Jmj

Today, August 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. John Mary Vianney [Jean-Baptiste Marie] ["Curé d'Ars"] (French, farm hand, parish priest for 40 years, heard confessions all day, d. 1869 [canonized 1925])
St. Agabius of Verona (Italian, bishop, c. 250)
St. Aristarchus of Salonika (Greek, bishop, companion of St. Paul [Acts 20, Philemon], martyred [beheaded] in 1st century)
Bl. Cicco of Pesaro (Italian, Franciscan tertiary, hermit, d. 1350)
St. Eleutherius (Constantinopolitan [Turkish], martyred c. 300)
St. Euphronius of Tours (French, bishop, d. 573)
St. Ia and companions (Greek and Persian, slave and her converts, tortured and martyred by beheading in 360)
St. Isidore (French, early martyr)
St. Molua (Irish, hermit, abbot, d. 622)
St. Perpetua (Roman, matron, c. 80)
St. Protasius of Cologne (German?, mearly martyr)
St. Raynerius of Spalatro (Italian, Camaldolese monk, archbishop, martyred by stoning in 1180)
St. Sithney (from British Isles, monk in France, c. 529)
St. Tertullinus (Roman, priest for two days, martyred in 257)
Bl. William Horne and companions (English, Carthusian brothers, martyred in 1540)

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

[From St. John Vianney:]

"All our religion is but a false religion, and all our virtues are mere illusions and we ourselves are only hypocrites in the sight of God, if we have not that universal charity for everyone -- for the good, and for the bad, for the poor and for the rich, and for all those who do us harm as much as those who do us good."

"If people would do for God what they do for the world, what a great number of Christians would go to Heaven!"

"I tell you that you have less to suffer in following the Cross than in serving the world and its pleasures."

"You cannot please both God and the world at the same time. They are utterly opposed to each other in their thoughts, their desires, and their actions."

"We should consider those moments spent before the Blessed Sacrament as the happiest of our lives."

"My little children, ... If you pray and love, that is where a man's happiness lies."

"My little children, your hearts, are small, but prayer stretches them and makes them capable of loving God. Through prayer we receive a foretaste of heaven and something of paradise comes down upon us. Prayer never leaves us without sweetness. It is honey that flows into the souls and makes all things sweet. When we pray properly, sorrows disappear like snow before the sun."

"Some men immerse themselves as deeply in prayer as fish in water, because they give themselves totally to God. O, how I love these noble souls! How unlike them we are! How often we come to church with no idea of what to do or what to ask for. And yet, whenever we go to any human being, we know well enough why we go. ... I often think that when we come to adore the Lord, we would receive everything we ask for, if we would ask with living faith and with a pure heart."

"Prayer is the inner bath of love into which the soul plunges itself."

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), July 25, 2002

Answers

St. John Vianney pray for our Priests.

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-- + (@@@@.com), August 03, 2002.

I think that, all my life, I have seen St. John's name spelled as "Vianney." What a surprise it was then, when, in a special about the saint on EWTN a week ago, I saw the tombstone of his parents -- on which was clearly carved: "Vianay"!
Maybe I will some day find out how the spelling change occurred. Or does any of you already know?
JFG

-- (jfgecik@hotmail.com), August 12, 2002.

Jmj

On August 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. John Baptist Mary Vianney of Dardilly [Jean-Baptiste Marie] ["Curé d'Ars" (Parish Priest of Ars)] (French, farm hand, parish priest for 40 years, heard confessions all day, d. 1869 [canonized 1925])

St. Agabius of Verona (Italian, bishop, c. 250)
St. Aristarchus of Salonika (Greek, bishop, companion of St. Paul [Acts 20, Philemon], martyred [beheaded] in 1st century)
Bl. Francis of Pesaro [Francisco] (Italian, Franciscan tertiary, hermit, miracle worker, d. 1350)
St. Eleutherius of Constantinople (from Asia Minor [Turkish], martyred c. 300)
St. Euphronius of Tours (French, bishop, d. 573)
Bl. Frederick Jansoonne of Ghyvelde [Frederic] (French, Franciscan priest, died in Canada in 1916 [beatified 1988])
St. Ia and companions (Greek and Persian, slave and her converts, tortured and martyred by beheading in 360)
St. Isidore (French, early martyr)
St. Molua of Limerick (Irish, hermit, abbot, d. 622)
St. Perpetua of Rome (Italian, matron, c. 80)
St. Protasius of Cologne (German?, early martyr)
St. Raynerius of Spalatro [Raniero] (Italian, Camaldolese monk, archbishop, martyred by stoning in 1180) St. Sithney (from British Isles, monk in France, c. 529)
St. Tertullinus (Roman, priest for two days, martyred in 257)
Bl. William Horne [or Horn] and companions (English, Carthusian brothers, martyred [drawn, hanged, and quartered] under Henry VIII in 1540 [beatified 1886])
Bl. Zephyrinus Gimenez Malla of Benavent de Segria [Ceferino] (Spanish, layman, martyred in Civil War at age 75 in 1936 [beatified 1997, first Gypsy ever beatified])

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), August 04, 2003.

Hi, John

Thanks for adding more to the Saints of the day threads. I would never of read about most these Saints, if it were not for your dedicated, holy work.

I a sure even a man that knows everything(like Deacon Paul thinks he does) enjoys learning about these holy people who where, and are true servants of out Lord.

May St. John Vianney pray for Bertha's soul, and all the souls that so much need our prayers.

God bless the unborn, and the holy souls, and you, and yours!

-- - (David@excite.com), August 04, 2003.

Thanks, David, for your encouragement. I was feeling a bit "down" this morning, but your words gave me a "shot in the arm." I really enjoyed doing the initial work on the saints/blesseds in 2001 and 2002 -- and then doing new work in 2003 (especially related to people who were newly canonized and beatified during the reign of Pope John Paul II).

Who is Bertha? (Forgive me if I ought to know, but forgot.)
God bless you.
JFG

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), August 05, 2003.

Oh, I think I remember now. Bertha was Gene Chavez's sister?
JFG

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), August 05, 2003.

Yes, John. May everone who reads this say a little prayer for Berthas' soul, and all the holy souls in purgatory.

-- - (David@excite.com), August 08, 2003.