SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY – AUGUST 2ND

FEAST OF OUR LADY QUEEN OF ANGELS OF PORTIUNCULA; SAINT PETER JULIAN EYMARD, PRIEST; SAINT EUSEBIUS OF VERCELLI, BISHOP; SAINT STEPHEN I, POPE AND MARTYR, SAINT GIUSTINO MARIA RUSSOLILLO, PRIEST AND BLESSED JANE OF AZA ~ FEAST DAY – AUGUST 2ND: Today, we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Queen of Angels of Portiuncula; Saint Peter Julian Eymard, Priest; Saint Eusebius of Vercelli, Bishop and Saint Stephen I, Pope and martyr; Saint Giustino Maria Russolillo, Priest and Blessed Jane of Aza. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary on this special feast of Our Lady Queen of Angels and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Clergy, for all Franciscans, 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. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We also pray for those going through difficulties especially during these challenging times, for the poor and the needy. And we continue to pray for peace, love and unity in our families and our world.🙏

FEAST OF OUR LADY QUEEN OF ANGELS OF PORTIUNCULA: Our Lady of the Angels, a Franciscan feast day, with the opportunity to receive the special Portiuncula Indulgence. From the earliest days of the Church. Mary has held the title Our Lady Queen of Angels. At the Annunciation, at the Nativity, at her Assumption into heaven, and finally at her Coronation as Queen of Angels and Men, angels have been associated with Our Lady. There are a number of famous shrines dedicated to Mary under this title, including the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli at Assisi, where the great St. Francis recognized his vocation; the church in Rome which was designed and executed by Michelangelo on ruins from the time of Diocletian; the shrine of St. Mary of the Angels in Engeberg, Switzerland; Notre Dame des Anges near Lurs, France; the shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Angels at Boulogne, France; the church of Our Lady of the Angels in London, England; and the Mission of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. August 2nd, Feast of Our Lady of the Angels (aka the Feast of the Portiuncula) is a special day to all Franciscans as it recalls the small Assisi-area chapel that became the foundational home of the Franciscan family – the Porciúncula. In 1206, when Francis was struggling to determine what it was he was to do with his life, he prayed in the little church of San Damiano just outside the walls of Assisi. There he heard the Word of God saying to him, “Francis, rebuild my church which you see is falling into ruin.” Taking that command very literally, Francis set about rebuilding the little church – stone by stone. He did the same with other abandoned churches in the area. One of them was an abandoned Benedictine chapel in the valley outside Assisi called the porciúncula or “little portion,” referring to the small plot of land associated with the chapel. The small chapel of St. Mary of the Angels (Our Lady of the Angels) was very dear to St. Francis of Assisi. He referred to it as the Portiucula (or the Little Portion) and it is considered the cradle of the Franciscan Order. In 1209, after returning from a visit to Pope Innocent III, during which Francis received permission to form a “religious order,” Francis and the first brothers took up residence at the porciúncula. As the quarters of Rivo Torto became too small for the newly forming religious order, St. Francis obtained from the Benedictines the use of the Portiuncula, for which he paid a basket of fish. The church and the surrounding small parcel of land were is disrepair. Just as he did at San Damiano, St. Francis rebuilt it, adding small huts (cells) and enclosing it all in a protective hedge. It was there that St. Francis gained a more vivid understanding of his own vocation. He held the annual meetings of the friars (Chapters) there and it is where he desired to spend his final earthly moments; St. Francis asked to be taken there when he knew that his death was near, dying in his nearby cell October 3, 1226.

St. Francis felt that the Portiuncula was a place filled with God’s grace. In 1216, at the request of St. Francis, the Pope granted special privilege (plenary indulgence—a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins) to all those who would visit the little chapel. Although limited to noon on August 1st to midnight on August 2nd, the privilege continues to be granted to this day; not only to those who visit the Portiuncula, but to anyone who visits any church where the friars live and minister. To receive this privilege (for yourself or for someone else—living or deceased), in addition to the visit, one must receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation within several weeks of the feast, go to Mass and receive the Eucharist, recite the Our Father and Apostles Creed, and pray for the intentions of the Holy Father. The beautiful Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli that now surrounds the Portiuncula chapel was begun in 1569 (completed in 1684) by decree of Pius V. It was meant to accommodate the huge crowds of pilgrims who came on August 2nd for Il Perdono (Portiuncula Indulgence). This is an important feast day for all Franciscans and is celebrated in Franciscan churches throughout the world. The porciúncula is a place rich in the memory of all Franciscans, and its legacy reaches far and wide. Even as far as California! The formal name of the chapel was “Our Lady Queen of the Angels.”

PRAYER TO OUR LADY QUEEN OF ANGELS: “August Queen of Heaven, sovereign Mistress of the Angels, who didst receive from the beginning the mission and the power to crush the serpent’s head, we beseech thee to send thy holy angels, that under thy command and by thy power, they may pursue the evil spirits, encounter them on every side, resist their bold attacks, and drive them hence into the abyss of woe. Most holy Mother, send thy angels to defend us and to drive the cruel enemy from us. All ye holy angels and archangel, help and defend us. Amen. O good and tender Mother! Thou shalt ever be our Love and our Hope. Holy Angels and Archangels, keep and defend us. Amen🙏

SAINT PETER JULIAN EYMARD, PRIEST: St. Peter was born in La Mure d’Isere in southeastern France. He became a parish priest in 1834 and joined the Marists five years later. St. Peter Julian’s faith journey drew him from being a priest in the Diocese of Grenoble (1834) to joining the Marists (1839) to founding the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament (1856). In addition to those changes, St. Peter Julian coupled with poverty, his father’s initial opposition to St. Peter’s vocation, serious illness, a Jansenistic striving for inner perfection and the difficulties of getting diocesan and later papal approval for his new religious community. St. Peter fostered Eucharistic adoration throughout his life and founded a religious order of priest-adorers of the Holy Eucharist who came to be known as the Priests of the Blessed Sacrament. Saint Peter Julian Eymard was beatified in 1925 and canonized in 1962, one day after Vatican II’s first session ended.

His years as a Marist, including service as a provincial leader, saw the deepening of his Eucharistic devotion, especially through his preaching of Forty Hours in many parishes. The Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament began working with children in Paris to prepare them to receive their first Communion. It also reached out to non-practicing Catholics, inviting them to repent and begin receiving Holy Communion again. He was a tireless proponent of frequent Holy Communion, an idea given more authoritative backing by Pope Pius X in 1905. Inspired at first by the idea of reparation for indifference to the Eucharist, St. Peter Julian was eventually attracted to a more positive spirituality of Christ-centered love. Members of the men’s community, which St. Peter founded, alternated between an active apostolic life and contemplating Jesus in the Eucharist. He and Marguerite Guillot founded the women’s Congregation of the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament. St. Peter Julian Eymard was beatified in 1925 and canonized in 1962, one day after Vatican II’s first session ended.

St. Peter Julian Eymard, Priest ~ Pray for us 🙏

SAINT EUSEBIUS OF VERCELLI, BISHOP: St. Eusebius was a Roman priest of the fourth century. He was the founder of the Canons Regular, priests living under a religious rule and dedicated to pastoral work. St. Eusebius was born of a noble Sardinian family, and he was taken to Rome by his mother while still an infant. There he received a Christian education and was ordained a lector by Pope St. Sylvester. Later, he went to Vercelli in Piedmont where he joined the clergy of that Church and was made Bishop about 340. St. Eusebius was the first Bishop in the Western Church to unite the clerical with the monastic life, for he lived in community with his clergy, anticipating the practice of the regular canons; at the same time, he also succeeded in forming a renowned clergy. The Canons Regular was the immediate result of the rise of monasticism in the East, and St. Eusebius of Vercelli saw the possibilities of this new movement for the clergy. His example was imitated all over the West and brought about a renewal of clerical life.

St. Eusebius was a strenuous upholder of the Orthodox Faith against the inroads of Arianism. At the heavily pro-Arian Council of Milan in 355 he positively refused to subscribe to the condemnation of St. Athanasius, the greatest champion of the Faith of the time. As a consequence, the Emperor banished him to Scythopolis in Palestine, where he had to undergo great suffering for the Faith at the hands of the Arians, he was next removed to Cappadocia and some time later to Upper Thebes in Egypt. After his release upon the death of the Emperor Constantius in 361, this Saint stopped at Alexandria where he met St. Athansius. He also traveled through other parts of the East and strengthened many in the Faith. On returning to Vercelli, he encountered St. Hilary of Poitiers who like himself had been one of the exiled Bishops, and both of them exerted their zeal against Auxentius, the Arian Bishop of Milan. His cult has always enjoyed special favor in Rome and his house was transformed into a church. St. Eusebius is considered by many to be the author of the Athanasian Creed, and a copy of the Gospels written in his own hand is preserved in the cathedral at Vercelli. He died on August 1, 371 at Vercelli, his courage in suffering for the faith inspiring other bishops to oppose the Arian heresy.

PRAYER: Lord God, help us to imitate the constancy of St. Eusebius, Your Bishop, in professing the Divinity of Your Son. In this way by remaining firm in the Faith he taught, we may be enabled to share in the life of Your Son. Amen 🙏

SAINT STEPHEN I, POPE AND MARTYR: St. Stephen I, a Roman by birth, ruled the Church from 254 to 257 during the reign of the Emperor Valerian. His Papacy began May 12, 254 and ended 2 August 257, and governed the Church for three years. His Predecessor was Lucius I and his Successor was Sixtus II. He is famous for his correspondence with St. Cyprian about the validity of baptism administered by heretics ordering that the tradition should be preserved according to which it was sufficient that they receive confirmation. Pope Stephen I reigned during the vicious persecutions of Valerian and Gallienus, and was forced even to conduct his Church councils in the martyrs’ crypts. In the persecution of Valerian, on August 2, 257, the soldiers suddenly entered whilst St. Stephen was saying Mass, but he remained before the Altar and concluded the Sacred Mysteries with intrepidity, and his persecutors seized him and put him to death by beheading while seated in his episcopal throne in the catacombs. The pope’s martyrdom was the beginning of Valerian’s persecution. St. Stephen I is said to have been the chief deacon of Pope Lucius and recommended by him as his successor. He was soon involved in the case of two Spanish bishops who apparently had under persecution bought letters of safety from the persecutors. One of them, Martial, was deposed, and the other, Basilides, resigned, but then went to Rome and got the pope to reinstate him. He “imposed upon our colleague Stephen,” declared the other Spanish bishops, “who lives a long way off and did not know the true facts of the case.” St. Cyprian agreed that the two offenders were unfit to continue in office and the affair seems to have provoked a certain discord between him and Stephen, but what happened further is no longer known.

Following the Decian persecution of 250–251, an important controversy arose on the subject of baptism administered by heretics. There was disagreement about how to treat those who had lapsed from the faith. St. Stephen was urged by Bishop Faustinus of Lyon to take action against Marcian, the Novatianist bishop of Arles, who denied penance and communion to the lapsed who repented. The controversy arose in the context of a broad pastoral problem. During the Decian persecution some Christians had purchased certificates attesting that they had made the requisite sacrifices to the Roman gods. Others had denied they were Christians while yet others had in fact taken part in pagan sacrifices. These people were called lapsi. The question arose that if they later repented, could they be readmitted to communion with the church, and if so, under what conditions. St. Stephen held that converts who had been baptized by splinter groups did not need re-baptism, while St. Cyprian and three African synods declared that such baptism was null and void, and that one so baptized must be baptized anew upon becoming a Catholic and rebaptism necessary for admission to the Eucharist; this innovation was supported by many bishops in Asia. St. Stephen faithfully upheld the ancient accepted teaching that, other things being equal, baptism given by heretics is valid, and was violently abused by Firmilian of Casarea in Cappadocia in consequence. “No innovation must be introduced,” declared the pope, “but let that be observed which tradition has handed down,” and refused to receive the delegates of the African synod that supported St. Cyprian in the year 256. St. Stephen’s view eventually won broad acceptance in the Latin Church. However, in the Eastern Churches this issue is still debated. He is also mentioned as having insisted on the restoration of the bishops of León and Astorga, who had been deposed for unfaithfulness during the persecution but afterwards had repented. St. Stephen sent material succour to the faithful in the provinces of Syria and Arabia, and is said to have taken the first step in the emergence of liturgical vestments: the Liber Pontificalis states that he ordered that clothes worn by clerics at church services were to be kept for that purpose, and not taken into daily use or worn by laymen.

PRAYER: O God, who givest us joy by the annual solemnity of blessed Stephen, thy martyr and bishop, mercifully grant that we may rejoice in the protection of him whose festival we celebrate. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, One God, for ever and ever. Amen 🙏

SAINT GIUSTINO MARIA RUSSOLILLO, PRIEST: St. Giustino Maria Russolillo (1891-1955), a 20th-century Italian priest, was recently canonized by Pope Francis on May 15, 2022. He is the Founder of the Society of Divine Vocations (Vocationists) which encouraged and supported those discerning a call to the priesthood and religious life. They continue their work in many countries across the world. Fr. Justin Maria Russolillo, was born in Pianura (Naples, Italy) on January 18, 1891. He was ordained a priest on September 20, 1913. No sooner he became the pastor of Pianura on September 20, 1920, than he began working for the realization of his dream. That same year, the first community of the Society of Divine Vocations, which became known as the “Vocationist Fathers” came into being. The Society of Divine Vocations received its first Diocesan approval on May 26, 1927. It became a Congregation of Pontifical right on May 24, 1947.

Fr. Justin established the Vocationist Fathers and their special charism to foster and promote vocations to the priesthood, religious life, and holiness among all God’s people. To carry on this vocational work Fr. Justin established the Vocationary, a special house of formation that would supply vocations to both religious order and diocesan seminaries. For those who are undecided whether they want to be a Vocationist, a Diocesan priest or a member of another religious community, the Vocationist Fathers offer the Vocationary, a place of vocational discernment. The Vocationary was established especially to attend to the needs of those who were financially unable to attend the seminary and those who are still searching and discerning their vocation. By establishing the Vocationary, Fr. Justin focused his attention not only on candidates seeking a religious or priestly vocation but also on those who had left the priesthood or who were in danger of doing so. Thus, the Vocationary has often given life to those who had abandoned the active ministry. Fr. Justin died on August 2, 1955 at Vocationist Fathers’ Motherhouse in Pianura. On December 18, 1997 Pope John Paul II recognized Fr. Justin heroic virtues and proclaimed him a Venerable. On July 1, 2010 Pope Benedict XVI signed the decree of validity of the miracle by Fr. Justin intercession to Ida Meloro of East Hanover, New Jersey (USA). The ceremony of beatification was on May 7, 2011 in Pianura (Naples, Italy), the birthplace of Fr. Justin. He was canonized by Pope Francis on May 15, 2022. The Vocationists’ spirituality stems from Fr. Justin’s conviction that all people are called to holiness. Their “first duty” is to be with God. Their ultimate goal is to achieve Divine Union. They are called to establish and live the relationship of “child, parent, and spouse” of God on the pattern of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. The Catholic Church, the Holy Family, and the Blessed Trinity are the heart and center of their spirituality, which may be summarized thus: “Ascension to the Trinity with the Holy Family in the Church.”

Saint Giustino Maria Russolillo, Priest ~ Pray for us 🙏

BLESSED JANE OF AZA: Blessed Jane of Aza (12th c.), also known as Joanna or Juana of Aza, belonged to the Spanish nobility. At a young age she married a nobleman and together they had five children. She was a pious woman known for her life of prayer and generosity to the poor. When her two eldest sons were given to the priesthood, she went to the nearby church of St. Dominic Silos, a miracle worker and a patron saint of pregnant women, to pray earnestly for another son who would carry on the succession of the family. In a dream the saint appeared to her and said that she would bear a son who would be a shining light to the Church. She also dreamed of a dog that leaped from her womb carrying a torch in its mouth, lighting all the world on fire. She gave birth to a son in answer to her prayers, and in gratitude named him Dominic. She brought her son to the altar of St. Dominic Silos and there offered him to God. At the child’s baptism his godmother saw a star shining from his forehead. All of these signs were taken to mean that the child would be great. Blessed Jane brought her son up with the utmost care, and as the child grew he evidenced uncommon sanctity and virtue. When Dominic turned age seven Blessed Jane generously gave him to be educated as a priest, leaving her family without a male heir. St. Dominic went on to found the famous Order of Preachers, or Dominicans, who became known as the “Hounds of the Lord”, a great preaching order against heresy and in defense of the Catholic faith. Her feast day is August 2nd.

Blessed Jane of Aza ~ Pray for us all 🙏