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On July 31, 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. Ignatius Lopez de Recalde of Loyola [Iñigo] (Spanish, nobleman, court page, seriously wounded soldier, hermit, pilgrim to Holy Land, evangelized Moslems, priest, founder of Society of Jesus [Jesuits] in Italy, died at about age 65 in 1556 [beatified 1609, canonized 1622])

St. Calimerius of Milan (Greek, bishop in Italy, martyred [cast into well] c. 190)
Sts. Democritus, Secundus, and Dionysius (early martyrs)
Sts. Emmanuel Lê Van Phung of Dan-nuoc and Peter Doan Công Quy of Bung (Vietnamese, catechist and priest, martyred [one garrotted at about age 63, one beheaded at about age 33] in 1859 [beatified 1909, canonized 1988])
St. Fabius of Mauritania (Roman, soldier in Africa, martyred by beheading in 300)
St. Firmus of Tagaste (North African, early bishop, tortured)
Bl. Francis Stryjas of Popowo [Franciszek] (Polish, layman, martyred by Nazis at Kalisz [Poland] at age 62 in 1944 [beatified 1999])
St. Germanus of Auxerre (French, governor, bishop, opposed Pelagian heresy, died in Italy at about age 70 in 448)
St. Helen of Skövde [Elin] (Swedish, widow, c. 1160 [canonized 1164])
Bl. John Colombini of Siena [Giovanni] (Italian, merchant, magistrate, founded society of Gesuati for lay brothers, died at about age 67 in 1367)
St. Justin de Jacobis of San Fele [Giustino] (Italian, Vincentian missionary in Africa, helped twelve thousand to convert, vicar apostolic of Abyssinia [now called Ethiopia], died at age 59 in 1860 [beatified 1939, canonized 1975])
Bl. Michael Ozieblowski of Izdebno [Michal] (Polish, diocesan priest, martyred by Nazis at Dachau [Germany] at age 41 in 1942 [beatified 1999])
St. Neot of Cornwall (British, dwarf, Benedictine priest, hermit, c. 880)

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. Additional 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), July 31, 2004

Answers

[Some spiritual advice from St. Ignatius of Loyola:]

"We were created to praise, to reverence and to serve God. And everything else on the face of the earth was created for our sake, to help us to achieve the goal for which we were created."

"In a time of desolation, never forsake the good resolutions you made in better times. Strive to remain patient -- a virtue contrary to the troubles that harass you -- and remember that you will be consoled."

"Prefer neither health nor sickness, neither riches nor poverty, neither honor nor ignominy, neither a long life nor a short one."

"We must put aside all judgment of our own, and keep the mind ever ready and prompt to obey in all things the true Spouse of Christ our Lord, our holy Mother, the hierarchical Church." [This is a great one for all of us -- but especially for today's Jesuits and for politicians who call themselves Catholic.]

"Do not let any occasion of gaining merit pass without taking care to draw some spiritual profit from it; as, for example, from a sharp word which someone may say to you; from an act of obedience imposed against your will; from an opportunity which may occur to humble yourself, or to practice charity, sweetness, and patience. All of these occasions are gain for you, and you should seek to procure them; and at the close of that day, when the greatest number of them have come to you, you should go to rest most cheerful and pleased, as the merchant does on the day when he had had most chance for making money; for on that day business has prospered with him."

"If God [allows] you to suffer much, it is a sign that He has great designs for you, and that He certainly intends to make you a saint. And if you wish to become a great saint, entreat Him yourself to give you much opportunity for suffering; for there is no wood better to kindle the fire of holy love than the wood of the cross, which Christ used for His own great sacrifice of boundless charity."

"Take, O Lord, and receive my entire liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my whole will. All that I am and all that I possess you have given me. I surrender it all to you to be disposed of according to your will. Give me only your love and your grace. With these I will be rich enough and will desire nothing more."

"Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous; teach me to serve You as You deserve: to give, and not count the cost; to fight, and not to heed the wounds; to toil, and not to seek for rest; to labor, and not to ask for reward, except that knowing that I am doing Your Will."

-- ("jfgecik@hotmail.com), July 31, 2004.

Double Major Feast of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Confessor and Religious Founder

WHITE Vestments

INTROIT: Philippians 2: 10-11 In the name of Jesus let every knee bow, of things in Heaven, on earth, and under the earth: and let every tongue confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father. (Ps. 5: 12, 13) All they that love Thy name shall glory in Thee: for Thou wilt bless the just. v. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

COLLECT: The Lord be with you. R. And with thy spirit. Let us pray. God, Who, to spread abroad the greater glory of Thy name, didst, through blessed Ignatius, strengthen the Church militant with a new reinforcement, grant that we, who are fighting on earth by his help and after his example, may deserve to be crowned with him in Heaven. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God Forever and ever.
R.Amen.

EPISTLE: 2 Timothy 2: 8-10; 3: 10-12

GRADUAL: Psalm 91: 13-14 The just shall flourish like the palm-tree; he shall grow up like the cedar of Libanus in the house of the Lord. V. To show forth Thy mercy in the morning and Thy truth in the night. Alleluia, alleluia. V. (James 1: 12) Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been proved, he shall receive the crown of life. Alleluia.

GOSPEL:   Luke 10: 1-9

OFFERTORY: Psalm 88: 26 May the kind intercessions of St. Ignatius be with our offerings, O Lord God, that the most holy mysteries, ín which Thou hast established the fountain of all sanctity, may in very truth sanctify us likewise. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God Forever and ever. R. Amen.

COMMUNION: Luke 12: 49 The Lord be with you. R. And with thy spirit.
I am come to send fire upon the earth, and what will I but that it be enkindled?

POSTCOMMUNION: The Lord be with you. R. And with thy spirit.
Let us pray. May the sacrifice of praise, O Lord, which with thanksgiving we have offered Thee, in honor of St. Ignatius, bring us, by his intercession, to the everlasting praise of Thy majesty. Through the Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God For ever and ever.
R. Amen.

-- Nick (nixplace39@hotmail.com), July 31, 2004.