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21st September - Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. Born - 1st century AD, Capernaum Died - 1st century AD, near Hierapolis or Ethiopia, relics in Salerno, Italy Venerated in - Eastern Orthodox Church, Catholic Church, Eastern Catholic Churches, Oriental Orthodoxy, Church of the East, Anglican Communion, Lutheranism Canonized - Pre-Congregation Feast - 21 September (Western Christianity), 22 October (Coptic Orthodox), 16 November (Eastern Christianity) Attributes - Angel Patronage - Accountants; Salerno, Italy; bankers; tax collectors; perfumers; civil servants “As Jesus was walking along from there he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax office, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.” Matthew 9: 9. Also known as Levi the son of Alphaeus, as a tax collector, Matthew would have been seen as a collaborator with the occupying Romans. From early times he has been regarded as the author of the first but not oldest of the four Gospels which is believed to be dependant on Mark’s Gospel and a hypothetical source known as “Q”, now lost. Nine tenths of Mark is reproduced in Matthew to which the latter has added the genealogy at the beginning and the post-Resurrection narrative at the end. His Gospel is thought to have been written between 75 and 85 AD. Christian traditions differ about where and how he died. The Roman Martyrology places it in Ethiopia whereas the Martyrology of Jerome puts it at Tarrium in Persia. Another tradition places it at Tarsuana east of the Persian Gulf. His usual emblem as an evangelist is that of a man, because the genealogy he includes at the start of his Gospel draws attention to the human nature of Christ. His supposed relics were translated to Salerno by Robert Guiscard from Finistère in Brittany to which they were supposed to have come from Ethiopia. O God, who with untold mercy were pleased to choose as an Apostle Saint Matthew, the tax collector, grant that, sustained by his example and intercession, we may merit to hold firm in following you. See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_the_Apostle https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10056b.htm https://www.newadvent.org/bible/mat001.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Matthew https://catholicsaints.info/saint-matthew-the-apostle/ https://www.christianiconography.info/goldenLegend/matthew.htm https://www.bartleby.com/210/9/211.html https://saintscatholic.blogspot.com/2015/09/st-matthew.html |
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23rd September - Memorial of St. Pio of Pietrelcina, Priest. Born - Francesco Forgione, 25 May 1887, Pietrelcina, Benevento, Kingdom of Italy Died - 23 September 1968 (aged 81), San Giovanni Rotondo, Foggia, Italy Resting place - Sanctuary of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina Venerated in - Catholic Church Beatified - 2 May 1999, Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II Canonized - 16 June 2002, Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II Major shrine - Sanctuary of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, National Shrine and Parish of Saint Padre Pio, in Batangas Philippines Feast - 23 September Attributes - Stigmata, Franciscan habit, miracles, and sacerdotal vestments Patronage - Pietrelcina, Italy, civil defence volunteers, adolescents Francesco, named in honour of St. Francis of Assisi, was born to Giuseppa and Grazio Forgione, peasant farmers, in the small Italian village of Pietrelcina on 25th May 1887. Francesco was very devout even as a child, and at an early age felt drawn to the priesthood. He became a Capuchin novice at the age of sixteen and received the habit in 1902. Francesco was ordained to the priesthood in 1910 after seven years of study and became known as Padre Pio. On 20th September 1918, Padre Pio was kneeling in front of a large crucifix when he received the visible marks of the crucifixion, making him the first stigmatized priest in the history of Church. The doctor who examined Padre Pio could not find any natural cause for the wounds. Upon his death in 1968, the wounds were no longer visible. In fact, there was no scaring and the skin was completely renewed. He had predicted 50 years prior that upon his death the wounds would heal. He was canonized by Saint Pope John Paul II in 2002. Almighty ever-living God, who, by a singular grace, gave your Priest Saint Pius a share in the Cross of your Son and, by means of his ministry, renewed the wonders of your mercy, grant that through his intercession we may be united constantly to the sufferings of Christ, and so brought happily to the glory of the resurrection. See also: https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_19990502_padre-pio_en.html https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20020616_index_padre-pio_en.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padre_Pio https://catholicsaints.info/saint-padre-pio/ https://saintscatholic.blogspot.com/2014/03/saint-padre-pio.html |
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24th September - Memorial of Our Lady of Walsingham. Date - 1061 Witness - Richeldis de Faverches Type - Marian apparition Approval - Pope Leo XIII, Pope Pius XII Shrine - Basilica of Our Lady of Walsingham, Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham Attributes - The Blessed Virgin Mary enthroned as Queen wearing a golden Saxon crown and golden slippers carrying the Child Jesus with the Gospel book and a Lily flower. Feast day - 24 September The shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham owes its existence to Richeldis de Faverches, the Lady of the Manor who in 1061 was instructed by Our Lady in a series of visions to build an exact copy of the house in Nazareth where the Annunciation had taken place. She gave instructions to be done but the following night was awakened by singing and going out saw angels leaving the house which had already been completed. If time Walsingham would become one of the four great shrines of Europe alongside Rome, Santiago and Jerusalem. In 1153 a Priory of Augustinian canons was established who took on the guardianship of the holy house until the suppression of the monasteries at the Reformation when the house was burned to the ground despite Henry VIII having made two pilgrimages to the shrine and in 1511 walking barefoot from Barsham Hall. About 1538 the venerated image was brought to London with that of Our Lady of Ipswich, and both were publicly burnt at Chelsea in presence of Thomas Cromwell. Fifteen of the canons of Walsingham were condemned for high treason; five were executed. All the jewels and treasures left by the piety of the faithful found their way into Henry VIII's coffers. Post-Reformation devotion to Our Lady of Walsingham was revived in 1863 by Charlotte Boyd who acquired what is known as the Slipper Chapel and the first formal pilgrimage took place in 1897. Grant, we pray, almighty God, that as in the mystery of the incarnation the Blessed and ever Virgin Mary conceived your Son in her heart before she conceived him in the womb, so we, your pilgrim people, rejoicing in her motherly care, may welcome him into our hearts and become a holy house fit for his eternal dwelling. See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Walsingham https://catholicsaints.info/our-lady-of-walsingham/ https://www.walsingham.org.uk/ https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5_ax08Z6UX-4HkLMf9z5bzGx1UCHQL_s |
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26th September - Memorial at choice of St. Cosmas and St. Damian, Martyrs Born - c. 3rd century, Arabia Died - c. 303 or 287, Aegea, Roman province of Cilicia, (modern-day Yumurtalık, Adana, Turkey) Venerated in - Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Churches, Eastern Catholic Churches Major shrine - Convent of the Poor Clares in Madrid, Basilica of Saints Cosmas and Damian in Rome, and Bitonto, Bari, Italy Feast - September 25 (Canada), September 26, September 27 (pre-1970 General Roman Calendar), November 1 (Eastern Orthodox Church) Attributes - depicted as twins, beheaded, or with medical emblems Patronage - surgeons, physicians, identical twins, twins, dentists, protectors of children, barbers, pharmacists, veterinarians, orphanages, day-care centres, confectioners, children in house, against hernia, against the plague. Little is known for certain about these martyrs of the early Church who are named in the Roman Canon. The Golden Legend has them as brothers, the sons of a devout mother called Theodoche in the city of Egea. They were skilled physicians who, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, could cure every kind of sickness both in humans and in animals, which they did without asking payment. Their fame brought them to the attention of the proconsul Lysias who tried to force them and their three other brothers: Antinous, Leontius and Euprepius to sacrifice to idols. When they refused Lysias subjected them to various tortures from each of which they were miraculously delivered. In the end all five were beheaded. Other than their martyrdom possibly taking place during the reign of the Emperor Diocletian (245-313) it is difficult to be more specific about when they died. It is believed that they were martyred in Cyrrhus where a famous basilica was built in their honour. Their cult spread throughout the Christian world with churches being built in their honour in Constantinople in the fifth century and near the Forum in Rome in the sixth century, with mosaics of the saints inside. See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saints_Cosmas_and_Damian https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04403e.htm https://catholicsaints.info/saint-cosmas/ https://catholicsaints.info/saint-damian/ https://www.christianiconography.info/goldenLegend/cosmasDamian.htm |