Memorial of Saints (October 5)

Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints

• Apollinaris of Valence, bishop;
• Galla, widow;
• Magenulf or Meinulf;
• Flora of Beaulieu, virgin;
• Aymard of Cluny, abbot

St. Aymard (d. 965 A.D.) became the third abbot of the Benedictine monastery at Cluny, France. Succeeding St. Odo in 942 A.D., he continued the reforms of St. Odo and his predecessor. He resigned in 948 A.D. because of blindness and died on October 5.

Related blog posts:

• The Benedictine Monastery at Cluny, France, Learn more
• Sts. Berno, Odo, and Aymard: Benedictine Abbots of Cluny, Learn more
• Sts. Majolus, Odilo, and Hugh: Benedictine Abbots of Cluny, Learn more
• What Monasticism in the History of the Church Can Teach Us, Learn more

Memorial of Saints (October 4)

Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints

• Francis of Assisi
• Ammon;
• Petronius, bishop

Francis of Assisi: (died 3 Oct 1226 A.D.); noted for his charismatic personality, deep compassion for all, and love for God's creation; renounced wealth to follow "Lady Poverty"; deacon; founded the Order of Friars Minor, the Poor Clares and the Third Order; wrote Canticle of the Sun; received the stigmata 14 Sept. 1224 A.D.; canonized only two years after his death; patron of ecologists and of Italy.

Related Blog posts:

• St. Francis and the Franciscans, One of the Four Great Mendicant Orders in the Church, Learn more
• St. Francis' Involvement in the Crusades, Learn more
• St. Clare of Assisi and the Poor Clares - the "Second Order" of the Franciscans, Learn more
• St. Anthony of Padua, St. Bonaventure, and St. Lawrence of Brindisi: three Franciscan Doctors of the Church

Memorial of Saints (October 3)

Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints

• Francis Borgia, priest;
• Hesychius;
• The Two Ewalds, martyr;
• Gerard of Brogne, abbot;
• Froilan and Attilanus, bishop;
• Thomas of Hereford, bishop

St. Francis Borgia (1510-1572 A.D.) was married to Eleanor de Castro in 1529 A.D. When Eleanor died in 1546 A.D., he was left with eight children. In 1548 A.D. Francis decided to join the Jesuits. He went to Rome, returned to Spain the next year to turn over his inheritance to his son, Charles, and was ordained later in the year. Francis Borgia founded numerous monasteries, colleges and foundations. In 1565 A.D., he was elected father general of the Jesuit Order (the third general from St. Ignatius of Loyola). As superior general, he expanded the Society of Jesus greatly. He was so successful in revitalizing and reinvigorating the Jesuit Order that he is often called the second founder. He was canonized in 1671 A.D. (the Dictionary of Saints by John Delaney mentions his feast day on October 10 while the Lives of the Saints by Richard P. McBrien mentions his feast day on October 3).

Related blog posts:

• Eight Days of the Spiritual Exercises
• St. Peter Canisius, Priest and Jesuit
• Hearts on Fire: Praying with Jesuits
• St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Jesuit Scholastic
• St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest and Founder
• Heroic Leadership

The two Ewalds (d. ca. 695 A.D.) were two brothers from Northumbria. They were educated in Ireland and were sent as missionaries to Germany. They were named "the Dark" and "the Fair" to distinguish them. Both were murdered by barbarians who feared that their friendship with the local chieftain of Aplerbeke, Dortmund, would lead to the adoption of Christianity and the eradication of pagan rites. However, the chieftain put the murderers to death.

Memorial of Saints (October 2)

Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints

• Guardian Angels
• Eleutherius, martyr;
• Leodegarius or Leger, bishop and martyr

Guardian Angels: Observed since the 16th c. A.D. in Spain, Pope Clement X in 1670 A.D. assigned this memorial to the first free day following Michaelmas day.

St. Eleutherius (d. ca. 303 A.D.) was a soldier in Nicomedia when the Emperor Diocletian's palace got burned. He was accused of being the leader of a group that set it on fire, he was tortured and then burned to death. (A lot of Christians were martyred during the time of Emperor Diocletian). His story is in the Roman Martyrology.

The Spirituality of St. Therese of Lisieux

An extraordinary charity

What makes St. Therese such a great saint was not because she accomplished many great things, but that she accomplished simple tasks with extraordinary charity. According to author Segundo Galilea, the spirituality of St. Therese is not complicated. No excessive will power was exercised and no emphasis was made to accomplish what was difficult. She rather insisted on the quality of love and charity in everything that she did. The spirit of extraordinary charity she placed in all that she did was rooted in God - in the core of her heart and soul as a Carmelite nun.

Her "Little Way"

Even in her childlike attitude is found an amazing wisdom that leads us to see how small each one is in relation to God and all the trials and tribulations experienced in life. This is especially seen when Therese said to her sister Celine:

"Do not try to rise above your trials, for we are too small to rise above our difficulties. Therefore, let us try to pass under them."

All things in the Church for God

Because of her extraordinary charity, St. Therese wanted to live and experience every existing vocation in the Church. She wanted to become a contemplative, a missionary, a martyr, an evangelizer, a penitent, an educator, dedicated to the poor, and the servant of the sick. Like St. Paul, she wanted to be all things to all people so that she may win many souls to God.

St. Therese did live all what she desired for God as she expressed in her desire to be many things for Him. She "mystically" (as Segundo Galilea stated) lived the substance of every Catholic vocation in her state of life as a Discalced Carmelite. Through God's divine grace, she has "mystically" integrated the entire multiform mission of the Church in her soul.

A missionary in heart and soul

St. Therese sacrificed herself for the missions. But unlike St. Francis Xavier who traveled thousands of miles, preached the gospel incessantly, and died a martyr, St. Therese never left her Carmelite convent. Her missionary journey was more an inner journey - what author Mary Neill, OP, calls the "emigres de l'Interieur". In her inner journey, St. Therese experienced "spiritual martyrdoms" and "dangerous adventures". She traveled the inner geography of her soul in a very deeply affecting way that really touches the heart of anyone who has read her autobiography. Many will be inspired to live a more contemplative approach to life after reading her autobiography.

What also made St. Therese a true missionary in heart and soul was her ministry and mission of encouraging missionaries through her correspondence with them. In the midst of laundry work, cleaning rooms, looking after linen, she took time to bring courage and faith to the missionaries she corresponded with. She wrote to Carmelite sisters in Hanoi, Vietnam, to Pere Roulland (a missionary in China), and to a seminarian named Maurice Belliere.

"The Story of a Soul"

A lot can be learned from St. Therese. Not only from secondary sources on her life and spirituality, but most important of all the primary source of her little Way - her autobiography, "The Story of a Soul". It is really a very inspiring book - one that anyone can identify with spiritually. She writes her autobiography in a candid and very simple style. After reading the book, one will truly know in mind, heart and soul, that there is a God who truly loves all - no matter how small or simple one is.

Sources of this blog post

• Great Saints Great Friends, by Mary Neill, OP, and Ronda Chervin
• The Doctors of the Church, by John F. Fink
• The Friendship of God, by Segundo Galilea

St. Therese of Lisieux, Co-Patroness of Missions

St. Therese of Lisieux, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Birth and childhood

St. Therese of Lisieux was born Marie Françoise Martin on January 2, 1873 A.D., at Alençon, France. Therese is the youngest of nine children - with only five of them surviving (all girls) to adulthood. Her father was Martin, a watchmaker, and her mother was Zelie Guerin. When the mother of Therese passed away in 1877 A.D., her father moved the family to Lisieux so that Therese and her sisters could be near an aunt who can help raise the family.

Entering the Carmelite convent at Lisieux

Therese was nearly fourteen when she insistently wanted to enter the Carmelite convent where her sisters Pauline and Marie entered. She was refused admission at first because of her youth, but when she reached the age of 15 years, with a Papal dispensation, she entered the Carmelite Monastery of Lisieux. She was professed in 1890 A.D. and took the religious name she will come to be known by: Therese of the Child Jesus.

Life as a Carmelite

Therese became afflicted with tuberculosis. However, she bore her illness with great patience and fortitude. She did not perform extraordinary things, but rather, she fulfilled her daily duties in an extraordinary way - in a spirit of love and charity. Soon, she was appointed novice mistress of the community, in which position she taught humility and simplicity to the new novices (both in word and by example). When her older sisters got the idea for her to write her autobiography, by order of the prioress, which was Pauline (the eldest sister of Therese), she undertook to write the story of her life. This autobiography came to be titled, "The Story of a Soul".

The Story of a Soul

The Story of a Soul is actually composed of three manuscripts: manuscript A - this is the one asked of Therese by her sister Pauline; manuscript B - this tells about her "little way", for which she is famous; and manuscript C - this compiles a memoir of Therese and her experiences as a Carmelite (this Therese wrote in obedience to prioress Mother Gonzague, the one who succeeded her sister Pauline). This book, in one of its editions, is published in only 159 pages and divided into eleven chapters. Reading the book will truly introduce the reader not only to the "little way" of Therese, but also how she lived this spirit in her life as a Carmelite nun in Lisieux.

Death and sainthood

Therese died of tuberculosis in September 30, 1897 A.D. at Lisieux. She immediately attracted a tremendous following as "the Little Flower" and "the saint of the little way". She was canonized in 1925 A.D. by Pope Pius XI and was declared copatron of the missions (because of her spiritually encouraging correspondence by letters with many missionaries) together with St. Francis Xavier in 1927 A.D. She was also named copatroness of France together with St. Joan of Arc in October 1, 1944 A.D. In 1997 A.D., one hundred years after he death, she was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope John Paul II. The Church celebrates her feast day every October 1.

Memorials of Saints (October 1)

Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints

• St. Therese of Lisieux, virgin & doctor of the Church
• Remigius, bishop and confessor;
• Romanus the Melodist;
• Melorus Melar or Mylor, martyr;
• Bavo or Allowin

Therese Martin: the "Little Flower," died 30 September 1897 A.D. of tuberculosis in Carmel of Lisieux at age 24; born in Alencon; contemplative who, in her biography, "The Story of a Soul" urged all to follow "the little way"; proclaimed doctor of the Church by Pope John Paul II, 19 October 2001 A.D.; patroness of the missions, of France.

• St. Therese's book The Story of a Soul is mentioned as one of the fourteen classics in the book The Classics of Catholic Spirituality
• More details on the story of her life are found in the book, Saints and Spiritual Friendship
• She is also one of the patron saints of France together with St. Denis, St. Bernadette Soubirous, St. Joan of Arc, St. Martin of Tours and St. Remigius. Learn more
• She is also a co-patron of Missions, Learn more
• The Spirituality of St. Therese of Lisieux