Jmj
Hello, folks.

Those of you who were visiting the forum between August of 2001 and August of 2002 know that I was then posting a new thread each day. On each day, I tried to list the names of the Catholic saints (canonized or proclaimed) and blesseds (beatified) who are "attached" to the day -- i.e., those whose memory officially can be celebrated in prayer and/or liturgy. Here is a list of those threads.

Over the course of the last several months (especially the last two), I have located still more information about saints and blesseds -- information that needs to be added to the daily threads that I previously posted. Beginning today, I will add a new message to each calendar-day's old thread. I will re-state the list of saints and blesseds, but with additions and modifications. The enhancements will be especially related to my inclusion of many new people who have been beatified or canonized by Pope John Paul II in recent years.

Other differences will involve ...
(1) an improved and standardized way of listing the names (religious names, baptismal names, names in anglicized form and native-language form, surnames, etc.),
(2) the inclusion of previously overlooked people who were canonized or beatified by popes before Pope John Paul II,
(3) the placement, at the top of each daily list, of the major saint(s) of the day [i.e., those on the universal calendar or the U.S. particular calendar],
(4) the alphabetizing of names on each day's list, and
(5) the correction of several errors and duplications.

I hope that you find the daily lists interesting and spiritually helpful. I hope that, this time around, more people will respond with messages of their own than did last time. (These threads don't "belong" to me!)
If you are surprised at the large number of saints listed for each day -- even on days when your missal or missalette names no one -- please refer to an answer I gave in 2001 about this subject, within the August 30 thread.

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), March 02, 2003

Answers

Thanks, John for all the hard work.

Eddie Richards and I love reading about our holy Catholic Saints.

-- David (David@excite.com), March 02, 2003.

Thanks, John. Are you coming back to the forum? Hope so!

Gail

-- Gail (rothfarms@socket.net), March 02, 2003.

Jmj
Hello and thanks, David S and Gail.

Gail, I can't give you a firm answer yet. I need to watch and see if I am treated justly.
On another thread yesterday, I wrote:
"I will prayerfully consider the situation and see what happens during this month of March. I will (at least) post some new information (and corrections) in the saints-of-the-day threads."
I will also try to help out people who have asked questions but haven't received a good reply yet.

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), March 02, 2003.

John, yippee!!!!! My heart is happy to see you again!!!

May you be BLESSED by the loving touch of our Lord, and all His friends!!! Theresa

-- Theresa Huether (Rodntee4Jesus@aol.com), March 02, 2003.

Hi, Theresa. Thanks for your enthusiastic welcome! It sure was a funny feeling posting normal messages yesterday -- for the first time since January 13.

Jake, there was a major, unimaginable change in one direction. That tells me that there can be a big, unexpected change in another direction.
I used to think that some things in life were almost totally hopeless. Then, to show me I was wrong, the Iron Curtain fell. Ever since then, I have wanted to be a realist, rather than a pessimist. (Over the weekend, I lit a candle at a Lourdes Grotto and prayed for people in need of help.)

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), March 03, 2003.

Yee-ha!! Diddo Theresa's remarks. Glad to hear your coming back John! We've, or at least I have missed seeing your replies:) Especially on the Saints section. I hope you do know your efforts on this board are very much appreciated. Often I fly in while serfing and am grateful for the info I find, but seldom stop to thank the poster. John, thank you for your continued dedication to this board in keeping us informed on the saints.

Without further adu, I do have a question I'm hoping you can shed some light on. I've always been a carrier of the St. Christopher medal/card and have recently been told he's no longer a saint. What?! I was flabbergasted! I mean, if your a saint how can that be taken away? In doing some research I found this:

"Whatever happened to St. Christopher? Is he still a saint?"

Before the 1969 reform of the Roman calendar, Christopher was listed as a martyr who died under Decius. Nothing else is known about him. There are several legends about him including the one in which he was crossing a river when a child asked to be carried across. When Christopher put the child on his shoulders he found the child was unbelievably heavy. The child, according to the legend, was Christ carrying the weight of the whole world. This was what made Christopher patron saint of travelers. His former feast day is July 25.

Before the formal canonization process began in the fifteenth century, many saints were proclaimed by popular approval. This was a much faster process but unfortunately many of the saints so named were based on legends, pagan mythology, or even other religions -- for example, the story of the Buddha traveled west to Europe and he was "converted" into a Catholic saint! In 1969, the Church took a long look at all the saints on its calendar to see if there was historical evidence that that saint existed and lived a life of holiness. In taking that long look, the Church discovered that there was little proof that many "saints", including some very popular ones, ever lived. Christopher was one of the names that was determined to have a basis mostly in legend. Therefore Christopher (and others) were dropped from the universal calendar.

Some saints were considered so legendary that their cult was completely repressed (including St. Ursula). Christopher's cult was not suppressed but it is confined to local calendars (those for a diocese, country, or so forth).

OK. So is he or isn't he a saint? And, how can the Catholic Church (of all people, so to say) demand proof of this saint after all these years? I mean, sorry to say, but if they demand proof of Saint Christopher, what proof do they have of God or Jesus for that matter? Isn't demanding proof along the lines of scientology?

Thank you John, in advance, for your reply. May God continue to shine his light on you and guide your path.

Peace & Love

-- Choas (Choas@ivillage.com), March 13, 2003.

Jmj
My goodness, Choas! I am overwhelmed by your great kindness. Thanks so much for your words of recognition. More than being pleased that you speak highly of me, I am pleased that you love the threads about the saints.

Do not let your heart be troubled about St. Christopher. There will always be a strong Catholic devotion to him, I'm sure. The clearest way for me to answer your question is to link you to this message, which I posted in July of last year. You'll see that I listed St. Christopher as being memorialized by the Church on July 25.

The article you quoted was mostly accurate, but it has to be read with great care. [One thing it got wrong was this: "His former feast day is July 25." It is not "former." July 25 is still his day.]

You asked, "So is he or isn't he a saint?"
He IS a saint!
St. Christopher lived in the third century, hundreds of years before the papal canonization process was begun [actually near the year 1000]. The kinds of professional, historical/biographical records that we keep today were rarely kept in the earliest centuries of the Church, particularly during the times of persecution (before 315 A.D.). It is not surprising, then, that little documentation exists concerning St. Christopher.

The article you quoted says: "Christopher (and others) were dropped from the universal calendar." Devotion to St. Christopher "was not suppressed but it is confined to local calendars (those for a diocese, country, or so forth)."

The Church greatly revised and simplified the worldwide Western/Latin liturgical calendar in 1969. The removal of some saints from this "universal calendar" did not automatically mean that the Church was flat-out denying that the removed people were fictional. The fact that the Church still allows devotion to St. Christopher and allows his memorial to appear on "local calendars" (July 25) tells us that his existence and saintliness cannot be disregarded.

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), March 14, 2003.

Querido amigo John: me dio tristeza cuando decidiste dejar el foro hace algún tiempo.

Es cierto que tratar de enseñar a otros es difícil, muy difícil. Desde luego tus amplios conocimientos en cosas católicas te han ayudado para orientar a muchas gentes, aunque algunas en vez de agradecértelo te han contestado tratando de ridiculizarte, te han llenado de insultos. Claro, eso puede desanimar a cualquiera. Se puede no estar de acuerdo con algo o con alguien, pero eso no es razón para ofender o insultar. Tienes un estilo muy personal de contestar a los ataques que se te hacen y eso puede disgustarle a más de uno. Pero a la larga creo que tus orientaciones son buenas y bien intencionadas. Por eso te pido amistosamente no sólo que no te vayas del foro sino que vuelvas con la frecuencia que antes acostumbrabas.

Espero pronto poder visitar tu nueva sección sobre la vida de los Santos. Al ver de lo que fueron capaces muchos de ellos se siente uno tentado a decir con San Agustín: "quod isti et istae cur non ego?" "Lo que pudieron hacer estos o estas por qué yo no?

Animo, John, y BIENVENIDO!!!

Enrique

-- Enrique Ortiz (eaortiz@yahoo.com), March 21, 2003.

A propósito de amigos, ¿qué pasaría con el bueno de Eugene Chávez? ¿Sabes algo de él John?

Enrique

-- Enrique Ortiz (eaortiz@yahoo.com), March 21, 2003.

Jmj

Te doy mil gracias, estimado amigo Enrique, por todo que me has dicho.
Tambien, a mi me gusta mucho las palabras de San Agustin, que nos has dado:
"Lo que pudieron hacer estos o estas por qué yo no?"

Cada dia, estoy añadiendo mensajes a las "threads" antiguas. (No estoy estableciendo nuevas "threads.")

El 13 de enero, el "moderador" (?) del foro suspendio (por periodo de una semana) los privilegios de nuestro amigo Eugene. Fue un acto muy brutal y sin justificacion. Entonces, Eugene decidio no volver al foro sin leer estas palabras del moderador: "Lo siento, Eugene." Todavia no hemos visto las palabras (ni a Eugene ni a mi tampoco). Puedes enviar una "e-mail" a EC, si quieres, porque ha contestado a varias personas.

Que Dios te bendiga.
John
PS: Forgive my poor Spanish, please.

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), March 21, 2003.