Monthly Archives: August 2020

St. Raymond was born by cesarean operation (hence the name non natus-not born).  His mother died in childbirth.  He was born around 1204 in Portella, Spain.  He was a member of the Mercedarians under St.  Peter Nolasco and succeeded him as chief ransomer of slaves.  He went to Algeria to ransom slaves and was kept hostage for several slaves.  When his ransom money ran out, he was to be impaled.  Learning that he had converted several Mohammedans, the governor cancelled his death sentence thinking of the ransom he would bring.  He was forced to run the gantlet.  He again began evangelizing, and  he was tortured and  ransomed 8 months later.  Pope Gregory IX appointed him Cardinal on his return to Barcelona in 1239.  The next year on his way to Rome he died.  He was canonized in 1657.

FEAST DAY:  August 31

PATRON OF:  Midwives

ROSARIES

Responsorial Psalm

My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

True

Today’s Question-

Who is the “originating minister” of confirmation?

a) pastor    b) bishop    c) sponsor

St. Fiacre was born in Ireland around the beginning of the 7^th Century.  He went to Europe, and St. Faro, Bishop of Meaux, provided him with a plot of land for a hermitage.  He resumed leading the religious he had led in Ireland.  People from the surrounding regions came in droves to learn about Christianity.  He determined to help them; they were so far from home and without shelter.  The saintly hermit chopped down trees and built a place for them to shelter.  He cleared the land so they could grow vegetables for food.  The surrounding district converted to Christianity through his dedication and self-sacrifice.  He died around 675.  His shrine was famous for miraculous cures.

FEAST DAY:  August 30 

PATRON OF:  Gardeners, cab drivers

ST. FIACRE OUTDOOR STATUE

Responsorial Psalm

Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

True

Today’s Question-

The Eastern Churches celebrate the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and eucharist at the same time for all their new members including infants.

True or false?

St. John spent most of his life in the wilderness and became the model of many anchorites who later served God in the same manner.  Appearing on the banks of the Jordan, he was a preacher of penance and the precursor of Jesus Christ.  He became the “voice of one crying out in the wilderness.”  He baptized our Lord and called him the Lamb of God.  When Herod Antipas married Herodias, the wife of his brother, St. John boldly denounced the adulterous and incestuous marriage.   He was thrown into prison.   Herodias wanted revenge.  When her daughter, Salome, danced for Herod he was so pleased that he told her she could have anything.  Her mother told her to ask for St. John’s head.  Herod could not refuse after all heard his promise, and an officer was sent to behead St. John.  His head was given to Salome on a silver platter.

FEAST DAY:  August 29

PATRON OF:  Farriers

PRAYER BOOKS

Responsorial Psalm

The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

Holy Thursday

Today’s Answer-

The Liturgical practice of confirmation in the Latin Church emphasizes the communion of the new Christian with the bishop.

St. Augustine was born at Tagaste in Africa in 354.  He restlessly searched for the truth until he was converted to the Faith at Milan and baptized by St. Ambrose.  He returned to his homeland and embraced the ascetic life.  Subsequently he was elected as Bishop of Hippo.  For 34 years he guided his flock with sermons and writings.  He fought bravely against the errors of his time.  He died in 430.

FEAST DAY:  August 28

PATRON OF:  Printers, repentance

CLERGY VESTMENTS

Responsorial Psalm

 I will praise your name for ever, Lord.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

False

Today’s Question-

Chrism oil is blessed by the bishop at the Chrism Mass on or near what holy day?

St. Monica was born into a Christian family at Tagaste in Africa in 331.  She was married to Patricius, a pagan, at an early age.  Before his death, he converted to Christianity.  Augustine was her son.  She prayed and shed many tears for his conversion.  She nourished the faith by her prayers and witnessed to it by her deeds.  He returned to God in 386 and was baptized by St. Ambrose the following Easter Eve.   She died at Ostia in 387.

FEAST DAY:  August 27

PATRON OF:  Mothers, wives, alcoholism, widows

BRACELETS

Responsorial Psalm

 Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

a) martyrdom

Today’s Question-

Confirmation is not necessary for the grace of baptism to have its full effect.

True or false?

Born at Chalon-sur-saone in 470, he entered the monastery of Lerins at the age of twenty.  In 503 he was chosen Bishop of Arles.  He led an austere life which he retained as a devout Bishop.  He established the claim of Arles to be the primatial See in Gaul.  He formed the clergy and organized his diocese and zealously defended the church against heresy.  He fought strenuously against Arianism.  He stressed brevity and clarity in his sermons and he, himself was a celebrated preacher.  He founded a nunnery where his sister was and wrote a Rule for it.  In this Rule, it provided that every nun learn to read and write, and it also established that the nuns should be allowed to choose their Abbess.  He died in 543.

FEAST DAY:  August 26

SAINT BOOKS

Responsorial Psalm

The Lord comes to judge the earth.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

“I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Today’s Question-

Besides baptism by desire and baptism by water, what is another way of baptism?

a) martyrdom     b) confirmation     c) anointing

St. Louis was born in Poissy, France, in 1214.  His father was King Louis VIII.  His father died when St. Louis was 12 years old and his mother became regent of the kingdom.  He married Margaret Berenger in 1234 and two years later took over the governing of his country.  He fell prisoner among the Mohammedans during a crusade but was returned to France after a truce was made.  In 1270 he was stricken by the pestilence at the siege of Tunis.  He died after receiving the Last Sacraments.

FEAST DAY:  August 25

PATRON OF:  Builders, parenthood

St. Joseph was born in Aragon, Spain in 1556. He became a priest.  Because of his sanctity, the Bishop of Lerida appointed him as his confessor, theologian, and synodal examiner.  In 1592 he went to Rome  where he joined the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.  He thought that religion should be taught to children at an early age.  He opened a little school to teach them to read, write, and arithmetic.  Soon others joined him in this good work.  He began to lead a community life with them.  This lead to the “Clerics Regular of the Poor Schools of the Mother of God. This spread throughout Italy and in 1622 Pope Gregory XV approved the constitutions and appointed St. Joseph General of the Order.  He died August 25, 1648.

FEAST DAY:  August 25

ILLUMINATED BIBLE

Responsorial Psalm

Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

a) Crossing the Red Sea

Today’s Question-

What are the essential words pronounced over the one being baptized?

St. Bartholomew was chosen by Christ Himself, to be one of the twelve apostles.  He preached the Gospel in the most barbarous countries of the East even as far as India.  When St. Pantaenus went to India in the third century, he found knowledge of Christ in the country along with a copy of the Gospel of St. Matthew which was brought there by St. Bartholomew.  The last place he preached was in Great Armenia.  These people were addicted to the worship of idols.  St. Bartholomew suffered flaying and crucifixion.  A church in the Tiber River near Rome contains relics of the saint.

FEAST DAY:  August 24

PATRON OF:  Cobblers, nervous diseases

ART

Responsorial Psalm

Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of your hands.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

False

Today’s Question-

What miraculous liberation event involving Moses is remembered in the baptismal water blessing prayer?

a) crossing the Red Sea     b) entering the promised land     c) deliverance from the flood

Isabel de Flores Y Del Oliva was called Rose by her mother because of her red cheeks and confirmed with that name by St. Turbius de Mongrvejo.  She was born in Lima, Peru, in 1586.  She led a virtuous life, taking the vow of virginity and refused to marry.  She received the habit of the Third Order of St. Dominic at twenty years of age.  She made great progress in a life of penance and contemplation.  She died August 24, 1617.  She was the first person born in the Americas to be canonized a saint.

FEAST DAY:  August 23

PATRON OF:  Florists, gardeners, needle workers, the Americas

MEN’S BOOKS

Responsorial Psalm

The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

b) Catechumenate

Today’s Question-

Baptism of infants is a relatively recent development in the Catholic Church.

True or false?

Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of Mary’s Queenship on October 11, 1954.  He decreed that it be celebrated throughout the world every year.  The Church, from the earliest centuries, believed in her Queenship and that this belief rests on Holy Scripture and tradition.  Because of the unique way she cooperated toward our redemption by our Lord and King, she is our Lady and Queen. 

FEAST DAY: August 22

MARRIAGE & PARENTING BOOKS

Responsorial Psalm

Give thanks to the Lord; his love is everlasting.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

True

Today’s Question-

What is the process of baptismal preparation called:

a) annulment   b) catechumenate    c) initiation