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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Maryland Catholic Women's Conference
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200219
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200220
DTSTAMP:20260404T102748
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:20260404T102748
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:20260404T102748
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:20260404T102748
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:20260404T102748
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:20260404T102748
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:20260404T102748
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:20260404T102748
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:20260404T102748
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:20260404T102748
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
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200209
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200210
DTSTAMP:20260404T102748
CREATED:20200130T165914Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165914Z
UID:1489-1581206400-1581292799@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:Septuagesima Sunday–V (II) - St. Cyril of Alexandria\, Bishop\, Confessor\, Doctor
DESCRIPTION:Cyril was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444. He was enthroned when the city was at the height of its influence and power within the Roman Empire. Cyril wrote extensively and was a leading protagonist in the Christological controversies of the later 4th and 5th centuries. He was a central figure in the First Council of Ephesus in 431\, which led to the deposition of Nestorius as Patriarch of Constantinople.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/septuagesima-sunday-v-ii-st-cyril-of-alexandria-bishop-confessor-doctor/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200208
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200209
DTSTAMP:20260404T102748
CREATED:20200130T165914Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165914Z
UID:1488-1581120000-1581206399@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:St. John of Matha\, Confessor–W (III)
DESCRIPTION:THE life of ST. JOHN OF MATHA was one long course of self-sacrifice for the glory of God and the good of his neighbor. As a child\, his chief delight was serving the poor; and he often told them he had come into the world for no other end but to wash their feet. He studied at Paris with such distinction that his professors advised him to become a priest\, in order that his talents might render greater service to others; and\, for this end\, John gladly sacrificed his high rank and other worldly advantages. At his first Mass an angel appeared\, clad in white\, with a red and blue cross on his breast\, and his hands reposing on the heads of a Christian and a Moorish captive. To ascertain what this signified\, John repaired to St. Felix of Valois\, a holy hermit living near Meaux\, under whose direction he led a life of extreme penance. The angel again appeared\, and they then set out for Rome\, to learn the will of God from the lips of the Sovereign Pontiff\, who told them to devote themselves to the redemption of captives. For this purpose they founded the Order of the Holy Trinity. The religious fasted every day\, and gathering alms throughout Europe took them to Barbary\, to redeem the Christian slaves. They devoted themselves also to the sick and prisoners in all countries. The charity of St. John in devoting his life to the redemption of captives was visibly blessed by God. On his second return from Tunis he brought back one hundred and twenty liberated slaves. But the Moors attacked him at sea\, over- i powered his vessel\, and doomed it to destruction\, with all on board\, by taking away the rudder and sails\, and leaving it to the mercy of the winds. St. John tied his cloak to the mast\, and prayed\, saying\, “Let God arise\, and let His enemies be scattered. O Lord\, Thou wilt save the humble\, and wilt bring down the eyes of the proud.” Suddenly the wind filled the small sail\, and\, without guidance\, carried the ship safely in a few days to Ostia\, the port of Rome\, three hundred leagues from Tunis. Worn out by his heroic labors\, John died in 1213\, at the age of fifty-three.\nReflection.—Let us never forget that our blessed Lord\, bade us love our neighbor not only as ourselves\, but as He loved us\, Who afterwards sacrificed Himself for us.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/st-john-of-matha-confessor-w-iii/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200207
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200208
DTSTAMP:20260404T102748
CREATED:20200130T165913Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165913Z
UID:1487-1581033600-1581119999@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:First Friday - St. Romuald\, Abbot–W (III)
DESCRIPTION:ROMUALD (c. 951 – traditionally 19 June\, c. 1025/27) was the founder of the Camaldolese order and a major figure in the eleventh-century “Renaissance of eremitical asceticism.” IN 976\, Sergius\, a nobleman of Ravenna\, quarrelled with a relative about an estate\, and slew him in a duel. His son Romuald\, horrified at his father’s crime\, entered the Benedictine monastery at Classe\, to do a forty days’ penance for him. This penance ended in his own vocation to religion. After three years at Classe\, Romuald went to live as a hermit near Venice\, where he was joined by Peter Urseolus\, Duke of Venice\, and together they led a most austere life in the midst of assaults from the evil spirits. St. Romuald founded many monasteries\, the chief of which was that at Camaldoli\, a wild desert place\, where he built a church\, which he surrounded with a number of separate cells for the solitaries who lived under his rule. His disciples were hence called Camaldolese. He is said to have seen here a vision of a mystic ladder\, and his white-clothed monks ascending by it to heaven. Among his first disciples were Sts. Adalbert and Boniface\, apostles of Russia\, and Sts. John and Benedict of Poland\, martyrs for the faith. He was an intimate friend of the Emperor St. Henry\, and was reverenced and consulted by many great men of his time. He once passed seven years in solitude and complete silence. In his youth St. Romuald was much troubled by temptations of the flesh. To escape them he had recourse to hunting\, and in the woods first conceived his love for solitude. His father’s sin\, as we have seen\, first prompted him to undertake a forty days’ penance in the monastery\, which he forthwith made his home. Some bad example of his fellow monks induced him to leave them and adopt the solitary mode of life. The penance of Urseolus\, who had obtained his power wrongfully\, brought him his first disciple; the temptations of the devil compelled him to his severe life; and finally the persecutions of others were the occasion of his settlement at Camaldoli\, and the foundation of his Order. He died\, as he had foretold twenty years before\, alone\, in his monastery of Val Castro\, on the 19th of June\, 1027.\nReflection.—St. Romuald’s life teaches us that\, if we only follow the impulse of the Holy Spirit\, we shall easily find good everywhere\, even on the most unlikely occasions. Our own sins\, the sins of others\, their ill will against us\, or our own mistakes and misfortunes\, are equally capable of leading us\, with softened hearts\, to the feet of God’s mercy and love.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/first-friday-st-romuald-abbot-w-iii/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200206
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200207
DTSTAMP:20260404T102748
CREATED:20200130T165913Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165913Z
UID:1486-1580947200-1581033599@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:St. Titus\, Bishop\, Confessor–W (III) - St. Dorothy\, Virgin\, Martyr–R (Comm.)
DESCRIPTION:Titus was an early Christian missionary and Church leader\, a companion and disciple of Paul the Apostle\, mentioned in several of the Pauline epistles including the Epistle to Titus. He is believed to be a Gentile converted to Christianity by Paul and\, according to tradition\, was consecrated by him as Bishop of the Island of Crete. Titus brought a fundraising letter from Paul to Corinth\, to collect for the poor in Jerusalem. Later\, on Crete\, Titus appointed presbyters (elders) in every city and remained there into his old age\, dying in the city of Candia (modern Heraklion)
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/st-titus-bishop-confessor-w-iii-st-dorothy-virgin-martyr-r-comm/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200205
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200206
DTSTAMP:20260404T102748
CREATED:20200130T165913Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165913Z
UID:1485-1580860800-1580947199@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:St. Agatha\, Virgin\, Martyr–R (III)
DESCRIPTION:ST. AGATHA was born in Sicily\, of rich and noble parents—a child of benediction from the first\, for she was promised to her parents before her birth\, and consecrated from her earliest infancy to God. In the midst of dangers and temptations she served Christ in purity of body and soul\, and she died for the love of chastity. Quintanus\, who governed Sicily under the Emperor Decius\, had heard the rumor of her beauty and wealth\, and he made the laws against the Christians a pretext for summoning her from Palermo to Catania\, where he was at the time. “O Jesus Christ!” she cried\, as she set out on this dreaded journey\, “all that I am is Thine; preserve me against the tyrant.” And Our Lord did indeed preserve one who had given herself so utterly to Him. He kept her pure and undefiled while she was imprisoned for a whole month under charge of an evil woman. He gave her strength to reply to the offer of her life and safety\, if she would but consent to sin\, “Christ alone is my life and my salvation.” When Quintanus turned from passion to cruelty\, and cut off her breasts\, Our Lord sent the Prince of His apostles to heal her. And when\, after she had been rolled naked upon potsherds\, she asked that her torments might be ended\, her Spouse heard her prayer and took her to Himself. St. Agatha gave herself without reserve to Jesus Christ; she followed Him in virginal purity\, and then looked to Him for protection. And down to this day Christ has shown His tender regard for the very body of St. Agatha. Again and again\, during the eruptions of Mount Etna\, the people of Catania have exposed her veil for public veneration\, and found safety by this means; and in modern times\, on opening the tomb in which her body lies waiting for the resurrection\, they beheld the skin still entire\, and felt the sweet fragrance which issued from this temple of the Holy Ghost.\nReflection.—Purity is a gift of God: we can gain it and preserve it only by care and diligence in avoiding all that may prove an incentive to sin.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/st-agatha-virgin-martyr-r-iii/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200204
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200205
DTSTAMP:20260404T102748
CREATED:20200130T165912Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165912Z
UID:1484-1580774400-1580860799@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:St. Andrew Corsini\, Bishop\, Confessor–W (III)
DESCRIPTION:ANDREW CORSINI was born in Florence on November 30\, 1302 into the noble and illustrious Corsini house\, one of twelve. He was once wild and dissolute before he heard the call from the Lord and decided to consecrate himself to Him. He joined the Carmelites in Florence in 1318 for his novitiate and began a life of great mortification. His ordination to the priesthood was celebrated in 1328. Corsini’s parents prepared music and a banquet for his ordination but he retreated to a little convent on the town’s outskirts to celebrate his first Mass in relative peace. Corsini began preaching in Florence before he was sent for his studies in both Paris and Avignon. He resided in Avignon with his cousin Cardinal Pietro Corsini. He returned to Florence in 1332 and was chosen as the prior for his convent. Upon his return he became known as the “Apostle of Florence” and he was regarded as a prophet and a wonderworker. In 1348 as the Black Plague was prevalent in the area he was appointed as the order’s Tuscan Provincial. On 13 October 1349 a papal bull from Pope Clement VI appointed him as the Bishop of Fiesole and he hid himself upon learning of this appointment. He redoubled his austerities as a bishop (he wore a hair shirt and iron girdle as well as sleeping on a bed of vine-branches) and was lavish in his care of the poor; he was sought after as a peacemaker and this is most notable in Bologna where Pope Urban V sent him as a papal legate to heal the breach between the nobles and the people. The bishop kept six servants on hand and he appointed two vicars to aid him in governing his diocese. He also enforced discipline amongst the diocesan priests. Corsini tried to avoid discourse with women as much as possible and he kept a list of names of poor people so he knew who to visit and provide goods to in order to alleviate their suffering. On March 28\, 1350 he issued an edict that regulated revenue to the poor “for the love of God” as he often said. It was reported that in 1373 as he celebrated Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve\, the Blessed Virgin appeared to him and told him he would leave this world on the Three Kings’ feast. It came to pass as the vision had told him for he fell ill on Christmas night and he died as foretold. His remains were moved to Florence in the evening of February 2\, 1373 and his remains were later found to be incorrupt upon exhumation in 1385. The location of his burial was damaged in 1771 but his remains were left undisturbed. Devotion to the late bishop became so profound after his death. The longstanding and popular devotion to Corsini led to Pope Eugene IV confirming his beatification on April 21\, 1440 and Pope Urban VIII canonizing him as a saint on April 22\, 1629.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/st-andrew-corsini-bishop-confessor-w-iii/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200203
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200204
DTSTAMP:20260404T102748
CREATED:20200130T165912Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165912Z
UID:1483-1580688000-1580774399@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:Ferial–G (IV) - St. Blaise\, Bishop\, Martyr–R (Comm.)\, (Blessing of throats)
DESCRIPTION:ST. BLASE devoted the earlier years of his life to the study of philosophy\, and afterwards became a physician. In the practice of his profession he saw so much of the miseries of life and the hollowness of worldly pleasures\, that he resolved to spend the rest of his days in the service of God\, and from being a healer of bodily ailments to be- come a physician of souls. The Bishop of Sebaste\, in Armenia\, having died\, our Saint\, much to the gratification of the inhabitants of that city\, was appointed to succeed him. St. Blase at once began to instruct his people as much by his example as by his words\, and the great virtues and sanctity of this servant of God were attested by many miracles. From all parts the people came flocking to him for the cure of bodily and spiritual ills. Agricolaus\, Governor of Cappadocia and the Lesser Armenia\, having begun a persecution by order of the Emperor Licinius\, our Saint was seized and hurried off to prison. While on his way there\, a distracted mother\, whose only child was dying of a throat disease\, threw herself at the feet of St. Blase and implored his intercession. Touched at her grief\, the Saint offered up his prayers\, and the child was cured; and since that time his aid has often been effectually solicited in cases of a similar disease. Refusing to worship the false gods of the heathens\, St. Blase was first scourged; his body was then torn with hooks\, and finally he was beheaded in the year 316.\nReflection.—There is no sacrifice which\, by the aid of grace\, human nature is not capable of accomplishing. When St. Paul complained to God of the violence of the temptation\, God answered\, “My grace is sufficient for thee\, for power is made perfect in infirmity.” In many places on the day of his feast the blessing of St. Blaise is given: two candles are consecrated\, generally by a prayer\, these are then held in a crossed position by a priest over the heads of the faithful or the people are touched on the throat with them. In other places oil is consecrated in which the wick of a small candle is dipped and the throats of those present are touched with the wick. At the same time the following blessing is given: “May God at the intercession of St. Blaise preserve you from throat troubles and every other evil.”
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/ferial-g-iv-st-blaise-bishop-martyr-r-comm-blessing-of-throats/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200202
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200203
DTSTAMP:20260404T102748
CREATED:20200130T165912Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165912Z
UID:1482-1580601600-1580687999@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:Fourth Sunday after Epiphany–G (II) - Candlemas Day - Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary–W (Comm.)
DESCRIPTION:Forty days after the birth of Christ Mary complied with this precept of the law\, she redeemed her first-born from the temple (Numbers 18:15)\, and was purified by the prayer of Simeon the just\, in the presence of Anna the prophetess (Luke 2:22 sqq.). No doubt this event\, the first solemn introduction of Christ into the house of God\, was in the earliest times celebrated in the Church of Jerusalem. We find it attested for the first half of the fourth century by the pilgrim of Bordeaux\, Egeria or Silvia. The day (14 February) was solemnly kept by a procession to the Constantinian basilica of the Resurrection\, a homily on Luke 2:22 sqq.\, and the Holy Sacrifice. But the feast then had no proper name; it was simply called the fortieth day after Epiphany. This latter circumstance proves that in Jerusalem Epiphany was then the feast of Christ’s birth.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/fourth-sunday-after-epiphany-g-ii-candlemas-day-purification-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-w-comm/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200201
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200202
DTSTAMP:20260404T102748
CREATED:20200130T165912Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165912Z
UID:1481-1580515200-1580601599@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:First Saturday - St. Ignatius of Antioch\, Bishop\, Martyr–R (III)
DESCRIPTION:ST. IGNATIUS\, Bishop of Antioch\, was the disciple of St. John. When Domitian persecuted the Church\, St. Ignatius obtained peace for his own flock by fasting and prayer. But for his part he desired to suffer with Christ\, and to prove himself a perfect disciple. In the year 107\, Trajan came to Antioch\, and forced the Christians to choose between apostasy and death. “Who art thou\, poor devil\,” the emperor said when Ignatius was brought before him\, “who settest our commands at naught?” “Call not him ‘poor devil\,’” Ignatius answered\, “who bears God within him.” And when the emperor questioned him about his meaning\, Ignatius explained that he bore in his heart Christ crucified for his sake. Thereupon the emperor condemned him to be torn to pieces by wild beasts at Rome. St. Ignatius thanked God\, Who had so honored him\, “binding him in the chains of Paul\, His apostle.” He journeyed to Rome\, guarded by soldiers\, and with no fear except of losing the martyr’s crown. He was devoured by lions in the Roman amphitheater. The wild beasts left nothing of his body\, except a few bones\, which were reverently treasured at Antioch\, until their removal to the Church of St. Clement at Rome\, in 637. After the martyr’s death\, several Christians saw him in vision standing before Christ\, and interceding for them.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/first-saturday-st-ignatius-of-antioch-bishop-martyr-r-iii/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200131
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200201
DTSTAMP:20260404T102748
CREATED:20200130T165911Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165911Z
UID:1480-1580428800-1580515199@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:St. John Bosco\, Confessor–W (III)
DESCRIPTION:ST. JOHN BOSCO\, popularly known as Don Bosco\, was an Italian Roman Catholic priest of the Latin Church\, educator and writer of the 19th century. While working in Turin\, where the population suffered many of the effects of industrialization and urbanization\, he dedicated his life to the betterment and education of street children\, juvenile delinquents\, and other disadvantaged youth. He developed teaching methods based on love rather than punishment\, a method that became known as the Salesian Preventive System. A follower of the spirituality and philosophy of Saint Francis de Sales\, Bosco dedicated his works to him when he founded the Salesians of Don Bosco\, based in Turin. Together with Maria Domenica Mazzarello\, he founded the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians\, a religious congregation of nuns dedicated to the care and education of poor girls. In 1876\, Bosco founded a movement of laity\, the Association of Salesian Cooperators\, with the same educational mission to the poor. In 1875\, he began to publish the Salesian Bulletin. The Bulletin has remained in continuous publication\, and is currently published in 50 different editions and 30 languages. Bosco established a network of organizations and centers to carry on his work. Following his posthumous beatification in 1929\, he was canonized as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Pius XI in 1934.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/st-john-bosco-confessor-w-iii/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200130
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200131
DTSTAMP:20260404T102748
CREATED:20200130T165910Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165910Z
UID:1479-1580342400-1580428799@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:St. Martina\, Virgin\, Martyr–R (III)
DESCRIPTION:MARTINA of Rome was a Roman martyr under Emperor Alexander Severus. She is a patron saint of Rome. She was martyred in 226\, according to some authorities\, more probably in 228\, under the pontificate of Pope Urban I\, according to others. The daughter of an ex-consul and orphaned at an early age\, she so openly testified to her Christian faith that she could not escape the persecutions under Alexander Severus. Arrested and commanded to return to idolatry\, she refused\, whereupon she was subjected to various tortures and was finally beheaded. The relics of Martina were discovered on October 25\, 1634 by the painter Pietro da Cortona\, in a crypt of Santi Luca e Martina\, situated near the Mamertine Prison and dedicated to the saint. Pope Urban VIII\, who occupied the Holy See at that time\, had the church repaired and\, it would seem\, composed the hymns which are sung at her office.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/st-martina-virgin-martyr-r-iii/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200129
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200130
DTSTAMP:20260404T102748
CREATED:20200130T165910Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165910Z
UID:1478-1580256000-1580342399@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:St. Francis de Sales\, Bishop\, Confessor\, Doctor–W (III)
DESCRIPTION:FRANCIS was born of noble and pious parents\, near Annecy\, 1566\, and studied with brilliant success at Paris and Padua. On his return from Italy he gave up the grand career which his father had marked out for him in the service of the state\, and became a priest. When the Duke of Savoy had resolved to restore the Church in the Chablais\, Francis offered himself for the work\, and set out on foot with his Bible and breviary and one companion\, his cousin Louis de Sales. It was a work of toil\, privation\, and danger. Every door and every heart was closed against him. He was rejected with insult and threatened with death. But nothing could daunt or resist him\, and ere long the Church burst forth into a second spring. It is stated that he converted 72\,000 Calvinists. He was then compelled by the pope to become Coadjutor Bishop of Geneva\, and succeeded to the see in 1602. At times the exceeding gentleness with which he received heretics and sinners almost scandalized his friends\, and one of them said to him\, “Francis de Sales will go to Paradise\, of course; but I am not so sure of the Bishop of Geneva: I am almost afraid his gentleness will play him a shrewd turn.” “Ah\,” said the saint\, “I would rather account to God for too great gentleness than for too great severity. Is not God all love? God the Father is the Father of mercy; God the Son is a Lamb; God the Holy Ghost is a Dove that is\, gentleness itself. And are you wiser than God?” In union with St. Jane Frances de Chantal he founded at Annecy the Order of the Visitation\, which soon spread over Europe. Though poor\, he refused provisions and dignities\, and even the great see of Paris. He died at Avignon\, 1622.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/st-francis-de-sales-bishop-confessor-doctor-w-iii/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200128
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200129
DTSTAMP:20260404T102748
CREATED:20200130T165910Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165910Z
UID:1477-1580169600-1580255999@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:St. Peter Nolasco\, Confessor–W (III) - St. Agnes\, Virgin\, Martyr–R (Comm.)
DESCRIPTION:ST. PETER NOLASCO’S feast is celebrated near St. Raymond of Penafort\, founder of the Order of Mercedarians\, the religious community which sent members as ransom for Christian prisoners in the hands of the Saracens. Details of his life are uncertain\, but he was probably a native of Languedoc\, France. After taking part in the crusade against the heretic Albigensians of southern France\, he became a tutor of King James I of Aragon and then settled at Barcelona. There he became friends with St. Raymond of Penafort\, and in 1218\, with the support of James I\, they laid the foundation for the Mercedarians\, devoted to the ransoming of Christian captives. Twice Peter went to Africa to serve as a captive\, and it was reported that during one journey to Granada and Valencia he won the release from Moorish jails of some 400 captive Christians. Retiring in 1249\, he was followed as head of the order by William of Bas. He was canonized by Pope Urban VIII in 1628.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/st-peter-nolasco-confessor-w-iii-st-agnes-virgin-martyr-r-comm/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200127
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200128
DTSTAMP:20260404T102748
CREATED:20200130T165910Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165910Z
UID:1476-1580083200-1580169599@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:St. John Chrysostom\, Bishop\, Confessor\, Doctor–W (III)
DESCRIPTION:ST. JOHN was born at Antioch in 344. In order to break with a world which admired and courted him\, he in 374 retired for six years to a neighboring mountain. Having thus acquired the art of Christian silence\, he returned to Antioch\, and there labored as priest\, until he was ordained Bishop of Constantinople in 398. The effect of his sermons was everywhere marvelous. He was very urgent that his people should frequent the holy sacrifice\, and in order to remove all excuse he abbreviated the long Liturgy until then in use. St. Nilus relates that St. John Chrysostom was wont to see\, when the priest began the holy sacrifice\, “many of the blessed ones coming down from Heaven in shining garments\, and with bare feet\, eyes intent\, and bowed heads\, in utter stillness and silence\, assisting at the consummation of the tremendous mystery.” Beloved as he was in Constantinople\, his denunciations of vice made him numerous enemies. In 403 these procured his banishment; and although he was almost immediately recalled\, it was not more than a reprieve. In 404 he was banished to Cucusus in the deserts of Taurus. In 407 he was wearing out\, but his enemies were impatient. They hurried him off to Pytius on the Euxine\, a rough journey of nigh 400 miles. He was assiduously exposed to every hardship\, cold\, wet\, and semi-starvation\, but nothing could overcome his cheerfulness and his consideration for others. On the journey his sickness increased\, and he was warned that his end was nigh. Thereupon\, exchanging his travel-stained clothes for white garments\, he received Viaticum\, and with his customary words\, “Glory be to God for all things. Amen\,” passed to Christ.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/st-john-chrysostom-bishop-confessor-doctor-w-iii/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200126
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200127
DTSTAMP:20260404T102748
CREATED:20200130T165909Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165909Z
UID:1475-1579996800-1580083199@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:Third Sunday after Epiphany–G (II) - St. Polycarp\, Bishop\, Martyr
DESCRIPTION:ST. POLYCARP\, Bishop of Smyrna\, was a disciple of St. John. He wrote to the Philippians\, exhorting them to mutual love and to hatred of heresy. When the apostate Marcion met St. Polycarp at Rome\, he asked the aged saint if he knew him. “Yes\,” St. Polycarp answered\, “I know you for the first-born of Satan.” These were the words of a saint most loving and most charitable\, and specially noted for his compassion to sinners. He hated heresy\, because he loved God and man so much. In 167\, persecution broke out in Smyrna. When Polycarp heard that his pursuers were at the door\, he said\, “The will of God be done; “ and meeting them\, he begged to be left alone for a little time\, which he spent in prayer for “the Catholic Church throughout the world.” He was brought to Smyrna early on Holy Saturday; and\, as he entered\, a voice was heard from Heaven\, “Polycarp\, be strong.” When the proconsul besought him to curse Christ and go free\, Polycarp answered\, “86 years I have served Him\, and He never did me wrong; how can I blaspheme my King and savior?” When he threatened him with fire\, Polycarp told him this fire of his lasted but a little\, while the fire prepared for the wicked lasted forever. At the stake he thanked God aloud for letting him drink of Christ’s chalice. The fire was lit\, but it did him no hurt; so he was stabbed to the heart\, and his dead body was burnt. “Then\,” say the writers of his acts\, “we took up the bones\, more precious than the richest jewels or gold\, and deposited them in a fitting place\, at which may God grant us to assemble with joy to celebrate the birthday of the martyr to his life in Heaven!”
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/third-sunday-after-epiphany-g-ii-st-polycarp-bishop-martyr/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200125
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200126
DTSTAMP:20260404T102748
CREATED:20200130T165908Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165908Z
UID:1474-1579910400-1579996799@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:Conversion of St. Paul\, Apostle–W (III) - (Comm. of St. Peter\, Apostle)
DESCRIPTION:THE great apostle PAUL\, named Saul at his circumcision\, was born at Tarsus\, the capital of Silicia\, and was by privilege a Roman citizen\, to which quality a great distinction and several exemptions were granted by the laws of the empire. He was early instructed in the strict observance of the Mosaic law\, and lived up to it in the most scrupulous manner. In his zeal for the Jewish law\, which he thought the cause of God\, he became a violent persecutor of the Christians. He was one of those who combined to murder St. Stephen\, and in the violent persecution of the faithful which followed the martyrdom of the holy deacon\, Saul signalized himself above others. By virtue of the power he had received from the high priest\, he dragged the Christians out of their houses\, loaded them with chains\, and thrust them into prison. In the fury of his zeal he applied for a commission to take up all Jews at Damascus who confessed Jesus Christ\, and bring them bound to Jerusalem\, that they might serve as examples for the others. But God was pleased to show forth in him His patience and mercy. While on his way to Damascus\, he and his party were surrounded by a light from Heaven\, brighter than the sun\, and suddenly struck to the ground. And then a voice was heard saying\, “Saul\, Saul\, why dost thou persecute me?” And Saul answered\, “Who art Thou\, Lord?” and the voice replied\, “I am Jesus\, whom thou dost persecute.” This mild expostulation of Our Redeemer\, accompanied with a powerful interior grace\, cured Saul’s pride\, assuaged his rage\, and wrought at once a total change in him. Wherefore\, trembling and astonished\, he cried out\, “Lord\, what wilt Thou have me to do?” Our Lord ordered him to arise and to proceed on his way to the city\, where he should be informed of what was expected from him. Saul\, arising from the ground\, found that\, though his eyes were open\, he saw nothing. He was led by hand into Damascus\, where he was lodged in the house of a Jew named Judas. To this house came by divine appointment a holy man named Ananias\, who\, laying his hands on Saul\, said\, “Brother Saul\, the Lord Jesus\, who appeared to thee on thy journey\, hath sent me that thou mayest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost.” Immediately something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes\, and he recovered his sight. Then he arose and was baptized; he stayed some few days with the disciples at Damascus\, and began immediately to preach in the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God. Thus a blasphemer and a persecutor was made an apostle\, and chosen as one of God’s principal instruments in the conversion of the world.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/conversion-of-st-paul-apostle-w-iii-comm-of-st-peter-apostle/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200124
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200125
DTSTAMP:20260404T102748
CREATED:20200130T165908Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165908Z
UID:1473-1579824000-1579910399@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:St. Timothy\, Bishop\, Martyr–R (III)
DESCRIPTION:TIMOTHY was a convert of St. Paul. He was born at Lystra in Asia Minor. His mother was a Jewess\, but his father was a pagan; and though Timothy had read the Scriptures from his childhood\, he had not been circumcised as a Jew. On the arrival of St. Paul at Lystra the youthful Timothy\, with his mother and grandmother\, eagerly embraced the Faith. Seven years later\, when the apostle again visited the country\, the boy had grown into manhood\, while his good heart\, his austerities and zeal had won the esteem of all around him; and holy men were prophesying great things of the fervent youth. St. Paul at once saw his fitness for the work of an evangelist. Timothy was forthwith ordained\, and from that time became the constant and much-beloved fellow-worker of the apostle. In company with St. Paul he visited the cities of Asia Minor and Greece at one time hastening on in front as a trusted messenger\, at another lingering behind to confirm in the Faith some recently founded church. Finally\, he was made the first Bishop of Ephesus; and here he received the two epistles which bear his name\, the first written from Macedonia and the second from Rome\, in which St. Paul from his prison gives vent to his longing desire to see his “dearly beloved son\,” if possible\, once more before his death. St. Timothy himself not many years after the death of St. Paul\, won his martyr’s crown at Ephesus. As a child Timothy delighted in reading the sacred books\, and to his last hour he would remember the parting words of his spiritual father\, “Attende lectioni”—“Apply thyself to reading.”
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/st-timothy-bishop-martyr-r-iii/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200123
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200124
DTSTAMP:20260404T102748
CREATED:20200130T165908Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165908Z
UID:1472-1579737600-1579823999@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:St. Raymond of Peñafort\, Confessor–W (III) - St. Emerentiana\, Virgin\, Martyr–R (Comm.)
DESCRIPTION:Born A.D. 1175\, of a noble Spanish family\, RAYMOND\, at the age of 20\, taught philosophy at Barcelona with marvelous success. Ten years later his rare abilities won for him the degree of Doctor in the University of Bologna\, and many high dignities. A tender devotion to our Blessed Lady\, which had grown up with him from childhood\, determined him in middle life to renounce all his honors and to enter her Order of St. Dominic. There\, again\, a vision of the Mother of Mercy instructed him to cooperate with his penitent St. Peter Nolasco\, and with James\, King of Aragon\, in founding the Order of Our Lady of Ransom for the Redemption of Captives. He began this great work by preaching a crusade against the Moors\, and rousing to penance the Christians\, enslaved in both soul and body by the infidel. King James of Aragon\, a man of great qualities\, but held in bond by a ruling passion\, was bidden by the saint to put away the cause of his sin. On his delay\, Raymond asked for leave to depart from Majorca\, since he could not live with sin. The king refused\, and forbade\, under pain of death\, his conveyance by others. Full of faith\, Raymond spread his cloak upon the waters\, and\, tying one end to his staff as a sail\, made the sign of the cross and fearlessly stepped upon it. In six hours he was borne to Barcelona\, where\, gathering up his cloak dry\, he stole into his monastery. The king\, overcome by this miracle\, became a sincere penitent and the disciple of the saint till his death. In 1230\, Gregory IX summoned Raymond to Rome\, made him his confessor and grand penitentiary\, and directed him to compile “The Decretals\,” a collection of the scattered decisions of the popes and Councils. Having refused the archbishopric of Tarragona\, Raymond found himself in 1238 chosen third General of his Order; which post he again succeeded in resigning\, on the score of his advanced age. His first act when set free was to resume his labors among the infidels\, and in 1256 Raymond\, then 81\, was able to report that 10\,000 Saracens had received baptism. He died in 1275.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/st-raymond-of-penafort-confessor-w-iii-st-emerentiana-virgin-martyr-r-comm/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200122
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200123
DTSTAMP:20260404T102748
CREATED:20200130T165908Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165908Z
UID:1471-1579651200-1579737599@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:Sts. Vincent & Anastasius\, Martyrs–R (III)
DESCRIPTION:VINCENT was archdeacon of the church at Saragossa [Spain]. Valerian\, the bishop\, had an impediment in his speech; thus Vincent preached in his stead\, and answered in his name when both were brought before Dacian\, the president\, during the persecution of Diocletian. When the bishop was sent into banishment\, Vincent remained to suffer and to die. First of all\, he was stretched on the rack; and\, when he was almost torn asunder\, Dacian\, the president\, asked him in mockery “how he fared now.” Vincent answered\, with joy in his face\, that he had ever prayed to be as he was then. It was in vain that Dacian struck the executioners and goaded them on in their savage work. The martyr’s flesh was torn with hooks; he was bound in a chair of red-hot iron; lard and salt were rubbed into his wounds; and amid all this he kept his eyes raised to heaven\, and remained unmoved. He was cast into a solitary dungeon\, with his feet in the stocks; but the angels of Christ illuminated the darkness\, and assured Vincent that he was near his triumph. His wounds were now tended to prepare him for fresh torments\, and the faithful were permitted to gaze on his mangled body. They came in troops\, kissed the open sores\, and carried away as relics cloths dipped in his blood. Before the tortures could recommence\, the martyr’s hour came\, and he breathed forth his soul in peace. Even the dead bodies of the saints are precious in the sight of God\, and the hand of iniquity cannot touch them. A raven guarded the body of Vincent where it lay flung upon the earth. When it was sunk out at sea the waves cast it ashore; and his relics are preserved to this day in the Augustinian monastery at Lisbon\, for the consolation of the Church of Christ. ST. ANASTASIUS\, a monk of Persia\, was put to death with 70 other Christians under Chosroes in 628.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/sts-vincent-anastasius-martyrs-r-iii/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200121
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200122
DTSTAMP:20260404T102748
CREATED:20200130T165908Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200130T165908Z
UID:1470-1579564800-1579651199@marylandcatholicwomen.com
SUMMARY:St. Agnes\, Virgin\, Martyr–R (III)
DESCRIPTION:ST. AGNES was but 12 years old when she was led to the altar of Minerva at Rome and commanded to obey the persecuting laws of Diocletian by offering incense. In the midst of the idolatrous rites she raised her hands to Christ\, her Spouse\, and made the sign of the life-giving Cross. She did not shrink when she was bound hand and foot\, though the shackles slipped from her young hands\, and the heathens who stood around were moved to tears. The bonds were not needed for her\, and she hastened gladly to the place of her torture. Next\, when the judge saw that pain had no terrors for her\, he inflicted an insult worse than death: her clothes were stripped off\, and she had to stand in the street before a pagan crowd; yet even this did not daunt her. “Christ\,” she said\, “will guard His own.” So it was. Christ showed\, by a miracle\, the value which He sets upon the custody of the eyes. Whilst the crowd turned away their eyes from the spouse of Christ\, as she stood exposed to view in the street\, there was one young man who dared to gaze at the innocent child with immodest eyes. A flash of light struck him blind\, and his companions bore him away half dead with pain and terror. Lastly\, her fidelity to Christ was proved by flattery and offers of marriage. But she answered\, “Christ is my Spouse: He chose me first\, and His I will be.” At length the sentence of death was passed. For a moment she stood erect in prayer\, and then bowed her neck to the sword. At one stroke her head was severed from her body\, and the angels bore her pure soul to paradise.
URL:https://marylandcatholicwomen.com/event/st-agnes-virgin-martyr-r-iii/
CATEGORIES:Church Calendar
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