This feast dates back to the 7^th century.  On the occasion of the conversion of the ancient Pantheon at Rome to a Christian church, this feast was introduced.  This church was thought to have been built by Marcus Agrippa in the year 27 BC.  He may have just restored and added to it.  Pliny says it was dedicated to Jupiter the Avenger. The Emperor Phocas gave this temple to Pope Boniface IV in the beginning of the 7^th century. He converted it into a church and dedicated it to the Blessed Virgin and all the saints, about the year 608. The dedication was held on May 13.  The feast of the Apostles had been celebrated on the first of May. Pope Gregory III consecrated a chapel in St. Peter’s Church in honor of all the saints about the year 731.  Since then, the Feast of All Saints has been celebrated in Rome.  While in France in 837, Pope Gregory IV encouraged the celebration of this feast in that country.  Greeks celebrate it on the Sunday after Pentecost.

FEAST DAY:  November 1

SAINT BOOKS

Responsorial Psalm

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

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer-

b) Total repudiation of the faith

Today’s Question-

What is it called if we rely only upon God’s goodness for salvation without conversion of heart? 

a) despair  b) presumption  c) indifference 

Born in Suabia about 925.  He was one of the outstanding men of his day.  He studied at the Abbey of Reichenau which was noted for its center of learning.  He taught at the cathedral schools of  Wurzburg and Trier.  He joined the monks of Ramhold in reforming the dioceses for Henry the Archbishop, their friend.  Upon Henry’s death, Wolfgang entered the Benedictine monastery of Einsiedeln in Switzerland.  His learning and piety and overall ability was soon observed.  He was named director of the Abbey school.  It became the finest in the country.  He was then ordained a priest.  He, and a group of monks set out to evangelize the Magyars in Pennonia but they weren’t very successful.  Despite his protestations, he was named Archbishop of Ratisbon.  He longed for solitude but he stayed at his duties with all his zeal and capabilities.  He restored canonical life among the clergy, reformed monasteries, and preached tirelessly.  He discharged his duties in such a way that his flock and the royal court held him in high esteem.  He died in 994 and was canonized in 1022 because of his reputation for holiness and the miracles he effected.

FEAST DAY:  October 31
PATRON OF:  Paralysis, strokes

E-BOOKS

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

How great are the works of the Lord!

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer –

True

Today’s Question –

What is apostasy?

a) apathy toward revealed truth; b) total repudiation of the faith; c) refusal to submit to the pope

When the birthday of Emperor Maximian was celebrated in the year 298, Marcellus, a centurian and a Christian  was stationed in Spain.  He refused to take part in the sacrifices offered to the gods.  He threw down his arms and the vine branch, the mark of his dignity, and declared himself a Christian.  Having learned of this fact, Anastasius Fortunatus, the Prefect of the legion, commanded Marcellus to be cast into prison.  When Marcellus was brought before the Prefect after the feast who asked why he did this.  St. Marcellus said that it was because of his religion.  The Prefect said he would have to put the case before Maximian and Caesar Constantius.  Constantius was favorable to the Christians but Marcellus was sent, under heavy guard, to Aurelaian Agricolus, vicar to the Prefect of the praetorian.  He was then in Tangier in Africa.  After admitting that he was a Christian, he was condemned to death for the desertion and impiety.  The notary of the court, Cassian, refused to write the sentence which he said was unjust.  Then he, too, was condemned to death.  St. Marcellus was beheaded on October 30 and Cassian suffered death on the third following December.

FEAST DAY:  October 30

DVDS

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer –

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain”

Today’s Question –

The Ten Commandments are obligation to God and neighbor that apply to everyone, always and everywhere.  True or false?

Born toward the end of the 1st century, he was almost eighty years of age when he ascended the Episcopal throne of Jerusalem  He was its 30th bishop.  St. Narcissus and Theophitus, Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, presided over a Council held by the Bishops of Palestine.  At this Council it was decreed that Easter is always to be celebrated on Sunday and not with the Jewish Passover.  The holy Bishop wrought several miracles, according to Eusebius.  He was calumniated by certain members of his own flock, despite his sanctity, but God soon made his innocence known.  He left Jerusalem and retired into solitude.  The faithful begged him to resume the administration on his return to the diocese, despite his extreme old age.  Alexander became his co-adjutor.  By his assiduous prayers and earnest exhortations to unity and concord, he continued to serve his flock.  He died at the age of 107.  Eusebius testifies that Narcissus once turned water into oil to supply the lamps of the church on the Vigil of Easter.

FEAST DAY:  October 29

ROSARIES

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

The Lord is faithful in all his words.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer –

False

Today’s Question –

What is the second commandment?

The surname of the “Canaanean” and the “Zealot”  was given to St. Jude to distinguish him from St. Peter and St. Simeon.  According to some the title Zealot was given to him because of his great zeal.  Others say from his belonging to a sect (among the Jews) known as Zealots.  It is supposed that he suffered martyrdom in Persia.

FEAST DAY:  October 28
PATRON OF:  Desperate cases

St. Jude, known as Thaddeus, was a relative of Jesus.  He preached the Gospel in Judea, Samaria, Idumaea, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Lydia.  He returned to Jerusalem in the year 62, according to Eusebius, and assisted at the election of his brother, St. Simeon, as Bishop of Jerusalem.  His epistle to the Churches of the East, particularly the Jewish  converts, is  directed against the heresies of the Simonians, Nicolaites, and Gnostics.   He is said to have suffered martyrdom in Armenia.

FEAST DAY:  October 28

POPE’S WRITINGS

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

Their message goes out through all the earth.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer –

False

Today’s Question –

Christians are not obliged to follow the Old Law of the Ten Commandments because of the New Law revealed in Christ.  True or false?

St. Emilina was born about 1115.  As a solitary lay sister in the Cistercian Abbey of Boulancourt, she led a life of great penitence.  She fasted from food and liquids three day a week.  Went barefoot winter and summer, wore a hair shirt and a pointed iron chain.  She was constantly communing with God and recited the Psalms frequently, leading a wondrous life of prayer.  She was consulted by people from all around as her sanctity spread, especially when they heard of her gift of prophecy.  She counseled them with patience and humility, bringing about the conversion of many.  Her life-long labors and penances finally wore her out and she died in 1178.  Her renown was so great that an eternal light was placed on her grave.

FEAST DAY:  October 27
PATRON OF:  Lay women

FICTIONAL BOOKS

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

Behave like God as his very dear children.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer –

True

Today’s Question –

To become holy does not always require a spiritual struggle.  True or false?

According to legendary history, St. Demetrius was a citizen of Salonika.  He was arrested for proclaiming his faith.  He was detained in a room of public baths awaiting a trial and was slain without a trial.  This occurred during the persecution of Diocletian at Sirmium in Dalmatia.  After his death, Leontius, a prefect of Illyria, introduced his  cult to Salonika.  He translated some of his relics and built a temple in his honor in both Salonika and Illyria.  According to some, Salonika was the great center of the cult of Demetrius.  Some accounts say he was a proconsul and a warrior saint.  In this capacity, he was almost as popular as the legendary figure of St. George.  The crusaders adopted these as patrons and the story goes on to say that they were seen in their ranks at the Battle of Antioch in 1098.  The church of St. Demetrius in Salonika was destroyed only in 1917.  His feast is celebrated with great solemnity in the Eastern Liturgy.

FEAST DAY:  October 26

BIOGRAPHY BOOKS

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

I love you, Lord, my strength.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer –

False

Today’s Question –

Our good works can be “meritorious” for our salvation.  True or false?

Born at Brescia, Italy about the middle of the 4th century.  The Bishop of Brescia, (St. Philastrius) provided his education.  He had the reputation for sanctity and traveled to the East where he earned more fame.  He was elected Bishop by the people while traveling in the East.  He accepted although he felt unworthy of the honor.  St. Ambrose consecrated him in 387. That ten of his twenty-one sermons have survived gives testimony to his powerful preaching.  He inspired his flock to imitate the Divine Master constantly.  In 405, Pope Innocent I and Emperor Honorius, sent him and two others to defend St. John Chrysostom before Arcadius.  The party never reached their destination and were shipped back home.  The vessel they were on almost sank.  They were left at Lampsacus.  St. John wrote him a letter of thanks even though his efforts hadn’t borne fruit.  St. Gaudentius died about 410 and was called “the glory of the doctors of the age in which he lives.”

FEAST DAY:  October 25

HISTORICAL BOOKS

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer –

a) unmerited gift of God’s own life

Today’s Question –

Without God’s grace a person can still achieve favor in God’s sight by doing the best that he/she can do.  True or false?

Born in 1807 in Sallent, Spain.  His father was a weaver.  He was ordained a priest in 1835 and after five years he began to give missions and retreats all over Catalonia. Because of the success of his missions, he realized the people’s need for them.  He founded the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Claretians) in 1849 to work on a wider scale.  In 1849, he was made Bishop of Santiago de Cuba.  He found the diocese in a spiritually deplorable condition.  He established the Teaching Sisters of Mary Immaculate as one of his reform measures.  He was made chaplain of Queen Isabella II in 1857.  He was able to continue his mission of preaching and publishing.  He established museums, library, schools. etc.  He helped to revive the Catalan language.  He spread devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  He died in exile with the Queen in 1870.

FEAST DAY:  October 24

MEET YOUR MOTHER

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

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

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer –

False

Today’s Question –

What is sanctifying grace? a) unmerited gift of God’s own life; b) merited gift from God due to good works; c) forgiveness of guilt due to sin

Son of a former German knight, John was born at Capistrano, Italy in 1385.  After studying law at the University of Perugia, he practiced in the courts of Naples.  He was appointed governor of Perugia by King Ladislas of Naples.  He was betrayed and imprisoned during a war with a neighboring town.  He entered the Franciscan community at Perugia in 1416 after his release from prison.  He was inspired bu St/ Bernardine of Siena to institute the devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus and His Mother.  In 1420,  while a deacon he began his brilliant preaching.  He traveled throughout  Italy, Germany, Bohemia, Austria, Hungary, Poland, and Russia preaching penance .  He established many Franciscan  renewal communities.  At the age of seventy, Pope Callistus II commissioned St. John to lead a crusade against the threatening Turks.  He marched at the head of  70,000 Christians and at the Battle of Belgrade he gained victory in 1456.  Three months later he died  at Illok, Hungary.

FEAST DAY:  October 23

CHILDREN’S CROSSES

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

QUIZ

Yesterday’s Answer –

False

Today’s Question –

The New Law of the Gospel adds extra precepts to the Old Testament Law.  True or false?