Category Archives: Saint Of The Day

John Berchmans was born in Diest, Belgium, in 1599, the son of a shoemaker.  For three years he studied under a parish priest who prepared boys for the priesthood.  In 1615 he entered the newly-opened Jesuit College at Mechlin.  A year later he entered the novitiate.  He journeyed to Rome on foot in 1618 to continue his studies at the Roman College.  He studied philosophy for three years.  His superiors selected him to take part in a public debate, but he became ill before it had ended.  As he lay on what turned out to be his deathbed, he clasped his rosary, his crucifix, and his book of rules and said, “These are my three treasures; with these I shall gladly die.”  The next day, August 13, 1621, he died.

FEAST DAY: November 26

PATRON OF: Altar servers

CHURCH GOODS

Responsorial Psalm

Great and wonderful are all your works, Lord, mighty God!

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

b) the Eucharist

Today’s Question-

What is the living transmission by which the Holy Spirit teaches us to pray in the Church?

a) Tradition   b) the Catholic News Network   c) Communion of Saints

She was born in Egypt in the fourth century.  St. Catherine converted to Christianity following a vision.  She debated Emperor Maxentius who persecuted Christians.  She won the debate and many converted, including the emperor’s wife.  All those who converted were put to death.  Catherine was beheaded. According to legend, her body was carried to Heaven by angels.

FEAST DAY:  November 25

PATRON OF:  Philosophers, preachers, young maidens, female students

DVDS & VIDEOS

Responsorial Psalm

The Lord comes to judge the earth.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

The Eucharist

Today’s Question-

What prayer of the Church contains and expresses all forms of prayer?

a) the Liturgy of the Hours   b) the Eucharist   c) the Rosary

The first sowing of the Gospel of Christ among the Vietnamese people began at the start of the sixteenth century.  This seed grew through the blood of martyrs and the spiritual joy of the newly baptized faithful.  During the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, particularly during the reign of the Emperor Minh-Mang (1820-1841) many Christians received the martyr’s crown; these included bishops, priests, men religious, women religious, and members of the laity.  All suffered torments of various kinds for their Christian faith and fidelity to the cross of Christ and bore witness to Christ’s Church and true religion.  Some were decapitated, others hanged, others burned or whipped to death.  Others died during their imprisonment.  Of these the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II declared one hundred seventeen martyrs to be among the ranks of the saints on June 19, 1988.

FEAST DAY: November 24

ROSARIES

Responsorial Psalm

Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

b) Hope

Today’s Question-

What is the great Christian prayer of thanksgiving and also called the sacrifice of praise?

He was born January 13, 1891 near Zacatecas, Mexico.  He entered the Society of Jesus in 1911.  He studied in the United States, Spain and Belgium.  In 1926 he was ordained in Belgium. After his return to Mexico, he had to carry out his priestly ministry secretly because of religious persecution.  His zeal attracted the unfavorable attention of the authorities.  He was arrested on false charges and condemned to death.  He was shot on November 23, 1922.  Pope John Paul II beautified him on September 25, 1988 in St. Peter’s in Rome.

FEAST DAY: November 23

CROSSES & CRUCIFIXES

Responsorial Psalm

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

d) Adoration

Today’s Question-

What characterizes prayer in the New Testament because of the resurrection of Christ?

a) faith   b) hope   c) love

At an early age, she made a vow to remain a virgin.  Her parents forced her to marry a nobleman named Valerian.  She converted both him and his brother, Tiburtius, to Christianity.  By the providence of God, she preserved her virginity.  Both these men suffered martyrdom for the Faith.  St. Cecelia died the same glorious death a few days after.  A basilica was dedicated to her in the fifth century.  Devotion to her spread, owing largely to accounts of her sufferings.  She is praised as the most perfect model of Christian woman because of her virginity and the martyrdom she suffered for the love of Christ.

FEAST Day: November 22

PATRON OF:  Musicians, music

VESTMENTS

Responsorial Psalm

Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

c) Blessing

Today’s Question-

What kind of prayer is homage of the mind and respectful silence before God our creator?

a) thanksgiving   b) petition   c) adoration

In former times, it was a religious custom among the Jews to dedicate children to God’s service in the temple, even before they were born.  Before the fifth year had passed the child was taken to the temple and committed to the care of the priest who offered her to the Lord.  Sometimes the child remained in the temple to be educated and trained to serve the sanctuary by making vestments, ornaments, and assisting at services.  They contributed to the worship of God in the various liturgical offices.  Tradition tells us that St. Joachim and St. Ann presented the Virgin Mary at the age of three.  This offering is commemorated by the Church by the Feast of the Presentation on November 21.  It is observed with special devotion as a patronal feast.

FEAST DAY:  November 21

MIRACULOUS MEDALS

Responsorial Psalm

How sweet to my taste is your promise!

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

Reconciling with one’s brother/sister before bringing a gift to the altar.

Love one’s enemies and pray for one’s persecutors.

Pray to the Father in secret.

Do not heap up empty phrases.

Purity of  heart before God.

Seeking God’s Kingdom before all else.

Not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of God.

Knock and it shall be open; seek and you will find.

Keep watch in prayer, etc.

Today’s Question-

What basic form of Christian prayer is the appropriate human response to God’s gifts?

a) petition   b) blessing   c) intercession

St. Felix, a hermit of Cerfroid, France, and his disciple, St. John of Matha, secured the approval of the Holy See in 1198 for the Order of the Most Holy Trinity (the Trinitians).  Their goal was to ransom captives from the Moors.  John worked in Spain and Barbary.  Felix, now in his seventies, founded St. Mathrum Convent in Paris and administered the French province from Cerfroid.  He died there November 4.  The Order had some six hundred monasteries by 1240.  The cult of the two founders was approved by Pope Alexander VII in 1666.  Members of the Order believe that they were canonized in 1262 by Pope Urban IV on November 20.

FEAST DAY: November 20

PYXES & BURSES

Responsorial Psalm

The Lamb has made us a kingdom of priests to serve our God.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

False

Today’s Question-

Give one teaching of Jesus about prayer.

When St. Mechtilde was seven years of age, she was entrusted to the care of the nuns of Rodalasdorf.  Shortly after this her elder sister, Gertrude was elected their Abbess.  Mechtilde became a nun and mistress of the school when the house moved to Helfa.  There she became the trainer of a five-year old who entered the monastery in 1262 and went on to become St. Gertrude the Great.  St. Gertrude wrote of her mistress: “There has never been anyone like her in our monastery, and I am afraid there will never be again.”  St. Gertrude, in collaboration with another nun wrote an account of Mechtilde’s spirited teaching and mystical experiences entitled “The Book of Special Grace”.  It was made public after her death November 19,1298.

FEAST DAY:  November 19

PATRON OF:  Falsely accused

HOLY WATER FONTS

Responsorial Psalm

Holy, holy, holy Lord, mighty God!

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

False

Today’s Question-

“The giver is more precious than the gift,” means that one should not expect to receive an answer to prayer.

True or false?

One of the most celebrated places venerated by Christians has always been the tomb of St. Peter at Rome.  A splendid basilica was erected over the tomb of St. Paul by Emperor Constantine.  Another basilica was errected on the Ostian Way where St. Paul suffered martyrdom.  St. Sylvester consecrated both of them. After the basilica of St. Peter was destroyed, it was rebuilt in a more imposing style and newly consecrated in 1626.  The basilica of St. Paul was destroyed by fire and was also rebuilt and newly consecrated by Pius IX in 1854.  Cardinals and Bishops who were in Rome to attended the ceremonies connected with the promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception were also present for the consecration of the Basilica.  The anniversaries of both dedications are united and form the object of today’s feast.

FEAST DAY: November 18

BIBLE STUDY

Responsorial Psalm

 I will seat the victor beside me on my throne.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

b) The apostolic faith

Today’s Question-

Jesus’ prayer was not always humble and trusting before his Father.

True or false?

St. Elizabeth, the daughter of King Alexander II of Hungary, was born in 1207. She was sent, at the age of 4, to the court of Landgrave of Thuringia for her education.  She was betrothed to their infant son.  She grew in piety as she aged and in 1221, she married Louis of Thuringia.  She lead an austerely simple life, despite her position in court.  She practiced penance, and devoted herself to works of charity.  Her husband was inclined to religion and highly esteemed her virtue.  He encouraged her in her exemplary life.  They had three children.  Louis was killed while fighting with the Crusaders, and Elizabeth left the court.  She made arrangements for the care of her children and became a tertiary of St. Francis.  She built the Franciscan hospital at Marburg and devoted herself to the care of the sick until her death at age 24 in 1231.

FEAST DAY:  November 17

PATRON OF:  Bakers, homeless

E-BOOKS

Responsorial Psalm

Those who are victorious I will feed from the tree of life.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

The importunate friend–Luke 11:15-13

The persistent widow and the judge–Luke 18:1-8

The Pharisee and the tax collector–Luke 18:9-14

Today’s Question-

The Church’s prayer is founded on what?

a) the present memory of Jesus   b) the apostolic faith   c) the lives of the saint