tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25499890261087216952024-03-12T17:34:07.209-07:00Sarah's SaintsA new blog by Sarah Gallick, author of The Big Book of Women SaintsSarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2549989026108721695.post-36723047848891251072014-07-10T06:02:00.000-07:002014-08-28T09:07:46.175-07:00Two Saints Who Loved Dogs <span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Back from my pilgrimage to Fatima, Lourdes and other sacred spots that I'll write about soon, I've resumed blogging as of today. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Last week I spoke about the saints to a group of New
Yorkers. It was a pet-friendly club and
two women brought their dogs. They could
not have been more different: Spud is a feisty looking mixed breed with a lot
of German shepherd in him and Cameo is a fluffy white Pomeranian who regularly
attends Mass. Both of them were beautifully
behaved and devoted to their mistresses. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px;">This got me thinking about saints associated with dogs. Two of the most interesting are St Roch (or Rocco), the pilgrim saint, and St Philip Howard, an English martyr in the time of Elizabeth.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Saint Roch’s life was saved by a dog</span></b></h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaatLh6WEouiUqXKuCHe2WpnRpsBR-p8DdqXq9D8vYmPJlqjtUbmqq6v9JmMQRSneZ30p7QfuhuZxz8lSvPvPPQD_EIj8KRTrOzcMSLsjc74a0hDNQJvXdHsiM_Ip7fzchDJvH0Fo-fhs/s1600/10+Saints+who+loved+dogs++Rocco+image+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaatLh6WEouiUqXKuCHe2WpnRpsBR-p8DdqXq9D8vYmPJlqjtUbmqq6v9JmMQRSneZ30p7QfuhuZxz8lSvPvPPQD_EIj8KRTrOzcMSLsjc74a0hDNQJvXdHsiM_Ip7fzchDJvH0Fo-fhs/s1600/10+Saints+who+loved+dogs++Rocco+image+1.JPG" height="320" width="169" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: xx-small;">St. Roch and his best friend. The shells on his cloak </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">identify him as a pilgrim. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Credit: SantiBeati.com</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Saint
Roch (c.1 345-1376) is one of the great pilgrim saints. There is a large statue of him at Lourdes and
more can be found at shrines throughout Europe.
We know very little about his early life, but he is believed to have
been born to wealthy, elderly parents in Montpelier, in the south of France. His birth was something of a miracle: his
parents had been childless for years. By
the age of 20 Roch was a very rich orphan.
He sold off everything, donated the proceeds to the poor, and set out on
a pilgrimage to Rome to visit the tombs of SS Peter and Paul. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">By
July 1367, he arrived in Acquapendente, in the province of Viterbo, a region
hard hit by the plague. Many people were
fleeing the city, but Roch stayed and began nursing the sick who took refuge in
local churches. He was said to have
performed many miraculous cures.
Convinced now that he was called to heal the sick, he continued south to
Emilia Romagna, nursing plague victims there, and finally arrived in Rome in
1368. He attracted attention with his
most famous miracle: the healing of a cardinal afflicted with the plague. The grateful cardinal presented Roch to Pope
Urban V. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">By
1371 Roch was on the road again, nursing the sick in Forli, Parma, Bologna and
other cities along the<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGGc2Mwu-4-SkbmaMCSkFjOSNgfgbNjqTjmRGFrPqSkjhSI3lTO6j8vE8zFarXU3ILZElBdR1lZl5i2SENAEa97r-2ajVkp32Fh83hUrmWnon_GBblIn6A6vfdD6Tb5c3aLj-4QDlSx9o/s1600/10+Saints+Who+Loved+Dogs+Rocco+image+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGGc2Mwu-4-SkbmaMCSkFjOSNgfgbNjqTjmRGFrPqSkjhSI3lTO6j8vE8zFarXU3ILZElBdR1lZl5i2SENAEa97r-2ajVkp32Fh83hUrmWnon_GBblIn6A6vfdD6Tb5c3aLj-4QDlSx9o/s1600/10+Saints+Who+Loved+Dogs+Rocco+image+2.JPG" height="253" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">St. Roch attends a plague victim. <br />His little friend is almost always shown holding a loaf bread in his mouth. <br />Credit: SantiBeati.com</span></td></tr>
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way. He was at
Piacenza when he contracted the plague himself.
No one would come near him and he retreated to a cave in a forest near
the river Trebbia, preparing to die alone.
But he was not alone for long. A
dog began visiting him daily, bringing him a loaf of bread and licking his
sores, hastening his own miraculous recovery.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
turned out that the dog belonged to Gottardo Pollastrelli, the nobleman who
owned the property. Gottardo became curious
about what his dog was up to, followed him and discovered Roch. He allowed Roch to remain until he was well
enough to continue his journey. Roch
returned to Montpelier where he died soon after.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Saint
Roch is a patron of plague victims, pilgrims, stoneworkers and the region of
Basilicata. His feast is August 16. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Saint Philip Howard, consoled by his greyhound in the Tower of London</span></h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwvcvNsp4Q6Sd_onxwaLHZtbB3Nr6TT79Fyri5IHTHW8nQARqOfWifk1O_01g_9NKB9PafTrQbBsvh0NUWmfV1J-Jh6PEkuU7IXTJvx6r9SVHPOxYoFuOvNcxcDme1XvF2157A59m6emk/s1600/10+Saints+who+loved+dogs+Philip+Howard+in+Tower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwvcvNsp4Q6Sd_onxwaLHZtbB3Nr6TT79Fyri5IHTHW8nQARqOfWifk1O_01g_9NKB9PafTrQbBsvh0NUWmfV1J-Jh6PEkuU7IXTJvx6r9SVHPOxYoFuOvNcxcDme1XvF2157A59m6emk/s1600/10+Saints+who+loved+dogs+Philip+Howard+in+Tower.jpg" height="200" width="149" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">St Philip Howard's greyhound<br /> was his only companion in the Tower.<br /> Credit: SantiBeati.com</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">A
handsome, quick-witted and frivolous aristocrat, Saint Philip Howard
(1557-1595) had everything it took to be a successful courtier, even in a court
as rife with intrigue as his cousin Elizabeth’s. His own father was beheaded for treason, but
Philip managed to inherit his title and his lands. As Earl of Arundel and Surrey Philip devoted
himself to all the pleasures that the queen allowed. He treated his wife Anne badly, and even left
her for a time. Her conversion to
Catholicism didn’t help. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">According
to his biography at Arundel Cathedral, “the turning point came in 1581 when he
was present at a disputation in the Tower of London between a group of Catholic
prisoners, Father Edmund Campion, S.J., Father Ralph Sherwin, and others. These humble suffering confessors awakened Philip’s
soul and he returned to Arundel to think about reconciliation with the Catholic
Church which he knew meant death.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">St Philip Howard and his greyhound. <br />Credit: Arundel Cathedral</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Once
he returned to the Church, it was impossible to remain in England. He was preparing to leave the country when
he was arrested and held in the Tower of London. He was tried and condemned to death in
1589. Unknown to him, Queen Elizabeth
could never bring herself to sign the death warrant and so he remained in the
Tower, expecting each day to be his last.
He asked for a visit from his wife and newborn son; the answer came back
from Elizabeth: he could have anything he wanted, once he attended a Protestant
service. He refused. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
so, for the next six years, his only companion in the Tower was his
greyhound. Unlike Philip, the dog was
free to move about and he visited another future saint, Robert Southwell, S.J.,
in a cell nearby. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Once
the irritated jailer asked Philip Howard if the dog was bringing back a
blessing from the priest. “That might
well be,” Philip answered. He reminded
the jailer of Saint Anthony the Great who discovered the newly dug grave of
Saint Paul the Hermit, guarded by lions that wailed at Anthony until he raised
his hand to bless them. It was not
unreasonable to believe that Southwell blessed the loyal greyhound.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Philip
Howard died in prison. Visitors to the
Tower can still see the words he carved in Latin on the walls of his cell: “The
more suffering in Christ in this life, the more glory in heaven.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Saint
Philip Howard, Edmund Campion and Robert Southwell were canonized among the
Forty Martyrs of England and Wales in 1970.
Philip Howard’s feast day is October 19.
His shrine is at Arundel Cathedral in Sussex and the memorial stained
glass window there depicts him accompanied by his greyhound.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Sarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2549989026108721695.post-45886565654180989932014-03-21T09:43:00.000-07:002014-03-21T09:43:00.170-07:00<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Hoarding in the Bible</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> One
of our local characters is an aging trust funder who has been featured on the
TV show “Hoarders.” He was one of their
rare failures and now he’s about to be evicted from his apartment in one of the
most desirable neighborhoods in Manhattan.
What makes his story even more
poignant is that he was the son of two well-known, very glamorous celebrities
of the 1950’s. He grew up in a mansion
on Long Island’s Gold Coast, and never lacked for material things. Now, because he can’t let go of his stuff, he
and his five cats will soon be homeless.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cdn2.brooklynmuseum.org/images/opencollection/objects/size2/00.159.79_PS2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://cdn2.brooklynmuseum.org/images/opencollection/objects/size2/00.159.79_PS2.jpg" height="320" width="209" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">"The Man Who Hoards" by James Tissot,<br />from the Brooklyn Museum</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> I’ve
always thought of hoarding as a disease of modern times, a product of our
affluence, so I was surprised to come across “The Man Who Hoards,” a painting
by James Tissot, inspired by Luke 12:16-21, “The Parable of the Rich Fool.” French-born Tissot (1836-1902) was a popular artist
(Degas painted his portrait), known for his portraits of beautiful women. In 1885, he experienced a rebirth of his
Catholic faith and travelled to the Holy Land to study the people and
landscapes. The result was 365 gouache illustrations
of the Life of Christ. These detailed
paintings, so human and yet so historically accurate, are as close as we’ll get
to photographs of the Holy Land in Christ’s time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> In
this case, we’re looking at a rich man who faced a dilemma: his harvest was so bountiful he had nowhere
to store it. His solution was to build a
bigger barn. “But God said to him, ‘You
fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have
prepared, to whom will they belong?’
Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is
not rich in what matters to God.” [Luke 12:20-21]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> The
lesson, Jesus told his disciples: “Do not worry about your life and what you will
eat, or about your body and what you will wear.
For life is more than food and the body more than clothing.. . .” [Luke
12:22-23]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> Time for some spring cleaning! I’m ready to clear out my closets now. </span></div>
Sarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2549989026108721695.post-69677364678366667992014-03-16T07:11:00.002-07:002014-03-16T12:28:49.006-07:00<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 115%;">Saint Patrick of Ireland, </span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 115%;">March 17<sup>th</sup> </span></h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.santiebeati.it/immagini/Original/26400/26400X.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.santiebeati.it/immagini/Original/26400/26400X.JPG" height="320" width="166" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture from SantiBeati.com</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> It’s
time to celebrate Saint Patrick, apostle of the Irish. He’s always portrayed in art as a gray-bearded
bishop, in full regalia, driving the snakes out of Ireland. But before he brought Christianity to
Ireland, Patrick was a carefree teenager, growing up in a Roman colony on the
coast of Wales. He had probably been
warned many times to stay away from the seashore, but he didn’t listen and so
one day he was captured by Irish pirates and sold into slavery. (Which I guess makes him the patron saint of
kids who don’t listen to their parents.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Patrick
spent six years tending to the sheep of a Druid chieftain, until an angel
visited him in a dream and encouraged him to escape. He walked 200 miles to Westport and found a
ship that would take him back to Gaul.
After a series of misadventures, he reached home. But he never forgot the Irish, he dreamed of
them often and he yearned to return and bring them the True Faith. With that in mind, he became a priest, then a
bishop and was commissioned as the missionary to Ireland. One previous mission had failed, and keep in
mind, too that the Romans had never managed to conquer Ireland, either. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Many wonderful stories surround Patrick and way too many
to share here. He told some them in his <i>Confession</i> and the <i>Epistle to the Soldiers of Coroticus</i>. There’s no doubt that he used the
three-leafed shamrock to explain the mystery of the Trinity, nor is there any
doubt that he loved his Faith and his adopted people. So much so, it is said that he was granted a
unique privilege: on Judgment Day, it will be Patrick who reviews the
Irish. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Saint Patrick
is the patron of the Archdiocese of New York and countless other churches
throughout the world. He is also the
patron of engineers, because, according to tradition, he introduced Roman building
techniques into Ireland. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Sarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2549989026108721695.post-25977072135545123602014-03-03T11:43:00.000-08:002014-03-03T12:49:23.108-08:00<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Ash Wednesday, </span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">March 5, 2014</span></span></h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.santiebeati.it/immagini/Original/20240/20240C.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.santiebeati.it/immagini/Original/20240/20240C.JPG" height="196" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Credit: www.SantiBeati.com</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I happen to love Ash Wednesday because it’s a chance
to make a silent statement about my faith.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> I</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">f you
live in a large city like I do, the ashes on your forehead offer a chance to show
solidarity with all kinds of people who are our brothers and sisters in Christ.
With that very visible mark we all become what St. Paul called us, “ambassadors
for Christ.”</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.santiebeati.it/immagini/Thumbs/20240/20240.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.santiebeati.it/immagini/Thumbs/20240/20240.JPG" height="200" width="195" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Jesus in the Desert" by Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy, <br />Credit: www.SantiBeati.com</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The origins of Ash Wednesday are lost in the mists
of time. We do know that since the time of the Old Testament ashes have been associated with repentance. Ash Wednesday introduces Lent's 40 days of fasting </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">and penance. This is</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> said to be modeled on Jesus's 40 day fast in the desert when he wrestled with the devil. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The
current ceremony has not changed very much since the 9</span></span><sup style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">th</sup><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
century. The priest still makes the sign
of the cross in ashes on our forehead and intones, </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> Something it never hurts to remember.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ash Wednesday is not a holy day of obligation. Catholics are not required to attend mass,
although it wouldn’t kill you to do so.
If you can’t attend, it’s still worth reviewing the readings for the
day. They kind of say it all. Here are some excerpts:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>From the prophet Joel (2:12-18): </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Even
now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting and
weeping, and mourning; rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the
Lord, your God. For gracious and
merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment. .
. “<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>From Psalm 51:
</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> “A clean heart create for me, O God,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And a steadfast
spirit renew within me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Cast
me not out from your presence,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
your Holy Spirit take not from me.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">From
St. Paul’s 2<sup>nd</sup> Letter to the Corinthians (5:20-6:2):</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Brothers and Sisters: we are ambassadors
for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. . .working together, then, we
appeal to you not receive the grace of God in vain. . .”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>And,
finally, from the Gospel according to Matthew (6:1-6, 16-18)</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> “Take care not to perform righteous
deeds in order that people see them. . .When you give alms, do not blow a
trumpet before you. . .”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Credit: Loyola University, MD http://blog.loyola.edu/</span></td></tr>
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Sarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2549989026108721695.post-27867382642935189792014-02-27T10:41:00.002-08:002014-02-28T04:35:13.150-08:00<h2>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-large; line-height: 115%;">Joseph of Cupertino—Patron of Astronauts</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In the last few weeks I got to see the movie </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Gravity</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> (starring Sandra Bullock as an
astronaut marooned in space) and </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Hubble
3D</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">, a short documentary about the real-life 2009 shuttle mission to repair
the Hubble Space Telescope.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">IMAX 3-D
cameras accompanied the crew of five into space.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I watched from my comfortable seat in an
Upper West Side theatre as they made five spacewalks to repair and upgrade the
Hubble.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">After the film, Mike Massamino,
one of the astronauts seen in the film, spoke to us a little about the mission
and the whole experience of outer space.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw1WZ-RCuXdp7vRrM_IFAMCnnsnroCi8H7Z6DXrxMGPEwZCNjOc1WfFRKeQwWny4tvg_Clzf8I6301pej-LsAjluJfBpopVPLAik93oBU6ivEihTSE7yH7cUgjvaZRTGSpu3AWy5t9D4g/s1600/6++St+Joseph+of+Cupertino+%233.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw1WZ-RCuXdp7vRrM_IFAMCnnsnroCi8H7Z6DXrxMGPEwZCNjOc1WfFRKeQwWny4tvg_Clzf8I6301pej-LsAjluJfBpopVPLAik93oBU6ivEihTSE7yH7cUgjvaZRTGSpu3AWy5t9D4g/s1600/6++St+Joseph+of+Cupertino+%233.JPG" height="320" width="201" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joseph of Cupertino in a typical pose.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">All this got me thinking about the patron of
astronauts—Saint Joseph of Cupertino (1603-1663), sometimes called “the Flying
Friar.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Joseph was born in the small village of Cupertino in
the Kingdom of Naples and as a child he was labeled a dunce and a loser. He was hot-tempered and given to ecstasies
(religious trances) while in school.
Even his own mother considered him a fool. He was apprenticed to a shoemaker but washed
out. He felt called to religious life
but was rejected by the Conventual Franciscans.
(Astronaut Mike Massamino told us that he and several of his colleagues
had been rejected numerous times before they were finally accepted into the
space program. It took some of them
years, but, like Joseph, they refused to give up.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Joseph was finally accepted into a Capuchin
monastery as a lay brother (a servant) but when he went into one of his ecstasies
he would drop whatever he was holding.
After eight months and too many broken dishes, the Capuchins dismissed
him as incompetent. He left the
monastery with nothing and headed home in rags.
On the way, a rich uncle refused to see him. He reached Cupertino where even his mother
scorned him. The superior of the
monastery of Grottela saw something in Joseph, however. He let him stay in the monastery stable and
look after their donkey. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Joseph embraced this lowly task and impressed
everyone with his cheerfulness and willingness to serve. The superior thought he might make a
religious after all. A religious, maybe,
but a student, no way. He could only
master one passage of Scripture well enough to explain it: “Blessed be the womb
that bore Thee” [Luke 11:27].
Nevertheless, under circumstances that can only be called miraculous, he
passed his examination for the diaconate and, a year later, the examination for
the priesthood. On March 4, 1628 he was
ordained a priest. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi82_m6oAxH-6gcqHioAPfLwlDHwM4TXRDj1kd3T6AcgX8qOR5gbEdZPg0ftQC6Pvj6P9TixCUA9Z8CZ1CsTKUJxOizFHpI7eRzTldebfyhI2ZULjhHHLm95p4TV3FSDchjllSINnK1FP0/s1600/6++St+Joseph+of+Cupertino+%231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi82_m6oAxH-6gcqHioAPfLwlDHwM4TXRDj1kd3T6AcgX8qOR5gbEdZPg0ftQC6Pvj6P9TixCUA9Z8CZ1CsTKUJxOizFHpI7eRzTldebfyhI2ZULjhHHLm95p4TV3FSDchjllSINnK1FP0/s1600/6++St+Joseph+of+Cupertino+%231.JPG" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “From the
time of his ordination, Saint Joseph’s life was one long succession of
ecstasies, miracles of healing and supernatural happenings on a scale not
paralleled in the reasonably authenticated life of any other saint.” (<i>Butler’s
Lives of the Saints).</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Most remarkable was Saint Joseph’s power of
levitation: “he would fly straight from
the church door to the altar over the heads of worshippers; once he flew to an
olive tree and remained kneeling on a branch for half an hour. Happenings like these were almost every day
occurrences, witnessed by hundreds of persons.” (<i>Book of Saints</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Not everyone understood or appreciated all
this. For thirty-five years Saint Joseph
was not allowed to attend choir, dine with his fellow Franciscans, walk in
procession or say Mass in church. He was
ordered to remain in his room where a private chapel was prepared for him. He was even interrogated by the Inquisition. The Franciscans kept him moving from one
lonely monastery to another, but he kept on flying. He arrived
at Osimo in 1657 and died there peacefully at the age of sixty. He was canonized in 1767. His feast day is September 18 and it's no surprise that he is also the patron of struggling students. You can make a virtual tour of his shrine in Osima, Italy, here: <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">http://sangiuseppedacopertino.net/. The pictures here are from www.santibeati.com.</span></span><br />
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Sarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2549989026108721695.post-48648004870088425062014-02-17T06:00:00.002-08:002014-02-17T13:04:41.690-08:00<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Saint Rita of Cascia—Still Helping Brides</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">You probably know Rita of Cascia as a patron
of desperate causes.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Few are more
desperate than the bride looking for the perfect dress, unless it’s the parents
who are expected to pay for it. And that is where St. Rita is still
interceding.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">At her convent in the Umbria region of Italy, Sister
Maria Laura is busy matching brides with wedding dresses.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We could call the convent a recycling center
but that doesn’t do justice to the story filed by Gaia Pianigiani of the </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">New York Times</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">, on February 12.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu0RAE4-YHnXflBMOQqN5nickZxLfSRFr17ULIpUf_bjRgpMVAJX9RbVxrj8lNVl-5MeVkjsw_Bf-ohql4Q8bN9II1oDhv9an-G1k4Bjibs3mOxI_4PABu0p96oK488HOHD66-eZ5pJZY/s1600/5+Saint+Rita+of+Cascia+holy+picture+fr+SB.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu0RAE4-YHnXflBMOQqN5nickZxLfSRFr17ULIpUf_bjRgpMVAJX9RbVxrj8lNVl-5MeVkjsw_Bf-ohql4Q8bN9II1oDhv9an-G1k4Bjibs3mOxI_4PABu0p96oK488HOHD66-eZ5pJZY/s1600/5+Saint+Rita+of+Cascia+holy+picture+fr+SB.JPG" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Piangiani writes that at the convent, which is attached to St. Rita's shrine, Sister Maria Laura “runs one of Italy’s
most unlikely ateliers,” For years women have been donating their wedding gowns
to the convent, in thanks for favors granted.
And a growing number of brides-to-be come there to find the perfect
dress among these donations. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You might recall that St. Rita herself had a
miserable marriage to a bully who smashed all her wedding china. He made many enemies and he was finally
murdered, whereupon she entered the local Augustinian convent and devoted the
rest of her life to good works. She was
associated with many miracles both before and after her death. Her shrine in Cascia has always been visited
by women seeking her help with their own marriages. Many of them, grateful for favors received,
donate their wedding dresses to the convent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Today prospective brides come from all over Italy,
often accompanied by their extended family, seeking a dress from those that
have been donated. Brides who can afford it make a generous cash donation,
but nothing is required. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sister Maria Laura oversees all this. She was a designer and seamstress in Lucca
before entering the convent 20 years ago at the age of 28 and she makes all the necessary alterations. She told the <i>Times</i> that she’s dressed brides in all shapes and sizes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjra_yCc9BiWdKqMCkQOn1B439NUZZUm8MsvgSVTo2T1rqfVroiE1GbJF0Hm_NFxlTLXKaelqL6OtDcZogvS8XV5nw4RPiWMyP4m6ac0DSZSXz0XSU3fVYKnKUR8PBdvNSMdgUNFwtv7G4/s1600/5+Saint+Rita+of+Cascia+holy+picture+%232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjra_yCc9BiWdKqMCkQOn1B439NUZZUm8MsvgSVTo2T1rqfVroiE1GbJF0Hm_NFxlTLXKaelqL6OtDcZogvS8XV5nw4RPiWMyP4m6ac0DSZSXz0XSU3fVYKnKUR8PBdvNSMdgUNFwtv7G4/s1600/5+Saint+Rita+of+Cascia+holy+picture+%232.JPG" height="320" width="174" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One bride described her visit to the convent: “I’ve
felt at home here from the very first minute.
After all, nuns have a calling.
Love is a calling, too.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thank you, Gaia Pianigiani for a lovely story!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Complete story here: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/world/europe/an-italian-monastery-becomes-a-fashion-destination-for-brides-in-a-frugal-era.html?_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/world/europe/an-italian-monastery-becomes-a-fashion-destination-for-brides-in-a-frugal-era.html?_r=0</a>). Picture from SantiBeati.com. You can visit the shrine of St. Rita at <a href="http://www.santaritadacascia.org/">http://www.santaritadacascia.org/</a><br />
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Sarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2549989026108721695.post-17392694002455415552014-02-15T11:27:00.000-08:002014-02-15T11:27:00.335-08:0021st Century Martyrs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.santiebeati.it/immagini/Original/28000/28000B.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.santiebeati.it/immagini/Original/28000/28000B.JPG" height="247" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">This amazing painting is from www.santibeati.com, but Christian martyrs are not just ancient history. A brief item in </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The Tablet</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">, a
British weekly led me to a big story about the war on Christians today. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f9cb9c; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">On January 18, they cited the World Watch List, the annual report of a U.S.-based
non-denominational group called Open Doors.
They report that documented cases of Christians martyred for
their faith almost doubled in the year 2013 compared to 2012. Most of these deaths
occurred in several Muslim-majority countries.
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<span style="background-color: #f9cb9c; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">According to the<i> Tablet</i>, "2,123 killings were credibly documented in 2013, after 1,201 the
previous year, and the 1,213 deaths in Syria alone were more than all those
reported in the whole world in 2012. Other reports put numbers of
martyred Christians in 2013 at as many as 8,000." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f9cb9c; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> I couldn’t find the story on the <i>Tablet</i>’s
website: <a href="http://www.thetablet.co.uk/" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext;">http://www.thetablet.co.uk/</span></a> but I
tracked down the complete report here: <a href="http://www.worldwatchlist.us/" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext;">http://www.worldwatchlist.us/</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="background-color: #f9cb9c;">The awesome thing is that in spite
of these persecutions, people still choose Christianity. Their faith is strong. Not much has changed since the 3<sup>rd</sup>
century when Tertullian told us, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the
Church.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Sarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2549989026108721695.post-72529759476530245482014-02-10T01:00:00.000-08:002014-02-14T05:26:19.874-08:00St. Valentine, Patron of Lovers<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This adorable cherub is not St. Valentine. We actually don’t know a lot about the patron saint of lovers. We do know that he was
martyred during the Roman persecutions, and the government did not keep very exact
records while they were slaughtering hundreds of Christians. According to tradition, Valentine was a priest
and a physician who performed many miraculous healings before he was beheaded
in 268 during the reign of Claudius the Goth.
His feast day has been kept on February 14 since ancient times. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And there’s the connection to lovers: Valentine’s Day falls right in the middle of
a traditional 3-day Roman festival of Lupercalia when pagans celebrated the
coming of spring and with it the urge to mate.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt3E9YlR3zzBRXrZHe5_0DA5K2E5VOiFe49EdHDlCzGeIyIErD97VhPmbLDiISqbTYAiMqJPQtNnUjM9fb_Xpj33Zb7kps1KBMhak7Bbl3BI8JTRJ2icqMU0hqkm4luhsNKtn4qur7AUA/s1600/3+Blog+Picture+2+of+2+Valentine's+relics.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt3E9YlR3zzBRXrZHe5_0DA5K2E5VOiFe49EdHDlCzGeIyIErD97VhPmbLDiISqbTYAiMqJPQtNnUjM9fb_Xpj33Zb7kps1KBMhak7Bbl3BI8JTRJ2icqMU0hqkm4luhsNKtn4qur7AUA/s1600/3+Blog+Picture+2+of+2+Valentine's+relics.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By the Middle Ages Lupercalia was ancient history and February 14 was all about lovers exchanging tokens of affection.
The Victorians built on that with their beautiful greeting cards. We can
also thank them for the chocolates. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This is a relic of St. Valentine on display in Dublin where the Carmelites have a shrine dedicated to the patron saint of lovers. </span><a href="http://www.carmelites.ie/stvalentine.html" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">http://www.carmelites.ie/stvalentine.html</a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">But don't think that martyrdom is a thing of the past. Next post I'll tell you something about today's martyrs. </span></span></div>
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Sarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2549989026108721695.post-1909165207073270682014-02-06T08:52:00.000-08:002014-02-07T04:59:31.567-08:00Buffalo Mob in the News<h2>
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Have you heard about the Buffalo Mass Mob? They are a mixed bag of folks who form a flash mob every few months to bring attention to their city’s many beautiful old churches. According to their blog <a href="http://buffalomassmob.wordpress.com/">http://buffalomassmob.wordpress.com/</a>, they “hope to create more awareness and appreciation for sacred sites in Western New York through the simple act of experiencing them in their intended purpose and encourage people to attend Mass more at Buffalo’s historic churches.” <br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>So far they’ve mobbed St. Adalbert Basilica and Our Lady of Perpetual Help (above). Most of these churches never see a packed house unless it’s Palm Sunday or Easter. It must be a thrilling sight. It’s what these churches were built for, after all. </div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>The Mass Mob picks their church through on-line voting at their blog and they promote the event through Twitter and Facebook. Their next mob will happen on March 23. You can learn about their plans on their blog. Good luck, mobsters!</div>
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Sarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2549989026108721695.post-12132236339087315822014-01-24T08:41:00.000-08:002014-01-24T08:41:36.171-08:00<div class="p1">
<b>Saint Francis de Sales, the Doctor of Divine Love</b></div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> Today is the feast <b>St. Francis de Sales</b> (1567-1622), of one of the greatest saints of the post-Reformation. As a priest, bishop, writer and spiritual director, his message was always the same: we can become holy by living our ordinary lives in a holy way. Pope John Paul II called him "a man of unity in a time of division " and a "doctor of divine love." It's impossible to summarize this tireless, serene and inspiring saint, but here's a start: </div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> The oldest son of a noble family in the Savoy region of France, de Sales was expected to follow his father into the law and then a political career. But although he earned a law degree at the University of Padua, he insisted on becoming a priest. He was ordained in 1592, and began devoting himself to battling the spread of Calvinism. </div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> This new sect had broken away from the Lutherans and embraced the teachings of John Calvin who believed that only some mortals are predestined for salvation. You don't have to be a scholar or theologian to recognize that the idea of predestination is the opposite of Catholic teaching. One of the great consolations of our faith is that we have free will. We can redeem ourselves and find God's forgiveness up until our last breath. De Sales likened the Church to a beautiful garden where each of us forms part of that beauty.</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> De Sales developed a reputation as a master preacher and gifted spiritual director and he was named Bishop of Geneva in 1603. </div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> He was a great friend of <b>Saint Vincent de Paul</b> , the patron of charity. He co-founded the Visitation Order with <b>Saint Jane Frances de Chantal.</b> His most notable book was <i>Introduction to a Devout Life</i>, which is still considered one of the great works of devotional literature. He also found time to develop a sign language so that he could teach a young illiterate deaf mute the catechism. And there you have the greatness of de Sales: he was so brilliant and so open to all souls that he could relate to anyone. He never stopped working until he died peacefully at the relatively young age of 56. But he left an enormous legacy in the saints and religious orders who claim him as their patron (from the Salesians of Don Bosco to the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest). And then there are the many educational institutions that bear his name. </div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> Francis de Sales was canonized in 1665 and declared a doctor of the Church in 1977. He is a patron of writers and all those who work in the media (including bloggers!). He is also a patron of the deaf and hearing impaired. </div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> In his words, <i>"May God alone be your repose and your consolation."</i> </div>
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Sarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2549989026108721695.post-77102810194452909592008-07-10T08:26:00.000-07:002008-07-10T13:41:30.018-07:00Seven Franciscan Missionaries of MaryJuly is a great month for saints, unfortunately it’s because a lot of religious persecutions really get going in the heat of the summer. Many great saints received the crown of martyrdom in July. <br /><br />Such was the case for these seven women, who were among the tens of thousands of Christians massacred in 1900 during China’s Boxer Rebellion. (The fanatical Boxers could be compared to today’s Taliban. Their victims included many American Protestant missionary families, and the sheer brutality of the riots made headlines around the world.)<br /><br />The seven Sisters honored today were from France, Italy, Belgium and Holland, members of a new missionary order, the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary. The youngest of them, Maria della Pace, was twenty-four and the oldest, Marie de St Natalie was thirty-five. Within months of their arrival in China they had established a charity hospital and orphanage in Shanghai’s capital. <br /><br /> That summer, when the Boxer riots reached Shanxi, their bishop tried to get the Sisters to evacuate, but the Sisters refused to leave their work. One of them wrote home: “I attach myself to the Will of God as the anchor of salvation.” <br /><br /> The Sisters were arrested with 33 other Christians, including a 66-year-old widow and six orphaned children. Days later, three thousand Boxers watched them sing hymns as they filed in to face the viceroy. As the hearing began, the viceroy quarreled with the bishop, then ordered his soldiers to kill them all. The Boxers immediately began hacking at heads and limbs. A Boxer witness said later: “What was most astonishing was to see these ‘she-devil Christians’ die singing.” The Martyrs of Shanxi were canonized with the Martyrs of China in 2000. They are venerated by the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary on July 10. <br /> <br /> The Faith is still strong in China and the Order is still doing great work throughout the world. You can find out more about these wonderful women on their Order’s website, where they note that their seven martyred sisters all shared “the earnest desire to open their lives to the Spirit and to respond to God's call to the end.” http://www.fmm.org/<a href="http://www.fmm.org"></a>Sarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2549989026108721695.post-31405709195214521942008-07-08T10:29:00.000-07:002008-07-09T08:42:03.313-07:00Feast of Saint Kilian, Irish MartyrLike many of the great Irish saints, Saint Kilian (c. 640 – 689) was a wanderer. Born in Ireland, he embraced the monastic life, which makes him one of those heroes celebrated by Thomas Cahill in “How the Irish Saved Civilization.” Yet Kilian felt called to be a missionary, and after a pilgrimage to Rome he was commissioned by Pope Conon as a kind of roving bishop. With eleven companions, he headed north to evangelize what is now Germany. Based in Wurzburg, he converted many of the local pagans to Christianity. His influence spread throughout the region that is now Bavaria, earning him the title “Apostle of Franconia.” <br /> <br /> One of Kilian's most important converts was the Duke of Gosbert. The Duke was married to Geleina, the widow of his brother, and Kilian insisted that the marriage was invalid. Geleina decided to solve this problem by murdering Kilian. She waited until Gosbert was away to order the assassination, then tried to cover it up. One historian writes: “Geilana was seized with an evil spirit, which tormented her so much she died soon after.” At least one of Geleina’s thugs also went mad and died a horrible death. But the Christianity that Kilian had planted in Bavaria is still strong today and it is said that he personally intercedes for every citizen of Franconia, Germany, when they approach Heaven. <br /><br /> For some reason, the church I attended as a child in Farmingdale, Long Island, was called Saint Kilian’s, but the school was called Saint Killian’s. I seem to remember that the extra “L” was originally a misprint and the thrifty Dominican nuns and/or the Benedictine priests decided to just roll with it. <br /><br /> Saint Kilian might have enjoyed that. He was, after all, an Irishman, so he must have had a sense of humor.<br /><br /> I spent eight years at St Killian’s (a/k/a St Kilian’s) school and my class will mark a Very Important Anniversary in 2009. I’d love to hear from any of my former classmates who have probably traveled even further than St Kilian himself. I hope some of them will read this and e-mail me here.Sarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2549989026108721695.post-49211539469549246902008-02-15T08:03:00.000-08:002008-02-15T08:09:16.385-08:00Wednesday, March 12---Our Lady Queen of Martyrs, Forest HillsI will be speaking at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs in Forest Hills on Wednesday night, March 12, at 7:30 pm. <br /><br />The subject will be "Saints of New York," especially Saint Elizabeth Seton and Saint Frances Cabrini. <br /><br />The church is at 110-06 Queens Boulevard. I've linked to their website if you would like more information.Sarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2549989026108721695.post-86428228657085612792008-02-15T07:50:00.000-08:002008-02-15T08:11:43.878-08:00Spirit in Action, St Francis of Assisi, March 9<strong><strong>Spirit in Action, St Francis of Assisi Church, </strong></strong><br /><strong><strong>Sunday, March 9th, 2008</strong></strong><br /><br />Sponsors a Lenten Mass/Continental Breakfast for "Singles Living God's Plan"<br />Mass is at 12 Noon in the lower church, 135 West 31st Street,<br />Celebrant is Father Patrick Fitzgerald, OFM<br /><br />Followed by a continental breakfast in the St Francis Room of the Parish House.<br /><br />Cost is $7.00 and The Big Book of Women Saints will be on sale.Sarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2549989026108721695.post-24549900986644714862008-02-15T07:44:00.000-08:002008-02-15T07:58:43.429-08:00February 28, 2008 Theology on Tap, WoodsideI am delighted to be speaking at the next meeting of Theology on Tap in Woodside, New York, at the end of this month. More details (including time and place) to come.<br /><br />Subject: Saints Alive: What the Saints Can Teach Us about Living Today.Sarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2549989026108721695.post-11702601173580438902008-02-15T07:41:00.001-08:002008-02-15T08:14:36.958-08:00Saint Jerome Emiliani, Patron of Orphans & Abandoned Children<em>“Writing preserves the things of the past, teaches those of the present and prepares us for the things of the future. Although it is useful to us in every circumstance and various situations, it is more useful when, by narrating the history of the people of the past, it straightens and makes prudent and wise our deeds.” <br /></em><br />I came across this passage in a biography of the great Saint Jerome Emiliani (1481 – 1537), patron of orphans and abandoned children, and it inspired me to get back to updating this blog. Saint Jerome inspired a lot of people, both in his own time and ever since. <br /><br />He was very much a man of his time: from the ruling class in Venice, he enlisted in the army at fifteen in a time when Venice was fighting off most of the other armies of Europe. His last great battle was in 1511, against the forces of the Emperor Maximillian, and although his men were greatly outnumbered they made a valiant stand. In the end they were overrun and most of them slaughtered. Emiliani was taken prisoner and thrown into a dungeon. Kept in chains, starved and tortured, he had plenty of time to review his life and wonder why he had been spared. He prayed to God and the Blessed Mother. He was convinced it was she who unlocked his chains and allowed him to escape. He headed for a chapel in nearby Treviso where he left his chains on the altar. <br /><br /> Because of his bravery, he was appointed governor of Treviso, but after a few years he retired to devote the rest of his life to charity. He built orphanages all over northern Italy and founded an order of priests and brothers known in the United States as the Somascans who are dedicated to serving the poor, especially troubled youth. His feast day was formerly February 8 and is now July 20. <br /><br /> Jerome Emiliani has everything I love about the saints: bravery, courage and faith. His legacy lives on all over the world, including Connecticut where the Somascans have long operated a home for troubled boys.Sarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2549989026108721695.post-58760024237920851652007-10-01T10:36:00.001-07:002007-10-01T10:40:42.744-07:00EDISON, NEW JERSEY Saturday, November 17I will be speaking at the Daughters of St Paul Bookstore in Edison, New Jersey on Saturday, November 17. I will be speaking about my favorite subject, the women saints, especially those who are patrons of churches in the area, such as St Helena and St Theresa of the Infant Jesus. If you are in the area I hope you can drop by.Sarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2549989026108721695.post-8217384818789079012007-10-01T10:17:00.000-07:002007-10-01T10:24:04.428-07:00SAVE THESE NOVEMBER DATESNovember 15, 1:30 pm and 5:30 pm<br />New York City,<br />Daughters of St Paul Bookstore, 150 East 52nd Street<br />I am thrilled to be part of the Pauline Lecture Series. I will be speaking about some of the great saints of New York, from St Elizabeth Seton and St Frances Cabrini to new candidates such as Ven. Felix Varela and Ven. Pierre Toussaint. The Daughters of St Paul bookstore is huge with something for everyone. They schedule two lectures a day, so I will be speaking there at 1 pm and again at 5:30. The Big Book of Women Saints will be on sale and I'll be signing copies. It's not too soon to think about Christmas! Not to mention a gift for the hostess of your Thanksgiving dinner!Sarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2549989026108721695.post-14198603512429706812007-10-01T10:13:00.000-07:002007-10-01T10:16:27.744-07:00This Wednesday I take a Red & Black bus up to Sparkill, New York to speak at Thomas Aquinas College. I'll be talking to a mixed group of retired Dominican nuns and young students who have grown up knowing very little about the great saints. This means a lot to me, since I was educated for nine years by the Dominican Sisters of Amityville, and owe them a great debt. I'll report on my visit later this week.Sarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2549989026108721695.post-60161893943434840342007-10-01T10:10:00.000-07:002007-10-01T10:13:12.924-07:00I will be speaking to the Catholic Alumni of New York this Friday, October 5. The subject is Ven. Pierre Toussaint, one of the great figures in New York Catholic history, and a candidate for canonization. The more I've learned about this great man, the more I want to help promote his cause. I'll tell you more about him in a later post.Sarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2549989026108721695.post-72282686987696321532007-09-27T13:47:00.000-07:002007-10-02T10:12:04.415-07:00Excerpt from The Big Book of Women Saints<p><em><span style="font-family:georgia;color:#cc0000;">I had dinner the other night with a friend who told me she was named after Mother Cabrini. I sent her this excerpt from my book. One of the best parts about the research was getting to know women like <strong>Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini</strong> better. </span></em></p><p><em><span style="font-family:georgia;color:#cc0000;">Of Note: I wrote this book so that it highlights at least one saint per day. Most of the saints and blesseds in this book are listed on their feast day. This entry is for November 13th, the date Mother Cabrini's feast is observed in the United States.</span></em></p><p><em><span style="font-size:85%;color:#009900;"></span></em></p><p></p><p align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color:#333333;">November 13<br /></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><span style="color:#333333;">Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini</span></span></strong><span style="color:#333333;"><br />(Francesca Saverio Cabrini)<br /></span><em><span style="color:#333333;">b. July 15, 1850, Sant’Angelo Lodigiano, Italy<br />d. December 22, 1917, Chicago, Illinois<br /></p></span></em><div align="left"><br /><span style="color:#333333;"><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;"><blockquote><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">Born in a small village in northern Italy,Frances Cabrini dreamed of becoming a missionary in China. By the time she arrived in America in 1889 she had founded numerous schools and orphanages in Italy and a religious order, the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She had also mastered the art of negotiating with Italy’s anticlerical government and a Church hierarchy opposed to the idea of women missionaries. Cabrini impressed John Joseph Scalabrini, who urged her to go to America where the Italian immigrants desperately needed support. Still hoping to go to China, Cabrini consulted Pope Leo XIII,209 who famously responded, “Not to the East, but to the West,” and so she accepted an invitation from the archbishop of New York to establish an orphanage there.<br /><br />Cabrini arrived in New York with six Missionary Sisters. The next day, when she called on Archbishop Michael Corrigan, he had changed his mind about his invitation. He needed priests, not nuns, he said, and suggested that she return to Italy. Cabrini respectfully assured the archbishop that leaving was out of the question. He then directed her to the Sisters of Charity, who sheltered Cabrini and her companions for as long as they needed and introduced them to a more cordial side of the city. Despite their rocky start, Cabrini soon won Corrigan over. She learned that he had disagreed with an American-born countess, who had then withdrawn her financing for the orphanage. Cabrini reconciled all sides, and the orphanage was opened a few weeks later. She also started a free school in the neighborhood known as Little Italy and began catechism classes at the churches there.<br /><br />Cabrini next assumed management of a hospital in Piscataway, New Jersey. This was the fi rst of a number of hospitals she named for Christopher Columbus, a subtle reminder of Italy’s contributions to America. She moved on to Chicago, New Orleans (where she arrived shortly after eleven Italian men had been lynched), Seattle(where she officially became a citizen of the United States), and Golden, Colorado(where her shrine draws 150,000 visitors a year). Cabrini also established foundations in South and Central America. In all, she founded sixty-seven institutions with almost no financial support from her Church. Blessed with a gift for bringing out generosity in others, she also shrewdly negotiated with landowners and contractors. Cabrini’s heart finally gave out in Chicago—she collapsed while wrapping Christmas presents at an orphanage. She died the following day and is buried at her shrine in New York. There are more shrines, but her true memorials are the schools, hospitals, and other institutions that bear her name. Mother Cabrini was canonized less than thirty years after her death, becoming the first United States citizen so honored. She was declared the Universal Patron of Immigrants in 1950. Her feast is observed on November 13 in the United States and on December 22 in the rest of the world. Members of her order, also known as the Cabrini Sisters, continue her work on six continents.<br /><br /><strong>The Genius of Frances Cabrini:</strong><br />Cabrini described the source of her strength:</span><em><span style="color:#333333;"> “The Holy Spirit is a sun whose light is reflected in just souls, a bottomless, shoreless ocean whose waters are beautiful, transparent, crystalline and life-giving, and flow continually and abundantly over souls who place no obstacle and do not oppose the Paraclete. Oh, the just souls who live in these saving waters are always happy, joyous, secure,peaceful, and full of trust and great confidence in God. They fear nothing and undertake all tasks with great courage.”<br /><br /><br /></div></span></em><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;"></span></div><div align="left"><strong><span style="color:#333333;"></span></strong></div><div align="left"><strong><span style="color:#333333;">Refl</span></strong><span style="color:#333333;"><strong>ection:<br /></strong>“I have the strength for everything through Him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 (motto of Frances Cabrini)</span></div></blockquote></span></div><blockquote>Click here to purchase <a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/book/buy.aspx?isbn13=9780060825126">THE BIG BOOK OF WOMEN SAINTS by Sarah Gallick</a></blockquote></span></div>Sarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2549989026108721695.post-88575732912039076042007-09-27T13:35:00.000-07:002007-10-02T10:20:49.297-07:00Upcoming Events and EngagementsI worked for two long years to make this book a reality. I am so excited to share my love for Saints. Check this page for my upcoming appearances.<br /><br />So far I have given talks about saints connected to the Rosary, the Martyrs of China, American saints, New York saints, married saints, Dominican saints and more. <br /><br />If you are interested in having me speak to your group, please contact me at <a href="mailto:sarahssaints@gmail.com">sarahssaints@gmail.com</a>Sarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2549989026108721695.post-39909095484153959102007-09-27T13:19:00.000-07:002007-10-01T14:22:16.191-07:00Praise for the Big Book of Women Saints<span style="color:#000000;"><em><strong>"THE BIG BOOK OF WOMEN SAINTS is a beautiful and concise guide to the luminous women who inspire us to a deeper faith. It is a welcomed daily reminder that holy women show us the way every day."</strong></em> -- <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Edward</span> L. Beck, Author of GOD UNDERNEATH: Spiritual Memoirs of a Catholic Priest and Soul Provider: Spiritual Steps to Limitless Love<br /><br /><em><strong>"This book is something we have been waiting for. The author has captured beautifully and meditatively the spirit of an army of women saints. Although saintly women have never been ignored, it's wonderful to meet so many whom we really did not know. If you are interested in the role of women in the Church, this is the book for you to read next. It is a joyful experience in getting to know saints."</strong></em> -- Father Benedict J. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Groeschel</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">CFR</span>, author of THE JOURNEY TOWARD GOD<br /><br /><em><strong>"Heaven Sent! In a world where we are frequently focused on the power of Hollywood this book is sent to remind us of the power of heaven. Throughout biblical history there are stories of people sent by God to achieve missions impossible. This book is truly a treasure of hope, containing stories about a collection of women sent closer to home and to our times to carry out the work entrusted to them. In writing this book, </strong></em></span><a href="http://bigbookofwomensaints.blogspot.com/search/label/Sarah%20Gallick"><em><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Sarah <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Gallick</span></strong></span></em></a><span style="color:#000000;"><em><strong> provides us with comfort and hope in what could best be described as a diary of daily divine inspiration for everyone."</strong></em> </span><br /><span style="color:#000000;">--Susan Crimp, author of TOUCHED BY A SAINT: Personal Encounters with Mother Teresa<br /><br /><em><strong>"The women called saints are first in line in the army of powerful people who changed the world for the better. They are often avoided <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">because</span> to acknowledge the grandeur of their accomplishments is to acknowledge the grandeur of God. Non of us would be the same if these great women had not lived and altered the course of history. "</strong></em> -- Father George W. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Rutler</span>, author of A CRISIS OF SAINTS<br /></span><br /><a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780060825126/The_Big_Book_of_Women_Saints/index.aspx">Click here to visit Harper Collins website</a>Sarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2549989026108721695.post-58388320434437485422007-09-27T13:13:00.000-07:002007-09-27T13:18:49.308-07:00What you will find inside The Big Book of Women SaintsFrom Saint Agnes of Rome, first of the fearless girl martyrs, to Saint Zedislava Berka, who balanced a demanding husband and children with a deep spiritual life, The Big Book of Women Saints will introduce you to more than four hundred courageous Catholic women, including:<br /><br />Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821) The first-ever U.S.-born saint was a devoted wife and mother of five who converted to Catholicism after the death of her husband. She went on to found the Sisters of Charity, and is considered the mother of the American parochial school system. Canonized 1975.<br /><br />Saint Clare of Assisi (1193-1253) She was only eighteen when she abandoned her privileged life to embrace the "holy poverty" preached by Saint Francis. Clare became his treasured advisor and co-founder of the Franciscan movement.<br /><br />Saint Agatha of Catania (235-250) When Decius announced the edicts against Christians, the beautiful Agatha was handed over to a brothel in punishment. After refusing to accept customers, she was beaten, imprisoned, tortured, and her breasts were removed with pincers.<br /><br />She is the patron saint of nurses and breast-cancer patients.<br />Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) A Spanish Carmelite nun and Doctor of the Church, Teresa was one of the greatest mystics and a leading figure in the Counter Reformation. She gives a glowing and powerful picture of the contemplative life in her classic Interior Castle.<br /><br />Saint Catherine of Sienna (1347-1380) As a young woman she experienced what she described in her letters as a 'Mystical Marriage' with Jesus, after which she began to tend the sick and serve the poor. Known for her daring letters to the Pope and people in authority, in 1999 Pope John Paul II made her one of Europe's patron saints.<br /><br />We are not all called to be saints, but every saint is a unique human being. In this book you will meet brilliant scholars, fearless warriors, miracle workers, and tireless toilers for charity. More than one hundred fifty of them have been canonized or beatified since 1979, and more than one hundred lived in the twentieth century. They are women for today and for all time.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780060825126/The_Big_Book_of_Women_Saints/index.aspx">Visit HarperCollins.com for more info</a>Sarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2549989026108721695.post-24662731428383599772007-09-27T13:06:00.001-07:002007-09-27T14:37:33.894-07:00About My Book<a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/book/buy.aspx?isbn13=9780060825126"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114978038431210578" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBu8PXepX7iam709fAf9YGgOYxMDKiflwUSKfsSdHhZfJLIIkerLX9qDo1OFplea0IHV-eo28PGvvd3h-3qH-T4FmmDQP7x_F5MTTNRDtTrrM1BnerBUd8LDhecv9VuzWC9kVOHTxEy9Q/s320/BIG+BOOK.jpg" border="0" /></a> Most books about the saints are thin on women, especially contemporary women. Even Butler's LIVES OF THE SAINTS, the 'bible' of this category, lists far more men than women.<br /><br />No book about the saints could ignore such beloved early martyrs as Agnes of Rome and Lucy of Syracuse but this new book will introduce readers to many new women who have been canonized or beatified by Pope John Paul II.<br /><br />Of the more than 377 women mentioned in the book, 159 have been canonized or beatified since 1979. Approximately 100 of them lived in the twentieth century.<br /><br />This new book is also unique in that it uses the saint's own words wherever possible, taking advantage of newly discovered archives, memoirs and other primary sources. It will contain resources such as internet shrines and other websites, as well as little–known information on the canonization process.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/book/buy.aspx?isbn13=9780060825126">Click here to purchase</a>Sarah Gallickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294998860381499139noreply@blogger.com0