A Community of Love, Unity and Service

St. Nicholas of Tolentino

This Patron of the Universal Church was born in 1245, in answer to the prayer of a holy mother, and was vowed before his birth to the service of God. His parents had made a pilgrimage across Italy to visit the shrine of Saint Nicholas of Myre and ask his intercession to obtain a child; the infant granted them was given the same name in his honor.

Saint Nicholas of Tolentino never lost his baptismal innocence. His austerities as a very young religious were conspicuous even in the austere Order to which he belonged, the Hermits of Saint Augustine. To the remonstrances of his superiors he only replied, “How can I be said to fast, while every morning at the altar I receive my God?” The demons undertook a war against his spirit of prayer, going so far as to beat him and leave him inert on the floor, but they could not separate his soul from his Lord. He did, however, remain lame for life. He conceived an ardent charity for the holy souls of purgatory, so near and yet so far from their Saviour. Often, after his Mass, it was revealed to him that the souls for whom he had offered the Holy Sacrifice had been admitted to the presence of God.

Saint Nicholas frequently went out of his monastery to beg for aid to the poor. He visited prisoners and the dying to administer the Last Sacraments. And this great Saint resurrected over one hundred children, on one occasion bringing back to life several who had been under water for several days.

During an illness, he was ordered to eat meat by a physician, which he had made a vow never to do. A plate containing well-prepared fowl was brought to him. In the presence of several witnesses, he made the sign of the cross over it, and the bird flew away out the window.

During the year preceding his death, a star always appeared over the altar where he said his Mass; afterwards it would conduct him to his cell, or lead him back again, later, to the altar. Amid his loving labors for God and man, he was haunted by thoughts of his own unworthiness. “The heavens,” said he, “are not pure in the sight of Him whom I serve; how then shall I, a sinful man, stand before Him?” One day, as he pondered on the greatness of God and his own nothingness, Mary, Queen of all Saints, appeared before him. “Fear not, Nicholas,” She said, “all is well with you: My Son bears you in His Heart, and I am your protection.” Then his soul was at rest.

At the hour of his death, which occurred on September 10, 1310, he heard, it is said, the songs which the Angels sing in the presence of their Lord. He died and was buried in the chapel where he was accustomed to offer Holy Mass and say his prayers. He was canonized in 1446 by Pope Eugene IV. Three hundred and one miracles were recognized during the process. His tomb has become renowned by many more, despite the fact that his relics have been lost, save for two arms from which blood still exudes when the Church is menaced by a great danger. This occurred, for example, when the island of Cyprus was taken over by infidels in 1570. The religious of Saint Augustine continue to maintain the service of the large basilica of Saint Nicholas in Tolentino. Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, like Saint Joseph, virginal father of Jesus, has been declared a Patron of the Universal Church.

St. Paphnutius

The holy monk Paphnutius was an Egyptian who, after having spent several years in the desert under the direction of the great Saint Anthony, was made bishop in Upper Thebaid. He was one of the confessors under the tyrant Maximin Daia, who lost their right eye and were afterwards sent to work in the mines.

When peace was restored to the Church, Paphnutius returned to his diocese and his flock. The Arian heresy was entering into Egypt, and he was seen to be one of the most zealous defenders of the Catholic Faith. For his eminent sanctity and his glorious title of confessor, that is, one who had confessed the Faith before the persecutors and under torments, he was highly esteemed at the great Council of Nicea in 325. Constantine the Great, during the celebration of that synod, sometimes conferred privately with him in his palace, and never dismissed him without kissing respectfully the place which had once held the eye he had lost for the Faith.

Saint Paphnutius remained always in close union with Saint Athanasius, and accompanied him to the Council of Tyre in 355. We have no particular account of the death of Saint Paphnutius, but his name is recorded in the Roman Martyrology on the 11^th of September.

St. John Gabriel Perboyre

John Gabriel Perboyre was born in 1802 in the diocese of Cahors in France. From his earliest years he was noticed for his piety. As a young student in the minor seminary, he was loved and venerated by all his fellow disciples, who called him the Little Jesus. A year before he advanced to the Major Seminary, his vocation was decided upon: “I want to be a missionary,” he said, and he entered the Congregation of the missionaries of Saint Vincent de Paul at Montauban. One of the novices who later was confided to his care, said: “For many years I had desired to meet a Saint, and when I saw Monsieur Perboyre, it seemed to me God had answered my wish. Several times I said, ‘You will see that Monsieur Perboyre will be canonized.’ ” The two maxims of this Novice Master were: “One does good for souls only by prayer. In all that you do, work only to please God, otherwise you would waste your time and effort.”

John Gabriel was remarkable by his tender devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. He returned to the chapel constantly and spent entire hours in adoration. “I am never happier,” he said, “than when I have offered the Holy Sacrifice.” His thanksgiving usually lasted for a half hour.

When sent to the missions of China, the young priest labored under the influence of a sustaining grace. Then, after four years of apostolate, betrayed as his Master had been, he was arrested and underwent the most cruel tortures. While they continued, this athlete of the faith, worthy of Jesus Christ, uttered not one cry of pain. Those in attendance could not conceal their astonishment and could scarcely hold back their tears. “Trample on your God, and I will free you!” the mandarin cried out. “Oh!” the martyr replied, “how could I so insult my Saviour?” And seizing the crucifix, he pressed it to his lips. In 1840, after nine months’ confinement in a fearful prison, he was strangled on a gibbet in the form of a cross.

St. Guy of Anderlecht

Saint Guy was born at Anderlecht, a village near Brussels, in the tenth century. As a child he had two loves, the Church and the poor, and he wished to be himself among that special little flock of Christ, the poor. While still very young he visited and cared for the sick, and he was regarded by the villagers as a young Saint.

As he grew older, love of prayer increased in him in a prodigious manner. One day when he was praying in the church of Our Lady at Laeken, a short distance from Brussels, he manifested such devotion before Our Lady’s shrine that the priest, drawing him into conversation, prayed him to stay and serve the Church. Thenceforth his great joy was to be constantly in the church, sweeping the floor, polishing the altars, and cleansing the sacred vessels. He spent entire nights in the church in prayer. By day he still found time and means to befriend the poor, so that his almsgiving became famous throughout the entire region.

A merchant of Brussels, hearing of the generosity of this humble sacristan, was prompted by a demon to go to Laeken and offer him a share of his business, telling him he would have the means thereby to give more to the poor. Guy had no desire to leave the church, but the offer seemed providential and he accepted it. The first ship bearing a cargo in which Guy had an interest, however, was lost, and he realized he had made a mistake. When he returned to Laeken, he found his place at the church filled. The rest of his life was one long penance for his inconstancy. For seven years he made pilgrimages of penance, visiting Rome and the Holy Land and other famous shrines. About the year 1012 he returned to Anderlecht in his native land. When he died in that same year, a light shone round him, and a voice was heard proclaiming his eternal reward. He was buried in the cemetery of the canons of Anderlecht.

Holy Name of Mary

This feast was established by Pope Innocent XI in 1683, that the faithful may in a particular manner recommend to God on this day, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, the necessities of His Church, and return Him thanks for His gracious protection and numberless mercies.

What gave occasion to the institution of this feast was the desire of all Christendom for a solemn thanksgiving which would commemorate the deliverance of Vienna, obtained through the intercession of Our Lady, when the city was besieged by the Turks in 1683. An army of 550,000 invaders had reached the city walls and was threatening all of Europe. John Sobieski, King of Poland, came with a much smaller army to assist the besieged city during the octave of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, and made ready for a great battle. This religious prince began by having a Mass celebrated, which he himself desired to serve, his arms in a cross. After receiving Communion with fervor, he rose at the close of the sacrifice and cried out: “Let us march with confidence under the protection of Heaven and with the aid of the Most Holy Virgin!” His hope was not disappointed; the Turks were struck with a sudden panic and fled in disorder. From that time the feast day has been celebrated during the octave of the Nativity of Our Lady.

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