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Saints

- What Catholics Believe About Saints
  
  It's important to remember that saints aren't supernatural beings to be worshiped. In fact, in the New Testament, the term saint often is a synonym for Christian. We are all saints and are called again and again to become saints in our lives. The word "saint" comes from the Latin word sanctus, meaning a holy one.
- Why do Catholics pray to the Virgin Mary, the saints, and the angels?
  
  Praying to Mary, the saints, and the angels can sound like trying to get "friends in high places" to run interference for you. Although people sometimes seek such "friends" in order to get a speeding ticket fixed, buy merchandise at a lower price or have some problem resolved, for Catholics that is not what devotion to the saints represents.
  
  God alone is the source of all grace and blessing. Saints do not "fix" things for us apart from God or convince God to do X rather than Y. At Vatican II, the bishops taught that the holiness of the Church "is shown constantly in the fruits of grace which the Spirit produces in the faithful and so it must be" (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, #39). Those "fruits of grace" are seen in the lives of saintly disciples, whether canonized or not.
  
  Jesus was fully divine and fully human. As a human, Jesus could be only one gender, live at one time in history, grow up in one human culture, etc. Saints help us to see holiness as possible for ourselves because saints include men and women, married and single people who lived at various times in human history and in various cultures. Saints remind us that, no matter what sacrifices we may need to make in order to cooperate with God's grace, we are not the first people to make those sacrifices. If we ask our friends on earth to pray for us, why not ask our friends in heaven to do the same?
  
  -Franciscan Media
- When the Church keeps the memorials of martyrs and other saints during the annual cycle , she proclaims the Paschal Mystery in those "who have suffered and have been glorified with Christ. She proposes them to the faithful as examples who draw all men to the Father through Christ, and through their merists she begs for God's favors."
  -Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1173

Feast Days of the Saints

June 2023

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Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
				1 Saint Justin, Martyr Month View June 1, 2023 Saint Justin, Martyr Thursday, June 1 Through Saint Justin, philosopher and apologist, we understand the meaning of truth and bearing witness to it. Read More	2 Saints Marcellinus and Peter, Martyrs Month View June 2, 2023 Saints Marcellinus and Peter, Martyrs Friday, June 2 Though we know very little about these two martyrs under Diocletian, there is no question that the early church venerated them. Evidence of the respect in which they were held are the basilica Constantine built over their tombs and the presence of their names in the Eucharistic Prayer 1. Read More	3 Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs Month View June 3, 2023 Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs Saturday, June 3 For those of us who think that the faith and zeal of the early Christians died out as the Church grew more safe and powerful through the centuries, the martyrs of Uganda are a reminder that persecution of Christians continues in modern times, even to the present day.... Read More
4 Blessed Angeline of Marsciano Saint Francis Caracciolo Month View June 4, 2023 Blessed Angeline of Marsciano Sunday, June 4 Blessed Angeline founded the first community of Franciscan women other than Poor Clares to receive papal approval. Read More Saint Francis Caracciolo Sunday, June 4 A medical crisis that proved to be a false alarm changed the life of this 16th-century saint. At age 22, Francis developed a troublesome skin disease resembling leprosy—one of the most dreaded diseases of the day. Read More	5 Saint Boniface, Bishop and Martyr Month View June 5, 2023 Saint Boniface, Bishop and Martyr Monday, June 5 Saint Boniface reminds us of Jesus' words that there is little merit in loving and helping only those who love us. Saint Boniface is known as the Apostle of Germany. He not only brought the Christian faith but Roman Christian civilization to this portion of Europe. Saint Boniface is the patron Saint of our parish. Read More	6 Saint Norbet, Bishop Month View June 6, 2023 Saint Norbet, Bishop Tuesday, June 6 In Saint Norbert we remember to welcome the "bolts of lightning" that allow us to change and reform our lives. Read More	7 Blessed Franz Jägerstätter Month View June 7, 2023 Blessed Franz Jägerstätter Wednesday, June 7 Called to serve his country as a Nazi solider, Franz eventually refused, and this husband and father of three daughters—Rosalie, Marie and Aloisia—was executed because of it. Read More	8 Saint William of York Month View June 8, 2023 Saint William of York Thursday, June 8 A disputed election as archbishop of York and a mysterious death. Those are the headlines from the tragic life of today’s saint. Read More	9 Saint Ephrem, Deacon and Doctor of the Church Month View June 9, 2023 Saint Ephrem, Deacon and Doctor of the Church Friday, June 9 Poet, teacher, orator, and defender of the faith, Ephrem is the only Syrian recognized as a doctor of the Church. He took upon himself the special task of opposing the many false doctrines rampant at his time, always remaining a true and forceful defender of the Catholic Church. Read More	10 Blessed Joachima Month View June 10, 2023 Blessed Joachima Saturday, June 10 Born into an aristocratic family in Barcelona, Spain, Joachima was 12 when she expressed a desire to become a Carmelite nun. Read More
11 Saint Barnabas, Apostle and Martyr Month View June 11, 2023 Saint Barnabas, Apostle and Martyr Sunday, June 11 An apostle whose very name means exhortation and consolation, Saint Barnabas teaches us to both encourage and comfort others. Read More	12 Blessed Jolenta of Poland Month View June 12, 2023 Blessed Jolenta of Poland Monday, June 12 Jolenta was the daughter of Bela IV, King of Hungary. Her sister, St. Kunigunde, was married to the Duke of Poland. Jolenta was sent to Poland where her sister was to supervise her education. Read More	13 Saint Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church Month View June 13, 2023 Saint Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church Tuesday, June 13 Patron of those who have suffered a loss, Saint Anthony reminds us that none of us are lost to God. Saint Anthony is venerated all over the world as the Patron Saint for lost articles, and is credited with many miracles involving lost people, lost things and even lost spiritual goods. Read More	14 Saint Albert Chmielowski Month View June 14, 2023 Saint Albert Chmielowski Wednesday, June 14 Born in Igolomia near Kraków as the eldest of four children in a wealthy family, he was christened Adam. During the 1864 revolt against Czar Alexander III, Adam’s wounds forced the amputation of his left leg... Read More	15 Saint Marguerite d’Youville Month View June 15, 2023 Saint Marguerite d’Youville Thursday, June 15 We learn compassion from allowing our lives to be influenced by compassionate people, by seeing life from their perspectives, and reconsidering our own values. Read More	16 Saint John Francis Regis Month View June 16, 2023 Saint John Francis Regis Friday, June 16 Born into a family of some wealth, John Francis was so impressed by his Jesuit educators that he himself wished to enter the Society of Jesus. He did so at age 18. Read More	17 Saint Joseph Cafasso Month View June 17, 2023 Saint Joseph Cafasso Saturday, June 17 Even as a young man, Joseph loved to attend Mass and was known for his humility and fervor in prayer. Read More
18 Venerable Matt Talbot Month View June 18, 2023 Venerable Matt Talbot Sunday, June 18 Matt can be considered the patron of men and women struggling with alcoholism. Read More	19 Saint Romuald, Abbot Month View June 19, 2023 Saint Romuald, Abbot Monday, June 19 Saint Romuald spent the next 30 years going about Italy, founding monasteries and hermitages. He longed to give his life to Christ in martyrdom, and got the pope’s permission to preach the gospel in Hungary. Read More	20 Saint Paulinus of Nola, Bishop Month View June 20, 2023 Saint Paulinus of Nola, Bishop Tuesday, June 20 Saint Paulinus was a married priest and bishop. In his day, marriage was not an impediment to the priesthood. Though married for many years, Saint Paulinus and his wife were childless. When they finally were blessed with a son, he lived but a few weeks. Read More	21 Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious Month View June 21, 2023 Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious Wednesday, June 21 In his youthful devotion and early death, Saint Aloysius Gonzaga demonstrates that faith and wisdom are gifts of God, not of age. Read More	22 Saint Thomas More, Martyr Saint John Fisher, Bishop Month View June 22, 2023 Saint Thomas More, Martyr Thursday, June 22 Made famous by his own holy life and featured in the movie "A Man for All Seasons," Saint Thomas More is the patron of those in the law profession. Husband, father, chancellor, and lawyer, Saint Thomas More stands out as a leading figure in British history. He was reluctantly martyred by King Henry VIII in 1535. Read More Saint John Fisher, Bishop Thursday, June 22 Saint John Fisher’s name is usually associated with Saint Thomas More and their difficulty with King Henry VIII. Saint John Fisher, a bishop and cardinal, refused to agree with Henry VIII’s divorce and remarriage as well as the idea that the king, rather than the pope, was the head of the Church in England. He was imprisoned and eventually martyred. Read More	23 Saint John Fisher Month View June 23, 2023 Saint John Fisher Friday, June 23 John Fisher is usually associated with Erasmus, Thomas More, and other Renaissance humanists. His life therefore, did not have the external simplicity found in the lives of some saints. Rather, he was a man of learning, associated with the intellectuals and political leaders of his day. Read More	24 Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist Month View June 24, 2023 Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist Saturday, June 24 John the Baptist was a contemporary of Christ who was known for evangelization and his baptizing of Jesus Christ. Read More
25 Blessed Jutta of Thuringia Month View June 25, 2023 Blessed Jutta of Thuringia Sunday, June 25 Today’s patroness of Prussia began her life amidst luxury and power, but died the death of a simple servant of the poor. Read More	26 Blessed Raymond Lull Month View June 26, 2023 Blessed Raymond Lull Monday, June 26 Raymond worked all his life to promote the missions and died a missionary to North Africa. Read More	27 Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop and Doctor of the Church Month View June 27, 2023 Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop and Doctor of the Church Tuesday, June 27 Through Saint Cyril's tireless work, we proclaim that Jesus was truly the Son of God from the moment of His conception. Saint Cyril of Alexandria was instrumental in the Church’s doctrinal statement that there is one person but two natures in Christ. The practical implication of this teaching is that we believe that Jesus is truly God and truly human. This definition was the source of much controversy in the early Church. Read More	28 Saint Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr Month View June 28, 2023 Saint Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr Wednesday, June 28 Defender of the faith in the 2nd Century, Saint Irenaeus reminds us how precious is the gift of faith. Read More	29 Saint Peter, Apostle and Martyr Saint Paul, Apostle and Martyr Month View June 29, 2023 Saint Peter, Apostle and Martyr Thursday, June 29 Saint Peter, the original "fisher of men", teach us that God chooses the most ordinary of people to serve His Church. We celebrate two great saints today, Saints Peter and Paul. Saint Peter is often considered the Apostle to the Jews and Saint Paul to the gentiles (based, most probably, on his extensive travels among the gentiles). Together they witnessed to the budding of Christianity, and both laid down their lives for the faith. Read More Saint Paul, Apostle and Martyr Thursday, June 29 We celebrate two great saints today, Saints Peter and Paul. Saint Peter is often considered the Apostle to the Jews and Saint Paul to the gentiles (based, most probably, on his extensive travels among the gentiles). Together they witnessed to the budding of Christianity, and both laid down their lives for the faith. Read More	30 First Martyrs of the Church of Rome Month View June 30, 2023 First Martyrs of the Church of Rome Friday, June 30 There were Christians in Rome within a dozen or so years after the death of Jesus, though they were not the converts of the “Apostle of the Gentiles” (Romans 15:20). Read More

- Veneration of the Saints
  
  Many popular devotional practices involve veneration of the saints. The saints have a special place in the Body of Christ, which includes both the living and the dead. Through Christ we on earth remain in communion both with the saints in heaven and with the dead who are still in Purgatory. We can pray for those in Purgatory and ask the saints to pray for us. Through their prayers of intercession, the saints in heaven play an integral role in the life of the Church on earth. "For after they have been received into their heavenly home and are present to the Lord, through Him and with Him and in Him they do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, showing forth the merits which they won on earth through the one Mediator between God and man." The saints, the members of the Church who have arrived at perfect union with Christ, join their wills to the will of God in praying for those in the Church who are still on their pilgrimage of faith.
  
  Besides, what the saints can do for us by their prayers, the very practice of venerating the saints does great good for those who are devoted to the saints. By practicing love of the saints we strengthen the unity of the entire Body of Christ in the Spirit.
  This in turn brings us all closer to Christ. "For just as Christian communion among wayfarers brings us closer to Christ, so our companionship with the saints joins us to Christ, from Whom as from its Fountain and Head issues every grace and the very life of the people of God."
  Love of the saints necessarily includes and leads to love of Christ and to love of the Holy Trinity. "For every genuine testimony of love shown by us to those in heaven, by its very nature tends toward and terminates in Christ who is the 'crown of all saints,' and through Him, in God Who is wonderful in his saints and is magnified in them."
  
  —From Popular Devotional Practices
- Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles, among whom you are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ; to all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy.
  Romans 1: 5-7
- Communion of Saints
  
  In the above scripture passage, Paul often referred to the Christian faithful as "saints", with the use of Holy. In common usage, we usually reserve this word for those who have died and have been canonized by a formal process. However, the Church recognizes the "Communion of Saints", which includes the pilgrim Church on earth (those faithful still living), the Church Suffering (those who are in Purgatory), and the rest of the Church who enjoy the direct vision of God (those who are in Heaven). This use of the word "saints" emphasizes the universal call to holiness, which was understood by the early Church.
  -Catechism of the Catholic Church 946-948, 954-962, 2813
  
  Paul refers to Christians as "the holy ones" or "the saints". The Christian community regarded its members as sanctified by baptism (Romans 6:22;15:16, 1 Corinthians6:11; Ephesians 5:26-27). Christians are called to holiness (1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:7), that is, they are called to make their lives conform to the gift they have already received.

Saints

What Catholics Believe About Saints

Why do Catholics pray to the Virgin Mary, the saints, and the angels?

Veneration of the Saints

Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles, among whom you are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ; to all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy. Romans 1: 5-7

Communion of Saints

Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles, among whom you are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ; to all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy.
Romans 1: 5-7