MEMORIAL OF SAINT JULIUS I, POPE AND SAINT TERESA OF JESUS OF LOS ANDES, RELIGIOUS – FEAST DAY: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Julius I, Pope and Saint Teresa of Jesus of Los Andes, Religious. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the Church, the Clergy and Christians all over the world. We also pray for the souls of the faithful departed. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.🙏
SAINT JULIUS I, POPE: St. Julius I was a Roman, elected Bishop of Rome from 6 February 337 to his death on April 12, 352. He’s remembered for setting December 25th as the official date of birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, starting the tradition of celebrating Christmas on that date. He also asserted his authority against Arianism, a heretical cult that insisted Christ was human and not divine. St. Julius, a Roman, was elected Pope, succeeding St. Mark, whose reign had been exceedingly brief (less than nine months). The Church was then in a troubled condition on account of the Arian agitators whose heresy had been condemned at Nicaea, but who were beginning to deceive Constantine the Emperor in regard to their real character. When the Emperor died, his sons, Constantine, Constantius, and Constans, divided the Empire. For a considerable time St. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, had been an object of persecution to the Arians. Upon the accession of Pope Julius, their Bishop in the East sent three deputies to accuse St. Athanasius. At an impartial hearing the Bishop of Alexandria was acquitted of every accusation that ha been brought against him. On the demand of the Arians, the Pope assembled a council at Rome in 341, which confirmed St. Athanasius in his See in spite of the fact that the Arian Bishops refused to attend.
As the Arians still remained obstinate, Pope Julius convinced the Emperors Constans and Constantius to convoke a Council at Sardica in Illiricum. It began in May, 347, and confirmed the decrees of Nicaea, of which it is regarded as an appendix or continuation. It declared St. Athanasius orthodox, and deposed certain Arian Bishops. In this Council it was decreed that any Bishop deposed by a synod in his province has a right to appeal to the Bishop of Rome. In a letter to the Oriental Bishops of the Arian party, St. Julius appeals to the apostolic traditions in defense of the right of the Holy See to be consulted, a right that the Eastern Bishops admitted, but they had slighted by their conduct. St. Julius died April 12, 352.
PRAYER: God, Light and Shepherd of souls, you established St. Julius as Pope over Your Church to feed Your flock by his word and form it by his example. Help us through his intercession to keep the Faith he thought by his word and follow the way he showed by his example. Amen🙏
SAINT TERESA OF THE ANDES, RELIGIOUS: St. Teresa of Jesus (1900 – 1920), also known as St. Teresa of Jesus of Los Andes was born Juana Enriqueta Josephina de Los Sagrados Corazones Fernández Solar, on July 13, 1900, was born in Santiago Chile to Miguel Fernández Jaraquemada, Lucía Solar Armstrong, an upper class family. She was a Chilean professed religious from the Discalced Carmelites. She was a pious child with a profound spirituality and a deep devotion to Jesus and Mary. Yet she was also stubborn and self-centered, had an often unpredictable temperament for she could be prone to anger and being vain, defects which she diligently set herself to overcome in preparation for her First Holy Communion at the age of 10. But she could also demonstrate her charitable and loving nature; she seemed transformed when she decided to become a nun and her character seemed to change for her sole ambition was to dedicate herself to the service of God. Inspired by reading the autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux, and confirmed by prayer, at the age of 14 she decided to become a Carmelite nun. Five years later her desire was realized.
In May of 1919, at the age of 19, she entered the Carmelite monastery of Los Andes where she lived a life of prayer and sacrifice. She also took to writing letters through which she shared her remarkable spiritual life with the outside world. It was revealed to her in prayer that she would die young, which she accepted with happiness and confidence. A few months after her entry she contracted typhoid fever, from which she died on April 12, 1920 at Los Andes, Chile during Holy Week. Before her death she was permitted to profess her vows. Her canonization process opened on 23 April 1976 under Pope Paul VI and she became titled as a Servant of God. The confirmation of her life of heroic virtue on 22 March 1986 allowed for her to be titled as Venerable. She was Beatified on April 3, 1987, O’Higgins Park, Santiago, Chile by Pope John Paul II after a miracle attributed to her from her native land cleared her for beatification and Canonized as Saint on March 21, 1993, Saint Peter’s Square, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II, after another miracle coming from Chile. St. Teresa of Jesus of Los Andes was the first Chilean and the first Discalced Carmelite nun outside of Europe to be declared a saint. Her feast day is April 12. She’s the Patron Saint against disease, against illness, Ill people, young people, Santiago and Los Andes
Saint Teresa of Jesus of Los Andes ~ Pray for us🙏