SAINT FEAST DAY FOR EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR

  ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MAY Saints celebrated on the 9th of May WELCOME! SAINT MARIA DEL MONTE CARMELO RENDILES MARTINEZ, VIRGIN Saint Maria Carmen was born on August 11, 1903, in Caracas, Venezuela. Despite being born without an arm due to a rare physical deformation, she radiated a joyful spirit and dedicated her life to serving God. At fifteen, she became a catechist and felt a strong calling to religious life. In 1927, she joined the Congregation of the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament. Over the years, she founded schools for poor children and, in 1965, established the Servants of Jesus. Her unwavering devotion garnered support from the Church, and she led her order until her passing on May 9, 1977. Source: https://ewtn.co.uk/article-canonisation-of-the-7-new-saints-2/ PRAYER: Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Maria Carmen may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns w...

  ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST Saints celebrated on the 25th of August WELCOME! SAINT MARIA TRONCATTI, VIRGIN On February 16, 1883, Maria Troncatti was born in Corteno Golgi, Brescia, to a humble farming family. Early on, she learned hard work, deep faith, and tender love for others. The  Salesian Bulletin that reached her village opened her heart to the joy of mission, awakening her call to consecrated life. After some hesitation, her father blessed her decision, and in 1908 Maria professed her vows as a Daughter of Mary Help of Christians. From the very beginning, she offered her life with the spirit of service, trusting that all was in God’s hands. Her time as a Red Cross nurse during World War I prepared her for the mission God was quietly shaping in her heart. In the midst of suffering, she became a sign of peace and healing. After surviving a violent storm, Maria entrusted her future to Our Lady, promising to dedicate herself completely to the missions. In 1925 she s...

  ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN SEPTEMBER Saints celebrated on the 3rd of September WELCOME! SAINT MARIA NAM, MARTYR Maria Nam [Maria Weon Gwi-Im (Maria Won Kwi-Im)], of Seoul, Korea, wife of lay catechist and Martyr Damian Nam , who also distinguished herself through steadfastness, was beheaded for being a Christian on September 3, 1839. [Maria Nam was canonized on May 6, 1984, by  Pope John Paul II .  The  Korean martyrs' joint feast  is celebrated on September 20.] (Information from  Stadler 's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints,  Volume  4, Augsburg, 1875, p. 510) Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations PRAYER: Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Maria may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen. Sources of these articles (in the original Germ...

  ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MAY Saints celebrated on the 9th of May WELCOME! SAINT MARIA CARMEN RENDILES, FOUNDRESS Carmen Elena Rendiles Martinez ( Maria Carmen ) was born on August 11, 1903 in Caracas as the third of the seven children to Ramiro Antonio Rendiles and Ana Antonia Martinez. Maria Carmen was born without a left arm and so was given a prosthetic arm which she had attached to her for her entire life. Her baptism was celebrated in the church of Santa Anna on September 24, 1903. THE CALL TO RELIGIOUS LIFE In 1918 she felt her concrete call to the religious life. Her father died in the mid-1920s. In December 1926 religious from France arrived in the nation and she learned about them and took their arrival as a sign that she was to follow her vocation as part of their order so applied and received permission for admission into their order. THE MOVE TO TOULOUSE Maria Carmen joined the Servants of the Eucharist on February 25, 1927 and moved to Toulouse in France for her reli...

  ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN APRIL Saints celebrated on the 27th of April WELCOME! SAINT MOTHER LUPITA OF GUADALAJARA Saint Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala, known as ‘Mother Lupita’... was born in 1878 in Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico. Her father was a religious store merchant, whose store was located in front of the Basilica of Our Lady of Zapopan. Hence St Maria made frequent visits to this Basilica and grew in her devotion to Our Lady. THE CALL TO RELIGIOUS LIFE Although initially she planned to marry Gustavo Arreola, she broke off the engagement because she felt called to religious life, and believed that she was called to give assistance to the poor and the sick.  THE HANDMAIDS OF ST MARGARET MARY AND THE POOR In 1901 St Maria co-founded a new Congregation known as the ‘Handmaids of St Margaret Mary and the Poor’. St Maria worked as a nurse and regardless of the poverty of the patients, compassion and care for the physical and spiritual well-being of the sick was her primary conce...

  ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN FEBRUARY Saints celebrated on the 4th of February WELCOME! SAINT MARIA DE MATTIAS, VIRGIN Maria De Mattias was born on February 4, 1805 at Vallecorsa, the southernmost town of the Papal States, in the geographical province of Frosinone.  Her father read the Scriptures to her when she was still very young, and she developed a great love for Jesus, the Lamb sacrificed for the salvation of humanity.  A GREAT LOVE FOR JESUS All of this happened while Vallecorsa and surrounding areas were experiencing the tragic period of banditry, 1810 - 1825. In Maria’s soul, in fact, there was a comparison being made between the human blood poured out in hatred and revenge and the blood of Christ poured out for love, a Blood which saves. When she reached the age of sixteen or seventeen, she began to search for the meaning of her life; she felt a need for a boundless love.  It was through dialog with her father, to whom she revealed her interior darkness and t...

  ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN APRIL Saints celebrated on the 30th of April WELCOME! SAINT MARIE OF THE INCARNATION Saint Marie of the Incarnation [was] an Ursuline nun who founded the oldest educational institution for women in North America. St Marie was born in Tours, France, in 1599, the fourth of eight children. At her father’s direction, St Marie married and had a child but her husband died, leaving her a widow at the age of 19. St Marie was then free to follow her religious inclinations, taking a vow of celibacy she went back with her son to live with her parents. SPIRITUAL AND EMOTIONAL TRIALS St Marie experienced a mystical vision on March 24, 1620 that set her on a path of devotional intensity. St Marie worked with the sick and injured and then, after a period of discernment with her spiritual director, she decided to enter the Ursuline monastery in Tours. She left her son in the care of the Buisson Family, but the emotional pain of separation stayed with both of them. Later ...

  ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JULY Saints celebrated on the 6th of July WELCOME! SAINT MARIA GORETTI, VIRGIN AND MARTYR Saint Maria Goretti was born in 1890, at Ancona in Italy, of a poor Italian family. She was stabbed to death by a youth who was attempting to rape her. Before she died, in hospital, she declared: “I forgive him for the love of Jesus, and I pray that he may come with me to Paradise.” She was canonised in 1950. PRAYER: Father, source of innocence and lover of chastity, you gave Saint Maria Goretti the privilege of offering her life in witness to Christ. As you gave her the crown of martyrdom, let her prayers keep us faithful to your teaching. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.