THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH: MAY- 2024
PRAYER OF CONSECRATION TO THE MOST HOLY TRINITY:
“O everlasting and Triune God, I consecrate myself wholly to you today.
Let all my days offer you ceaseless praise, My hands move to the rhythm of your impulses, My feet be swift in your service, My voice sing constantly of you, My lips proclaim your message, My eyes perceive you everywhere, And my ears be attuned to your inspirations. May my Intellect be filled with your wisdom, My will be moved by your beauty, My heart be enraptured with your love, And my soul be flooded with your grace. Grant that every action of mine be done for your greater glory and the advancement of my salvation. Amen.” (St. Frederick of Utrecht)
“In his goodness and wisdom, God chose to reveal himself and to make known to us, the hidden purpose of his will by which through Christ, the word made flesh, man has access to the Father in the Holy Spirit and comes to share in the divine nature. Through this revelation, the invisible God, in the abundance of his love speaks to men as friends and lives among them, so that he may take them into fellowship with himself.” Thomas. A. Kempis; Imitations of Christ: Book III; Ch 2: Reflections.
“I am not capable of doing big things; but I want to do everything, even the smallest things for the greater glory of God.” St. Dominic Savio
SAINTS/ SAGES/ EVENTS: MAY- 2024:
May 01. St. Peregrine Laziosi:(1260-1345): He is an Italian saint of the Servite Order (Friar Order Servants of Mary). He is the patron saint for persons suffering from cancer, AIDS, or other illness.
Today is May Day and it is also the feast day of St. Joseph the Worker.
May 02. St. Athanasius of Alexandria: (298-373): His episcopate lasted 45 years (c. 8 June 328 – 2 May 373), of which over 17 were spent in five exiles ordered by four different Roman emperors. He is considered to be a renowned Christian theologian, a Church Father, the chief defender of Trinitarianism against Arianism, and a noted Egyptian leader of the fourth century.
May 03. Sts. Philip & James the Lesser: Both were among tthe Twelve Apostles of Jesus. Later Christian traditions describe Philip as the apostle who preached in Greece, Syria, and Phrygia. James was the first Bishop of Jerusalem, who died in 62 or 69, was an important figure in Early Christianity. He is distinguished from the Apostle James, son of Zebedee by various epithets; he is called James the brother of the Lord by Paul (Galatians 1:19), James the brother of the Lord, surnamed the Just.
May04. St.Pelagia of Antioch: (Died in 311):She was a virgin of fifteen years, who chose death by a leap from the housetop rather than dishonour from soldiers during the Diocletian Persecution. She is mentioned by Ambrose (De virg. iii. 7, 33; Ep. xxxvii. ad Simplic.), and is the subject of two sermons by Chrysostom.
May 05. St. Angelo: (1185-1220): He was a saint and martyr from the Holy Land, was born in Jerusalem to a Jewish family. His mother, however, converted to Christianity, and Angelus, along with his twin brother, John, was baptised when she converted. He was martyred in Sicily by a local knight, when Angelo denounced him for his incestuous life. He died seeking pardon for his assassin.
May 06. St. Dominic Savio: (1842-1857): Dominic Savio was an Italian adolescent student of Saint John Bosco. He was studying to be a priest when he became ill and died at the age of 14, possibly from pleurisy. Despite the fact that many people considered him to have died at too young an age – fourteen – to be considered for sainthood, he was considered eligible for such singular honour on the basis of his having displayed “heroic virtue” in his everyday life. He was canonized a saint on June 12, 1954, by Pope Pius XII, making him the youngest non-martyr to be canonized in the Catholic Church.
Today is also the feast day of Bl. Edward Jones and Bl. Anthony Middleton, who were martyred during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I on May 6th 1590.
May 07. St. John of Beverly: (Died in 721): He was the bishop of Hexham in 687 and then transferred to York as metropolitan in 705, succeeding St. Bosa. John was known for his holiness, his preference for the contemplative life, and his miracles, many of which are recounted in Bede's Ecclesiastical History, the author of which he had ordained.
May 08. St. Maria Magdellan of Canossa: (1774-1835): Foundress of the Daughters of Charity at Verona, Italy. Born in 1774, she was the daughter of the Marquis of Canossa, who died when Maria Magdalen was three. Her mother abandoned the family, and Maria Magdalen managed her father’s estate until she was thirty-three, then founding her institute. She was canonized in 1988 by Pope John Paul II.
May 09. Ascension Day: This day commemorates the bodily ascension of Jesus into heaven. Ascension Day is traditionally celebrated on a Thursday, the fortieth day of Easter.
St. Pachomius: (292-348): Today is also the feast day of St. Pachomius was the first monk to organize hermits into groups and write down a Rule for them. Both St. Basil and St. Benedict drew from his Rule in setting forth their own more famous ones. Hence, though St. Anthony is usually regarded as the founder of Christian monasticism, it was really St. Pachomius who began monasticism as we know it today.
May 10. St. Peter Van: (Died in 1857): Vietnamese martyr. A native catechist, he was arrested by authorities and beheaded. Pope John Paul II canonized him in 1988.
May 11. St. Ansfrid: (Died in 1010): Bishop and founder, the Count of Brabant. Ansfrid was a courtier and friend of Emperor Otto II of the Holy Roman Empire. In 994, the emperor named him the bishop of Utrecht. Ansfrid founded a monastery at Heiligensberg, Germany, and a convent at Thorn.
May 12. Sts. Nereus & Achilleus: Legends say that they served Flavia Domitilla, the great-niece of Emperor Domitian, and were exiled and executed with her when she converted. This legend probably originated in the fact that the martyrs were buried in what was later known as the cemetery of Domitilla.
May 13. Bl. Imelda Lambertini: (1322-1333): The patroness of fervent first communion, she died soon after she received her first Holy Communion, on Ascension Day in 1333. Her body still remains incorrupt.
May 14. St. Mathias, the Apostle: according to the Acts of the Apostles, was the apostle chosen by the remaining eleven apostles to replace Judas Iscariot following Judas' betrayal of Jesus and suicide. His calling as an apostle is unique in that his appointment was not made personally by Jesus, who had already ascended to heaven, and, it was made before the descending of the Holy Spirit upon the early Church.
May 15. St. Dymphna: She was the daughter of a pagan Irish king and his Christian wife in the 7th century AD. She was murdered by her father when she refused to become his wife after the death of her mother who was a devoute Christian. She is the patron saint of mentally afflicted persons..
May 16. St. John Nepomucene: (1345-1393): He is the national saint of the Czech Republic, who was drowned in the Vltava River at the behest of Wenceslaus, King of the Romans and King of Bohemia. Later accounts state that he was the confessor of the queen of Bohemia and refused to divulge the secrets of the confessional.
May 17. St. Paschal Baylon: (1540-1592): He is the patron saint of Eucharistic congresses and Eucharistic associations.
May 18. St. Eric IX, Patron saint of Sweden: (Martyred in 1160): He led a victorious expedition against the marauding Finns and persuaded English bishop Henry of Uppsala to remain in Finnland to evangelize the Finns. Eric was killed and beheaded near Uppsala by rebelling Swedish nobles in the army of Magnus, son of the King of Denmark, who had invaded his territory, on May 18. Though never formally canonized, Eric was long considered the Patron of Sweden.
May 19. The feast of Pentecost: "The fiftieth [day]") is the Greek name for the Feast of weeks, a prominent feast in the calendar of ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai. This feast is still celebrated in Judaism as Shavout. Later, in the Christian Liturgical Year, it became a feast commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus, 120 in all, as described in the Acts of the Apostles 2:1–31. For this reason, Pentecost is sometimes described by some Christians today as the "Birthday of the Church.
Today is also the feast of Pope St. Celestine V: (1215-1296): He was Pope for five months from 5 July to 13 December 1294, when he resigned. He was also a monk and hermit who founded the order of the Celestines. In 1313, Celestine V was canonized. No subsequent pope has taken the name "Celestine".
May 20: St. Bernardine of Sienna: (1380-1444): He is known in the Roman Catholic Church as “the Apostle of Italy” for his efforts to revive the country's Catholic faith during the 15th century. His preaching was frequently directed against gambling, witchcraft, sodomy (with an emphasis on homosexuality) and usury - particularly as practised by Jews.
May 21. St. Constantine the Great: (272-337): He was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Well known for being the first Roman emperor to be converted to Christianity, Constantine and co-Emperor Licinius issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed tolerance of all religions throughout the empire.
May 22. St. Rita of Cascia: (1381-1457): She was an Italian Augustinian nun, who was known for practicing mortification of the flesh, along with the apparent efficacy of her prayers. St. Rita is venerated due to various miracles attributed to her intercession, and is often portrayed with a bleeding wound on her forehead, which the Roman Catholic Church claims to have been a partial stigmata. In many pious Catholic countries, Rita is known to be a patroness for abused wives and mourning women, since she had been a devouted wife with two children, who was constantly abused by her husband.
May 23. St Julia of Corsica: She was a virgin martyr who is venerated as a Christian saint. The date of her death is most probably on or after AD 439. She, along with Saint Devota, are the patron saints of Corsica in the Roman Catholic church.
May 24. St. David I of Scotland: (1080-1153): David, the youngest son of Scotland’s virtuous queen, (Saint) Margaret, succeeded his brother to the Scottish throne in 1124. On his death bed he is reported to have said,” Let me rather think about the things of God, so that my spirit may set out strengthened on its journey from exile to home. When I stand before God’s tremendous judgment seat, you will not be able to answer for me or defend me.”
May 25. St. Madeline Sophie Barat: (1779-1865): She was a French saint of the Catholic Church and was the founder of the Society of the Sacred Heart.
May 26. St. Philip Neri: (1515-1595): Known as Apostle of Rome, Philip Neri was an Italian priest noted for founding a society of Secular clergy called the "Congregation of the Oratory".
May 27. St. Augustine of Canterbury: (Died in 605) : ) He was a Benedictine monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597. He is considered the "Apostle to the English" and a founder of the English Church.
May 28. Bl. Margret Pole: (1473-1541): One of the few surviving members of the Plantagenet dynasty after the Wars of the Roses, she was executed in 1541 at the command of King Henry VIII, who was her Cousin Elizabeth's son. Pope Leo XIII beatified her as a martyr for the Roman Catholic Church on 29 December 1886.
May 29. St. Maximnus of Trier: (Died in 347): He was the fifth bishop of Trier, according to the list provided by the diocese's website, taking his seat in 341/342. Maximin was an opponent of Arianism, and was supported by the courts of Constantine II and Constans, who harboured as an honored guest Athanasius twice during his exile from Alexandria, in 336-37, before he was bishop, and again in 343. As a patron, Maximin was invoked as protection against perjury, loss at sea and destructive rains.
May 30. St. Joan of Arc: (1412-1431): St. Joan of Arc is the patroness of soldiers and of France. She was born a peasant girl in what is now eastern France. Claiming divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War. She was burned at the stake for heresy when she was 19 years old. Twenty-five years after her execution, an inquisitorial court authorized by Pope Callixtus III examined the trial, pronounced her innocent, and declared her a martyr. Joan of Arc was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920.
May 31. St. Thomas Du: (Martyred in 1839): A native of Vietnam, he entered the Dominicans as a tertiary and aided the Catholic cause in Vietnam until his arrest by authorities. He was tortured and finally beheaded. Pope John Paul II canonized him in 1988.
St. James the Lesser
St. Philip
St. Athanasius
St. Peregrine Laziosi
St. Pelagia of Antioch
St. Angelo
St. Dominic Savio
Bl. Edward Jones
St. John of Beverly
St. Maria Magdellon Canossa
St. Pachomius
St. Peter Van
St. Astrid
Sts Nerius & Achiileus
Bl. Imelda Lambertini
St. Mathias
St. Dymphna
St. John Nepumcene
St. Eric of Sweden
St. Paschal Baylon
Pope St. Celestine V
St. Bernardine of Sienna
St. Constantine the Great
St. Rita of Cascia
St. Julia of Corsica
St. David of Scotland
St. Madeline Sophie Barret
St. Philip Neri
St. Augustine of Canterburry
Bl. Margret Pole
St. Maximinus of Tier
