Jmj

On August 4, 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. John Baptist Mary Vianney of Dardilly [Jean-Baptiste Marie] ["Curé d'Ars" (Parish Priest of Ars)] (French, farm hand, parish priest for 40 years, heard confessions all day, died at age 73 in 1869 [beatified 1905, canonized 1925])

St. Agabius of Verona (Italian, bishop, c. 250)
St. Aristarchus of Thessalonica (Greek, bishop, companion of St. Paul [Acts 20, Philemon], martyred [beheaded] in 1st century)
Bl. Francis of Pesaro [Francesco] (Italian, Franciscan tertiary, hermit, miracle worker, d. 1350)
St. Eleutherius of Constantinople (from Asia Minor [now called Turkey], martyred c. 300)
St. Euphronius of Tours (French, bishop, died at about age 43 in 573)
Bl. Frederick Janssoone of Ghyvelde [Frederic] (French, Franciscan priest, died in Canada in 1916 [beatified 1988])
Bl. Henry Krzysztofik of Zachorzew [Henryk] [baptized Józef (Joseph)] (Polish, Capuchin priest, martyred by Nazis at Dachau [Germany] at age 34 in 1942 [beatified 1999])
St. Ia and companions (Greek and Persian, slave and her converts, tortured and martyred by beheading in 360)
St. Isidore (French, early martyr)
St. Molua of Limerick (Irish, hermit, abbot, d. 622)
St. Perpetua of Rome (Italian, matron, c. 80)
St. Protasius of Cologne (German?, early martyr)
St. Raynerius of Fontavellana [Raniero] (Italian, Camaldolese monk, bishop of Cagli, archbishop of Spalatro, martyred by stoning in 1180)
St. Sithney (from British Isles, monk in France, c. 529)
St. Tertullinus (Roman, priest for two days, martyred in 257)
Bl. William Horne [or Horn] and companions (English, Carthusian brothers, martyred [drawn, hanged, and quartered] under Henry VIII in 1540 [beatified 1886])

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), August 04, 2004

Answers

[Some spiritual advice from St. John Vianney:]

"All our religion is but a false religion, and all our virtues are mere illusions and we ourselves are only hypocrites in the sight of God, if we have not that universal charity for everyone -- for the good, and for the bad, for the poor and for the rich, and for all those who do us harm as much as those who do us good."

"If people would do for God what they do for the world, what a great number of Christians would go to Heaven!"

"I tell you that you have less to suffer in following the Cross than in serving the world and its pleasures."

"You cannot please both God and the world at the same time. They are utterly opposed to each other in their thoughts, their desires, and their actions."

"We should consider those moments spent before the Blessed Sacrament as the happiest of our lives."

"My little children, ... If you pray and love, that is where a man's happiness lies."

"My little children, your hearts, are small, but prayer stretches them and makes them capable of loving God. Through prayer we receive a foretaste of heaven and something of paradise comes down upon us. Prayer never leaves us without sweetness. It is honey that flows into the souls and makes all things sweet. When we pray properly, sorrows disappear like snow before the sun."

"Some men immerse themselves as deeply in prayer as fish in water, because they give themselves totally to God. O, how I love these noble souls! How unlike them we are! How often we come to church with no idea of what to do or what to ask for. And yet, whenever we go to any human being, we know well enough why we go. ... I often think that when we come to adore the Lord, we would receive everything we ask for, if we would ask with living faith and with a pure heart."

"Prayer is the inner bath of love into which the soul plunges itself."

-- ("jfgecik@hotmail.com), August 04, 2004.

[Note: I am copying the following (indented) message from the old, obsolete "saints" thread for this day of the year, so that the old thread can later be deleted. JFG]

I think that, all my life, I have seen St. John's name spelled as "Vianney." What a surprise it was then, when, in a special program about the saint on EWTN a week ago, I saw the tombstone of his parents -- on which was clearly carved: "Vianay"!
Maybe I will some day find out how the spelling change occurred. Or does any of you already know?
JFG

-- August 12, 2002.

-- ("jfgecik@hotmail.com), August 04, 2004.

Thank you John. The spirtual advice from Saint John Vianney was very helpful. Reading about the thoughts or life of any saint is always helpful, but some speak to our conscience better than others. For myself, the Cure d'Ars has always been an inspiration.

-- Pat Delaney (pat@patdelaney.net), August 04, 2004.