Saints & Feasts of the Liturgical Year My Catholic Life!

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May 22: Saint Rita of Cascia—Optional Memorial

1386–1457
Patron Saint of abuse victims, impossible causes, sickness, wounds, parenthood, and widows
Invoked against marital problems, fighting and discord, and infertility
Canonized by Pope Leo XIII on May 24, 1900
Liturgical Color: White

Quote:
Dear brothers and sisters, the worldwide devotion to Saint Rita is symbolized by the rose. It is to be hoped that the life of everyone devoted to her will be like the rose picked in the garden of Roccaporena the winter before the saint’s death. That is, let it be a life sustained by passionate love for the Lord Jesus; a life capable of responding to suffering and to thorns with forgiveness and the total gift of self, in order to spread everywhere the good odor of Christ (cf. 2 Cor 2:15) through a consistently lived proclamation of the Gospel. ~Address of Saint John Paul II

Prayer:
Saint Rita, you endured much suffering throughout your life, but you embraced that suffering with love and united it to the sufferings of your Savior. Please pray for me, that I will be strengthened to imitate your profound love, will accept all sufferings with love, and seek to bring about peace in my heart and in the hearts of those around me. Saint Rita of Cascia, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.

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May 21: Saint Christopher Magallanes, Priest and Martyr and Companions, Martyrs—Optional Memorial

1869–1927
Venerated especially in Mexico
Invoked against government persecution
Canonized by Pope John Paul II on May 21, 2000
Liturgical Color: Red

Quote:
“The Church … had peace and was built up; and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it was multiplied” (Acts 9: 31). We can well apply this passage from the Acts of the Apostles to the situation which Cristóbal Magallanes and his 24 companion martyrs had to endure in the first 30 years of the 20th century. Most of them belonged to the secular clergy and three were laymen seriously committed to helping priests. They did not stop courageously exercising their ministry when religious persecution intensified in the beloved land of Mexico, unleashing hatred of the Catholic religion. They all freely and calmly accepted martyrdom as a witness to their faith, explicitly forgiving their persecutors. ~Homily of Saint John Paul II

Prayer:
Saint Christopher Magallanes and Companions, you chose to die rather than give in to atheistic and anti-Catholic oppression. You valued the Catholic faith over your own lives. Please pray for me, that I will have the courage you each had so that I can give witness to my love of God, even to the shedding of my blood. Saint Christopher Magallanes and Companions, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.

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May 20: Saint Bernardine of Siena, Priest—Optional Memorial

1380–1444
Patron Saint of public relations, public speaking, and advertisers
Invoked against gambling addictions and chest problems
Canonized by Pope Nicholas V on May 24, 1450
Liturgical Color: White

Quote:
The name of Jesus is the splendor of preachers, because it causes His Word to be proclaimed and heard with glowing splendor. Whence, do you think, came the great, sudden, and shining light of faith that filled the world, if not from the preaching of Jesus? Was it not by the light and sweetness of this Name that God called us into His wonderful light? It is to us, on whom the light has shone and who in that light see light, that the apostle addresses these apt words: “Once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of the light.”…Hence this Name must be proclaimed so that it may shine; it must not be hidden. ~Sermon of Saint Bernardine

Prayer:
Saint Bernardine, your deepest desire was to love, praise, and adore God and to give Him the glory due His Name. Please pray for me, that I will always seek to glorify the Holy Name of Jesus in my life, and through me, that God will inspire many others to do the same. Saint Bernardine of Siena, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.

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Image: Statens Museum for Kunst, via Wikimedia Commons

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Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church—Memorial
Celebrated the Monday after Pentecost

Liturgical Color: White

Quote:
Indeed, the Mother standing beneath the cross (cf. Jn 19:25), accepted her Son’s testament of love and welcomed all people in the person of the beloved disciple as sons and daughters to be reborn unto life eternal. She thus became the tender Mother of the Church which Christ begot on the cross handing on the Spirit. Christ, in turn, in the beloved disciple, chose all disciples as ministers of his love towards his Mother, entrusting her to them so that they might welcome her with filial affection. ~From the Decree of the Congregation of Divine Worship adding the Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church to the General Roman Calendar

Prayer:
Most glorious Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, to you I entrust myself just as Jesus entrusted John to your care. Receive me as your spiritual child, and nurture me with your Son’s divine grace. Thank you for your “Yes” to the Father’s plan, for your life, and for your continuous “Yes” through time and eternity. May my “Yes” echo yours as I surrender fully to God’s plan. Mother Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.

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Image: Madonna del Popolo (Barocci) from Wikipedia

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Pentecost Sunday—Solemnity

Liturgical Color: Red

Quote:
When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. ~Acts 2:1–4

Prayer:
Holy Spirit, come to me and bestow upon me Your seven-fold gifts, so that I can grow closer to Christ Jesus and act more faithfully as a member of His Body. Bear good fruit in my life, and in the lives of others, so that the saving message of the Gospel will reach far and wide, drawing all people to Yourself for Your eternal praise and glory. Most Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit —I love You, believe in You, and trust in You.

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May 18: Saint John I, Pope and Martyr—Optional Memorial

c. Late Fifth Century–526
Invoked against temptations toward false unity and acceptance of heresy
Pre-Congregation canonization
Liturgical Color: Red

Quote:
Who does not envy the happiness of a martyr in his dungeon, when he beholds the inward joy, peace, and sentiments of charity with which he closes his eyes to this world! And much more when he contemplates in spirit the glory with which the soul of the saint is conducted by angels, like Lazarus, to the abodes of immortal bliss! On the contrary, the wicked tyrant cannot think himself safe upon his throne… At best, his treacherous pleasures are a wretched exchange for the true joy and peace of virtue; nor can he fly from the torment of his own conscience, or the stench of his guilt. How dreadfully are his horrors increased upon the approach of death! And how will he to all eternity condemn his extravagant folly, unless by sincere repentance he shall have prevented everlasting woes! ~Butler’s Lives of the Saints

Prayer:
Pope Saint John, you chose to value the truth of the Catholic faith over your own life. You remained steadfast in the proclamation of the Gospel until the end. Please pray for me, that I will never waver in my faith, and will never give in to temptations to water down that faith. May I have the same courage that you had so that God will be able to use me to reach out to those who need to know His saving truths. Saint John I, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.

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