St. Irenaeus was born about the year 125, in the provinces of Asia Minor, where the memory of the apostles was still cherished and where Christians were numerous. He was most influenced by St. Polycarp. Many Asian priests and missionaries brought the gospel to the pagan Gauls and founded a local church. To this church […]
Author Archive | Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament
Saint of the Week – St. Aloysius
Feast Day – June 21st St. Aloysius was born in Castiglione, Italy. The first words St. Aloysius spoke were the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. He was destined for the military by his father (who was in service to Philip II), but by the age of nine, Aloysius had decided on a religious life, […]
Saint of the Week – St. Anthony of Padua
Feast Day – June 13th Anthony’s birth and baptismal name was Fernando Martins. He was born in Portugal in 1195 to a wealthy family, yet he felt called to the priesthood and chose a life of poverty. At the age of fifteen he traveled to the capital of Portugal to study to become a priest. […]
Saint of the Week – St. Ephrem
Feast Day – June 9th Poet, teacher, orator, and defender of the faith, Ephrem is the only Syriac Christian recognized as a doctor of the Church. He took upon himself the special task of opposing the many false doctrines rampant at his time, always remaining a true and forceful defender of the Catholic Church. Born […]
Saint of the Week – St. Justin Martyr
Feast Day – June 1st Justin was born in Palestine at the start of the second century, he searched everywhere for truth, traveling to big cities, where he talked and studied with wise teachers. One day, a stranger told Justin to read the Old Testament prophets, who had foretold the coming of Christ. He did […]
Saint of the Week – St. Philip Neri
Feast Day – May 26th St. Philip Neri was a 16th-century man (1515–1595) who became a mystic and missionary, a priest and a prophet, a founder of the Oratory and a healer of souls. He became well-known in and around Rome, where he lived, which at the time was deeply in need of reform and […]
Saint of the Week – St. Paschal Baylon
Feast Day- May 17th St. Paschal Baylon, was a Franciscan lay brother and mystic. Born to a peasant family at Torre Hermosa, in Aragon, on Whitsunday, he was christened Pascua in honor of the feast. According to accounts of his early life, Paschal labored as a shepherd for his father, performed miracles, and was distinguished […]
Saint of the Week – St. Athanasius
St. Athanasius Feast Day- May 2nd St. Athanasius, also known as Athanasius the Great and Athanasius the Confessor, was a bishop and doctor of the church. He is called the “Father of Orthodoxy,” the “Pillar of the Church” and “Champion of Christ’s Divinity.” Athanasius became one of the most dedicated opponents of the heresy of […]
The Season of Lent – March 27
Lent and its Relationship to Baptism Originating in the first three centuries of the Christian era, Christians would prepare for Easter by spending three days in prayer while fasting. It would later become a three-week period of intense spiritual and liturgical preparation for catechumens that were seeking to be baptized at Easter. As Christianity became […]
The Season of Lent – March 20
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of Fasting and Abstinence for Catholics. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of Abstinence. For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on Fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. When Fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as […]
