#saintquotes

Happy Feast Day

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

1207-1231

Feast Day: November 17 (New), November 19 (Trad)

Patronage: hospitals, nurses, bakers, brides, countesses, dying children, exiles, homeless people, lace-makers, widows

Elizabeth of Hungary, T.O.S.F., was a princess of the Kingdom of Hungary, Countess of Thuringia, Germany, and a greatly venerated Catholic saint. Elizabeth was married at the age of 14 and widowed at 20.

Happy Feast Day

Pope Saint Callistus I

Died: 222

Feast Day: October 14

Patronage: Cemetery workers

Pope Saint Callistus I (Callixtus) We learn about his life from his theological enemy, St. Hippolytus, who was enraged by the mercy shown to sinners by Callistus. Callistus was a former slave who was convicted of hard labor after two of his master’s banks that he was in charge of, failed because of his incompetence. Callistus was freed by the initiative of Pope St. Victor I. He was then ordained a deacon and caretaker of the Roman Cemetery. In 219, he was elected Pope. As Pope he promoted mercy, openness and absolution of sinners. He was martyred by an anti-Catholic mob.

Saint Bruno of Cologne

1030-1101

Feast Day: October 6

Patronage: Germany, Carthusians, Calabria, monastic fraternities, trademarks, help for possessed people

Saint Bruno founded the Carthusians, (by retiring to a hermitage with 6 companions in 1084). They are noted for their strict tradition and the austere rule of St. Benedict’s contemplative life. He was born to a prominent family, taught for 25 years in Reims, was appointed archdiocese Chancellor at 45, and supported Pope Gregory VII and Pope Urban II in the fight against decadent clergy, even helping remove his own scandalous archbishop. He died giving a profession of faith to the Catholic Church’s Sacraments, especially the True Presence.

Happy Feast Day

Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos

1819-1867

Feast Day: October 5

Patronage: against cancer

Blessed Fr. Francis Xavier Seelos was beatified by Pope Saint John Paul II in 2000. Born in Germany, he was inspired to be a Redemptorist missionary priest in the U.S. to serve the German immigrants. At St. Philomena’s Parish in Pittsburgh, he was the assistant to St. John Neumann, who was his spiritual director and encouraged him to preach missions. Fr. Seelos lived a simple lifestyle, serving the poor and abandoned. He was called the “Cheerful Ascetic,” the “American Wonderworker,” the “Doctor of Souls,” for his intercession in healing bodies and souls. He was assigned to parishes in Detroit, Baltimore, and New Orleans, where he died from yellow fever contracted from caring for victims of the disease.

Happy Feast Day

Saint Francis of Assisi

1181-1226

Feast day: October 4

Patronage: animals, the environment, Italy, merchants, stowaways

Francis was born into the privileged life of a nobleman. Eventually, by the grace of God, the worldly desires no longer satisfied him; he desired a simpler life with his love for poverty, nature, and simplicity. Eventually, he founded the religious order of Franciscans, whose brothers preached the gospel, made poverty holy, and worked hard to bring the word of God to the world that desperately needed it. He is known as the first person to receive the stigmata.

Happy Feast Day

Saint Mother Théodore Guérin

1798-1856

Feastday: October 3

Patronage: The Diocese of Lafayette, IN

Saint Théodore Guérin is the foundress of The Sisters of Providence of St. Mary of the Woods in Indiana. By doing the ordinary well, she excelled in the harsh frontier conditions, withstood misunderstandings, and prejudices against Catholic women religious. Even with chronic health issues, Mother Théodore opened schools, orphanages, and cared for the sick. She trusted in God’s will and became a model of virtue.

Saint Thecla of Iconium

1st Century AD

Feast Day: September 23

Saint Thecla, a virgin and native of Iconium was popular in the early Church. She was so impressed by St. Paul the Apostle’s preaching that she became his follower and a perpetual virgin. Legend has it that because she was a Christian, attempts were made to torture her by fire, rape, and eaten by wild beasts, yet she was miraculously protected all three times showing a martyr’s heroic faith. Eventually she lived as a hermit though persecuted until her death. She is called the protomartyr among women.

Happy Feast Day

Saint Peter Claver

1581-1654

Feast Day: September 9

Patronage: Missionary work, black missions, slaves, against slavery, race relations, African Americans, inter-racial justice, foreign missions, against slavery

Saint Peter Claver, a Spanish Jesuit was inspired by St. Alphonsus Rodriguez to go to the Indies and save “millions of perishing souls”. In 1610 he traveled to Cartagena, Columbia, the slave trade center, and ministered to slaves, sailors and townspeople. He provided medical treatment, food, spiritual instruction, and baptism to over 300,000 souls and continued to guide them afterward. He fought for the abolition of slavery. St. Peter Claver died after 4 years of illness.