Photo Gallery: Pope St. Pius X

In honor of today's feast of His Holiness the Great Pope St. Pius X, I wish to share this gallery of images of His Holiness.  For information on his life and feastday, please click here.

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Feast of St. Stephen, King of Hungary

The Virgin Receiving St Stephen of Hungary into Paradise by Scarsellino, c. 1590.

From Butler's Lives of the Saints:

St. Stephen was born in 977. He was most carefully educated, and succeeded his father, the Duke of Hungary, at an early age. He began to root out idolatry, suppressed a rebellion of his pagan subjects, and founded monasteries and churches all over the land. Throughout his life, we are told, he had Christ on his lips, Christ in his heart, and Christ in all he did. His only wars were wars of defense, and he was always successful. God sent him many and sore trials. One by one his children died, but he bore all with perfect submission to the will of God. When St. Stephen was about to die, he summoned the bishops and nobles, and he urged them to nurture and cherish the Catholic Church, to follow justice, humility, and charity, to be obedient to the laws, and to show an ever reverent submission to the Holy See. Then, raising his eyes towards heaven, he said, "O Queen of Heaven, august restorer of a prostrate world, to thy care I commend the Holy Church, my people, and my realm, and my own departing soul." And then, on his favorite feast of the Assumption, in 1038, he died in peace.

 

Traditional Matins Reading:

Stephen introduced into Hungary both the faith of Christ and the regal dignity. He obtained his royal crown from the Roman Pontiff; and. having been, by his command, anointed king, offered his kingdom to the apostolic See. He built several houses of charity at Rome, Jerusalem, and Constantinople; and with a wonderfully munificent spirit of religion, he founded the archiepiscopal See of Gran and ten other bishoprics. His love for the poor was equalled only by his generosity towards them; for, seeing in them Christ himself, he never sent anyone away sad or emptyhanded. So great indeed was his charity, that, to relieve their necessities, after expending large sums of money, he often bestowed upon them his household goods. It was his custom to wash the feet of the poor with his own hands, and to visit the hospitals at night, alone and unknown, serving the sick and showing them every charity. As a reward for these good deeds his right hand remained incorrupt after death, when the rest of his body had returned to dust.

He was much given to prayer: and would spend almost entire nights without sleep, rapt in heavenly contemplation; at times he was seen ravished out of his senses, and raised in the air. By the help of prayer, he more than once escaped in a wonderful manner from treasonable conspiracies and from the attacks of powerful enemies. Having married Ghisella of Bavaria, sister of the emperor St. Henry, he had by her a son Emeric, whom he brought up in such regularity and piety as to form him into a saint. He summoned wise and holy men from ail parts to aid him in the government of his kingdom, and undertook nothing without their advice. In sackcloth and ashes, he besought God with most humble prayer, that he might not depart this life without seeing the whole kingdom of Hungary Catholic. So great indeed was his zeal for the propagation of the faith, that he was called the apostle of his nation, and he received from the Roman Pontiff, both for himself and for his successors, the privilege of having the cross borne before them.

He had the most ardent devotion towards the Mother of God, in whose honour he built a magnificent church, solemnly declaring her patroness of Hungary. In return the blessed Virgin received him into heaven on the very day of her Assumption, which the Hungarians, by the appointment of their holy king, call 'the day of the great Lady.’ His sacred body, exhaling a most fragrant odour and distilling a heavenly liquour, was, by order of the Roman Pontiff, translated, amidst many and divers miracles, to a more worthy resting-place, and buried with greater honour. Pope Innocent XI. commanded his feast to be celebrated on the fourth of the Nones of September; on which day, Leopold I. emperor elect of the Romans and king of Hungary, had, by the divine assistance, gained a remarkable victory over the Turks at the siege of Buda.

Collect:

Almighty God, grant that the blessed confessor Stephen may now defend the Church from his throne in heaven, just as he fostered her growth when he ruled on earth. Through our Lord . . .

Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

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September: Month Dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows

The month of September is dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows, whose memorial the Church celebrates on September 15.  Devotions and explanations in honor of Our Lady of Sorrows can be found here.

The principal feasts of this month are as follows:

• Sep 3rd St. Pius X
• Sep 8th Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
• Sep 12th Holy Name of Mary
• Sep 14th Exaltation of the Holy Cross
• Sep 15th Our Lady of Sorrows; Com. of St. Nicomedes
• Sep 17th Holy Stigmata of Saint Francis
• Sep 21st St. Matthew
• Sep 24th Our Lady of Ransom
• Sep 29th Dedication of Saint Michael the Archangel
• Sep 30th St. Jerome 

Let us also not forget that the September Embertides will be upon us following the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

Ember days (corruption from Lat. Quatuor Tempora, four times) are the days at the beginning of the seasons ordered by the Church as days of fast and abstinence. They were definitely arranged and prescribed for the entire Church by Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) for the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after 13 December (S. Lucia), after Ash Wednesday, after Whitsunday, and after 14 September (Exaltation of the Cross). The purpose of their introduction, besides the general one intended by all prayer and fasting, was to thank God for the gifts of nature, to teach men to make use of them in moderation, and to assist the needy. The immediate occasion was the practice of the heathens of Rome. The Romans were originally given to agriculture, and their native gods belonged to the same class.

Mark your calendars for this year's September Embertide: September 18, 20, and 21

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Traditional Mass Propers: 15th Sunday after Pentecost

INTROIT
Ps. 85:1, 2-3 Incline Your ear, O Lord, and answer me. Save Your servant who trusts in You. Have pity on me, O Lord, for to You I call all the day. Ps. 85:4. Gladden the soul of Your servant, for I have lifted up my soul to You, O Lord.

COLLECT - O Lord, let Your abiding mercy purify and defend the Church. Govern her always by Your care, for without Your assistance she cannot remain safe. Through our Lord . . .

EPISTLE
5:25-26; 6:1-10
Brethren: If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be made desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. Brethren, and if a man be overtaken in any fault, you, who are spiritual, instruct such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens: and so you shall fulfill the law of Christ. For if any man think himself to be some thing, whereas he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every one prove his own work: and so he shall have glory in himself only and not in another. For every one shall bear his own burden. And let him that is instructed in the word communicate to him that instructeth him, in all good things. Be not deceived: God is not mocked. For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. For he that soweth in his flesh of the flesh also shall reap corruption. But he that soweth in the spirit of the spirit shall reap life everlasting. And in doing good, let us not fail. For in due time we shall reap, not failing. Therefore, whilst we have time, let us work good to all men, but especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

GRADUAL
It is good to praise the Lord, and to sing to Your name, O Most high. V. To proclaim Your mercy in the morning and Your truth throughout the night.

Alleluia, alleluia! V. Ps. 94:3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great king over all the earth. Alleluia!


GOSPEL
Luke 7:11-16

At that time, Jesus went into a city that is called Naim: and there went with him his disciples and a great multitude. And when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold a dead man was carried out, the only son of his mother: and she was a widow. And a great multitude of the city was with her. Whom when the Lord had seen, being moved with mercy towards her, he said to her:"Weep not." And he came near and touched the bier. And they that carried it stood still. And he said: "Young man, I say to thee, arise." And he that was dead sat up and begun to speak. And he gave him to his mother. And there came a fear upon them all: and they glorified God saying: "A great prophet is risen up among us: and, God hath visited his people."

OFFERTORY
Ps. 39:2, 3, 4
I have waited and waited for the Lord, and He inclined toward me and heard my cry. And He out a new song into my mouth, a hymn to our God.

SECRET O Lord, may Your Sacrament safeguard and defend us always against the attacks of the devil. through our Lord . . .

COMMUNION
John 6:52
The Bread that I will give is My flesh for the life of the world.


POST COMMUNION - Let the grace of your Heavenly gift rule our minds and bodies, O Lord, that we may overcome the unruly impulses of our nature. Through our Lord . . .

Sources: Saint Andrew Daily Missal and the Marian Missal , 1945

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St. Raymond Nonnatus

Double (1954 Calendar): August 31

III Class (1962 Calendar): August 31

Today is the Feast of St. Raymond Nonnatus, not to be confused with St. Raymond of Peñafort. 

St. Raymond Nonnatus was born to a noble Spanish family in the year 1204.  As such, the young saint was well educated, and his father planned a career for Raymond in the royal court in Aragon.  When Raymond felt drawn to religious life, his father ordered him to manage one of the family farms. However, Raymond spent his time with the shepherds and workers, studying and praying until his father gave up the idea of making his son a success in the eyes of the world.

St. Raymond was ordained a Mercedarian priest, receiving the habit from Saint Peter Nolasco, the order’s founder.  St. Raymond would become the Master-general of the Mercedarian Order. As a member of the order, he spent his entire fortune ransoming Christians from Muslim captors, and then he surrendered himself as a hostage to free another.

Sentenced to death by impalement, he was spared because of his large ransom value. Imprisoned and tortured, he still managed to convert some of his guards. To keep him from preaching the faith, his captors bored a hole through his lips with a hot iron and attached a padlock. St. Raymond was eventually ransomed, returning to Barcelona, Spain in 1239. He was created a cardinal by Pope Gregory IX, although even as a Cardinal St. Raymond continued to live as a mendicant monk. He died en route to Rome to answer a papal summons on August 31, 1240.

Traditional Matins Reading:

Raymund, surnamed Nonnatus, on account of his having been brought into the world in an unusual manner after the death of his mother, was of a pious and noble family of Portelli in Catalonia. From his very infancy, he showed signs of his future holiness; for, despising childish amusements and the attractions of the world, he applied himself to the practice of piety so that all wondered at his virtue, which far surpassed his age. As he grew older he began his studies, but after a short time, he returned to his father’s command to live in the country. He frequently visited the chapel of St. Nicholas, near Portelli, in order to venerate in it a holy image of the Mother of God, which is still much honored by the faithful. There he would pour out his prayers, begging God’s holy Mother to adopt him for her son and to deign to teach him the way of salvation and the science of the saints.

The most benign Virgin heard his prayer, and gave him to understand that it would greatly please her if he entered the religious Order lately founded by her inspiration, under the name of the Order of 'Ransom, or of Mercy for the redemption of captives.’ Upon this Raymund at once set out for Barcelona, there to embrace that institute so full of brotherly charity. Thus enrolled in the army of holy religion, he persevered in perpetual virginity, which he had already consecrated to the Blessed Virgin. He excelled also in every other virtue, most especially in charity towards those Christians who were living in misery, as slaves of the pagans. He was sent to Africa to redeem them and freed many from slavery. But when he had exhausted his money, rather than abandon others who were in danger of losing their faith, he gave himself up to the barbarians as a pledge for their ransom. Burning with a most ardent desire for the salvation of souls, he converted several Mahometans to Christ by his preaching. On this account, he was thrown into a close prison, and after many tortures, his lips were pierced through and fastened together with an iron padlock, which cruel martyrdom he endured for a long time.

This and his other noble deeds spread the fame of his sanctity far and near so that Gregory IX determined to enroll him in the august college of the cardinals of the holy Roman Church. When raised to that dignity the man of God shrank from all pomp and clung always to religious humility. On his way to Rome, as soon as he reached Cardona, he was attacked by his last illness and earnestly begged to be strengthened by the Sacraments of the Church. As his illness grew worse and the priest delayed to come, angels appeared, clothed in the religious habit of his Order, and refreshed him with the saving Viaticum. Having received It he gave thanks to God and passed to our Lord on the last Sunday of August in the year 1240. Contentions arose concerning the place where he should be buried; his coffin was therefore placed upon a blind mule and by the will of God it was taken to the chapel of St. Nicholas, that it might be buried in that place where he had first begun a more perfect life. A convent of his Order was built on the spot, and there famous for many signs and miracles, he is honored by the concourse of all the faithful of Catalonia, who come there to fulfill their vows.

Collect

O God, You granted remarkable success to the efforts of the holy confessor Raymond in releasing Christians from the slavery of unbelievers. May his prayers free us from the slavery of sin, so that we may fulfill Your wishes with complete freedom. Through our Lord.

Prayer to Saint Raymond Nonnatus 

O Blessed Saint Raymond Nonnatus, so loving to all your devotees, I being last of them all, I am happy to know that through the infinite goodness of God, He has deigned to make you a Saint, adorned thee with special graces and help, for which I am most thankful. On the Most Holy Trinity, and you my adorable patron saint, through your merits and those of the blood poured by our Savior Jesus Christ, and through the Immaculate Conception of Mary, I most humbly beg thee, deign to intercede from the most sublime God, protection for the holy Mother Church, that through your prayers, God's wrath be taken away, see the progress of true faith, defeat the wrong doctrines, the peace and understanding of all Christians, peace of the whole country and the redemption of the Christian captives.

I am humbly begging you my devoted saint, that you be may be my intercessor. Since for many hours you did not die of the womb of your dead mother an you were successfully delivered from her side, to be the joy of the world, and that my soul may live in grace in this earthly world, may I imitate your live and exemplary holiness, so that when the hour of my death comes, I may detest all evil thoughts and temporary wealth of this world, so that with the burning love for God, my soul may reach heaven and together with you and the angels and all the saints, praise God Almighty forever.

Deign to grant me most amiable father the favor I am asking in this novena (mention the request). I firmly believe most amiable father that you will be my protection since you are merciful to any one imploring thy help. But if the favor I am asking will not be for the glory of God and the good of my soul, then beg from God that I will be resigned to his Divine Will, so that I may have the peace of soul while I live, till the hour of my death and that I enjoy true happiness in heaven.

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Virtual Tour: St. Ignatius College Prep

Saint Ignatius College Prep is a private, coeducational Jesuit high school located in Chicago, Illinois. The school was founded in Chicago in 1869 by Fr. Arnold Damen, S.J., a Belgian missionary to the United States. The school is coeducational, Catholic, college preparatory and sponsored by the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits)

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CatechismClass.com Reviews

CatechismClass.com

You are really providing a valuable service. The scriptural emphasis is wonderful. I sure hope this gets to be more widely known -- and used!

Dr. Scott Hahn

It is a monumental work for which I have nothing but praise. Clearly, this "Mary" part is spectacular. The organization of each section or chapter is clear and understandable. It is followed through in each section. The different parts fit together and flow into each other: Introduction, Prayer and an explanation, Background from Sacred Scripture, Church teachings as found in Catechisms and Church Documents, Discussion or integration, Activity, Quiz and Closing Prayer. I find that the work has a clear dialectical method that leads the reader to learn experientially and intuitively. It immerses the student into the life of the Church on the topic. There is a feeling of becoming a part of what one is learning. Congratulations to a wonderful work. Again, I must say that this is a monumental work that is very good. I strongly recommend it to everyone. It compiles in a simple yet organized way not only what we believe about the Blessed Virgin Mary but also the cult of the Catholic Church that has grown around this wonderful belief.

Rev. Carl L. Pieber, C.M., Executive Director

Central Association of the Miraculous Medal

During the past four decades, many parents have learned from experience that they must actively take responsibility as their children's primary teachers if they want them to learn anything substantial about their faith. But such parents may have searched in growing bewilderment for reliable, comprehensive, attractive, current catechetical materials. Here is the answer: the Magisterial dogmas and doctrines of our Catholic faith, brought into your home on the Internet. Developed and administered by believers at the resurgent heart of the Church-- experienced religious and lay teachers and parents-- this program has swept through North American dioceses and attracted subscribers on every continent. Its materials are tailored for every age, from docile first graders to senior citizens seeking remedial instruction. And each pupil can work at his own pace as he falls in love with the ageless truth. Praise the Lord, CatechismClass.com is the real thing!

Mrs. Donna Steichen

Various websites are drawn on to supplement and illustrate their material...Those who register and use the program will find an excellent amount of Catholic resources available. Fidelity rating: Excellent. 

Catholic Culture Website Reviews

Proudly featured on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) with Father Pacwa in 2006

EWTN

Featured in Volume 10.1 of Envoy Magazine, a quarterly journal of Catholic thought published by the Envoy Institute of Belmont Abbey College, under the guidance of their Editor and Director, Patrick Madrid, renown Catholic apologist

Envoy Magazine

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Tour of the Baltimore Basilica of the Assumption of Mary

Photos (c) A Catholic Life Blog, 2013.

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