MEMORIAL OF SAINT SIXTUS II, POPE AND MARTYR, AND COMPANIONS, MARTYRS AND SAINT CAJETAN, PRIEST ~ FEAST DAY – AUGUST 7TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Sixtus II, Pope and Martyr, and Companions, Felicissimus and Agapitus, Martyrs and Saint Cajetan, Priest. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the unemployed and those seeking for jobs and livelihood, may God grant them their heart’s desires and provide for the families and individuals who are enduring economic hardship. May God supply their needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We also pray for peace, love and unity in our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, 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.🙏🏾
SAINT SIXTUS II, POPE AND MARTYR, AND COMPANIONS, MARTYRS: Pope Sixtus II (Xystus) who died in 258 A.D. was elected to the Roman See in 257. He was Bishop of Rome from August 31, 257 until his death on August 6, 258. He was a good and peace-loving Pontiff. He helped mend the relationship between Rome and the Eastern and African churches over the problem of the rebaptism of converted heretics, a controversy which threatened schism. St. Sixtus II, being a peaceful man, restored friendly relations and maintained unity. However, he served as Holy Father for only one year due to the persecution of Christians by Roman Emperor Valerian. As a result, Pope St. Sixtus II was suppressed and forbidden to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. He continued to worship in secret in defiance to the unjust law, and while offering Mass in a cemetery chapel he was ambushed and beheaded by Roman soldiers on August 6, 258, at the cemetery of the Praetextatus in virtue of the recent edict of Valerian prescribing death for the leaders of the Christians. During the persecution of Christians by the Emperor Valerian, St. Sixtus was martyred along with Saints Felicissimus, Agapitus, and four other deacons. Saint Lawrence, archdeacon of Sixtus, was also martyred there three days later. Pope Sixtus II was one of the first victims of the persecution under the Emperor Valerian. Pope Sixtus reigned for twelve months. His feast day is August 7th.
PRAYER: Almighty God, you gave St. Sixtus and his companions the grace to lay down their lives for your word and as a witness to Christ. By the power of the Holy Spirit, help us to be quick to believe and unwavering in the profession of our Faith. Amen 🙏🏾
SAINT CAJETAN, PRIEST: St. Cajetan (1480-1547) was born Gaetano dei Conti di Thiene on October 6, 1480. He was the son of an Italian nobleman. Under the care of his pious mother he grew up in the tenderest sentiments of virtue. He became a lawyer, worked for a Pope and became a Priest. Entering the ecclesiastical state, he went to Rome, hoping to lead an obscure life, but Pope Julius II forced upon him the office of protonotary opostolic. Upon the death of this Pope, he resigned and returned to Vicenza, his native city. Both in Rome and Vicenza, the Saint devoted himself as a member of pious confraternities to promoting the glory of God and the salvation of souls. After a while he went to Venice and took up his abode in the hospital of that city. Having returned to Rome, he formed the idea of founding a society in which the members would endeavour to live like the Apostles of Old. Some of his companions were John Peter Caraffa, Pope Paul IV, Paul Consiglieri and Boniface de Colle. This began the Order of Regular Clerics, now known as Theatines. This Order was approved by Pope Clement VII in 1524. As Cofounded of the Theatine order, he became an important figure of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. With the future Pope Paul IV, St. Cajetan founded the first congregation of Clerks Regular, a new form of institute which corresponded with the needs of the time. Trust in God was its principal rule; its members were forbidden to ask for alms and depended entirely on the spontaneous charity of the faithful. Such was Cajetan’s zeal in seeking the salvation of souls that he came to be called “the hunter of souls.”
During the sack of Rome by the Constable de Bourbon, St Cajetan was treated cruelly. In 1530, he succeeded Caraffa as General of the Order and filled the office for three years. In spite of his numerous occupations the St. Cajetan spent many hours of the day (about 8 hours daily) in prayer and was often favored with extraordinary ecstasies. Worn out by labors, he died in at Naples, on August 7, 1547, and was canonized in 1671 by Pope Clement X. St. Cajetan is the Patron Saint of Job Seekers; Unemployed, Bankers, Workers.
PRAYER: God, who endowed the Priest Saint Cajetan with the grace of imitating the apostolic way of life, grant us, through his example and intercession, to trust in you at all times and to seek unceasingly your Kingdom. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever… Amen. May we not rest until the labour is completed. Amen. Saint Cajetan, pray for us.🙏🏾