Catholic Saints....know them

Saint Lorenzo Ruiz



Also known as
Laurence Ruiz
Lawrence Ruiz
Memorial
28 September
Profile
Chinese father, Filipino mother, both Christians. He learned Chinese and Tagalog from them, Spanish from the Dominicans whom he served as altar boy and sacristan. Professional calligrapher and documents transcriptionist. Member of the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary. Married layman, and the father of two sons and a daughter.

For unknown reasons, Lorenzo was accused of murder. He sought asylum on board ship with three Dominican priests, Saint Antonio Gonzalez, Saint Guillermo Courtet, and Saint Miguel de Aozaraza, a Japanese priest, Saint Vicente Shiwozuka de la Cruz, and a layman named Saint Lazaro of Kyoto, a leper. Only when they were at sea did he learn that they were going to Japan during a time of intense Christian persecution.

Lorenzo could have gone to Formosa (modern Taiwan), but feared the Spaniards there would hang him, and so stayed with the missionaries as they landed at Okinawa. The group was soon exposed as Christian, arrested, and taken to Nagasaki. They were tortured in several ways for days. Lawrence and the Japanese priest broke at one point, and were ready to renounce their faith in exchange for release, but after their moment of crisis, they reclaimed their faith and defied their tormentors. First canonized Filipino martyr.
Born
c.1600 at Binondo, Manila, Philippines
Died
29-30 September 1637 at Nagasaki, Japan by being crushed over a period of three days while hanging upside down
body burned, ashes thrown into the Pacific Ocean
Beatified
18 February 1981 by Pope John Paul II
Canonized
18 October 1987 by Pope John Paul II

"I praise Thee, Father... that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and prudent, and didst reveal them to little ones. St. Matthew 11:25"

SAINT FELIX of CANTALICE
Confessor
(1513-1587)

click Esther

[quote="Esther"]"I praise Thee, Father... that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and prudent, and didst reveal them to little ones. St. Matthew 11:25"

SAINT FELIX of CANTALICE
Confessor
(1513-1587)

click Esther[/quote

Saint Felix of Cantalice


Also known as
Ass of the Capuchins (his own nickname for himself)
Brother Deo Gratias ("Deo Gratias" was his habitual greeting)
Memorial
18 May
Profile
Born to pious peasants, he was a shepherd in his youth. At age nine he was hired out as a shepherd and farm hand at Cotta Ducale; he worked there over twenty years. A pious youth and man, Felix spent his free time in prayer.

Having little education, he had a friend read him the lives of the early Desert Fathers; they left him torn - he wanted to live as a hermit, but feared he would give in to temptation if he had no superior. He sought entrance to the Capuchins; they were hesistant, but finally accepted him as a lay brother in 1543 at Anticoli near Rome. Sent to Rome in 1547 as questor for the community; he stayed there the rest of his life.

Felix's reputation for holiness spread quickly. He could not even read, yet theologians consulted him on spiritualality and Scripture. Sinners on the street would hide from him when it became obvious he could see their sins, and knew their hearts. Felix preached in the street, rebuked corrupt politicians and officials, and exhorted young men to stop leading dissolute lives. Once during Carnival, a time of open vice in the streets, Felix and Saint Philip Neri organized a procession of Capuchin friars right into the middle of the revellers; Fra Lupo, a well-known Capuchin preacher, spoke to the crowds, and Carnival ended for the year.

Felix worked with the children of Rome; his inherent simplicity and lack of education made him rather childlike, and children trusted him. He composed simple teaching canticles, and had the children gather in groups to sing them as a way to teach them catechism. The canticles became well-known and popular, and while Felix was begging for his house, Roman citizens would invite him in to sing for them; he saw these invitations as opportunities to teach, and always jumped at them.

During the famine of 1580, the city fathers asked the Capuchins for the loan of Felix as a fund raiser; he was tireless in the work. His friend, Saint Philip Neri, considered Felix the greatest saint then living. Saint Charles Borromeo sought Saint Philip's help to draw up the constitutions of the Oblates of Saint Ambrose; Philip referred him to Felix as a the best advisor.

Slept little, ate what came to hand, attended Mass every morning. Had a great devotion to Our Lady; he frequently recited the rosary, sometimes swept away in ecstacy, unable to finish the prayers. Received a vision of the Virgin Mary during which he was allowed to hold the Christ Child in his arms. Acclaimed a saint by the people of Rome immediately after his death.
Born
18 May 1515 at Cantalice, Abruzzi, Italy
Died
18 May 1587 at Rome, Italy of natural causes
so many came to his funeral that some were injured in the press to get into the church, and an extra door had to be knocked through one wall so they could exit
buried under an altar in the church of the Immaculate Conception in Rome
miracles reported at his tomb
Beatified
1 October 1625 by Pope Urban VIII
Canonized
22 May 1712 by Pope Clement XI
Representation
holding the Infant Jesus in his arms
with Saint Philip Neri and Saint Charles Borromeo
Capuchin carrying a beggar's wallet

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta


Also known as
Mother Teresa
Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu
Saint of the Gutters
Memorial
5 September
Profile
Daughter of an Albanian businessman who died when Agnes was nine years old. Nun, missionary and teacher in Calcutta, India in 1928. In 1948 she left the convent to work alone with the poor, and became an Indian citizen. She founded the Congregation of the Missionaries of Charity in 1950. In 1957 the Missionaries of Charity started their work with lepers and in disaster areas. She received the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize in 1971, the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding in 1972, and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, and the Missionaries today work in 30 countries.


Born
26 August 1910 in Skopje, Albania (modern Macedonia)
Died
5 September 1997 in Calcutta, West Bengal, India of natural causes
Venerated
20 December 2002 by Pope John Paul II
Beatified
19 October 2003 by Pope John Paul II
Canonized
pending; if you have information relevant to the canonization of Mother Teresa's, contact
Mother Teresa Center
2498 Roll Drive
PMB 733
San Diego, CA 92154, USA
- or -
Missionaries of Charity
54A Acharya Jagadish Ch. Bose Road
Kolkata WB 700016, INDIA
Patronage
World Youth Day