SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY ~ OCTOBER 8TH

FEAST OF OUR LADY OF GOOD REMEDY | MEMORIAL OF SAINT PELAGIA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR; SAINT PELAGIA, HERMITESS; SAINTS MARCELLUS AND APULEIUS; SAINTS SERGIUS AND BACCHUS, MARTYRS; SAINT HUGH OF CANEFRO, RELIGIOUS AND BLESSED AMBROSE OF SIENA, RELIGIOUS ~ FEAST DAY ~ OCTOBER 8TH: Today, we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Good Remedy and Memorial of Saint Pelagia, Virgin; and Martyr; Saint Pelagia, Hermitess; Saints Marcellus and Apuleius and Saints Sergius and Bacchus, Martyrs; Saint Hugh of Canefro, Religious and Blessed Ambrose of Siena, Religious. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, Our Lady of Good Remedy and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for God’s Divine Grace and Mercy upon us all. We pray for the poor, the needy and the most vulnerable. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally and physically ill and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for all widows and widowers. We pray for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, the Bishops, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted Christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world…. Amen🙏

OUR LADY OF GOOD REMEDY: Historically today is the feast of Our Lady of Good Remedy. Our Lady has been honored under this title since the founding of the Trinitarian Order by St. John of Matha in the twelfth century, and it seems that St. Maximilian Kolbe speaks of Our Lady in a similar fashion, in particular, in the quote, as the Good Mother who provides a Good Remedy.

In 1519 Cortez brought with him a famous little statue to participate in the conquest of Mexico. The statue was first set up in a temporary chapel in one of the rooms of Montezuma’s palace where the Spanish officers made their devotions. On the terrible night when the Indians rose against the Spanish conquerors, the Night of Sorrows, one of the officers rescued the statue before fighting his way out of the palace. He did not get far when he was cut down by Aztec arrows and died at the foot of a Maguey tree. The tiny statue was either pushed or fell into the roots of the tree where it was overlooked by the Indians. Some twenty years later, an Aztec convert, Prince John the Eagle, was walking near the tree when he heard a sweet voice calling him. Puzzled, he went to the nearby mission of the Franciscan Fathers and told them about it. They thought it was his imagination. Some days later John met with an accident, a large pillar of a church under construction fell on him. Badly crushed, he was given the Last Sacraments. During the night when he was thought to be dying, the memory of the sweet voice kept returning to him. He prayed to Our Lady to help him. Very early in the morning the Virgin Mary appeared to him and gave him a sash to wear which cured him. A few days later he passed the tree again, and heard the sweet voice; curiously, he looked carefully around the roots of the tree; half buried in the sand, he found the tiny statue of Our Lady. The Aztec convert thought he should do something about it. “Come home with me, gracious Lady,” he said, “I will see that you have a good home and are cared for.” He brought the little statue home wrapped in his cape and placed it on a rough altar. Here Mary reigned as queen in the humble home for ten or twelve years. John kept the little shrine supplied with flowers, and occasionally with fruit and pretty stones. Gradually people came to pray at the shrine, their number increasing so that they were underfoot day and night. John took up the local schoolmaster’s suggestion to build a little chapel. He set about building a shrine and enthroned Mary, Our Lady of Good Remedy, there.

Eight hundred (800) years ago Christians were being captured and sold into slavery by the thousands, and nobody knew what to do about it. Then, in the year 1198, a man had an idea. St. John of Matha founded the Trinitarians to go to the slave markets, buy the Christian slaves and set them free. To carry out this plan, the Trinitarians needed large amounts of money. So, they placed their fund-raising efforts under the patronage of Mary. They were so successful at that, over the centuries, the Trinitarians were able to free thousands and thousands of people and to return them safely home. In gratitude for her miraculous assistance, St. John of Matha honored Mary with the title of ‘Our Lady of Good Remedy. ‘ Devotion to Mary under this ancient title is widely known in Europe and Latin America, and the Church celebrates her feast day on October 8. Our Lady of Good Remedy is often depicted as the Virgin Mary handing a bag of money to St. John of Matha. When in need – for whatever reason, but especially where you have had difficulty obtaining help – invoke the aid of Our Lady of Good Remedy, and you will surely experience the power of her intercession.

NOVENA PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF GOOD REMEDY: Devotion to Our Lady of Good Remedy is particularly recommended to anyone who is “enslaved” in any kind of darkness, such as poverty, chronic illness, disability, abusive relationships, or mental illness. It is also recommended to those who are caught in desperate situations of many different kinds: distress, hardship, fear, anger, confusion, spiritual dryness, and/or any other form of darkness that one feels enslaved to.

O QUEEN OF HEAVEN AND EARTH, Most Holy Virgin, we venerate thee. Thou art the beloved Daughter of the Most High God, the chosen Mother of the Incarnate Word, the Immaculate Spouse of the Holy Spirit, and the Sacred Vessel of the Most Holy Trinity. O Mother of the Divine Redeemer, who under the title of Our Lady of Good Remedy, comes to the aid of all who call upon thee, extend thy maternal protection to us. We depend on thee, Dear Mother, as helpless and needy children depend on a tender and caring mother. Hail Mary… 
 
O LADY OF GOOD REMEDY, source of unfailing help, grant that we may draw from thy treasury of graces in our time of need. Touch the hearts of sinners, that they may seek reconciliation and forgiveness. Bring comfort to the afflicted and the lonely; help the poor and the hopeless; aid the sick and the suffering. May they be healed in body and strengthened in spirit to endure their sufferings with patient resignation and Christian fortitude. Hail Mary… 
 
DEAR LADY OF GOOD REMEDY, source of unfailing help, thy compassionate heart knows a remedy for every affliction and misery we encounter in life. Help me with thy prayers and intercession to find a remedy for my problems and needs, especially for… (Mention your intentions here). On my part, O loving Mother,  I pledge myself to a more intensely Christian lifestyle, to a more careful observance of the laws of God, to be more conscientious in fulfilling the obligations of my state in life, and to strive to be a source of healing in this broken world of ours. Hail Mary… 
 
Dear Lady of Good Remedy, be ever present to me, and through thy intercession, may I enjoy health of body and peace of mind, and grow stronger in the faith and in the love of thy Son, Jesus. Hail Mary… 
V. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of Good Remedy,
R. That we may deepen our dedication to thy Son, and make the world alive with His Spirit.

HAIL MARY: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.🙏

THE MEMORARE: Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or siiiought thine intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen 🙏

PRAYER: God, whose Only-begotten Son, by His Life, Death and Resurrection obtained for us the rewards of eternal salvation, grant, we beg Thee that meditating upon these mysteries of the most holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain, and obtain what they promise; through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.🙏

Our Blessed Mother Mary, Our Lady of Good Remedy ~ Pray for us 🙏

SAINT PELAGIA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR: St. Pelagia, distinguished as Pelagia of Antioch and Pelagia the Virgin, was a devout Christian, a tender virgin who lived in Antioch at the end of the 3rd century and the beginning of the 4th. About the year 302, when she was only fifteen, the local persecutor of the Church during the Diocletian persecutions learned of her Christian faith and sent a group of soldiers to bring her to him for examination. Despite her tender years, St. Pelagia was well aware of the outrages to which Christ’s virgins were subjected in such cases. Therefore, when the soldiers reached her home, she declared that she had to put on her bravest apparel and excused herself from the room. Rather than be forced by Roman soldiers to offer a public sacrifice to the pagan gods or to do “something unspeakable (for she was a virgin), she leapt to her death from a roof top. Being alone in the house, and understanding that their errand was to carry her before the judge, where her chastity might be in danger, she desired leave of the soldiers to go up stairs and dress herself. But fearing to be an innocent occasion to others’ sin, instead, she swiftly made her way to the roof of her house and flung herself headlong to the ground below in order to preserve her richest prize—the virginity she had vowed to Jesus. She died on the spot by her fall: in which action, says St. Chrysostom, she had Jesus in her breast inspiring and exhorting her. She probably hoped to escape by that means; and might lawfully expose her life to some danger for the preservation of her chastity; but nothing will ever make it lawful for any one directly to procure his own death. The learned and saintly Doctors, St. Ambrose and St. John Chrysostom, both knew of her action and both concurred that it was a noble example of love of chastity. She is thus classified as a Virgin and Martyr by the Church.

PRAYER: All-powerful and ever-living God, You choose the weak in this world to confound the powerful. As we celebrate the martyrdom of St. Pelagia, may we like her remain constant in faith. Amen 🙏
 
SAINT PELAGIA, HERMITESS:
St. Pelagia (Latin form Marina) distinguished as Pelagia of Antioch, Pelagia the Penitent, and Pelagia the Harlot, was a Christian saint and hermit in the 4th or 5th century and was originally known as “Margarita.” She was a public sinner of Antioch in Syria, and repented of her evil life. After her baptism she retired to Jerusalem, and passed the remainder of her life in the practice of penance in a cave on Mount Olivet. St. Pelagia was head of a dance troupe in Palestinian Antioch and lived a life of frivolity and prostitution. One day while she was still a dancer, Margarita was passing by a church dressed in her very elegant and provocative clothing. Bishop Nonnus of Edessa was preaching at that moment. Even though the parishioners turned their faces away from the sinner, the Bishop noticed her great outer beauty and spiritual greatness. Later that day, he prayed in his cell for the sinner and learned that as she took care of the adornment of her body to appear beautiful, he and his fellow priests should put more work into adorning their wretched souls. The following day Pelagia went to hear St. Nonnus preach. He was talking about the Last Judgement and its consequences. She was so moved and impressed with the sermon, that with tears of repentance in her eyes, she asked the Bishop to baptize her. Seeing the sincerity of her wishes and repentance, he agreed. Nonnus took her confession and baptized “Margarita” under her birth name Pelagia.

That same night the devil appeared to Pelagia urging her to return to her former life. She started praying and signed herself with the Sign of the Cross, after which the devil vanished. She gave all her wealth and valuables to St. Nonnus so that he could distribute them and give them to aid the poor. The bishop ordered their distribution and said: “Let this be wisely dispersed, so that these riches gained by sin may become a wealth of righteousness.” She left Antioch dressed in man’s clothes. After that, she journeyed to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, where she became a hermitess and lived in a cell disguised as the monk Pelagius. There she lived in great austerity, performing many penances in ascetic seclusion which helped her attain many spiritual gifts. At her death, she was buried in her cell. She was known as “the beardless monk” until her sex was discovered when she died.

St. Pelagia, Hermitess ~ Pray for us 🙏

SAINTS MARCELLUS AND APULEIUS, MARTYRS; SAINTS SERGIUS AND BACCHUS, MARTYRS: Commemoration (1954 Calendar): October 7; Commemoration (1962 Calendar): October 8]: In addition to the great celebration of Our Lady of the Rosary, includes Commemoration of Ss. Sergius and Bacchus and Ss. Marcellus and Apuleius. The 1960 Breviary moved the Commemoration of these holy martyrs to October 8th due to a rubric change made in 1960 that allows only one commemoration on days of the II class.

SAINTS MARCELLUS AND APULEIUS, MARTYRS: Sts. Marcellus and Apuleius were third- or fourth-century martyrs who were inserted in the General Roman Calendar in the 13th century. They were recognized as saints by the Catholic Church, with 7 October as their feast day. At Rome, the holy martyrs Marcellus and Apuleius, who at first were followers of Simon Magus (Simon the Magician), but seeing the wonders performed through the Apostle Peter, they abandoned Simon and embraced the apostolic doctrine. After the death of the apostles, under the proconsul Aurelian, they won the crown of martyrdom and were buried near the City of Rome. They are said to have been converted to Christianity by the miracles of St. Peter. According to the “Martyrologium Romanum” they suffered martyrdom soon after the deaths of Sts. Peter and Paul and were buried near Rome. Their existing Acts are not genuine and agree to a great extent with those of Sts. Nereus and Achilleus. The veneration of the two saints is very old. A mass is assigned to them in the “Sacramentarium” of Pope Gelasius.

SAINTS SERGIUS AND BACCHUS, MARTYRS: In lower Syria, the holy Martyrs Sergius and Bacchus, noble Romans, lived under the Emperor Maximian. They were officers of troops on the frontier, Sergius being primicerius, and Bacchus secundarius. According to the legend, there were high in esteem of the Caesar Maximianus on account of their bravery, but this favour was turned into hate when they acknowledged their Christian faith. When examined under torture they were beaten so severely with thongs that Bacchus died under the blows. Bacchus was scourged with thongs that tore his flesh; he died in his torments confessing the name of Jesus. Sergius, though, had much more suffering to endure; among other tortures, as the legend relates, he was forced to wear and run eighteen miles in shoes which were covered on the soles with sharp-pointed nails that pierced through his feet, he remained firm in the faith and was finally beheaded. The burial-place of Sergius and Bacchus was pointed out in the city of Resaph; in honour of Sergius the Emperor Justinian also built churches in honour of Sergius at Constantinople and Acre; the one at Constantinople, now a mosque, is a great work of Byzantine art. In the East, Sergius and Bacchus were universally honoured.

PRAYER: May the blessed deeds of Thy holy martyrs Sergius, Bacchus, Marcellus, and Apuleius plead for us, O Lord, and may they make us ever burn with love for Thee…. Amen🙏

SAINT HUGH OF CANEFRO, RELIGIOUS: St. Hugh of Canefro (1148-1233), also known as Hugh of Genoa, Hugh of Canefri, Hugo, Ugo—Religious of the Order of Malta, Apostle of Charity, Miracle-Worker—born in 1148 at Alessandria, Italy. St. Hugh of Canefro was Chaplain of the Knights of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. He was an excellent administrator of the Commandery of Genoa, serving the poor with great humility and kindness. He is credited with many miracles: the rescue of a sinking ship like the source that allows the washerwomen of a hospital to wash the laundry of the poor. This fountain still exists and people come here on pilgrimage. St. Hugh became a knight of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem (also known as the Order of Saint John, Order of Hospitallers, Knights Hospitaller, is a medieval Catholic military order. It was headquartered in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, on the island of Rhodes, in Malta, and St Petersburg.) After lengthy campaigning in the Holy Land, he was elected Master of the Commandery of St. John di Prè in Genoa (Italy) and worked in the infirmary nearby. He was renowned for miraculous powers over the natural elements. St. Hugh is one of the most highly venerated saints of the Order. He was the Commander at Genoa and administered his Hospital in the best of fashions. That did not keep him from being an edifying, religious “exercising religion toward God and his neighbors.” It is well known how much sacrifice and devotion that phrase can contain.

According to the portrait that Grandmaster Cardinal Fra Hugh de Loubenx Verdala gave the Order, an authentic portrait made while the saint was still alive, we know that the latter was thin, with an ascetic face and small in stature. But he was quite comely and amiable toward all. His mortification was not onerous for others. He slept on a board, in a corner of the basement of the Hospital, he served the poor with love and tact, giving them food, money, spiritual comfort, and brotherly love. He washed their feet. He took care of them and when they died, he buried them. The eight-pointed cross was not only on his cloak—he wore it in his heart. So great was his zeal that he girded himself with an iron belt placed next to his body. He fasted the whole year round, eating nothing which had been cooked, during Lent. On one of those sultry Italian days, when the sun crushes nature with burning heat, some women were in the common room of the infirmary washing the linen of the sick. The water supply failed, for the fountain of the monastery had dried up. They were dismayed, therefore, at having to fetch the water necessary for their task from a great distance. They complained among themselves discreetly—that is, with great outcries—so that the saint heard them and came to them to inquire about the cause of their complaints. Seeing him, they begged him to give them water and, as he declined, they cried: “What? You wouldn’t be able to get any from God?” “We must pray.” “Oh! that’s all we do. Hear us.” “I am not the Lord, He said that faith makes miracles. Have you faith?” They insisted; he resisted. They wept, saying that they would die of exhaustion because of the work and the heat. He hardly believed that but through charity, after having invoked the Master of Nature, the saint made the sign of the cross and the waters gushed from the rock of the fountain to the astonished cries of the servants. St. Hugh of Canefro died on October 8, 1233 in Genoa, Italy of natural causes.

St. Hugh of Canefro, Religious ~ Pray for us 🙏

BLESSED AMBROSE OF SIENA, RELIGIOUS: Blessed Ambrose (1220-1286) was an Italian Dominican teacher, missionary and diplomat. When he was around a year old, Bl. Ambrose was cured of a congenital deformity, in the Dominican church of St. Mary Magdalene. Bl. Ambrose was born on April 16, 1220 in Siena, Italy, the son of a book illuminator. He was born so severely deformed that his parents could not bear the sight of him. They put their son in the care of a nurse who took the child with her to daily Mass at the Dominican church. The child, often fussy, would become calm when he was placed near the altar of relics, and would cry when he was removed. While praying at the altar, the nurse would conceal the child’s hideous face with a scarf. This practice continued for a year. One day a pilgrim told the nurse to remove the baby’s scarf and prophesied that the child would one day become a great man. A few days later, before the same altar, the child Ambrose stretched out his deformed limbs and pronounced the name of Jesus; from that moment he was miraculously healed into a beautiful and perfectly formed child. As a child and youth he was noted for his love of charity, exercised especially towards pilgrims, the sick in hospitals, and prisoners. Blessed Ambrose grew in piety and was determined to become a Dominican friar. His family and friends opposed his plan and attempted to dissuade such a handsome and talented youth from becoming a poor friar. Bl. Ambrose overcame these obstacles and joined the novitiate of the Dominican convent in his native city at the age of seventeen, was sent to Paris to continue his philosophical and theological studies under St. Albert the Great and had for a fellow-student there, Thomas Aquinas and went on to become a preacher, teacher, missionary, diplomat, and peace-broker. His skills with diplomacy earned him the respect of kings and popes alike.

In 1248 he was sent with St. Thomas Aquinas to Cologne, where he taught in the Dominican schools. In 1260 he was one of the band of missionaries who evangelized Hungary. Six years later Sienna was put under an interdict for having espoused the cause of the Emperor Frederick II, then at enmity with the Holy See. The Siennese petitioned Bl. Ambrose to plead their cause before the Sovereign Pontiff, and so successfully did he do this that he obtained for his native city full pardon and a renewal of all her privileges. The Siennese soon cast off their allegiance; a second time Ambrose obtained pardon for them. He brought about a reconciliation between King Conradin of Germany and Pope Clement IV. Around this time he was chosen bishop of his native city, but he declined the office. For a time, he devoted himself to preaching the Eighth Crusade; and later, at the request of Pope Gregory X, caused the studies which the late wars had practically suspended to be resumed in the Dominican convent at Rome. After the death of Pope Gregory X, he retired to one of the convents of his order, whence he was summoned by Innocent V and sent as papal legate to Tuscany. Blessed Ambrose restored peace there between Florence and Pisa and also between the dogal republics of Venice and Genoa, another pair of commercial rivals within Italy. Bl. Ambrose died at Sienna, Italy in 1286. His name was inserted in the Roman Martyrology in 1577. His biographers exhibit his life as one of perfect humility. He loved poetry. He was a renowned preacher. His oratory, simple rather than elegant, was most convincing and effective. His sermons, although once collected, are not extant. Bl. Ambrose’s feast day is October 8th.

Blessed Ambrose of Siena, Religious ~ Pray for us 🙏