PAULA PIANTANIDA, WIDOW

PAULA PIANTANIDA, WIDOW - 31 JANUARY

PAULA PIANTANIDA, WIDOW

This holy lady was born in Milan of poor parents and was named Martha in holy baptism. She lost her good mother at an early age, and her father Augustine Piantanida soon remarried. Martha, although a very kind child, was treated very harshly by her stepmother. When she grew up, her father gave her away in marriage, partly for her to be able to leave home because he had found out about the way her stepmother behaved towards his daughter. The man his daughter married was not an ideal husband. He died a few years later. Although not a bad lady, Martha, now a widow, was very attached to the world and was rather obsessed with cleaning.

A sermon she listened to one day touched her deeply, and she began earnestly to turn to Jesus and away from worldly vanities. Martha then started a serious penitential life. Inspired by her edifying example, several like-minded ladies joined her. They moved into a small house, lived together in abject poverty, and were under the leadership of the Capuchin Jacobus de Mediola. Martha had to go through hard struggles until she completely exterminated the love of worldly trifles in herself. Archbishop Charles Borromeo built them a monastery, which he dedicated to Saint Praxedis. On April 26, 1579, the pious sisters received the habit from the hands of the archbishop. Martha was given the name Sister Paula. Four Capuchin Sisters were called from Perugia to introduce the austere Rule of Saint Clare to this new monastery, which was placed under the direction and obedience of the Capuchins. Paula died happily in the Lord on January 31, 1612, having led a very humble, penitential life in the convent. (J.M.R.)

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 4, Augsburg, 1875)

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org

Comments

WELCOME

Please pick your saints: January - Saints by date 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 February - Saints by date 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 March - Saints by date: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 April - Saints by date: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 May - Saints by date: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

ST JOHN BERCHMANS, RELIGIOUS - 13 AUGUST

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST Saints celebrated on the 13th of August WELCOME! SAINT JOHN BERCHMANS, RELIGIOUS (Patron Saint of Altar Servers.) The eldest boy of a poor cordwainer, in a small Belgian town, John was ever a dutiful, prayerful, and studious child. Our Lord called him when but young to leave his father and his father’s house, to serve Him in the Society of Jesus. And because he was so good a son, it cost his father much to give him up to God; but he was too good a Christian to refuse outright. HE WAS SENT TO ROME John had hardly taken his religious vows when he was sent to the centre of Christendom, the holy city of Rome. His modesty, his purity, shone out as great virtue always does; and the young laymen who attended the lectures would come to gaze upon his beautiful and holy face, and go away the better for the sight. GREAT VIRTUE Three short years, and his last sickness found him sighing for heaven, and three days before the great feast of Mary’s Assumption in 1

ST LAURA OF CORDOBA, WIDOW AND MARTYR - 19 OCTOBER

WELCOME! SAINT LAURA OF CORDOBA, WIDOW AND MARTYR Laura, a widow and martyr of Cordoba in Spain, is mentioned in the Spanish martyrology of Tamajode Salazar, who refers to Luitprand, where it says the following: St Laura is said to have been of a noble family, and according to the wishes of her parents she married an equally noble man and gave birth to two daughters. After the death of her husband and her daughters, she went to the monastery of St Aurea, named St-Maria de Cuteclara, and after her martyrdom led the same for nine years as her successor. After she had made wonderful progress in all virtues, she was finally summoned to renounce the faith before a Saracen judge. But since she remained steadfast, she was first beaten very cruelly and then thrown into a bath of boiling pitch, where she remained in praise of God for three hours and then flew to heaven on October 19, 864. St Laura is of the 48 Martyrs of Cordoba. PRAYER: Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that we who

SAINT FEAST DAY FOR EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR

Search This Blog