of page)

Here is the text of a full-length (over 300 pages) biography from 1891: Click.

Prayer for the Canonization of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha:
O God who, among the many marvels of Your Grace in the New World, did cause to blossom on the banks of the Mohawk and of the St. Lawrence, the pure and tender Lily, Kateri Tekakwitha, grant we beseech You, the favor we beg through her intercession; that this Young Lover of Jesus and of His Cross may soon be counted among her Saints by Holy Mother Church, and that our hearts may be enkindled with a stronger desire to imitate her innocence and faith. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
[Imprimatur: Most Reverend Howard J. Hubbard, DD, Bishop of Albany]

For the "Litany of Bl. Kateri," click here.
For related novena prayers and meditations, see the bottom half of this page ... and the bottom half of this page.

I found confirmed on the Internet what I was told in person by an expert at Bl. Kateri's shrine -- namely, that the correct (Mohawk) pronunication of her name is gah-dah-LEE deh-gah-GWEE-thah. She pronounced her name this way, I was told, because her language did not have some of our consonantal sounds -- for example, k, t, and r.
"Kateri" is a version of Katherine.
Although we will often find her referred to as the "Lily of the Mohawks" -- understood as meaning "purest of the Mohawk people -- I believe that I've read that the correct title is "Lily of the Mohawk" (which you will also encounter in your reading). In fact, she was only half-Mohawk. The title "Lily of the Mohawk" is intended to convey the fact that she was like a beautiful flower that sprung up on the banks of the Mohawk River -- which does indeed flow past her birthplace. (She is buried within sight of the St. Lawrence River.)

Here are some more sites that an interested person could visit:
----- Small sites:
Click 1
Click 2
Click 3
----- Bigger sites (with much info and other links) -- not to be missed if one is deeply interested:
Click 1
Click 2
Click 3

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik ("jfgecik@hotmail.com), July 29, 2004.

I knew that I'd mess something up! It could have been worse though. I just had a "b" (bold) instead of a "br" (branch). Sorry.

-- ("jfgecik@hotmail.com), July 29, 2004.

John, Thank you so much for all of this wonderful information! You are truly a blessing. I am going to email you some more behind this story about my interest in her. God bless,

-- Emily ("jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), July 29, 2004.