MEMORIAL OF SAINT FELIX IV, POPE; SAINT WILFRID, BISHOP; BLESSED JEANNE LE BER, RECLUSE AND SAINT CARLO ACUTIS – FEAST DAY: OCTOBER 12TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Felix IV, Pope; Saint Wilfrid, Bishop; Blessed Jeanne Leber, Recluse and Saint Carlo Acutis. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for God’s Divine Grace and Mercy upon us all. We pray for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. We pray for the poor, the needy and the most vulnerable. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally and physically ill and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for all widows and widowers. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, the Bishops, 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…. Amen🙏
SAINT FELIX IV, POPE: Pope Felix IV (died on September 22, 530) came from Samnium, the son of Castorius. He was the bishop of Rome from July 12, 526 to his death in 530. St. Felix was the third legitimate Pope to bear that name, but he is called Felix IV because of the inclusion of the antipope Felix II in many ancient listings of the Popes. He was the 54th Pope, chosen candidate and elected through the backing of Ostrogoth King Theodoric the Great, Arian King of the Goths who had imprisoned Felix’s predecessor, John I. He was elected after a gap of nearly two months after the death of John I, who had died in prison in Ravenna, having completed a diplomatic mission to Constantinople on behalf of the Ostrogoth King Theodoric the Great. The papal electors acceded to the king’s demands and chose St. Felix as pope. St. Felix’s favor in the eyes of the king allowed him to use his status to press for greater benefits and promote the interests of the Church. However, King Theodoric died later that year, allowing Pope Felix to pursue his own policies in peace. Pope Felix IV held the papacy for only four years in the sixth century, but during that time he instituted a number of important changes, earned a reputation as a statesman, and articulated several important theological positions. Opposed semi-Pelagianism, drew up propositions regarding grace (from St. Augustine) that led to the condemnation of Semi-Pelagianism by the Second Council of Orange in 529. Writing to settle Church teachings on grace and free will, and approving the work of Saint Caesarius of Arles on the topics. This heresy taught, among other things, that grace is not needed for the initiation of good works. All of these actions contributed to his reputation and nickname as “Definer of Grace” at a time when the early church was experiencing incredible turmoil. When the Saint was given two ancient buildings in the Roman Forum, he erected the Church of Sts. Cosmas and Damian on their site. His portrait in the apse of that Church is the earliest known likeness of any Pope. He tried to designate his successor, but civil authorities and many cardinals rebelled at the idea. He died on September 22, 530 in Rome, Italy of natural causes and interred in the portico of Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome. Venerated for his simplicity, humility, and kindness to the poor.
PRAYER: God, Light and Shepherd of souls, You established St. Felix 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 taught by his word and follow the way he showed by his example. Amen 🙏
SAINT WILFRID, BISHOP: St. Wilfrid (c.634-709) also called Wilfrith and Wilfred was a Northumbrian of noble birth in 634. He was educated at Lindesfarne and then spent some time in Lyons and Rome. Returning to England, he was elected abbot of Ripon in 658 and introduced the Roman rules and practices in opposition to the celtic ways of northern England. In 664, he was the architect of the definitive victory of the Roman party at the Conference of Whitby. He was appointed Bishop of York and after some difficulty finally took possession of his See in 669. He labored zealously and founded many monasteries of the Benedictine Order, but he was obliged to appeal to Rome in order to prevent the subdivision of his diocese by St. Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury. While waiting for the case to be decided, he was forced to go into exile, and worked hard and long to evangelize the heathen south Saxons until his recall in 686. In 691, he had to retire again to the Midlands until Rome once again vindicated him. In 703, he resigned his post and retired to his monastery at Ripon where he spent his remaining time in prayer and penitential practices, until his death in 709. St. Wilfrid was an outstanding personage of his day, extremely capable and possessed of unbounded courage, remaining firm in his convictions despite running afoul of civil and ecclesiastical authorities. He helped bring the discipline of the English Church into line with that of Rome. He was also a dedicated pastor and a zealous and skilled missionary; his brief time spent in Friesland in 678-679 was the starting point for the great English mission to the Germanic peoples of continental Europe. He’s the Patron Saint of Ripon, England.
Saint Wilfrid, Bishop ~ Pray for us 🙏
BLESSED JEANNE LE BER, RECLUSE: Bl. Jeanne Le Ber was born on January 4, 1662 in Ville-Marie (Montreal). She is baptized the same day and Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve is her godfather and Jeanne Mance her godmother. At an early age she feels attracted by the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and enjoys silence and prayer. To complete her formal education she spends three years, 1674 to 1677, as a boarder with the Ursulines in Quebec, where her aunt teaches. The Ursulines are impressed by her many acts of self-denial and are disappointed when, at the age of fifteen, she returns to her family in Montreal. She is a pensive, withdrawn, and introverted young lady, who daily spends much time in prayer and in adoration of the Sacrament. In accordance with her confessor, when she turns eighteen, she decides to live a secluded life. With her parents’ permission she retires to a cell at the rear of the church of the Hôtel-Dieu, which serves as parish church at that time. Jeanne Le Ber remains undecided about entering a regular order and taking permanent vows; nevertheless, her determination to shun the attractive life her family offered becomes evident. On June 24, 1685, Bl. Jeanne Le Ber takes a simple vow of perpetual seclusion, chastity, and poverty. When she hears that the Sisters of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame plan to build a church on their property she gives them generous financial assistance on condition that they reserve for her a three-room apartment directly behind the altar, so that she can view the Blessed Sacrament without leaving her quarters. On August 5, 1695, she takes the solemn vows of a recluse. She spends much time in making church vestments and altar cloths and in fine embroidery. Six or seven hours a day are devoted to prayer and meditation, she receives communion four times a week. She introduces the practice of the perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and makes a donation to the Sisters of the Congrégation for its observance. Throughout the colony she enjoys a great fame and continues to receive distinguished visitors from time to time. She dies on October 3 and is buried next to her father. The sainthood cause for Jeanne Le Ber was officially opened in the Archdiocese of Montreal on October 28, 2015.
Blessed Jeanne Leber, Recluse ~ Pray for us
SAINT CARLO ACUTIS: St. Carlo Acutis (1991-2006), a Catholic Italian teenager, was an extraordinary youth who went to daily Mass, Eucharistic Adoration and prayed the Holy Rosary from the time he had received his first Holy Communion at seven years old. Saints stare at computer screens, too. St. Carlos was a genius at computer technology and used the media to evangelize. Saint Carlo loved Super Mario, Playstation, and Pokémon but he loved Jesus more. St. Carlo Acutis, a gamer and computer programmer who loved soccer and the Eucharist, has been the subject of interest around the world. Pope Francis referred to St. Carlo as a model of holiness in a digital age. Carlo’s life should teach today’s young people how to properly use and enjoy technology, including the internet and social media. His motto was “To always be close to Jesus, that’s my life plan.” Saint Carlo is showing young people how to be holy. Around the world, Millennials (born from 1981–1996) and Generation Z (born from 1996–2015) see a holy child/teenager they can easily identify with, imitate, and learn from. St. Carlo cataloged all of the Catholic Church’s Eucharistic miracles into an exhibit, which today travels around the world. St. Carlo had a devotion to the poor and children. He was diagnosed with leukemia days before he died in 2006 and offered his sufferings for the Pope and the Church. He was beatified on October 10, 2021 in Assisi.
St. Carlo Acutis was born May 3, 1991, in London though his family moved to Milan shortly after. From a young age, Carlo seemed to have a special love for God, even though his parents weren’t especially devout. His mom said she had been to Mass only for her First Communion, her confirmation, and her wedding but young Carlo’s unique and unexplained devotion led to her deep conversion. The priest promoting his cause for sainthood noted that Carlo “managed to drag his relatives, his parents to Mass every day. It was not the other way around; it was not his parents bringing the little boy to Mass, but it was he who managed to get himself to Mass and to convince others to receive Communion daily.” What an inspiration for a child to model faith witness to a family! He had a gift for empathy and was known for defending kids at school who got picked on, especially disabled children mocked by bullies. Like many Millennials, he saw peers battered by divorce, inviting young friends whose parents were divorcing to spend time at his home. St. Carlo loved soccer and video games. He tried to stay disciplined and only played games for an hour a week even though he really wanted to play much more. He also bought computer programming books and taught himself computer coding and animation. He had a great devotion to Mary loved to pray the rosary. He went to Mass and confession as often as he could. He loved the Eucharist and was fascinated by Eucharistic miracles. He asked his parents to take him on pilgrimages — to the places of the saints, and to the sites of Eucharistic miracles. Using his research, he began creating what would eventually become a website to catalog and share the information with others. He cataloged all of the Catholic Church’s Eucharistic miracles into an exhibit, which today travels around the world. St. Carlo was concerned by people growing distant to the Church and the sacraments and desperately wanted to bring them back. On the site, he told people that “the more often we receive the Eucharist, the more we will become like Jesus, so that on this earth we will have a foretaste of heaven.”
At age 15, St. Carlo Acutis was diagnosed with an untreatable leukemia. He offered up his suffering for others coping with illness and said, “I offer all the suffering I will have to suffer for the Lord, for the Pope, and the Church.” St. Carlo died from his illness on October 12, 2006. At his request he was buried in Assisi because of his love for St. Francis. Exactly nine days after his death, a Eucharistic Miracle occurred: a sister distributing communion in Mass found her eyes were filled with tears as the communion host began to ooze a red substance. Two scientific studies conducted over two years found the host had the properties of an interior wound of living human heart tissue. The different “certified,’’ fully investigated and approved the miracle that led to his beatification in 2020 occurred in 2013, seven years after his death. In Brazil, a boy named Mattheus overcame a congenital disability after Mattheus’ parish priest, Father Nicola Gori, had been praying for Carlo’s beatification. The priest held a healing service where they prayed for Carlo’s intercession on the anniversary of his death. Fr. Gori explained the miracle to Italian media: “On October 12, 2013, seven years after Carlo’s death, a child, affected by a congenital malformation (annular pancreas), when it was his turn to touch the picture of the future blessed, expressed a singular wish, like a prayer: ‘I wish I could stop vomiting so much.’ Healing began immediately, to the point that the physiology of the organ in question changed.’’ Fourteen years after Saint Carlo’s death, his body is on public display in Italy, incorrupt as is the case with many saints. His cause for canonization began in 2013 and he was designated “Venerable” in 2018. A healing miracle has been attributed to his intercession and he was beatified on October 10, 2020, and canonized on September 7, 2025.
His tomb has been opened and his intact body lies in repose in a glass tomb where he can be venerated by pilgrims until Oct. 17. He is displayed in jeans and a pair of Nikes, the casual clothes he preferred in life. The rector for the Sanctuary of Spoliation in Assisi, where Acutis’ tomb is located, called him a witness that holiness is attainable for teenagers. “For the first time in history we will see a saint dressed in jeans, sneakers, and a sweater,” the rector said. “This is a great message for us, we can feel holiness not as a distant thing but as something very much within everyone’s reach because the Lord is the Lord of everyone.” Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi said “Carlo is a boy of our time. A boy of the internet age, and a model of holiness of the digital age, as Pope Francis presented him in his letter to young people around the world. The computer … has become a way of going through the streets of the world, like the first disciples of Jesus, to bring to hearts and homes the announcement of true peace, that which quenches the thirst for the infinite that inhabits the human heart.” We embrace “influencers’’ — Carlo is an “Influencer for God…’’ Saint Carlo Acutis is remembered for his cheerfulness and compassion for those in need. He is the patron of computer programmers and youth and was beatified on behalf of Pope Francis on October 10, 2020. His exposed relics can be viewed in Assisi. His feast day is October 12th.
QUOTES OF SAINT CARLO ACUTIS
☆ “What does it matter if you can win a thousand battles if you cannot win against your own corrupt passions? It doesn’t matter. The real battle is with ourselves” ~ Saint Carlo Acutis.
☆ “All people are born as originals but many die as photocopies” ~ Saint Carlo Acutis
☆ “Our soul is like a hot air balloon. If by chance there is a mortal sin, the soul falls to the ground. Confession is like the fire underneath the balloon, enabling the soul to rise again… It is important to go to confession often. ~ Saint Carlo Acutis
☆ “The more Eucharist we receive, the more we will become like Jesus, so that on earth we will have a foretaste of heaven.” ~ Saint Carlo Acutis
☆ “Our goal must be the infinite and not the finite. The Infinity is our homeland. We are always expected in Heaven. ~ Saint Carlo Acutis
☆ “I am happy to die because I lived my life without wasting even a minute of it on anything unpleasing to God.” ~ Saint Carlo Acutis
☆ “Continuously ask your guardian angel for help. Your guardian angel has to become your best friend” ~ Saint Carlo Acutis
☆ “The only thing we have to ask God for, in prayer, is the desire to be holy.” ~ Saint Carlo Acutis
Saint Carlo Acutis ~ Pray for us 🙏