Jmj

On August 9, 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. Amadeus of Assisi (Portuguese, nobleman, hermit, Franciscan brother, priest, d. 1482)
St. Amor (French, early martyr)
St. Autor of Metz (French, bishop, 5th century)
St. Bandaridus of Soissons (French, bishop, d. 556)
St. Domitian of Châlons-sur-Marne (French, bishop, 4th century)
Bl. Falco of Calabria (Italian, hermit, d. 1440 [beatified 1893])
Sts. Firmus and Rusticus of Bergamo (Italian, laymen, martyred in 290)
Bl. Florentino Asensio Barroso of Villasexmir (Spanish, bishop of Barbastro, martyred in Civil War at age 59 in 1936 [beatified 1997])
Bl. John Bufalari of Rieti [Giovanni] (Italian, Augustinian friar, porter, c. 1350 [beatified 1832])
Bl. John Norton of Yorkshire (English, layman, martyred under Elizabeth I in 1600 [beatified 1987])
Bl. John of Salerno [Giovanni] (Italian, disciple of St. Dominic, died at about age 82 in 1272 [beatified 1783])
Bl. John Talbot of Thornton-le-Street (English, layman, martyred under Elizabeth I in 1600 [beatified 1987])
Sts. Julian, Marcian, and ten companions, of Constantinople (from what is now Turkey, opposed iconoclast heresy, martyred in 730)
St. Maurilius of Reims (French, Benedictine monk in France and Italy, archbishop of Rouen, d. 1067)
St. Nathy of Luighne (Irish, priest, 6th century [canonized 1903])
St. Numidicus of Carthage (North African, martyred by burning in 3rd century)
St. Phelim (Irish, monk, 6th century)
St. Romanus Ostiarius of Rome (Italian, soldier, martyred in 258)
St. Rusticus (Pannonian [Hungarian], martyred in 4th century)
St. Samuel of Edessa (from Asia Minor [now called Turkey], ecclesiastical writer, opposed Nestorian and other heresies, d. 496)
Sts. Secundian, Marcellian, and Verian, of Tuscany (Italian, government official and students, martyred in 250)
St. Serenus of Marseilles (French, bishop, d. 606)
St. Teresa Blessed by the Cross Stein of Breslau [Teresa Benedykta od Krzyza (Latin: Teresa Benedicta a Cruce)] [baptized Edyta (Edith)] (Polish, professor, convert from atheism and Judaism, philosopher, Carmelite nun in Germany and Holland, spiritual writer, imprisoned at Auschwitz [Oswiecim] in Poland, martyred by gassing at age 50 in 1942 [beatified 1987, canonized 1998])
Bl. Thomas Palaster of Ellerton-upon-Swale [surname also spelled Palasor, Palaster, Pallicer] (English, priest, martyred under Elizabeth I at about age 30 in 1600 [beatified 1987])

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 09, 2004

Answers

[From the writings of St. Teresa Stein:]

"Whatever did not fit in with my plan did lie within the plan of God. I have an ever deeper and firmer belief that nothing is merely an accident when seen in the light of God, that my whole life down to the smallest details has been marked out for me in the plan of Divine Providence and has a completely coherent meaning in God's all-seeing eyes. And so I am beginning to rejoice in the light of glory wherein this meaning will be unveiled to me."

"Learn from Saint Thérèse [of Lisieux] to depend on God alone and serve Him with a wholly pure and detached heart. Then, like her, you will be able to say 'I do not regret that I have given myself up to Love.'"

"O my God, fill my soul with holy joy, courage, and strength to serve You. Enkindle Your love in me and then walk with me along the next stretch of road before me. I do not see very far ahead, but when I have arrived where the horizon now closes down, a new prospect will open before me, and I shall meet it with peace."

-- ("jfgecik@hotmail.com), August 09, 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]

Dear John:
Very good idea to give the day's Saints. Maybe this could be helpful, at least to Spanish-speaking persons:

http://www.ch urchforum.org/santoral/indicalfa.htm

-- Enrique Ortiz -- August 10, 2001.

-- ("jfgecik@hotmail.com), August 09, 2004.