MEMORIAL OF SAINT PASCHAL BAYLON, RELIGIOUS AND BLESSED ANTONIA MESINA,  VIRGIN AND MARTYR ~ MAY 17TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Paschal Baylon, Religious and Blessed Antonia Mesina, Virgin and Martyr. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for Vocation to the Priesthood and Religious life. We particularly pray for all Youths and all Seminarians, with special intention for those Seminarians who will be ordained into Priesthood. We also pray for victims of Rape and all forms of sexual violence and we continue to pray for the Church, the Clergy, for persecuted Christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world🙏

Loving and Generous God, it is You who call us by name and ask us to follow You. Help us to grow in the Love and Service of our Church as we experience it today. Give us the energy and courage of Your Spirit
to shape its future. Grant us faith-filled leaders who will embrace Christ’s Mission
of love and justice. Bless your Church by raising up dedicated and generous leaders from our families and friends who will serve Your people as Sisters, Priests, Brothers, Deacons and Lay Ministers. Inspire us to know You better
and open our hearts to hear Your call. We ask this through our Lord… Amen🙏

SAINT PASCHAL BAYLON, RELIGIOUS: St. Paschal Baylon (May 16, 1540 – May 17, 1592) was named after the day of his birth and death: Pentecost Sunday-Pascha Pentekostes. He was a Spanish Roman Catholic lay professed religious of the Order of Friars Minor. He hailed from the Spanish section of Valencia. St. Paschal was born at Torre Hermosa in the Kingdom of Aragon, on May 16, 1540. He was a simple, pious shepherd boy who later became an ardent spiritual son of St. Francis and the heavenly patron of adorers of the Most Blessed Sacrament. He belongs to that illustrious circle of saints who, by heroic holiness of life, refurbished the Church’s crown that had been desecrated by the heretics of the sixteenth century. St. Paschal Baylon spent his early childhood as a shepherd and often gave religious instruction to the shepherds on the hills of Aragon. So great was his desire for instruction that while tending his sheep he carried a book with him and begged those he met to reach him the alphabet. Thus, in a short time he learned to read. He served as a shepherd alongside his father in his childhood and adolescence, but desired to enter the religious life. St. Paschal led the solitary life of a shepherd until he was about twenty-four. He was refused once but later was admitted as a Franciscan lay brother.  By meditation, prayer, and the reading of pious works, he advanced rapidly in perfection, so that he decided to embrace the religious state and petitioned the Franciscans to admit him into their Order, he had already reached an eminent degree of sanctity. When he decided to become a Religious, he purposely avoided rich monasteries, for he said, “I was born poor, and I am resolved to die in poverty and penance.”  In 1564, St. Paschal entered among the Reformed Franciscans in the Kingdom of Valentia and insisted upon becoming simply a lay brother. For twenty-eight years he lived a perfect life in the austere Order he had chosen, a life of extreme poverty and of constant prayer, which even his labors did not interrupt. He was sent to counter the arguments of the Calvinists in France but was chased out and nearly killed by a mob. He became noted for his strict austerities, as well as his love for and compassion towards the sick.

St. Paschal was best known for his strong and deep devotion to our Lord in the Holy Eucharist. One day St. Paschal heard the bells of a convent announce the approaching consecration at Mass. Such an ardent longing for God overcame him that, prompted by yearning and love, he involuntarily cried out: “O God, most worthy of all adoration, please let me see You!” Hardly had he uttered the prayer when a glowing star appeared in the sky. As he watched, the heavens opened; the star disappeared and was replaced by a chalice with the Host, flanked by two adoring angels. Christian art has selected this vision to show his chief virtue, viz., love for the most holy Eucharist. Toward the end of his life he frequently spent a great part of the night in prayer before the altar. God often favored him with ecstasies and raptures, but so great was his humility that he carefully avoided whatever might redound to his honor or praise. St. Paschal also had a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin. His piety drew people from all over seeking his counsel, and at his death caused miracles that were reported at his tomb. He died on May 17, 1592 at the age of 52. As he lay dead upon the bier, he opened and closed his eyes twice when the sacred species were elevated at the consecration. Pope Leo XIII declared him the heavenly patron of all Eucharistic leagues and societies. The process for his canonization opened and in 1618 he was beatified; Pope Alexander VIII canonized him a saint on October 16, 1690. He’s the Patron Saint of Eucharistic congresses and Eucharistic associations (proclaimed by Pope Leo XIII); Cooks; Shepherds; Male Children;  Priesthood Vocation; Obado, Bulacan, Phillipines.

“God is as really present in the consecrated Host as He is in the glory of Heaven”  ~ St. Paschal Baylon

PRAYER: God, You filled St. Paschal with a wondrous love for mysteries of Your Body and Blood. May we draw from this Divine Banquet the same spiritual riches he received… Amen🙏
 
BLESSED ANTONIA MESINA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR: Bl. Antonio Mesina (June 21, 1919 – May 17, 1935) was an Italian Roman Catholic and part of Catholic Action. Bl. Mesina was murdered in mid-1935 after she attempted to fend off a would-be rapist and suffered 74 strikes with a stone before she died. Blessed Antonia Mesina was the second of ten children born on June 21, 1919; Orgosolo, on the Island of Sardinia, Kingdom of Italy to a poor family. Being the second oldest child, she had to leave school to help with the family chores after her mother became bedridden, a task which she accepted with obedience, humility, and joy. Bl. Antonia’s mother referred to her daughter as “the flower of my life.” Despite her heavy responsibilities at home, Bl. Antonia was also active in her parish, a very active member of Young Women of Catholic Action, an Italian Catholic organization for the laity, at the age of 10 and encouraging others to do the same.

On May 17, 1935, while in the forest with a friend gathering firewood after Mass, Bl. Antonia was assaulted by a teenage boy who attempted to rape her. Her friend ran for help while Antonia bravely defended herself against her attacker. The young man, unable to achieve his goal due to her continuous resistance, brutally attacked Bl. Antonia with dozens of blows with a rock. She fought him off to her last breath and she suffered 74 strikes with a stone before she died. By the time help arrived, it was too late. Bl. Antonia died at the age of sixteen on May 17, 1935 at Orgosolo,  Sardinia, Kingdom of Italy. The entire town accompanied her body to the site of her burial. On October 5, 1935 the Catholic Action member Venerable Armida Barelli – who had met Antonia once – met with Pope Pius XI and informed him of Antonia’s activism and her murder. She is considered a martyr of sexual purity, and was Beatified on October 4, 1987, Saint Peter’s Square, Vatican City by Pope St. John Paul II. Her story has been likened to that of St. Maria Goretti. Blessed Antonia Messina is the Patron Saint of Rape victims; Youth; Nuoro; Orgosolo. Her feast day is May 17th.

Blessed Antonia Mesina,  Virgin and Martyr ~ Pray for us🙏