MEMORIAL OF SAINT JOSEMARIA ESCRIVA, PRIEST; SAINTS JOHN AND PAUL, MARTYRS; SAINT ANTHELM, BISHOP; SAINT PELAGIUS OF CÓRDOBA, MARTYR AND BLESSED JACQUES GHAZIR HADDAD, PRIEST ~ FEAST DAY: JUNE 26TH Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Josemaría Escrivá, Priest; Saints John and Paul, Martyrs; Saint Anthelm, Bishop; Saint Pelagius of Córdoba and Blessed Jacques Ghazir Haddad. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the sick and dying, especially those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the poor and needy, for justice, peace and unity in our families and our world. And we continue to pray for the Church, the Clergy, our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Cardinals, Bishops, all Priests, for persecuted Christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world, especially those suffering from political and religious unrest. May God protect us all and keep united in peace, love and faith… Amen 🙏🏽
SAINT JOSEMARIA ESCRIVA, PRIEST: St. Josemaria Escriva (1902-1975) was born in 1902 at Barbastro Spain, one of six children of a devout Catholic family. Growing up, he observed his parents faithfully endure painful family trials (the death of three of their young children and devastating financial setbacks) and this had a profound effect on his own faith. As a teenager he discovered his vocation to the priesthood when he saw the path of footprints in the snow left by a barefoot Carmelite friar. He then experienced a radical conversion: he gave up his intended career as an architect and entered the seminary. He spent most of his life studying and teaching in universities, earning a doctorate in civil law and theology.
Saint Josemaria Escriva’s was ordained in Saragossa in 1925 and by divine inspiration and lasting impact lies in the foundation of Opus Dei (“The Work of God”), an organization of laity and priests dedicated to the universal call of holiness and the belief that ordinary, daily life is an authentic path to sanctity. This foundation opened a new way for the faithful to sanctify themselves in the midst of the world. Today Opus Dei has over 80,000 members worldwide. His famous written work is The Way, a collection of spiritual and pastoral reflections on the gospels and their application to everyday life. On June 26, 1975, after glancing at an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in his office in Rome, St. Josemaría died suddenly of zed arrest. He was canonized a saint on October 6, 2002 by Pope John Paul II.
St. Josemaria Escriva, Priest ~ Pray for us🙏🏽
SAINTS JOHN AND PAUL, MARTYRS: Saints John and Paul (d. 362 A.D.) were two blood brothers, who encouraged each other to remain faithful in their sufferings and were martyred for the Catholic faith in their own home. Sts. John and Paul were officers of the Roman army in the days of Constantine the Great. Sts. John and Paul were imperial officers of high repute. They served in the house of Princess Constance (Constantia) daughter of Constantine, who was consecrated to God; their virtues and services to her father rendered them very dear to her. They would soon glorify God by a great moral victory; after despising the honors of the world, they triumphed by their martyrdom over its threats and torments. After a successful career of soldiering, Constantine the Great entrusted Saints John and Paul with the protection of his daughter, Constantia. With the aid of the liberality of the Christian princess, they were practicing many works of charity and mercy, until the deaths of both Constantine and Constance.
Upon the death of Constantine in 337 and his bequeathal of a formidable inheritance, Saints John and Paul retired to private life, built a house on the Caelian Hill, led exemplary Christian lives of charity and prayer, and prospered under the reign of Constantine II. In A.D. 361, Julian the Apostate ascended to the imperial throne. From his youth, Julian had exhibited strong pagan tendencies, and during his reign, he reestablished many pagan practices, persecuted the Church, and challenged the authority of bishops throughout the empire. The Christian brothers saw many wicked men prosper in their impiety, but were not dazzled by their example. They considered that worldly prosperity accompanied by impunity in sin is the most dreadful of all judgments, indicating reprobation. And history reveals how false and short-lived was the glittering prosperity of Julian. In the summer of 362, he called Saints John and Paul back to military service in his court. Their acquiescence to Julian’s request would have meant a denial of their Catholic faith, since court officials were required to offer incense to false pagan gods. Saints John and Paul recoiled at the thought of apostasy. Their refusal enraged Julian who accused them of impiety, a capital crime. Certain that Julian would order their deaths, Saints John and Paul charitably dispersed their earthly possessions to the poor of Rome.
Julian sought to murder them, but he feared public outcry, for the Saints were extremely popular. Thus, the Emperor dispatched Terentianus, an officer of his court, with a murderous objective to their home. When he entered, he found Saints John and Paul at prayer. When they rejected Terentianus’ order to offer sacrifice to Jupiter, he ordered them, on Julian’s prior instruction, beheaded on the night of June 26, 362 in their own home. Then Terentianus buried their bodies in the house and spread the rumor that Julian had sent Saints John and Paul into exile. It did not take long for the truth to be known. A certain person, praying in the house, was granted a vision, wherein he saw, and loudly proclaimed, the details of the heinous crime. Many were converted thereafter, including Terentianus himself. One year later to the day of the martyrdom of Saints John and Paul, on June 26, 363, Julian the Apostate, was felled by an arrow while campaigning in Mesopotamia. He died with the words “Vicisit Galilaee” (“Thou hast conquered, Galilean”). Since the fifth century, the names of Saints John and Paul have been included in the Roman Canon of the Mass. The Basilica of Saints John and Paul sits atop the Caelian Hill, one of the seven hills of ancient Rome. The basilica is built over the home of Saints John and Paul, where they were murdered. Saints John and Paul’s feast day is celebrated on June 26, the date of their martyrdom.
Saints John and Paul, Martyrs ~ Pray for us 🙏🏽
SAINT ANTHELM, BISHOP: St. Anthelm (1107-1177) was a prior of the Carthusian Grand Chartreuse and bishop of Belley. St. Anthelm, rightfully regarded as the greatest ecclesiastic of his age, was born about 1107 in Savoy of a noble family, who educated him for the Church. After ordination he was made provost and secretary of the province of Geneva and increased the earning of his diocese by astute management. Up to that time, he was a high-minded young priest, hospitable and generous, but, as his background might suggest, primarily interested in the things of the world. However, Anthelm’s outlook changed drastically as a result of a change visit to the Carthusian monastery at Portes. So at the age of thirty St. Anthelm resigned his ecclesiastical benefice, left the world, and donned the habit of St. Bruno. Two years later (1139), he became Prior of the motherhouse of his Order, the Grande Charteuse, which soon began to flourish under his direction. He increased the number and the fervor of those in the community, repaired its buildings, and brought the other monasteries into relation with it. In the process he also became the first Master General of the Order.
In 1152, St. Anthelm retired Portes, looking forward to a life of solitude. But God had other plans for him. He was appointed Prior of Portes and succeeded in reforming that monastery as well. Two years later he returned to the Grande Charteuse bit still was denied solitude. In 1159, a schism occurred in the Church between the supporters of the canonically elected Pope, Alexander III, and a rival put forward by the powerful Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. St. Anthelm supported the true Pope by a strong and vociferous campaign that resulted in the Pope’s triumph and in the appointment of Anthelm as Bishop of Belley.
Prevailed upon to accept the Episcopacy, St. Anthelm applied himself to it in characteristic fashion, showing himself to be a brilliant administrator, dedicated reformer, and fearless battler for truth. He did not even hesitate to reprove the Pope when in 1175 the latter lifted the excommunication that the Saint had imposed on Count Hubert of Marienne for glaring misdeeds. Shortly afterward, the Pope commissioned St. Anthelm to go to England and try to reconcile king Henry II and St. Thomas Becket; but he was prevented from going by his death, which took place on June 26, 1177. St. Anthelm established a community for women solitaries. The good bishop spent his last years tending to the lepers and the poor. He was distributing food in a famine when he was felled by fever. As St. Anthelm lay dying, he was visited by Humbert who sought his forgiveness. Miracles are said to have occurred at his tomb, one being that, as he was lowered into the tomb, a lamp lit only for great festivals kindled spontaneously.
PRAYER: God, You made Your Bishop St. Anthelm an outstanding minister of Your Church by his prayer and pastoral zeal. Through his prayers grant that Your faithful flock may always find pastors after Your heart and salutary pastures. Amen 🙏🏽
SAINT PELAGIUS OF CÓRDOBA, MARTYR: St. Pelagius of Córdoba (c. 912–925 A.D.) was a Christian thirteen year old boy, a teenager who died as a martyr in Córdoba in southern Spain around 925 AD for refusing to denounce his faith and convert to Islam and rejecting Homosexuality. He chose death rather than submission to the sexual advances or the false religion of the Muslim Caliph of Córdoba. 10th century Cordoba was the most powerful and glorious time in the world for the muslim caliphates and they boasted the largest mosque outside of the Caaba in Mecca.
St. Pelagius of Córdoba was born in 912 AD, Crecente, Spain. Pelagius means ”dweller by the sea” and in Spain he is known as San pelayo. St. Pelagius, as a ten year old boy, was taken hostage by the Moors of Cordoba during a rampage in a Christian town. He was in captivity for three years and nobody had made any attempt to ransom him. The Emir of Cordoba offered him his freedom if he would convert to Islam. St. Pelagius refused to convert to Islam and rejected having sex with a Muslim pasha due to his Christian faith. For this he was tortured and killed. He was scourged and had his arms and legs cut off and he was finally beheaded. He is said to have endured six hours of constant excruciating pain until he died. St. Pelagius died on June 26, 925 AD, Córdoba, Spain and was buried at Sacramental de San Ginés y San Luis. Due to his martyrdom he is regarded as a saint for men and women struggling with same-sex attraction as well as holy purity, hence in art he is depicted with a lily, a symbol of chastity. He’s the Patron Saint of abandoned people, torture victims, Castro Urdiales, Spain. Saint Pelagius is venerated in Leon, Cordoba, and Oviedo, where his relics have been kept since they were transferred there in 985. His Feast Day is June 26th.
Saint Pelagius of Córdoba, Martyr ~ Pray for us🙏🏽
BLESSED JACQUES GHAZIR HADDAD, PRIEST: Bl. Jacques Ghazir Haddad (1875-1954), recently beatified was Founder of the Franciscan Sisters of the Holy Cross. As a Capuchin Missionary, he traveled through the mountains preaching and teaching the people to pray. The last twenty-three years of his life were devoted to the apostolate of charity and care of the most abandoned. Thousands of poor people found in care of his Sisters of the Cross comfort and reason to hope. Fr Jacques Ghazir Haddad was born on February 1, 1875, in Ghazir, in the heart of Lebanon, the third of five children. He attended school in Ghazir and then the College de la Sageese in Beirut, where he studied Arabic, French and Syriac. In 1892 he went to Alexandria, Egypt, to teach Arabic at the Christian Brothers’ College, and there he felt the call to the priesthood. He entered the Capuchin Convent in Khashbau the next year. He was ordained a priest on November 1, 1901 in Beirut, Lebanon. As an itinerant preacher from 1903 to 1914 he walked all over Lebanon proclaiming the Word of God and was given the name “the Apostle of Lebanon”. He was also seen preaching in Syria, Palestine, Iraq and Turkey.
In 1919 he bought a piece of land on the hill of Jall-Eddib, north of Beirut, where he built a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Sea. Nearby he erected a great Cross. Fr Jacques was tireless, he would help anyone in need following in the footsteps of St Francis of Assisi. In 1920, to assist him in this mission to help the sick and the poor, he founded the Franciscan Sisters of the Holy Cross of Lebanon. The modest work of Fr Jacques aroused the people’s admiration, many poor and sick people began to go to the “Cross” and Fr Jacques would welcome them all. In 1950 the “Cross” became exclusively a psychiatric hospital, one of the most modern in the Near East. The movement of charity began to spread throughout Lebanon and Fr Jacques and his Sisters multiplied their works of social assistance. In 1933 he opened the House of the Sacred Heart in Deir el-Kamar, a girls’ orphanage, which later became an asylum for the chronically ill. In 1948 he opened the Hospital of Our Lady for the aged, the chronically ill and the paralyzed. In 1949 St Joseph’s Hospital became one of the most important medical centres of the capital. It was followed in 1950 by St Anthony’s House in Beirut for beggars and vagabonds whom the police found on the streets and Providence House for homeless girls. Even though Fr Jacques was very busy with the hospital mission, he and his Sisters carried on the important work of education and opened several schools as well as an orphanage for 200 girls.
Fr Jacques was worn out by vigils, fatigue and travel. Although he suffered from numerous illnesses, became almost completely blind and was stricken with leukemia, he did not stop blessing God and working. He was lucid to the end, his last hours were an uninterrupted series of prayers invoking the Cross and the Virgin Mary until he died on 26 June 1954 in Lebanon. His cause for Beatification was introduced in February 1979; on February 24, 1979, His Holiness Pope John Paul II signed the Decree of Introduction of the Cause for Beatification. On Sunday, June 22, 2008, he was beatified during a special Mass in Beirut by Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, C.M.F., Prefect of Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Since Bl. Haddad’s death additional hospitals have opened to assist those injured during the war and to assist the Kabr-Chemoun region where medical services were scarce.
Blessed Jacques Ghazir Haddad, Priest ~ Pray for us🙏🏽