Archive for January, 2012

On January 5th the church celebrates the feast day of Blessed Maria Repetto, an Italian nun with a great devotion to St Joseph. Maria was beatified by Blessed Pope John Paul II in 1991. In recent years the numbers of those being declared blessed, or being canonised, who had great devotion to St Joseph has been notable (eg St Andre Bessette, St Mary of the Cross McKillop, Blessed Isidore of St Joseph, to name a few). Maria and her holy contemporaries are living proof of St Teresa of Avila’s words. God Bless!

On January 4th the church celebrates the feast day of Blessed Manuel Gonzalez Garcia, a Spanish bishop with a great love for Jesus in the Holy Eucharist who died in 1940. During 2001 Blessed Pope John Paul II declared Manuel blessed, but he is still not very well known in the English speaking world and most articles about him have to be translated from Spanish. We should all share his level of devotion to the sacrament. God Bless!

On January 3rd the Church celebrates the holy life of St Genevieve. She is the great patron of the city of Paris. Through prayer St Genevieve obtained many graces for others both in her eventful life on earth and through her intercession in subsequent centuries.  She serves as a model to all those who follow in Christ’s footsteps. Remember her in your times of need. God Bless!

On January 2nd the church celebrates the feast day of St Basil the Great and St Gregory Nazianzen, who were both bishops in the 4th century, good friends, saints, and Doctors of the Church. Since St Basil wrote so many letters to all kinds of people, other bishops, friends, monks, widows, relatives and priests we can get to know him a bit better through his writings.

On January 1st the church celebrates the feast day of St Melania the Younger. Her paternal grandmother is St Melania the Elder. St Melania was born to wealthy Roman citizens, Publicola and Albina, around 383. When they died she inherited an immense fortune, together with property in many nations trading with Italy at that time and thousands of slaves. At age 14 she was reluctantly married to a relative, Pinian. Her heart’s desire was to remain a virgin, and to consecrate herself to Jesus. Failing that she wanted to live in continence with her husband, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. Melania gave birth to two children, a girl then a boy, who died very young. After much persuasion, her husband agreed to live in continence with her and to join her in charitable works and in the pursuit of holiness. As we pause to look back over the events, blessings and graces of 2011 St Melania’s holy life can help us reflect about how well we have used our time, our talents and our income in God’s service.