St. Ezequiel Moreno y Diaz (April 9, 1848 to Aug. 19, 1906)

   There's no smoking in my house or car. Nothing annoys me more than someone lighting up a cigarette after I've just finished washing my hair. Besides, it's absolutely disgusting to inhale secondhand smoke.
  It's my personal taste not to want to smell like an ashtray. I want my clothes to smell clean. And, the odd thing is, many people who smoke, just don't get it. They think the world is against them. They take it personally if a nonsmoker doesn't want to be around them.
  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classifies secondhand smoke as a known human carcinogen. If you do smoke, I'm not saying I dislike you. I'm saying have some respect for the people around you.
  St. Ezequiel Moreno y Diaz is a patron saint against cancer. He was born on April 9, 1848 in Navarra, Spain. He served as a missionary to the Philippines and was later bishop of Pinara, Colombia.
  St. Ezequiel Moreno y Diaz was known for his charity work. He died on Aug. 19, 1906. Canonized: 1992. His feast day is Aug. 19.

St. Bega (7th century)

 "In the bleak mid-winter frosty wind made moan
  Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
  Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
  Snow on snow, in the bleak mid-winter, long ago.

  Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him,
  Nor earth sustain;
  Heaven and earth shall flee away
  When he comes to reign:
  In the bleak mid-winter
  A stable-place sufficed
  The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ."
                                (Christina Rossetti, 1872)

 
    In recent years, A Celtic Christmas Sojourn with Brian O'Donovan has become a holiday tradition for me. It's a fun night in Providence where I can dress festively and celebrate all things Irish in a month other than March.
   Being raised in an French/Italian American family this is all new to me although I remember my mother saying that her best friends were all Irish. She respected the faith they had in the Roman Catholic Church and would often ask Wini, Cynthia, Marie, or Joyce why good people die young.
  "Marilyn," Marie said. "Sometimes, God takes people before their time because if they had lived longer they may have done something that couldn't be forgiven."
  My mother loved having dinner at Joyce's because they would say the rosary in the evening which was unheard of at her house.
  So, in my own life, I enjoy experiencing the music and traditions of other ethnicities like I did tonight at A Celtic Christmas Sojourn. "Mrs. Fogarty's Christmas Cake" and "All On a Christmas Morning" were my favorites and there were also traditional carols like "The Bleak Midwinter" and "Silent Night."
  Among the hundreds of saints who were from Ireland is St. Bega (also known as St. Bee) who lived in the 7th century. She was an Irish princess, who instead of marrying a Norwegian prince, fled the Irish sea to England.
  There St. Bega, a virgin, became a nun and founded St. Bee's Monastery. She lived for a time as a hermitess. Her feast day is Oct. 31.

St. Maria Crocifissa di Rosa (Nov. 6, 1813 to 1855)

   I got an e-mail this week from a guy in Switzerland whose heart was broken when his girlfriend left him in order to become a nun. What prompted him to contact me was that he'd read a previous blog entry where I mentioned that I like sex too much or I'd move to Assisi, Italy and become a Franciscan nun
  "What? You should see what it's like to be cuckolded by God," he wrote.
  I'm not quite sure what he means. Still, I hope he finds peace. In the meantime, today is the feast day of St. Maria Crocifissa di Rosa. She was a nun who didn't break any man's heart.
  She was born Nov. 6, 1813 in Brescia, Italy. When she was 17-years-old, her mother died and she took care of her father. During the cholera epidemic, St. Maria Crocifissa di Rosa worked in a hospital.
  She was a mother superior. In 1839, she founded of the Handmaids of Charity in Brescia. St. Maria Crocifissa di Rosa helped women and young girls who were exploited, sick, needy, or blind. She died in 1855.  Canonized: 1954.

St. Augustine of Hippo (Nov. 13, 354 to Aug. 28, 430)

  "It is this one Spirit who makes it possible for an infant to be regenerated... when that infant is brought to baptism; and it is through this one Spirit that the infant so presented is reborn."
                                                                             (St. Augustine of Hippo)

   It's been more than 11 years since my mother passed away and equally as long that I spoke with her best friend, my godmother, Joyce.  But, today, that all changed when I got a phone call from Joyce. She'd just received a Christmas package I sent to her earlier this week filled with a colorful Blessed Virgin Mary wall calendar for 2011, a nativity from South America, a Christmas novena booklet, and her favorite chocolates.
   Joyce is dear to me, of course, because she's my godmother. She met my mother when they were 12-years-old and she'll be 75 next month. And, for the first time, I noticed something a little different about her.
  Throughout our conversation, Joyce seemed forgetful. She couldn't remember her age or how many grandchildren she had. Then, she'd asked her husband, my godfather, whose voice I could hear in the background and repeat the answers back to me.
  It made me feel upset because it seems like she has a form of Alzheimer's disease like her mother did. Still, Joyce laughed it off  by saying that she's older now and, as we age, we tend to forget things. She's right. Just some people do so a little bit faster.
  In the Roman Catholic Church, baptism is very important, so I'm glad Joyce was chosen as my godmother. When I was born in the mid 1960s, women stayed in the hospital for several days after a birth. My mother told me I went home on March 19, six days after I was born.
  Back then, it was almost mandatory that a baby be baptized immediately. You weren't supposed to go driving around with a newborn. If, God forbid, they died, they could be stuck in limbo forever.
  I couldn't be baptized right away because two days after I went home was Palm Sunday and the following Sunday was Easter.
  In the decades that followed, I remained close to Joyce. Her parish was St. Augustine Church in Providence, so I will write about him today.
  St. Augustine of Hippo was a Doctor of the Church and one of the most influential saints of all time. He was born Nov. 13, 354 in what is now Algeria. His mother was St. Monica.
  St. Augustine of Hippo was said to be a wild man who enjoyed partying and drinking. His sins of impurity blocked his mind from the Divine Truth. However, his mother continued to pray for him. Then one day, St. Augustine of Hippo snapped out of it and decided to live a life similar to Jesus.
  He was a bishop and a prolific writer. St. Augustine of Hippo died on Aug. 28, 430 and his feast day is Aug. 28.

(Happy Birthday, Grandma Denise: Dec. 14, 1895 to Feb. 2, 1972)

Our Lady of Banneux

   At a news conference today at the Vatican, an Italian edition of a Dictionary of Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary revealed some startling news.  Of the 2,400 claims of people seeing her throughout the centuries, only 15 have been recognized by the Roman Catholic Church.
   We are all familiar with Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Our Lady of Fatima, to name a few. But, according to one of the co-authors of the book, Father Rene Lauretin, apparitions are considered the most controversial of all theological subjects and the least scientifically studied.
  I, for one, believe that if a logical, intelligent person or even a small child believes they have seen the Blessed Virgin Mary, that there's a strong chance that it's true. Why would anyone make up such a thing?
  Our Lady of Banneux proved to be a definite apparition in 1949.  From Jan. 15 to March 2, 1933, a 12-year-old girl named Mariette Beco (pictured on the left above) saw the Blessed Virgin Mary in Banneux, Belgium.
  Common to many apparitions, the young girl told her priest and family that a beautiful woman in white encouraged her to drink from a small spring that would heal and help all nations. The spring is said to now produce 2,000 gallons of water a day.
  The Blessed Virgin Mary, who called herself the Virgin of the Poor, asked that a chapel be built on the site.
  "I come to relieve suffering and believe in me and I will believe in you," she said.
  The feast day of Our Lady of Banneux is Jan. 15.

(Happy Feast of St. Lucy!)

St. Abra (c.343 to c.360)

   "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor..."  (1 Thessalonians 4:3-4)

   A person who was doing a Google search that St. Jude Thaddeus didn't help them, found their way to my blog this week. Hopefully, after reading the entry, they understand that sometimes things aren't meant to be. At least my dad told me that.
  Still, I find it disturbing when you ask for help through saintly intervention and it doesn't work. I went the St. Jude Thaddeus (patron of hopeless cases) route many times and drew my own conclusions afterward. You can read about it by clicking on the blue link in the above paragraph.
  I listened to my dad quite a bit growing up because he gave good advice. However, if I had been St. Abra, whose father was St. Hilary of Poitiers, that wouldn't be the case.
  St. Abra was born c.343 in Poitiers, France. Her father made the suggestion that she take her vows as a consecrated virgin and nun.  She did and devoted her time to doing charitable deeds. That was only for a short time since she died c.360 at age 18. Her feast day is today.

(Happy Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe!)

St. Sperandia (1216 to Sept. 11, 1276)

   I read in the newspaper today that a Roman Catholic nun, who's a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph and vice president of finance at Iona College in New York City, embezzled more than $850,000. The thing I find most unusual is that Sister Marie Thornton spent the money on gifts for herself. I'm intrigued by what the 62-year-old may have bought since the majority of nuns take a vow of poverty.
  As much as I love luxurious bath and beauty products, stylish clothing, Italian leather shoes, and exotic vacations, even I couldn't treat myself to lavish gifts that amount to that total. I'm pleased that Sister Marie Thornton is receiving emotional and spiritual support although her activities are being restricted.
  St. Sperandia would never have behaved in such a manner. She was a Benedictine nun who was born in 1216 in Gubbio, Italy. She was a cousin of St. Ubaldo of Gubbio and became the abbess at a convent in Cingoli.
  St. Sperandia received mystic visions, the most noted that she was told her to wear a tanned pig skin with its bristles against her skin (maybe that's why she's incorrupt after all these years). St. Sperandia was a miracle worker and one legend is told that she could produce delicious cherries to feed hungry laborers in the middle of January.
  St. Sperandia died on Sept. 11, 1276. Her body, which is still incorrupt and exudes a sweet fragrance, has been exhumed eight times. It is on display in a sanctuary dedicated to her in Cingoli. St. Sperandia's feast day is Sept. 11.

(The lovely photo above is from the Standing on My Head blog by Father Dwight Longenecker.)

St. Dominic of Silos (1000 to Dec. 20, 1073)

   I am surrounded by pregnant friends and coworkers in their twenties and thirties all day long, but today I learned of something short of a miracle. My older brother's wife, who will be 47 in February, is pregnant with their first child. The baby is due in June. No egg donor and no in vitro fertilization. Something to regulate ovulation? I'm not going to ask.
  "It happened the natural way," my younger brother said.
  I'm so happy because this child will grow up in a loving household with devoted parents. And now, when I hear people say it's impossible for them to get pregnant if they are in their forties, I can say there is hope.
  (I was also thrilled to hear the good news on Dec. 10 because for the past 42 years, it's been a solemn day in my family. I was 4-years-old when my second cousin, a police officer, froze to death while trying to save a child who fell through the ice while skating on a pond.)
  St. Dominic of Silos, the founder of the Order of Preachers, is one of many patron saints of pregnant women. He was born to peasant parents in La Rioja, Spain in 1000.
  St. Dominic of Silos worked as a shepherd then became a Benedictine monk. He founded a monastery which because a place for charity, book design, and gold and silver work.
  St. Dominic of Silos died on Dec. 20, 1073. His feast day is Dec. 20.

(R.I.P. Norman:  Dec. 8, 1930 to Dec. 10, 1968)

St. Ubaldo of Gubbio (c.1084 to 1160)

   I just finished flipping through a book about vacationing solo. It was written by a woman who is a travel writer and doesn't have to pay to go anywhere. Luckily, it only cost me a dollar at a used book sale.
  She basically name dropped all the places she's been to and talked about her two husbands and boyfriends. What really turned me off was her lack of knowledge about Italy. I've been there several times and it's affordable and the people are friendly.
  As a newly divorced 26-year-old in the early 1990s, I learned that if I wanted to get out and see the world, I'd have to do it on my own. I had plenty of friends and yet they either didn't have the money or the vacation time to travel. It would have been easy for me to say the same, but if a person really wants to do something, they will make the money and find the time.
   Belgium, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, and France were all within my reach, because as humans, we all have the ability to manifest our desires. And so began a series of journeys that would provide we with comfort, guidance, and hope in the years to follow, although at the time, I had no idea.
  As I travelled from province to province in Italy, I discovered that each tiny town had its own traditions be it food or music or art or a patron saint. St. Ubaldo of Gubbio is one such person who still has a following. He was born c.1084 to noble parents. His father died when he was young and his mother had a neurological disorder.
  St. Ubaldo of Gubbio was a cousin of St. Sperandia. He was a monk and later a bishop. St. Ubaldo of Gubbio was responsible for many miracles and was known for helping the poor. He died in 1160.
  To this day, St. Ubaldo of Gubbio is so popular that it is said in Gubbio, at least one person in every family there is named Ubaldo. And, on his May 16 feast day, religious and civil processions (pictured above) take place in his honor. He is the patron saint of obsessive compulsive disorder.

St. Hubertus (c.656 to May 30, 727)

   Like out of a children's picture book, I pulled up to my house last night and there on the lawn was the most majestic deer with the largest antlers I'd ever seen. It looked like a reindeer you'd see with Santa Claus and it walked quietly across the street to eat some apples that had fall from a tree.
   This was exciting since I'd just finished Christmas shopping and the carols that were playing in the department store were still in my head. It was a magical moment to spot a creature that represents the "lure to adventures."
  "Move gently into new areas. Practical pursuits bring surprising rewards," read a blurb in my animal symbolism book.
  St. Hubertus is often shown as a huntsmen adoring a deer with a crucifix between its antlers. He was born in Toulouse, France c.656.
  St. Hubertus loved to hunt and the legend is that as he was chasing a deer on Good Friday morning, he saw a vision of a crucifix between its antlers. Then, a voice cried out that if St. Hubertus didn't turn to God and live a holy life, he'd go to hell.
  So, when his wife died giving birth to their son, St. Hubertus gave the baby to his brother and entered the priesthood. He was the first bishop of Liege and his friend and spiritual advisor was St. Lambert.
  St. Hubertus died in Tervuren, Belgium on May 30, 727.  He is the patron saint of hunters and his feast day is Nov. 3. 

(Happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception!)