St. Patrick

Happy Feast Day!

St. Patrick - Pray for us!

Happy Valentine's Day!

On this day that the world celebrates love, we celebrate a man in love with our LORD.



Under the rule of Emperor Claudius II, Rome was involved in many bloody and unpopular wars. Claudius was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues. He believed that the reason was that Roman men did not want to leave their loves or families. As a result, Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome.

Valentine was a priest at Rome at this time. He and St. Marius began performing marriage ceremonies in secret. For this work St. Valentine was arrested and dragged before the Prefect of Rome. Valentine was condemned to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off.

While in prison his work continued. Many of the men and women he had helped came to his cell and threw flowers and notes through his cell window. Valentine converted his guard to Christianity and even miraculously restored the sight of the jailer’s daughter who was blind. The day before his death Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer’s daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it “From Your Valentine.” He suffered martyrdom on February 14th, about the year 270.

In ancient Rome that day was a holiday to honor Juno, the Roman goddess of women and marriage. The following day began the Feast of Lupercalia.

At this time boys and girls were kept separate and seldom had any interaction. On February 14th, the eve of Lupercalia, the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each young man would draw a girl’s name from the jar and would then be partners with her for the duration of the festival. Sometimes the pairing of the children lasted an entire year, and often they would fall in love and would later marry.

The pastors of the early Christian Church in Rome wanted to do away with the pagan element in these feasts. The fact that Lupercalia fell on Valentine’s feast and he was so strongly connected to love and marriage, made him the perfect choice to Christianize the festival. Through the years, this celebration of Lupercalia and the story of St. Valentine have evolved into the holiday the entire world celebrates today.

St. Valentine – Pray for us!

Happy Feast Day!

Today is the feast day of one of my favorite saints, St. Joseph of Copertino. He was the patron saint for me and the group of my closest friends in college. He is a very interesting figure. Just a few things about him:

He is the patron saint of students and test takers. Why? He was known for being extremely unintelligent, and he miraculously passed a very important test.

He is the patron saint of pilots. Why? When he would pray, he would often get so wrapped up in the love of God that he would literally float off the ground. (Notice the picture above.)

You can read his story here, and say an extra prayer today in his name for your son and his studies.

St. Joseph of Copertino - Pray for us!

Happy Feast Day!

You may or may not realize that St. Valentine was a real person (actually it seems to be a pretty common name for saints of the early Church). Here is an interesting take on this feast that combines many of the elements of St. Valentine that have evolved into the holiday we celebrate today. It would be a shame to forget that behind this holiday of love is a man who was passionately in love with Christ.

St. Valentine's Story

Let me introduce myself. My name is Valentine. I lived in Rome during the third century. That was long, long ago! At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. I didn't like Emperor Claudius, and I wasn't the only one! A lot of people shared my feelings.

Claudius wanted to have a big army. He expected men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not want to fight in wars. They did not want to leave their wives and families. As you might have guessed, not many men signed up. This made Claudius furious. So what happened? He had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages. Young people thought his new law was cruel. I thought it was preposterous! I certainly wasn't going to support that law!

Did I mention that I was a priest? One of my favorite activities was to marry couples. Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, I kept on performing marriage ceremonies -- secretly, of course. It was really quite exciting. Imagine a small candlelit room with only the bride and groom and myself. We would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening all the while for the steps of soldiers.

One night, we did hear footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the couple I was marrying escaped in time. I was caught. (Not quite as light on my feet as I used to be, I guess.) I was thrown in jail and told that my punishment was death.
I tried to stay cheerful. And do you know what? Wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit me. They threw flowers and notes up to my window. They wanted me to know that they, too, believed in love.

One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit me in the cell. Sometimes we would sit and talk for hours. She helped me to keep my spirits up. She agreed that I did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages. On the day I was to die, I left my friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. I signed it, "Love from your Valentine."

I believe that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine's Day. It was written on the day I died, February 14, 269 A.D. Now, every year on this day, people remember. But most importantly, they think about love and friendship. And when they think of Emperor Claudius, they remember how he tried to stand in the way of love, and they laugh -- because they know that love can't be beaten!

Happy All Saints Day!

St. Isaac Jogues

Today is the feast of my favorite saint, St. Isaac Jogues, and a group called the North American Martyrs. This is the feast day for Br. Isaac, residential dean in the Main Building. It is also the feast day for my son, whom my wife and I named after St. Isaac. I have had a devotion to St. Isaac since I was a freshman in high school, and I visited the National Shrine to the North American Martyrs, which is the place where Isaac was killed. It is beautiful shrine in Auriesville, New York.

Say a prayer today to St. Isaac and his companions.

St. Isaac Jogues and the North American Martyrs - Pray for us!

St. Lucy of Syracuse

I came across this picture today on a blog called Smallpax. It a blog of Catholic Illustrators, and I have a link to it in the "Christian Artists" section below. You can read more about St. Lucy here.

Happy Birthday Mary

Today is the day we celebrate the birth of Mary. Why? In Church tradition we believe that Mary, by God's grace, was conceived without sin, which we call the Immaculate Conception. We celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th. Today, we celebrate Mary's birth exactly 9 months after her conception.

Wish Mary a happy birthday today!