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Saint Francis Xavier: Born: 7 April 1506 Died: 3 December 1552 (aged 46)
Canonized: 12 March 1622 by Pope Gregory XV
Patronage: African missions; foreign missions; black missions; missionaries; navigators; parish missions; plague epidemics; Propagation of the Faith; many location around the world including: India, South Africa, China, and Spain
Saint James’ Story (d. c. 44)
This James is the brother of John the Evangelist. The two were called by Jesus as they worked with their father in a fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had already called another pair of brothers from a similar occupation: Peter and Andrew. “He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then he called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him” (Mark 1:19-20).
James was one of the favored three who had the privilege of witnessing the Transfiguration, the raising to life of the daughter of Jairus, and the agony in Gethsemani.
Two incidents in the Gospels describe the temperament of this man and his brother. Saint Matthew tells that their mother came—Mark says it was the brothers themselves—to ask that they have the seats of honor in the kingdom. “Jesus said in reply, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?’ They said to him, ‘We can’” (Matthew 20:22). Jesus then told them they would indeed drink the cup and share his baptism of pain and death, but that sitting at his right hand or left was not his to give—it “is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father” (Matthew 20:23b). It remained to be seen how long it would take to realize the implications of their confident “We can!”
The other disciples became indignant at the ambition of James and John. Then Jesus taught them all the lesson of humble service: The purpose of authority is to serve. They are not to impose their will on others, or lord it over them. This is the position of Jesus himself. He was the servant of all; the service imposed on him was the supreme sacrifice of his own life.
On another occasion, James and John gave evidence that the nickname Jesus gave them—“sons of thunder”—was an apt one. The Samaritans would not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to hated Jerusalem. “When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, ‘Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?’ Jesus turned and rebuked them…” (Luke 9:54-55).
James was apparently the first of the apostles to be martyred. “About that time King Herod laid hands upon some members of the church to harm them. He had James, the brother of John, killed by the sword, and when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews he proceeded to arrest Peter also” (Acts 12:1-3a).
This James, sometimes called James the Greater, is not to be confused with James the Lesser or with the author of the Letter of James and the leader of the Jerusalem community.
Reflection
The way the Gospels treat the apostles is a good reminder of what holiness is all about. There is very little about their virtues as static possessions, entitling them to heavenly reward. Rather, the great emphasis is on the Kingdom, on God’s giving them the power to proclaim the Good News. As far as their personal lives are concerned, there is much about Jesus’ purifying them of narrowness, pettiness, fickleness.
Saint James the Greater is the Patron Saint of:
Chile
Laborers
Nicaragua
Rheumatism sufferers
Spain
Saint John of Avila’s Story (c. 1500 – May 10, 1569)
Born in the Castile region of Spain, John was sent at the age of 14 to the University of Salamanca to study law. He later moved to Alcala, where he studied philosophy and theology before his ordination as a diocesan priest.
After John’s parents died and left him as their sole heir to a considerable fortune, he distributed his money to the poor. In 1527, he traveled to Seville, hoping to become a missionary in Mexico. The archbishop of that city persuaded him to stay and spread the faith in Andalusia. During nine years of work there, he developed a reputation as an engaging preacher, a perceptive spiritual director, and a wise confessor.
Because John was not afraid to denounce vice in high places, he was investigated by the Inquisition but was cleared in 1533. He later worked in Cordoba and then in Granada, where he organized the University of Baeza, the first of several colleges run by diocesan priests who dedicated themselves to teaching and giving spiritual direction to young people.
He was friends with Saints Francis Borgia, Ignatius of Loyola, John of God, John of the Cross, Peter of Alcantara, and Teresa of Avila. John of Avila worked closely with members of the Society of Jesus and helped their growth within Spain and its colonies. John’s mystical writings have been translated into several languages.
He was beatified in 1894, canonized in 1970, and declared a doctor of the Church on October 7, 2012. St. John of Avila’s liturgical feast is celebrated on May 10.
Reflection
Saint John of Avila knew that the lives of Christians can contradict the Good News of Jesus Christ—for example thinking racism is OK—implicitly encouraging Christians to live their faith-halfheartedly, and causing obstacles to non-Christians who might accept Baptism. In 16th-century Spain, those who advocated reforming the Church were often suspected of heresy. Saint John of Avila held his ground and was eventually recognized as a very reliable teacher of the Christian faith.
John of Avila is the Patron Saint of:
Andalusia, Spain
Bl. Anne of St. Bartholomew (1549–1626) was born in Spain, one of seven children. Her parents died when the plague swept through Spain, leaving her an orphan at the age of ten. She then became a shepherdess tending her brother’s sheep. From a young age she had an extraordinary spiritual life, including being graced with many visions. In one of them the Blessed Virgin Mary told her she would become a nun, which was further encouraged by a vision of Jesus. When she tried to enter the monastery she was turned away for being too young. Years later, when her family tried to arrange her marriage, she finally entered the Carmelite monastery at the age of 21, the same one in which St. Teresa of Avila lived. St. Teresa chose Anne as her personal secretary and assistant, even though she had to teach Anne how to write. For five years St. Anne was the companion of St. Teresa of Avila, traveling with her and assisting her in the establishment of new foundations. It was in Anne’s arms that St. Teresa died in 1582. After Teresa’s death, Anne assisted in the foundation of several other monasteries in France, becoming prioress at three of them. She went on to found a monastery in the Netherlands where she remained until her death. After her death over 150 approved miracles (and more that have not been officially approved) were attributed to her intercession. Her feast day is June 7th.
//Catholic Company//
Saint Vincent (January 23, 1350 – April 5, 1419)
The polarization in the Church today is a mild breeze compared with the tornado that ripped the Church apart during the lifetime of this saint. If any saint is a patron of reconciliation, Vincent Ferrer is.
Despite parental opposition, he entered the Dominican Order in his native Spain at 19. After brilliant studies, he was ordained a priest by Cardinal Peter de Luna—who would figure tragically in his life.
Of a very ardent nature, Vincent practiced the austerities of his Order with great energy. He was chosen prior of the Dominican house in Valencia shortly after his ordination.
The Western schism divided Christianity first between two, then three, popes. Clement VII lived at Avignon in France, Urban VI in Rome. Vincent was convinced the election of Urban was invalid, though Catherine of Siena was just as devoted a supporter of the Roman pope. In the service of Cardinal de Luna, Vincent worked to persuade Spaniards to follow Clement. When Clement died, Cardinal de Luna was elected at Avignon and became Benedict XIII.
Vincent worked for him as apostolic penitentiary and Master of the Sacred Palace. But the new pope did not resign as all candidates in the conclave had sworn to do. He remained stubborn, despite being deserted by the French king and nearly all of the cardinals.
Vincent became disillusioned and very ill, but finally took up the work of simply “going through the world preaching Christ,” though he felt that any renewal in the Church depended on healing the schism. An eloquent and fiery preacher, he spent the last 20 years of his life spreading the Good News in Spain, France, Switzerland, the Low Countries and Lombardy, stressing the need of repentance and the fear of coming judgment. He became known as the “Angel of the Judgment.”
Vincent tried unsuccessfully, in 1408 and 1415, to persuade his former friend to resign. He finally concluded that Benedict was not the true pope. Though very ill, he mounted the pulpit before an assembly over which Benedict himself was presiding, and thundered his denunciation of the man who had ordained him a priest. Benedict fled for his life, abandoned by those who had formerly supported him. Strangely, Vincent had no part in the Council of Constance, which ended the schism.
Reflection
The split in the Church at the time of Vincent Ferrer should have been fatal—36 long years of having two “heads.” We cannot imagine what condition the Church today would be in if, for that length of time, half the world had followed a succession of popes in Rome, and half an equally “official” number of popes in say, Rio de Janeiro. It is an ongoing miracle that the Church has not long since been shipwrecked on the rocks of pride and ignorance, greed and ambition. Contrary to Lowell’s words, “Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne,” we believe that “truth is mighty, and it shall prevail”—but it sometimes takes a long time.
Saint Vincent Ferrer is the Patron Saint of:
Builders
Businessmen
Reconciliation
//Franciscan Media//
Saint Isidore (C. 560 – APRIL 4, 636)
The 76 years of Isidore’s life were a time of conflict and growth for the Church in Spain. The Visigoths had invaded the land a century and a half earlier, and shortly before Isidore’s birth they set up their own capital. They were Arians—Christians who said Christ was not God. Thus, Spain was split in two: One people (Catholic Romans) struggled with another (Arian Goths).
Isidore reunited Spain, making it a center of culture and learning. The country served as a teacher and guide for other European countries whose culture was also threatened by barbarian invaders.
Born in Cartagena of a family that included three other sibling saints—Leander, Fulgentius and Florentina—he was educated by his elder brother, whom he succeeded as bishop of Seville.
An amazingly learned man, he was sometimes called “The Schoolmaster of the Middle Ages” because the encyclopedia he wrote was used as a textbook for nine centuries. He required seminaries to be built in every diocese, wrote a Rule for religious orders, and founded schools that taught every branch of learning. Isidore wrote numerous books, including a dictionary, an encyclopedia, a history of Goths, and a history of the world—beginning with creation! He completed the Mozarabic liturgy, which is still in use in Toledo, Spain. For all these reasons, Isidore has been suggested as patron of the Internet. Several others—including Anthony of Padua—also have been suggested.
He continued his austerities even as he approached age 80. During the last six months of his life, he increased his charities so much that his house was crowded from morning till night with the poor of the countryside.
Reflection
Our society can well use Isidore’s spirit of combining learning and holiness. Loving, understanding and knowledge can heal and bring a broken people back together. We are not barbarians like the invaders of Isidore’s Spain. But people who are swamped by riches and overwhelmed by scientific and technological advances can lose much of their understanding love for one another.
Saint Isidore of Seville is the Patron Saint of:
Internet
Computers
//Franciscan Media//
St. Eulogius of Cordoba (9th c.) was a priest from a prominent Christian family in Cordoba (Cordova), Spain. He was well-educated, humble, gentle, friendly, and a gifted leader with the charism of encouragement, especially towards Christians facing martyrdom. In his time Cordoba was the capital of the Muslim conquerors of Catholic Spain.
The Muslim leaders allowed Christians to live in relative peace until a persecution arose when some of the Muslim population began converting to Christianity. They imprisoned the clergy, including Eulogius. While in prison Eulogius read the Bible to his companions and exhorted them to faithfulness in the face of martyrdom. He also wrote to two other young female converts who were facing threats, instructing them that no matter how terribly they were physically abused, it could not harm their souls, and that they must fight for their faith till death and leave God to defend his Church.
St. Eulogius was released and later jailed again for hiding a young female convert who fled from her family in fear of her life. St. Eulogius’ judge offered him escape if he would weaken the practice of his religion, but instead he preached the Gospel to the presiding court. He was immediately beheaded. St. Eulogius’ feast day is March 11th.
Bl. Alvarez of (Córdoba) Cordova (1350-1430) was born to a noble family in Zamora, Spain. He joined the Dominican Order and preached throughout Spain, and served at the court of Queen Catherine. He went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and upon his return preached the crusades against the Muslims. He founded the famous priory of Scala Caeli (Ladder of Heaven) at Cordova, a convent of strict observance, and it is said that angels helped provide its building materials. He erected pictures of the holy places in Jerusalem in its gardens, popularizing the custom of the Stations of the Cross. He lived a life of great austerity and begged for alms even though he could easily obtain what he needed from the royal court. Numerous miracles are attributed to him. It is told that he once found a dying beggar, wrapped him in a blanket, and carried him back to the convent. Upon unwrapping the cloth he found only a crucifix. Blessed Alvarez was dedicated to Christ’s Passion and helped spread devotion to the Way of the Cross throughout western Europe. He also successfully led a resistance against the anti-pope and brought Spain under allegiance to the true pope in Rome. His feast day is February 19.