What is a Saint?
In the Catholic Church, the saints are ordinary people like you and I who made it to heaven. They’ve done nothing that you and I cannot do, if we persevere in following Jesus Christ and living our lives according to His teaching.
Catholic devotion to the saints is nothing more than respect and admiration for the memory of the deceased heroes of the Church. We honor them as men and women of heroic virtue who can serve as our role models. They were no more perfect than are we; but, at the end of their lives – and hopefully, ours – they received from Our Lord his words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
We also ask the saints to intercede for us. Have you ever asked anyone to pray for you when you were having a hard time? That is how Catholics “pray to” the saints – we pray with saints, not to them. As the Letter of James says, “The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.”
Well-known saints like those below often are remembered in a special way on particular days during the year.
January – February – March – April – May – June
July – August – September – October – November – December
This Weeks Saints
September 6
Zechariah the Prophet
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Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 7
St. Regina
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Labor Day
September 8
Feast of the Nativity of Mary
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September 9
Blessed-Frédéric-Ozanam
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Day of Prayer for Peace in Our Communities
September 10
St. Nicholas of Tolentino
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September 11
Sts. Protus and Hyacinth
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Patriot’s Day
Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary
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September 9
Bl. Frederic Ozanam
Frederic Ozanam was born in France in 1813 to Jean and Marie Ozanam, the fifth of 14 children. Only two of his siblings and he survived to adulthood. As a young man, he experienced grave doubts about his faith, but eventually over came them and became a journalist contributing to Catholic periodicals.
He studied law at the Sorbonne in Paris. There, he encountered a culture of materialism that held the Church in open contempt. Frederic gathered around him other students devoted to the Church and formed a discussion group cslled the “Conference of History,” which quickly became a cemter of lively discussions and debates.
During one of those sessions, a skeptical student asked him, “What is your church doing now? What is she doing for the poor of Paris? Show us your works and we will believe you!” Stung by the question, he realized he needed to ground his beliefs in action. The first thing he and his roommate did was to donate their winter’s supply of firewood to a widow whose husband had died of cholera. He founded a Council of Charity dedicated to reaching out to the poorest of the poor in Paris and aiding them.
In 1841, he married Amélie Soulacroix; they had a daughter, Marie. Onam became a full professor of foreign literature at the Sorbonne, He led an extremely active life as professor, academic writer, journalist, and as a member of the Council of Charity, now named the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Having a weak constitution, he fell prey to consumption and died at the age of 40.
By the time of his death, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul consisted of 2,000 members. Today, the work continues in what evolved to be the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, with 800,000 members in some 140 countries worldwide, whose members operate through “conferences”. Each conference is composed of Catholic and non-Catholic volunteers who dedicate their time and resources to help those in need in their community.
“The poor we see with the eyes of flesh; they are there and we can put finger and hand in their wounds and the scars of the crown of thorns are visible on their foreheads; and at this point incredulity no longer has place and we should fall at their feet and say you are our masters, and we will be your servants. You are for us the sacred images of that God whom we do not see, and not knowing how to love Him otherwise shall we not love Him in your person.”
Bl. Frederic Ozanam
September 12
Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The name of Mary is sweeter to the lips than the honeycomb, more delightful to the ear than a sweet song, more entrancing to the heart than the purest joy.
St. Anthony of Padua
The feast of the Holy Name of Mary originated in Spain in the sixteenth century, first celebrated locally in 1513. In 1671 it was extended to all of Spain and the Kingdom of Naples. In 1683, John III Sobieski, king of Poland, brought an army marching behind the banner of the Blessed Virgin to raise the siege of Vienna by the Ottoman armies. Passing by the Sanctuary of Mary in Czestochowa, they implored Our Lady’s help and blessing. Sobieski and his soldiers routed the Ottomans, permanently halting their advance into Europe. The following year, Pope Innocent XI extended this feast to the entire Church. The feast was removed from the liturgical calendar during the reforms following Vatican II, but restored by Pope John Paul II in 2002.
The name Mary, comes from the Hebrew name Miriam. Miriam. has been given many beautiful meanings by Christian writers. St. Jerome traced its origin to the Hebrew מאור (ma’or), meaning star, and the word ים (yam), or sea, translating it to Stella Maris (star of the sea). To say the name of Mary in prayer is to turn instinctively to a mother’s help, trusting that her name leads us to her Son, just as did her life. The name is never an end in itself; like Mary herself, it points straight to Jesus.