(Feast Day ~ September 11) There are hundreds of thousands of people who have lived holy lives known only to their closest friends and family. These saints are not the ones who were heroically martyred or who were famous for excellent preaching or who were great teachers or evangelists. They lived their lives in humble […]
St. Sergius I, Bishop and Confessor
(Feast Day ~ September 7) Political controversy in the Church is not a new thing. Ever since the Apostles and other disciples experienced disagreements about practices in the infant Church, there have been occasions of rivalry, power plays, and intrigue in dioceses and in the Church as a whole. St. Sergius, pope of Rome from […]
St. Gorazd of Prague, Bishop & Martyr
(Feast day ~ September 4) We should never forget that saints are being made every day. Devout Christians are living holy lives, providing others with examples of Christian love and sacrifice. Often, it is one important decision in one moment that causes a person to rise to such sanctity, and it is only in retrospect […]
St. Stephen of Hungary, King and Confessor
(Feast Day ~ September 2) It is difficult for Americans today (particularly those of us who live in the nation’s capital) to imagine the rule of a godly monarch. But history gives us numerous examples of those who – remembering St. Paul’s explanation that “there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that […]
St. Giles, Abbot
Feast Day ~ September 1 There are several attributes which are common to many of the saints of the Church, among them a desire for solitude in order to meditate and pray away from the distractions of the world; a gentle nature which is recognized by animals who are tame in the presence of the […]
St. Aidan of Lindisfarne
Feast Day ~ August 31 Christians are to strive for holiness of living, and there are many biblical admonitions about what does – and does not – constitute a holy life. As St. Peter wrote in his letter to the Christian converts under persecution in Asia Minor, “…gird up the loins of your mind, be […]
St. Fiacre
(Feast Day ~ August 30) And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. [Gen. 2:8] Holy Scripture abounds in references to gardens, beginning with that most perfect garden, Eden, where men still “walked with God.” Our Savior spent the last night […]
St. Moses the Black
(Feast day ~ August 28) There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [Galatians 3:28] In the beautiful unfolding story of man’s salvation, God has raised to holiness people in many different times and places and in […]
St. Augustine of Hippo
(Feast Day ~ August 28) Of all those holy men and women who have been declared saints by the Church, there is perhaps no other who has left as voluminous a written testimony as St. Augustine. His sermons, treatises on Scripture, refutations of heresies, and personal reflections provide an entire library of material for anyone […]
St. Caesarius of Arles, Bishop and Confessor
(Feast Day ~ August 27) Anyone who tries to lead the Christian life will, of necessity, be concerned with discipline. In order to strive for perfection, we must learn to reign in selfish passions, to curb the appetites, and to set our minds on heavenly things. In the saints, the Church has given us models […]