Saints of Last Week: Mary’s Nativity, Moses, Joseph, Teresa of Calcutta, Cloud, and More
Saints of Last Week: Mary’s Nativity, Moses, Joseph, Teresa of Calcutta, Cloud, and More
I hope you are having a good week! Normally my saints post would come out on Sunday, but this past week I was very blessed to be traveling in Israel. During my time there, visiting so many sites where Jesus and other holy men and women of both the Old and New Testaments walked and lived, I reflected on the perseverance required to serve God in this world.
The Jews—God’s original Chosen People—have reclaimed their homeland, their language, and their heritage in Israel after thousands of years. It was a truly inspiring reality to witness. Sadly, however, erstwhile Christian nations seem to sliding ever more into secularism and even paganism. We must return to the Christian ideal of heroic virtue if we are to save our world from darkness, the very ideal to which this week’s saints and prophets lived up. I walked in the footsteps of Christ physically this past week, but we must all walk in His footsteps spiritually if we are to renew society and reach Heaven ourselves.
The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Sept. 8) celebrates Mary’s miraculous birth to her parents Sts. Joachim and Anna (Sept. 9) when they were already old. It was through Mary that Jesus the Savior of mankind came into the world, making her birthday an important event in salvation history.
Moses (Sept. 4) is arguably the greatest of the Old Testament patriarchs/prophets, who was chosen to lead the Israelites out of Egypt to the Promised Land. Famous Biblical episodes of his life include the Burning Bush, the miracles before Pharao and Ten Plagues, the first Passover, the miraculous passage of the Red Sea, manna and water provided by God in the desert, the Ten Commandments, the Golden Calf, and the giving of the Mosaic Law. Moses is traditionally said to be the author or compiler of the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
Joseph the Patriarch (Sept. 4) is one of the holiest figures in the Old Testament, his story related in Genesis. The son of Jacob and Rachel, favored by his aging father and gifted with the coat of many colors, Joseph was betrayed by his jealous brothers and sold into slavery in Egypt. There, after landing in jail through a false accusation, Joseph’s prophetic dream readings made him the most powerful man in Egypt aside from Pharao. He eventually chastised, forgave, and reunited with his brothers.
St. Teresa of Calcutta (Sept. 5) founded the Missionaries of Charity and did groundbreaking work with the most despised and poverty-stricken people in India. She became an international celebrity, spreading her message of love, sacrifice, and compassion around the world. Despite the inner darkness she experienced for much of her life, her faith in Jesus never wavered.
Sts. Zachary and Elizabeth (Sept. 5, Byzantine calendar) were the parents of St. John the Baptist (see Lk. 1-2). John’s birth was foretold to Zachary by an angel when they were already old, and Zachary (a priest) was struck dumb until after John’s birth, when he delivered a prophetic canticle about John’s future. Mother Mary visited the pregnant Elizabeth, when Elizabeth was inspired by the Holy Spirit to testify to the Messiah Whom Mary was carrying in her womb.
Zechariah the Prophet (Sept. 6) prophesied around 520 BC in the reign of King Darius. The Biblical book bearing his name includes prophesies about the Messiah to come.
St. Magnus of Füssen (Sept. 6) was a priest, Benedictine monk, and evangelizer in Bavaria. Miracles were attributed to him, usually involving animals, including the discovery of lucrative iron ore through the agency of a bear.
St. Cloud (Sept. 7) was the grandson of the famous Frankish King Clovis and Queen St. Clothilde. While he was still young, Cloud’s brothers were murdered by his uncles. Cloud survived to become a hermit and teacher.
St. Thomas Tsuji (Sept. 7) was a Japanese nobleman who became a Jesuit priest and preacher. Exiled for his faith to Macao, Tsuji returned in disguise to Japan but was martyred in 1627.
St. Thomas of Villanova (Sept. 8) was an Augustinian friar and archbishop who lived in great humility and poverty, providing charity to several hundreds of poor people every day. He especially assisted orphans and gently led sinners to repentance.
St. Isaac the Great (Sept. 8) was the son of St. Nerses the Great and a married layman who become a monk after his wife’s death. As Catholicos of Armenia, he did great work for the country, including developing a liturgy and an alphabet.
St. Catherine of Racconigi (Sept. 4) was a Dominican tertiary, mystic, visionary, miracle-worker, and wise counselor. St. Peter Claver (Sept. 9) was a Spanish Jesuit most famous for his work evangelizing and materially assisting black slaves in Colombia. St. Kieran the Younger (Sept. 9) was an Irish abbot and miracle-worker who founded a monastery famous for its learning and who greatly assisted the poor; he is one of the “12 Apostles of Ireland.” St. Maria de la Cabeza (Sept. 9) was the holy wife of St. Isidore the Farmer. St. Nicholas of Tolentino (Sept. 10) was an Augustinian friar, miracle-worker, and healer. The 205 Martyrs of Japan (Sept. 9/10) are celebrated as a group, though they were killed between 1617 and 1632, including both missionaries and natives.
You can also read about Pope Boniface I, Maria Dina Belanger, Rosalia, Ida of Herzfeld, and Hermione (Sept. 4); Bertin the Great, Lawrence Justinian, Phêrô Nguyen Van Tu, and Maria Velotti (Sept. 5); Bertrand of Garrigue, Bega, Frontiniano of Alba, Augebert and Felix, Pascual Torres Lloret, and Spanish Civil War Martyrs (Sept. 6); John Mazzucconi, Eugenia Picco, Ignacio Klopotowski, and John Duckett (Sept. 7); Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre, Pope Sergius I, and Antoine-Frederic Ozanam (Sept. 8); Jacques Laval, Gorgonius of Nicomedia, and Ivan Sanin (Sept. 9); Pulcheria, Ambrose Edward Barlow, Finnian of Moville, Theodard of Maastricht, and Nemesius of Alexandria (Sept. 10).
Have a blessed week!