Born into a noble family of Cordova, Spain.  He was ordained to the priesthood and became head of the most important ecclesiastical school in Spain.  He was esteemed for his virtues, and his fasting and prayer.  When violent persecution broke out against Christians in 1850, he encouraged martyrs.  He, his bishop, and many priests were thrown into prison.  He wrote an “Exhortation to Martyrdom” for the virgins, Flora and Mary, who were then beheaded.  They promised to pray for Eulogius and companions.  Six days after their death, Eulogious and his companions were released.

A virgin named Leocritia (Lucretia) converted to Christianity and begged his protection from her angry parents.  He hid her among friends, but they were found and condemned to death.  He was beheaded on March 11, 859 and she was beheaded four days later. 

FEAST DAY- March 11

POPE FRANCIS

Responsorial Psalm

From all their distress God rescues the just.

Quiz

Yesterday’s Answer-

True

Today’s Question-

What is it called when we pray not so much for our own interests, but for the interests of others?

(a) petition  (b) praise  (c) intercession

Born in circa 300, in Alexandria, Egypt, St. Macarius was a staunch opponent of Arianism.  By his exhortations the holy places were purged by Constantine the Great and St. Helen and beautified by sacred basilicas.  He played a large part in drafting the Nicene Creed while attending the Council of Nicea.  He miraculously discovered the true Cross in Jerusalem together with St. Helena.  Emperor Constantine commissioned him to build the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  He and his fellow bishops were ordered to build a church at Mamre by Constantine.  He died around 334.   

FEAST DAY- March 10

ROSARIES

Responsorial Psalm

Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

Quiz

Yesterday’s Answer-

True

Today’s Question-

We can petition God for any need we may have.  True or False?

Born in Trastevere, Rome in 1384 to a wealthy noble couple, St. Frances of Rome was married to Lorenso Fonziani at age 13.  They had three children and lived together for forty years in an ideal marriage.  Frances and her sister-in-law ministered to the poor of Rome and led a life of great holiness.  She reported having a vision of St. Alexis after she recovered from a serious illness.  In 1408  the antipapal forces of Ladislaus of Naples occupied Rome and they lost their fortunes.  Lorenzo was wounded during the fighting.  Again in 1410, Ladislaus seized the city and Lorenzo had to flee Rome.  More of  the family holdings were burned and looted.   Frances turned her home into a hospital when a plague hit the city.  She suffered much but continued with her holy work.  She had many visions and ecstasies, performed many miracles of healing and reportedly was guided the last twenty three years of her life by an archangel, visible only to herself.  She died in 1440.  She was canonized in 1608.

FEAST DAY- March 9

PATRON OF- Motorists and the laity

JEWELRY

Responsorial Psalm

Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

Quiz

Yesterday’s Answer-

(a) prayer of contrition

Today’s Question-

The desire for the coming of the kingdom is a central feature of Christian prayer.  True or False?

St. John of God was born in Portugal in 1495.  He was a shepherd in his early years and in 1522 he joined a military company.   When Charles V was King of Spain, he served against the French and the Turks in Hungary.  In 1536 he left the army and became a shepherd for a woman near Seville.  He decided to change his life at age 40 and devoted himself to the service of God.  After some rough times, he opened a shop in Granada.  There he was impressed with the sermons of John of Avila.  This led him to draw humiliations on himself by acting as a madman.  The holy preacher commanded him to stop.  He opened a house to harbor sick people which laid the foundation of a new Order, the Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God.  After ten years of labor he fell sick and died while on his knees before the altar on March 8, 1550.

FEAST DAY- March 8

PATRON OF- Alcoholics and the sick

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Responsorial Psalm

Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.

Quiz

Yesterday’s Answer-

Sung

Today’s Question-

What prayer comes first in the order of the Mass?

(a) prayer of contrition  (b) responsorial psalm  (c) preface

St. Perpetua was a 22 year noble lady who had a baby son.  St. Felicity was a pregnant, married slave.  Neither would renounce their Christianity. Both gave up their babies and were put in a dungeon.  Saturus, a layman who converted them, joined them voluntarily in the dungeon.  They were condemned to death and were mauled by beasts in the amphitheater.  They were beheaded in the year 203.  The executioner was so shaken by St. Perpetua’s aristocratic appearance, she had to guide the blade to her neck.  Their martyrdom became known throughout the Church and St. Augustine preached about them at least three times.  St. Perpetua is mentioned in the Roman Canon or Eucharistic Prayer I.  It is thought the Felicity who is mentioned with her is the Roman martyr of 162.

FEAST DAY:  March 7

 PATRON OF:  Widows, death of children

MASS KITS

Responsorial Psalm

A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

Quiz

Yesterday’s Answer-

(c) superstition

Today’s Question-

Were the psalmist’s words usually spoken or sung?

St. Colette was born in 1381 to aged and humble parents.  At age 22, her parents died.  She became an anchoress according to the Third Order of St. Francis.  Observance to the order of St. Clare was observed in a modified form at her time.  Colette was inspired to introduce strict observance to this order.  Pope Benedict  XIII entrusted her with the reform and she traveled all over France and Flanders founding and reforming convents.  In 1429, she met St. Joan of Arc.  She surmounted many spiritual and physical obstacles to establish fifteen communities of reformed Poor Clares.  One is still called the Colettines after her.  She died in 1447.

FEAST DAY- March 6

PATRON OF- Loss of parents

CROSSES & CRUCIFIXES

Responsorial Psalm

Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

Quiz

Yesterday’s Answer-

(b) despair

Today’s Question-

Mere external performance of prayers or worship can be a form of ____

(a) sacrilege (b) superstition  (c) blasphemy

John Joseph was born in the middle of the 17^th century on the island of Ischia, near Naples.  When he was sixteen, he entered the Franciscan Order of the Strictest Observance of Reform of St. Peter of Alcantara.  Because of his sanctity, he was sent to found a monastery in Piedmont three years after his profession. Out of obedience, he became a priest.  It seems that he had an inspired knowledge of moral theology.  He built another convent and the rules he drew up were confirmed by the Holy See.  He became master of novices and later was made provincial of the province of Naples.  He labored and suffered much and became the victim of many calumnies.  He succeeded in his labors and instilled in the hearts of his subjects the spirit of contemplation and penance.  He possessed gifts in the supernatural order, prophecy and  miracles.  Stricken with apoplexy, he died in March 5, 1734, in his convent in Naples,when in his eighties.

 FEAST DAY- March 5

ILLUMINATED BIBLE

Responsorial Psalm

Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

Quiz

Yesterday’s Answer-

False

Today’s Question-

What is a sin against the first commandment? (a) lying  (b) despair  (c) cursing

St. Casimir was the third of the thirteen children of King Casimir III, of Poland.  He was born October 5, 1458.  He had a horror of luxury and a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.  John Dugloss, a holy canon, had the care of Casimir.  It is said that Casimir composed, or at least frequently recited, the well-known “Hymn of St. Casimir.”  He practiced many mortifications in secret.  He was offered the crown of Hungary when the people wanted to dethrone its king, Matthias Convinus.  Casimir headed  an army of 20,000 men and marched to the frontier, but upon learning that the people and king had settled their differences, he returned home.  He could never be prevailed upon to assume the crown when it was offered to him again.  He was pure of soul and body to the end of his life.  He never married.  At age 24, he died of tuberculosis at Vilna, Lithuania in 1482.

FEAST DAY- March 4

PATRON OF- Lithuania, Poland; the young and bachelors

E-BOOKS

Responsorial Psalm

The Lord has made known his salvation.

Quiz

Yesterday’s Answer-

False

Today’s Question-

We can know from our good works that we are justified and saved by God.  True or False?

Katherine was born in Philadelphia on November 26, 1858.  Her mother died two days later leaving Katherine and her sister, Elizabeth, motherless.  Francis Anthony Drexel, her father, was the millionaire partner of J. P. Morgan.  Her father remarried and later had a baby girl, Louise.  Katherine helped her stepmother work with the poor and donate money to establish orphanages and missions.   Katherine was confirmed at age 12 and was then permitted to receive communion, which she did as often as allowed.  She made her debut in society but was very uneasy about all the money spent on her.  She wanted to be a nun and give everything to God.

The family visited Rome and received the blessing from the Pope.  There she met Fr. Peter Hylebos, a Belgian priest who was a missionary in America’s northwest.  Katherine wanted to become a nun but was unsure about which order she should enter.  Her father died suddenly in 1887 (her stepmother had already died) and the girls inherited the family fortune.  After much deliberation and consultation, Katherine became a nun in the convent of the Sisters of Mercy in Pittsburgh.  Eventually, she started her own order, the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament.  She worked with the Indians in the West, establishing schools and orphanages all the while instructing them in Catholicism.  She also worked for the blacks throughout the United States.  She established Xavier University in New Orleans, still the only black Catholic University in America.  She gave away twenty million dollars.  She suffered a heart attack in her seventies and lived quietly in retirement for twenty years.  She died March 3, 1955 at age ninety-nine.  She was canonized by Pope John Paul II October 1, 2000 AD.

FEAST DAY- March 3

PATRON OF- Philanthropists and racial justice

CLERGY APPAREL

Responsorial Psalm

The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.

Quiz

Yesterday’s Answer-

True

Today’s Question-

Spiritual values may be disregarded in the pursuit of economic goals.  True or false?

St. Canute,  King of Denmark was the father of Charles.  In 1086 when Charles was only five years old, Canute was slain.  His mother took him to the court of Robert, Count of Flanders.  Robert was his maternal grandfather.  He became a knight and went with his uncle, Robert II, on a crusade to the Holy Land.  He distinguished himself at that time.  Charles also fought against the English.  Robert’s son, Baldwin, succeeded  him as Count of Flanders on Robert’s death.   Charles became his aide and confident. Charles was closely associated with Baldwin, who designated Charles as his heir and arranged for Charles’ marriage. Charles became Count of Flanders on Baldwin’s death.  He ruled wisely.   There were other claimants to the throne and while he was praying in St. Damian church, he was murdered.  His cult was confirmed in 1883, March 2.

FEAST DAY- March 2

SAINT BOOKS

Responsorial Psalm

Rest in God alone, my soul.

Quiz

Yesterday’s Answer-

False

Today’s Question-

If we persist in lesser sins long enough, this can lead to serious sin.  True or false?