Jmj

Today, January 4, we members of the Catholic Church family honor, in a special way, the following friends of God -- saints whose souls are now in heaven:

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton ["Mother Seton"] [baptized Elizabeth Ann Bayley] (New Yorker, convert from Episcopalianism, mother of five, widow, foundress of Daughters of Charity of Saint Joseph, started U.S. Catholic school system, d. 1821 at age 46 [first native-born American to be canonized - 1975])
Bl. Angela of Foligno (Italian, widow, Franciscan tertiary, mystic, d. 1309)
Sts. Aquilinus, Geminus, Eugene, Marcian, Quintus, Theodotus, and Tryphon (African, martyred by Arians c. 484)
St. Dafrosa [also called Affrosa] (Italian, mother of St. Bibiana, martyred by beheading, 4th century)
St. Ferreolus of Uzès (French, bishop, d. 581)
St. Gregory of Langres (French, civil governor, widower, bishop, d. 539)
Sts. Hermas, Aggaeus, and Caius (martyred c. 300)
St. Libentius of Hamburg (German, Benedictine monk, bishop, d. 1013)
St. Mavilus of Adrumetum (African, martyred [flung to ferocious beasts] in 212)
Bl. Oringa of the Cross [also called Christiana] (Italian, farm girl, serving maid, Augustinian nun, d. 1310)
Bl. Palumbus of Subiaco (Italian, Benedictine priest, hermit, c. 1070)
St. Pharaïldis of Ghent (Belgian, abused wife, c. 740)
Sts. Priscus, Priscillianus, and Benedicta (priest, cleric, and laywoman, martyred in Rome in 362)
St. Rigobert of Rheims (French, Benedictine abbot, bishop, hermit, c. 745)
Bl. Roger of Ellant (English, Cistercian abbot in France, d. 1160)
St. Stephen du Bourg (French, Carthusian priest, d. 1118)
Bl. Thomas Plumtree (English, priest, martyred [hanged] by Elizabethans in 1570)

If you have anything to share about these holy people, please reply now -- biographical episodes, prayers through their intercession, the fact that one is your patron saint -- whatever moves you. If you are interested in one of these saints and want to find out more about him/her, please ask. Information is sometimes available on the Internet.

All you holy men and women, saints of God, pray for us.
God bless you.
John


-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), January 04, 2002

Answers

[From St. Elizabeth Ann Seton:]

"The first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills it; and thirdly to do it because it is his will."

-- (_@_._), January 04, 2002.

John,

St. Seton is my spirtual friend. You have a good memory.

In her short span of 47 years (1774-1821) Elizabeth Seton was society belle and matron, wife mother of five,widow, and relegious foundress (American Sisters of Charity). In addition to founding the first native community of religious women, she established the first free Catholic day school, from which parochial schools sprang, and she opened the first Catholic orphanage. A member of one of New Yorks first families in the early American Republic, she suffered incredible trials of sickness and loss and performed great works of mercy and charity.

She died of TB., and had two daughters( That were Sisters of Charity ) and a husband and a sister in law all die before her of TB. I was just at her daughters graves ( Annina , Rebecca )today. The Seton Shrine is a beautiful and holy place. Just 1 mile down road is the oldest grotto in America, and this is where the Sisters went to Mass on Sundays.And right down the steps from Grotto is Mount Saint Mary's College and Seminary. You should see the Church at Seminary, The Church is beautiful. The rest of Seton family is burried back at Grotto, and that is where my Dad is too. I love it in Emmitsburg Md. It is all Catholic, and I live only about 50 min car ride away. I am a very lucky man.

God Bless.

David S

-- David S (asdzxc8176@aol.com), January 05, 2002.

John, I forgot to mention, that I have a ST. Seton relic that is bigger than one at the Seton Shrine. My Mom has one too, and she put the relic on her stomach, and Mom is gaining weight and doing a lot better with her cancer now. My Mom prays to the Holy face of Jesus, and the Blessed Mother all the time. So St. Seton and the Holy face and the Blessed Mother are all helping with the grace of God I am sure.

David S

-- David S (asdzxc8176@aol.com), January 05, 2002.

Thanks, David S, for the great information and inspiring reflections.
When I was a little boy in the 1950s, our family was usually too poor to go out of town on vacations. But one year [maybe I was 7], we all squeezed into our little car, and my Dad drove us about 325 miles from Ohio to Emmitsburgh, to visit the shrine.
I have been back only one time since then, but I look forward to going again.

May God bless you, your mother, and your brother today.
John

-- (jfgecik@hotmail.com), January 06, 2002.

Jmj

On January 4, we members of the Catholic Church family honor, in a special way, the following friends of God -- saints and blesseds whose souls are now in heaven:

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton of New York [nee Bayley] ["Mother Seton"] (American, convert from Episcopalianism, mother of five, widow, foundress of Daughters of Charity of Saint Joseph, started U.S. Catholic school system, d. 1821 at age 46 [first native-born American to be canonized: 1975]) [On U.S. “particular calendar”]

Bl. Angela of Foligno (Italian, widow, Franciscan tertiary, mystic, d. 1309)
Sts. Aquilinus, Geminus, Eugene, Marcian, Quintus, Theodotus, and Tryphon (African, martyred by Arians c. 484)
Bl. Christiana of the Cross Menabuoi of Castello di Santa Croce [baptized Oringa] (Italian, farm girl, serving maid, Augustinian nun, d. 1310)
St. Dafrosa of Rome [also called Affrosa] (Italian, mother of St. Bibiana, martyred by beheading, 4th century)
Bl. Emanuel Gonzalez Garcia of Seville [Manuel] ["Bishop of the Abandoned Tabernacle"] (Spanish, bishop, founder of Congregation of the Eucharistic Missionaries of Nazareth, founder of Disciples of Saint John, and founder of Children of Reparation, d. 1940 [beatified 2001])
St. Ferreolus of Uzès (French, bishop, d. 581)
St. Genevieve Torres Morales of Almenara [Genoveva] (Spanish, orphaned at age 8, lost a leg to amputation at age 13, founded and led Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and of the Holy Angels, d. 1956 [canonized 2003])
St. Gregory of Langres (French, civil governor, widower, bishop, d. 539)
Sts. Hermas, Aggaeus, and Caius (martyred c. 300)
St. Libentius of Hamburg (German, Benedictine monk, bishop, d. 1013)
St. Mavilus of Adrumetum (African, martyred [flung to ferocious beasts] in 212)
Bl. Palumbus of Subiaco (Italian, Benedictine priest, hermit, c. 1070)
St. Pharaïldis of Ghent (Belgian, abused wife, c. 740)
Sts. Priscus, Priscillianus, and Benedicta, of Rome (Italian, priest, cleric, and laywoman, martyred in 362)
St. Rigobert of Rheims (French, Benedictine abbot, bishop, hermit, c. 745)
Bl. Roger of Ellant (English, Cistercian abbot in France, d. 1160)
St. Stephen du Bourg of Meyria [Etienne] (French, Carthusian priest, d. 1118)
Bl. Thomas Plumtree of Lincolnshire (English, priest, martyred [hanged] under Elizabeth I in 1570)

If you have anything to share about these holy people, please reply now -- biographical episodes, prayers through their intercession, the fact that one is your patron -- whatever moves you. If you are interested in one of these saints or blesseds and want to find out more about him/her, please ask. Information is sometimes available on the Internet.

All you holy men and women, saints of God, pray for us.
God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), January 03, 2004.