St. Andrew was born in Bethsaida.  He was a disciple of John the Baptist before becoming a follower of Christ to whom he brought his brother, Peter.   He and Philip presented the Gentiles to Christ.  He preached in Scythia, Sogdiana, and Colchis.  Others say he also labored in Greece and is even believed to have gone as far as Russia, Poland, and Byzantium.  He is the one who pointed the boy carrying the loaves and fishes to Christ.  He was martyred at Patras on a cross in the form of an X. 

FEAST DAY:  November 30

PATRON OF:  Fishermen

ST. ANDREW MEDAL      ST. ANDREW STATUE

Responsorial Psalm

Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

True

Today’s Question-

In the greeting of the “Hail Mary,” God himself lifts up the lowliness of Mary and exults her.

True or false?

His life is shrouded in mystery.  Tradition says he was sent to Gaul from Rome by Pope Fabian around the year 245.  There he was to preach the Faith to the people of that country.  He fixed his See at Toulouse in the year 250 and converted a number of idolaters by his preaching and miracles.  One day he was seized by the priests of the principal temple of the city.  They dragged him into it and said he should either appease the offended deities by offering sacrifices to them or die.  He positively refused so they abused him.  Finally they tied his feet to a wild bull and then drove the beast from the temple.  He was dragged after it and soon died. His body was literally torn to pieces.  This probably happened under Valerian in 257.

FEAST DAY:  November 29

PATRON OF:  Toulouse

POPULAR AUTHORS

Responsorial Psalm

Here God lives among his people.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

At the Annunciation

Today’s Question-

Mary provides a unique sign showing the way to her son, Jesus, who is the one mediator.

True or false?

Incorrupt body of the saint

She was born in France on May 2, 1806, and named Zoe.  Her mother died when she was eight, and she took care of the family.  She never went to school.  In 1830 she joined the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, taking the name of Catherine.   She was sent to Rue de Bac Convent in Paris.  Almost immediately, she started to receive visions of the Virgin in the chapel.  She was told in several of them to have a medal struck showing the Lady and honoring the Immaculate Conception.  Permission was given for the medal to be made, and in 1832 the first medals were struck.  The visions were authenticated in 1836 by a special commission.  From 1831 until her death, Catherine spent her life performing menial tasks at the Hospice d’Enghlen, never revealing her visions to any but her confessor until a few months before her death on December 31 at Enghien.  She was canonized on November 28, 1947.

FEAST DAY:  November 28

PATRON OF:   The Miraculous Medal

THE INCORRUPTIBLES

Responsorial Psalm

Here God lives among his people.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

The Word of God or scripture.

Today’s Question-

When was Mary’s consent of faith first evident according to the scriptures?

The Medal of the Immaculate Conception, commonly called the Miraculous Medal, was manifested to St. Catherine Laboure’ in the chapel of the Motherhouse of the Daughters of Charity in Paris, France, on November 27, 1830.  During her novitiate she received manifestations of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and visions of Mary Immaculate to which we owe the Miraculous Medal.  It is clear from the description of the apparition of our Lady that the Medal originated with the Mother of God, herself.  While watching the vision of the medal, she heard an interior voice, “These rays symbolize the graces I shed upon those who ask for them.  The gems from which rays do not fall are the graces for which we forget to ask.  All who wear it will receive great graces; they should wear it around the neck.”

FEAST DAY:  November 27

MIRACULOUS MEDALS

Responsorial Psalm

 I will praise your name for ever, Lord.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

a) Tradition

Today’s Question-

Besides the sacramental liturgy, what is another important source of Prayer?

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