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X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Maryland Catholic Women's Conference
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200310
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200311
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165925Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165925Z
UID:1519-1583798400-1583884799@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:(f) Ferial–V (III) - Forty Holy Martyrs–R (Comm.)
DESCRIPTION:They were killed near the city of Sebaste (present-day Sivas in Turkey)\, in Lesser Armenia\, victims of the persecutions of Licinius\, who after 316\, persecuted the Christians of the East. The earliest account of their existence and martyrdom is given by Bishop Basil of Caesarea (370-379) in a homily delivered on the feast of the Forty Martyrs.[1] The feast is consequently more ancient than the episcopate of Basil\, whose eulogy on them was pronounced only fifty or sixty years after martyrdom.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/f-ferial-v-iii-forty-holy-martyrs-r-comm/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200309
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200310
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165925Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165925Z
UID:1518-1583712000-1583798399@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:(f) Ferial–V (III) - St. Frances of Rome\, Widow–W (Comm.)
DESCRIPTION:Frances of Rome\, Obl. S.B.\, (Italian: Santa Francesca Romana) (1384 – March 9\, 1440) is an Italian saint who was a wife\, mother\, mystic\, organizer of charitable services and a Benedictine oblate who founded a religious community of oblates\, who share a common life without religious vows.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/f-ferial-v-iii-st-frances-of-rome-widow-w-comm/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200308
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200309
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165925Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165925Z
UID:1517-1583625600-1583711999@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:Second Sunday of Lent–V (I) - St. John of God\, Confessor
DESCRIPTION:John of God\, O.H. (March 8\, 1495 – March 8\, 1550) (Spanish: Juan de Dios and Portuguese: Joæo de Deus) was a Portuguese-born soldier turned health-care worker in Spain\, whose followers later formed the Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God\, a worldwide Catholic religious institute dedicated to the care of the poor sick and those suffering from mental disorders. He has been declared a saint by the Catholic Church\, and is considered one of Spain’s leading religious figures.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/second-sunday-of-lent-v-i-st-john-of-god-confessor/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200307
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200308
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165925Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165925Z
UID:1516-1583539200-1583625599@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:First Saturday - (f/pa) Ember Saturday–V (II) - St. Thomas Aquinas\, Confessor\, Doctor–W (Comm.)
DESCRIPTION:ST. THOMAS was born of noble parents at Aquino in Italy\, in 1226. At the age of nineteen he received the Dominican habit at Naples\, where he was studying. Seized by his brothers on his way to Paris\, he suffered a two years’ captivity in their castle of Rocca-Secca; but neither the caresses of his mother and sisters\, nor the threats and stratagems of his brothers\, could shake him in his vocation. While St. Thomas was in confinement at Rocca-Secca\, his brothers endeavored to entrap him into sin\, but the attempt only ended in the triumph of his purity. Snatching from the hearth a burning brand\, the Saint drove from his chamber the wretched creature whom they had there concealed. Then marking a cross upon the wall\, he knelt down to pray\, and forthwith\, being rapt in ecstasy\, an angel girded him with a cord\, in token of the gift of perpetual chastity which God had given him. The pain caused by the girdle was so sharp that St. Thomas uttered a piercing cry\, which brought his guards into the room. But he never told this grace to any one save only to Father Raynald\, his confessor\, a little while before his death. Hence originated the Confraternity of the “Angelic Warfare\,” for the preservation of the virtue of chastity. Having at length escaped\, St. Thomas went to Cologne to study under Blessed Albert the Great\, and after that to Paris\, where for many years he taught philosophy and theology. The Church has ever venerated his numerous writings as a treasure-house of sacred doctrine; while in naming him the Angelic Doctor she has indicated that his science is more divine than human. The rarest gifts of intellect were combined in him with the tenderest piety. Prayer\, he said\, had taught him more than study. His singular devotion to the Blessed Sacrament shines forth in the Office and hymns for Corpus Christi\, which he composed. To the words miraculously uttered by a crucifix at Naples\, “Well hast thou written concerning Me\, Thomas. What shall I give thee as a reward?” he replied\, “Naught save Thyself\, O Lord.” He died at Fossa-Nuova\, 1274\, on his way to the General Council of Lyons\, to which Pope Gregory X. had summoned him.\nReflection.—The knowledge of God is for all\, but hidden treasures are reserved for those who have ever followed the Lamb.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/first-saturday-f-pa-ember-saturday-v-ii-st-thomas-aquinas-confessor-doctor-w-comm/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200306
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200307
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165925Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165925Z
UID:1515-1583452800-1583539199@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:First Friday - (f/a) Ember Friday–V (II) - Sts. Perpetua & Felicity\, Martyrs–R (Comm.)
DESCRIPTION:Saints Perpetua and Felicity (believed to have died in 203 AD) are Christian martyrs of the 3rd century. Perpetua was a married noblewoman\, said to have been 22 years old at the time of her death\, and mother of an infant she was nursing. Felicity\, a slave imprisoned with her and pregnant at the time\, was martyred with her. They were put to death along with others at Carthage in the Roman province of Africa.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/first-friday-f-a-ember-friday-v-ii-sts-perpetua-felicity-martyrs-r-comm/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200305
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200306
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165923Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165923Z
UID:1514-1583366400-1583452799@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:(f) Ferial–V (III)
DESCRIPTION:STS. ADRIAN and EUBULUS\, Martyrs. IN the seventh year of Diocletian’s persecution\, continued by Galerius Maximianus\, when Firmilian\, the most bloody governor of Palestine\, had stained Cæsarea with the blood of many illustrious martyrs\, Adrian and Eubulus came out of the country called Magantia to Cæsarea\, in order to visit the holy confessors there. At the gates of the city they were asked\, as others were\, whither they were going\, and upon what errand. They ingenuously confessed the truth\, and were brought before the president\, who ordered them to be tortured and their sides to be torn with iron hooks\, and then condemned them to be exposed to wild beasts. Two days after\, when the pagans at Cæsarea celebrated the festival of the public Genius\, Adrian was exposed to a lion\, and not being despatched by that beast\, but only mangled\, was at length killed by the sword. Eubulus was treated in the same manner two days later. The judge offered him his liberty if he would sacrifice to idols; but the Saint preferred a glorious death\, and was the last that suffered in this persecution at Cæsarea\, which had now continued twelve years\, under three successive governors\, Flavian\, Urban\, and Firmilian. Divine vengeance pursuing the cruel Firmilian\, he was that same year beheaded for his crimes\, by the emperor’s order\, as his predecessor Urban had been two years before.\nReflection.—It is in vain that we take the name of Christians\, or pretend to follow Christ\, unless we carry our crosses after Him. It is in vain that we hope to share in His glory\, and in His kingdom\, if we accept not the condition. We cannot arrive at heaven by any other road but that which Christ held\, Who bequeathed His cross to all His elect as their portion and inheritance in this world.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/f-ferial-v-iii-5/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200304
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200305
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165923Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165923Z
UID:1513-1583280000-1583366399@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:(f/pa) Ember Wednesday–V (II) - St. Casimir\, Confessor–W (Comm.) - St. Lucius\, Pope\, Martyr
DESCRIPTION:Saint Casimir Jagiellon (Polish: Kazimierz\, Lithuanian: Kazimieras; October 3\, 1458 – March 4\, 1484) was a prince of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He was well-educated by Jan Dlugosz\, a conservative Polish priest. After his elder brother Vladislaus was elected as King of Bohemia\, Casimir became the heir apparent. However\, he showed little affinity to politics and became known for his piousness\, devotion to god\, and generosity towards the sick and poor.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/f-pa-ember-wednesday-v-ii-st-casimir-confessor-w-comm-st-lucius-pope-martyr/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200303
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200304
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165923Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165923Z
UID:1512-1583193600-1583279999@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:(f) Ferial–V (III)
DESCRIPTION:ST. CUNEGUNDES was the daughter of Siegfried\, the first Count of Luxemburg\, and Hadeswige\, his pious wife. They instilled into her from her cradle the most tender sentiments of piety\, and married her to St. Henry\, Duke of Bavaria\, who\, upon the death of the Emperor Otho III\, was chosen king of the Romans\, and crowned on the 6th of June\, 1002. She was crowned at Paderborn on St. Laurence’s day. In the year 1014 she went with her husband to Rome\, and received the imperial crown with him from the hands of Pope Benedict VIII. She had\, by St. Henry’s consent\, before her marriage made a vow of virginity. Calumniators afterwards made vile accusations against her\, and the holy empress\, to remove the scandal of such a slander\, trusting in God to prove her innocence\, walked over red-hot ploughshares without being hurt. The emperor condemned his too scrupulous fears and credulity\, and from that time they lived in the strictest union of hearts\, conspiring to promote in everything God’s honor and the advancement of piety. Going once to make a retreat in Hesse\, she fell dangerously ill\, and made a vow to found a monastery\, if she recovered\, at Kaffungen\, near Cassel\, in the diocese of Paderborn\, which she executed in a stately manner\, and gave it to nuns of the Order of St. Benedict. Before it was finished St. Henry died\, in 1024. She earnestly recommended his soul to the prayers of others\, especially to her blear nuns\, and expressed her longing desire of joining them. She had already exhausted her treasures in founding bishoprics and monasteries\, and in relieving the poor\, and she had therefore little left now to give. But still thirsting to embrace perfect evangelical poverty\, and to renounce all to serve God without obstacle\, she assembled a great number of prelates to the dedication of her church of Kaffungen on the anniversary day of her husband’s death\, 1025; and after the gospel was sung at Mass she offered on the altar a piece of the true cross\, and then\, putting off her imperial robes\, clothed herself with a poor habit; her hair was cut off\, and the bishop put on her a veil\, and a ring as a pledge of her fidelity to her heavenly Spouse. After she was consecrated to God in religion\, she seemed entirely to forget that she had been empress\, and behaved as the last in the house\, being persuaded that she was 30 before God. She prayed and read much\, worked with her hands\, and took a singular pleasure in visiting and comforting the sick. Thus she passed the last fifteen years of her life. Her mortifications at length reduced her to a very weak condition\, and brought on her last sickness. Perceiving that they were preparing a cloth fringed with gold to cover her corpse after her death\, she changed color and ordered it to be taken away; nor could she be at rest till she was promised she should be buried as a poor religious in her habit. She died on the 3d of March\, 1040. Her body was carried to Bamberg and buried near that of her husband. She was solemnly canonized by Innocent III in 1200.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/f-ferial-v-iii-4/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200302
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200303
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165923Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165923Z
UID:1511-1583107200-1583193599@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:(f) Ferial–V (III)
DESCRIPTION:ST. SIMPLICIUS was the ornament of the Roman clergy under Sts. Leo and Hilarius\, and succeeded the latter in the pontificate in 468. He was raised by God to corn fort and support his Church amidst the greatest storms. All the provinces of the Western Empire\, out of Italy\, were fallen into the hands of barbarians. The emperors for many years were rather shadows of power than sovereigns\, and\, in the eighth year of the pontificate of Simplicius\, Rome itself fell a prey to foreigners. Italy\, by oppressions and the ravages of barbarians\, was left almost a desert without inhabitants; and the imperial armies consisted chiefly of barbarians\, hired under the name of auxiliaries. These soon saw that their masters were in their power. The Heruli demanded one third of the lands of Italy\, and upon refusal chose for their leader Odoacer\, one of the lowest extraction\, but a resolute and intrepid man\, who was proclaimed king of Rome in 476. He put to death Orestes\, who was regent of the empire for his son Augustulus\, whom the senate had advanced to the imperial throne. Odoacer spared the life of Augustulus\, appointed him a salary of six thousand pounds of gold\, and permitted him to live at full liberty near Naples. Pope Simplicius was wholly taken up in comforting and relieving the afflicted\, and in sowing the seeds of the Catholic faith among the barbarians. The East gave his zeal no less employment and concern. Peter Cnapheus\, a violent Eutychian\, was made by the heretics Patriarch of Antioch; and Peter Mengus\, one of the most profligate men\, that of Alexandria. Acacius\, the Patriarch of Constantinople\, received the sentence of St. Simplicius against Cnapheus\, but supported Mongus against him and the Catholic Church\, and was a notorious changeling\, double-dealer\, and artful hypocrite\, who often made religion serve his own private ends. St. Simplicius at length discovered his artifices\, and redoubled his zeal to maintain the holy faith\, which he saw betrayed on every side\, whilst the patriarchal sees of Alexandria and Antioch were occupied by furious wolves\, and there was not one Catholic king in the whole world. The emperor measured everything by his passions and human views. St. Simplicius\, having sat fifteen years\, eleven months\, and six days\, went to receive the reward of his labors in 483. He was buried in St. Peter’s on the 2d of March.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/f-ferial-v-iii-3/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200301
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200302
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165923Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165923Z
UID:1510-1583020800-1583107199@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:First Sunday of Lent–V (I)
DESCRIPTION:ST. DAVID\, son of Sant\, Prince of Cardigan and of Non\, was born in that country in the fifth century\, and from his earliest years gave himself wholly to the service of God. He began his religious life under St. Paulinus\, a disciple of St. Germanus\, Bishop of Auxerre\, who had been sent to Britain by Pope St. Celestine to stop the ravages of the heresy of Pelagius\, at that time abbot\, as it is said\, of Bangor. On the reappearance of that heresy\, in the beginning of the sixth century\, the bishops assembled at Brevi\, and\, unable to address the people that came to hear the word of truth\, sent for St. David from his cell to preach to them. The Saint came\, and it is related that\, as he preached\, the ground beneath his feet rose and became a hill\, so that he was heard by an innumerable crowd. The heresy fell under the sword of the Spirit\, and the Saint was elected Bishop of Caerleon on the resignation of St. Dubricius; but he removed the see to Menevia\, a lone and desert spot\, where he might\, with his monks\, serve God away from the noise of the world. He founded twelve monasteries\, and governed his Church according to the canons sanctioned in Rome. At last\, when about eighty years of age\, he laid himself down\, knowing that his hour was come. As his agony closed\, Our Lord stood before him in a vision\, and the Saint cried out: “Take me up with Thee\,” and so gave up his soul on Tuesday\, March 1\, 561.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/first-sunday-of-lent-v-i/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200229
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200301
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165922Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165922Z
UID:1509-1582934400-1583020799@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:(f) Ferial–V (III)
DESCRIPTION:INTROIT. The Lord hath heard\, and hath had mercy on me: the Lord became my Helper. (Psalm) I will extol Thee\, O Lord\, for Thou hast upheld me: and hast not made mine enemies to rejoice over me. Glory be to the Father. The Lord hath heard… COLLECT. O Lord\, hearken to our supplications: and grant that we may celebrate with devout service this solemn fast\, which Thou hast ordained for the healing both of soul and of body. Through our Lord. GRADUAL. One thing I have asked of the Lord\, this will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord. That I may see the delight of the Lord\, and be protected by His holy temple. OFFERTORY. O Lord\, quicken Thou me for Thy word’s sake\, that I may know Thy testimonies. SECRET. Receive\, O Lord\, the Sacrifice by the immolation of which Thou hast vouchsafed to be appeased; and grant\, we beseech Thee\, that we may be cleansed through its virtue\, and may offer to Thee the acceptable affection of our mind. Through our Lord. COMMUNION. Serve ye the Lord with fear\, and rejoice unto Him with trembling: embrace discipline\, lest you perish from the just way. POSTCOMMUNION. Being quickened by the gift of heavenly life\, we beseech Thee\, O Lord\, that what is to us a mystery in this present life\, may become to us an aid for eternity. Through our Lord.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/f-ferial-v-iii-2/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200228
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200229
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165921Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165921Z
UID:1508-1582848000-1582934399@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:(f/a) Ferial–V (III) - St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows\, Confessor–W (Comm.)
DESCRIPTION:Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows (born Francesco Possenti March 1\, 1838 – February 27\, 1862) was an Italian Passionist clerical student. Born to a professional family\, he gave up ambitions of a secular career to enter the Passionist Congregation. His life in the monastery was not extraordinary\, yet he followed the rule of the congregation perfectly and was known for his great devotion to the sorrows of the Virgin Mary. He died from tuberculosis at the age of 24 in Isola del Gran Sasso\, in the province of Teramo. He was canonized by Pope Benedict XV in 1920.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/f-a-ferial-v-iii-st-gabriel-of-our-lady-of-sorrows-confessor-w-comm/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200227
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200228
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165921Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165921Z
UID:1507-1582761600-1582847999@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:(f) Ferial–V (III)
DESCRIPTION:ST. LEANDER\, Bishop. ST. LEANDER was born of an illustrious family at Carthagena in Spain. He was the eldest of five brothers\, several of whom are numbered among the Saints. He entered into a monastery very young\, where he lived many years and attained to an eminent degree of virtue and sacred learning. These qualities occasioned his being promoted to the see of Seville; but his change of condition made little or no alteration in his method of life\, though it brought on him a great increase of care and solicitude. Spain at that time was in possession of the Visigoths. These Goths\, being infected with Arianism\, established this heresy wherever they came; so that when St. Leander was made bishop it had reigned in Spain a hundred years. This was his great affliction; however\, by his prayers to God\, and by his most zealous and unwearied endeavors\, he became the happy instrument of the conversion of that nation to the Catholic faith. Having converted\, among others\, Hermenegild\, the king’s eldest son and heir apparent\, Leander was banished by King Leovigild. This pious prince was put to death by his unnatural father\, the year following\, for refusing to receive Communion from the hands of an Arian bishop. But\, touched with remorse not long after\, the king recalled our Saint; and falling sick and finding himself past hopes of recovery\, he sent for St. Leander\, and recommended to him his son Recared. This son\, by listening to St. Leander\, soon became a Catholic\, and finally converted the whole nation of the Visigoths. He was no less successful with respect to the Suevi\, a people of Spain\, whom his father Leovigild had perverted. St. Leander was no less zealous in the reformation of manners than in restoring the purity of faith; and he planted the seeds of that zeal and fervor which afterwards produced so many martyrs and Saints. This holy doctor of Spain died about the year 596\, on the 27th of February\, as Mabillon proves from his epitaph. The Church of Seville has been a metropolitan see ever since the third. century. The cathedral is the most magnificent\, both as to structure and ornament\, of any in all Spain.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/f-ferial-v-iii/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200226
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200227
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165921Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165921Z
UID:1506-1582675200-1582761599@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:(Day of fast and abstinence) ASH WEDNESDAY–V (I)
DESCRIPTION:“Remember\, man\, that thou art dust\, and unto dust thou shalt return.” Ash Wednesday is from a liturgical point of view one of the most important days of the year. In the first place this day opens the liturgical season of Lent\, which formerly began with the First Sunday and comprised only thirty-six days. The addition of Wednesday and the three following days brought the number to forty\, which is that of our Lord’s fast in the desert. In the Old Law ashes were generally a symbolic expression of grief\, mourning\, or repentance. In the Early Church the use of ashes had a like signification and with sackcloth formed part of the public penances. The blessing of the ashes is one of the great liturgical rites of the year. It was originally instituted for public penitents\, but is now intended for all Christians\, as Lent should be a time of penance for all. The ashes used this day are obtained by burning palms of the previous year. They are blessed by four ancient prayers\, sprinkled with holy water and incensed\, and then placed in the form of a cross on the foreheads of each of the faithful with the words: “Remember\, man\, that thou art dust\, and unto dust thou shalt return.” The ancient prayers of the blessing suggest suitable thoughts for the opening of Lent. They are summarized here: “Almighty and everlasting God\, spare the penitent…bless these ashes\, that they may be a remedy to all who invoke Thy name…O God\, Who desirest not the death but the conversion of sinners\, look in kindness upon our human frailty…and bless these ashes\, so that we\, who know ourselves to be but ashes…and that we must return to dust\, may deserve to obtain pardon and the rewards offered to the penitent.”
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/day-of-fast-and-abstinence-ash-wednesday-v-i/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200225
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200226
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165921Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165921Z
UID:1505-1582588800-1582675199@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:St. Matthias\, Apostle–R (II)
DESCRIPTION:Matthias (Hebrew transliteration: Mattityahu; died c. 80 A.D.) was\, according to the Acts of the Apostles\, the apostle chosen by the believers to replace Judas Iscariot following Judas’ betrayal of Jesus and his subsequent suicide. His calling as an apostle is unique\, in that his appointment was not made personally by Jesus\, who had already ascended into heaven\, and it was also made before the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the early Church.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/st-matthias-apostle-r-ii/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200224
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200225
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165920Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165920Z
UID:1504-1582502400-1582588799@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:Ferial–V (IV)
DESCRIPTION:QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY—INTROIT. BE Thou unto me a God\, a Protector\, and a house of refuge\, to save me: for Thou art my strength and my refuge: and for Thy name’s sake Thou wilt lead me\, and nourish me. (Psalm) In Thee\, O Lord\, have I hoped\, let me never be confounded: deliver me in Thy justice\, and save me. COLLECT. WE beseech Thee\, O Lord\, graciously hear our prayers and releasing us from the bonds of our sins\, guard us from all adversity. Through our Lord. GRADUAL. THOU art the God that alone dost wonders: Thou hast made Thy power known among the nations. With Thine arm Thou hast delivered Thy people\, the children of Israel and of Joseph. TRACT. SING joyfully to God\, all the earth: serve ye the Lord with gladness. Come in before His presence with exceeding great joy: know ye that the Lord He is God. He made us\, and not we ourselves: but we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. OFFERTORY. BLESSED art Thou\, O Lord\, teach me Thy justifications: with my lips I have pronounced all the judgments of Thy mouth. SECRET. MAY these Offerings\, we beseech Thee\, O Lord\, cleanse us from our sins: and by sanctifying Thy servants in body and mind\, make them fit to celebrate this Sacrifice. Through our Lord. COMMUNION. THEY did eat\, and were filled exceedingly\, and\, the Lord gave them their desire: they were not defrauded of that which they craved. POSTCOMMUNION. WE beseech Thee\, almighty God\, that we\, who have received this heavenly Food\, may be safeguarded by it against all adversity. Through our Lord.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/ferial-v-iv-5/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200223
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200224
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165919Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165919Z
UID:1503-1582416000-1582502399@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:Quinquagesima Sunday–V (II) - St. Peter Damian\, Bishop\, Confessor\, Doctor
DESCRIPTION:Saint Peter Damian (Latin: Petrus Damiani; Italian: Pietro or Pier Damiani; c. 1007 – 21 or 22 February 1072 or 1073)\, was a reforming Benedictine monk and cardinal in the circle of Pope Leo IX. Dante placed him in one of the highest circles of Paradiso as a great predecessor of Saint Francis of Assisi and he was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1823.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/quinquagesima-sunday-v-ii-st-peter-damian-bishop-confessor-doctor/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200222
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200223
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165919Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165919Z
UID:1502-1582329600-1582415999@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:Chair of St. Peter–W (II) - (Comm. St. Paul\, Apostle)
DESCRIPTION:Early martyrologies indicate that two liturgical feasts were celebrated in Rome\, centuries before the time of Charles the Bald\, in honor of earlier chairs associated with Saint Peter\, one of which was kept in the baptismal chapel of Saint Peter’s Basilica\, the other at the catacomb of Priscilla. [5] The dates of these celebrations were January 18 and February 22. No surviving chair has been identified with either of these chairs. The feasts thus became associated with an abstract understanding of the “Chair of Peter\,” which by synecdoche signifies the episcopal office of the Pope as Bishop of Rome\, an office considered to have been first held by Saint Peter\, and thus extended to the diocese\, the See of Rome.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/chair-of-st-peter-w-ii-comm-st-paul-apostle/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200221
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200222
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165919Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165919Z
UID:1501-1582243200-1582329599@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:Ferial–V (IV) - In some places: St. Margaret of Cortona\, Penitent–W
DESCRIPTION:MARGARET OF CORTONA (1247 – February 22\, 1297) was an Italian penitent of the Third Order of Saint Francis. She was born in Laviano\, near Perugia\, and died in Cortona. She was canonized in 1728. She is the patron saint of the falsely accused\, hoboes\, homeless\, insane\, orphaned\, mentally ill\, midwives\, penitents\, single mothers\, reformed prostitutes\, stepchildren\, and tramps. LIFE. Margaret was born of farming parents\, in Laviano\, a little town in the diocese of Chiusi. At the age of seven\, Margaret’s mother died and her father remarried. Stepmother and stepdaughter did not like each other. As she grew older\, Margaret became more willful and reckless\, and her reputation in the town suffered. At the age of 17 she met a young man\, according to some accounts\, the son of Gugliemo di Pecora\, lord of Valiano\, and she ran away with him. Soon Margaret found herself installed in the castle\, not as her master’s wife\, for convention would never allow that\, but as his mistress\, which was more easily condoned. For ten years\, she lived with him near Montepulciano and bore him a son. When her lover failed to return home from a journey one day\, Margaret became concerned. The unaccompanied return of his favorite hound alarmed Margaret\, and the hound led her into the forest to his murdered body. That crime shocked Margaret into a life of prayer and penance. Margaret returned to his family all the gifts he had given her and left his home. With her child\, she returned to her father’s house\, but her stepmother would not have her. Margaret and her son then went to the Franciscan friars at Cortona\, where her son eventually became a friar. She fasted\, avoided meat\, and subsisted on bread and vegetables. In 1277\, after three years of probation\, Margaret joined the Third Order of Saint Francis and chose to live in poverty. Following the example of Francis of Assisi\, she begged for sustenance and bread. She pursued a life of prayer and penance at Cortona\, and there established a hospital for the sick\, homeless and impoverished. To secure nurses for the hospital\, she instituted a congregation of Tertiary Sisters\, known as “le poverelle” (“the little poor ones”). While in prayer\, Margaret recounted hearing the words\, “What is your wish\, poverella?\,” and she replied\, “I neither seek nor wish for anything but You\, my Lord Jesus.” She also established an order devoted to Our Lady of Mercy and the members bound themselves to support the hospital and to help the needy. She moved to the ruined church of Basil of Caesarea\, now Santa Margherita\, and spent her remaining years there; she died on February 22\, 1297. VENERATION. After her death\, the Church of Santa Margherita in Cortona was rebuilt in her honor. Her incorrupt body is preserved in a silver casket inside the church. Margaret was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII on May 16\, 1728.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/ferial-v-iv-in-some-places-st-margaret-of-cortona-penitent-w/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200220
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200221
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165919Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165919Z
UID:1500-1582156800-1582243199@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:Ferial–V (IV)
DESCRIPTION:ST. EUCHERIUS\, Bishop. THIS Saint was born at Orleans\, of a very illustrious family. At his birth his parents dedicated him to God\, and set him to study when he was but seven years old\, resolving to omit nothing that could be done toward cultivating his mind or forming his heart His improvement in virtue kept pace with his progress in learning: he meditated assiduously on the sacred writings\, especially on St. Paul’s manner of speaking on the world and its enjoyments as mere empty shadows that deceive us and vanish away. These reflections at length sank so deep into his mind that he resolved to quit the world. To put this design in execution\, about the year 714 he retired to the abbey of Jumiége in Normandy\, where he spent six or seven years in the practice of penitential austerities and obedience. Suavaric\, his uncle\, Bishop of Orleans\, having died\, the senate and people\, with the clergy of that city\, begged permission to elect Eucherius to the vacant see. The Saint entreated his monks to screen him from the dangers that threatened him; but they preferred the public good to their private inclinations\, and resigned him for that important charge. He was consecrated with universal applause in 721. Charles Martel\, to defray the expenses of his wars and other undertakings\, often stripped the churches of their revenues. St. Eucherius reproved these encroachments with so much zeal that\, in the year 737\, Charles banished him to Cologne. The extraordinary esteem which his virtue procured him in that city moved Charles to order him to be conveyed thence to a strong place in the territory of Liege. Robert\, the governor of that country\, was so charmed with his virtue that he made him the distributor of his large alms\, and allowed him to retire to the monastery of Sarchinium\, or St. Tron’s. Here prayer and contemplation were his whole employment till the year 743\, in which he died\, on the 20th of February.\nReflection.—Nothing softens the soul and weakens piety so much as frivolous indulgence. God has revealed what high store He sets by “retirement” in these words: “I will lead her into solitude\, and I will speak to her heart.”
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/ferial-v-iv-4/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200219
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200220
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165918Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165918Z
UID:1499-1582070400-1582156799@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:Ferial–V (IV)
DESCRIPTION:ST. BARBATUS was born in the territory of Benevento in Italy\, toward the end of the pontificate of St. Gregory the Great\, in the beginning of the seventh century. His parents gave him a Christian education\, and Barbatus in his youth laid the foundation of that eminent sanctity which recommends him to our veneration. The innocence\, simplicity\, and purity of his manners\, and his extraordinary progress in all virtues\, qualified him for the service of the altar\, to which he was assumed by taking Holy Orders as soon as the canons of the Church would allow it. He was immediately employed by his bishop in preaching\, for which he had an extraordinary talent\, and\, after some time\, made curate of St. Basil’s in Morcona\, a town near Benevento. His parishioners were steeled in their irregularities\, and they treated him as a disturber of their peace\, and persecuted him with the utmost violence. Finding their malice conquered by his patience and humility\, and his character shining still more bright\, they had recourse to slanders\, in which their virulence and success were such that he was obliged to withdraw his charitable endeavors among them. Barbatus returned to Benevento\, where he was received with joy. When St. Barbatus entered upon his ministry in that city\, the Christians themselves retained many idolatrous superstitions\, which even their duke\, Prince Romuald\, authorized by his example\, though son of Grimoald\, King of the Lombards\, who had edified all Italy by his conversion. They expressed a religious veneration for a golden viper\, and prostrated themselves before it; they also paid superstitious honor to a tree\, on which they hung the skin of a wild beast; and those ceremonies were closed by public games\, in which the skin served for a mark at which bowmen shot arrows over their shoulders. St. Barbatus preached zealously against these abuses\, and at length he roused the attention of the people by foretelling the distress of their city\, and the calamities which it was to suffer from the army of the Emperor Constans\, who\, landing soon after in Italy\, laid siege to Benevento. Ildebrand\, Bishop of Benevento\, dying during the siege\, after the public tranquility was restored St. Barbatus was consecrated bishop on the 10th of March\, 663. Barbatus\, being invested with the episcopal character\, pursued and completed the good work which he had so happily begun\, and destroyed every trace of superstition in the whole state. In the year 680 he assisted in a council held by Pope Agatho at Rome\, and the year following in the Sixth General Council held at Constantinople against the Monothelites. He did not long survive this great assembly\, for he died on the 29th of February\, 682\, being about seventy years old\, almost nineteen of which he had spent in the episcopal chair.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/ferial-v-iv-3/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200218
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200219
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165918Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165918Z
UID:1498-1581984000-1582070399@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:Ferial–V (IV) - St. Simeon\, Bishop\, Martyr–R (Comm.)
DESCRIPTION:ST. SIMEON\, Bishop\, Martyr. ST. SIMEON was the son of Cleophas\, otherwise called Alpheus\, brother to St. Joseph\, and of Mary\, sister to the Blessed Virgin. He was therefore nephew both to St. Joseph and to the Blessed Virgin\, and cousin to Our Saviour. We cannot doubt but that he was ail early follower of Christ\, and that he received the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost\, with the Blessed Virgin and the apostles. When the Jews massacred St. James the Lesser\, his brother Simeon reproached them for their atrocious cruelty. St. James\, Bishop of Jerusalem\, being put to death in the year 62\, twenty-nine years after Our Saviour’s Resurrection\, the apostles and disciples met at Jerusalem to appoint him a successor. They unanimously chose St. Simeon\, who had probably before assisted his brother in the government of that Church. In the year 66\, in which Sts. Peter and Paul suffered martyrdom at Rome\, the civil war began in Judea\, by the seditions of the Jews against the Romans. The Christians in Jerusalem were warned by God of the impending destruction of that city. They therefore departed out of it the same year\,—before Vespasian\, Nero’s general\, and afterwards emperor\, entered Judea\,—and retired beyond Jordan to a small city called Pella\, having St. Simeon at their head. After the taking and burning of Jerusalem they returned thither again\, and settled themselves amidst its ruins\, till Adrian afterwards entirely razed it. The Church here flourished\, and multitudes of Jews were converted by the great number of prodigies and miracles wrought in it. Vespasian and Domitian had commanded all to be put to death who were of the race of David. St. Simeon had escaped their searches; but\, Trajan having given the same order\, certain heretics and Jews accused the Saint\, as being both of the race of David and a Christian\, to Atticus\, the Roman governor in Palestine. The holy bishop was condemned to be crucified. After having undergone the usual tortures during several days\, which\, though one hundred and twenty years old\, he suffered with so much patience that he drew on him a universal admiration\, and that of Atticus in particular\, he died in 107. He must have governed the Church of Jerusalem about forty-three years.\nReflection.—We bear the name of Christians\, but are full of the spirit of worldlings\, and our actions are infected with the poison of the world. We secretly seek ourselves\, even when we flatter ourselves that God is our only aim; and whilst we undertake to convert the world\, we suffer it to pervert us. When shall we begin to study to crucify our passions and die to ourselves\, that we may lay a solid foundation of true virtue and establish its reign in our hearts?
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/ferial-v-iv-st-simeon-bishop-martyr-r-comm/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200217
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200218
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165917Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165917Z
UID:1497-1581897600-1581983999@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:Ferial–V (IV)
DESCRIPTION:ST. FLAVIAN\, Bishop\, Martyr. FLAVIAN was elected Patriarch of Constantinople in 447. His short episcopate of two years was a time of conflict and persecution from the first. Chrysaphius\, the emperor’s favorite\, tried to extort a large sum of money from him on the occasion of his consecration. His fidelity in refusing this simoniacal betrayal of his trust brought on him the enmity of the most powerful man in the empire. A graver trouble soon arose. In 448 Flavian had to condemn the rising heresy of the monk Eutyches\, who obstinately denied that Our Lord was in two perfect natures after His Incarnation. Eutyches drew to his cause all the bad elements which so early gathered about the Byzantine court. His intrigues were long baffled by the vigilance of Flavian; but at last he obtained from the emperor the assembly of a council at Ephesus\, in August 449\, presided over by his friend Dioscorus\, Patriarch of Alexandria. Into this “robber council\,” as it is called\, Eutyches entered\, surrounded by soldiers. The Roman legates could not even read the Pope’s letters; and at the first sign of resistance to the condemnation of Flavian\, fresh troops entered with drawn swords\, and\, in spite of the protests of the legates\, terrified most of the bishops into acquiescence. The fury of Dioscorus reached its height when Flavian appealed to the Holy See. Then it was that he so forgot his apostolic office as to lay violent hands on his adversary. St. Flavian was set upon by Dioscorus and others\, thrown down\, beaten\, kicked\, and finally carried into banishment. Let us contrast their ends. Flavian clung to the teaching of the Roman Pontiff\, and sealed his faith with his blood. Dioscorus excommunicated the Vicar of Christ\, and died obstinate and impenitent in the heresy of Eutyches.\nReflection.—By his unswerving loyalty to the Vicar of Christ\, Flavian held fast to the truth and gained the martyr’s crown. Let us learn from him to turn instinctively to that one true guide in all matters concerning our salvation.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/ferial-v-iv-2/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200216
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200217
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165917Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165917Z
UID:1496-1581811200-1581897599@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:Sexagesima Sunday–V (II)
DESCRIPTION:BLESSED JOHN DE BRITTO\, Martyr. DON PEDRO II. of Portugal\, when a child\, had among his little pages a modest boy of rich and princely parents. Much had John de Britto—for so was he called—to bear from his careless-living companions\, to whom his holy life was a reproach. A terrible illness made him turn for aid to St. Francis Xavier\, a Saint so well loved by the Portuguese; and when\, in answer to his prayers\, he recovered\, his mother vested him for a year in the dress worn in those days by the Jesuit Fathers. From that time John’s heart burned to follow the example of the Apostle of the Indies. He gained his wish. On December 17\, 1662\, he entered the novitiate of the Society at Lisbon; and eleven years later\, in spite of the most determined opposition of his family and of the court\, he left all to go to convert the Hindus of Madura. When Blessed John’s mother knew that her son was going to the Indies\, she used all her influence to prevent him leaving his own country\, and persuaded the Papal Nuncio to interfere. “God\, Who called me from the world into religious life\, now calls me from Portugal to India\,” was the reply of the future martyr. “Not to answer the vocation as I ought\, would be to provoke the justice of God. As long as I live\, I shall never cease striving to gain a passage to India.” For fourteen years he toiled\, preaching\, converting\, baptizing multitudes\, at the cost of privations\, hardships\, and persecutions. At last\, after being seized\, tortured\, and nearly massacred by the heathens\, he was banished from the country. Forced to return to Portugal\, John once more broke through every obstacle\, and went back again to his labor of love. Like St. John the Baptist\, he died a victim to the anger of a guilty woman\, whom a convert king had put aside\, and\, like the Precursor\, he was beheaded after a painful imprisonment.\nReflection.—“It is a great honor\, a great glory to serve; God\, and to contemn all things for God. They will have a great grace who freely subject themselves to God’s most holy will.”—The Imitation of Christ.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/sexagesima-sunday-v-ii/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200215
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200216
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165917Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165917Z
UID:1495-1581724800-1581811199@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:Our Lady on Saturdays–W (IV) - Sts. Faustinus and Jovita\, Martyrs–R (Comm.)
DESCRIPTION:FAUSTINUS AND JOVITA were brothers\, nobly born\, and zealous professors of the Christian religion\, which they preached without fear in their city of Brescia\, while\, the bishop of that place lay concealed during the persecution. Their remarkable zeal excited the fury of the heathens against them\, and procured them a glorious death for their faith at Brescia in Lombardy\, under the Emperor Adrian. Julian\, a heathen lord\, apprehended them: and the emperor himself\, passing through Brescia\, when neither threats nor torments could shake their constancy\, commanded them to be beheaded. They seem to have suffered about the year 121. The city of Brescia honors them as its chief patrons\, possesses their relics\, and a very ancient church in that city bears their names.\nReflection.—The spirit of Christ is a spirit of martyrdom—at least of mortification and penance. It is always the spirit of the cross. The more we share in the suffering life of Christ\, the greater share we inherit in His spirit\, and in the fruit of His death. To souls mortified to their senses and disengaged from earthly things\, God gives frequent foretastes of the sweetness of eternal life\, and the most ardent desires of possessing Him in His glory. This is the spirit of martyrdom\, which entitles a Christian to a happy resurrection and to the bliss of the life to come.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/our-lady-on-saturdays-w-iv-sts-faustinus-and-jovita-martyrs-r-comm/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200214
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200215
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165916Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165916Z
UID:1494-1581638400-1581724799@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:Ferial–V (IV) - St. Valentine\, Priest\, Martyr–R (Comm.)
DESCRIPTION:VALENTINE was a holy priest in Rome\, who\, with St. Marius and his family\, assisted the martyrs in the persecution under Claudius II. He was apprehended\, and sent by the emperor to the prefect of Rome\, who\, on finding all his promises to make him renounce his faith ineffectual\, commanded him to be beaten with clubs\, and afterward to be beheaded\, which was executed on the 14th of February\, about the year 270. Pope Julius I\, is said to have built a church near Ponte Mole to his memory\, which for a long time gave name to the gate now called Porta del Popolo\, formerly Porta Valentini. The greater part of his relics are now in the Church of St. Praxedes. To abolish the heathens’ lewd superstitious custom of boys’ drawing the names of girls\, in honor of their goddess Februata Juno\, on the 15th of this month\, several zealous pastors substituted the names of Saints in billets given on this day.\nReflection.—In the cause of justice and truth\, prudence should not be held in account; otherwise prudence is mere human respect. St. Paul says: “The wisdom of the flesh is death.”
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/ferial-v-iv-st-valentine-priest-martyr-r-comm/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200213
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200214
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165915Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165915Z
UID:1493-1581552000-1581638399@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:Ferial–V (IV)
DESCRIPTION:ST. CATHERINE OF RICCI. ALEXANDRINA of Ricci was the daughter of a noble Florentine. At the age of thirteen she entered the Third Order of St. Dominic in the monastery of Prato\, taking in religion the name of Catherine\, after her patron and namesake of Siena. Her special attraction was to the Passion of Christ\, in which she was permitted miraculously to participate. In the Lent of 1541\, being then twenty-one years of age\, she had a vision of the crucifixion so heart-rending that she was confined to bed for three weeks\, and was only restored\, on Holy Saturday\, by an apparition of St. Mary Magdalene and Jesus risen. During twelve years she passed every Friday in ecstasy\, She received the sacred stigmata\, the wound in the left side\, and the crown of thorns. All these favors gave her continual and intense suffering\, and inspired her with a loving sympathy for the yet more bitter tortures of the Holy Souls. In their behalf she offered all her prayers and penances; and her charity toward them became so famous throughout Tuscany that after every death the friends of the deceased hastened to Catherine to secure her prayers. St. Catherine offered many prayers\, fasts\, and penances for a certain great man\, and thus obtained his salvation. It was revealed to her that he was in purgatory; and such was her love of Jesus crucified that she offered to suffer all the pains about to be inflicted on that soul. Her prayer was granted. The soul entered heaven\, and for forty days Catherine suffered indescribable agonies. Her body was covered with blisters\, emitting heat so great that her cell seemed on fire. Her flesh appeared as if roasted\, and her tongue like red-hot iron. Amid all she was calm and joyful\, saying\, “I long to suffer all imaginable pains\, that souls may quickly see and praise their Redeemer.” She knew by revelation the arrival of a soul in. purgatory\, and the hour of its release. She held intercourse with the Saints in glory\, and frequently conversed with St. Philip Neri at Rome without ever leaving her convent at Prato. She died\, amid angels’ songs\, in 1589.\nReflection.—If we truly love Jesus crucified\, we must long\, as did St. Catherine\, to release the Holy Souls whom He has redeemed but has left to our charity to set free.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/ferial-v-iv/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200212
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200213
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165915Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165915Z
UID:1492-1581465600-1581551999@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order\, Confessors–W (III)
DESCRIPTION:The Servite Order was founded in 1233 AD\, when a group of cloth merchants of Florence\, Italy\, left their city\, families and professions to retire outside the city on a mountain known as Monte Senario for a life of poverty and penance. These men are known as the Seven Holy Founders; they were canonized by Pope Leo XIII in 1888.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/seven-holy-founders-of-the-servite-order-confessors-w-iii/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200211
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200212
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165915Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165915Z
UID:1491-1581379200-1581465599@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:Apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes–W (III)
DESCRIPTION:The first of these is the apparition of 11 February 1858\, when Bernadette Soubirous\, a 14-year-old peasant girl\, admitted to her mother that a “lady” spoke to her in the cave of Massabielle (a mile from the town) while she was gathering firewood with her sister and a friend. Similar apparitions were reported on seventeen occasions that year\, until the climax revelation of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception took place.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/apparition-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-at-lourdes-w-iii/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200210
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200211
DTSTAMP:20260404T071156
CREATED:20200130T165915Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165915Z
UID:1490-1581292800-1581379199@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:St. Scholastica\, Virgin–W (III)
DESCRIPTION:OF this Saint but little is known on earth\, save that she was the sister of the great patriarch St. Benedict\, and that\, under his direction\, she founded and governed a numerous community near Monte Casino. St. Gregory sums up her life by saying that she devoted herself to God from her childhood\, and that her pure soul went to God in the likeness of a dove\, as if to show that her life had been enriched with the fullest gifts of the Holy Spirit. Her brother was accustomed to visit her every year\, for “she could not be sated or wearied with the words of grace which flowed from his lips.” On his last visit\, after a day passed in spiritual converse\, the Saint\, knowing that her end was near\, said\, “My brother\, leave me not\, I pray you\, this night\, but discourse with me till dawn on the bliss of those who see God in heaven.” St. Benedict would not\, break his rule at the bidding of natural affection; and then the Saint bowed her head on her hands and prayed; and there arose a storm so violent that St. Benedict could not return to his monastery\, and they passed the night in heavenly conversation. Three days later St. Benedict saw in a vision the soul of his sister going up in the likeness of a dove into heaven. Then he gave thanks to God for the graces He had given her\, and for the glory which had crowned them. When she died\, St. Benedict\, her spiritual daughters\, and the monks sent by St. Benedict mingled their tears and prayed\, “Alas! alas! dearest mother\, to whom dost thou leave us now? Pray for us to Jesus\, to Whom thou art gone.” They then devoutly celebrated holy Mass\, “commending her soul to God;” and her body was borne to Monte Casino\, and laid by her brother in the tomb he had prepared for himself.” And they bewailed her many days;” and St. Benedict said\, “Weep not\, sisters and brothers; for assuredly Jesus has taken her before us to be our aid and defense against all our enemies\, that we may stand in the evil day and be in all things perfect.” She died about the year 543.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/st-scholastica-virgin-w-iii/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR